Light up your life
Deepavali is a festival of lights, a festival to mark the victory of good over evil and destruction of the darkness of ignorance by the light of knowledge.
Jyoti, being the feminine aspect of the creation, is worshipped in the female form of Goddess Lakshmi who brings peace, prosperity, good health etc.
Lighting of the lamp during Deepavali signifies the original light in its purest state. Light ( fire) purifies everything in this creation. Nothing can remain impure once it is put in the fire. Similarly, our minds cannot remain impure with negativity, enmity, jealousy or hatred once the divine light is lit in our hearts. Divine light denotes atma
gyan. The light of atma gyan ( knowledge of self) needs to be rekindled in our hearts for it to destroy the darkness of ignorance, to destroy enmity and attract peace, prosperity, health and happiness in our life.
The death of Ravana at the hands of Lord Ram only signifies that the rakshas sitting in our head and spreading adhar
ma, violence, enmity, hatred, ego, misdeeds can be killed by the light of atma gyan ( Rama signifies pure atma). When atma
gyan dawns on us, we see every being as an equal, without any distinction of sex, caste, religion, colour or creed. We start seeing our own reflection in every being.
Under the light of atma gyan, we are completely peaceful and blissful from within. We are always positive, helping and ready to sacrifice. When there are no negative energies operating from within ourselves then, automatically, our physical bodies are healthy, prosperity is attracted and every day becomes an auspicious day and no enemy ( neither inner nor outer) is like- ly to ever attack us.
As gold becomes pure when we put it in the fire, similarly, our mind becomes pure in the fire of
atma gyan. Lord Krishna too has said this in the Bhagwad Gita: “Oh Arjuna! As the fire destroys all kinds of fuels without any distinction, the fire of knowledge ( atma gyan) destroys all kinds of karma without any distinction.
The lighting of lamp on Deepavali reminds us that we should light the inner lamp of atma, and, just as we protect the
deepam from getting blown off by the wind, we should protect our inner light from getting extinguished by the negative thoughts of our mind.
Atma gyan can be acquired only by surrendering at the feet of a guru and once the inner light of atma gyan is ignited, we must ensure that it remains lit forever through regular fuelling by way of meditation, contemplation and nididhyasan.
May this Deepavali be an occasion to ignite your inner light of
atma gyan and provide you all with peace, health, harmony, prosperity, auspiciousness, loads of happiness and eternal bliss. Sri Rameshji is a modern age spiritual guru and founder of Poorna Ananda, a centre for spiritual evolution and
joyful living. Visit www. poornaananda. org