Dear Initiates and Friends,
Divine Heart Center wishes you a Happy Diwali or “Deepavali”!
But what really is Diwali? Amidst the frenzied festivities and the mass euphoria of the holiday, have we paused for a moment to think about the significance of this festival?
“Deep” means a lamp with a flame in Sanskrit and “vali” means a row or an arrangement. So “Deepavali” means a “row of light”. Spiritually, Diwali means “becoming aware of one’s inner light”.
Diwali is the day that Lord Ram returned to His city after killing the demon king Ravanna.
“Ram” has its roots in the words “Ra” and “Ma”. “Ra” means light as in consciousness. The word ray has the same root. “Ma” means self contained soothing bliss like that of a mother. “Ma” is used as the word for mother in many cultures because its vibration associates well with motherly love. Girls go “MMMM” when they eat chocolate because it’s their natural sound reaction to their temporary and minute glimpse of heavenly bliss!
Humor aside, Ram, therefore, is the consciousness that is blissful in its spiritual self absorption.
“Ravanna” has its roots in the words “Ra” and “Van-na”. “Van-na” in Sanskrit means forest. Therefore, Ravanna means the same consciousness but dispersed in the dark forest of the ego. Ravanna was a great scholar and achiever of his times. He had the ray of light in him, but that ray was dominated by the darkness of his ego and unwillingness to accept his unity and reliance on the Divine as the only Supreme conscious source of everything in this manifested universe. Ravanna also means a loud harsh roar which against indicates its disaccord with the Divine consciousness (the same vibratory root as Raven, a bird called so for its harsh sound).
The victory of Ram over Ravanna is, in fact, the victory of our divine soul consciousness over our ego consciousness.
Hence, Diwali is a time to contemplate on our inner light, the light that makes us conscious. Without this light we are nothing but inert cosmic dust.
On the occasion of Diwali, the Hindus worship “Lakshmi” Devi who is the goddess of abundance (or narrowly interpreted as the goddess of wealth). But who exactly is “Lakshmi” Ji? The orthodox old timer Hindus swear by Her whereas the modern youth will worship anything that is associated with wealth! Who doesn’t want to be rich?!
Lakshmi is the name given to the energy of achievement present within us and also in this Universe. “Laksh” comes from the word “Lakshya” means the target or objective. “Mi” is the kinetic energy of “Ma”. In other words, “Mi” is the power of the mother in action! So Lakshmi is the energy in this Universe present everywhere that when tapped (converted from potential to kinetic through devotion and concentration) benevolently helps us achieve our objectives.
The ancient Indian sages made great sacrifices and gave up everything to dissect the “mysterious” nature of this Universe and its relationship to us the Human “beings”. They were not the cavemen that we see in the Geico ads! Each word they wrote is worth its weight in gold provided it is translated correctly not by argumentative commentators but by spiritual scientists who by Divine grace and by the power of meditation have fine tuned their mind to read the energy patterns created by pronouncing these words.
This Diwali let’s focus on our inner light. Here is an ancient meditation which purifies the senses and helps you awaken your inner light:
"Sit comfortably with spine erect. Intend a steady flame of light in your heart center. Let this flame gently burn all your negativities. Just sit for a few minutes, observe the flame, and you will emerge out of this meditation as a better person."
Lighting up the inner light is not just the subject matter of the Indian scriptures. The Bible and the Judaic scriptures mention the seven lights of the seven chakras to the spiritually receptive:
Revelations 1:20
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Zechariah 4:1-6
1 Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep.
2 He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights.
3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"
5 He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied.
6 So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
So, this Diwali meditate for a few minutes and work on your inner light. For the one who lights this inner light enjoys the festival of lights every single moment of his life and beyond.