Happy Diwali

Well, the great Festival of Lights - Diwali - has come and gone and although I have experienced it I still don't know if I get the full extent of all it entails. From my perspective it looked like Christmas with lights strewn Everywhere (many of which are still up). It sounded like New Years or Canada Day with firecrackers and fireworks filling the sky with vibrancy and explosions for days! The best part was to feel the sense of holiday with shops closed and local people everywhere wishing those they greet a "Happy Diwali." Moods were upbeat and bouyant giving a true feeling of a joyous holiday.

One night I came home and the owners of my place (who live on the main floor) had lit a small oil candle outside my door. I realized after reading about the festival that these are lit everywhere, including on the Ganga river, to guide Lord Rama home from exile.

Many Indians gave their houses a (fast) coat of fresh paint and bought new houseware items leading up to the festival.

My friend Shelagh, from Whitehorse, sent me a note about Diwali that was forwarded to her and I would like to share it here to give a better sense of the background of the holiday.

Diwali - perhaps the most important festival in Hinduism. It is the harvest festival, the Indian equivalent of Thanksgiving, and so the goddess Maha Lakshmi, supreme symbol of all abundance, wealth and beauty, is worshipped.

Diwali also celebrates Lord Rama’s return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and after having defeated the demon Ravana who had abducted his wife, Sita. Ram embodies the dharma; Sita is the spirit of the earth; Ravana symbolizes the ego and its ignorance. That we must return the spirit of the earth to the heart of dharma is without question.

All across India, the setting off of fireworks and the lighting of oil lamps in the house welcomes the return of Rama. The light on the hearth is synonymous of the welcoming dharma into our hearts and the triumph of light over darkness in our lives and in the world.

So there you have it - a glimpse of Diwali.
I hope each of you are finding the light within and letting it fill you with joy!

~t