Diwali Inspirations

The skies of Fort Cochin are dazzling with fireworks tonight. The crackling sounds are continuous as Malayalam people ignite the city. Today begins the festival of Diwali, a five-day holiday commemorating the story of Krishna and Narakasura and the prevailing of good over evil. The story tells us how, against all odds, Sri Krishna conquers the evil Narakasura and brings peace and goodness to the people. Though the holiday is celebrated more elaborately in Northern India than in the South, it is still acknowledged with firecrackers, sweet foods and joyful parties and gatherings.

The full name, Deepavali falls the day before the new moon in the Malayalam month Thulam (which usually falls sometime between October and November.

I spent some of the afternoon with Amma and Sardha in the kitchen today because I wanted to help make the sweet for the holiday. We shopped together to buy the ingredients for Payasam, a delicious, very sweet, pudding made from vermicelli, jaggery, milk, cardamom, coconut, and cashews. The vermicelli is broken into bite size pieces before frying it in a small amount of ghee. Then everything is put all together into boiling milk and stirred into a pudding.

Diwali is a holiday of lights. Ultimately it’s about rejoicing in the Inner light. Tonight after our Yoga practice and supper, we all gather around to light candles. Each person’s candle is a symbol for directing light to a part of our self that we consider to be dark. Identifying that part of our self is an acknowledgement that I am not perfect and creating a plan to change it is important. I like that idea, because it allows me to make mistakes. I also like the concept of accepting imperfection in myself. Then I can accept it in others too.

Diwali is a story about good succeeding over evil. We are born with the capacity and ability for both. Life is the pursuit to battle between the two. Striving to be a good, loving and compassionate person seems so easy when it is just about the ‘what’.

I just finished a book by Dr. Brian Weiss called Many Lives, Many Masters. In the last few pages he writes, “Lip service without the behavior has no value. It is easy to read about or talk about love and charity and faith. But to do it, to feel it, almost requires an altered state of consciousness. Not the transient state offered by drugs, alcohol or unexpected emotions. The permanent state is reached by knowledge and understanding.”

It is not what we say that makes us good. I’ve spent too many hours in school staff rooms to know that if wteachers actually did what they talk about doing, our classrooms would be much richer learning environments.

Most of us know what it means to be a good person. We talk about it all the time. It is sustaining the physical behaviours, the acts and the practices, that make the real differences. It is understanding that the more we practice, the easier it gets and the ‘habit’ becomes ingrained in our soul.

I do believe we are becoming more conscious. I know many of us are mindful and intentional about the way we live our lives. We are, perhaps out of necessity, cognizant about our environment, about our personal relationships, business relationships and global relationships. We are learning, and attempting to put into practice what we learn. It takes time. We are all still in school.

I can only hope that the light continues to shine brightly this year, and that by this time next year (Diwali 2012) we will notice that our world is just a little bit brighter, and clearer and strong. Happy Diwali to all!