Deepawali
is the festival of lights.
It is said that lighting a lamp at the time of Aarti helps contain one's foes.
One can see many 'deeps' lit on the night of Diwali. Numerous 'deeps' of
different sizes and shapes are lighted in houses. One can find both earthen and
metallic deeps with different fuels like mustard-oil, sesame-oil, ghee and even
wax. Lamps are many, those lighting the lamps are many, the flames are many as
well but the fire in all the flames is one and the same. Thus the festival of
lights, Deepawali brings home to us the message that our physical forms may be
many, our minds and thoughts may be diverse but the eternal witness to all of
them is One and only One, the Light of all lights, the Supreme Consciousness. If
you become established in that One, only then will you celebrate the Diwali of
the highest order, the Supreme Diwali.
There are many varieties of firecrackers but gunpowder is common to all. The one
Supreme Power is active behind all actions of the beings. To establish the mind
in that One God is Yoga, whereas to consider the diverse forms to be real and
chase the mirage of sense-enjoyments is sheer wretchedness. Someone has put it
nicely, 'Those hankering after sense enjoyments repent in the end. But not all
are aware of this, as such.'
The citizens of Ayodhya were unhappy, troubled and terribly worried until the
dawn of Ramarajya, the rule of Lord Rama. When Lord Rama was in exile, Ayodhya
wore a desolate look. Similarly devoid of the nectarine Bliss of the True Self,
our body, the city with nine doors, is desolate and miserable, no matter how
hard we may try to bring cheer to this physical existence.
It was on this day of Diwali that Lord Rama was to arrive in Ayodhya, and as
such all the houses and streets were cleaned and decorated. Sweets were
distributed and lamps were lit in celebration of Lord Rama's homecoming.
These are but external lamps and outward cleanliness. However it is the benign
expectation of the Lord, the Holy Scriptures and our glorious culture that we,
at the same time, should cleanse our hearts as well and purge it of the venom of
animosity. They want us to eliminate all thoughts of fear, tension, worry and
sorrow. Only then will Lord Rama, in the form of the Atman, manifest in the
Ayodhya of this body, thereby bringing the supreme sense of fulfilment to us.
Rama, in the human form as son of King Dasharatha, had taken incarnation in the
city of Ayodhya, but the all-pervading Rama is willing to manifest in the
Ayodhya of your body. Just make preparations for this grand event. Remove all
negative, complaining tendencies and eliminate all thoughts that lead to grief
and sorrow. The solution against misery is to stop thinking about it. The way
out of distress is to consider the past as a mere dream and realize the Self,
the Supreme Soul, the Light of all lights as your very own.
(Lord Shiva tells His consort Parvati who is also known as Uma) 'O Uma! Let me
tell you my own experience: only the Lord's name is eternal; everything else is
but a passing dream.'
One grieves over the past, is scared of the future and enamoured with the
present; and consequently falls in the dark pit of depravity. Before Lord Rama
manifests Himself in this Ayodhya of your body, Bharata, the mind, has to gain
complete control over it. Ramarajya is not attained so easily. Bharata used to
wear the clothes of a recluse, live in a hut, sleep on the ground and rule over
Ayodhya with self-restraint awaiting Lord Rama's arrival. 'This kingdom is not
mine. It belongs to Sri Ramaji; I am just a servant of Lord Rama,' Bharata would
think.
Similarly, your mind, Bharata, should not take this body to be 'I' or 'mine'. It
has been bestowed upon you by the Lord Who has supreme ownership over it. You
are a mere caretaker to it. Bharata managed Ayodhya for 14 years. You may have
charge over this body for 40, 50 or, at the most 100 years, but finally you have
to yield this body to the Lord. If you don't do so willingly, the messengers of
Yama will force you to do it. Therefore keep praying, 'Let the actions of my
body, the thoughts of my mind and the decisions of my intellect all be oriented
towards the fulfilment of the Lord's Divine Purpose.'
As soon as the mind, Bharata, removes the garbage of sorrow, grief and anxiety
from the mind, the Rama of Divine Love manifests in the heart.
Bharata ruled over Ayodhya with great self-restraint and disciplined the
subjects before the advent of Lord Rama. Your mind should likewise pursue the
spiritual path with tremendous restraint and discipline before the reins of your
self are taken over by the Supreme Consciousness.
If you eat whatever you like, if you have no control over your speech, if you go
wherever your mind takes you, then it is simply impossible to have the Lord take
over the kingdom of your heart. For that, you have to live a life of complete
self-restraint like Bharata and take care of your body like a trustee with no
sense of identification with it. Neither be frightened nor scare others. Do not
grieve nor cause grief to others. Do not get worried nor be a cause of worry to
others. Live a carefree and a fearless life without a trace of sorrow. Who can
lead a carefree life' He whose actions are singularly oriented towards the love
of the Lord, the supreme abode of carefreeness. Who can be fearless' He, who
knows himself not as the body, but as the Almighty, the Supreme fearless Being.
Who is free from sorrow' He who understands that he belongs to the Lord, the
eradicator of sorrow, and considers the Lord to be his very own. You too can
live a life free from worry, fear and sorrow by establishing the rule of Bharata'