On Saturday night, I went to the Eldorado Canyon Yoga Ashram for an hour-long chant in celebration of Diwali, or Festival of Lights in India. Here is a brief explanation:
While Diwali is popularly known as the "festival of lights," the most significant spiritual meaning is "the awareness of the inner light." Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Diwali is the celebration of this inner light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings Ananda (inner joy or peace).
Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that worth celebrating? (and they do, in India, for FIVE DAYS!)
If you've never chanted or meditated, you're missing out on an amazingly powerful practice. Start out with 5 minutes a day even. Don't expect miracles, don't expect perfection, just be! Quiet your mind, light some candles, sit on a comfy cushion, listen to your breath or repeat a mantra that either has some meaning for you or just vibrates with the rhythm of your soul.
Let your light shine! You ARE beautiful! You ARE divine! You ARE perfection!
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