Sunday, October 22, 2006

Light and Dark

I write my sixtieth post to mark Deepawali, the Hindu festival of lights. This year, while watching the preparations for this event, I started thinking about Light and what it means for us. In the process, my over-prosaic mind churned out a bundle of thoughts, which are offered below:

Deepawali is celebrated to mark the homecoming of Ram, the crown prince of ancient Ayodhya, who was exiled for fourteen years. On that evening, which also happened to be amaavasyaa (a moonless night), the people of Ayodhya lit row upon row of deeps (oil lamps) to light his path. Their attempt was to mark their joy by turning night into day. It is on this effort, that the little grey cells are currently focused.

Can any amount of oil lamps generate enough light to make the night seem like day? Even in the present day and age, do electric lights actually generate enough energy to make such an illusion possible? To the best of my knowledge, the answer is in the negative... What this means, therefore, is that the attempt to dispel the darkness is symbolic. It with this symbolism, that I am most impressed as well as inspired.

To my mind, the visual phenomenon of darkness is not of much consequence here. Darkness is the absence of light, nothing more. Without light, the rods and cones of our eyes are unstimulated and the phenomenon of vision does not occur. From a physiological perspective this is obviously very important, but this discussion will not concern itself with the physiological world. Instead, it is the spiritual significance of Deepawali, that presents itself as a particularly delectable morsel for the mind! :)

Darkness, to me, is much more than the troublesome impediment that makes it difficult to find the bathroom door in the middle of the night. It is transitory at best and easily dealt with by turning on a bedside lamp. Real darkness exists not in the external world, but in the human mind. It consists of ignorance, hatred, fear, anger and unhappiness (to name but a few). It is far more persistent and (oddly) unpredictable in its assaults on our sensibilities that its physically manifest cousin. Deepawali, for me, is a symbol of the human pledge to fight and banish this darkness, that lurks in the consciousness of almost every person.

"Tamasoma jyotirgamayah" - "From darkness, take me to light" - is the second part of the ancient Sanskrit prayer to the divine, that asks for human consciousness to be guided towards truth, light and immortality. The light that it asks for is the radiance of knowledge, peace, joy and hope. These are the only weapons that banish darkness from our minds...they are the tools that can permanently achieve the phenomenon of turning night into day.

The way I see it, when Ram returned to his kingdom, his coming was the answer to the prayers of his people, who spent fourteen long years hoping for his return. They lit their lamps to mark the way in which his advent dispelled their sorrow and kindled in its place, the expectation of joyous days ahead. Ram took samadhi in the Sarayu river, thousands of years ago, but the tradition that his homecoming started, remains till today. When we light our lamps, turn on the endless chains of twinkling electric lights and burst lakhs of rupees worth of crackers (which I still think is a senseless waste), we symbolically use light and sound to dispel darkness. The real magic happens within our minds, when we pray for the new year, asking for knowledge abundance, prosperity and joy. We envision ourselves and our loved ones as revelling in these gifts. Our happiness and laughter is powered by these dreams, which is why it effectively pierces the night and spreads the message of Deepawali. On this day, when we are surrounded be people whom we care about...when we give and receive tokens of affection from our friends and relatives, we suddenly become aware of how much happiness we get from the company of these people. Their smiles ease our cares, when necessary their shoulders bear the burden of our tears, and every moment spent with them is a blessing in itself. Which oil lamp can ever match the brightness that they bring to our lives? :)

Yes, darkness is indeed the absence of light. On Deepawali we make a commitment to fight against darkness both within and without. Whilst movements of the sun and the earth make the latter an inescapable phenomenon, we vow to never stray from the path that banishes the darkness of the human mind. In gaining knowledge and spreading knowledge, cherishing our families and friends and doing those little things that speak volumes lies the key to our ultimate enlightenment.

Happy Deepawali to us all! God Bless :)

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