TAMSO MA JYOTIR GAMAYA...

TAMSO MA JYOTIR GAMAYA...

Can there be light in a dark room? Or if there is light, can the room be dark?
Think about it. There can be no light if
there is darkness, there can be no
darkness if there is light. You have to
choose - darkness or light. Deepawali is the darkest night of the
year, the night of kartik amavasya. It is
the night when the dark forces are at
their peak; the night which is ideal for
black magic and occult practices, and
also a perfect occasion to veil oneself in the darkness of alcohol and gambling…
if darkness is what you choose.
However, the darkest hour also holds
within it the promise of a new dawn…
The night of Diwali is also the night
when it is easiest to access the power of light - the residents of Ayodhya chose
light. A single ray of light is enough to
dispel darkness and Ayodhyavasis lit
each and every corner because that was
the intensity with which they wanted
light. And so, Ayodhya was blessed with the homecoming of Ram, Sita and
Lakshman. The essence of Diwali lies in the shloka,
‘tamso maa jyotir gamaya’, that is, take me from darkness to light, light
here referring to the light of internal
gyan - the glow of which attracts the
devi (Lakshmi) home. It is a night not to
ask for more and more wealth, but a
night to request the Goddess to give you wealth but also detach you from it,
because all that is physical is nashvar
(temporary)…it will go and when it
does, it will give you immense pain. Starting from the 13th day of krishna
paksh of the month of ashwin till the
2nd day of shukl paksh of the month of
kartik, the energy of various nakshatras is focussed on earth; and on the night of
kartik amavasya, that is Diwali, the
energy patterns are especially conducive
for the manifestation of gods in
general, and Goddess Lakshmi in
particular. The interesting thing about Goddess
Lakshmi is that she cannot stay at one
place for long. If one traces the life of Sita, this fact would be evident. She
emerged from the earth, spent her
childhood at Raja Janaks, to be married
off in Ayodhya, to be exiled to
the forests, to be abducted to Lanka
and then be rescued and returned to Ayodhya, only to leave for Rishi
Valmiki’s ashram and finally merge back
into the earth. Neither Janak nor Ram,
or Ravan or even Luv and Kusha, could
keep her for long…such is the swaroop
and shakti of Goddess Lakshmi. It is foolish to even think that you can hold
on to her and the wealth and physical
riches that she brings with her...all of it
is bound to leave. So instead of waiting
for Goddess Lakshmi to come to your
house and shower wealth and physical pleasures upon you, this Diwali try
something different. Ask, but also give.
Have fun, but also be prepared by
asking for detachment from the
physical.
The physical is governed by the energy world and each one of us has the
potential to access these energies and
create all that is physical. Sanatan Kriya
details the shodakshri mantra, ‘ka ee ai
la hreem ha sa ka ha la hreem sa ka la
hreem’, which when chanted along with lighting a lamp of cow ghee in front of
the devi, bestows one with physical
wealth as well as gives the route to exit
maya. However for any mantra to have
desired effects, it is important to receive
it from your Guru, who is siddha in the mantra and hence has the capacity to
transfer it to you. If one looks at his/her life he/she will
realise that there is pain in every aspect
of pleasure - the pain of losing that
pleasure. This is a trait of Lakshmi
(maya), yet we run after that which is
temporary and is sure to leave us…all in the hope that it would never leave us. We should not forget that the Goddess
Lakshmi rides on an owl (ullu)...a being
that lives in darkness. You must realise
that the ullu that Godess Lakshmi rides
on...is you. Tamso ma jyotir gamaya....is the only
hope and the only pleasure, rest all is
pain. May you all realise the full
potential of the shakti on this
Diwali...blessings.

-Yogi Ashwini