Happy Navaratri, dear readers. It’s that time of the year to be social and visit each other on soft October evenings, go to pujas and temples if we wish, eat sweets if permitted, and consciously think more good thoughts than ever. The jubilant mood goes on till Deepavali on November 12 and all the way beyond that to Dev Deepavali on November 26, which is Kartik Poornima or Kartikai Deepam. Dev Deepavali is observed in a big way at ‘Hindu Central’—Varanasi—to mark Lord Shiva’s annihilation of the three demon cities, called Tripura Dahan.
Indeed, this entire festival period is essentially about the power of Good defeating the power of Evil and restoring dharmic balance when the wicked tilt the scale.The Devi Mahatmyaham recited during Navaratri chronicles the killing of the demons Shumba and Nishumba, and then the bull demon Mahishasura by Devi. Vijayadashami or the Victorious Tenth, the end of the festival, celebrates Sri Rama killing Ravana in battle while Deepavali, twenty days later, celebrates his homecoming.
A big idea is of no earthly use unless it applies practically to our daily lives. So, what deeper message do our festivals have for us beyond the festivities?
In my view, Navaratri seems to be a time of personal focus when we review our life goals and ‘update our software’ on how we want to live. It is a particularly intense time of connecting with the good energy of the universe, symbolised by Devi.
Deepavali is when we can sincerely try to repair broken relationships with family, friends, neighbours and colleagues and resolve unpleasant situations. It could be a small tiff or a big breakdown. But it is our personal homecoming to a baggage-less self and a clear conscience that “at least we tried”.
Dev Deepavali or Kartik Poornima is a time to promise ourselves that our good intentions will carry us through the next six months until Holi. That is when the calendar offers us another big opportunity to cleanse our minds of bad baggage. It is when the thought of Bhakta Prahlad prompts us to get rid of toxic people from our lives or at least distance ourselves mentally from them as best as we can. Especially by establishing non-reactive mental boundaries against their gaslighting, which means their attempts to put us down.
So, our festivals thoughtfully cater to both ends of the spectrum, from giving us an honourable occasion on which to mend fences to letting us know that it’s okay to detach ourselves from hurtful and harmful people and that if we want to build up the mental courage to do so, Holi, coming up on March 25, 2024, is an inspiration to work towards.
What’s so endearing about these underlying messages from the festivals is that they don’t rush us. They give us time to process our wishes and feelings, confront our fears, be compassionate to ourselves and essentially, love ourselves. This is not to promote selfishness. Rather, these festivals are culturally built-in opportunities to get to a better place in our psyches, and obviously nobody can do that unless they first encourage themselves to heal and feel at peace.
This healing changes the way we deal with people and positively affects the atmosphere. So, if more people do this, that is, if they work positively on ‘Project Me’, society benefits as a whole and life can be smoother and more pleasant all around.
A big physical move towards healing is to become aware of one’s breathing. This focuses the mind on the two simple steps of inhaling and exhaling, which help to empty the mind of anxiety. This can be done quietly at different times of the day. Daily exercise, or walking steadily, not necessarily fast, for even twenty minutes, improves breathing and overall physicality. Morning walks are greatly upheld but mornings are chaotic for many people. Welcome to the evening walk. Between 4 p.m and sunset is considered an ideal time. Perhaps working people can slip out of the office around teatime even if it’s only to walk around a few corners.
Another big step towards sound sleep and good mental health is to stop looking at the phone or laptop at least an hour before bedtime. This may sound incredibly hard to do nowadays but it’s worth a shot, especially if one is armed with a book to read in bed. Soft lighting is extremely important here so I cannot stress the importance enough of switching off the overhead light before bedtime and investing in a bedside lamp with a kindly yellow light, not a cold, harsh white light. Plenty of good, inexpensive options are available online. So, this Festival of Lights, shouldn’t we start showing some self-love by lulling ourselves to sleep with some kind, soothing lighting?
Also read: Finding the spiritual treasure within
Sound, healing sleep is hard to achieve if our minds are tortured by anxious thoughts. Social pressure, family pressure, work pressure, harsh words, difficult circumstances and our own fears of not doing enough, not having enough or not being ‘good enough’ in a competitive world can all be deeply disturbing.
But there is a cultural message about that as well in our festivals. It is to offer thanksgiving for all the good things that we do have, instead of focusing on what we don’t have as peer pressure forces us to do. Indeed, the sister-practice of becoming breath-aware is to practice gratitude. Gratitude is the backbone of our relationships, be it with each other or with God.
If we read our scriptures attentively, we find that epic protagonists are always saying thanks. Kunti after Kurukshetra, when Krishna takes her leave to return to Dwaraka, says, “May misfortune keep visiting us so that you return to our side.” After everything that she’s been through, it’s a terribly grateful thing to say.If we count our blessings before we sleep, we put a positive, not negative spin on our lives. I hope this festival season brings us many blessings.
Renuka Narayanan
(shebaba09@gmail.com)