Diwali Thoughts

Nemaste and Jay Shiya Ram

I greet you with the auspicious remembrance of the sacredness of these times.
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My regular readers might wonder why I am blogging about a "Hindu" festival. I remind them to read this entry here.

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Right, hopefully you read that entry and any confusion is dispelled.... now to the blog of the day:
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I am thinking about the festival and time of Diwali or Deepavali.

Many people celebrate with Lamps, reminding them of the time Lord Rama victoriously re-entered his Kingdom Ayodhya after a time of exile.

In my thoughts at this time, I am thinking beyond this.

In Lord Rama's story the Ramayana, one recalls what preceded that victorious re-entry. There is an incredibly important lesson, that some may sometimes miss.

That is the battle against the Demonic King Ravana. Rama's fighter Lakshman joined the great battle.
Lakshman was wounded in battle. Lakshman the great Warrior. Lakshman the fighter, Lakshman the hope who could possibly secure a victory for God, Lakshman was wounded.

Worse yet, there was almost no way for the Great fighter Lakshman to recover or heal from the wound, not on Ravana's battlefield.

Can you imagine then the personal anguish and profound, almost overwhelming worry of Lord Rama's aides and friends for Lakshman at that time. You see if Lakshman lost then they'd lose and there would be no hope.

In life, the present situation can overwhelm us. We can be so scared because we think that this is it. We are done, this is the end and we can't get help.

But, too Lord Rama's and Lakshman's aid came his faithful, loving, trusted and devoted friend, Lord Hanuman.

Hanuman answered his friend's call for help and just listened. With FAITH, Devotion and LOVE for God, Hanuman listened. He caught Lord Rama's instruction on how Hanuman can help the situation. Hanuman didn't worry about anything. Hanuman simply listened with love and with Faith and knew that he could do what was needed.

Hanuman was asked to get healing herbs from a medicine Mountain. And so, he went to the mountain to find them. But Hanuman had trouble locating the healing herbs. Hanuman's faith could not be dimmed even a little bit. With god-like strength he lifted up the whole mountain and took it back to the battlefield. The healing herbs were found and applied to Lakshman's wounds. Lakshman was healed and able to fight again. Victory was secured for Lord Rama and things were good again.

Here it is. The big lesson.

Hanuman is not a being of profound wisdom. Hanuman is really just a monkey-man. 
Why does Lord Rama chose a monkey-man to help him. Remember that as God on Earth, Lord Rama has the entire universe, all animals, all people Everyone. Lord Rama could've chosen anyone else. I mean, yes Hanuman had some great physical strength, but so did so many others and they also had a lot more than that, great skills to assist the Lord in what the Lord needed.
BUT, Lord Rama still chose the monkey-man. Why???

What was special about the monkey-man.

Lord Hanuman had FAITH and Devotion. When everyone else had lost hope, Hanuman's total faith in God and his ability to tune in to the words of God is what ended up not only helping Hanuman but everyone.

When everyone else was scared and overwhelmed and did not know what to do, Lord Hanuman only looked to and heard the voice of God. Through that he could then serve God.

When Hanuman lacked wisdom at the medicine Mountain, Hanuman relied on his faith. And quite literally his FAITH carried him AND the mountain to be there for God's purpose.


This to me is what I am thinking about in 2015, as the time of Diwali approaches.

We can not forget that Diwali is not just the time that the Light of God had a resounding victory which echoed down the ages. Yes, this is profound and important.

BUT!!!!  Let us also remember something of EQUAL if not Greater Importance.

Yes, Light won. But Darkness also lost.

Demonic Darkness, (which nearly overcame and took away the faith of God's people), was DEFEATED!!!

But it was not the Greatness and Glory of God that defeated that Darkness.

Darkness was defeated by the Love, Devotion and Faith held in the hearts of God's devoted followers and worshipers.

That is the lesson that I want to share with you all.

Jay Shiya Ram