www.diwalifestival.org

Diwali, an excerpt from That Which Awakens Me by Ananda Leeke (iUniverse, Inc. - Winter 2009)

Copyright 2008 by Madelyn Leeke


Today marks the new year celebration of Diwali (or Deepavali), the Festival of Lights. It is a major Indian holiday in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism that is celebrated on the new moon day. Diwali honors the awakening of humanity's inner light. It also celebrates the victory of good over evil and new year of luck and wealth. It reminds us that when we awaken to our true nature as spiritual beings, we are able to experience love, compassion, the awareness of the oneness with everyone and everything in the universe, and bliss.

Tonight my friends Nisha and Siddharth hosted a Diwali celebration in their home. I was so excited to attend because it was my very first Diwali celebration. I learned about Diwali while writing my first novel, Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One (http://www.lovestroubadours.com/). I was initially attracted to the fact that Diwali honors the inner light of humanity. The concept of the inner light of humanity reminded me of the reason that I practice meditation, yoga, Reiki, and other contemplative practices. It was so powerful to make this connection. That's why I included a conversation about Diwali in my novel.

This evening Nisha and Siddharth served a tasty buffet of sweet and spicy Indian cuisine. They also shared Indian music and the history of Diwali. I had so much fun tasting the different food, talking and dancing with other guests, and learning about how Nisha and Siddharth celebrate Diwali in America and India. What a blessing!

On the way home from the Diwali celebration, I started thinking about the sacred circle of friends that surround me. Each person represents a powerful light that energizes my life. Together we create a tremendous circle of energy through giving and receiving support. Our definitions, expectations, and perceptions of support vary.

In the past two years, I have learned several lessons about giving and receiving support. Some of these lessons have helped me examine and readjust my expectations and judgments of others'. This awareness helped me open my heart and expand my definition of what it means to give and receive support. It also allowed me to practice letting go of my judgments, perceptions, and expectations of others when they don't provide support in the way that I think they should. I am still learning to navigate this one! I know it is a lifetime process!

What amazes me the most is that my ability to accept myself and others as where we are has increased. It is a daily practice filled with surprises, successes, and struggles. All in all is a gift! This practice of acceptance has taught me how to give myself and my sacred circle of people more space to be human in how we show up for ourselves and each other. As a result, our sacred circle of shared energy has intensified with so much more love, intimacy, acceptance, connection, peace, honesty, affirmation, friendship, solidarity, beauty, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness.

The way we now exchange the energy of support is more fluid and open. It happens on so many levels that include spending time with each other in person, talking by phone or email, sharing information, writing cards or letters of appreciation, spreading the word about another person's gifts and talents on social media (i.e. blogs and web sites), attending events, purchasing services and products, bartering services, saying thank you, being grateful, sending positive vibes of love and light, making referrals, praying for and affirming another person's dreams etc. The list is endless and priceless. My prayer is that I continue to grow with my sacred circle of people and open my heart so that I experience the power and presence of the collective energy beaming from our inner lights.