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Shubh Deepawali

Deepawali is a festival of lights. After defeating Ravana, Ram returns to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana. The story of the Ramayana has fascinated me for a long time. It always appears to me to be a story of all of us—the story of Rama and Ravana within us—the Ravana of "ego" and the Rama of "consciousness." 

The first stage of this "inner play" is set in Ayodhya that represents the mental plane. We generally stay in the mental plane where our "intellect" or the "rational mind" rules like Dashratha. Like Dashratha, who has a chariot that can travel in 10 directions, the intellect can also think in 8 physical directions, the quantum world, and the cosmic world. We are quite happy in the mental world. The problem arises when the "intellect" wants to hand over the kingdom of the mental world to the "consciousness" represented by Rama. Manthara represents "Chitta, " the storehouse of past memories and desires. our "Chitta" convinces the "Mana" represented by Kaikeyi to ask two boons that the "intellect" gave to it in a moment of crisis. Thus "Mana" and "Chitta" together send the "consciousness" away from the mental world and there is great mental suffering. Like the people of Ayodhya suffering, and Dashratha dying due to separation from Rama, our mind too suffers and we experience stress, anxiety, and depression.

The next stage is set in the forest which represents the world of our "prana". Having experienced suffering in the mental world, sometimes, we get the right guidance and enter the world of "Prana". As we concentrate on breathing, the Parana, Samana, and Apana Vayu get balanced. "Prana" represented by Lakshmana always connects us to the cosmic world, and "Apana" represented by Bharata connects us to the quantum world and helps us execute our worldly functions, the way Bharata ruled Ayodhya as a representative of Rama. The "Samana" Vayu represented by Hanumana helps us find the inner "Lanka" which is the root cause of all the turbulence. That is why concentration on breathing is quite a critical step in the process of self-realization. It helps us connect to these three powers within us. The power of wisdom flows into our body through "Prana" Vayu and helps us understand the purpose of life and the cosmic law of nature. The power of concentration represented by "Samana" Vayu helps us concentrate on the inner unconscious world which is the storehouse of all our past Karmas or habit patterns. The awareness of the quantum world, represented by "Apana" Vayu helps us do our worldly role like an agent of the Rama the way Bharata did it.

The next stage is set in Kiskinda and Lanka. Raman takes Sugriva along. Just peeping into the inner unconscious world is not going to help. We have to take "initiatives" in this world represented by Sugriva to do selfless acts that float on the sea of this material world, rather than sinking like the heavy stones of selfish karma. That builds a bridge between the material world and the unconscious world represented by Lanka. Then we reach our unconscious mind where the inner Ravana is the king. Even after reaching the unconscious mind, it is not easy to kill him. He has many faces and keeps taking different forms, even if we cut one or its head. Even if the fixation on money goes, it will come back in the form of power. If fixation on powers goes, it will come back in the form of social validation and appreciation. It keeps taking different forms like fixation on the family, relatives, kids, life after death, beliefs, community, caste, religion, and so on. Finally, when Rama hits Ravana at the naval, it dies. We too have to hit an arrow of "awareness' at the naval of "ignorance".

Today, Rama is coming back to Ayodhya having done all this. We too have to kill our inner Ravana of ignorance that rules our unconscious mind so that Ayodhya can be ruled by Rama. It's not easy and the inner Ravana keeps taking different forms. First of all, it is quite difficult to reach the unconscious world within us. We need the help of Hanumana inside us to concentrate. This process can not happen unless we have an awareness of the cosmic and quantum world. Then we have to take the selfless initiatives that help us build a bridge with our unconscious world. Then only, with the help of our past pious Samskaras, we get to know that Ravana can be killed by hitting the naval. In this world full of greed, aggression, exploitation, inequality, fear, and wars, there is hardly any reason to celebrate Deepawali. Yet, it reminds us of the Ravana within. A ray of light can destroy entire darkness, similarly, awareness of the Ravana within is the first step towards the cleaning of the inner world. Wish everybody a Shubh Deepawali. 

प्रवाह

flow.pravah@gmail.com

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