For Diwali should not really be a once a year observance…

‘This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.’
The above is taken from an African American spiritual song. The words would seem to support the Hindu view that each one of us possesses an internal laxhmie or light, one sadly that is, more often that not, hidden for most of the time with references made to it during the festival of Diwali. The question is this: amidst all its origins – real and mythological – and all the rhetoric trotted out at this time by so many, how many internalize and exhibit the concept of Diwali as an underpinning of their lives on an ongoing basis? For Diwali should not really be a once a year observance but a life long celebration via which we each enable our internal light to guide our pathway so that we seek to empower the powerless, lift up the downtrodden, advocate on behalf of the voiceless, and each day, with small acts of kindness, honesty, compassion, caring and truthfulness, add our sparks to create the universal bonfire that illuminates the journey towards light – peace, joy, comfort, mutual respect, beauty and serenity – not just for a select few but for all with whom we come into contact and of whose needs we are aware.
May the Divine Light grant us the blessing to maintain our inner spark as a lifetime glow. Shub Diwali to all.