The Wisdom Of Diwali: Learning To Conquer The Enemy Within

Most of us recognise the festival of Diwali – celebrated all over the world at this time, especially by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains - as a time to celebrate the victory of light over darkness – of the great ancient hero, Lord Rama defeating the evil demon king Ravana, reuniting his family and kingdom, his royal return lit with lamps (hence the name “Diwali” – the festival of lights).

Since those ancient days, Diwali has been an occasion for celebration as well as reflection, forgiveness and a time to leave behind non virtuous qualities within us.

At the same time, although the evil Ravana met his end at the hands of Lord Rama many millennia ago, the battle of good over bad still rages on – relocated to the battleground within ourselves.

And so as conscious leaders in our own families, communities and businesses, we have to defeat our inner Ravana – our inner demons. We all have distractions and undesirable traits within us – from familiar challenges like procrastination, addictions, fears and material excesses, to subtler things such as excessive time spent on social media, gossip and personal obsessions.

According to bestselling author of “Power Versus Force” Dr David Hawkins, all these activities are of a lower vibration, and drag our consciousness, intellect and spirit in a downward direction.

Therefore Diwali, Christmas and other such festivals should not only be a time of celebration, but also a time of reflection - to see how we can improve as individuals and leaders. Many of us have embraced the concept of “the pursuit of happiness”.

What is happiness? If we are constantly chasing it, isn’t it just out of our reach – like the proverbial donkey chasing a carrot dangling at the end of a stick attached to its head?

If we’re looking for things, situations and circumstances outside of ourselves to make us happy then aren’t these very things, by their nature, fleeting and temporary?

Even the people we love – our children, our spouses, family and friends change, grow, evolve or sometimes become distant from us, either geographically or emotionally, as has been evidenced especially in recent times through the global pandemic.

Therein lies the irony - change is the one constant in life! Thus realising that we cannot find true happiness through outside gratification alone, perhaps it is time to look at that elusive reservoir of happiness and peace within – a truth spoken about since time immemorial, by saints, sages and seers who learned it and lived it.

So how shall we uncover such inner contentment, on our journey within?

We have to start by recognising and facing our inner enemies. Renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung referred to this as the “shadow self”. This is the dark side of our personality – traits such as lust, anger, greed, envy, negativity, obsession and so on.

While the purity and immortality of our soul remain considerations for more philosophical moments, it remains true that our ego accumulates the dark side of our personality through countless life experiences.

Therefore, in order to progress ourselves in the outer world and enjoy the successes we covet, we need to venture inside - re-discover and reconnect with our true selves, our deeper spiritual essence – a theme echoed by many faiths, psychologists and popular coaches alike. 

Assisted by an expert if needed, we need to safely open up our internal Pandora’s box to face emotions and negative aspects of ourselves that we have been burying for years (or as some would argue, for lifetimes) – and learn to do this without judgement, with patience, perseverance and love.

Where do we start?

The first place is to spend time with ourselves to get to know and sit with our “shadow self”. Start to shed light into the darkness.

Just as Rama used mystical weapons against the demon Ravana, we can employ the following practices as our “weapons” to overcome our own inner demons:

• Meditation and Reflection: taking time to step away from it all, quieten the thought-storms through the power of focused presence, achieved through systematic breathing, mindfulness and other such techniques, as well as “switch-off” activities such as yoga, swimming and jogging.

This allows us to re-examine old beliefs, calm our inner critic and heal ancient wounds. If you struggle on your own, then seek out online group meditation gatherings or guided meditation audios.

• Repeating carefully phrased affirmations (inspired by the ancient practice of chanting mantras) in a suitably relaxed state, when the subconscious mind is more receptive to positive programming.

By harnessing your mind/brain plasticity through repeating positively-worded affirmations over and over again, you start to engrain and entrain new patterns of thinking, leading to more conducive decisions and behaviours, gradually diminishing the stranglehold of those unwanted thoughts and traits.

• The power of quality association – “You are the average of the 5 people you associate with the most”. So we need to become more mindful of the company we keep. Seek out people that inspire you, that push you to be a better person and spend more time with in their company aiding one another (even if that means virtually/online these days).
• Time in Nature – Connecting with nature, including our non-human friends – can open vistas of healing, inspiration and inner fortitude. This can be synergistically coupled with meditation, reflection and journaling.
•  Purposeful reading – Even 15-30 minutes a day, of self-help books or inspirational (auto)biographies, can aid in our personal growth, subtle purification and ultimately elevation. 

To conclude – by combining some or all of these practises into your daily or weekly schedule, coupled with consistency and perseverance, we can rewrite our own story of light over darkness, as Lord Rama did over Ravana millennia ago – allowing us to reign as the peaceful monarch of both our inner and outer empire.

It’s never too late – your kingdom awaits!

Happy Diwali to you all.

Prash

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