When understanding oneself becomes meditation, every step can become a sacred circumambulation and every relationship an opportunity for spiritual companionship. “My Life—A Diwali Every Day” is a personal journey through self-observation, nature, and learning. Here, a burning lamp offers the light of understanding, while an unlit lamp awakens awareness of one’s ignorance. Through this awareness, the moonless night within gradually moves towards a full moon.
My Life—A Diwali Every Day
I have never been particularly serious about rituals or festivals, whether cultural or religious. Perhaps that is because I have always taken myself seriously—my existence, the questions arising within me, and the journey of understanding my own life.
This earnest attention to myself became my natural way of meditation.
It continues to carry me through every sphere of life. In every step, I find the fulfillment of a sacred circumambulation; in every moment, the peace of a mantra; in every breath, a sense of freedom from the bonds of action and inaction; in every relationship, spiritual companionship; in every circumstance, a lesson; and in every event, a new possibility of freedom.
Through it all, one call keeps echoing within me—
Rabba… Rabba… Rabba…
Whether Haridwar or Amritsar, every sacred place is a center where I can observe, examine, and understand myself. Visiting these places also brings me home to my inner world. I notice where darkness remains, where a question still awaits an answer, and where a small lamp of understanding has begun to glow.
In this way, the moonless night within me gradually becomes a full moon.
This beautiful, captivating season of my journey has turned every place in the world into a laboratory of learning. Somewhere, my patience is tested; elsewhere, my understanding. Sometimes an attachment reveals itself; sometimes my pride. And sometimes an ordinary incident offers such a beautiful lesson that my head bows of its own accord.
Life seems to have given me the certificate of a “disciple-traveler”—a woman who learns as she walks and, through learning, discovers how to bow before the world.
Now every moment is becoming a living lamp for me. That is why I can say—
My life is a Diwali every day.
When the lamp is burning—and when it has gone out.
An unlit lamp makes me aware of my own moonless night, my own ignorance. It invites me to pause and see where the light has yet to reach within me.
And when the light of understanding arrives, that same darkness begins its journey towards a full moon. In this light, I learn the art of living: a little more gentleness in my conduct, a little more openness in my vision, and a little more space in my relationships.
For me, Diwali's meaning unfolds through this learning. Whenever I recognize some darkness within myself, understand something through experience, or bow before another with sincerity, another lamp is lit in my life.
Rabba… Rabba… Rabba…
Quotes
“My earnest desire to understand myself became my natural way of meditation.”
“In every step, I find the fulfillment of a sacred circumambulation; in every relationship, an opportunity for spiritual companionship.”
“Even an unlit lamp teaches me—it makes me aware of the darkness within.”
“When my inner moonless night recognizes its own ignorance, the journey towards a full moon begins.”
“The world is my laboratory, and I am a disciple-traveler through life.”
“As I learn to bow before life, I learn to kindle light within myself.”
“My life is a Diwali every day—each experience can light another lamp of understanding.”
“The call of Rabba lives in my breath; in its echo, I learn the art of living.”
“May there be enough light within us to brighten one another’s lives.”