{"id":726,"date":"2020-11-05T00:19:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T00:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.org\/?p=726"},"modified":"2020-11-11T21:05:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T21:05:00","slug":"het-eeuwige-lichtjesfeest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/2020\/11\/het-eeuwige-lichtjesfeest\/","title":{"rendered":"Het Eeuwige Lichtjesfeest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prof.em. Dr. Ir. Gerrit Broekstra (author), Milady A. Cardamone (translator)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like all traditional festivals, the Diwali \u2018festival of lights\u2019 takes place once each year, lasts a very short period of time, and is celebrated through rituals and traditions in the joyful environment of family and friends. In this year 2020 of the pandemic the Diwali celebration will be significantly impacted. However, the real Festival of Lights is within us, is always there, lasts for eternity and is not affected by anything whatsoever. We are, of course, referring to the \u2018Light of all lights\u2019, jyotis\u0323\u0101m jyoti\u1e25, of which it is said that it is beyond darkness: tamasah\u0323 param ucyate; and that it exists in the hearts of all: hr\u0323di sarvasya vis\u0323t\u0323hitam (Bhagavad-gi\u0304t\u0101, 13.17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is it called \u2018Light of all lights\u2019? The light of the sun, the moon, the stars and also of the fire of the diyas of Diwali \u2018shine because they are enkindled by the Light of Consciousness of the Self,\u2019 as Sri Sankaracarya thoughtfully comments on verse 13.17. Verse 15.12 of the Gi\u0304t\u0101 reinforces this: \u2018That Light that is Consciousness, which is in the sun which illumines the whole world, that which is in the moon, and that which is in fire \u2013 know that Light to be Mine [Brahman or the Self].\u2019 Desiring a long life, even the gods meditate through its attribute of longevity upon the amr\u0323tam jyotis\u0323\u0101m jyotis, \u2018that immortal Light of all lights, which is the revealer of even such luminaries as the sun,\u2019 as is confirmed by one of the oldest and principal Upanis\u0323ads, the Brihadaranyaka in verse IV.iv.16. Many examples may be found in the ancient Indian scriptures of the Light of all lights that abides in us as our true nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, in the Ashtavakra-gita, which for the first time has been recently translated directly from Sanskrit into Dutch under the title Know yourself: the end of the fake I, the experience of the Light of the Self is discussed several times. After Ashtavakra had told his disciple King Janaka that he \u2013 meaning his own Self or \u0101tman \u2013 is Pure Consciousness (verse 1.3) and self-effulgent, sva-prak\u0101s\u0301ah\u0323 (1.15), the awakened Janaka exclaimed: \u2018Light, prak\u0101s\u0301ah\u0323, is my true nature; I am not different from That<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the universe manifests itself, then it is indeed I alone that shines\u2019 (verse 2.8). That is to say, it is essentially the Self alone that manifests itself, like waves on the ocean, and that is conscious of itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Light here is, of course, not the light that we know from physics that has a certain wavelength, but is a metaphor for Pure Consciousness which illumines or reveals the knower, the process of knowing and the known. This implies that Consciousness somehow makes our thoughts and experiences \u2018visible\u2019 (in the mind) without being affected by them, just as objects are made visible by the light of the sun without the sun being affected by them. As said, we can find many more examples in the ancient scriptures about the blissful Light of our true Self that is always shining within us, indeed that we are<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A more contemporary and worldwide respected jnani, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi (1879-1950) also once said (and quite appropriate for the Diwali celebration): \u2018You yourself are the illumination. The usual illustration of this is the following. You make all kinds of sweets of various ingredients and in various shapes and they all taste sweet because there is sugar in all of them and sweetness is the nature of sugar. And in the same way all experiences and the absence of them contain the illumination which is the nature of the Self. Without the Self they cannot be experienced, just as without sugar not one of the articles you make can taste sweet.\u2019 (Osborne, p. 134.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us now focus on the question of why we notice so little of the \u2018sweetness\u2019 of our own Self and how we can then realize that Light as our permanent reality. Knowledge of your Self, \u0101tma-vidy\u0101<\/em>, is in fact easy, says Ramana Maharshi. You are That already; you just have to remove the biggest obstacle, the illusion of your fake \u2018I\u2019. By identifying with what you are not, the body, your mind has created a fantasy-\u2018I\u2019 or false self which gives you the illusion of individuality, of being a person. In other words, that unreal \u2018I\u2019 obscures the Light of the real \u2018I\u2019, just as clouds obscure the light of the sun.\u00a0And just as in twilight a piece of rope can be taken for the illusion of a snake, so through ignorance the substratum of your true Self is taken for the illusion of a false self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An illuminating example of this confusion is given in Sri Sankaracharya\u2019s Aparoksh\u0101nubh\u016bti <\/em>(or Self-Realization). In verse 20 it is said: \u2018The Self, \u0101tm\u0101<\/em>, is the pure Illuminator, svaccha\u1e25 prak\u0101\u015baka\u1e25<\/em>; the body is said to be of the nature of darkness, t\u0101masa\u1e25<\/em>; and yet the people see (confound) these two as one! What else can be called ignorance but this?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In verse 22 Sri Sankaracharya summarized in one sentence what is meant by the notion of \u2018Illuminator\u2019: \u2018The luminosity of the Self, \u0101tmana\u1e25 prak\u0101\u015batvam<\/em>, consists in the manifestation of all objects, pad\u0101rtha-avabh\u0101sanam<\/em>.\u2019 Objects are both things and people, in short the universe. Sri Sankara\u2019s comment is equally enlightening: \u2018The light of the Self is unlike any other light\u2026 Even the light of the sun is unable to dispel darkness at some place. But the light of the Self is ever present at all places. It illumines everything and is opposed to nothing, not even to darkness; for it is in and through the light of Atman, which is present in everybody as Consciousness, that one comprehends darkness as well as light and all other things.\u2019 When asked whether that Light of Consciousness is like sunlight, Sri Ramana answered: \u2018The sunlight is jada <\/em>(insentient). You are aware of it. It makes objects perceptible and chases away darkness, whereas Consciousness is that Light which makes not only light but also darkness perceptible. Darkness cannot exist before sunlight, but it can remain in the Light of Consciousness. Similarly, this consciousness is pure Knowledge, j\u00f1\u0101nam<\/em>, in which both knowledge and ignorance shine.\u2019 (Talks<\/em>, 2001, p. 317.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the use of the direct method for Self-inquiry, as described by Bhagavan Sri Ramana, with the questions \u2018Who is this I?\u2019 and \u2018Whence is this I?\u2019 one directly seeks the Source (= the Self that is Pure Consciousness; pure because it is free from thoughts \u2013 mindlessness) of the fake \u2018I\u2019. This is the \u2018I\u2019-thought in \u2018I am this\u2018 and \u2018I am that\u2019 which obscures the Light of the true Self. In the process the flood of all other thoughts that constitute the mind vanishes into nothingness\u00a0 \u2013 an internal cleaning \u2013 and finally also the \u2018I\u2019-thought, the root of them all. In verse 20 van the Upade\u015ba S\u0101ram <\/em>(The essence of instruction), one of the few texts written by Ramana Maharshi himself, he said: \u2018When the ego, the fake \u2018I\u2019, vanishes in its Source, the transcendental, infinite, one Being shines (sphurati<\/em>) of itself as the true \u2018I\u2019.\u2019 The experience of this mysterious Light of the Self (also called aham-sphurana<\/em>: the Light of \u2018I\u2019: sphuranam <\/em>= <\/em>that which shines or illuminates), that is always within as your true nature, but is obscured by the fake \u2018I\u2019, is the harbinger of Self-realization. With this Self-awareness the false \u2018I\u2019-thought vanishes, this illusion of individuality, this inflated ego that is a fake \u2019I\u2019, just as the illusion of a snake in a rope disappears in the full light of the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annamalai Swami was a devoted disciple of Bhagavan Sri Ramana and also the supervisor of all the building projects of the Sri Ramanasramam starting in 1928 and continuing for more than ten years. Later in his life he became a highly respected jnani himself and was known for the impressive quality of his teachings. This may be evident from a beautiful talk he gave in the last six months of his life in 1995 in discussing the ignorance of the Self, its vanishing by gaining Self-awareness, and how by not losing contact with the Self ignorance can never arise. \u2018If there is darkness, you remove it by bringing light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darkness is not something real and substantial that you have to dig out and throw away. It is just an absence of light, nothing more. When light is let into a dark room, the darkness is suddenly no longer there. It did not vanish gradually or go away piece by piece; it simply ceased to exist when the room became filled with light. This is just an analogy because the Self is not like other lights. It is not an object that you either see or don\u2019t see. It is there all the time, shining as your own reality. If you refuse to acknowledge its existence, if you refuse to believe that it is there, you put yourself in an imaginary darkness. It is not a real darkness. It is just your own willful refusal to acknowledge that you are light itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This self-inflicted ignorance is the darkness that has to be banished by the light of Self-awareness. We have repeatedly to turn to the light of the Self within until we become one with it. Bhagavan spoke about turning inwards to face the Self. That is all that is needed. If we look outwards, we become entangled with objects and we lose awareness of the Self shining within us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when, by repeated practice, we gain strength to keep our focus on the Self within, we become one with it and the darkness of Self-ignorance vanishes. Then, even though we continue to live in this false and unreal body, we abide in an ocean of bliss that never fades or diminishes.\u2019 (Final Talks,<\/em> 2015, p. 19.). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joyful as it is, a celebration like the Diwali Festival of Lights paradoxically tends to carry us away, turning us outwards and \u2018entangling us with objects\u2019. The sobriety of the celebration enforced by the pandemic, however, presents us with the opportunity, more than ever, to turn inwards to experience the Eternal Festival of Light within and banish the darkness of the narcissistic fake \u2018I\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This \u2018I\u2019 like the snake in the rope does not really exist. Nonetheless it is becoming pandemically widespread itself and is the underlying cause of so much misery in this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Annamalai Swami (ed. by D. Godman) (2015) Final Talks<\/em> (Boulder, CO: Avadhuta Foundation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broekstra, G. (2020) Know Yourself: The end of the fake I<\/em>; first transl. in Dutch directly from the orig. Sanskrit of the A\u1e63\u1e6d\u0101vakra-g\u012bt\u0101 <\/em>(Leidschendam: Publ. Quist).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Osborne, A. (2018) The teachings of Ramana Maharshi in his own words <\/em>(Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam) (14th<\/sup> ed.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Ramana Maharshi (1927) Upade\u015ba-s\u0101ram<\/em> (Sanskrit version of Upadesa Undiy\u0101r<\/em> (in Tamil)) (Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swami Gambhiranda (transl.) (2006) Bhagavadg\u012bt\u0101 with \u015aa\u1e45karabh\u0101\u1e63ya<\/em> (7th Impr.; Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swami Madhavananda (transl.) (2004) The B\u1e5bhad\u0101ra\u1e47yaka Upani\u1e63ad with \u015aa\u1e45karabh\u0101\u1e63ya<\/em> (10th Impr.; Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swami Vimuktananda (transl.) (1938) Aparok\u1e63\u0101nubh\u016bti (Self-Realization) of \u015ar\u012b \u015aa\u1e45kar\u0101c\u0101rya <\/em>(Himalayas: Advaita Ashrama) (via archive.org<\/em>).Venkataramiah, M. (2001) Talks with Ramana Maharshi <\/em>(Carlsbad, CA: InnerDir. Publ.).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prof.em. Dr. Ir. Gerrit Broekstra (author), Milady A. Cardamone (translator) Like all traditional festivals, the Diwali \u2018festival of lights\u2019 takes place once each year, lasts a very short period of time, and is celebrated through rituals and traditions in the joyful environment of family and friends. In this year 2020 of the pandemic the Diwali […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,13,108,114],"tags":[109,10],"class_list":["post-726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spirituality","category-spirituality-magazine","category-spirituality-issue-5-5-nov-20-nl","category-spirituality-issue-5-5-nov-20-en","tag-divali","tag-spirituality"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"trp-custom-language-flag":false,"newsportal-magazine-tab-thumbnail":false,"eggnews-slider-large":false,"eggnews-featured-medium":false,"eggnews-featured-long":false,"eggnews-block-medium":false,"eggnews-carousel-image":false,"eggnews-block-thumb":false,"eggnews-single-large":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Prof.em. Dr Ir Gerrit Broekstra","author_link":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/author\/gerritbroekstra\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Prof.em. Dr. Ir. Gerrit Broekstra (author), Milady A. Cardamone (translator) Like all traditional festivals, the Diwali \u2018festival of lights\u2019 takes place once each year, lasts a very short period of time, and is celebrated through rituals and traditions in the joyful environment of family and friends. In this year 2020 of the pandemic the Diwali…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":783,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions\/783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.omrise.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}