Inner light
At this time a significant fraction of the world’s people have started the festival of Diwali. This follows a sequence of several days with different symbolism and significance but its focal point is the celebration of Shri Rama’s coronation after his return from exile. According to the tenets of spiritual history, Shri Rama, as well as his queen Shri Sita, came to embody the complete ideal human beings. Their immediate relatives and friends were also ideals in their roles, but those roles were more limited. Shri Sita and Shri Rama displayed perfect virtuous conduct - “dharma” in Sanskrit - in all its aspects from their childhood until the end of their incarnations. Boundless generosity, complete selflessness and willingness to sacrifice and above all profound natural humility despite being at the pinnacle of both spiritual and worldly power were always decorating the lives of Shri Sita and Shri Rama. In the world such as it is now, one almost cannot imagine what that looks like anymore, especially when applied to a position of power and / or great privilege...
In the Ramayana, the great saga of Shri Rama, there is a brief but very powerful moment when Shri Rama is on the battlefield and is asked if he feels at disadvantage compared with the great foe in front of him. That one was in a full divine armour, having a number of weapons conferred by different gods and was seated in a magical war chariot. At that moment, Shri Rama shares with his close ones what the great “chariot of dharma” looks like. He describes it as follows: the 2 wheels are courage and bravery; its flag and pennant are truth and contemplation; the horses are strength, benevolence, discretion and self-control and the reins are forgivenesses, compassion and equanimity; the charioteer is the worship of God. As to the weapons attached to it, the shield is detachment and the sword is contentment; charity is the axe and intellect the spear; wisdom is the bow and serenity, virtuous conduct and moral rectitude are the arrows for which the quiver is a pure and steady mind; and lastly the armour is the service to the real master and saintly people.
He closes the description by saying that let alone his very strong foe that day, this chariot ensures victory against the greatest adversary which is the transient illusory world with all its temptations. When given full reflection, such a description is very uplifting and a tremendous reminder of the target for our spiritual evolution. And that is the case for the ideals and teachings of the entire Ramayana and of the lives of all the great saints, masters and incarnations. But a quick glance at the world around us is more than enough to show that it is practically impossible to follow that ideal without some major inner happening that can anchor our attention to it. And that’s where the inner light symbolized in the main Diwali decoration - the rows of lights - comes in. After Self-realization, our Kundalini cleanses and repairs the “lamp”- our being, both physical and subtle - so the light of the Self can get established. In that light and nourished by the Kundalini, our being can become the “chariot of dharma” through which our spiritual evolution will always be successful.