DIWALI
KAMALA JAYANTI
KAMARI AMAVASYA
THE LOSS & RETURN OF THE MOON GODDESS
On the dark Moon night of Diwali.
Tantrics study the Ravan within themselves
That is, the part of us that wishes
to impatiently possess the Goddess
before we have won her hand and trust.
It is a night that has been ritualised by Tantrics
since the beginning of time for the return of the Goddess.
Mourning her loss & celebrating her return
is part of the ritual night of Diwali
It is Kamari Amavasya – known widely as Diwali, and popularly called the festival of lights – It is without doubt, the biggest celebration in the Indian culture.
Amvasya is the absence of light when the Moon is dark.
Kamari means princess.
Kamari Amvasya then is the absence of the princess Moon, when she is stolen from the sky.
This night is the ritual time
when the active seat is taken
by the Kamar (the princely force within us),
which goes searching for Kamari (the princess),
who has been swallowed by the dark.
The last Sharad (Autumn) Purnima (full Moon) was the exact opposite, known as Kamar Purnima… when the inner princess went looking for the inner prince.
This dark Moon is also celebrated as Kamala Jayanti, Kamala is the Goddess of Love, Jayanti is her birthday, an inner symbolism is there to ponder upon.
This Amvasya is the second dark Moon in the heart of the dark half of the year. This dark Moon is a Moon of Shakti, also a time of worshiping Maa Kali and Lakshimi.
This dark Moon is a major festival in the orthodox tradition, and of great ritual significance to the Tantrics.
The planetary currents of this lunar junction pose the challenge, and give incitement to the Tapasya (strength) of questing for the lost feminine.
The question to poneder upon here is:
Where have we perhaps lost the feminine force in ourselves?
The story of Diwali is the story of Kamari Amavasya, as can be seen upon Moonless reflection.
It narrates of how the Goddess Sita is stolen away from her beloved Raam by the clutches of the powerful Yogi Ravan.
When Ravan stole Sita away,
Raam – the great solar power – lost his Moon
& darkness and destruction fell upon the Heart.
Ravan was a greatest Yogi of unbelievable Shakti.
He was a devout Yogi who worshiped Shiva day, night & twilights between, until he acquired the power of Shiva himself.
Having identified himself so much with Shiva, Ravan became the object of Shiva’s love and admiration.
The Shiva Tandav Strotra, is a song that praises the beauty of Shiva as no other song does.
It was written by Ravan – as he wept tears of suffering when he realised the greatness of Shiva.
Ravan was so identified with Shiva, that he lifted the sacred mountain upon which Shiva lived.
Ravan attempted to show how his individual self was greater than the infinite mystery.
The mountain came crashing down and crushed Ravan’s fingers for infinite aeons of time.
Some even say that Ravan wept the Ganges into being as Shiva kept the mountain crushing upon Ravan’s fingers with just the weight of his little toe.
Shiva did this out of Love for his devotee – to teach Ravan that no one can be greater than infinity.
Shiva is the great infinity beyond the beyond.
The infinity that cannot be owned or assumed by any.
An Infinity to surrender and die before.
Ravan sang the most admiring verses ever sung towards Shiva as the weight of the mountain of infinity – that no one can lift – crushed Ravan into the most painful state imaginable.
Ravan had one little part left that had not merged into Shiva.
He had an avaricious weakness for beauty. This avarice was void of grace and honour of the feminine.
It was the crude hand of the patriarch that sought to dominate and possess the feminine – This led to his Downfall.
Sita, the cool Moon goddess was a mesmerising and receptive vessel for Ravan’s powerful burning Shakti.
Ravan could not contain the Shakti he had acquired.
He went wild and lost his mind at the thought of the beauty of Sita cooling his burning infernos of manhood.
He Took the Goddess of Moon like beauty away from her Beloved Raam with deceit and force.
Remember that this night is a study
of the Ravan within ourselves…
the part of us that wishes to impatiently
possess the Goddess before we
have won her heart, hand and trust.
When Ravan stole Sita away, Raam – the great solar lord – lost his Moon.
Darkness and destruction then fell upon the world.
Amvasya is the absence of light when the Moon is dark.
Ravan had overestimated his power!
Sita was brought back to Raam by his attendant Hanuman.
Hanuman represents the Breath.
Hanuman breathed the Moon and the Sun back together, and love bloomed.
This is the meaning of Hatha Yog
Upon the reunification of the Lovers, an endless array of lamps were lit to guide the flying monkey god Hanuman on his flight with Sita under his arm, back to Raam.
This story tells of the yearning for the inner Kamari (princess) for the Kamar (prince) and vice versa.
It tells of their loss of each other, and the grandeur of their unification.
Like a million lamps burning in the darkest night
This is the Tantric night of deep yearning love for the feminine.
It might be loved with tears?
It might be loved with the amorous force of desire?
But for Tantrics, it is a night of devotion and love – since aeons of time – for the return of the Goddess.
We shall meet in the circle of love to mourn her loss, and possibly celebrate her return.
THE EGO OF INFINITY
Ravan was the greatest of Yogis with unbelievable Shakti.
He was a devout Yogi who worshiped Shiva day, night & twilights between, until he acquired the power of Shiva himself.
Having identified himself so much with Shiva, Ravan became the object of Shiva’s love and admiration.
The Shiva Tandav Strotra, is a song that praises the beauty of Shiva as no other song does.
It was written by Ravan – as he wept tears of suffering when he realised the greatness of Shiva.
Ravan was so determined
to become greater than Shiva
that he lifted the sacred mountain
upon which Shiva himself lived,
as a vain attempt to show how
his individual self
was greater than the infinite mystery.
But Shiva was soon to teach Ravan a lesson.
The mountain came crashing down and crushed Ravan’s fingers for infinite aeons of time.
Some even say that Ravan wept the Ganges into being as Shiva kept the mountain crushing upon Ravan’s fingers with just the weight of his little toe.
Shiva crushed Ravan’s hand
out of Love for his devotee Ravan,
To teach him that no one
can be greater than infinity.
Shiva did this out of Love for his devotee – to teach Ravan that no one can be greater than infinity.
Shiva is the great infinity beyond the beyond.
The infinity that cannot be owned or assumed by any.
An Infinity to surrender and die by.
Ravan sang the most admiring verses ever sung towards Shiva as the weight of the mountain of infinity – that no one can lift – crushed Ravan into the most painful state imaginable.
THE SHADOW OF RAVAN
Despite the strong identification of Ravan with Shiva, Ravan still had one little part left that had not merged with Shiva.
Ravan had an avaricious weakness for beauty and an arrogant self-assuming nature and feeling of entitlement. This avarice was void of grace and honour of the feminine.
Yes Ravan had gone to the depths of Tantric practice, but the dignity and grace of Shiva in regard to the feminine was not in the heart of Raven.
It was the crude hand of the patriarch that sought to dominate and possess the feminine – This led to his Downfall.
Sita, the cool Moon goddess was a mesmerising and receptive vessel for Ravan’s powerful burning Shakti.
Ravan could not contain the Shakti he had acquired.
He went wild and lost his mind at the thought of the beauty of Sita cooling his burning infernos of manhood.
He therefore abducted the Goddess of the Moon away from her Beloved Raam with deceit and force. He cut the lovers that were one in half.
The bird of love could not fly in the heart of Ravan.
Sita, the cool Moon Goddess
was a mesmerizing and receptive vessel
for Ravan’s powerful burning Shakti.
Ravan could not contain
the Shakti he had acquired.
And so Ravan went wild and lost his mind at the thought of the beauty of Sita cooling his burning infernos of manhood.
When Ravan stole Sita away Raam – the great Solar power – lost his Moon.
Darkness and destruction then fell upon the world and the Heart. But Ravan had overestimated his power!
The Love between the Goddess & the God
was bound together by the sacred breath, Prana,
known to the Yogis as Hanuman,
their loyal attendant and friend,
Hanuman is breath, he is also called Pawan Putra, which means the child of the Wind.
The story tells how Hanuman through the fearlessness evoked by his devotion to his Beloved Sita and Raam, rescued the captive Sita and brought her the place of balance in love.
The symbolism inherent in the story
reveals how it is the breath
that balances the power of the lovers
within ourselves.
It is the breath that reveals the secrets of love in both the inner and outer world. The breath heals our relationships… for the breath holds the emotional codes of behavior.
We might notice that emotion and breath are intimately tied together.
When we are sad the fire dwindles and the Agni (fire) and Vayu (air) do not nourish each other and so stupor and slowness can take over.
When we are angry the fire becomes excessive and consumes the wind at the heart region, in turn consuming the etheric Akash element.
The Yogins call the psycho/physical energy knots in the breath – the Granthis. Tantra approaches these knots through methods that touch upon multiple layers of our being.
The breath can resolve the concurrent love lives that we live, and have lived in past, present and future.
Hence, Hanuman Ji is the one who brings the lovers together.
The story Goes through many twists and turns before the lovers are united by Hunuman’s devotion.
At one point, the story narrates that Hanuman needed to bring a healing herb from the Sacred mountain, he was not able to find it in the time that required urgency, and so he brought the whole mountain with him.
When Ravan was not able to lift the mountain with all his might, how was it that Hanuman not only lifted the mountain, but flew with it across the land?
Because Hanuman lifted the mountain in the name of bringing lovers together, he had the great blessing.
Ravan’s power on the other hand was one that tore lovers apart.
Where is the Ravan within us?
Where is the Hunuman within us?
And, so Sita was brought back to Raam by their loyal attendant, Hanuman the monkey god of breath.
And in bringing Sun and Moon back into balance, Hanuman restored love on earth.
An endless array of lamps
were lit by humankind
to guide the flying Monkey God Hanuman,
carrying Sita under his arm,
back to Raam.
THE POWER OF BREATH
Hanuman represents Prana, the Breath.
Hanuman restores love and harmony on Earth by breathing the Moon and the Sun back together, and therefore overcoming the destructive forces of the fire of passion that had possessed Ravan to dishonour the feminine.
This resulted in the failure of the feminine and the masculine to live and love in equal measure and balance.
Meditate here again, upon Ravan and Hanuman if you will
When Shakti
is mistreated in such a way
it brings imbalance in our system,
and we can no longer be in balance with her,
then destruction & separation rather than union
becomes the fate.
In Tantra, a balance is sought – at all times – to bring the masculine and the feminine, the Sun and the Moon, the Light and the Darkness, and the Active and the Passive, into balance with each other.
Yet, in a world in which the active, male, solar forces are so dominant, more attention needs to be given to the feminine qualities, which is why the Tantrics have been worshipping the Goddess for aeons.
This inner and outer balance between the male and the female is, in a nutshell, the meaning of Hatha Yog – Ha, implying Sun, and Th, the Moon.
These are equally designations of Kamari and Kamar.
The Kama in both their names is the desire that longs for their opposite nature’s to meet. Hence the Tantrics honour the twilight meeting.
Like a million lamps burning in the darkest night, this is the Tantric night of deep honour of the feminine.
Might it be honoured with tears?
Might it me honoured with amorous force and desire?
It is a night that has been honoured by Tantrics since the beginning of time… for the return of the Goddess.
A chance to move towards the inner Kamari princess is offered upon this sacred night.
On this dark feminine night,
We may meet to mourn her loss, and celebrate her return.
To join the Diwali ritual of Kamala Jayanti,
Touch and be touched by the rose of Love
