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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Brahmacharini Shripriya Chaitanya

The purpose of knowledge according to Hinduism

Good morning.

Diwali is celebrated through the lighting of lamps. Traditionally, the lamps were made of clay, filled with ghee or clarified butter and a simple cotton wick. They are then placed all around as well as at the family altar and at the entrance to the home so that the way in is clearly lit.

Within Hindu culture and in the scriptures, the symbolism of light is very important. By lighting a lamp, we dispel darkness. Darkness is representative of ignorance or of the various negativities that exist within our mind. The light that we kindle represents knowledge or the wealth the virtues that is cultivated in order to displace those negativities.

There is a very famous Hindu prayer which says: lead us from the unreal to the real; from darkness to light; from death to immortality. The unreal is darkness, which is death. How do we counter darkness? With what is real: that is light and that is immortality.

The purpose of knowledge according to Hinduism is not for us to educate ourselves more about this changing world. It is to help us discover the unchanging Reality that lies beyond this creation; by knowing which, we go beyond change and death. In order to seek and gain this knowledge the lamp itself shows us the way. Any flame that is lit always burns upwards. Thus, when we constantly lift ourselves to think of something greater, nobler and vaster than our individual selves, we too will progress towards knowledge.

I pray for the light of virtues, love and knowledge to be kindled within. I pray that we may each be a light unto ourselves, and through God's grace, a light to those around us.

Hari Om

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