WHY FESTIVALS ?

                                       

Why so many people in every culture, community & country are CELEBRATING the FESTIVALS? Are they wasting their energy, time & resources? Not At All. Just like many people enjoy their luxurious homes, expensive vacations, parties, hobbies, shopping, sports & movies Similarly many people enjoy celebrating the festivals...LOL. 😂 😝😆

A spiritual Journey has two parts: Philosophy & Rasa.

1. PHILOSOPHY: Spiritual knowledge through Guru/Scriptures helps us to know ourselves--introspection within, the God, an universe and relationship among each other. Repeatedly hearing/reading and meditating the Scriptures is nourishing to our heart (Soul), transcendental to our consciousness, purifying to our senses and thus helps us to overcome our weaknesses or deficiencies. Yes, we do have good qualities within us but there is always a room for improvement. 

2. RASA or Entertainment on Spiritual Platform: Rasa means juicy. Spiritual Journey without Rasa become very dry & boring, it is like eating our favorite food without salt. Celebration of the God’s Festivals is the Rasa activities which is comprised of understanding the spiritual significance of festival, hearing/reading the pastimes of God, Chanting mantras, Singing devotional songs & dancing, Deity service and Eating Prasadam after offering to Deity of God. 

Festivals bring plenty of joy, enthusiasm, vibes, positivity and feeling of togetherness in our lives which is uplifting to our spiritual consciousness. Festivities means Learning, Jumping, Dancing, Singing, Associating & Eating Prasadam.....All Fun but No stress. 😃. Thus Celebration of God’s Festival like DIWALI provide us both Enlightenment & Entertainment. We should be Grateful to volunteers & devotees for their tremendous efforts behind close doors. Yes, there is a some imperfection in executing any events because we are not perfect ourselves... 😂 

Bg 10.11 -- To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.

Wishing You & Your Family Happy Diwali Holidays.

Pankaj & Dipika and Family.

Thank You. 

***************************
***************************

MY SPIRITUAL INSPIRATION , SOURCE & THE GURUS:

I am inspired to hear & read the Vedic Scriptures by regularly listening to Sri Pandurang Shashtri Athvale, also known as Dadaji ( speaks on Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Veda based discourses & western philosophy ) and the association of Swadhyay Parivar every Sunday in Swadhya Kendra. 

I also hear and read the discourses & literature on Vedic thoughts from Srila Prabhupada, his disciples & grand disciples ( HH Bhakti Rasamitra Swami, HH Chaitanya Charandas Prabhu, Shubha Vilas Prabhu, Sutapa Das, Amarnath Dasa, HH Bhakticharu Swami, HH Urmila Devi Dasi, HH Sivarama Swami, HH Radhanath Swami, HH Romapada Swami, Lal Govind Prabhu ( Gujarati & Hindi) Prahalad Maharaj in Surat (Gujarati) .......and many more from ISKCON......). 

FYI: A good source of Vedic literature: Vedabase.com . Srimad Bhagavad Gita is the essence & Srimad Bhagavatam (SB) is the nectar of all Vedic scriptures. Repeatedly hearing/reading & meditating the Scriptures, Eating Sanctified Pure Food and Chanting Vedic Mantras are nourishing to our heart (Soul), transcendental to our consciousness, purifying to our senses and thus helps us to overcome our weaknesses or deficiencies. Yes, we do have good qualities within us but there is always a room for improvement. 

It is always a good idea to share our good thoughts & knowledge with others. Thanks to the Facebook/Social media for providing me the platform. Of course I use Smartphone/Google Pexels search to collect some data. 

Besides my parents, wife, teachers, family & friends GREATFUL to EVERYONE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED in MY LIFE. Hopefully my enthusiasm will continue by Grace of the Guru & God ( Krishna , Absolute Truth ).

NOTE:
Many times a word Hearing is used instead of Listening when it comes to the Scriptures. Because Scriptures are so potent that simply by Hearing them even if you don’t try to interpret or analyze or understand them still there will be passive positive effects on our mind & senses.

We can follow either the Quran, Bible,Torah, Tripitaka, Agama, Guru Granth Sahib, Gita or any other Philosophy which makes sense to us, purifies us, elevates our consciousness and qualifies us to understand God and instill the love of God & his creation. ( whichever way we can understand God -- either Personal with many names or Impersonal as an universal consciousness & energy ).

Don’t try to understand God by Name, Religion or Depiction ( means image, picture...etc ) but try to understand him by the Definition through Scriptures. The Transcendental subject of God & his creation cannot be understood by mental speculation. Some times people ask why God is Supreme? It is just like asking why is the circle circular? Just by definition, the circle is circular. Similarly by definition, God is unborn, complete, unlimited, infinite, eternal, the Absolute Truth the source of everything, cause of all causes. 

I see God, besides the above mentioned qualities, as an eternal living person ( not a abstract or some kind of light ) known by the name KRISHNA meaning one who attracts everyone has also MANY other NAMES, forms, abodes, incarnations, activities, qualities, associates, is full of wisdom, bliss, and the cause of all causes.

Bg 9.17 -- I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oṁ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.

Bg:13-12:-- Accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth ( God ) – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance. ( Vedabase.com ).