Diwali comes every year, many sweetmeats are made at home or bought, crackers are required, new clothes, silver-gold, diamonds are bought. Every year its the same. The new new types of lanterns are put on the door and greeting cards also get more attractive. Its not that only these things and rituals remain same year after year but the man celebrating Diwali also has remained the same from centuries.Like Lanterns, Crackers and Cards, only man's outer appearance has kept changing. His face, infact the mask as well his inner core has remained the same.
With time and specially with the fast scientific development in last 150 years the outer form of the man and his open behavior is changing with fast pace. Science has changed everything but his mind has remained the same. His mind's pendulum has always been oscillating between the the two axis of "I want" and "I don't want", without even a break for a moment. His wants even though how so ever much get fulfilled yet he never reaches the level of saying "I don't want". And if in his life he gets what he does not want even in a micro quantity man gets stuck at that "I don't want" phase.
We get to see juxtaposition amidst the game of kho kho of "I want" and "I don't want". What intellect wants, mind does not want and what mind desires the intellect negates. What is healthy and thats why wanted by intellect is refused by the mind as it does not taste as per liking and what is tasty and hence liked by the mind is unhealthy and hence not wanted by the intellect. In this dilemma of the two- who wins? Whose want is true? Mind's or intellect's? The answer is dependent upon the firm principle of the Karma.
Most of the time it is experienced that what is not wanted actually turns out to be of immense benefit in longer run. Or time comes to repent because what was wanted was actually refused.
This festival of lights is actually a beautiful discovery which has appeared due to the deep thinking of our age old psychologist Rishis from India. To come out of the vicious circle of WANT/DON'T WANT of the human mind we require the staff of the Dharma.
This staff of Dharma is not a golden or silver staff stick in the hands of any saffron clad person. But this is made of the metals of Satya (Truth), Pavitrya (Purity) and Anand (Joy) - this is the judicious choice which is the staff of intelligence of our mind. Each day of Deepawali reminds man of this judicious staff of intelligence. On Dhan Trayodashi we have to do the Pooja of Dhan Lakshmi. Dhan Lakshmi means the original power house which powerises all centres of the mind. Thats why we worship the wealth of the household as per the rules laid by our Rishis. One of the traditional rule is that whenever we are doing the Dhan Trayodashi Pujan at our home or taking Lakshmi Mata's darshan in the temple, we should only remember in our mind whatever holy and auspicious which has happened with us in past one year. Second rule is to offer only scented flowers to the wealth or symbols depicting Lakshmi Mata and after the poojan each devotee has to take the smell of one such flower and this itself is the PRASAD of the Dhan Lakshmi.
Good scent means SUKH (pleasure) and scented flower means purity and holiness. This is well known by the Indian mind..What we really need to do on Dhan Trayodashi Pujan has been properly guided by our Rishis. Our pious and holy thoughts are the only real flowers liked by the Lakshmi Mata, Dhan Lakshmi and the one who offers such flowers on this day to Lakshmi Mata is well supplied by wealth for next one year. The scent of one flower from the flowers what we have offered to Lakshmi Mata itself is Her Prasad. This rule tells us clearly that if we want the scented prasad of Dhan Lakshmi all the year then we need to stop offering the bad odored flowers at Her feet as we will get a few of them only back as Her prasad.
The discovery of this staff of intelligence which has appeared during the Dhan Lakshmi Pujan keeps transforming the man, keeps taking him forward, from darkness to light and mainly from "Want/Dont Want" ness to what is right.
-Aniruddha