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Diwali this Monday, it is the most important Hindu festival and celebrates the homecoming of Lord Ram after a 14 year exodus which ended with his victory over Ravana. My city will have a bunch of pretty lights, people travel back home to be with their family. One of the main rituals is Lakshmi Puja where you offer prayers to Goddess Lakshmi, the wife of Lord Vishnu (Lord Ram is the human reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, he appears on earth whenever sin crosses a threshold).
Most pajeets would use this week long holiday to have a diwali party where they do not pray but just copy Anglos and get drunk and fool around. I have immense respect for anglos, I just find this to be super distasteful. The purpose of the festival is the worship of your deities and a celebration of the longest unbroken culture on the planet, unfortunately, Indians have a deep rooted inferiority complex which makes them look down on anything religious. People are lefty not just because of India never having had a single decent intellectual in the realm of political science but because of plain signaling. It does hurt to see, the only worth you have in society is based on your affluence or sex. Higher values have been forgotten which is also why everyone drinks. I am not a saint, I just cannot indulge in bad behaviors on such a holy day. There are higher and lower values, virtues, qualities etc that most would recognize. I enjoy would love to be more affluent, date more and better girls in a large town but my main identity will always be defined by Vaishnavism, my job, the virtues and qualities I want to develop are important to me because they are what makes a good life, the material and physical benefits are secondary rewards. I want to be better at academics or be a good physical culturalist or do the other things that would make up a good life because the process of doing these things is what I am supposed to do according to my scriptures. Praying is not fun yet I cannot name a single activity that calms me down and offers peace like offering prayers does. It does not make me better than others or anyone else, but it does make me feel a tad morose about the condition of society today and how far behind my civilization is, where everyone has to play these status games, intentionally or not.
People in my city pool together money to put up lights on their stores, overall it is a good time to be in my city. Always good to see the unroken chain of culture living among people. my grandfather visists the city palace as he is the titular feudal lord of his area under the Royal family. We all buy new clothes, sweets, put lights on our ancient house (haveli of sorts, built over a 100 years ago without any bricks lol). Ma fries up some season specific foods, people go out at night in the city to see the lights and burst crackers as that is a holy ritual (do not listen to pajeets who tell you it is not, head priests have clarified this thing). The festival is the peak of our happiness. I have fond memories of playing Batman Arkham games during this time of the year and lighitng hundreds of clay lamps the traditonal way with oil and putting them in various parts of the house.
Regardless, I will spend the week thanking the Gods for letting me live the life that I do, the life my family and clan enjoys. Most people do not get to have what I have, being thankful for it makes life much better.
I have also started adding 2 hours of mandatory hours of leisure in my day, I usually read theology or read blogs like the zvi(liked just two posts tho, slack and the one about doing hard stuff) and others (mostly Jim wendler, Steve Maxwell, Guzey etc). It is a good way of ensuring that I am efficient with my work.
I will also try to watch UFC 280, good card.
Happy Diwali to themotte, hopefully by next one, I will have the life I want, I most likely will but for now, just blessed to have what I do have. Life is short, smile while you can. Despite all my hatred for the Indian elites, seeing the priests and normal people doing their best this season is a massive whitepill. Me doing well in life would help others see my way of life as cool so all the more reasons to keep trying. Sure every government and political party is actively trying to stop us from celebrating but fuck them, most of us are shameless and would happily burst crackers.
See you all next week.
Jai Shree Ram
Happy Diwali! While our respective faiths are very different, I definitely agree it's important to be thankful for the things you have. I try to regularly thank God for the blessings in my life, because they aren't something I should take for granted.
Yeah, I appreciate people who have higher values. I could have been born in much much worse circumstances or not born at all. These things are hard to explain but they make sense on a deeper level. The gods aren't an atm for wishes they are the reason why I want to do well, not just beings I turn to when life's hard. Much more to be thankful about than there is to gain.
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This is so much healthier than contemporary western attitudes, and wholesome to see. Good on you, enjoy your holiday!
lol, I do think that the west gets personal values completely wrong. Not trying to be smug, I just do not think that the current way the world is progressing is sustainable for anyone. You need higher values and forces that keep your society sane.
Meeting the Shankracharya(of Govardhan Matha, the most respected matha of the 4 there are in Hinduism) and the other religious folks I have met did change my attitude. I see urchins on red lights and people living in slums or many with permanent handicaps or other misfortunes. I am not an MIT undergrad but many kill to get where I am so keeping that in my mind helps me keep sane. You have the right to your labor and not the fruits it bares as Lord Krishna (the human incarnation of Lord Vishnu right after Lord Ram) said. Like consistent efforts and a killer finishing instinct is enough for me to get enough in life where no one walking the planet would consider it sub par. Most do not get these opportunities.
I was born in a very high clan too, one that traces its descent from Lord Ram himself which is also why the temples and priests are very respectful towards my ancestors. There are severe issues with life but from now, fuck it, I will just assume it will happen and start from that frame instead of the 'I am scared, I am sad, I will never get work done, life is unfair frame'. Go fucking all out, gun to the head.
Hell, I am younger than most if not all regular posters here so I have a ton going for me, why not be happy about it. Life will drive you crazy if you do not see the good from time to time.
25? In retrospect, thinking of myself and the guys I knew, I think 25 is peak arrogance in young men. Old enough to have some accomplishments under your belt that feel like major milestones in adulthood. Young enough to not realize how much further you have to go.
22, I have failed enough to never be arrogant ever again.
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