Lamps are of tremendous religious and spiritual significance because they have a way of altering the energy around them and exuding a great deal of positivity
Nothing can equal the beauty of a row of glowing lamps on a cold Diwali night! Apart from making for a pretty sight and brightening up the atmosphere on a new moon (Amavasya) night (possibly the darkest in the year), lamps are what make Diwali, for Deepavali literally means Deepa + avali — a row of lamps. Lamps at and around Diwali are a lovely way of welcoming Goddess Lakshmi who incarnated on the day of the new moon during the churning of the ocean, Lord Rama on his return after killing Ravana and to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, with the slaying of the demon Narakasura by Lord Krishna.
Lamps are of tremendous religious and spiritual significance and an essential part of any puja and a must at auspicious occasions. This is because lamps have a way of altering the energy around them and exuding a great deal of positivity. The oil in the lamps represents our negative tendencies and the wick our ego. When the flame of the lamp burns brightly it is akin to our negative tendencies being destroyed and the ego being subsumed.
At another level, light symbolises knowledge and darkness connotes ignorance. The light that dispels the darkness of ignorance is the light of knowledge. Hence, a glowing lamp is verily knowledge itself in a manner of speaking. While material wealth and riches can come and go or be taken away, knowledge is permanent. In lighting the lamp we acknowledge not only knowledge but also the source and giver of knowledge.
The Bible too puts it very succinctly in 1 John 1.5 — “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
Lamps and the light from it are a metaphor for deeper truths. A characteristic quality of a lamp flame is that it always burns upwards. The point to note here is that it urges us to focus on the Supreme, the Atman or the Self (which is self-luminous) and access our divine nature. Light, whether it is the light emitted by the sun or the moon or the stars or fire, is all the same. Recognising and acknowledging that one light that shines through our inner self and all creation is the ultimate realisation. As Sri Chinmoy says, “There is not a human being who does not have within him this infinite consciousness and thus self-illumining light. In the innermost recesses of his heart is his real I, his God.”
Light is also used widely in meditation. Practitioners of meditation are often asked to visualise a white light or focus on a candle flame. Gazing steadily at the candle flame not only aids concentration and promotes single-minded attention, it is at once calming and stilling. Gradually all else in our field of vision fades out and one literally merges with the light from the flame.
May the festival of lights illumine and brighten your path and life in a myriad, meaningful ways!
The writer is a Reiki channel, yoga practitioner and a spiritual seeker
