Why do I Celebrate Diwali
- Abhijeet Chauhan
- Oct 20
- 7 min read
A Non-Dualist's Journey
If you watched the video, this is where we go deeper.
I celebrate Diwali. I light diyas. I invoke deities. I perform rituals. And I'm a non-dualist.
People find this confusing.
In the video, I talked about why this isn't a contradiction. But there's more to unpack here. More layers to explore. If you're someone who's trying to reconcile your spiritual
understanding with traditional practices, or if you're just curious about how non-duality actually works in real life, this is for you.
The Rejection Phase
Most people go through a rejection phase when they first encounter non-dual teachings.
I did.
You read that you and God are one. That there's no separation. That consciousness is all there is. And suddenly, everything you were raised with feels like a lie.
The rituals? Superstition.
The prayers? Begging to an imaginary being.
The traditions? Outdated programming.
You throw it all out. You become the person who corrects everyone. Who points out the contradictions in their beliefs. Who feels superior because you've "figured it out."
I was that person.
I thought people with different beliefs were somehow... less than. Lower forms of spiritual understanding.
That was before I understood what non-duality actually means.
What Kashmir Shaivism Taught Me
In the video, I mentioned Kashmir Shaivism briefly. But this philosophy changed everything for me, so let me expand on it.
Most spiritual paths teach that the world is Maya. Illusion. Something to transcend. Something to escape from. The goal is to get OUT of this messy, material existence and merge back into pure consciousness.
Kashmir Shaivism says no.
The universe isn't an illusion to escape. It's consciousness celebrating itself.
The technical term is Spanda. The divine throb, the creative pulsation. Consciousness doesn't just sit there being aware. It moves. It creates. It plays.
In Kashmir Shaivism, Shiva is pure consciousness. Still, witnessing, unchanging. Shakti is the dynamic power of consciousness. Creative, moving, manifesting.
But here's the key: they're not two separate things.
Shiva without Shakti is inert. Dead. Like a corpse. Shakti without Shiva is blind chaos. Energy with no direction. Together, they ARE reality.
Consciousness (Shiva) experiencing itself through power (Shakti).
So when you light a diya, you're not doing something separate from consciousness. You're consciousness expressing itself through form. The lighting, the flame, the intention, the awareness watching it all one movement.
This understanding changed my relationship with everything.
The perfect life I had built? Not wrong. Just unconscious. I was following the mind's conditioning instead of being aware.
The rituals I had rejected? Not obstacles to truth. Expressions of it.
"As the drop of water is to the ocean. That is what Oneness is. The essence of the drop is every bit the essence of the totality." Rasha, Oneness
Ravana's Ten Heads: A Deeper Look
In the video, I mentioned that Ravana's ten heads represent ten negative qualities. Let me break this down more fully.
Ravana wasn't born with ten heads. The iconography is symbolic. Each head represents an aspect of ego that keeps consciousness trapped.
काम (Kaam) Lust, desire. Not just sexual. The grasping for experience. The need for more. The inability to be satisfied with what is.
क्रोध (Krodha)
Anger, rage. The resistance to reality. The demand that things be different than they are.
मोह (Moha)
Delusion, attachment. The identification with what's temporary. The belief that roles, relationships, possessions define you.
लोभ (Lobha)
Greed. The hoarding. The fear of scarcity masquerading as ambition.
मद (Mada)
Pride, intoxication with power. The ego inflated by achievement. By knowledge. By spiritual attainment.
मात्सर्य (Maatsarya)
Envy, jealousy. The belief that someone else's gain is your loss. The competitive mind that can't celebrate others.
अहंकार (Ahamkara)
Ego itself. The sense of being a separate doer. "I" am doing this. "I" achieved that. "I" know better.
चित्त (Chitta)
The wandering, distracted consciousness. The mind that can't stay present. That's always somewhere else.
मनस् (Manas)
The restless, reactive mind. The one that responds to every stimulus. That can't find stillness.
बुद्धि (Buddhi)
Intellect turned against itself. The analysis that never ends. The mind that thinks it can figure everything out.
These aren't just abstract concepts. These are the ten faces of the same problem. Consciousness forgetting itself and getting lost in the play.
When Ram defeats Ravana, consciousness reclaims the mind from ego's grip.
That's what Diwali celebrates.
The Extended Personal Story
In the video, I mentioned my disconnection briefly. Let me tell you more about that period.
From the outside, my life looked perfect.
Financial success beyond what I had imagined. Beautiful family. Vacations in places people dream about. Everything society says you should want.
But inside?
Empty.
I was watching someone else's life through a screen. Going through motions. Performing "successful person" without feeling any of it.
The worst part? I couldn't explain it to anyone. How do you tell people you're miserable when you have everything they want?
So I started exploring my own consciousness.
I began questioning every impulse. Every desire. Every pattern the mind threw at me.
The mind would say: "You should feel grateful. Look at everything you have."
I'd ask: Who's feeling ungrateful? Who has these things?
The mind would say: "You need to figure this out. Find the solution."
I'd ask: Who needs to figure it out? What problem actually exists right now?
This wasn't intellectual exercise. This was survival.
I couldn't keep living disconnected from my own life.
That's when I found Ramana Maharshi's "Who Am I?"
The question became my practice.
Every time a thought appeared, I'd ask: Who's thinking this?
Every time an emotion arose: Who's feeling this?
Every time I felt lost: Who's lost?
And slowly, something started to shift.
Not in the content of my life. Nothing external changed. But in my relationship to it.
I started to see that I wasn't the thoughts. I wasn't the emotions. I wasn't even the successful person or the disconnected person.
I was the awareness in which all of that appeared.
"Once memory enters, action is enslaving. Without memory, however, you can operate consciously. When your action is unsullied by past impressions, it is liberating." Sadhguru, Karma
Working With Energies: The Practical Part
In the video, I talked about invoking deities as working with specific energies. Let me give you more practical guidance on this.
When I sit down for Diwali, I'm not randomly calling on gods. I'm consciously working with the energetic qualities I need to cultivate or restore.
Ganesha
When I invoke Ganesha, I'm working with the energy of new beginnings. Of innocence. Of the ability to see through complexity with childlike clarity. When I invoke Ganesha, I'm asking: What obstacles am I creating through overthinking? Where am I complicating what's simple?
Lakshmi
Lakshmi isn't just about money. She represents flow. Abundance as the natural state of consciousness when it's not contracted by fear. When I invoke Lakshmi, I'm asking: Where am I blocking the flow? Where am I operating from scarcity?
Hanuman
Hanuman represents devotion, but not blind following. It's the energy of complete commitment. When I invoke Hanuman, I'm asking: What am I half-committed to? Where am I holding back?
Shiva
Pure consciousness. The awareness that watches everything without getting caught in anything. When I invoke Shiva, I'm asking: Where am I identified? Where am I forgetting that I'm the space in which experience happens?
Shakti
Creative power. The ability to manifest. To bring the formless into form. When I invoke Shakti, I'm asking: Where am I waiting for permission? Where have I forgotten my own creative power?
This isn't prayer in the traditional sense.
It's conscious energy work.
On Amavasya, when lunar energy is at its lowest, these invocations restore what's been depleted. Not magically. But by bringing awareness to what needs attention.
The Universal Pattern: More Examples
In the video, I touched on Winter Solstice and Christmas. But this pattern goes deeper.
Hanukkah
Eight nights of light during the darkest time. Not just celebrating a military victory. Celebrating the miracle of light persisting when it should have run out.
Yule
The ancient Norse celebration of the return of the sun. Burning logs through the longest night. Keeping vigil until dawn.
Dongzhi Festival
Chinese celebration of the winter solstice. Family gatherings. Specific foods. The recognition that darkness has peaked and light returns.
Soyal
Hopi ceremony during winter solstice. Bringing the sun back. Purification and planning for the coming year.
Different cultures. Different stories. Same pattern.
When energy is at its lowest, humans gather. Make light. Restore themselves together.
We've always known this.
Our bodies know. Our souls know.
The tradition is just the form. The truth underneath is energetic.
How This Changes Everything
Once you understand this, everything becomes practice.
You're not choosing between non-duality and devotion. You're recognizing that devotion IS non-duality in action.
You're not choosing between wisdom and ritual. You're seeing that ritual can be a conscious technology for working with consciousness.
You're not choosing between rejecting forms and being trapped by them. You're playing with forms while knowing you're the space in which they appear.
This doesn't mean all forms are useful. Some are. Some aren't.
But you're no longer rejecting or accepting based on ideology. You're discerning based on what actually serves consciousness recognizing itself.
For me, Diwali serves that.
The cleaning. The diyas. The invocations. The gathering.
It all becomes one conscious movement.
Consciousness celebrating itself.
Through forms. Through the appearance of separation. Through the beautiful play of light pushing back darkness.
Not because it has to.
Because it chooses to.
Because that's what consciousness does.
It plays.
The Practice
If you want to work with this for yourself:
1. Question everything the mind tells you.Not to reject it. But to see: Who's believing this thought? Who's being limited by this story?
2. Find your own technologies.Maybe it's Diwali. Maybe it's something else. What practices help you remember what you are?
3. Don't mistake the form for the truth.The diya isn't sacred. The awareness recognizing itself through the act of lighting it — that's what matters.
4. Gather when energy is low.Not alone. With others. The drops lifting the ocean together.
5. Remember: You're not doing this to become conscious.You're already consciousness. You're doing this to stop forgetting.
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