Category: Tantra

Diwali & Kung Fu Panda...

11/14/2018

DIWALI • LOVE • TANTRA

Author: R.R. Shakti, PhD

My daughter was three years old when I took her to see "Kung Fu Panda 3" at the local movie theatre. Enrapt from start to finish, she was particularly attentive during the great battle scenes between the adorable Dragon Warrior Panda and his scary supernatural nemesis.

As we left our seats, she turned to me and said, "Mom, I've noticed something; the good always defeats the bad." (She was always prone to big words and even bigger insights 💗).

Happy New Moon & Diwali 🪔!

One of the biggest holidays throughout India and the Eastern world begins this week. Diwali is the festival of lights that celebrates the radiant triumph of virtue over the darkness of confusion. It is a sort-of Good-Defeats-Bad-Day.

Mythologies worldwide depict the struggle between dark and light forces: Beowulf and Grendel, Perceval and the Red Knight, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. From India, my favorite battle image is of the Goddess Durga kicking butt and taking names of legions of demons in the Devī Mahātmyā.

It's an age-old story. The universe is animated by dueling forces, while we all hope desperately for the virtuous to prevail. The question is:

Who decides who is virtuous?

History has made this grand narrative into an "us vs. them" story. When taken literally, it becomes the foundation for division and alienation. Whomever is on "our side" is virtuous. On the "other" side is evil. Division is the side-product of consciousness.

In his amazing book, Creation of Consciousness, Jungian Analyst Edward Edinger explains that consciousness is only possible in the presence of an "other." There cannot be a "knower" without something to be known. Therefore, all human awareness is dependent upon this dichotomy:

self and other
me and you
us and them.

But when we project our own shadows onto an outside "other" we set up a never ending war zone. "Us and Them" becomes "Us vs. Them." Pretty soon, all you can see is the enemy in the stranger. Life loses its hope. Compassion goes out the window. With empathy, goes beauty...and joy. It's a problem.

The teachings of non-dual Tantra assert that all things are individualized aspects of a single, dynamic pulsation of universal LOVE.
...A LOVE that has no need for warfare.
...A LOVE so pervasive, perfect, and powerful that it encompasses everything, everywhere.

So, I explained to my three year old daughter: "Sometimes it doesn't look like it will, but the good always wins in the end...because LOVE is the biggest, most powerful thing in the universe. When people do bad things it's only because they have forgotten LOVE. When you remember that you are LOVE, you become as powerful as a Dragon Warrior."

It was a reminder for my own heart. Maybe you needed to hear it too?

Diwali accompanies the new moon, a time for introspection and self-examination. It provides a sweet opportunity to turn inward and get real with your Self:

Who is your scary nemesis?
Have you been projecting evil onto an outside "other?"
Can you embrace the dark qualities of fear, anger, and confusion as aspects of your own psyche?
Can you envision a LOVE so vast it extends beyond all opposition?

Mystic LOVE is so pervasive it can actually include your fears, sorrows, and confusion without losing a single iota of its infinite brilliance.

According to Mystic teachings: YOU ARE THAT LOVE...you superhero shifu, you!