Today is Deepavali day. A holy Deepavali to all of you. Now tell me, what is Deepavali? Deepavali is known to be the festival of lights. People regard this day as the day of victory of good over evil. Define for me what is “good” and what is “bad”? These are just labels produced by the mind. In fact, one cannot exist without the other. In this world of duality, where there is good, there must also be bad because for the human mind to comprehend the good, he or she must first know what is bad. Similarly, to know happiness, one must also be acquainted with sadness.
This is what we call the existence of duality, which does not reflect man’s true innate nature of the Self. Man must therefore ascend this world of duality to experience his divine state of Sat, Chit and Ananda. To grasp this Truth, the mind must first know how to discriminate the illusion that it has projected itself first.

People celebrate Deepavali with new clothes, gifts, food and all. It has become some sort of a New Year celebration for many Indians around the world today, but is that really the message behind the celebration of Deepavali? What is this festival of lights that we are talking about here? Does it refer to the lamps we light at the side of the street or in front of our houses? All these are again mere projections of the mind. The true light lies within! Although many spiritual aspirants speak of lighting the lamp within, my question is how can you light any light within when you are verily light itself? To say that you would like to light the lamp within would defy the fact that you are the Divine light that pervades the entire universe. You simply cannot light something that already is. This ‘Light’ is the Great White Spirit that is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. We are referring to this ocean of ‘Light’ of the Great White Spirit.

People say they are doing this and that in order to achieve Moksha (or liberation), but the Great White Spirit is never bound. So, what liberation are you seeking for? It is just your limited ego and mind that perceive that there is something for you to work towards to in order to secure a fruit. From this ego-level of existence, no doubt liberation is important, but if you by allowing yourself to just be, you cannot be anyone or anything whom you are not! Just be and you will realise that you are not this limited physical body but the Great White Spirit itself.

There is no light for you to light within. Light is ever present even before the creation of your individual soul. The individual soul is made up of the same light that the table is created of. Even your house is made up of the same light. The entire cosmos is nothing but this divine ‘Light’. It is the mind that is responsible for differentiating the forms of matter. We see matter existing as different forms due to the different vibratory rates or frequencies interpreted by the mind. However, essentially, the underlying source is the same whether it is an animal, plant, man or even this bottle here. The Source of these manifestations does not differ for each form.

Therefore, release your ego-vision and just be. Let the Divine Light shine through you.



Disciple: But Master, how do we let the light shine? Sometimes we think that we are already allowing the light to shine, but it may actually not be so?

Master: The Divine Light is shining regardless of whether you consciously know it or not. It is shining all the time and this is something that you cannot fight. You only think this Light does not exist because of the limited mind and ego. It is the mind that makes you see as if you and the light are separate but the Light is your very essence. How can you be separate from it? The Light is you and you are the Light. You just are. You are not what you think you see. We all may appear to the five senses as being different, but the underlying Source is one and the same! It gives no regards to your physical appearances. Only the five senses perceive that there is space and matter. As I have mentioned earlier, only the differences in the vibratory rates make the mind perceive things as being different and separate from each other but in fact, there is only one all-pervasive energy and that is the Divine Light of the Great White Spirit. The Bible states that man is made in the image of God. Even the Bhagavad Gita says that that God made himself into the many so that he can know Himself! You are! Tat Twam Aasi! (Thou Art That!) There is neither you nor me. Nothing exists except that one potent force. So, which part of the universe that is not part of you? There is nothing and nowhere which you are not. You are everything, yet you are nothing. You are that all-pervasive force that scriptures proclaim as God.

So, people say Deepavali is the day of victory of good over evil. There is no such thing as good and bad. Both qualities of good and bad are just the interpretations of the mind. In fact, both are God. Everything just is. This is the state of being – God. What victory do you seek to gain? Victory was already yours even before you were born. It already is. God is described as being omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. The very word “omnipotent” suggests infinite power and since you are part of this all-pervasive field of divinity, how can victory not be yours? It must have already therefore been granted even before existence itself.

However, if we are speaking in terms of this ego-level of existence, victory can be sought but you will not find it from without, but within. Only from the Source can you obtain true victory. Relying on circumstances will not grant you victory.



Disciple: Does this refer to attachment, Master?

Master: No, it is not exactly attachment but delusion. But yes, you can say that it is partly one’s attachment to the senses that makes man think whatever he perceives with his five senses as being real and conclusive. If the mind is the cause of your circumstances and experiences, how can one gain victory by relying on his or her circumstances then? If you were to rely on your mind that created the havoc in the first place, to turn your attention to your surrounding circumstances, expecting to find a solution to your problem is nothing but foolishness. Since you cannot find the peace and the solution ‘out there’, then what you must do is to turn within. So what is true victory? The true victory lies within. You are the powerhouse of infinite wisdom and there is nothing that is impossible unto you. No problem is ever too big for the Great White Spirit to solve if only you would seek within. So turn within today. All the solutions and answers you ever seek for are all in you and not in the projections of your mind!



Master Genevieve Tan Shu Thung's discourse in Andhra Pradesh, INDIA (November 13, 2012)

Transcribed by Sister Urmila
Source: Sandhya Maarga Organisation

Copyright © 2012 Sandhya Maarga Holistic Living Resources
Holistic Living Annex (November 2012)