Festivals :- 1 & 2. - Swami Chinmayananda

03/12/2017

Festivals :-

"An important topic of discussion is India's religious festivals. What is the need for them? How are they celebrated? What is their significance and how can we make the best use of these occasions?"

1.
Let us first analyse why there is a need for these religious festivals. As we work everyday from morning until evening, we become tired and naturally need to rest. We go home to eat and sleep and we feel revitalized, and are ready to work again the next morning.

However, as our life continues between work and rest, day after day, a kind of monotony sets in. We feel bored and think to ourselves, “I need a change.” Although our physical exhaustion is revived by sleeping, how do we get rid of this boredom, this mental exhaustion? What we generally do is look for some kind of entertainment.

2
The Sanskrit word for entertainment, mano ranjana, means delighting the mind, entertaining the mind. Some people sit and watch television for entertainment, others play cards, go on picnics, or spend time on a hobby.

Everyone looks forward to their weekends so that they can do something that is fun and relaxing, a relief from the pressure and monotony of work. Yet, after a while, even these weekends become routine and we want to go on vacations to Lake Tahoe, Disney World, or Las Vegas !

When these places become dull for us, we want to go to other exotic countries far away from our ordinary experiences – some place totally different !

Thus our vacations and amusements are meant to remove our boredom and give us a sense of mental rest and relaxation, at least for some time.

To be continued ...