Today was Dussera, day of victory. As Guruji said, and Dinesh repeated, that it is not victory of good over evil but rather of Oneness over the apparent duality. Navaratri as he mentioned is a journey from Duality to Devotion to Oneness.
Hinduism and other traditions of the Occident are different from religions of the middle east in the sense that reality is not classified into Good and Evil. Rather that both (duality) make up totality, and that Brahman or the universal consciousness is above duality. Hinduism defines creation as a field of duality for example: Lakshmi is both prosperity and proverty. Also the principle that opposite values are complimentary. What does it mean that opposite values are complimentary? I think it means that one sustains the other, that one cannot exist without the other. Like day and night, like the stock market gains and losses, like good health and sickness. Vikram Hazra in his blog very nicely states another example :
"Shiva represents Consciousness; all-pervading knowledge, the deepest part of us, the silent source from whence all springs. Shakti, the Divine Mother, represents Energy, which complements consciousness and evokes action. Hers, then, is the energy that runs the entire universe, whose basis is Shiva. This beautiful complementarity of knowledge and energy, of repose and action, of still and dynamic, is what causes the marvellous ebb and flow of life as we know it. Rather than worry about limited labels and concepts, these are opportunities for us to examine our lives in a deeper context. The rishis gave us these different representations not just to denote the varied aspects of our own existence, but to live a set of spiritual values which are hinted at by these apparently differing forms of the One Divinity.
Parameshwari -- the supreme energy, is also Jagadeeshwari -- the one who rules the world. Shiva -- the deepest silence within us, manifests into action through the movement of Shakti."
Hinduism is also different from other religions in the concept of God. In some religions God and His creation are seperate (duality) and in Hinduism God and His creation are all God. If God is omni present then I would think that He is everywhere and in everything, if he is infinite then also he cannot be defined or seperated from creation. Our journey starts from a prospective of duality, good and evil, God and me. For a devotee this duality is a play, devotion or divine love needs an external God, but in divine love, in bliss and ecstacy the devotee merges into the divine and becomes One. For a Gyani there is no duality - he knows he is God - Aham Brahmasmi. No matter what the path the journey ends in Oneness and one realizes that He is Love, He is Knowledge. I wrote something once:
At the pinnacle of devotion is liberation
At the pinnacle of knowledge is ?............Divine Love
In Divine Love knowledge is inherent
Without love knowledge is meaningless....
Jai Guru Dev
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