Diwali 1982

Here we are here, all of us, to celebrate a four-day festival called as Diwali. Diwali comes from the word dipali in Sanskrit, the word deepa means ‘the light’, and ali means the ‘line’, the ‘rows’. Now, there are many things that have happened during these four days and that’s how it is celebrated with such a great enthusiasm. The first thing is the day of the Lakshmi’s birth, that is the thirteenth day of the moon: teras they call it. Is the real day when Lakshmi was born out of the sea; that’s why She is called as Miriam or Mariam. Word ‘Mari’ or ‘Marie’ also comes from the word ‘sea’. So, She’s born out of the sea, is created out of the sea. And the wealth of the sea, so far, thank God, human beings have not yet exploited, but they may one day start doing that also. And a lot of wealth is still there, so when people start getting worried about exhausting the Mother Earth, we must know that sea is much more than the earth is. So nothing is exhausted, still there is such a lot reserve for you, and one should not worry as to the supply of wealth that can come from the sea.

Now, this Lakshmi is the goddess, who stands on the lotus. She represents all the well-being, the wealth, the glory of wealth, the decoration of wealth; whichever is auspicious. Whatever is not auspicious is not wealth. According to Sahaja yoga, or according to any scripture, it is not wealth at all. So She’s a lady who stands on a lotus, showing that a person, who has got wealth, has to be a person who does not assert his pressures on people, who doesn’t push people around, who doesn’t pressurize. And then, She’s a lady, She’s a mother. So wealth, is the first opening to our seeking. But when you start seeking the wealth, you realize that the superficial wealth that you are seeking is not sufficient, is not going to give you complete joy. So you start seeking the deeper wealth. As I said that: ‘On the Mother Earth you’ve exploited all that is possible.’ Still there, deep down in the sea, lot of wealth still.

So then the seeking moves toward the deeper seeking. So the same Lakshmi becomes Mahalakshmi. When you start expanding yourself to higher and deeper valuables then this Lakshmi doesn’t lure you much; She’s just there for your glory, but not for your satisfaction. The wealth is there for distribution. You enjoy the - there’s no word for dhan, I think? Oh, ‘generosity’, but ‘generosity’ is different. But what I’m saying: ‘Generous fondness’; it’s a fondness, you see, that you should be generous. That is a very great happiness and joy that you feel. That is the greatest, when you are generous, when you give away. That’s a fondness, that’s a kind of a human expression of one’s own being, that you want to be generous. And this generosity only can come when Mahalakshmi principle is born in you.

H.H.Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, extract from Diwali Puja, London, 1982