Note: This year, the first day of Divali (Deepavali, Diwali) will be celebrated on Monday, 12th November.
Sevaks and sevikas literally means “those who have committed to serve.”
******
Beloved Avatar Meher Baba Ki Jai!
Our dearest Brothers and Sisters,
Divali, the day of the lighting of the lamps, is coming very soon. We will feel happy to light our houses and keep them neat and clean. Why do we have this day of festivity?
Dussehra is the day Ram killed Ravana and released Sita. Hanuman led the soldiers in Ram’s army(who resembled monkeys), ad on the same day as Ram’s victory, these soldiers looted Lanka, Ravana’s golden city.
In those days, there were no emails and no telegrams, so people heard the news about Ram's victory 20 days later. When they received this message, they celebrated Divali.
The Dussehra and Divali celebrations have spiritual significance because people remember Ram and Sita.
Nowadays for Dussehra, people exchange the branches and leaves from the shami tree (or in Maharashtra, the apta tree) to distribute the gold that is within them. Recently, people have begun to give each other saplings of these trees
In northern India, during the period between the two holidays, a play of Ram’s life is performed. It depicts how Ram had to go to the forest with Sita and his brother, Lakshman, how Ravana abducted Sita and took her in an airplane to Sri Lanka, and how Ram killed Ravana to in order release Sita.
Ravana was very cruel, having greed for power and all low desires. He brought other countries under his control. He created strong desires in people to make them become Rakshasas [demons] like himself.
Actually, who was Ravana?
He was a demon who was very jealous of people doing penance in love for God, killing their false selves with the weapon of love. He was unleashing Rakshasa [demonic tendencies] in others, creating more and more ignorance by inflaming their desires and wants.
But if you had seen Ravana’s life, you would have sympathy for him. He did all his mischief in order to be killed by Ram, and all those Rakshasas slain in the war received liberation. Ram fought this war just as Beloved Baba said, “If war happens in order to guide people towards Truth, it is good.”
The First World War was controlled by Sai Baba and the Second by Baba Himself. In His 1954 Declaration, Baba said that the Third will occur according to His Wish.
Not only will there be war, but there will be famine, earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, wildfires, etc. -- calamities both natural and unnatural. Those who die in natural calamities will get liberation. Some who die in unnatural calamities (such as war), get liberation. Others will come back, their bad sanskaras wiped out, and they will be inclined towards spirituality. They will then follow the Truth. After this Third World War, times will be changed. It will be good for the world.
Dussehra and Divali are celebrated in order to remember Ram, who released Sita from Ravana. We also celebrate Ravana’s pleasure at being killed by Ram, a fate for which the demon had been longing and longing.
Such things happen in every age. When they do, God, as the Ancient, One comes down upon the earth. According to the state of the world at the time, He creates a situation such that all these low desires and wants are killed. The false self becomes weaker and weaker, and then Truth prevails.
Now this is an age where we find low desires growing and growing. Honesty, truth and love have become less and less.
But our Beloved, Avatar Meher Baba, has come in this age. Why?
To make the Rakshasa of our mind weak and make the heart of love strong, so that our way towards God becomes clear. We are all One, and there is only One. Whatever appears in different forms is a dream, and this dream, everyone sees. At night, the dream we have is a dream into dream. But life is only one dream from the beginning to the end. God has no beginning, and God has no end. In the world, we experience many lives. Actually, they are only the dream, and we have to wake up from it.
But how to wake up from this dream?
We have to love God more and more. We have to become honest and truthful, remaining free from jealousy, selfishness, anger, lust and other low desires.
Beloved Avatar Meher Baba has dropped His physical body, yet now He is very, very active. He has to manifest, and for that purpose, He will remain active for a hundred years after He dropped His body.
You all don't know the true secret of where you are working, and working for what purpose? To earn money?
Nobody knows.
When you have got this opportunity to serve, you have to serve Him with love, faith, honesty and remain fully dependent on His Wish.
Everyone keeps their houses neat and clean when they celebrate Divali. And everywhere, you see the light from the lamps.
But as you celebrate Divali outwardly by lighting your house, you do not try to light the lamp of love that is in your own hearts. This outer celebration of Divali will not dispel the darkness in which we are continuously living, not knowing that we live in darkness.
In fact, to truly celebrate Divali means to light the lamp of love in our hearts. For this purpose, our past Chairman, Mani S. Irani, [Beloved Baba’s sister], has made provision to give a gift to you all.
This precious gift is such that if you remember it every day in your life and become honest, truthful, selfless and obedient to Beloved Avatar Meher Baba's Wish, you will celebrate the real Divali.
All of us, Trustees, Department Heads, and the donors feel very, very happy in distributing this gift to all you who are here as sevaks and sevikas. We urge you to please serve Beloved Baba's cause lovingly, honestly, sincerely and faithfully.
It will be the gift from you to the Beloved that is beyond any value.
AVATAR MEHER BABA KI JAI!
In Baba's Love and Service,
V.S. Kalchuri Chairman
Dictated Thursday, 1st November, 2007and delivered Monday, 5th November 2007
Art and Music Demonstration Centre - Hostel A.. Extended version 7 Nov. 2007