May our Beloved Goddess Lakshmi shower on us her immense blessings, enriching us with prosperity, wealth, and joy!
Today is one of the most auspicious days called Diwali or Deepawali, a Festival of Lights celebrated in India and all over the world by those who follow Sanatana Dharma Tradition. During this time, a Mother Lakshmi is invited into the homes by lighting small lamps, candles, and other lights all around the home. Also, ritual (puja) is performed to honor Goddess Lakshmi.
This day is also called Sri Dhana Lakshmi Trayodasi. “Dhana” means wealth, and when people worship Mother Lakshmi on this day, every kind of poverty is burned. Such devotees will gain the great blessings of Sri Dhana Lakshmi to obtain the wealth they need, with the most important treasure being spiritual realization.
As most of us know, the Goddess Lakshmi is a Goddess or prosperity and abundance.
She is a truly unique Goddess as she blesses her devotees with both: material and spiritual abundance.
I cannot stress this enough, but to live a healthy life (healthy on all levels), we must learn how to properly balance the spiritual and material aspects of our life.
Those who have been walking the path of spirituality are aware how difficult it can be to maintain material life and at the same time to keep their focus on spiritual development.
And at some point (sooner or later) all seekers will arrive at the crossroad where they have to make the choice to either renounce all the material and move on towards the spirituality or forget about spirituality and put their focus back on the material aspect of life.
Many people choose the first and that’s fine too. But what if they have worldly responsibilities like raising the children for example? Do they have to sacrifice their spirituality and focus only on the material side of life?
And here is where most people struggle. Once they had a glimpse of spirituality, they find it very difficult to refocus back on the material aspects. And as a result, their material life suffers.
While they meditate and concentrate on god(s) and reach those highest levels of bliss, at the same time, they also struggle to pay for their basic necessities like food, housing, car, etc.
But is it possible to stay on the spiritual path while keeping our material life healthy as well?
Or do we have to sacrifice one over the other?
In some cases, yes, we have to sacrifice one over the other. And this is a very difficult choice one must make.
But it is also true, that if we learn how to properly balance both sides, we can actually have both. And this is the most holistic approach to a life. This is the highest level of the personal development that one can attain.
Not easy of course, but this is a goal worthy of achieving.
And here is where the Goddess Lakshmi can really help us because her most important gifts are abundance and prosperity in their physical as well as spiritual forms. If we have her blessings, we will know how to balance our spiritual and material aspects of life.
As mentioned earlier, today is one of those days, when energies of Goddess Lakshmi are easier (for the lack of a better word) to channel.
Of course, we can worship her on any day, but there are some days where the Universe is aligned in the way to make these energies more accessible so to speak.
How the Goddess Lakshmi is seen by us, humans?
Well, she is usually depicted wearing a red dress (saree) and adorned with a gold jewelry. She is pictured sitting or standing on the lotus with gold coins pouring out into the Universe from one of her hands. It is said that the Goddess Lakshmi loves to rain her wealth down on all of her devotees and helps them meet all their financial needs. She helps them prosper and brings both material and spiritual wealth.
Goddess Lakshmi reincarnates to earth with her beloved eternal husband God Vishnu and she has been his wife in many lifetimes. She was Sita to Rama and Rukmini to Krishna, therefore she also represents a perfect wife.
Finding the energy of Lakshmi inside oneself is a highly spiritual journey yet practical approach of applying ancient wisdom to modern life.
During Diwali, people make their houses attractive to the Goddess.
First of all, they make sure that the house is thoroughly cleaned. Lakshmi loves to stay in a clean and beautiful place.
Then they turn on the lights, light oil lamps, and candles.
To the Lakshmi Murti (statue), they burn incenses, offer fruits, milk, rice pudding, ghee (clarified butter), rice and fresh flowers. If murti is not available, the offerings can be placed by the picture of the Goddess.
There are many types of Lakshmi Mantras that can be chant today. Each Mantra creates its own vibration.
One of my favorite mantras is Mahalakshmi Gayatri Mantra: “Om Shree Mahalakshmyai Cha Vidmahe Vishnu Patnayai Cha Dheemahi Tanno Lakshmi Prachodayat Om”
The mantra should be repeated 108 times. It is said that this mantra puts the one who chants it into a vibration of Goddess Lakshmi.
If none of the above offerings can be made, just a simple spreading and sharing knowledge and information about the Great Goddess Lakshmi should be sufficient enough to align one with her vibrations.
May the energy of the Goddess Lakshmi always be with us!”
~ Rita Digilova (November 7th, 2018)
