The festival of lights - Deepavali

Today is the celebration of Deepavali , the festival of lights by people of Hindu faith. It is the victory of lights over darkness. In the Asian culture, light is positive and a source of power and darkness is depict as evil and weakness. In the chinese belief, light is Yang and darkness is Ying .  In the West , this belief also holds true.

Last night at 12  mid night, there was a war going on  outside my house, with all the "gun fires"  blasting in continuous sequence and the noice was very loud. In intervals, there was a few "canon fires" which was loud and deafening. These burning of fire crackers was originally the culture of the Chinese to celebrate the arrival of each Lunar New Year. On the eve of the new year, there will be a whole lot of firing of "guns and canons". The purpose is to scare away the evils and devils and welcome a peaceful and prosperous new year..  This culture have spread to other races in Malaysia including the Malays, when they celebrate  their new year. Whatever festivals comes around including Christmas, Independence day and other religious days , you will need to tolerate such noise and the "gun fires".  This means the ghost or devil will be frighten  a few times in a year.

However, in yoga or in the Chinese art of living,  the philosophy is to have a balance of both forces. Either too much  light or darkness  could cause illness or damage to the body and the mind In one sect of the Buddhism, Grey is the perfect color , a balance mix of black and white. 

In Yoga, the left nostril is the Yang or the heat force  and the right nostril is the Ying which is cold force. If our body is cold, the body will have a natural mechanism to open up the left nostril for breathing and will balance the temperature in our body. If  our body are hot , the breathing through the right  nostril will do the job.  Hence, you can see that the breathing is not only to provide oxygen to our body but also as a thermometer to adjust the temperature of our body.  Proper breathing pattern and mechanism will provide us a well balance body condition and this will support a positive mind and proper thinking.

When we practise meditation, we use our breath to bring us into deep meditation and into "no man's land" . In real and deep meditation, there is selfless and persistent bliss at that level.  In some yogi, one breath is at 50 counts. That is from one in-breath to the next out-breath is at a count of 50.  This achievement needs gradual practice and guidance.  Please do not attempt by yourself until you are ready.

In Tai Chi, the Tao or way is to use a slow motion of the hands and legs to control and balance the breathing. Some people called Tai Chi , the practice of meditation in motion. The pace of the motion depends on each practitioner and their achievements. To achieve health benefits, this practice needs to be done regularly and in a suitable environment.  To explain in words is difficult but when you go through the process with proper guidance, you will realize the enormous benefits including replenishing your energy and brings you awareness to your body conditions. Healthy body , healthy mind,

Back to the festival of lights, it is spiritual and religious day, may light win over evil and may peace be on earth for eternity.

Namaste.