Light

Yesterday I noticed that it was the beginning of Diwali, the Hindu/Jainist/Sikh celebration.  While it is largely referred to as the "festival of light", it is a fairly complex festival...with a lot of different elements, end of harvest, the return of the Pandavas, the return of Rama...and the celebration of killing of the demon Narakasura the day before the festival begins which symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.  I'm always fascinated with the fact that humans share similar festivals...and that light has so much to do with it...of course, light is necessary for most life forms.

One of the coolest things about Diwali is that it celebrates the awareness of the inner light.  Central to Hindu philosophy is the belief in something beyond the physical which is pure, infinite and eternal.  In fact, according to wikipedia "The celebration of Diwali as the "victory of good over evil", refers to the light of higher knowledge dispelling all ignorance, the ignorance that masks one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With this awakening comes compassion and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings anand (joy or peace). Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Diwali is the celebration of this Inner Light.

While the story behind Diwali and the manner of celebration varies from region to region (festive fireworks, worship, lights, sharing of sweets), the essence is the same – to rejoice in the Inner Light (Atman) or the underlying Reality of all things (Brahman)."  This concept is pretty cool.

Light fascinates me, just as it has so many others in the past.  One of the great things about living in Ohio (or the midwest in general) is how you can watch how the light changes as there is little to obstruct it.  Skies are quickly changing and a source of wonder for me.  

Karl Forster feather reed grass, peony, Miscanthus, Siberian Iris,  and oakleaved hydrangea.

Just moments earlier, the light make the plants in the photo at left glow....and then it faded, emphasizing how you must be quick to seize what you see and want to remember as it rapidly will change.

One of my favorite plants in the spring and again in the fall is Spirea "Mellow Yellow."  it has fine leaves and as it gets older, it will arch and fall like a fountain.  In the spring it has tiny white flowers and bright green leaves.  In the fall, when the afternoon light falls on it, it glows.  I am often taken to task for not cutting down all my perennials in the fall...for I like the stalks of the echinacea and rudbekia which stand up through the snows and ice and provide a food source for goldfinches.  

While the land is flat...light plays across it and changes things.  Here,  midwestern Taj Mahal...glowing like the Taj Mahal but rather than memorializing a favorite wife, it stands proof positive to the richness of the soil and to the importance of this country in feeding the world.  I love the blues/violets/greys and whites on the gold ground...So, while the light is fleeing...both in the day and the season...we do well to take a moment to look at what is around us...and to remember and feed our inner being as well as our corporeal bodies. 

Grain Bins, Nashville Rd., Troy.