Holi (Full Moon in March) – Triumph of good over evil – Demon King Hiranayakashyap, Sister Holika & Son Prahlad

If we talk about Holi, Its all about celebration of overcoming your fears or transformation of negativities to positivity’s in life, whether it’s repairing broken relationships, Victory Of Good Over Evil, End Of Winter season over arrival of spring, Play and laugh, Forget and forgive etc.

Story of Holi

There are many stories throughout India that are associated with Holi. Every state in India has a different story to tell. In some regions, this festival is associated with Lord Krishna playing colour with Radha and gopis.

But the most famous story behind this festival is that of Prahlad and King Hiranyakashyap. Hiranyakashyap was a demon king who believed that he was all-powerful. He ordered in his kingdom that people should stop praying to God and pray to him instead. But his own son Prahlad, who had heard his mother praying to Lord Vishnu in her womb, and was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, refused to do so. An angry Hiranayakashyap plots to kill his own son with the help of his sister Holika .Holika had earlier been granted a protection from Lord Brahma that no fire could burn her. She had a divine shawl that protected her from fire Hiranayakashyap asks his sister to sit by the fire taking Prahlad on her lap. Holika was confident that she will remain unharmed by fire. But the reverse happens. The magic cape (shawl) flies up and protects Prahlad instead. Holika gets burnt down to ashes and Prahlad remains safe.

Thus, a bonfire by the name of ‘Holika Dahan’ is organized a day of Holi. This ritual symbolises victory of love and devotion over evil.

Thus, Holi derives its name from Holika. And, is celebrated as a festival of victory of good over evil.

Holi is also celebrated as the triumph of a devotee. As the legend depicts that anybody, howsoever strong, cannot harm a true devotee. And, those who dare torture a true devotee of god shall be reduced to ashes.

Why the color?

In Vrindavan and Mathura, Holi is celebrated in memory of the divine love of Radha and Krishna. It is believed that when Lord Krishna was young, he often complained to Mother Yashoda about his dark complexion and wondered why Radha was so fair. One day, his mother playfully suggested that he can smear color on Radha’s face and change her complexion to any color he wanted.

Fascinated by the idea, Krishna smeared Radha’s face with colors and thus, introduced the colorful festival of Holi. Owing to this history, the festival of Holi, even today retains its flavor of naughtiness: smearing your loved one with bright colors and playing pranks on each other. Youngsters also engage in singing and dancing which is reminiscent of Shri Krishna’s Raas-leela with Radha and the gopis, during his time.

Holi reminds us that there is joy to be found in our imperfections.

“Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice reduces the imperfection.” – Toba Beta

Every Diamond has a flaw and is imperfect. “Be happy with being you. Love your flaws. Own your quirks. And know that you are just as perfect as anyone else, exactly as you are.” – Ariana Grande

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” – Buddha

“Try to let go of the idea that you need to do yoga perfectly in order to see its benefits. Rather, let it be a process of waking up to who you really are. If you do this, you will know joy. And that joy will be your gift to a world that very much needs our healing,” ~ Darren Main

“Those that chase perfection, never attain it and are never satisfied. The path of the perfectionist only leads to disappointment.” – David Scott

“One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn’t exist…..Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.” – Stephen Hawking

“Practice is about patience, control, and breath. Enjoy the moments when it clicks and the moments when everything unravels — they are both phenomenal teachers.” ~ Kathryn Budig

“Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.” ~ Alan Cohen

“On this path no effort is wasted, no gain is ever reversed; even a little of this practice will shelter you from great sorrow. Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”– The Bhagavad Gita

“Yoga teaches us to master the chaos inside us, creating a life that feels good on the inside and not just the outside.” – David Scott

“You are not thrown into the fire, you are the fire.” -Mama Indigo

“Beauty catches the attention but character catches the heart.”

“Never be a prisoner of your past. It was just a lesson, not a life sentence.”

The Japanese call this imperfection in nature Wabi-Sabi

700 years ago, to understand imperfection was to be on the path to enlightenment. Tea masters, Buddhist monks, and others from the Japanese nobility embraced wabi-sabi through tea ceremony, calligraphy, and other cultural traditions. Thanks to Rikyu’s teachings, tea ceremony became a place and time when people could step outside their daily cares and find solace in the simple things. The single flower in a bamboo vase, the minimalist scroll, the unassuming patina — all serving as reminders of the wisdom of rustic, flawed beauty. And that nothing was ever perfect. Nor permanent.

In one of Kyoto’s majestic gardens, a tea master asked his disciple to prepare for tea ceremony. The young man trimmed the hedges, raked the gravel, picked the dried leaves from the stones, cleared the moss path of twigs. The garden looked immaculate: not a blade of grass out of place.

The master inspected the garden quietly. Then, he reached up at a branch of a maple tree and shook it, watching the auburn leaves fall with haphazard grace on tidied earth. There it was now, the magic of imperfection. There it was, the order of nature, never far from the hands of humans. There it was, wabi-sabi, thought master Rikyu — the father of Japanese tea ceremony.

“The good man is free, even if he is a slave. The evil man is a slave, even if he is a king.” – Saint Augustine, 354-430

“There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” – Martin Luther King, 1929-1968

“Our attention follows our attention. Focus on the possibilities for success, not on the potential for failure and you will hit your mark.” – David Scott

.

“The only thing difference from an ordinary person and successful one, is laser like persistent focus on reaching a goal.” – David Scott

“Determination is the wake-up call to the human will.” – Anthony Robbins

“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – Zen Shin

“Some succeed because they are destined to, but most succeed because they are determined to.” – Henry Van Dyke

Remember what Christopher Robin said to Winnie the Pooh… “Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin

“We are who we believe we are.” C.S Lewis

If you seek peace, be still. If you seek wisdom, be silent. If you seek love, be yourself.

“I’ve come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy.” – Tony Robbins

“Why do we return to the same people or places that made us feel sick and somehow expect to feel better? Believe in yourself instead. Confidence is the ability to feel powerful without anyone’s approval or blessing. Believe in yourself enough and there will soon come a day when they simply will have no choice but to believe with you, instead of against your success. ” – David Scott