Life is colorful! In India this is the last full moon of the year, in the next new moon the New Year begins. 15 days after this full moon is the New Year in India. So before that last full moon, the tradition is to just take all the old stuff and put it in the fire and play Holi with colors.
There are many stories associated with Holi -- of it being a beautiful full moon day, of coming of spring , and of Krishna dancing with all the Gopis (who are eternally the intimate friends of Radha and Lord Krishna) while playing Holi..
Holi is a festival when we break all the barriers and feel that we are all one. This is the message of Holi, and so we put colors on each other and say, "Let your life be colorful."
The burning of Holika has an effect on the coming monsoon. There is story of Prahlada (from which the festival of Holi originated). Prahlada was a young boy who was very dedicated to God but his father was not. His father was a very egoistic and a cruel king. So the story goes that he wanted to teach his son a lesson because he was very hurt that the boy was preaching the name of God when he being the king was an atheist. He tried in all ways to change him but the boy didn't change. When he couldn’t change him he wanted to kill him. So he approached one of his sisters -- she had a boon that whoever she took on her lap, she could do something whereby the person would get burnt. Her name was Holika. So she took Prahlada on her lap to burn him, but instead she got burnt and Prahlada came out safe because he was chanting 'Hari om’, and was devoted to God, and that protected him from the fire.
In some of the villages, people do fire walking but nothing happens to them, not a blister on their feet! Faith has great power, it contributes to life.
Holi is generally during spring time, but now it’s becoming summer! In 5000 years everything has changed. All romantic stories happened around Holi and Yamuna River, where we had WCF. Literature is full of those romantic stories. We too had our big romantic and challenging program there! We also got wet with the little bit of rain coming.
Let’s give it a little break. We had a celebration, now it is time to go within and do more meditation. We will do longer meditation programs for at least two years, then we will think about it. We are not averse to celebration at all, we are all for it.
When you think that you are walking alone on the path, fear will definitely be there. That’s how fear comes. When you know you have a guide and that there is someone who is taking you along the unknown, how can there be any fear? That is the reason you need a Guru; a spiritual guide because walking in the unknown is always tough. And if you think you are walking alone, then that is even more tough. That is why there are all these traditions from thousands of years.
Shakti path is where transfer of energy happens, otherwise nothing happens! If there is no transfer of energy, no experience can take place. Your mind cannot calm down. Some do it in a very dramatic manner, but I feel that is no good, it is not safe. It has to be very natural.
In The Art of Living we do it in a very natural manner. You don’t even realize when it happens. In Sudarshan Kriya, that is what happens. Stay away from those people who say 'I am going to give you Shakti path and raise your Kundalini'. Tell them, "Bye", and just do namaste from a distance!
Consciousness is more ancient than the stones, and it has all the impressions (Akashic records) there. In ancient days, teachers used to tell the students, "In 2015 someone is going to be born at this time and at this place -- write about it".
So they will sit and focus, their mind will travel in time and see what’s going to happen, what is the name of a person, etc., and that’s how these Naadis are written by the disciples of Rishis.
People would meditate and travel in time and write. Those days there was no ambition, or craving and life was serene. They could meditate long hours and the sharp mind could travel in time and write. It is mostly (90%) right, but there is also some probability that there is some free will also. This can happen, that’s what they would say.
It’s fascinating! It tells you that the spiritual realm is much wider than the physical realm. If you are stuck in the physical realm, it is a very good idea to seek out. These things were written thousands and thousands of years ago.