Namaste
Trust you all are at your healthy, happy and appreciative best.
As per HINDU Calendar, today is Mahalaya Amavsya (no moon night). Mahalaya implies dissolution, salvation & regeneration. This day is significant in HINDU tradition in two ways. The morning of Mahalaya culminates the 16-days long phase of praying for & bidding farewell to the departed ancestors & the deceased loved ones. And the evening marks the invocation & welcome of Goddess Durga.
It is the day (though English calendar date that year was 24th Sep 2014) that my elder son transcended beyond the mortal world.
For some years since my profound loss, it was unimaginably painful & hard for me to recognise this day as also the day of welcome (of Goddess Durga) & worship.
Long story cut short, a consciousness shift happened at some point, and I understood that “farewell” & “welcome” represent the eternal nature of ‘Mother Nature’ & the Law of Life. Endings and beginnings are not opposites. If anything, they co-create the dance of life.
‘Farewell’ & ‘Welcome’ are both the songs of seasons.
A season of GRIEF, also unravels & heralds the season for GROWTH.
I delve deep into this subject in my forthcoming book —
“Grief … Growth … Grace – A Sacred Pilgrimage”
published by RUPA Publications India, and due to release towards the end of October 2021. Stay tuned for more.
And in the meanwhile, reach out to people in grief & truama, and hold respectful supportive space for them as they affirm their grief, and adapt to their loss-altered reality with faith, resilience & meaning.
With love & light
Neena Verma