Make It Holy

Nov 22, 2009 by Asha Praver

The word “holiday” evolved from the words “holy day.”  Holiday is about vacation and escape. Holy Day has an entirely different connotation.

 This holiday season is so fraught with uncertainty many do not feel like celebrating. Perhaps instead of trying to make these days “jolly,” we should try to make them “holy.”

 The two are antithetical—far from it! It is a question, rather, of where we think our happiness comes from. In these decades of ever-increasing wealth and ever-increasing consumption, our very definition of happiness has become hopelessly entangled with buying and owning material things.

 Still, every thoughtful person knows that intangibles such as love, honor, peace, friendship — to name just a few — rank on the happiness scale far above mere things.

 So, in this time of economic uncertainty, shall we be dragged kicking and screaming away from our materialistic habits, or shall we embrace—at least with courage, better still, with enthusiasm—a new possibility?

 “Holy day” is the key.

 1. Embrace the idea of God. The word “God” in English is unfortunate in that it has no specific meaning. Many so-called “atheists” I have met are not atheists at all: they have a deep belief in the expansive potential of life. What they have rejected is other people’s definitions of God, definitions I myself reject. God is not anybody’s dogma or creed. God is an experience of our own bliss nature. There is a perfect Sanskrit word for it: Satchidanandam: ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new joy. Let that be the holiness we strive for this Holy Day Season.

 2. Give God (Satchidanandam) a chance to speak to you.  Allow quiet to enter your life and the life of your family. We’ve become addicted to the constant stimulation of sound and images. The sudden silence, especially for children who may have known nothing else, is not necessarily pleasant at the beginning. Ah, but after a time, how you will come to crave it!  Start small. Make it a Holy Day experiment. Start with five minutes in the morning, ten minutes at night, gradually expanding. If you can’t simply be alone with your thoughts, use the time to read uplifting books, or to read aloud with your family, stories, fables, scripture, or poetry, perhaps with a Holy Day theme, that reminds you of higher realities than everyday life.

 3. Spend time outside, every day. Take your children with you. Especially, take them out at night. Day or night, look at the sky. Examine the stars (if you can see them). Notice the phases of the moon, especially go out and see the full moon. Then watch, every day, as it gradually shrinks again. Find some large or small patch of nature—a forest, an ocean, a park, a lawn, a tree, a rosebush, a potted palm—whatever is available to you. Spend time with this non-human being. Look at it carefully, press your face up against it, close your eyes and examine it with your fingers. Lie full length on the ground next to it. Feel the earth, stare at the sky, and watch your breath. In and out. In and out. The rhythm of the seasons and the stars, vast epics of history are all reflected in the in and out of your own breath. Consider how vast this world is and how each life is one thread in a vast unfolding tapestry of Satchidanandam. Experience the holiness.

 4. Create uplifting family experiences.  Let at least some part of each of the Holy Days be a conscious celebration of higher realities, or at least of higher potentials within each one.  Go to a religious service together, if there is one that inspires you and you all agree upon it; or create your own. Tell all those who are coming that you are going to make an altar together. Ask each one, including children, to bring something of beauty or inspiration to put on that altar — a photo of a holy person, a poem, a picture of a loved one, their own art or writing, a leaf, a rock, a flower. Ask each one to explain what he or she has brought and why it is meaningful. Ask each also to bring something to read, or play, or sing that is inspiring to them. No recordings — this has to be self-expression.  One might also share a personal experience that led to deeper understanding or greater love. Sit in a circle and create the altar in the center piece by piece.

 5. Let there be Light. All the Holy Days at this time of year relate to Light. Christmas has the Star of Bethlehem, both Jewish Hanukah and Hindu Diwali are called the Festival of Light. The Winter Solstice marks the passing of the darkest day and the return of Light. It isn’t about what you call the Holy Day; it is how you experience it. Keep Light uppermost in your decorations, celebrations, and consciousness.

 About the Author: Asha Praver is a lecturer, teacher, counselor, Spiritual Co-Director of the Ananda Palo Alto Community, and author of Swami Kriyananda as We Have Known Him.  Asha has been trained in yoga, meditation, and spiritual living by Swami Kriyananda, who was a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda.  Since 1969, Asha has been a disciple, a meditator, and an intentional community member. To learn more visit: www.TheJoyIsWithInYou.com

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