happy new year for the third time!

The third time is the charm, yah nahin hai?
Yeah, that's a bit of Hindi that means the same as n'est-ce pas, jsyk.
(smile)
Here's something that made an impression on me: Hinduism, like Judaism, is not simply a religion, like Christianity is. Hinduism, like Judaism, describes a religious culture with unique rituals and its own language.

Diwali is one of those rituals. More commonly called "The Festival of Lights", it is a celebration of the spiritual triumph of light over darkness, of good over evil and of knowledge over ignorance. Sounds tailor-made for me, especially as my life-changing religious epiphany was in 1977, thanks to "Star Wars". If ever there was a single film that embodied those concepts of good versus evil, that is certainly the one!
(smile)
The five-day autumnal celebration of Diwali is linked to moon phases and begins on a new moon. This time around, the New Year's Eve fell on November 7. That's when everyone wished each other "naya saal mubaarak ho", with the first day of V.S. 2075 falling on the first day of the eighth month (Kartik), on the first day going toward the light of the full moon (Sud 1).

That was all new to me, until today.
That's when I attended part of the children's day activities at BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir.
"Mandir" is akin to "church" and the importance of "puja" ("prayer") was one of the lessons that children - including me, a child of the universe - were taught.
After the lesson, the children were released to play games, games which reinforced the important themes for life.
"Patience" involved carrying a lemon on a spoon while navigating a maze which had high (no string above) and low (string block that required limbo). How's that for a life analogy?
(smile)
"Focus" was demonstrated using ring toss, while "courage" came with playing Jenga.

I easily spent an hour watching the children at the games, with most likely unaware that they were gaining valuable knowledge through the fun activities.
Semantics definitely matters.
Calling something a "game" prepares the participant for a very different experience than calling that same thing a "lesson".
(Yes, the teacher in me is still alive and well!)
As I prepared to leave, I was presented with two gifts.
The first was an inspirational calendar, to guide me during my Sādhanā ("journey") in this new year.
The second was Prasādam, sanctified sweets in a lovely box.
Those I will share with Barbara and Carolyn when they arrive.
We're all venturing to the Royal for "Thugs of Hindostan", one of the new Bollywood action-adventure movies brought to town specifically to add to the festivities for Diwali.
i thank You, God!