Wishing all Malaysians Happy Deepavali Valthukal!
My message wishing all Malaysians a Happy Deepavali. Click to enlarge.
In late 1987, I made my way from Los Angeles in America to India to become a monk and to join the monastery of my root teacher, His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche. After I was ordained by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, I lived in Gaden Monastery for a number of years before coming to Malaysia in 1992.
While I was in India, I learnt how to appreciate the rich Indian culture and developed a deeper understanding of ancient Hindu traditions that have shaped the face of Buddhism as we know it today. This has served me well during my stay in Malaysia, where the Indian community forms 6.7% of the total population and where a significant percentage are Hindus.
The Hindu festival of Diwali or Deepavali is a celebration of light over darkness, and of good defeating evil. During this celebration, Hindus light many diyas or oil lamps in their homes, symbolising the defeat of ignorance through the light of knowledge. The lamps are also an auspicious symbol believed to ward off evil forces and usher in prosperity and joy.
This is why Deepavali is also popularly known as the Festival of Lights. As it is a national Malaysian holiday, many take the opportunity to return to their hometowns to celebrate with family and friends. Thus, this is also a good time to foster harmony and goodwill, to let our own inner light shine and to become beacons of love, kindness and goodness.
In conjunction with the Deepavali celebrations, I had the opportunity to extend my warmest greetings to all Malaysians in The Star, a reputable Malaysian daily with a readership of approximately 1.5 million, and to share how we can find our own light within and in turn, become a light for others.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to wish much peace, love and light to all Malaysians this Deepavali.
Sarva Mangalam,
Tsem Rinpoche
Published in The Star on Wednesday, 18 October 2017, wishing all Malaysians a Happy Deepavali. Click to enlarge.
The online version of the article. Click to enlarge.
For more interesting information:
- The Malaysia category on my blog
- Selamat Hari Raya to all Malaysians
- Hari Raya Aidilfitri (English)
- Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Malay)
- Deepavali: The Festival of Lights
- Indians in Malaysia
- Kaum India di Malaysia
- மலேசியாவில் இந்தியர்கள
- 马来西亚的印度人
- Thaipusam – The Festival of Lord Murugan
- Thaipusam – Perayaan Dewa Murugan
- தைப்பூசம் – முருகப்பெருமானின் விழா
- 大宝森节——战神穆卢干之节
- Gawai Dayak – The Celebration of Bountiful Harvest
- Perayaan Gawai Dayak
- காவாய் டாயாக் – அறுவடை திருநாள் கொண்டாட்டம்
- Rinpoche on National TV2’s Wesak Day Special!
- Wesak Day In Malaysia
- Chinese New Year
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Rinpoche is always so mindful in another’s culture and religion. In the years since joining Kechara, I had always seen Rinpoche extending his well wishes to those celebrating their own religious festivals. When we live in a multi-cultural society, we need to be mindful of our differences and to practice acceptance of the differences so that the harmony is preserved. To me having the differences make life more interesting and all the more reason to celebrate. Thank you Rinpoche for setting the example for us to learn from.