Happy Navaratri 2012 - A Hindu Festival

I have been writing and talking about Navaratri, one of the longest Hindu festivals for 9 days, gloriously ending in Dussera or Vijay Dashami on the 10th day. This process of writing about the essence of each festival of all religions began in 1993 and has continued till day and God willing it will continue through the Foundation for Pluralism.

Navaratri started on October 16th and will continue through the 24th ending in Vijay Dashami. Navaratri is rich in meaning. At one level, Navaratri signifies the progress of a spiritual aspirant. During this spiritual journey, the aspirant has to pass three stages personified by Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Then, he or she enters into the realm of the infinite, wherein one realises one's Self. Navaratri, which literally means 'nine nights,' dedicates three days each to worshipping the Divine in the forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. The tenth day, though, is the most important; it is known as Vijayadashami, the 'tenth day of victory.

Continued at: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/09/spirt-of-navaratri-happy-navaratri.html 

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Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest onSean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly atHuffington post, Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals across the world. The blogwww.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily and MikeGhouse.net indexes all his activities.