Colours and Emotions: Decoding the Essence of Holi

Life should be full of colours. And each colour should be seen and enjoyed separately. When colours get mixed, then all that you see is black. Similarly, the different roles we play in life should coexist peacefully and distinctly within us. We should be able to switch between them as time and situation demand. For example, when a father continues to play his role as a ‘father’ at work, things are bound to go for a toss.

Many entrepreneurs and company CEOs ask me about maintaining work-life balance, and this is what I tell them. In whichever situation we are in, we should play the corresponding role to the best of our capacity, whether we are the CEO or a parent at home. Then we will not have regrets. Then life is bound to become colourful. This concept was called ‘varnashram’ in ancient India. This meant that everyone-whether a doctor, teacher, engineer, father, brother, or son-is expected to play their roles with full enthusiasm. Mixing professions or roles can be counterproductive in our lives. For example, if a doctor wants to do business, he must run a business separately, and it should be secondary to his first profession; he should not make a business out of medicine. Keeping these ‘containers’ of the mind separate and distinct is the secret of a happy life, and this is what Holi teaches us.

All colours arise from white, and it is only when they get all mixed up together that you can see nothing but black. When your mind is white, peaceful, happy, meditative, pure, and aware of consciousness, then from that space, many colours, many roles can emerge. You gain the strength to play each role with total sincerity because you are rooted in the backdrop of this vast awareness.

Life asks us to play many parts. But between one role and another, you must return to rest. Just as white contains all colours, silence contains all expressions. When you take deep rest in meditation, you come back to your source. From there, you can step into any role fully and gracefully, without being burdened by it.

Make friends even with the enemy

One of the messages of Holi is to make friends even with the enemy. Yudhisthir was called Ajatshatru, that is, one who has no enemies. Why is an enemy born? When we carry animosity within, then an enemy is born. If we have no animosity left in us, then we would have no enemies either. We shouldn’t mind if someone else considers us an enemy, but we shouldn’t perceive animosity on our end. Just know, those who trouble or harm others are actually suffering themselves and are hurt or wounded in some way. A happy and content person will never trouble anyone else. Knowing this dissolves the animosity within you.

All specimens are needed on this planet; they make the world more colourful. They push certain buttons in you and evoke certain emotions, and see how you act or react to them. If you find some people are negative, you can keep some distance. Know that they will not be like that forever, and with time, they will change. You can tell yourself, ‘Okay, let them be. They are going to bring out better skills and patience from within me.’ If you can educate them, do so with compassion and pray that their lives become better.

The battle between greed and bliss

We have all heard Prahlad’s story. It carries enormous spiritual depth.

What does ‘Prahlad’ mean? ‘Ahlad’ means happiness and contentment. Hiranyakashyap — one who sees only gold — is the symbol of ego and greed. He thinks of money all the time, and he kills happiness. Even if there is happiness in someone’s house, it is greed that kills it. When the little boy, Prahlad, was asked, ‘Where is God?’, he said, “My Lord is in tran (grass), in a pot, and in stambh (pillar) — everywhere.” Tran cannot be seen; an egoist cannot see anything small, but stambh can be seen. When he attacked the stambh, infinite energy and light came out. That light destroyed the ego. There is a stambh of ego in you that thinks, ‘I am different’. Dismantling this ego, infinite energy comes out, and that energy is Narasimha. Inside every human, there is a stambh of ego. When his stubbornness breaks, then another kind of zeal arises in you.

There is a zeal that comes from wisdom, and there is a zeal that comes from ego. The zeal of a wise person comes from knowing and from confidence in what has been truly achieved. It is like a lion. There is strength in it, but it is natural and effortless. The zeal of the ego never gives happiness to anyone. It may look like confidence, but it is only a show. When the ego breaks, real self-confidence arises. That self-confidence is like a lion.

There are two kinds of confidence. One arises from the ego, and the other arises from wisdom. The confidence that comes from wisdom is steady and fulfilling. The one that comes from ego appears strong outwardly, but inside, there is unhappiness and instability. An egoistic person and a wise person may both seem strong. Yet one is shaken within, while the other is soft, peaceful, and happy inside.

When Hiranyakashyapu was killed, it signified that the ego was destroyed and a powerful energy emerged. Within you, too, such a spark is hidden. When you pray with the innocence of Prahlad, the energy of Narasimha awakens within and tears through the ego.

The colours within

Lights of different colours glow within each person. In some, the lamp of anger glows; in some, it is the lamp of jealousy. Each emotion is associated with a colour-anger with red, jealousy with green, vibrancy and happiness with yellow, love with pink, vastness with blue, peace with white, sacrifice with saffron, and knowledge with violet. Each person is a fountain of colours that keep changing.

All thoughts and emotions emerge from the self, which is like the space inside and outside the body. This space rules your life. The difficulty with human beings is that we seldom take time to look at our own emotions or thought patterns. We act before thinking; before even resolving our feelings. Inner peace is just like the watchman, but the emotions are the owners of the home. When the owner barges in, the doorkeeper just gives way.

Nature has all colours, and so does your mind. You feel happy, unhappy, angry, jealous, compassionate, generous... all these colours of emotions arise. But when you know you are not these colours or moods, then you can truly enjoy these colours. You become a witness to all the mind games that go on inside you. What troubles you most is not someone else but your own mind. When you identify yourself with those emotions and think that is you, then you are in trouble. Meditation is the way to move into this witness state.