Diwali is the festival of light and prosperity. We have all heard and read this line in our childhood textbooks, but what is its real significance? What is the real meaning of the festival of Diwali?And then of course – the central question that occupies our social media around this festival – should we burst crackers on this day?And going even deeper – what can we learn from the life of Shri Ram? What did that famous story Ramayana essentially represent?I tackle these questions, and some more, in this episode, with a sincere hope that it resonates at least as much with you as it did with me.I personally think this is one of my best episodes, given its timeliness and relevance to the way religion and spirituality is viewed and practised in the modern society these days.Do I live up to these claims?Only one way to find out.Dig right in.<Outline>(00:00) - Intro(00:47) - Diwali & the backdrop(02:50) - Diwali & the question of crackers(04:12) - My personal stance on crackers(07:40) - Some common(?) sense(08:16) - The faults in others(10:20) - It is all a ploy(12:12) - It is a ritual after all(13:20) - Should we do this on Shri Ram's day?(16:10) - The real light & prosperity of Diwali(21:08) - EndingI’ll see you in the playground.Until next time.Peace out.--------------For the anti-abortion argument that I briefly pointed to in this episode, check out episode 16 of my podcast here - https://chetannarang.org/the-framing-effect-cognitive-biases/Check out all of my work on my website -https://chetannarang.org/For one-on-one personal sessions for philosophical mentorship & counselling with me -https://chetannarang.org/nondual-philosophical-counselling-mentorship/Connect with me, Chetan Narang, on Instagram here -https://www.instagram.com/nrng.chetan/Checkout The Unlearning Playground YouTube channel here -https://www.youtube.com/c/TheUnlearningPlayground--------------Credits for the beautiful soundtracks:"Dreamer" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/