Ten holy days

I have a hard time defining myself as an atheist.  Because that requires a definitive and conclusive bottom-line that there is no god.  As one who follows the scientific method, I know I do not have the evidence to definitively state that there is no god.  But, whatever I can understand as evidence leads to me conclude that there is a very high probability that there is no god.

I suppose that is an academic point.  For all practical purposes, yes, I am an atheist.

Yet, that does not mean I don't value and cherish many of the lessons that religions offer. 

There is plenty to be understood about the human condition, and a religious lens certainly provides valuable insights into some of them.  

The high holy days in every religion are, to me, reminders to pause our lives in which we pursue material comforts and reflect on the fact that we are mortals with finite time on this planet.  These are all timely, regular, reminders that no one makes it out alive.  The holy days prompt us to think about what really matters in life, and how we ought to go about our priorities.

This atheist doesn't observe the high holy days; every day that I am alive and well is a holy day.  But, the calendar of major events rarely escapes my attention.  Especially when two seemingly different religions observe ten holy days at about the same time.

In the Hindu calendar that tightly circumscribed my formative years, Navaratri begins after the new moon on the 25th.  Navaratri, which literally means nine nights, is from the first day after the new moon day. 

The tenth day is observed as Vijaya Dasami: Dasami referring to the tenth day (after the new moon) and vijaya meaning victory.  What's special about Navaratri is that it is about the female gods Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.  (They are the spouses of the Hindu trinity of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma respectively.)

One major reason I fondly recall the nine days?  Because of the wonderful "sundal," with a different one every day.  As a kid, my favorite of them all was a sweet sundal made with jaggery, which my mother says is very easy to make but am yet to try in my kitchen.

And then there is Judaism with ten high holy days beginning with Rosh Hashanah--on the 25th--and ending with Yom Kippur, which is the tenth day. 

There's one message in Yom Kippur that is perhaps not one that my old Hindu tradition taught me.  Yom Kippur is about atonement.  I don't recall observing a day of atonement back when I was a sacred-thread-wearing god-fearing kid.

Even though I am far, far, far from religions, I sincerely appreciate the "atonement" that Yom Kippur reminds.  After all, both the religious and the irreligious err.  We humans make plenty of mistakes, big and small, which add up to a lot over the years that we live.

Isn't it wonderful that the high holy days offer us valuable reminders like this?  It is not about any god, really.  It is about us, about how we engage with fellow humans, about how we interact with all forms of life and non-living things that surround us.  Most of all, it is about focusing on making the best use of the time that remains on our respective clocks.