Revision as of 18:13, 18 September 2015

Ganesha

The Times of India

Happy Birthday, Ganesha

Baskaran Pillai

The Times of India, Sep 1, 2011

Ganesha is a Universal god. There is not a single village or city in India without Ganesha’s statue sitting somewhere in a street corner or under a tree. Elephant deities are also commonplace in China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico. There is a Ganesha rock in Sedona, which indigenous Americans call ‘elephant’ rock.

However,Ganesha is not an ‘exalted’ deity. In most temples in India, he is represented as the doorkeeper. What this means is that he is the guard and hence he is close to human beings.

Ganesha is associated with the root or mooladhara chakra in the subtle body. This is the first energy centre and represents the earth element, providing a solid foundation for material life. That’s why Ganesha is the first god to be worshipped. Praying to Ganesha is believed to bring stability, enabling one to proceed with higher goals in life.

Yogis recommend seeking Ganesha’s blessings before embarking on a venture. Ganesha is known as Vignaraja, the one who rules over obstacles. He represents the energy that controls and removes obstacles. How does he do that? He has special intelligence, siddhi and buddhi, a fine sense of discrimination. These are presented as his consorts.

Ganesha is depicted with an elephant face and prominent ears. Elephants can process infra sound waves (below 20 Hertz). This allows them to sense danger and leave a place before the occurrence of natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes.

Gam’ is the beej or seed mantra for Ganesha. In Tamil, there is a saying “Gammunu iru”, which translates as ‘Be still through Gam’. By chanting the mantra you can connect with inner silence and find solutions. It is common to see people tapping their temples with their knuckles when visiting a Ganesha shrine. This activates the frontal lobes, enhancing rational intelligence.

Ganesha symbolises quick thinking and effortless accomplishment. Once Ganesha entered into a competition with his brother Muruga (Kartik) and both of them decided to go around the universe. While Muruga undertook the journey on a peacock, Ganesha simply circumambulated his parents, Shiva and Parvati, and won the fruit of knowledge from them. Once Ganesha wanted to know the most powerful sacrifice in the world. His father Shiva said, “You have to find out the most powerful person and sacrifice him.” Ganesha asked, “Aren’t you the most powerful person on earth? Shall I sacrifice you?” Shiva was startled, so he gave Ganesha a shortcut, “Whoever sacrifices a coconut is sacrificing Me, and this is the highest sacrifice.”

The three eyes of a coconut are said to correspond to the three-eyed Shiva. When you circle the coconut around your head, it energetically absorbs the lower vibrations in your aura. When smashed, the energy holding back your progress is forcefully disseminated. Breaking coconuts before Ganesha is a symbolic act of sacrificing one’s own life for renewal.

Talking about renewal, from today (Ganesh Chaturthi) onwards Ganesha himself is being renewed. According to the Hindu calendar, time is cyclical in nature. Every 60 years, Ganesha is known to appear in a different form. The Ganesha who is going to be active in times to come will be the Naramukha or human-headed Ganesha!

The Many Aspects Of Ganesh

The Times of India, Sep 17 2015

Yogi Ashwini 

Invoking the many aspects of Ganesha

Ganesha is the swami of Riddhi and Siddhi. Riddhi is the force responsible for prosperity and abundance ­ all material riches and luxury pertaining to the five senses.Siddhi refers to spiritual powers, including extra-sensory perception, clairvoyance, clairaudience, premonition and thought manifestation. Ganesha was born of the `dirt' of Adi Shakti, as she bathed, indicating that all the riddhi and siddhi in creation are nothing but a speck of dirt of the phenomenal force of the Mother. Ganesha is the deity closest to physical creation, the swami of ridhhi and siddhi, which are nothing but maya, unreality. They are temporary and so are bound to leave. Most people spend their lives chasing these, forgetting the temporary nature of these forces and oblivious to what lies beyond ... Ganesha is venerated as the first deity, the first step to the phenomenal experiences of the world of spirit. Ganesha manifested at a time when impurities started creeping into the society. In due course, as worldly desires took precedence over spiritual pursuits, mantras and sadhanas were prescribed to invoke different aspects of Ganesha, to fulfil specific desires in the realm of the physical, the grossest layer of creation.

Uchchhishta Ganapati is invoked through specific mantras as a giver of boons, as protector and to develop mastery over the five senses. Heramba is the fiveheaded form of Ganapati, golden in colour and riding a lion. This ten-armed deity is invoked for acquiring fearless ness and to overcome one's enemies. The Maha Ganapati form corresponds to wealth and pleasures, as he is the bestower of bliss. The red-golden Bala Ganapati is called upon for good health and a bright future. Haridra Ganapati with his turmeric complexion and yellow vestments is the harbinger of prosperity and protection.

The white-coloured Shwetark Ganpati is said to reside in the root of a rare variety of the madar plant, bearing white flowers instead of the common purple flowers. Shwetark Ganpati brings vitality, vigour and strength when kept in the bedroom; intelligence and concentration when kept in the study , spiritual powers in the puja room, bringing luck and prosperity , freeing the house from negative influences.

These potent sadhanas are given according to individual requirements and capacity by the siddha guru, without charging you a fee. When the guru gives the mantra, blessings follow but then it's imperative to balance out that karma, since every action has an equal and opposite reaction and every pleasure has pain attached to it.

The guru guides the practitioner on which mantra is to be practised, for how long, the correct pronunciation and bhaav and the different practices to complement the sadhna. At the completion of the mantra sadhana, a yajna is performed for the siddhi of mantra.One of the safest mantras to practice for manifesting the shakti of Ganesha is `gama ganpataye namah' but this too can be channelised by the guru for desired effects.

The success of the sadhana is indicated by the manifestation of the deity in the yajna agni. Sadhakas or seekers who have been seriously practising the various mantra siddhis, have been known to have had physical manifestations of the gods. Ganesh Chaturthi is the auspicious night of siddhi mantra and mantra diksha under the guidance of a guru.

See also

1. Assam

2. Christians: India

3. Gender equality