C H A P T E R 23§
My Friend, Lord
Ganesha
Devotees offer a ghee flame to the elephant-faced Deity during Ganesha Chaturthi in India. Top of page, HINDUISM TODAY founder Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami holds a stone murti of Lord Ganesha. He gifted three dozen such murtis to budding temples outside India to encourage initial patterns of worship. §
n Hinduism, believing in God is only a first step toward an ever-deepening personal experience of God’s presence. In this regard many of the great saints and sages of Hinduism have had visions of Lord Ganesha and have shared them with their devotees, thus strengthening their devotees’ faith and understanding of this divine being. In ancient times Saint Auvaiyar wrote of her experience of the elephant-faced God in her devotional poem “Vinayaga Ahaval:” “Desiring to make me yours this instant, you, like a mother, have appeared before me and cut the delusion of unending births.” In modern times, my Gurudeva, Sivaya Subramuniyawami, had many experiences of Lord Ganesha, whom he considered a dear friend. He observed, “There are a great many liberal Hindus and/or Western-influenced Hindus who don’t think of Ganesha as a real being. To them He is a symbol, a superstition, a way of explaining philosophy to children and the uneducated. But this has not been my experience of our loving Lord. I have seen Him with my own eye. He has come to me in visions several times and convinced my lower mind of His reality.” Of course, the murti, or form, of Lord Ganesha does contain important symbols, such as the noose and the goad, which relate to His creating and removing obstacles. And it is true we can learn a great deal about Ganesha and the other Deities through studying such symbols, but what is even more important is to know that Ganesha is a real being whom we can know and love. ¶We have arranged group pilgrimages to India since 1969, and some pilgrims on various programs definitely had visions of Lord Ganesha, as well as other Deities. Some witnessed the stone or bronze murti moving and smiling at them or turning into a human-like figure. Others, with eyes closed, saw the Deity’s face as real as any living person. The more common way we experience the Gods and devas is as an uplifting, peaceful, divine energy, or shakti, that radiates out from the image. It is easiest to feel their blessings at the high point of the puja when the flame is held high. The shakti of Lord Ganesha is a gentle, loving force which has the power to move the devotees’ awareness into a peaceful, contented state, free of any worry, fear, anger or other negative emotion. ¶This Educational Insight is drawn from Gurudeva’s book, Loving Ganesha (www.gurudeva.org/resources/books/lg/), delving into the nature of the elephant-faced Deity, what He is like, what functions this great God performs and how each seeker can make Him a vital part of daily life on the path of experience.§
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami§