Ganesh

"Happy Vinayaka Chavithi"

"Same to you. But am telling you, there was so much crowd in the market that to get home the God of obstacles, I had to face many obstacles ! These beliefs can be tiring, man"

"Interesting that you talk of obstacles. I think we tend to ignore the meaning of obstacles when we follow beliefs just for the sake of following"

"What do you mean? There were indeed obstacles. Police closed the entrance for vehicles, lot of jostling and pushing in the crowd and, as usual, people trying to win at every place. I had to convince myself that the pain is worth the belief"

"Obstacles to what? Remember we talked about ours being the original POP culture? Culture for the Pursuit of Paramatma, that is. You know in pursuit of self realization, where the biggest obstacles come from?"

"From the world around?"

"Our senses and their attachment to their objects. And the mind that encourages the senses to pursue those objects instead of the Paramatma"

"Hmmm... So it is not those traffic jams, then?"

"Not really. We should always contextualize all our beliefs and rituals to our POP culture. So yes, the obstacles are only in the path of self realization and come from our own senses and mind. Their desire to enjoy the objects of the world is what ties one down to the world and moves away from Paramatma"

"And who is Ganesha then?"

"Ganesha is the intellect behind the mind. The vignanamaya kosha, if you will. He is the one who could add discretion and help control the mind. When we pray to Him to remove the obstacles, we are praying to our own intellect to take control over the mind and senses"

"But what of his strange form? Why elephant head etc?"

"It is not about the elephant. If you notice, all the five sense organs are accentuated in that form. Big ears, Big nose, Big body, Sharp eyes and big tummy for the sense of taste. And a big head of course for the mind. Why do you think the emphasis on senses and mind?"

"Not sure"

"Make the senses so big that small things that they normally fret about become irrelevant. Enhanced senses for enhanced perception; Enhanced mind for greater discretion. Enhanced perception would eventually lead us to the interest in the designer behind the obvious. And that is the Paramatma who is everywhere"

"And use the intellect to drive the senses and mind towards the enhanced perception?"

"Yes, indeed"

"Pursuit of Paramatma it will be then. Jai bolo Ganesh Maharaj ki"

"Jai"

Comments

Anonymous said…
Another great blog Niren! Very timely too
Wednesday, August 31, 2022 8:47:00 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The solitary reaper (of grief)

"I have nothing to gain" The woman was probably in her late fifties. She had kind eyes and a smile that can be best described as sad. She was reclining against one of the poles of a ragtag makeshift tent. A variety of pieces of cloth were laid on the ground with different vegetables arranged or sorted in no particular order. The place was literally the middle of nowhere, at least from my perspective. Somewhere along the way as I drove from one small town to another, places that were well away from Hyderabad to be considered remote though not too far from it. The winter sun was kind yet scorching and it was still early in the noon. As I drove through multiple tiny hamlets, I stopped at this lady's makeshift store hoping to buy some good quality vegetables that are farm fresh. I had to ask her if she got them from Hyderabad to sell because then they would be from some freezer and can no way be called fresh. "I will tell you which ones are fresh and which ones are not.
Read more

Ari - The dance or the Dancer?

Image
*Takeaways from a trek to Fungni Top with trekkenture * The desire for this, the lust for that  wandering of the mind hither and tither  Oh, the lure of gratification instant   And yet, should I indulge in the dance or focus on the dancer?  The cast in stone opinions and lenses of “my” hues  When challenged, causing uncontrolled rage and anger  Oh, the unbridled love for self-made world views  And yet, should I indulge in the dance or focus on the dancer? The desperate hanging on to relationships ephemeral,  Confusing between love and obsessive care  Oh, the letting loose of imagination feral And yet, should I indulge in the dance or focus on the dancer?  The clinging to things material  Accumulating more for now and forever  Oh, the meaningless pursuits of life unreal  And yet, should I indulge in the dance or focus on the dancer? Who else but I, claims the mighty ego  Busy covering the truth with masks superior  Oh, the love for me that wouldn’t let go  And yet, should I
Read more

SVCHS - School Vth CHaracter(S) !

I come from a big small school in Hyderabad, Andhra pradesh. The school went by the name "Swami Vivekananda Centenary High School" and was a fascinating place. It was small because the cost of education was minimal and affordable to all the middle class families aspiring to good education for their kids. It was big because it had (at least during the time I studied there) very good human beings as teachers, large play grounds and an elaborate ritual to begin the day with. The ritual included a unique prayer praising Sri Ramakrishna, followed by Jana Gana Mana and finally, for reasons unknown, some drill with one kid yelling "Stand at Ease" and "Attention" for all the other kids to play around with their feet in amusement. This ritual in the play ground was followed by a walk back to the class and a loud reading of the ' pledge' in each class room and then, the day commenced. If the head master had an announcement to make, he'd walk into the
Read more