The Elephant in the Room

20131107 was a Thursday. I don’t write about these things very often, but I had an experience during that evening’s puja and when I shared tidbits about it with a friend, I received encouragement that this end up bloggered. So here you have it… To be clear, my daily pujas are REALLY simple. Short and sweet. I think the most the whole ordeal only ever really takes is something around 15-20 minutes. On particularly “holy” days, I do a bit more in terms of worship.

Last night was only different from any normal week night puja in that my home mandir has been newly decorated with some white Xmas lights. I’ve done this before and really enjoy the warm, glowing effect it has on the entire temple room. But that’s not entirely true about last night’s puja only being different because of Xmas lights. Last night was also different because “something” happened. When I mentioned this to my friend, I think I put it in terms of a “visitation” but the closer reality is likely that it was more of a “clarification.”

My home mandir currently

I’m sitting before the mandir like always, doing the ritual like always. I recall a certain point in the process when I almost suddenly felt like I wasn’t alone. My immediate perception was that Shri Ganesh-ji had “arrived” and was in the room with me. Mind you, the beginning of every puja involves an invocation, so technically He’s always present during puja. I call to Him. He arrives. And I worship. This time however, the air in the room felt like it was more occupied than usual.

Toward the end of the puja I spend time in contemplation, dhyana, japa. It was at this time that I felt particularly aware of the room and everything happening in it. The glow from the mandir was pleasant. The asana I had wrapped myself in was hugging. The incense, a recent Diwali gift from my bahin in Atlanta, smelled great. For a very short time I seemed to feel the vibrations from the shlokas and other things intoned during the puja – as if they were reverberating throughout the room still. Then suddenly, and very sweetly, I realized that I wasn’t alone in the room. My first thought was something like, “Whoa-shit! Ganesha’s here big time!” The only form of Ganesha that I actually saw was the Vira-Ganesh murti in my mandir, but I really felt another, far-fuller, Presence.

Some readers are likely entertaining thoughts like, “This kind of stuff is all in his head.” And, I believe, that is the truth. Now, before anyone gets all huffy and puffy on me, let me say that I’m not implying that Ganesh is imaginary. What I intend to say instead is that Ganesh and I are essentially non-different and what I really, truly, and actually felt then was my Self.

I recall Shri Eckhart Tolle telling of a time when he was at his lowest and had grown suicidal. One of the last thoughts he recalls from the moments before he planned to go through with the act was “I cannot live with myself.” Strangely, right then, it dawned on him that there were two entities in that thought. There was first the “myself” that couldn’t be lived with and then there was also the “I” that seemed to be speaking and could no longer tolerate an existence with the “myself.” He questioned right then who was the “I” that couldn’t live with his “myself.” It was then that he realized that there is a component of who he is that isn’t touched by the misery of the “myself” and had grown weary of experiencing that misery.

Some would maybe say that this sounds a little like a schizophrenic break, but the reality is: We are not our mind.

The mind is an immensely powerful thing. And the ego, necessary for functioning in this life, maintains an incredibly close relationship with the mind. One of the results of this relationship is that we begin identifying with our thoughts and consequently believe that we are our mind – or that our thoughts reflect our truest selves. It’s not true.

There’s a saying, which this post is titled after, that mentions “the elephant in the room” and references something not spoken about, but potentially quite obvious. The elephant felt to be in the room with me during the final moments of last night’s puja is That. This elephant could well be called Ganesha. It would just as well be called my Self – the timeless spark of God that lives in each of us. The “I” that lives with “myself.” It’s very much like “the elephant in the room” because it’s not spoken of hardly ever, yet it’s all that there really is. I suppose within the Advaita Hindu view of things, this elephant is in the room and pervades the room, and IS the room. I often am able to separate my mind/ego from who I am – even to the point that I can watch the mind/ego function, and as Tolle says, it’s madness. But it was a blessing and true surprise last night when my Self became the Ganesha my worship was directed at – and that the connection was so complete that “I” filled the room and even surprised my own mind.

The friend who encouraged me to publish a post about the experience, when I initially refused, encouraged me to write – not so much to say, “Look how awesome this was” as to say, “Look what’s out there.” Reader, please know You are what’s out there. You are what’s worshipable. And You are far more awesome than even yourself realizes.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha
Aum Shanti

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Good Company

Naga Sadhu

I recently went to my favorite book store, Half Price Books. I have made a promise to myself that I’d frequent the place less because I need clothes currently more than I need books and since I’m not as likely to shop for clothes, this will hopefully help balance me a little as well as eliminate some bills I have, which will in turn contribute to another goal. None of that is actually very relevant right now, though. I went and bought a book ( more than just one actually ) and I wanted to share a bit from it with you.

The title is “In the Company of a Siddha,” and pretty much the whole thing is a series of documented interviews with Swami Muktananda. This lineage, I believe, comes from Kashmir Shaivism and his sect focuses a bit more on the practice of devotees receiving shaktipat from the lineage leaders – gurus who are qualified to bestow that kind of thing. There’s part of an interview between Muktananda and several interviewers from a German (Munich) newspaper called Esslinger Zeitung that I found interesting. I’ll have to double check the book, which isn’t in front of me currently, but I think the interview I’m pointing to took place not much prior to the Baba’s mahasamadhi. Knowing this, I get goose bumps – most people simply never know when someone else’s last moments as they currently are might arrive.

This dance in life is quite literally unstoppable. It is what allows for physical existence. It’s the very process of maturation. And it also serves as the means to transcend our material bonds, allowing for escape from the wheel of death and rebirth. It is supreme and all will have to bow to it at some time or another.

The impermanence of the human lifespan isn’t what I intend to focus on for this post, though. Rather, I want to discuss a little about the impermanence of religion. I think Baba Muktananda’s words in the interview I’ve mentioned do well at expressing what I believe in my heart of hearts. The words are shared immediately below.

EZ: You know the condition of people here in the West. What do you think are the reasons for it? Is religion wrong? Is the church wrong? Is society wrong? What is the cause of it?

BABA: It is hard to say where the fault lies. You cannot say that the fault lies in religion because if it is a true religion it cannot be wrong. If a religion is founded by a great being, it cannot be false. Maybe the followers are at fault. Westerners take a lot of interest in outer pleasures and think there is truth in them. They take very little interest in the inner Self. That is why misery has increased.

EZ: People here who begin to take interest in the inner Self, don’t go back to their old religions. They take interest in the religion and philosophy of the East. What is the reason for this?

BABA: After people take interest in the inner Self, for them orthodox religion is dry. You should understand what religion is. In Sanskrit the word for religion is adhva, which means “a path.” One who has become absorbed in the bliss of the Self no longer takes interest in the path.

EZ: A path is just a means to reach the goal.

BABA: Yes. When you are thirsty, you look for water. After you quench your thirst, you no longer need it. A saint once said, “When my mind has become soaked in the holy river of the heart, why should I take a dip in the Ganges?” In the same way, one who has become immersed in God’s love takes no interest in formal religion.”

Image taken from Google Image search

The dance of life, Shiva’s Tandava Nrtya, that’s mentioned above applies to everything everywhere – including humans and how they rely on religion. From the human perspective this dance is a fine one, indeed! On one hand, humans are encouraged to find within religion and spiritual practices the structure necessary for growth. That growth though, is meant to enable the transcendance of religion, which was itself only ever meant to be a tool. When a tool has served its purpose, it should be placed aside. I think many humans find problems – indeed create additional problems – by remaining ignorant of a tool they possess, possessing improper understanding of that tool’s usage to begin with, and inadequately understanding when to set that tool aside – although the last issue is less of a burden because for some this happens somewhat naturally, depending on what path their maturation has taken.

It’s important for someone to do the homework necessary to remove this kind of ignorance. Hinduism, being an experiential religion, mandates that you can’t simply know or feel. You can’t just read about Truth. Singing and dancing ecstatically will only get you so far. You must make yourself transcend. You must make your path. You can get far on knowing and feeling, but without experience you’ll be missing a big part of the picture.

I would encourage you, dear reader, to exercise your “knowing” and your “feeling” and use that experience to realize Shiva-ji’s Nrtya, His Tandava. Without fear, actively dance in this life. Dance through it. And then, when maturation and karmas coincide, dance beyond it.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha
Aum Shanti

Dead Horse

Image taken from Google Image search

Partially because of my own boredom and partially because kicking dead horses is just plain rude, this will likely be just about the last post I make for a while when it comes to sorting out religion from superstition… at least until the next time I employ fire magick and begin questioning things anew.

So… last night, as part of my intentional avoidance of all school responsibilities, I found myself driving around town with my best, visiting our favorite bookstore: Half Price Books. They’re currently having a store-wide 20% off sale, and while I have no business buying more books, I simply can’t resist. I might also note, if I can do so without sounding proud, that my relationship to my best is often in a “teacher” capacity. Of course, for all teachers, the ultimate goal is that the students should themselves become teachers and last night while driving around my best definitely was a teacher. It all began when I asked him to differentiate between religion and superstition. A few times we talked in circles. A few times no sense was to be made. But in the end, using the idea of a fire and the fuel going into it, we almost sufficiently (for me) sorted out the difference between the two.

Interestingly, a big part of the fire equation hinged on hope, devotion, or bhakti. We determined that bhakti would act as the wood, the fuel. It’s essentially the foundation – without hope or devotion behind any action, that action is ultimately a dead thing. The animating force, the starting place, is hope or devotion. Without SOMETHING to ignite, there can be no fire. In that context, I find it interesting that many of the devotional poets from many different cultures have written about their devotion burning, or burning up. Fuel indeed! The fire itself, then, would be the ritual, religion, or superstition – respectively. This means the action itself. “The fire that kindles,” as my best put it. I find this in itself to be poetic. If you sit around a fire, everyone knows something is being burned to make that fire, but the fire itself is where the attention is ultimately afforded. It’s the big, showy exterior of the chemical change happening right then and there. Religion is definitely the fire. The big showy exterior that results when we set fire (action) to our hope.

Ultimately there’s a very very fine line between religion and superstition where ritual is concerned, and through chatting with another dear pal it was kind of determined that religion is superstition + validity. To go back to my best and his wisdom from last night, a big part of the validity is cultural influence, although let me be quick to say that cultural influence isn’t automatically where this so-called validity begins or ends – but it is definitely a significant factor.

So, we go back into human history. In the case of Hinduism, we can easily go back into prehistory – in fact, some of our scriptures mention a time when it was almost too cold for humanity to survive on our planet, aka the last ice age. But I digress. If you go back far enough you will no doubt encounter “religion” which today would amount to little more than superstition. People responsible for these kinds of studies will confirm as much. Our ancestors noticed that when they danced in a circle under very specific stellar arrangements, the rains necessary for good crops invariably came, which in turn ensured the survival of the community. Suddenly, puja and jyotish are born! Add about 7,000 years to that, and add humanity’s increased development in the areas of language and science, and you end up with “official” Sanatana Dharma. Through the eons, throughout the planet we inhabit, as we gained increasing dominance over nature we sought the rhyme and reason behind that dominance. As we gained that knowledge we codified and systemized it, and rightly marveled thereupon.

Why marvel? Because it’s marvelous. Duh. We’re talking about dark-n-wondrous, truly ancient stuff. This same stuff has made all the difference to us as a species. It’s THE evidence that proves our humanity – humanity being an interesting mix of the physical and nonphysical, mostly differentiated from other similar mixes according to our consciousness and awareness. We are the proof that’s in the pudding I mentioned in the last post, and our religions and superstitions are how we document our proof-ness.

Add another 4,000 years, a laptop, and a gay white Hindu in Indianapolis, and you find yourself with the current picture of yours truly and I’m telling you, finally, that it doesn’t really matter. Not really. I mean, if you want effectiveness and about all the pudding you can handle in your life (as I feel I’ve been blessed with), then you surely want to look into human knowledge that has a strong foundation. A system of thought and belief that touches the clouds, but doesn’t have its head there. Look for so-called superstition that has well-documented science behind it. There’s nothing wrong with carrying around a horse shoe, if your intention is pure and focused – indeed, if your intention is pure and focused and carrying a horse shoe seems to bring about the desired effect, then trust that your “fuel and fire” may well constitute real religion.

I’ll close by once again referencing my recent post about superstition and religion. Religiosity is a small part of my life really. Too often people see religion as the end AND the means to that end. That’s a trap. Another trap is to be found in thinking that your religion is inherently better than someone’s superstition, as both involve the same fires and woods. There might be evidence of it, but I’m not sure you’re allowed to actually think yours is better. Not really. Some would find supplication to an elephant-faced stone statue to be ridiculously superstitious. I don’t. Every single time, without fail – and I mean that as literally as I am able – that I have petitioned my conception of God for what I need, and often what I want, it has been given. From where I stand, my personal superstitions are effective in every regard. And this is where they factually transcend being mere superstitions. I’m speaking about the wood and the fire that lead me to, and provide me with, Light that enables me to see and Warmth that enables me to experience – this is Jnana. They equate my religious experience and facilitate my spirituality.

– Jay Shri Ganesha! –

Om Mahaganeshaya Namaha
Om Shanti

Ganesha-Lila, Do

Here’s another myth about Ganesha that I find humorous and interesting. I’ve encouraged others before to be bold and even bossy toward God. This story could have come from my own heart, except for it’s a story of bhakti. All the same, it’s wonderful.
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Once there was a fair honouring Ganesha near a temple outside a village. A little girl pestered her mother to let her join her friends who had all gone to participate in the festivities. Eventually her mother agreed and gave her daughter two churma laddoos, ‘Feed one to Ganesha,’ she told her daughter, ‘and then eat the other yourself.’

The little girl went straight to the Ganesha temple, offered a laddoo to the deity, and settled down in front of the image waiting for him to eat the offering. Hours passed and dusk approached. The little girl refused to leave until Ganesha ate her laddoo. She waited and waited. Eventually Ganesha, moved by her devotion, manifested Himself before her and she fed him the laddoo.

Then she grabbed one of His hands and refused to release her hold. Ganesha said that he would grant her whatever she wished if she would let him go. The little girl remembered the old saying: when offered a boon, ask for benefits that will extend over three generations. So she said, ‘I want to see my grandson eating from a gold katori in a palatial haveli where I am surrounded by seven sons and seven daughters-in-law. My husband is with me and together we watch our grandchildren playing.’

And so, indeed, it was.

Ganeshapujana

Taken from Google Image search

One thing I enjoy studying is variance within the same. What I mean is how many different ways can the same haircut be performed and get the desired results, how many different ways are there to make bread, how many ways are there to skip rope? Also, how many ways are there to perform Ganesha puja? This is a question that can never fully be answered because the truest and most complete answer is that there are as many ways are there are people performing the puja. Youtube is full of suggestions, as is the Interweb in general. Ganesha puja can be as complex as you need, but because He’s the closest to the material plane of existence, and is also the most easily satisfied, puja to Him can be as simple as wanted, too. Many times, the details are ironed out for one by the forerunners of the sect he’s adhering to.

Below is one example taken from a blogspot entry, which conveniently enough also offers guidances on puja for Hanuman, Shiva, Shiva/Parvati, Krishna, and Ram.

How to do Ganesh Puja?

“Vakratunndd mahaakaay Suryakottisamaprabhaa. NirvighnaN kuru me dev sarvakaaryesshu sarvadaa.” Meaning: O Lord Ganesha of large body, curved trunk, with the brilliance of a million suns, please make all my work free of obstacles always.

Ganpati Puja : Stepwise-wise directions

Puja must be commenced only after performing ablutions. Begin by reciting “Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah” (1) Follow this by repeating “Aum” thrice. Now take a sip of holy water and invoke the god to purify you by repeating Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah thrice and wash hands. Now the puja can begin.

Sprinkle the ganesha idol with rice grains and flowers and chant Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Asanam Samarpayami

Next wash the feet of the idol with rice and sandal water and chant ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Padyam Samarpayami.’ Next wash the hands of the idol with sandal water mixed with rice and flowers and chant ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Samarpayami.’

Next offer the idol water to drink , thrice , while chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Achmaneeyam Samarpayami.‘

Next the idol has to be bathed with milk, curd, ghee. Honey and sugar. Chant ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Panchamrita Snanam Samarpayami.’
After this make holy water offering. All the five offerings are to be made separately chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Payah Snanam Samarpayami ‘ when offering milk.

‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Dadhi Snanam Samarpayami‘ when offering curd.
‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Ghrut Snanam Samarpayami‘ when offering ghee.
‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Madhu Snanam Samarpayami’ when offering honey.
‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Sharkara Snanam Samarpayami’ when offering sugar.

Now offer holy water to the idol and then wipe it clean with a piece of cloth while chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Uttaraposhnam Samarpayami.’Now all the necessary ablutions have been completed.

The puja will proceed by making various offerings to lord ganesha. Offer raiment to the idol in the form of two threads chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Vastropvastram Samarpayami.’When offering white thread repeat ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Yagyopveetam Samarpayami.’

Now red sandal powder paste is applied to the brow of the idol while chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Gandham samarpayami.’

Offer rice and chant, ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Akshtam Samarpayami.’ Garland the idol, shower flowers and chant, ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Puspam Samarpayami.’ Offer Durva grass chanting, ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Durvan Kuran Samarpayami.’ Leaves offering chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Bilvapatram Samarpayami.’ Burned perfume offering to be made while chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Dhoopam Agrapyami.’

Perform the aarti of the idol with a ghee lamp chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Deepam Darshyami.’

Give sweets to the lord, chanting ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Naivedyam Samaryami.’Offer water to the idol ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Achmaneeyam Samarpayami.’
Offer fruit, ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Phalam Samarpayami.’
Offer betel nut, betel leaf, clove and cardamom and chant ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Tamboolam Samarpayami.’ Offer perfume and chant ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Itram Samarpayami.’ Offer coins and chant ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Dakshinam Samarpayami.’ Now offer sandal rice, flower, and durva all mixed in water and chant ‘Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Vishesh Argyam Samarpayami.”Now genuflect before the idol while chanting, Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah I bow before you.

Finally to bring the puja to a close, circle the idol in a clockwise direction while chanting Aum Shri Ganeshya Namah Pradakshinam Samarpayami once.

Agni Lost / ज्ञानयुक्त भक्ती, Jnanayukta Bhakti (devotion guided by knowledge)

I’ve mentioned in other posts about how influenced I am by Shri Eckhart Tolle. If I can be honest, I’m hoping to be further influence by him. It does a person good, and I’ve been clear on my recommendation that each person should read his work, A New Earth, which is pretty much timeless.

In some of the earlier chapters of A New Earth, he details SO many things that are tough to chew for the every day human. However, things change a bit after about a third of the book, and assuming you’ve invested in the foundation information in those early pages, the rest becomes a matter of application.

This application was tested recently. I have a good pal, who I think sometimes cringes when I quote him here or post to Sthapati inspired by him or our conversations. This will (almost?) be one of those times.

Recently, he advised me that I sometimes “forget that even though Ganesha is Aum ITself, and therefore a stone’s throw away from BRAHMANity, that doesn’t stop other Ishtadevatas from being the absolute best possible path for someone else.” I know precisely where this originates, although it came to me quite unexpectedly. And if I may be honest, it stopped me in my tracks.

Although I’ve already composed a great many words on this, I’m not sure they’re all to be shared. I can share, however, why this gave me pause.

My first reaction – and that’s all it was, a reaction – is that this is inaccurate of me. However, a result of Jnanayoga is that reactivity rules one less and less and I refused to react initially. Immediately, I set out to discern the Truth about this statement.

Is this a case of misunderstanding on my friend’s part? Perhaps he’s misperceiving my words and sentiments? Would this be his ego getting in the way of messages I mean to actually convey or have I used the wrong words when I write? Or, just as bad if not worse, is MY ego the culprit here? Perhaps, as much as I keep my ego in check, I slipped and some of my words were flavored in this way? I suppose this is likely as long as I retain human form. Maybe all the above? Maybe none of the above? Is it possible my bhakti rubs (or rubbed) his own in the wrong way? I’ve seen this happen a bajillion times, since much bhakti in many bhaktas (and people in general) still rests on the more superficial levels of our humanhood.

All these potentials as well as so many more which I care not to list here could be on the table. It’s because of all these and the many others that I’m not likely to post the numerous other words I’ve written about all this.

Ultimately, none of them matters because of one fancy word: Responsibility. My responsibility is to my own development. And until others seek me in such a way, my responsibility is to none other. There’s a quote I read once, “I’m responsible for the words I say, not for how you understand them.”

There’s HUGE immense truth to that, although I don’t really fully agree with it. However, it’s precisely because of this that I’m given pause. I also find it to be my responsibility to communicate well and effectively. On that note I can admit to also taking on the (pretend) responsibility of guiding the understanding of others. It’s because of these factors that my posts are invariably never quick reads. At any rate, it seems clear that I’ve failed…somewhere.

As silly as it’s going to sound, a character from the Lord of the Rings comes to mind. She some kind of great elf witch or something. Her name is Galadriel. She seems to come from good stock, and she’s virtuous enough. But she’s not without deficit still. When Frodo and his band arrive in her woods, she welcomes them and sees into each so that she can know. She’s also presented with an opportunity – she’s definitely powerful enough to take the ring they carry and make herself even more powerful. But in Tolle’s terms this is ego, and luckily she recognizes that this opportunity is also a test. Like anything else in existence, it can be directed variously. She realizes this and also recognizes that as long as she has to make a choice, she’s not “there yet.” The way she puts it is that this opportunity, or test, would potentially make her “great and terrible.” (Terrible having a different meaning than is mostly used or understood today) She recognizes that being great, terrible, or any combination of the two is of no benefit – both must be transcended.

When my friend shared his perception with me, I was faced with an opportunity – a test of my own karmas, both current and future. Should I have attempted to clarify with my friend? Would that have been an honest attempt or just my ego self-preserving? Would it matter either way, and is it even my responsibility? Tolle would ask me if I’m “less” because of anyone’s (mis)perception or because of my own ego. The answer is no. The answer also parallels that of Galadriel’s when she’s able to see the ring for what it means – she indicates that she’s passed the test, but also that she will consequently withdrawal to the West. (I think?)

For a few days now I’ve also done a bit of a pull-back. As the days have passed recently clarity has come, but not entirely. Although I can’t retreat to the West as Galadriel did, I can and will remain in puja and sadhana. This is required to minimize the chances of future failure, and also to enter future failures with more clarity than I did this one.

Whoa.

Om Shri Mahaganeshaya namaha
Om Shanti

Ganesha Loka

Many things have been on my mind lately. Many quite heavy things. If you ask anyone who knows me well or is in my daily life, they’ll probably tell you that this is the norm for me, and they often express a mix of worry and annoyance when I take a “break” from those heavy things to study other things like religion or linguistics … which they also consider “heavy.”

This post, is meant to be such a break. I thought to share a bit from a recently-bought book that I brought home from Chicago and have been working my way through in my free time. It’s all about Ganesh and is rightly called, “The Ganesha Book,” by Royina Grewal. I’ve (recently) been accused of being a little extra biased when it comes to Ganesha (this is indeed part of the heaviness of what’s been rolling through my noggin of late), and this is likely to fall thereunder. It’s a description of Ganesha’s Loka (kingdom, realm, heaven, dimension, …whatever). Although other Ganapatyas might disagree with me, I’m not of the opinion that this is the heavenly destination of all Ganesha worshippers. The value I find in this Ganesha-loka description, though, is the same as I find in Ganesha Himself – a sweetly poetic, deep and deeper-pointing, sublime accounting of the Destination Ganesha not only points to but brings us to.

According to the book, his celestial kingdom is called Swaanda Dhama, the abode of bliss. His palace is seated on a “wish jewel” island, which itself is surround by a forest of wish-fulfilling trees, which is in turn surrounded by an ocean of sugar can juice. Ganesha sits on a lotus made of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, indicating His supremacy over wisdom and learning. This lotus is positioned on the back of His lion throne – borrowed by His Mother.

His kingdom has four gates, each guarded by two of His eight special attendants, Paarshadaas, who are probably adaptations of the eight Dikpalas – the guardians of the directions within the Hindu tradition. Like Ganesha, they are all short and four-armed and the tip of their thumbs and index fingers touch, a mudra which signifyies their unity with god.

Also in residence within this kingdom is His mouse, given to him at birth as a gift from the Earth, according to one story. According to another, this mouse is Agni, the god of fire. (That story indicates that there was once a feud among the gods during which Agni assumed the form of a mouse and disappeared into the earth. The conflict was eventually resolved, and the gods gave the mouse to Shiva to energize him for the production of His son, Kartikeya. With that task complete, Shiva passed the mouse onto His oldest son, Ganesha, who had been without a mount for a long time.)

Sadly, the descriptive story of Ganesha’s kingdom stops pretty abruptly right there. And so, this post will also.

Om Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha
Om Shanti

Devotion Emotion in Spoken Form

While in Chicago recently I picked up a few books on Ganesha specifically. I’ve already made my way through the smallest, which is essentially a booklet. The title is something like Shree Maha Ganesha Siddhi Vrat.

For anyone unfamiliar, “vrat” is the source of the word vow and typically translates as “fast,” meaning to abstain from food for a period of time as a means of purification. The word “siddhi” has many translations and often refers to some beneficent result of having performed some manner of penance. So, loosely, you complete a vrat and achieve some kind of siddhi. My general understanding of siddhis is that they shouldn’t be sought, and can end up being misused or a distraction – but that they can also be quite beneficial, especially when used for others’ good, and can also serve as “milestones” in personal/spiritual progress.

So this booklet details what it indicates is the fool-proof-est way of obtaining a Ganesha siddhi through a very specific vrat. I’m cool with this, aside from the info in the booklet being mostly uninteresting. But something about the booklet kept jabbing me.

Throughout the booklet, instead of telling the reader the right time to intone a mantra, it would instruct the reader and person attempting the vrat to “say the spell.” My first thought is that this is a translation error. My second thought is one of indignation – afterall, mantras aren’t SPELLS, right?

But wait… for a brief period, after Christianity and before Hinduism (and in fact the reason I even encountered Hinduism) I studied paganism and witchcraft. Spellwork was a huge part of this. Anybody will tell you that a spell is something you say to make something happen. On the mundane level, the very foundation of all language is spellwork. More magically, however, we’re talking about something higher than the mundane that we’re still trying to make happen via words. Are mantras any different than spells?

When you break everything down, yes. They are different. But beyond that, from actual formulation clear up through practical application, mantras are as much like spells as they are different. It’s odd. And while we’re at it, “prayer” in other religions is no different. We’re speaking what we want in hopes that something higher or bigger than us will get things moving. I think in my estimation, the biggest difference is that Hinduism cites more than a little science behind the formulation of it’s myraid mantras – something definitely different than the spell an English speaking witch would cast, which more than anything is devotion emotion in spoken form.

How beneficial is it to split spiritual hairs? I’m assuming it’s only as beneficial as knowing whether there’s power behind your actions and words, or whether you’re kind of just making it up.

Om Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha
Om Shanti

India Book House

Every year, it’s not guaranteed that my beloved and I will take a vacation. We do take time off throughout the year, but an actual dedicated vacation is something a bit new to us, after almost a decade of being together. While there are a few other trips on the potential horizon, this past week has been it for the year. We mostly piddled around the house and around town this week, and bounced a few travel plans around – finally settling on a day trip to Chicago. Saturday. My parents came with us, and it really made all the difference. Our plans were basic: Drive to northern Indiana, take the South Shore Line into the city and use the L to get everywhere, everywhere being two comic book shops for my beloved and Chicago’s Little India for me.

What actually happened was that we all carpooled into the city and got confused almost immediately within China Town, parked in China Town, boarded the L there and took it north to Devon Street, where Little India was supposed to have been. The first 20 minutes in the city and the last 20 minutes in the city were probably the most confusing. Luckily, the very first person we encountered was an L employee who was about as helpful as she could have been without actually riding the L with us – and she actually did do that breifly. You can see her below.

As soon as we boarded the L, we shot from the south side to the north and exited as close as possible to Devon Street, which Google indicates is the Little India of Chicago. Unfortunately, what Google doesn’t share is that there’s a good mile (more?) trek from the Loyola stop on the L to where Little India actually begins. On a hot summer day with Midwest humidity, walking a bajillion city blocks is miserable. Just about as miserable, though, is getting to your supposed destination and repeatedly finding only the same kind of stores: Groceries, dress shoppes, and eateries. Occasionally, we’d see a phone place or a salon of some kind, but the variety was lacking in the most disappointing way. Further, here in Indy, puja items are mostly bought at the Indian grocery stores. In Chicago, most of the groceries in Little India are actually more Muslim (Pakistani) than Hindu. In fact, this area of the city is alternately known as “Indo-pak” because of the very prominent Muslim presence. The result, as far as my shopping was concerned, was that none of the groceries we passed carried Hindu puja items like here in Indy. However, the closest thing we found to fulfill my needs actually was a bookstore and it was a treasure indeed!

The treasure trove discovered at the edge of Chicago’s Little India is called India Book House. We were almost passing it before we knew we were upon it, and after checking out a few Ganesha murtis in the window, decided entry was mandatory. The only way our time spent there could have gone better is if I were made of a little more of money than I am. This place was mostly a book store, but also carried a significant array of mandirs, music, DVDs, CDs, and murtis – many of which were of Ganesha. We spent a good hour in the store while I examined every square inch of the place, making sure no Ganesham went unnoticed. I left with five books: Shree MahaGanesh Siddha Vrat, The Book of Ganesha, Srimad Bhagavadgita (I have about 20 different versions of the Gita, but this is the copy most used at my temple here in Indy and I’ve been looking for an exact copy), The Thousand Names of Ganesha (this particular publication is only available for Ganesha, Vishnu, and Shiva), & Ganesha Puja Vidhi (a manual on proper Ganesha puja protocol as published by the Chinmaya Mission Trust.

I also left with no less than eight very unique Ganesha murtis some of which were good ole chaturbhuj forms, but I also nabbed a fantastic panchamukh and a 16-armed Mahaganapati which is likely to replace the Nrityaganapati as the mahamurti in my home’s mandir. I only say these are unique because I search the local stores and the internet on a somewhat regular basis and I’ve either never encountered these murtis before, or I may have seen close resemblances but not exact. Further, while I’ll admit to having spent hundreds of dollars more than I should have, I know from having already looked far and wide that the same murtis in most other places would be significantly more pricey. The multiple hundreds of American dollars that I spent were well-spent, indeed. Below, you’ll see a pic my dad took of me near one of the shelves with Ganesha murtis. I feel like the pic is a little goofy, but considering how exhausted I was from the trek there, the heat/humidity experienced, and then being nearly blissed out at the finds, goofy is what you’re bound to get from me.

Like the L employee, the man and woman who own and work the India Book House were immensely helpful and kind. Well, mostly the woman. The man mostly just tried to sell me on things I’d already spent 40 minutes looking at and decided against. That was annoying. She, however, assisted me numerous times making sure to keep my items at the register, freeing my hands free to grab more Ganeshams. She also gave me a couple swastikas free. And boon of boons! Near the end of my time there, I asked about locating some rakhis for upcoming Raksha Bandhan – one of my favorite Hindu holidays, and one I’ve been slowly preparing for. They didn’t have any, but she took my address and asked how many I wanted and how fancy I wanted them. I gave her all that info and she promised to grab me some directly from India, ship them to my home address, AND insisted I didn’t pay her for this! We’ll see if she delivers on her promise. If so, I’ll be quite pleased to finish my gifts to people! I still regret not getting a pic with them when I had the chance.

I’m not superstitious, but I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit to thanking Ganesha in my mind and heart when we found the India Book House. We’d walked SO far already, had seen mostly useless stores – half of which were strictly Islamic – and were really about to give up, when we very suddenly found ourselves at the storefront. I’ve taken photos of each murti purchased and have posted to my Facebook Ganesha Collection album which can be viewed here, I think.

After finishing up at the bookstore, because we had spent so much time just getting there, it was time to grab lunch and get to some of my beloved’s shopping. We grabbed lunch in Lockerbie Square where I saw a Hare Krishna cross the street wearing a dhoti, neck mala, and t-shirt. He disappeared into an apothocary.

We kept moving and found our way to the comic stores sought after by my beloved. Sadly, he was disappointed by his findings, much as I was with Little India in general. And I’ll admit, for being nicely located in a place like Chicago the comic shops weren’t spectacular. In fact, we’ve been to small town places back in Indiana that had more to offer. After visiting his places and buying more things, we meandered a bit around the city ducking into one place or another and then decided it was time to head home. During our wandering we passed a gurdwara for the Chicago Sikh community and meditation center for Raja yoga of te Brahma Kumaris.

Sweaty and quite exhausted we worked the L back to China Town and left the city. Overall, I’m quite happy to have this memory with my family. I can think of about 50 others I would also have liked to have along for the day, but time like this with just my parents and my beloved is worth more than gold to me.

Excellent blessings were received from my first and most important gurus, my parents, as we enter the Shravan month and celebrate Guru Purnima. I don’t think God actually loves anyone in such a way as to favor them (after all, that would mean the at least occasional negation of karma), but when so many “good” things happen as they did, it’s hard not to feel smiled upon.

Om Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha
Om Shanti