The ultimate personification of human life

I happened to watch a show of Brahmakumaris on TV on a Ganesh Chathurti day. Call it enlightenment or fascination, I felt more alive.

Ganesha; the first thing that comes to our mind is that he is God and he is a person with an elephant face, big belly and he rides on a mouse. But, there is so much more to know about him I learnt that day. I was so much fascinated by learning the facts and felt like how much ignorant I am or rather most of us are. There should definitely be 'n' number of things like this I am or have been ignorant about. But, at least I am happy, I got knowledge of one. Nothing pious and nothing hallowed, just the fundamental knowledge of life on earth.

This writing is an attempt I am giving myself, to make my understanding better; and also to gather all the scattered knowledge at one place. With the knowledge gained through watching the show and some data gathered from the virtual worldwide network and of course with the results I derived taking all this to my head and hoping to make sense, I go on…

A little story time to begin with...

Goddess Parvati became dirty when she was celebrating with Shiva. When she realized this, she removed the dirt from her body and created a boy out of it. She then asked him to keep guard while she bathed.

When Shiva returned, the boy did not recognize him and obstructed his passage. So Shiva chopped off the boy's head and entered.

Parvati was shocked when she saw this. She explained to Shiva that the boy was their son and pleaded with Shiva to save him at all costs.

Shiva then instructed his helpers to go and get the head of someone who was sleeping with their head pointing to the north. The helpers then got the head of an elephant, which Shiva affixed to the boy's torso and Ganesha was born!

Now this doesn't definitely mean that Parvati had dirt in her body. Parvati is the supreme form of energy; the energy which is within us and which drives us. Parvati is symbolic of that festive energy. Her becoming dirty signifies that celebration or life can easily become feverish and can take you away from your center. Dirt is symbolic of ignorance, and Shiva is symbolic of the Supreme Innocence, Peace and Knowledge.

So, when Ganesha obstructs the path of Shiva, this means that ignorance, which is an attribute of the head, does not recognize knowledge. Then, knowledge has to overcome ignorance. This is the symbolism behind Shiva chopping off the boy's head.

That’s how an ignorant turns into becoming the most knowledgeable.

Now, let’s visualize a Ganesha… Every part of Ganesha symbolizes a human aspect of life. Since he is greatest embodiment of all these aspects, by praying to him, those aspects within us are focused, kindled and energized.

Elephant face:

The principle qualities of the elephant are wisdom and effortlessness. The enormous head of the elephant signifies Wisdom and Knowledge.

Elephants don't walk around obstacles, neither are they stopped by them. They just remove them and walk ahead – signifying effortlessness.

So, when we worship Lord Ganesha as in the elephant face, these qualities within us are kindled and we take on these good qualities.

Meaning; we become more knowledgeable, and we learn to deal the good and bad times with equal strength and ease.

The big ears:

Big ears listen better. Ganesha passes this energy to you to feel more existing, real and progressive.

It helps you listen more clearly and attentively to others and to you.

The broken tusk:

One tusk broken symbolizes, that we need to have the ability to remove the bad within us and retain only the good. By praying to him, this energy of being able to differentiate between the good and bad and let the bad leave you, passes to you. May be I’ll look ugly if I remove a tooth, but if it’s going to be a bad tooth it has to be out of me, else, the bad is going to spread. And this logic is applied for everything. A bad nature, a bad notion, a bad deed… etc… We need to watch out from becoming worse from bad, and uproot the bad at the right time.

Trunk:

Trunk has a lot of efficiency and adaptability. Trunk can reach out to everything and knows what to do. So we can take it as, this energy passing we become more evolved like the trunk, and put ourselves to use the right way.

The big belly:

The big belly says he digests everything. We need to peacefully digest the good and bad in life, as if it is the same flavor. That’s a tough thing to do. But, it will be definitely cool if I am able to do so.

The mouse:

Mouse represents ego. However big a hill be, a mouse finds its way into it. Ego is something which we need to get in control and not let that control us. Ganesha sits on the mouse, controlling it. Praying to this energy, we may be able to control our ego to become a better person.

Axe:

It represents that we cut off materialistic bonds with the world. As a common man, it’s not possible to detach ourselves from our loved ones. May be, we can attempt to rise above and cut unnecessary materialistic bonding, things which bring just temporary pleasure, which may not be needed. For starters, may be, I can detach myself from oily food or getting new kurtis every month, or at least lessen the count. Let me check if I am able to allow Ganesha pass this energy.

Rope:

Rope represents to pull us nearer to reach the highest goal. That’s too much to expect from people like us. But if Ganesha can pass that energy we can at least get knowledge of what is the highest goal.

Lotus:

Lotus is a flower which grows in dirt. It knows to rise above it and be clean and beautiful. May be that’s how we need to be. World has everything, good and bad. We need to rise above by thought and action and become like a lotus. And Ganesha blesses you with that energy as well.

Sweets:

They are the fruits of your hard work. Ganesha receives it, but it is just left there. He doesn’t eat it. Meaning, we can enjoy the fruits we receive in life, but we should know not to take pride over it.

Leg positioning:

Ganesha has one leg fixed to the ground and the other leg on the heavens, shows the importance of both, physical and spiritual existence, and working within both; rising in life, with roots grounded.

We do a Ganesh visarjan after having Ganesha for ten days at home. We drown the ganesh idol in water. It dissolves. That makes the symbolism of life complete. We go finally back to where we came from. Ganesha has come from mother earth, goes back to mother earth.

All these can be just seen just as a story, or you can take a minute to realize the facts around you; visualize them; make an attempt to understand and give a thought about the connection between spirituality, science and you. Ganesha is an epitome of life. He is the personification of the ultimate human life.

More being spiritual person than religious, I am so fascinated by the knowledge of the connection I understand between Ganesha and our sheer existence. Normally too high minded theories don't enter my brain. I get no logical link of application to reality. But this was so much complete by itself.

One note I get clearly from Ganesha’s symbolism. As a common man, we are left with no option but to stay connected to the world, which is quiet enjoyable. But, during the journey of life, we need to take care that we are not moving away from what we are and what we want to be. And at that level, we may need to draw limits, not to yourself, but to the world and decide on what in the world plays role in your life. The more you are connected to the world, the less you are connected to yourself. And believe me; being connected to yourself is the greatest gift one can give oneself.

Ganesha is the same energy which is the reason for this universe. It is the energy from which everything manifests and into which everything will dissolve.

Sharing the revelation of my inner awareness, in my best possible expressions

Shwetha

A new day is a new episode

With every sunset, there is some person out there, trying to gulp a feel of thought like what a hectic day it was, or what a horrible day it was, I did nothing today, I forgot to do a job, my boss shouted at me, someone is being so mean, I planned to do something and ended up doing something else today, I wish I had done it that way, I broke my mom’s heart today, I fought with someone, I abused someone, I cried over a stupid thing, someone hurt me, I am feeling gloomy, I made a fool out of myself today, today is the day I wish to forget, I wasted a day, I did not learn anything today, it was just another day...

Now; there is something common about everyday and it is that, that, “there is hope every day”. Every sunrise comes with a new ray of hope. Hope, to make it a better day, hope to find a better you, hope which gives you peace of mind, hope which makes you feel more sensible. This hope can come in any form. It could be from doing a thing, or just looking at someone's smile, listening to a song that touched, a thought someone shared, vibes from being at a place or even from a person... It comes with lot of good energy and makes you believe in you for who you are. It gives you confidence to face things better, get a clearer picture of things, derive a conclusion, think of an out of the box solution for problems, convert the pressure inside you into perseverance, and gather all the hidden energy within you to face it and feel proud of it.

There is hope hiding out there, somewhere, some place safe, just for you to get a grip on it. It may be in the simplest of simple things. May be it was just beside you all the while. Feel it… hold it… and never ever lose hope.

Wishing myself a lot of hope

Shwetha