Hinduism

Who is Ganesh?

Ganesha is India’s cutest god. He has the head of an elephant on which is perched a dainty tiara, four pudgy hands joined to a sizeable belly with each hand holding its own symbolic object. One has a trishul, or a trident, the second, an ankush, or goad made from his very own broken tooth, the third hand elegantly holds a lotus and the fourth a rosary (which is sometimes replaced by modaks – his favourite sweet). His appetite for sweets is legendary and offerings of them are often left at his shrine.

Ganesha is famous not only for being a trickster and for his sense of humour, but equally for his wisdom. He is the son of Shiva (Destroyer in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer) and Parvati (Shiva’s consort).

The chubby, gentle, wise, elephant-headed Ganesh, or Ganesha, is one of Hinduisms most popular deities. He is the remover of obstacles, the deity whom worshippers first acknowledge when they visit a temple. He is also patron of letters and of learning; he is the legendary scribe who, using his broken tusk, which he often holds, wrote down parts of the Mahabharata epic.

From Loving Ganesa
by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

 

Revisiting Ganesha

For the next 30 days, we will be revisiting the Invoking Ganesh project from 2007. This was one of my all time favorites. It always seems to work for me ~ when I remember to use it.

From Mind Valley, here are 6 benefits to a regular practice of chanting the Ganesh Mantra. I’m sure there are many more.

  • The Ganesh mantra is known to activate the mind and various chakras of the body. This leads to better blood circulation and therefore improved metabolic rate in the body.
  • It is said that it is best to chant the Ganesh Mantra before undertaking a new venture, as he is the bringer of success, prosperity, and good luck.
  • Chanting the Ganesh Mantra also brings peace, or more literally – it removes all enemies from one’s path.
  • It helps us focus.
  • It brings clarity into our lives
  • It is also said that if you chant the Ganesh Mantra 1008 times, it will remove fear from your heart.

What is the Ganesh mantra?

Well, actually there are a number of different Ganesh Mantras. The one we used for our original project was this one: Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha.

A loose translation might be:

  • Om = The sound of the universe
  • Gam = The secret power sound of Ganesh. It is his “seed syllable” or bija mantra.
  • Ganapataye = Another name of Ganesh, the remover of obstacles.
  • Namaha = I submit to a higher power.

The pronunciation is also pretty easy:

  • Om = ohm or aum
  • Gam = Somewhere between “gahm” and “gum”. In some dialects it is “guhng”.
  • Ganapataye = gah-nah-paht-ah-yeh
  • Namaha – nah-mah-hah

Repetition of this mantra over and over again brings peace, and is designed to help remove anything that might be blocking your progress. Some of us used the whole mantra, and some of us just used the bija or seed sound for the Ganesh Mantra, which is “Gam” and sounds like “gum.

The mantra can be chanted aloud, or silently, or a combination of the two. You might want to do this as a regular meditation practice, or you can simply chant the mantra while on your way to work, whenever anything comes up that feels overwhelming, if you find yourself in a whirlpool of anxious thoughts, while walking, jogging, or even when falling asleep at night.

Self Realization

paramahansa

Have any of you read the book, “The Autobiography of a Yogi”? If you haven’t, it is well worth reading. And if you have, I have a nice little treat this morning because I discovered that the “Self Realization Society” accepts prayer requests.

Monks and nuns of the Self-Realization Fellowship Prayer Council pray daily for all those who request prayers and for world peace. They are joined by SRF members and friends around the globe who are part of our Worldwide Prayer Circle Each morning and evening the SRF Prayer Council deeply prays for the physical, mental, and spiritual healing of all those whose names have been given to us. All prayer requests are confidential and will remain with our Prayer Council for a period of 3 months.

Here is the link:

I also found a page of quotes about goals:

And a nice affirmation:

I relax and cast aside all mental burdens,
allowing God to express through me
His perfect love, peace, and wisdom.

Namaste

Getting Centered

For our viewing and listening pleasure, today I am sharing this little site:
om_namo_shivaye_shiva1

This site is about prayers to God. It includes favorite bhajans from Hindu religion, mantras and prayers. It features online indian temple bhajans such as Radhe Krishna temple bhajans, Ganesha temple bhajans, Vaishno mata temple bhajans, Hanumana tample bhajans, Parvati Shiva temple bhajans and Sita Rama temple bhajans.

What does all that mean? Well it means that they have these wonderful prayerful mantras and songs. I played the Hare Krishna mantra when I went there, and it felt so good. The music went straight into my heart and actually brought tears to my eyes.

As I was surfing for new and different prayer sites, one thing was constant, no matter what the content, or the intent, or the consciousness, or the religious affiliation – the concept of getting still, and finding a place of alignment or closeness to God was mentioned almost every time. And so I think it must be important. That’s what these hindu prayers did for me – so that’s why I am sharing them here.

To listen to these prayers you will need Windows Media Player.
You can get this free plug-in from the Microsoft web site

There are different pages, with different prayers and mantras, the page I went to was the Radhe Krishna Temple Prayers, and if you scroll down the page you will see various links to various mantras, bhajans, and even some talks given by the Swami.

Note:

Looks like these links no longer take you to the right pages. But hey, I’ve got something better! It’s a video. George Harrison and the Radha Krishna temple singing Hare Krishna. Enjoy!

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