Ganesha

[gendao]

I had a dream once, many years ago:

 

A golden baby Ganesha came to me and told me I'd be visted with a difficult practice soon. Then I gave the baby Ganesha a bath and the bath water turned to milk.

 

The next day, I took a trip with my lover to Venice beach for the first time. An Indian man was selling images og Lord Ganesha, and one image was a golden baby Ganesha dancing. I bought it, took it home, and gave it a bath in milk. I thought that was all.

 

A week or two later, my lover discovered she was pregnant. At first I was very happy, but then she decided to abort the baby. At first I tried to be supportive, but in my heart, I really wanted the baby. My lover chose to go through with the abortion anyway, we seperated, and I was left without a home.

 

I was wandering through a book store feeling quite destitute, and I remembered my dream. I thought, "What did that dream mean? Surely that baby Ganesha didn't mean to hurt me with his news. Surely he meant to help me, he is a loving god isn't he?" At that moment I saw a book on the shelf entitled "Loving Ganesh."

 

I overcame that troubling time, and a practice I learned from that book was to chant the following:

 

"Om Shri Ganesha ya Namha"

 

I would do this using a mala, 108 times, after sitting zazen, so that my mind would be very quiet and clear.

 

Thank you for allowing me to share this story.

So, your difficult practice was losing your baby and home? But, what exactly did you gain from that experience?

 

Just learning a chant? And did that chant help you in your life?

[nightwatchdog]

I became intimately aquainted with the pain that only ego is capable of producing. Gentleness blossomed. Anger lessened. Ego became easier to recognize. I realized that peace and the happiness with no opposite would not be found outside, but rather inside.

 

Now it's easier to recognize my own addictive patterns. Correcting them is a matter of deciding not to suffer. Being here in the world. Not resisting. Sometimes it feels like trying to awake too early in the morning, and maintaining prescence is very difficult. I often fail.

 

But the important thing is that I am capable of recognizing myself out of balance. Being unenlightened is uncomfortable. I know it when I am awake, and with ever greater frequency, I know it when I'm not. This knowing is not merely intellectual any longer.

 

In short, I learned that unless I'm awake, I'm day-dreaming a nightmarish fantasy. My task now is to wake up permanently.

 

Thanks for the reminder.

[SiliconValley]

So, your difficult practice was losing your baby and home? But, what exactly did you gain from that experience?

 

Just learning a chant? And did that chant help you in your life?

 

Dude,

 

You can have a better tone when talking to someone who lost a baby.... And what did you gain by asking this question? Ah! all 'bounce' and 'bliss' but no compassion ....

 

And nightwatchdog,

 

Keep the cuddly Ganesha in your heart always. Only the one who has experienced him knows what HE is. There are no words to describe him, except may be to say: he is innocence, he is bliss, he is a child and he is compassion personified.

Edited June 10, 2008 by SiliconValley

[Xienkula1]

It seems Sri Ganeshan can incarnate in a human body too, at the very least semblance somewhat in his image.

 

 

RRR50d0tmQ0

[voidisyinyang]

Funny my current ALL NIGHT LONG meditation C.D. is Anuradah Paudwal singing Ganesha devotional music. It's my favorite C.D. of hers thus far.

 

http://www.imeem.com/people/vyfTX4/music/T...ai_ganesh_deva/

[Wun Yuen Gong]

WOW, He sure does look like a elephant with the Trunk and all!

 

Thanks for posting!

[.broken.]

WOW, He sure does look like a elephant with the Trunk and all!

 

Thanks for posting!

 

That's some seriously gross tumour. Seen others like it, he's lucky it only covers one side of his face so that he can see, breathe and eat without too much difficulty. To me there is nothing 'holy' about this person's physical appearance.

 

Pardon my negativity if it comes across as such.

 

Yours,

James

[Wun Yuen Gong]

Maybe the visual makes him unholy but he could be a very spiritual being inside!!

[.broken.]

Maybe the visual makes him unholy but he could be a very spiritual being inside!!

 

Too true

[SiliconValley]

Funny my current ALL NIGHT LONG meditation C.D. is Anuradah Paudwal singing Ganesha devotional music. It's my favorite C.D. of hers thus far.

 

http://www.imeem.com/people/vyfTX4/music/T...ai_ganesh_deva/

 

 

Drew,

 

Let me know if you like this clip..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uI9TnJiZGWA&feature=related

Edited July 5, 2008 by SiliconValley

[Xienkula1]

Drew,

 

Let me know if you like this clip..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uI9TnJiZGWA&feature=related

 

Awsome! I love Carnatic. They have piercing bhava in their voices. Thank you!

 

Appropriate, because today is the 2nd day of summer Navarathri. The day of the goddess of Knowedge.

Edited July 5, 2008 by Xienkula1

[SiliconValley]

Awsome! I love Carnatic. They have piercing bhava in their voices. Thank you!

 

Appropriate, because today is the 2nd day of summer Navarathri. The day of the goddess of Knowedge.

 

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X-AX7Jukfh8&feature=related

 

Another clip, of Raag Megh Malhar. A proper rendition of this raga is said to bring the rain. Esoterically, it is supposed to invoke the element of water, cleanse and cool. Many Yogis and Aghoris of Benares, after months of practice, would gather in groups to listen to this raag on the ghats of Ganga and as children, we would wonder why, back then..

[Satyalok]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X-AX7Jukfh8&feature=related

 

Another clip, of Raag Megh Malhar. A proper rendition of this raga is said to bring the rain. Esoterically, it is supposed to invoke the element of water, cleanse and cool. Many Yogis and Aghoris of Benares, after months of practice, would gather in groups to listen to this raag on the ghats of Ganga and as children, we would wonder why, back then..

 

Beautiful, thanks!