Ganesha, he of the elephant head

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah

Vakratunda mahakaya, suryakoti samaprabha

Nirvighnam kuru mei Deva, sarvakaryeshu sarvada 

May the blessings of Ganesha be upon all.

Ganesha - Lalbaughcha Raja, 2017
One of the most popular Ganesh puja
pandals of Mumbai 

Gana + Isha is the lord of the Ganas. As all the teachings are metaphors, we have to dig deeper into the meanings of these metaphors.

So, the word Gana -- seen as referring to the “bhoota ganas” or the formless followers of Shiva, who are often described as unruly and raucous — needs to be studied first. What better day to do this than Ganesh Chaturthi, celebrated as the birthday of the god in question.

In energetic terms, it seems to be a metaphor for spiritual pilgrims on the Shaivite path, who awaken the ‘power’ centre within them. On this path, the ‘love’ or Vishnu aspect of god does not come into play. In such individuals, one can find an  imbalance of the love and power energies, or the Shiva and Vishnu aspects. As MCKS says, Power without Love manifests as cruelty (and violence).

Isha or Pati refers to the one who binds, regulates or controls (the disembodied chaotic energies).

The story of the birth of Ganesha is a vindication or a commentary on this name — how a boy was created by Parvati from the dirt and sweat of her body and armed with a stick, and told to keep out anyone who tried to disturb her bath; how Shiva was driven away by the boy, and how the Devas engaged in a battle against the boy, who was supported by the Devis; how the boy was eventually beheaded by Shiva with the help of Vishnu; how an enraged Parvati threatened to destroy the entire Universe, and how the Gods were sent to bring the head of the first animal that they came across which was sleeping with its head to the north.

Thus was born Gajanana, the elephant-headed one.

Shiva gave him the job of heading his Ganas or hordes, and he was blessed to be the lord of invocations, the first among the pantheon of gods, who shall be worshipped before all on any auspicious occasion.

As students of Master Choa Kok Sui, we look beyond the obvious. So let us examine this story with some discernment.

Ganesha was created by Parvati without the involvement of Shiva. She made him from the sweat and dirt of her own body.

1. Shiva and Parvati are divine beings. So they do not have bodies, nor sweat.
2. In the Lemurian age of the Human Race, the beings used to reproduce by this technique. They were called the sweat-born, according to teachings explained by Master Hector Ramos. 

Parvati armed him with a staff or a stick, and told him to keep out everybody as she took a bath.

1. Goddess taking a bath doesn’t really make sense
2. A stick that is a match for the trident of Shiva or the Chakra of Vishnu - also doesn’t make sense
3. Why did she need to keep Shiva out anyway?

Parvati represents an aspect of Shakti, the Divine Mother. The bath refers to Parvati's own attachment to the maternal (material) world and her unwillingness to go the abode of her husband, Shiva. She is content to remain bathing in the waters of Shakti. This is one way of portraying the Sleeping Princess in the Prince Charming story, or the sleeping snake that represents the Kundalini. 

When Shiva knocks, she is snappy, peevish and does not want to be awakened. This is quite a different state of Kundalini compared to when Rama calls on Sita in the Ramayana.

So one important lesson is that we must not use the power aspect to awaken the Kundalini, it results in all kinds of clashes, including civil war in one's energy body.

When the Kundalini is awakened without the Father, as represented by the boy-who-became-Ganesha, it is tied to the mother's apron strings, and programmed for destruction. This is the inner resistance that Master Choa talks about, when our inner negativities prevent the descent of the Soul Energy due to the absence of Pillar #1 - Devotion to God and Guru.

So now, the Kundalini is already awake (as represented by the boy) and the Spirit (Shiva) is trying to take charge. We have a pitched battle with the army of the Father on the one side, and that of the Mother, led by the son, on the other. The soul is trying to take charge of the body.

All the Devas are roundly defeated, till finally, Brahma advises that Vishnu should distract the boy and Shiva should seize the moment to attack. Sure enough, the boy is slain. This represents the defeat of the ego, described in a similar manner in the defeat of Ravana: though in that event, Vishnu, as Rama, is the killer.

It is to be noted that the boy’s death results in an enraged Kundalini threatening to destroy the universe, till the boy is reborn as Gajanana.

(In Indian government forms, by the way, there is a column that has to be filled - Father’s Name - an unconscious hark-back to “as above, so below”. Only recently has the government begun to accept the mother’s name alone.)

Ganapati, thus, represents a soul-realised person, one who knows his Father, the son who has been raised from the dead by the Spirit (Remember the resurrection of the Christ).

Some of the symbolisms of Ganesha:

1. Elephant head: The elephant is one of the symbols used for Kundalini, the other being the coiled serpent. The walk of the elephant symbolises the swaying and undulating rise of the Kundalini along the spine.
2. The trunk to the left side: Symbolises that the cool meridien or the ida nadi is dominant, so the ego is passive and under control, not hot, not destructive or aggressive.
3. Smiling face (prasanna vadanam): Loving kindness and non-injury, following from #2.
4. Bright as millions of suns (Suryakoti samaprabhah): The aura becomes indescribably bright due to the descent of the Holy Spirit, the ascent of the Kundalini and the Soul-Awakening.
5. One tusk broken: Slaying of the ego or pride, subjugation of violent tendencies, the remaining tusk is named Shraddha or attentiveness
6. Big belly (Lambodarah): The technique of the navel chakra as practised in the Kundalini meditation. Ganesha wears a belt of gold/a cobra around his navel. This indicates a disciple who has transformed the spiritual energy into golden prana and stored it in the 'amrit kalash' - the Holy Grail or the Holy Chalice. 
7. Seating posture: The heel of the left foot is against the perineum, and the right leg is down, the same posture as the Green Tara - ready to drop everything and rush to the help of those who seek aid, while keeping the Kundalini raised (as taught by MCKS in Ganesha Asana/Sharanagati).
8. The weapon at rest: Punishment is secondary, blessings are primary; mercy and compassion have priority over meting out justice
9. The Mouse: The vehicle of the awakened soul is no flashy Lamborghini but a humble rodent, which is sitting still even in front of a pile of food. The successful disciple has subjugated his animal nature.
10. Abundance: Laddoos are piled upon a plate, indicating Ganesha is the lord of abundance and prosperity, but at the same time also not avaricious - as evidenced by the offerings that are untouched. The spiritually awakened soul does not need to be poverty stricken. Ganesha’s wives are Riddhi (wealth) and Siddhi (spiritual accomplishments or abilities, mystical powers).

After soul realisation, which is uniting of the consciousness with the soul while still in the body, comes god realisation, which is the soul uniting with the Divine Spark and shedding its causal body. Mitti ka dher hai, mitti mein mil jayega (ashes to ashes, dust to dust). This is symbolised in the visarjan of the clay idol in the ocean or a water body, allowing it to crumble in water and return to earth. 

The imagery is that the idol disintegrates, and Ganesha returns to Mount Kailasa to sit in the lap of his father. In the Ramayana, this is symbolised by Sita returning to Mother Earth and Rama returning to Ayodhya with his sons Luv and Kush.

It is important to note that the tradition of public, large-scale Ganesh pujas are a relatively recent phenomenon, attributed to the days of India's freedom struggle. The recurrence of the Ganesh puja every year is an indicator that though the disciple may be soul-realised, he has work to do, and effort is required to maintain the soul in its realised state till it becomes god-realised.

Remember, all this is symbolism, and meant to make you think. Don’t get too attached to various qualities of Ganesha - he represents the god within us that we have to awaken.

For any mistakes I may have committed in this writing, I apologise. Blessings of god be to all.