Guruji on the Importance of Mahāgaṇapati and his Worship (Audio & Commentary)

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Transcripton/Synopsis:

He’s capable of removing all obstacles without any remainder. When you try to do a good thing, so many doubts arise, so many people say it’s not a good thing to do, it’s not right; social norms are there.

Society demands conformity, and liberation demands non-conformity because you want to do your own thing. So it demands removing the obstacles from you and from the environment.

He’s able to remove all these obstacles. Brahmā is going to come your way, Viṣṇu is going to come your way, Śiva is going to come your way. Because they are the three guṇas. But you are trying to go beyond the three guṇas. They are jealous that you are going beyond them, and therefore they obstruct you. And the Guru is the one who has to take care of you to overcome these obstacles, there being Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva and take you to the root.

So Mahāgaṇapati is that power, which enables you to cross all these hurdles, not only the ones that you have here now. Till your ego is totally destroyed; till you are cosmically merged, and the Cosmos is destroyed and the vibrations that create the Cosmos are there, they also have to be destroyed; the guṇas - sattva, rajas, tamas they all have to be destroyed. And till that last point, he is going to be with you. He’s the carrier for you, for the mouse to become an elephant.

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We begin the worship of Mahāgaṇapati with tarpaṇams, (offering of water to the deity). Mahāgaṇapati is located in the Mūlādhāra chakra where the predominant emotion is fear. The next chakra, the Svādhiṣṭhānā is the sexual centre and thus pleasure is the main emotion.

Dissolving fear leads to pleasure. The process of tarpaṇam helps us to let go of our fears, doubts, insecurities and insufficiencies leading us to happiness.

In the spiritual journey we encounter many different types of obstacles. The notion "I am this body" is called Kayaka Malina (impurity associated with the body). It is known as Brahmā granthi and is described as a knot located above the Mūlādhāra cakra. Similarly, "I am this mind and thoughts” is the second type of impurity. This is the Viṣṇu granthi located in Maṇipūra. Finally, "I am the ego" is the last obstacle known as Rudra granthi and located at Ājñā cakra.

Mahāgaṇapati is that power which enables you to overcome and go beyond these three granthis up to the point where you are totally merged with the Cosmos. Till that last point Mahāgaṇapati is going to be there with you, to help you transform yourself from a mouse into an elephant.

Another effective and highly powerful method of invoking the blessings of Mahāgaṇapati is through the worship of His yantra. Yantra pūjā is an important part of the ritualistic worship of deities in the Śrī Vidyā Tradition.

Through the practices of worshipping Mahāgaṇapati, we cultivate strength (physical and spiritual), determination stability, security, and sense of abundance, all of which propel us further on our path.

-GURUJI AMRITANANDA