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Śrī Deva Purīṣa Mahādeva Kī Jai, Śrī Mādhava Kṛṣṇa Bhagavāne Kī Jai, Viśva Guru Mahā Maṇḍaleśvara Parama Svāmījī Maheśvara Ānandajī Guru Deva Kī Jai, Śrī Gaṇapataye Namaḥ. God bless you. Yag divī sabhā jagā kī lajā, Maṅgaṭā me jagat laka guru agyā dāvā. Laka guru ājñā dhārī, unakī dama acala karadārī, unakī dama acala karadārī, manakā viṣaṇa andhra jī. Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśa. Oṁ bole śrī dīpnāre bhagavāne kī dže. The Spiritual Significance of Gaṇeśa Caturthī As you see, today we have pictures of Gaṇeśjī on the walls, and on the altar, there is also Gaṇeśjī with a little bit of green leaves around him. For those who don’t know, today is Gaṇeśa Caturthī. It means Gaṇeśa’s birthday. Usually, when we celebrate one of these festivals, we can always experience it together. One way is religious, and another one is more interesting for us, and this is a spiritual celebration. In the same way, for every story you hear, you should always try to find an understanding of the story, not take it literally. In the same way as you are listening to bhajan, it’s a language of wise men. It’s a poetry for wise men. So, as Swami Jasrāch Purījī yesterday was telling the story about the kittens, at one point he says, "It’s strange that this is a story for kids." In the same way, we can say that the story about Gaṇeśjī’s birthday is kind of odd if you listen to it directly, literally. So there is a story of Gaṇeśa’s birthday. As the people are celebrating, bhaktas are celebrating, they are putting a prasāda on every one of Gaṇeśa’s altars. So he has to plead with them and come to each and every place and take a little bit of that prasāda. By the end of the day, by the end of the night, he was full of prasāda. As he was going back, he fell down on the ground. Moon started to laugh at him. And then Gaṇeśjī cursed the moon, "How can the moon laugh at him?" And it is said that on today’s day, it is not good to look at the moon. There is always a remedy if you look for it. You know that remedy is always satsaṅg. But what does it mean? It means not only today, but from today, every day, and for your whole life long. We should not look to others who are making fun of someone else, but we should look inside and look positively at things. We all know about Gaṇeśjī, but try to understand Gaṇeśjī as a principle, the one who destroys obstacles on our spiritual path. When you see Mūrtā’s pictures and the monuments of Gaṇeśjī, you will see that in his hands he is keeping the symbols. In one, he is holding the axe. What does it mean? If you think about it literally, he has an axe. What does it mean? In this way, you cannot progress in your spiritual path. But if you ask yourself a question, like Avatā Purījī did ask, how is it possible? And if you always ask the question why, it is the only way to progress. What does this axe mean? It means that he is destroying, removing obstacles on the path so you can walk through it. This axe has a hook on it, and this is the hook with which you can control a mighty elephant. And this mighty elephant is our mind. And as Swamījī says, each of us must have that staff with which we can control that mighty elephant, our mind. In his second hand, he is holding a thread—not a thread, a rope. It means even if you go to the wrong path, it will turn you back. If in life we think we don’t have his blessing, Gaṇeśjī’s blessing, because everything is falling apart and going down. Maybe you really do have his blessing. Because when we are going the wrong way, he is putting obstacles on that path, on that way, to put us back on the right way. With one hand he is giving the blessing, and with the other he is protecting. But every time there is a question: why is there a mouth? Why a rat? When the problems come, or if you keep the money in the mattress, what will happen? You will not lose the value of this money immediately. Or you will not grow old very fast in life. But this will happen slowly, slowly. You cannot see it. It’s like the mouse is eating it slowly. And Gaṇeśjī is controlling these mice in our life. This small going down. There are a lot of stories about Gaṇeśa, but today we are not going to tell them all. Please go to any website or any book, and you can really find a lot. This is just to put in your head, so you can investigate further. Only in this way, if we are curious. And if we want to go above the borders of religion into spirituality, this is the way we can progress. If we want to understand these things not in a literal way, this is the only way we can progress. So Gaṇeśjī sits there. There’s one thing about Gaṇeśjī. It’s not so evident in that picture, but in a lot of pictures, it’s more apparent. An elephant has big ears and a small mouth. Big ears are for listening. And more listening and less talking. And perhaps it’s no accident that he’s there at the gate on our spiritual path, physically with those two attributes, because we’re here for learning and listening to Gurujī and taking it in more, and not just regurgitating it. Taking it in more, keeping it in and digesting it, rather than just it coming out of the mouth, which is bigger than our ears. It’s one thing for me also about Gaṇeśjī, he’s there at the base of our spiritual path, and he’s where it all guards the gate. And as Vivek Purōjī said, he’s there at the base of our spiritual spine; he has that in his hand for keeping control. And always at the start of a pūjā, the first pūjā is for Gaṇeśjī. But very rarely is there a pūjā that’s only for Gaṇeśjī. On our spiritual path, we control these lower chakras. But if you went to visit a castle, you wouldn’t spend your time talking to the gatekeeper. He’s one of the most important people in the castle because he controls who goes in and out. He controls the discipline and controls the atmosphere which will be inside that castle. But we don’t stop at the gate and spend all the time with him, we go into the castle and do what you wanted to do there. And in the same way, Gaṇeśjī is the representation of controlling those vṛttis which are coming from our lower cakras. But we don’t spend all our time stuck with him there; we spend our time trying to go up. This is what Vivek Purījī was saying in his hand, this axe and the prod. It’s also when you see it in the hands of these men who control the elephant, it’s used in two ways. One way is to control the elephant from running away, and on the other end is something that he pushes the elephant with when he wants it to go forward. So I hope that Gaṇeśjī will sit there within us and not just control our vṛttis and keep us disciplined. But also, when we get lazy, to give us a little prod up the backside so that we keep going forward. He’s somehow doing from both sides at once, seeing what the situation is, and maybe we need a good kick. On Making Sitting Easier I just had a question here that I’ll answer quickly. The same question came up in Strelka. And it was about sitting, how to make sitting easy. It’s pretty obvious in Strelka that that question must have come from someone who was sitting in the Anusthāna. But a lot of people seem to relate to the problem. From my personal experience, besides Gurujī making me sit, the other thing that changed completely for me, how I was sitting, was that I decided in the office not to have chairs anymore. And we made a table so that it could sit on the ground, which is traditional in India, normal. Which meant that, basically, most of the day I spent sitting in this position rather than in the chair. It had many more benefits than I ever thought, because you’re never short of chairs in the office anymore. You know, before, if five guests would come and there were three chairs, then you had a problem, and you had to call, "Come quick, bring some chairs," and so on. Now, if 20 people come into the office, no problem, they can all sit on the floor. And everybody feels happy with that. Now, obviously, I don’t think you can do that in your office here in Europe. Difficult, but there are certain situations where you can put it into practice. You know, when we’re looking at our practice as part of everything that we do, you have to take every chance to get some benefit out. If you’re watching television, rather than sitting on a sofa, sit on the floor. If it’s possible in your flat, when you’re eating, rather than sitting at the table and chair, then arrange some place where you can do that on the floor. If you are playing with your children, then sit down on the floor with them rather than sitting on the chair or on the sofa. They are small things, but you are sitting, and you won’t even notice that you are sitting because you will be concentrating on what you are doing. And as you know, if you are having trouble sitting, that is the worst thing you do is start to think about your legs and how they’re feeling, and how much easier it is to relax when you’re thinking of something else, so because when you’re sitting in those situations, you’re more focused on either eating, or on the television, or on what you’re doing with the children, or whatever it is. As your consciousness is less on your legs, it’s amazing how much they relax and how much easier it will become. They’re just a few examples, but you can surely find others in your daily life and in what you do. And if you’re having trouble with sitting and you want to improve it, then just put it in small places here and there. Obviously, don’t do it so that it’s causing you pain. And it may not be that you can sit there for an hour and be on the computer or watching television and be comfortable. Do it within your limits, and slowly, slowly, it comes more and more. If you have a laptop, then you can arrange to be doing it on the floor also. Perfect. It’s a small 15 minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour here and there that make a difference to your sitting. And it doesn’t actually take anything out of your day, because you’re going to be doing those things anyway. It’s just a way of somehow supplementing your practice, rather than having to give more time to it. Give it a try. Śabdase nahī̃ māri jātāra māri, Śabdase denārām, Śabdase lenāhe, Śabdase denārām, Śabdase lenāhe, Śabdase khatbātma, Śabdase nahī̃ māri jātāra māri. Śabdasā nahī̃ mārī jātā, rā mārī śabdasā nehī̃ mārī jā. Śabdasā soje rām, śabdasā boje. Śabdasā soje rām boje, śabdasā nehī̃ mārī jā, śabdasā nehī̃ rām. Śabadasa Bela Rāma Śabadasse Jogatīhe, Śabadasse Yogīrāma Śabadasse Jogatīhe, Śabadasse Yogīrāma Śabadasse Jogatīhe, Śabadasse Jogatīhe Śabadasse Jogatīhe, Śabadasse Yogīrāma Gaṇeśa as Guru and Principle As you all know, Swamiji gave me the name Gajānand, which is just another name for Gaṇeśa. So naturally, I was thinking about what it means already a little bit longer. And, of course, as Vivek Purī said, there are so many stories. Let me just add one small story, which I really like, about the mouse. I heard it in India. It was said that this mouse originally was actually a rākṣasa. A mighty demon was fighting with Ganesh. It was a long and hard fight, but finally, Ganesh brought him under control. And then, with his power, he transformed him into this small mouse. And made him serve him, because he is supposed to be the riding animal of Gaṇeśa. So, what is this demon now? This demon is a symbol for our mind, which tries to control us. And it’s a hard struggle that we manage, that we control it. And the mind has to serve us. But other aspects of Swamiji’s teaching I find actually more important than all these stories. And as Swamijī uses to say, Mahāprabhujī didn’t write big books. All his teaching is in the bhajans. And if you look in the bhajans, for example now, the bhajans which we always sing in the beginning of a satsaṅg, dedicated to Gaṇeśa. So we have some dohās, some mantras dedicated to Gaṇeśa. And we have two, or actually three, bhajans in which Gaṇeśa is mentioned. And also in the bhajan "Chalo, Chalo, Ye, Sahayam," in the end comes "Ho, Ghananami, Ganesh." When we now look, how is this bhajan? Now, "Padaromere" is Gurujī’s bhajan, holy Gurujī’s bhajan. How does he actually now address Gaṇeśa there? Let’s see how he actually addresses Gaṇeśa. The first line already says it very clearly. Padāro mere Gaṇapati Deva Gurāṅsa. Padāro mere, that means, please come. Mere Gaṇapati, that means, my Gaṇeśa. Ganapati is just another word for Gaṇeśa. But he doesn’t say, "Please come, my Ganesha." He says, "Mere Gaṇapati Deva Guransa." And Deva Gurāṅśa, you have just to put it the other way around. Guru Dev, my Gaṇeśa Guru Dev. So, in fact, this bhajan is not dedicated to Gaṇeśa. This is dedicated to Mahāprabhujī, to the Guru Dev. And the Gaṇeśa qualities he has in Mahāprabhujī. So he says, "Please, Mahāprabhujī, my Guru Dev, come. You are for me the Gaṇeśa, you are for me the remover of obstacles." The same we have in the other bhajan, "Sumārokananāmī" of Mahāprabhujī. And even more clear, you have it in the bhajan, "Kya pucho kesa dipadayalo, sartyakahu esa paramakripala." In this bhajan, this is from Holy Gurujī, he says, "You are asking how was Mahāprabhujī? You ask how was Mahāprabhujī?" To say the truth, he was like that. That means the refrain is like, how to say, an introduction, and now every verse gives an answer to that. Every verse, and this is a long bhajan with thirteen verses, describes one or two aspects of Mahāprabhujī. So he says he was like Brahmā, he was like Śiva, he was like Kṛṣṇa, he was like Hariścandra, he was like Gaṇeśa. And in the end, he says, "I saw so many countless forms in him, and still there is no end." And this finally made it completely clear for me how I should relate to Gaṇeśa. Because honestly, I don’t feel really—I speak not personally about me—I don’t feel really like a Hindu. And inwardly, I am always a little bit like observing all these stories. But that makes perfect sense for me. All these are just different aspects of the divine, and they are for me represented in my Gurudev. So when we sing "Padhāra Mere" in the end, actually we invite Swāmī, we invite Mahāprabhujī Swāmījī, please be here, present, and remove the obstacles. But one time Swamiji went even further in his explanation of Gaṇeśa. The key is the name Gaṇeśa itself. Ish, and Ish is short for Ishvara, means the Lord of the Gaṇ. So what is now the Gaṇ? If you look in the dictionary, Gaṇ is described as the minor gods. Minor, that means not like Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, the main aspects of God. But rather, like the different elements of the creation. This is the aspect which we see especially in the Ṛg Veda. The whole creation is holy, is divine. Surya, that does not actually mean the sun, it means the sun, God. Bhūmī, mother earth, the divine mother. So all the different aspects of the creation, these are divine principles. And these are these guṇas. To sū guṇa. You can say, actually, the tattvas, the elements. These are these guṇas. To sū guṇ. So now, when we think again, what means Gaṇeś? It would mean the one who controls all these elements of the creation. And control means to bring harmony, balance. And now we are suddenly very close to what Swamijī always explains as yoga. How often Swamiji explained, there is one principle which balances the universe, and this I call yoga. So the one who controls, who balances the elements, this is the yogī. And that is for me the deepest understanding of Gaṇeśa. So all this teaching which Swamijī gives us, he actually tries to help us transform ourselves into Gaṇeśa. Because all the teachings that Swamiji gives us make it possible for us to learn to be Gaṇeśa, to control everything. One who controls and balances. As Swamiji used to say, the Guru transforms the disciple into himself. Us. And the guru answers and teaches us how we can actually remove the obstacles ourselves. This is how I understand Swamījī’s teaching. Obstacles as Issues, Not Problems Going through Europe, I at least am getting one aspect of Ganeshajī I’m starting to assume. Gajanand is just talking about obstacles. One of my favorite stories from the Rāmāyaṇa is perhaps on that topic. It’s not from Gaṇeśjī, it’s from Hanumān. When he comes into the forest and gives the ring to Sītā. And he gets surrounded by Rākṣasas afterwards who want to attack him. And he looks at them, and he sees that they have weapons in their hands, which are divine weapons. He looks at them and tells them that they have a divine weapon in their hands that can destroy them completely. And in the Tulsī Rāmāyaṇa, where it is written, it is sung, it is intoned, and then there is a verse, a line of explanation. There’s one Doha, and he says, "I’m surrounded by these rākṣasas with divine weapons." And he says, "But if I don’t think they’re divine weapons, then they won’t be able to have that effect upon me." And then he just smashes them. But that’s it, you know, all of our personal obstacles, which we think we have. Yes, we have them. Yes, they’re with us. They are ours. But whether we see them as just an ordinary arrow or see them as something with a nuclear warhead on the end of it, that is up to us. Like an ordinary gun or a nuclear weapon in front of us, it is on us. He saw it as his personal things that could attack him, and he noticed that they were big. He saw at that moment that they were big; they appeared to be something huge, insurmountable. But then he realized that those issues’ power over him was in his mind, and if he saw it differently, they weren’t so big. That’s the way we have to look at our own issues, which we have to deal with in order to assume that form. Those obstacles, how big we look at them as being, that is in our mind. If we look at them with the attitude that that is something too big for me, or if we look at them with the attitude, okay, I will start with it and it will slowly get smaller, I can deal with it, no problem. It may seem tough sometimes to think like that, but it’s true. The decision about where we place that obstacle is up to us. Most of you know Father David in Australia. He was with Swamiji in the Kumbh Melā. He was at several of the peace conferences here. I don’t think you can quite imagine how busy that man is. For one of the states of Australia, he runs the Catholic Church. Basically, he’d be like the general manager of the Catholic Church. He is the general manager of it. He manages everything: the priests, the training, the schools, the churches. And that he does for half the day, because the other half of the day he is involved in the government, in so many committees, helping people with homelessness, with mental problems, with drug issues. He is on so many different things. And he still seems calm. And once I asked him, because it was a time when in Australia there was a lot of problems in the church, and a lot of problems in the department he was working in, in the government. And I said to him, "How do you deal with so many problems?" He said, "No, no, I don’t have any problems." He said, "They’re not problems, they’re issues." Okay, but it’s the same thing. He said, "An issue is something that you just deal with, and you find a solution to." And a problem is something that you already have tension about before you even start to look at it. Because it’s a problem. Oh, no, I’ve got a problem. You know, you can smile and say, "I’ve got an issue." But smiling and saying you’ve got a problem is a different matter. It’s the same thing, but it’s just in different cloth. And the reaction to it is completely different. You know, if someone would come and walk in now and he was dressed in a police uniform, and he’d come back five minutes later and he was dressed like this, you’d react to him completely differently. Maybe not. Maybe if you all see me like a policeman, I don’t know, but... You would have reacted in a completely different way. Maybe not, because you see me dressed like a policeman. But the important difference is how you look at it, how you treat it. It depends on how you treat it. Issues, mental. If you look at it from a spiritual perspective, when he goes into a garden, a garden is a place of nature, a little bit wild. He’d gone into that place of emotion. And then things came to threaten him, to attack him. When we look within ourselves at our own things, make them issues, don’t make them problems. Issue is something that you deal with day by day. You may not find the solution today, but it’s just running, and you get there. I think, as Vivek Purījī and Gajānandjī were saying, there’s so much inside those stories. You can see them from so many different perspectives, and for different stages in your spiritual life, they will have a different meaning at that time. And as Gajānandajī said, we should search to try and embody those qualities, to find them within ourselves. There’s nothing there that’s talked about that is not within us, that is not there to be awakened. That’s the journey to awaken that Guru teaching, to awaken what is expressed in so many different ways in those stories. Have a great day again. The Transformative Power of Satsaṅg I have to say one little thing. I was amused with myself yesterday. I was thinking of the Bhajan Śobhā Satsaṅgaharī. And it’s talking about all of these different ways that people are transformed by satsaṅg, giving examples, like the tree next to the sandalwood tree gets its scent. The way that the water, when it comes into the Gaṅgā, also becomes the Gaṅgā water. And as I was getting later for satsaṅg, I was thinking, I can put in another line: that when you spend time in the seaside town, you start to run on seaside town time. And you start to become more and more the color of the sun. Perhaps there’s a whole new bhajan in there, just written about Īj. That expresses that same thing, that when you come to satsaṅg, it transforms; when you come to Swāmījī and you spend time with him physically or mentally or in your sādhanā, that it transforms something, and you start to assume a little bit of that. As we swim more and more, our skin gets a little bit more salty, and it’s just the embodiment of the saying we have in India: as is your company, so is your color. As is your mental company, so is the color of your thoughts. As is the intention of the people around you, so is the intention which you start to slowly have within. And that is the beauty of satsaṅg, the beauty of being together. Om bole Śrī Dīt Nārāyaṇ Bhagavān Kī Jai. Śrī Śrī Dev Puruṣa Mahādeva Kī Jai. Dharm Samrāṭ Paramahaṁsī Svāmī Madhavānandapurījī Mahārāj Kī Jai. Viśva Guru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar Paramahaṁsī Svāmī Maheśvarānandapurījī Satguru Deva Kī Jai. Gaṇeśa Jī Mahārāj Kī Jaya.