Are you familiar with Ganesha, the elephant headed Hindu God? Ganesha, the god of beginnings is honored within many countries & cultures across the world, often turned to when one is embarking upon something new, and is most known for their role as remover of obstacles. Interested in having obstacles removed while you open to new beginnings?!? Yes please, and thank you! I was gifted with learning about the role and blessings of Ganesha several years ago, and today a couple beautiful representations (pictured in this message) of this deity accompany me in my living & work space. It’s amazing how supported I feel by their presence. When facing obstacles or challenges, seeing Ganesha helps me remember that I am not alone.
This past winter, I had the opportunity to live for five weeks just outside of Sedona, AZ. One day while there, I happened upon some readings about this Hindu deity, Ganesha. I found myself smiling and sort of shaking my head as I read thatGanesha is not only the remover, but is also considered the bringer of obstacles.
Yeah, took me a second to process that one…
As I did, clarity opened as I became better able to see what I would call a veil of perspective or lens, known to impact personal interpretations and views. We all have them, and we have many. These veils color our perceptions of the world.
In this case, I was seeing, with new clarity, a layer of the veil linked to the Western perspective that often seeks for only the pleasant, the happy, that which we label "good", etc. to be fostered and prevail in our lives - a veil that perhaps in itself is both an obstacle and a gift.
See, I had previously felt encouraging of the one side: "Yes, Ganesha, please remove all the obstacles!"
Through this new, broader perspective - the idea of this beloved deity as also the bearer of the obstacle - I was guided to reflect on the way "the obstacles" of our lives also, quite often guide us to our deepest points of growth, offering significant gifts.
Many examples of lived obstacles floated through my mind from shifts in relationships to births and deaths of loved ones, to forest fires and human conflict. I thought of history and how I'd recently learned of our human relationship with forest fires in the United States and how in 1933, fire suppression and attempts at elimination were focused upon and formally reinforced, until science began to prove the benefit and literal necessity of allowing fires to burn as nature intended. As a country we came to learn that the destruction of fire was also critical to nurturing elements of life, in the forest and beyond, to grow.
Opening our hearts and minds to this paradoxical truth is a direct invitation to expansion.
As these thoughts further settled in, I began to feel an integration within myself, like seeing with clarity through a well-focused lens - a more inclusive, holistic view of my relationship to the full range of this life experience - beyond my individual preferences of like or dislike. Tuning in to the felt senses of this experience, I noticed that my body had begun to feel softer, more open - and events that had occurred in my life seemed cloaked with a new cloth, woven of appreciation and acceptance.
As you have journeyed through this life, weathering the range of pleasant and unpleasant – easeful and obstacle-ridden events – what have you used to support you through? Have you ever thought that even the obstacles may be serving? Or known that in some cultures there are paths to worshiping even those gods or goddesses who may have put them there? In my life alone there are a multitude of examples of what I've learned through obstacles, experiences and events, which at one time I'd perceived to be "in the way". As a support through moments when waves of intensity surrounding the obstacles of this life rise (in addition to literally seeing the mini statue or color pencil drawing of Ganesha), I often lean into the supportive vibration of the powerful Mindset Reflection: How is this serving me? When working with such a reflection, it is important to practice holding it as a rhetorical question – one that percolates within rather than sparks the searching for specified answers. This question alone inherently sources the vibe of curiosity, holding the power to open the door to new insights and perceptions, views that may otherwise remain veiled from our greater potential to see.