In Hinduism, Ganesha is probably the most common God, found in wayside shrines, and almost all temples. Most Hindus invoke Ganesha before beginning tasks.Of all Gods, He's probably seen as the friendliest, the helper.
For mystically inclined Hindus who feel more of a real contact/vibration, He's even more important, acting like a big brother, a friend, a helper in times of need. Mystically, He sits on the muladhara chakra, the doorway to dharma. So some see him as a gateway to Hinduism as well.
Although I don't usually share personal stuff, here goes. It does involve Ganesha. For the past 4 months or so, I've had an undetermined problem with nose/throat presenting very much like a chronic sinus problem. It caused sleeping problems, etc., and culminated in uncontrollable nosebleeds which required hospital emergency help while we were on pilgrimage out of country. At one point the body had a balloon stuffed up it's nose for 3 days, and was on strong painkillers. When the balloon gets puled out, its still bleeding, so they send me to an ENT guy who cauterizes most of it, but some is oozing still. Suffice it to say it spent most of the time in bed, scared the nosebleed would re-occur. In two weeks I missed 9 straight days of normally going to temple. (I follow the blood custom) I missed Sivaratri, and a few more bigger pujas I would have normally attended. My wife went to it all and reported back to the whiner hubby. Meanwhile, blood pressure was way up, and the main concern was to be healthy enough, at least temporarily, to fly home to Canuckistan.
So back home, I make it to Ganesha's temple, and pray, buy an archana, etc. Sitting quietly after, I hear 'Get the tooth checked' ... like the voice from Star Wars, and one I've heard before. Meanwhile I have an appointment with an ENT friend, who sticks a camera up my nose to check on the cauterised places.
I had a cavity filed on or about the same time the sinus stuff happened. The mild pain you feel for a few days had never gone away. It's on the upper molar, near the sinuses. So doc, after a couple of 'let's try this' sends me off to a root canal expert for diagnosis. The new doc has an opening in 2 days, which is short. So Wed AM I go in there, and sure enough, with all the diagnostics, it's determined I have a root canal issue. Then the next thing is Ganesha's timing. As I'm leaving the receptionist says, "We just got a cancellation for 1 this afternoon. Can you come back?" What do you think I say? A few hours later and I can tell I'm on the mend. Pressure is gone, pain is gone, I can breathe ... Yay. Turns out infected upper molars can leak that infection out via the root, and directly into the sinus cavity or membrane. Nobody told me. One more appointment. Thanks Ganesha.
Then today I'm doing my morning puja. Just after the dressing, there is a spot in the puja where a place a single flower is placed. I always put it beside his right ear, but this is a fairly small murthy, maybe 5 inches high, and not a big spot. But for some reason I forget that part of the puja. But Ganesha has these ways of reminding me he's still about. During the mantra pushpam part just after the ashtottaram, when I toss about 20 petals, one lands exactly in the spot and location orientated correctly just where I should have placed it. It's His way of saying, "You forgot ." Ganesha always has his ways of reminding me He still exists.
So .... despite having to go into more personal stuff here to do it, I just wanted to make the point that bhaktars within Hinduism have personal relationships with their lords right down to specific stuff like this. For that is perhaps what mystic Hinduism is to bhaktars.
Feel free to share your personal, "How Ganesha helped me." stories.
For mystically inclined Hindus who feel more of a real contact/vibration, He's even more important, acting like a big brother, a friend, a helper in times of need. Mystically, He sits on the muladhara chakra, the doorway to dharma. So some see him as a gateway to Hinduism as well.
Although I don't usually share personal stuff, here goes. It does involve Ganesha. For the past 4 months or so, I've had an undetermined problem with nose/throat presenting very much like a chronic sinus problem. It caused sleeping problems, etc., and culminated in uncontrollable nosebleeds which required hospital emergency help while we were on pilgrimage out of country. At one point the body had a balloon stuffed up it's nose for 3 days, and was on strong painkillers. When the balloon gets puled out, its still bleeding, so they send me to an ENT guy who cauterizes most of it, but some is oozing still. Suffice it to say it spent most of the time in bed, scared the nosebleed would re-occur. In two weeks I missed 9 straight days of normally going to temple. (I follow the blood custom) I missed Sivaratri, and a few more bigger pujas I would have normally attended. My wife went to it all and reported back to the whiner hubby. Meanwhile, blood pressure was way up, and the main concern was to be healthy enough, at least temporarily, to fly home to Canuckistan.
So back home, I make it to Ganesha's temple, and pray, buy an archana, etc. Sitting quietly after, I hear 'Get the tooth checked' ... like the voice from Star Wars, and one I've heard before. Meanwhile I have an appointment with an ENT friend, who sticks a camera up my nose to check on the cauterised places.
I had a cavity filed on or about the same time the sinus stuff happened. The mild pain you feel for a few days had never gone away. It's on the upper molar, near the sinuses. So doc, after a couple of 'let's try this' sends me off to a root canal expert for diagnosis. The new doc has an opening in 2 days, which is short. So Wed AM I go in there, and sure enough, with all the diagnostics, it's determined I have a root canal issue. Then the next thing is Ganesha's timing. As I'm leaving the receptionist says, "We just got a cancellation for 1 this afternoon. Can you come back?" What do you think I say? A few hours later and I can tell I'm on the mend. Pressure is gone, pain is gone, I can breathe ... Yay. Turns out infected upper molars can leak that infection out via the root, and directly into the sinus cavity or membrane. Nobody told me. One more appointment. Thanks Ganesha. Then today I'm doing my morning puja. Just after the dressing, there is a spot in the puja where a place a single flower is placed. I always put it beside his right ear, but this is a fairly small murthy, maybe 5 inches high, and not a big spot. But for some reason I forget that part of the puja. But Ganesha has these ways of reminding me he's still about. During the mantra pushpam part just after the ashtottaram, when I toss about 20 petals, one lands exactly in the spot and location orientated correctly just where I should have placed it. It's His way of saying, "You forgot ." Ganesha always has his ways of reminding me He still exists.
So .... despite having to go into more personal stuff here to do it, I just wanted to make the point that bhaktars within Hinduism have personal relationships with their lords right down to specific stuff like this. For that is perhaps what mystic Hinduism is to bhaktars.
Feel free to share your personal, "How Ganesha helped me." stories.
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