Shree Ganesh

(Written September 10, 2021)

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, a day when the deity, Ganesh, is honored. And so I see it fit to acknowledge this auspicious day by sharing the following.

Many a year ago, I had an experience with this wonderful deity, known as the elephant god in the Hindu pantheon. Ganesh is recognized as the remover of obstacles amongst other things; a greatly benevolent and auspicious force.  

I was meditating in what was known as “the cave,” one of the areas where people meditated at the ashram where I was residing at the time, in India back in the eighties. It was a very powerful place, filled with that meditation energy.  (And, it was also air conditioned, which made it all the more popular!) 

On this one day, I was sitting there meditating when suddenly I found myself in a vision.  In this vision, I was sitting on the guru’s chair known as the Ghaddi.  Now, it needs to be explained that even in my meditation I thought this was odd as no one - in our conscious, everyday life - did this at the ashram; or elsewhere for that matter.   The chair is only meant for the established teacher, the head of the lineage. But yet, there I was seated on the chair and facing a darshan aisle running down the middle of a meditation hall.  

Darshan is the practice of coming before the teacher for blessings.  It is a sacred tradition between teacher and student.  More can be said about darshan but I’ll  leave it there for now.

Suddenly, a massive elephant appeared to my right down at the end of the hall.  The elephant proceeded to turn and started lumbering slowly down the aisle toward me.  He was so beautiful.  And then he stopped before me and affixed his trunk on my nose. His trunk met my trunk, you might say!  And, then he proceeded to blow Shakti, divine energy, into me.

With this, I immediately came out of the vision but continued to feel this divine energy coursing through me…

On this Ganesh Chaturthi, this is the story of receiving immense blessings from this profound deity.  It came out of the blue.  Why it happened, I cannot tell you.  It was a pure movement of grace.

And so I say, thank you, Shree  Ganesh. Thank you.  Thank you for your great blessings, love and protection. 

Annie Kiyonaga

September 10, 2021