Ganesha, Lord of New Beginnings, Part 2
…It’s been a month now since I started chanting the Ganesha mantra, Om Gam Ganapatayei Namaha. I’ve committed to 40 days and still have about a week to go.
So far it has been a fun and enriching experience and I can see why chanting has been done for thousands of years. I have gotten to know Ganesha like a friend and if you read my earlier post about this you know that I also started a Ganesha painting. As an artist, how could I embark on an experiment like this without also illustrating it?! Anyway, Here’s a few of my observations so far. Keep in mind I’m totally new to the world of chanting mantra and the following is simply my own insights based on personal experience.
Ganapati - Acrylic on Canvas 30x40 inches 2021
About two weeks into my 40-day commitment I was hiking in the familiar woods near my house, I was enjoying the early winter cold and chanting away, Om gam Ganapatayei namaha. Coming upon a fork in the trail I knew that there was a stream up ahead that was too flooded by the winter rains to cross. If I took the fork to the right it would bypass the stream and take me where I wanted to go but the path was less direct. I chose instead to continue straight and find a way to cross the stream. Just before the stream there was a large fragment of a tree, remnants from the last ice storm. It was about six feet long and split in half lengthwise. Without a second thought I knew it would make a perfect bridge. I broke the remaining branches off and drug it fifty yards down the trail and was able to drop it across the stream. Presto! Obstacle removed. With a little balance I crossed the rushing water without getting my feet soaked. I could tell myself that some mystical force of nature (Ganesha) removed that obstacle but maybe reciting the mantra is simply giving me more power to be the remover of my own obstacles? I’m open to the idea of pure magic as well but I believe that most spiritual practices are about teaching us to better help ourselves, to be our own healers.
That said, it would be safe to say that chanting Om Gam Ganapatayei namaha is charging me with Ganesha consciousness, and that seed of awareness will continue to grow now that I am aware of it and focused on developing it. You could say that I’m in training, and with added self-awareness I’m observing where my blocks are and playing a more active part in removing those blocks.
But how does it work I ask myself. How is the Ganesha mantra working on me? What is it really doing? All the many many mantras are supposed to have different and unique affects. Since Ganesha is said to be the remover of obstacles, chanting his mantra must be about building our abilities to take action. Obstacles are not removed by magic alone but by seeing the obstacle and taking action to remove it. Therefor, Ganesha must be working to strengthen my willpower. When you have a strong will you know what needs to be done and you do it, regardless of the obstacles. The old saying where theres a will theres a way comes to mind.
Lastly, it’s my impression that by applying specific intent the mantra’s real power is revealed. When chanting, if I direct the energy not outwardly at the Ganesha iconography, but inward on my physical body, the mantra will have a more powerful effect. I’m focusing on my gut where I believe my willpower is born, and I can imagine a ball of white light there growing stronger with my focus on it.
UPDATE: The painting is complete and available as a beautiful canvas print here:
24x32” – 1.5” deep canvas giclee print.
Beautiful canvas giclee reproduction of Lord Ganesha. Wired and ready to hang.
About:
This was the first deity I painted. It was the end of 2020 and I had just started chanting mantra for the first time. I chose to recite Ganesha’s mantra for a period of 40 days, repeating it as many times as I could throughout the day. I was taking long walks in the woods at the time and after about a week of walking and repeating his mantra hundreds of times, I started to notice a subtle shift in me. I liked how I felt when repeating this mantra. I decided to see what it would feel like if I also painted a portrait of Ganesha while working with his mantra. After about another 30 days I was able to finish this portrait around the same time I finished the forty day period of working with his mantra. Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha!