Ganesh ( Ganapati ) the Hindu Buddhist Deity : practices references and transmission
Keywords : Ganapati / Ganesh the Elephant Headed God of Classical India, Mantra and Praise of Ganapati, Deity yoga, Tantric empowerment, Overlapping Hindu / Buddhist mantra culture, Vedacarya Thomas Ashley-Farrand, Sakya Lineage and Sakya Monastery, Seattle Washington.
“To those for whom these village fires still have meaning:
Oh, may your own most beautiful Animal of Light come safely to you!”
from the Last Whole Earth Catalog
On 13 July in Seattle Washington a Ganapati empowerment will be offered at Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism. The guru bestowing this empowerment is the tantric master of Sakya Monastery, His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya Rinbochay. See www.sakya.org for more information.
For this reason it is timely and appropriate to provide some basic teaching and perspective on Ganapati, and in particular an esoteric Hindu Ganapati mantra and also a Sanskrit Buddhist praise of Ganapati. Many diverse teachings on this deity in Hindu form are available on the internet ( under both Ganapati and Ganesh ).
An excellent introductory summary for Ganapati / Ganesh is available online at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha
The Buddhist Ganapati is also referenced in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions of the Nyingma ( e.g. Longchen Nyingtik ) and Gelugpa lineages ( see practice texts for www.fpmt.org ). There is also Buddhist practice of Ganapati in the esoteric Buddhist Japanese tradition known as Shingon, which came East via China and not Tibet.
Briefly, Ganapati means Lord of the Troop, and Ganesh basically means Elephant Headed One. Ganapati is known by the title “Remover of Obstacles” or “Lord of Obstacles”. He carries or represents the enormous power of the Elephant. He is often accompanied by two female consorts Riddhi and Siddhi ( Magical Accomplishment and Spiritual Accomplishment ).
Ganapati is very prominent and even central in Hindu practice and is often evoked at the beginning of important engagements or projects, such as making a journey or starting employment, or beginning a meditation practice session. I have seen dance evocation of Ganapati at the beginning of a Hindu temple dance concert. Ganapati is one of the main practices of Hindu business people for success in their commercial ventures.
Ganapati is strongly associated with the “national spirit” or Mother India as well as her earliest roots. In the distant past elephants were used throughout India to clear land for agriculture, and also as war elephants. More recently, public Hindu celebrations were banned by the occupying British and the outlawed Ganapati ceremonies were brought forth, successfully, to rally India against foreign rule.
It is said that the long “History of India” was transcribed by the deity Ganapati as given by Rishi Visvamitra. Many of the key texts of Sanatana Dharma ( Hinduism ) were written down by Ganapati. So, this practice is a primary connection to Vedic Culture. Due to this, Ganapati is also practiced by students to help with their secular school exams.
Ganapati has a very ambivalent status in Buddhist tantra, the esoteric form of Buddhist meditation which relies on yoga, deity recitations and mystic practices in general. On the one hand, Ganapati is often considered unfriendly towards Buddhist practitioners in general, and propitiated or banished or subjugated so as to not cause problems. Thus, a subjugated Ganapati serves as the throne for the deity Mahakala in his Six Armed form. This reflects the fact that some but not all Hindu practice / culture affirms Buddhist teachings.
On the other hand, there are specifically Buddhist practices for Ganapati, as for other Hindu deities such as Shiva, Sarasvati and so forth. The Sakya lineage carries Buddhist deity yogas for the Hindu deities Uma Devi / Parvati and Garuda, as well as Ganapati. ( In Southern Buddhism, such as in Sri Lanka Theravada monasteries, it is common to propitiate the Hindu deity Visnu for outer or worldly benefits. )
More broadly, many Buddhist schools share with the Sanatana Dharma ( i.e. Hindu practice and culture ) a significant focus on Ayurveda, or spiritual medicine. The Buddhist deity Bhaisajyaguru, or Medicine Buddha, is a deity of Buddhist spiritual medicine and Ayurveda in both Hindu and Buddhist forms is more or less identical in practice, not just similar.
In the classical Sakya tradition, this Twelve Arm Ganapati is actually an emanation of Avalokitesvara, the beloved and universal Buddhist deity of liberating compassion. Thus, it is reasonable to view this empowerment as being a definite connection to Avalokitesvara and the general practices of Avalokitesvara.
It is also very important to note that with this ( or any ) tantric Buddhist empowerment comes the general set of universal Buddhist vows, such as the Ten Precepts ( rejection of harmfulness, theft, dishonesty, ill-will and so forth ), and the Bodhisattva vows. The Bodhisattva vows focus on active humanitarian service in the most broad and deep and long term ways, starting with rejection of limiting ideas such as racism, sexism, tribalism, and all cultural divisiveness.
For some basic teachings on Buddhist theory and practice, see the following at Asian Classics:
www.asianclassics.org/researc...ion.html
The Principal Teachings of Buddhism
Buddhist Refuge
The Vows of the Bodhisattva
For an excellent general introduction to Buddhist practice, with a focus on Buddhist tantra, see the following book by Kalu Rinpoche:
The Dharma: That Illuminates All Beings Like the Light of the Sun and the Moon, State University of New York Press, 1986, ISBN 0-88706-157-5
www.amazon.com/Dharma-Ill.../0887061575
This book is short, direct, accessible, classical and effective. It should be. It was transcribed as spoken directly to westerners by one of the greatest Buddhist masters of the last century.
To take the tantric Buddhist empowerment of Ganapati or any other is to take Mahayana Buddhist vows, as well as to become authorized to do magical kinds of practice, such as mantra recitation to develop the power of the deity. The point is that in this case, the Hindu/ Buddhist deity Ganapati is practiced within a classical Buddhist context, not otherwise. Thus the above mentioned Buddhist references are of central importance in this transmission and practice.
As a brilliant red deity aspect, Twelve Armed Ganapati is not only a remover of obstacles and disharmonious circumstances, but also a magnetizing deity, i.e. a deity that “warms up” social situations, and develops strongly positive interpersonal engagement.
On a yogic level, this deity ( in Buddhist deity yoga ) develops strength and power at the level of the navel point of the psychic energy body ( svadhisthana cakra ), although I cannot say more without transgressing tantric vows of secrecy. Note that the Hindu Ganapati is girded by snakes, representing kundalini energy, and is similarly associated with the energy at the base of the spinal column. All tantric transmissions are private, and their contents not to be discussed following initiation.
This is one of many specifically obstacle-removing diety yogas in Buddhist tantra. There are many others, but this one is definitely recommended for those who have a more Hindu-oriented background in culture and/ or personal karma. And as noted earlier, it is a connection to Avalokitesvara practice specifically, and to the outer Mahayana practices in general.
This can also be viewed ( speaking very unofficially ) as a connection to Hindu transmissions. ) For this reason I will now provide a specifically Hindu mantra for Ganapati, which has been confirmed. It is quite reasonable to say that on obtaining a Twelve Arm Ganapati empowerment, one may practice the following Hindu mantra as well.
Maha Ganapati Mantra
"Aum shrim hrim klim glaum gam
ganapataye vara varada sarva
janamme vashamanaya svaha"
Vedacarya Thomas Ashley-Farrand, from whom I have Laxmi transmission, has many introductory and also detailed teachings on Hindu mantra practice. See his website at
www.sanskritmantra.com/
The following is not an official representation, but I do have the Sakya lineage Ganapati transmission some twenty years back from HE Luding Khen Rinbochay. This Sakya initiation is for a Twelve Arm Red Ganapati, equivalent in many respects to the Hindu deity Ganesh or Ganapati. Many diverse teachings on this deity in Hindu form are available on the internet ( under both Ganapati and Ganesh ). The Buddhist Ganapati is also referenced in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions of the Nyingma and Gelugpa lineages.
From www.sakya.org :
07/13/2008
GANAPATI INITIATION
Offered by H. H. Jigdal Dagchen Sakya
Sunday, July 13
Time: 10:00 am
Location: Shrine Room
Suggested Donation: $30 Public, $25 Members
Translator: Dr. Jeff Schoening
Ganapati made the commitment to help all beings to uphold the 3 trainings—moral behavior, meditation, wisdom— and, in particular, to provide the necessary materials and provisions for practitioners.
He protects one from obstacles at the beginning of any enterprise and also helps to increase wealth and power for the benefit of the Dharma.
His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya, head lama of Sakya Monastery, was born in Tibet in 1929. He continues the great Sakya lineage which began with Khon Konchok Gyalpo (1034—1102). He received teachings of the unbroken Khon lineage, the Sakya Vajrakilaya, the Hevajra and the complete Lamdre Tsogshe, from his father, H.H. Trichen Ngawang Thutop Wangchul, the last Sakya throne holder in Tibet. He also studied with many other great Buddhist teachers, including Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi and Dingo Khyentse Robsal Dawa.
In 1960, H.H. J.D. Sakya was invited to work on a University of Washington research project on Tibetan civilization which was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. At the request of students, he co-founded with H.E. Dezhung Rinpoche Sakya Tegchen Choling, a center for the study of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. In 1984, the center became the Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.
The following is copyrighted material from The Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon, at
www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/index.html
specifically
www.uwest.edu/sanskritcan...totra30.html
The source text is “ Source: Pandey, Janardan Shastri ed. Bauddha strotra Samgrah. Varanasi : Motilal Banarsidass, 1994”.
This is provided as a necessary and specific demonstration that classical Indian Buddhist culture incorporated Ganapati deity yoga as a tantric practice, and not for other purposes.
Ganesastotram
kharvam sthulataram gajendravadanam lambodaram sundaram
vidhnesam madhugandhalubdhamadhupavyalolagandasthalam|
dantodghatavidaritahitajanam sindurasobhakaram
vande sailasutasutam ganapatim siddhipradam kamadam|| 1||
herambah paramo devah karyasiddhividhayakah|
saibhagyarupasampannam dehi me sukhasampadam|| 2||
ekadantam mahakayam lambodaram gajananam|
sarvasiddhipradataram gangaputram namamyaham|| 3||
vande tam gananathamaryamanagham daridrayadavanalam
sundaadandavidhuyamanasamalam samsarasindhostarim|
yam natva surakoyayah prabhuvaram siddhim labhante param
sindurarunavigraham paripataddanambudharahrtam|| 4||
uccairbrahmandakhandadvitayasahacaram kumbhayugmam dadhanah
presannagaripaksapratibhatavikatasrotratalabhiramah |
devah sambhorapatyam bhujagapatitanusparddhivardhisnuhasta-
strailokyascaryamurtirjayati trijagatamisvarah kuñjarasyah|| 5||
ganapatisca herambo vidhnarajo vinayakah |
deviputro mahateja mahabalaparakramah || 6||
mahodaro mahakayascaikadanto gajananah|
svetavastro mahadiptastrinetro gananayakah || 7||
aksamalam ca dantam ca grhnan vai daksine kare|
parasum modakapatram ca vamahaste vidharayan|| 8||
nanapusparato devo nanagandhanulepanah |
nagayajñopavitango nanavidhnavinasanah || 9||
devasuramanusyanam siddhagandharvavanditam|
trailokyavidhnahartaramakhvarudham namamyaham|| 10||
sumukhascaikadantasca kapilo gajakarnakah |
lambodarasca vikato vidhnarajo vinayakah || 11||
dhumraketurganadhyakso bhalacandro gajananah |
vakratundah surpakarno herambah skandapurvajah || 12||
sodasaitani namani yah pathecchunuyadapi|
vidyarambhe vivahe ca pravese nirgame tatha|| 13||
samgrame samkate caiva vidhnastasya na jayate|
vidhnavallikutharaya ganadhipataye namah || 14||
sriganesastotram samaptam|
Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu!
In partial fulfillment of vajrayana teaching responsibilities,
KT
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Re: Ganesh ( Ganapati ) the Hindu Buddhist Deity : Essence of Ganapati Mantra ( Hindu and/ or Buddhist )
Fri, August 8, 2008 - 10:05 AM
Essence of Ganapati Mantra ( Hindu and/ or Buddhist )
Keywords: Ganapati / Ganesh, mantra and tantra, syncretic Hindu / Buddhist culture, Aryaganapatihrdaya, Dr. John Grimes, book reference "Ganapati: Song of the Self", "engaged buddhist practice" / mahayana service.
This post is a follow-up to the post
"Ganesh ( Ganapati ) the Hindu Buddhist Deity : practices references and transmission"
which was sent out to a number of yogic, pagan, Buddhist and alternative spirituality tribes. This served and will serve a very important purpose in creating bridges of communication among different kinds of pagans, including in particular the Hindus and Buddhists, and also demonstrating that some practices are shared between practitioners of different philosophical affiliations. The points that were originally made have stood the test of broad public scrutiny, mainly since I provided detailed and reliable information as a foundation for the broader communication.
I originally decided to write about Buddhist Ganapati to demonstrate in concrete terms the very real ways in which Buddhist and Hindu culture share much common ground, specifically in the formal practices of magic and tantric deity yoga. At the same time, I wanted to show how this was relevant to the broader pagan and yogic communities, since Ganapati is a very clear example of a magical power practice and a classical mantra yoga, and indeed kundalini yoga.
The intention is very clear: together we can all reach a very special place. . . spiritually, grammatically, and ecumenically.
Ganapati practice and empowerment as a signature practice among Hindus, has *also* been part of esoteric Buddhist ( tantric ) culture for thirteen centuries. This in itself says a great deal about classical mantra culture in general and Buddhist tantra in particular: mantra practices and tantra disciplines are very much shared and overlapping in usages, not divisive or exclusivist as in conventional muggle religious dogma. At the same time, this is a mystical and polythestic practice by definition, and therefore *completely* incompatible with "Judeo-Christian" and Islamic religion. In fact, Ganapati is clearly a good practice to reverse the influence of Islam, in Mother India and elsewhere.
Ganapati is far from being major or primary in Buddhist mysticism, yet it is consistently found in many Buddhist practice cultures, including the Indo-Chinese-Japanese Shingon, which it itself proves that Ganapati ( as well as other specifically Hindu deities ) became incorporated into Buddhist mysticism by the eighth century, *independent* of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.
For example, there is a translation of the Bardo Hundred Deities practice of Chogyur Lingpa ( Nyingma / Dzogchen ) which contains a two line mention of Ganapati in particular. There is also an academic reference to "Indra of the Troop", i.e. Lord of the Troop, which is found in classical sources for the Kalacakra Tantra, and recognized academically as a reference to Ganapati.
The Tibetan Gelugpa fellowship www.fpmt.org makes available a short Ganapati practice text. And as I have said, the Tibetan Sakya lineage offers this transmision, which I have received twice. Thus in many different Buddhist schools of practice, Ganapati is well-established, even if peripheral and far less well known. There are several definite cases where Buddhist deities and mantras have been absorbed into Hindu culture( e.g. Tara, Vasudeva and Avalokitesvara ) and it is quite possible that we have an example here in the following ARYAGANAPATIHRDAYA ( Essence of Ganapati ).
Here I will give a classical mantra for Ganapati, The Remover of Obstacles, The Lord ( Pati ) of the Troop ( Gana ), known also as Ganesh and as the Elephant Headed God. The mantra has been proofread and the source is a classical scholar of Hindu spiritual culture ( Sanatana dharma ). I do not have a full translation for the mantra, although many of the meanings are clear from the word elements. This is a very general purpose power mantra. The title of the mantra text translates as
Arya ( Noble )
Ganapati ( Lord of the Troop )
Hrdaya ( Heart Essence ).
Here, Troop or Gathering means group of spirits.
In Tibetan Buddhist terms, Ganapati would be typically classed as a "werma", a protective spirit or wargod. As such this practice is found in both the Old School and also several New School Tibetan lineages.
In more esoteric terms, Twelve Armed Red Ganapati can be seen as a mundane manifestation of Avalokitesvara. The second time I received this transmission from Sakya lineage, the Buddhist Twelve Armed Ganapati included both Vajrapani and Vajrasattva transmissions ( at a more basic tantric level, not as highest yoga tantra ).
This mantra is given for reference purposes only, and not in violation of copyright. After all, I am providing the book reference, so it is more of a book promotion, not theft of copyrighted material. As a pre-modern mantra, it cannot by itself "belong" to any modern author, at least not as a series of sounds, although any modern translation would.
This is a followup to my earlier detailed posting regarding Ganapati as a Hindu and Buddhist deity, and I believe the following mantra is of relevance to both Hindu and Buddhist practitioners. Specifically, this mantra uses more characteristically Buddhist elements and phrasings, and does not use the more typically Hindu seed syllables ( as in for example the original post ).
There are quite a few instances of classical Buddhist mantras that became incorporated into mainline Hindu practice. One important example is the Buddhist Tara mantra "OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA" which became a Hindu mantra "OM TARE TUTTARE SVAHA". There are many others. This is because the Hindu culture, like Buddhist culture, is not fixed or separatist like Hebrew culture or Islamic culture, but open and dynamic. There has always been an ongoing exchange between Hindu and Buddhist teachers and lineages, even at high levels, and this continues today.
In particular, the Buddhist Ganapati uses the seed syllable GAH, not the Hindu seed syllable for Ganapati, which is GAM. I know this from the Sakya ( Indo-Tibetan tantric Buddhist transmission ). There is also the characteristically Buddhist phrase "Tadyatha", which means "Thusly", or "say it like this", and repeated usage of the word "kuru" i.e. "make it so", and phrases such as "turu turu", "curu curu", and "muru muru" which are often found in more extensive Buddhist mantras.
Also, there is a very magical Buddhist-type tantric phrase "Om. . . santim vasu pustim kuru svaha". This means to "pacify, magnetize, and nourish". I have never seen such a phrase in any Hindu mantra other than this instance. From my standpoint as a Buddhist liturgical scholar, this looks very much like a Buddhist mantra that has been incorporated into the Hindu canon, like the Tara root mantra, Brkhuti Tara, Vasudhara, some forms of Avalokitesvara and so forth. Classical scholarship shows Buddhist to Hindu migration of mantra and teaching in many instances, and the Veda itself speaks of Veda ( Hindu sacred scripture ) coming from Mahacina, i.e. from outside classical India, from Great China.
It is therefore a mistake to think that Buddhist mantras or deity practices are mostly or typically derived from Hindu sources. We know that this is not so, because the Buddhist deity practices have strong foundations in Buddhist scriptures known as tantras, and these are largely independent of Hindu scripture and follow a consistent philosophical basis ( anatman, or Selflessness ) very different from the typical Hindu philosophy ( Atman, or Great Self ).
Now regarding the key focus of esoteric Buddhist practice: intention and dedication. All Great Way Buddhist practice, including tantra, is based on pure intention and universal service. So I will make a universal dedication here for the dire suffering of one million people in military ruled Burma ( Myanmar ).
In recent times there has been great suffering and cultural loss among the Buddhist communities of Asia, not only in Tibet and China, but also in Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam and Burma. Millions of peaceful Buddhists have been killed, and many millions live in totalitarian societies, such as eighty million or more Chinese Buddhists within the People's Republic of China, a military regime.
Great suffering is not unique to Asia nor to Buddhist cultures, we find it also in the twenty years destruction of black Sudanese by the Arabic / Islamic ruler, government, armies and militias of Sudan. ( See International Criminal Court vs. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, charges of genocide, www.icc-cpi.int. ) The point is that it is necessary for people as individuals to free themselves and work with others for the common good in order to establish peace and justice free from religious and political tyranny.
For this reason in particular I am focusing on the inner strategies of "magical power practices" such as mantras and so forth, on showing people the significance and value of inner practices, to help establish higher consciousness in the broader social domains and thus help people and humanity in definite and profound ways.
Good people need all the help they can get. So this is also dedicated to all of you who are working for freedom and humanitarian purposes. It's a tough fight to be sure, a long hard road.
This year in particular there has been great hurricane damage to Burma, followed by the refusal of the totalitarian regime of General Thwan Shwe to allow humanitarian assistance. A million Burmese, mostly Buddhist, *continue* to suffer disease and starvation and lack of shelter for lack of basic humanitarian aid. Much of this was sitting right offshore upon vessels and with crews flying the United Nations colors.
What little aid and what few crews actually allowed inside Burma this year were obstructed and their help was rendered basically minimal and useless, although it was freely given. This is the worst possible antisocial act, and it is never acceptable under any of the human rights treaties of the United Nations. It is in fact a crime against humanity.
So this teaching, this very magical teaching of Buddhist and Hindu deity yoga practice, is dedicated, in a Mahayana way, in Buddhist Universal Service, to the suffering people of Burma in particular. It is offered very broadly, to many, for the basic human rights of the Burmese people, their liberation from the current military tyranny, and the restoration of democracy and human health in Burma. We ask that it be this way.
You, the People of Burma, Are Not Forgotten. May you be free. All My Relations.
In partial fulfillment of my mahayana and tantric teaching responsibilities,
KT, inner medical tantrika and dagger priest
The source for this mantra is the book
"Ganapati: Song of the Self"
by John Grimes, Ph.D.
Paperback: 231 pages
Publisher: State University of New York Press (July 1995)
ISBN-10: 0791424405
ISBN-13: 978-0791424407
It is available on Amazon.
ARYAGANAPATIHRDAYA
( Essence of Ganapati )
Tadyatha
Namo stute mahaganapatiye svaha.
Om kata kata
Mata mata
Dara dara
Vidara vidara
Hana hana
Grihna grihna
Dhava dhava
Bhamja bhamja
Stambha stambha
Jambha jambha
Moha moha
Dehi dehi
Dapaya dapaya
Dhana dhanya siddhi me prayaccha samayamanusmara maharudra vacaniye svaha.
Om kuru kuru svaha.
Om turu turu
Om bhava samti vasu pustim kuru svaha.
Adguta bindu ksabhita mahavidara
Samagacchati mahabala
Mahabaya
Mahavarakra
Mahahasti
Mahadaksinaya pracidayamai svaha.
Om kuru kuru
Curu curu
Muru muru
Om ga ga ga ga ga ga ga ga
Om namo nama svaha.
[ end mantra ]
Sarva manglam! Siddhi rastu!
