New Year’s is an auspicious time to call upon Sri Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god who is the Remover of all obstacles. Last January, at the Radiance Rising Circles, we chanted to Ganesha the first five weeks of the year! This year, in absence of the weekly circles, I have been chanting to Ganesha whilst doing household chores. Yesterday I found this cosmic Ganesha image on a sweet blog called balanced spirituality by a yogini named Ekta. After reading about her path with another saint called Amma (Sri Karunamayi Amma), I then went to the website of my Guru Ammachi’s ashram, and printed out excerpts from her New Year’s Message 2012.

At Amritapuri, on the 1^st of January, Amma said the following: “Nature – which was once like a kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow – has dried up. The oil supply is rapidly decreasing. The food supply is dwindling. Potable water and pure air are becoming scarce. Where did we go wrong? The real mistake we committed lies in our inability to differentiate between requirements and luxuries. If our current generation could reinstate such an awareness of Dharma, then poverty and starvation would vanish like a bad dream.”

Indeed, there are many obstacles facing humanity as we begin this New Year, and thus it is a very good time to call upon Lord Ganesha, who blesses new beginnings. In the talk, Amma goes on to say that many people tell her that the world will end in 2012, but she doesn’t feel that will happen. She says that Nature is agitated and tragedies are always taking place everywhere in the world, and that will continue to be so, but we should not live in fear. Instead, Amma says we should cultivate an attitude of acceptance in which we say “Whatever happens I will remain strong, courageous, and happy.”

To read the full message, please click here: Amma’s New Year’s Message 2012.

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah! May Sri Ganapati (Ganesha) bless all beings and remove all obstacles on the path to goodness and happiness. 

Om Shanti (Peace), 

Yogini Tejaswini

Image of Cosmic Ganesha from balanced spirituality blog. When I learn the name of the artist I will share it here…