"Hilda was at all times in contact with the celestial beings. When she came to the Hindu Temple each month with her group, that was the time when the temple acquired a new quality of vibration, a sanctity and a presence of divinity far greater than on any other occasion."

Dr. Alagappa Alagappan, Founder, The Hindu Temple Society of North America

The Origin of
the Legend of Skanda,
or Murugan

Bhagavan Sri Skanda is known as Murugan and by numerous other names in different parts of India and Ceylon. His story dates back centuries before Christ. The scene of Skanda's birth is set in the Himalayas. His birth and life are written in the Skanda Purana, an epic poem which dates from the fifth century A.D.

In India, countless shrines are dedicated to Him, but there are six major ones, each with a separate name. These six as a whole are known by the title Arupaddi Veedu.

In Ceylon, in the heart of a forest with roaming elephants, leopards and other beasts, is the Sri Skanda shrine of Katragama, famed for its many healings and miracles. The fire-walking ceremony is one of the many unexplained phenomena that regularly occur there. The many forms of Skanda are worshiped in numerous ways. The priests worship Him in elaborate rites and ceremonies. The aboriginal Vedda invokes Him with dances in the primitive manner of the woods. The philosopher meditates on Him in silence as the Supreme All-Pervading Spirit of the Universe, the Essence from which all is manifest.

In Chapter X of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says, "Know me as Skanda, the Warrior Chief."

In Sri Sathya Sai Baba's book, Songs of Sri Sathya Baba, he says, "Subramanyam [Skanda], Son of Shiva, is the personification of the highest possible state to which the law of evolution leads. His name means `He who tends the spiritual growth of aspirants.' Knowing Him in all His aspects amounts to knowing the spiritual possibilities latent in man. `Through the Son, the Father is known.'"

Skanda is known to have arrived in Ceylon in the remote age when it belonged to Lemuria, a vast continent that stretched from Madagascar to near Australia and included India as well as Ceylon. This territory was once ruled by a titan who became the terror of the Celestials who had taken form to live upon the Earth at that period. In answer to their prayers, the God Skanda was incarnated as Son of the Supreme God Shiva. He led a mighty host to Ceylon. It is said that the sky and earth were confounded, the earth shaken at its foundation, such was the mighty uproar of this battle among the Gods. Skanda destroyed the titan with His vel, or lance, a symbol which typifies Skanda's energy of wisdom. Once the titan was finally defeated, he was granted forgiveness by Skanda for his sins and was changed into a peacock, upon which Skanda now rides; therefore, the peacock, one of whose many names is Myol, has great significance in the lore of Skanda. When Skanda wishes to make Himself known, one might see a colorful peacock feather appear or even see a vision of a peacock with tail raised. In this, Skanda symbolizes the highest quality of the Godhead which conquers the qualities of the lower nature. Riding upon the transformed titan represents turning the lower energies of God's creation into higher uses.

Skanda is said to have issued from the third eye of Shiva as six sparks of fire which were cast into the Ganges. They then flowed into the holy Himalayan lake Saravana and were transformed into six babes. These were taken care of by the six nymphs of the constellation of Pleiades, and the six aspects or powers became unified into one in the fond embrace of the Goddess Uma and took the present form called Skanda. 

That Sri Skanda was formed from the six sparks on the water has a significance to those who wish to delve deep into the esoteric meaning of the legend. One must take into account that in the early age of Lemuria, before the continent of Atlantis was formed, those we refer to as Celestials, or Gods, walked the Earth. In the Bible it says, "There were giants in the Earth in those days, and also after that when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men," noting that there were two races: one highly evolved set of beings and those from a lower state. The sparks represent fire or the life energy which proceeds from the Supreme Spirit Shiva, a symbol of Divine Energy. In spiritual terms, six is a symbol of accomplishment, that which serves to usher in the seventh, which is perfection. The water upon which the six sparks fell is a symbol of Truth or Eternal Reality and the source of all manifestation. In Genesis, God created water from which, in the beginning, all manifested.

Master Hilarion calls the six sparks the Skandas and says they create the life energy in each chakra. When the Mother of the Universe, Uma, embraced the six sparks or babes, they became one. This represents evolution's ultimate goal. Therefore, the Celestial God Skanda has come to Earth as the epitome of the Divine which unites as one in the seventh chakra, the place of liberation. The Shakti force, always striving to master the lower nature of humankind, then yields itself to the service of mankind, and the lower natures are overcome. Skanda is the symbol of the divine purity of yoga, a word whose root means "yoking oneself to the Father/Mother God."

As time went on and Lemuria sank into the waters, the Celestials returned to their heavenly abode and ceased to walk among humans. Skanda has come close to the Earth plane in his ethereal form to lead us back once more to our heavenly state by raising the six sparks of kundalini power upward, readying us for the Age of God about to come. All the higher planes of the "many mansions" are working together for this purpose. None are in conflict with the other, whether it be other Planetary Beings or Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Skanda or the other Celestial Beings. All are concerned and working in unity, wisdom and love to save Mother Earth.

The Legend Becomes Real

"In My Father's house are many mansions:
if it were not so, I would have told you."

John 14:2

There are many heavenly planes of existence with different consciousnesses connected with the planet Earth. When leaving the Earth in so-called death, people go to the realm they have earned in life that is in alignment with their evolution. The plane just under God, the Absolute Unmanifest Essence from which all is created, is named the celestial realm, and therein dwell those whom we call Deities. Bhagavan Sri Skanda is of this celestial realm. This celestial plane, the highest of the heavens, is one of the mansions to which Jesus referred.

Sri Skanda first came into my life many years ago while I was living in the Orient, in Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka. Some friends arranged for me to visit Katragama, the place of His shrine and temple, situated deep in a jungle. At 4 a.m. on the day of my pilgrimage, I was awakened and abruptly sat up, remembering my upcoming trip. Being sleepy, however, I lay down again.

Suddenly, there before me was a vision of a young boy about ten years of age. His hair was beautiful, gleaming, black as a raven, and hung down to His shoulders. He had a golden crown with jewels on it. Authoritatively He said, "Get up! Come! Come!" When I did not respond, He repeated in a firmer voice, "Immediately! Get up and come!" I jumped up. At that time I did not know it was Muruga, as Skanda is called in His youthful form.

The route to Katragama requires travel through remote territories of Ceylon. I traveled through the jungle in a rickety bus, which stopped before entering the deep and dangerous part of the jungle.

The driver asked everyone to get out of the bus to visit a small shrine and to break a coconut by dashing it on a stone before a temple. Passengers told me a European once had laughed at this ritual as he passed through this jungle in his car. Later on in his journey, he was hurt by a rogue elephant. I need not say that I broke the coconut quickly.

The trip through the jungle was long and the bus crowded, but it was a new experience and interesting. My first trip through the jungle! I could see eyes shining, looking at us as we passed the undergrowth, and I spotted a wild elephant.

A few miles from the shrine, the air itself began to change. It is almost impossible to describe the feeling of divine inspiration and excitement that comes over you as you approach this spiritual center. The air seems rarified. It is as if light enters you and changes the atoms of your body. Miles from the shrine, everyone starts to chant "Muruga, Muruga, Skanda, Skanda!" Joy fills the heart with expectation.

The bus arrives and there, quietly flowing before your eyes, is the sacred ganga, or river, with a small bridge passing over it. No cars or buses go beyond this point. You walk on foot over the bridge in ecstasy, momentarily stopping to look at the flowing water below, knowing that you are about to enter holy ground. No one needs to convince or convert you. The outside air becomes an extension of yourself. You become one with the holiness and feel it in every pore of your skin.

Bathing in the ganga before going to the temple is part of the ritual of the shrine. The quietness of the softly flowing river and the green-leaved trees overhead makes you think, "This is what life is all about — bliss and peace." The words "Shanti, Shanti, Om" resonated in my head.

I have only visited one other place on a pilgrimage where I have felt such keen expectancy and such a blissful feeling. That is at Lourdes, France, where you walk through fields of flowers to get to the shrine and where I felt an inner quietness identical to that of Katragama.

Once while I was visiting Lourdes, a vision of Mary, Mother of Jesus, requested I take water from her sacred spring to give to a Hindu friend in Ceylon who was an alcoholic. I said, "Mother, I can't take water to him. He's a Hindu. He might not accept it." Mary answered sweetly but firmly, "I tell you, take this water to your friend Selvaratna." I obeyed her and filled a jar with water from the spring.

Later I arrived in Ceylon and was reluctant to give this holy water from Lourdes to my Hindu friend. I met him one day on the street, however, where he said to me, "I was at Katragama and saw your Mother on a beautiful jeweled throne in the jungle there." I did not comprehend this, for my earthly mother had passed away long before. He became impatient with my lack of understanding and said, "Your Mother, your Mother — you know, Mary." I then asked him, "Would you like some water from Mary's spring at Lourdes?" He answered with almost joy in his voice, "Of course!" He drank the water and never touched alcohol again. He was completely cured — the desire to drink left him, never to return.

How beautifully unified are those of the heaven worlds! Here was an ardent Hindu at Katragama seeing a Christian image of Mary in Skanda's forest. "All of the higher realms are one," I thought. "They work in divine unison."

After our arrival at Katragama, the group I was with decided to climb the four miles of steep jungle to the top of the mountain, where the head swami stayed in a tiny hut. The group was noisy and boisterous as it climbed upwards, and as I wanted to make this a spiritual pilgrimage, I loitered behind the others until they were far out of sound and sight. The way was rugged, rocky and straight up, with a meager path to follow, and one could easily get lost on the mountain where wild animals, even tigers, roamed.

As soon as I was alone, a stray dog (or so I thought) came up and walked beside me. When I walked, he led the way. When I sat and rested, he sat and rested. I became very aware of this as it kept reoccurring and continued until near the top of the mountain, where I rejoined my group. The dog disappeared into thin air and was never seen again.

I told the group, experienced in the lore of Skanda, of this event and they looked at me in amazement and said, "Legend says Sri Skanda lets no one walk the jungle alone. He creates an aspect of Himself in the form of a dog to take care of the wayfarer."

I was beginning to get attuned to the legends of Skanda. On entering the sacred temple, or dewale, I thought, "Is all this real? Is it true? If so, Skanda, may I have some sign?" Immediately a butterfly of enormous size and beauty flew through the temple door and came to me, and then went to a picture of Skanda and landed on it, moving its wings in rhythm with the temple drums. Then the butterfly disappeared. My faith grew stronger.

On the mountaintop above Katragama, the view overlooking thousands of acres of wildlife sanctuary was breathtaking. Sometimes I would sleep there and join in the pujas held on the edge of the mountain. One or two of us staying atop the mountain would gather and join the swami for the 4 a.m. ceremony in which he would bless the world in Skanda's name. The priest would wind a cloth dipped in coconut oil atop a large stick and light it to make a great flare. We would stand there in the dark with the swami chanting, the pungent smell of the burning oil filling the air. The soft but crisp night air would wake us up as we watched him turn to the east, the north, the south and the west, waving the flare held high. Afterwards I would sit on the mountaintop and meditate until dawn.

While sitting with eyes closed one early morning after a mountain puja, with the lingering smell of the burning oil from the flare still in the air, Skanda appeared to me for the first time in His grown-up princely form. Until then He had always appeared in the form of Muruga, the ever-youthful one.

It is hard to describe the beauty of the Celestial Ones in this world of worries, fears and decay. Skanda appeared standing majestic, calm and quiet. His face, wondrous in appearance, emanated beauty, with love and power harmonized. Skanda's crown of gold, in the shape of a helmet, rose to a peak, denoting the awakened seventh chakra at the top of the head. The crown was dazzling with rare gems. He sent forth a light from these stones that filled me with an unearthly bliss.

As Skanda stood in front of me in His ethereal form, He extended His hand and gave me His vel (pronounced vail), or lance. Being young and impudent and not yet knowing proper protocol, instead of bowing and saying, "Thank you, Skanda," I said, "This is fine, but it is only a vision. Where is the vel?"

I soon climbed down the mountain and went to the temple to show my appreciation to Skanda for His blessing. In Katragama, devotees offer baskets of fruit and flowers at the shrine to the officiating priest, who takes them behind a closed curtain for blessing. Once blessed, the fruit is cut into pieces and returned. I sent in my offering, which the priest took to the inner sanctum. When the basket was returned to me, upon it was placed a pure silver shining vel.

Skanda had heard me! He had performed the miraculous and had fulfilled the vision! Out from that ancient temple, so old that no one knows its age, I walked as if on air above the earth, ecstatic with love.

It is the tradition of this temple that when the high priest passes on, a vote is taken to determine a successor for this lifetime position. During my stay in Ceylon, this changeover of priests occurred, and an acquaintance of mine decided to apply for the honored position. At first he was not sure whether he should apply — to become a high priest, one must pass many esoteric tests. While driving his car through the jungle to get to Katragama, my friend was still trying to make up his mind and wondered whether Sri Skanda approved of his intention. Suddenly, in the middle of the forest and blocking the road, there stood a peacock, the peacock being closely associated with Sri Skanda. He felt this was a sign from Sri Skanda and proceeded to try for the position. The last of many difficult tests to become high priest is to go alone into the powerful innermost sanctum of Skanda's temple. Though he was not allowed to tell me what happened, for he had taken the vow of silence concerning the initiation, when he came out, he was completely bathed in perspiration as if dipped in the waters of the ganga. He said that he would never be the same again. The priests who would make the final decision, seeing this and other signs, told him he had been chosen as the next high priest.

The Skanda temple has no statue of any deity in it. It is small, and the inside seemed to me to be black with the soot of the ageless burning of camphor and oil contained in the tall brass lamps.

The temple has no elegant carvings as in other Hindu shrines. Some who have their prayers answered give brightly painted canvas curtains with pictures depicting Skanda in various forms. These curtains, placed one on top of the other, cover the front of a high platform behind which only the priests may enter. The curtains are never raised and separate the worshipers from the holy sanctum. Instead of worshiping Skanda as an image or form, there is only a sacred casket containing a yantra, or mystical inscription on a golden tablet in which the divine power and grace reside. The casket containing the yantra is kept in the innermost sanctum, which only the high priest is allowed to enter. It is this casket which is carried on the back of an elephant decorated in splendor in processions at the great festivals of July and November. The elephant walks around the temple three times to enable devotees to feel close to this powerful, holy yantra. I was allowed once to walk in this ceremony right behind the elephant. Every time the procession stopped at certain designated places, the elephant turned and looked at me. I was nervous that he did not approve of this white-faced stranger from the West.

One day, the holy man at the top of the mountain at Katragama told me to do a certain ritual for Murugan, the name by which he called Skanda. I climbed down the mountain and went to the ganga, bathed and put on a white sari. My friends brought me the object that looks like a rope doughnut and is used on the head to carry heavy water jugs. They put it on the top of my head, and on it they placed a chattie, or clay bowl, filled with burning hot coals. In my hand they placed a palm branch.

I went along with all this because I wanted to experience and understand this strange shrine, so different from all the others that I had visited. Furthermore, if it was a step toward God-realization, I was willing to try.

They told me to circle the temple grounds three times, a total of nearly three miles, with the chattie filled with hot coals balanced on my head. I felt so pure and calm as I walked, chanting "Skanda, Skanda." A light had entered me and I felt translucent. I was not conscious of the hot noon sun, nor afraid of the burning coals on my head. Two-thirds of the way around, however, I lost concentration and before I knew it, the chattie and coals had fallen off my head and smashed to the ground. I felt disconcerted over not completing the ceremony, and the feeling of failure stayed within my heart.

Months passed, and I found myself in the city of Colombo, Ceylon. I was visiting a friend, an ardent Christian and devotee of Mary, who was going through a great deal of trouble. She asked if I would accompany her to a place her servants had begged her to go to for advice, where a famous psychic had a shrine dedicated to Skanda.

We arrived ahead of time and sat in the garden with dozens of others who had also come to see him. A car drove up and a man in a western suit and tie got out. Walking straight to me and passing all the others, he stood with hands on hips and said to me with a loud voice, "I know you. Your whole life has been one of sacrifice. I saw you drop the chattie at Katragama and it made me laugh." I was taken aback at this audacious man standing in front of me and wondered why he spoke to me of this. Others around me, however, started getting excited and told me that the man was the psychic in trance, and that the Lord Sri Skanda was speaking through him. I was relieved Skanda laughed at the chattie falling. I then knew I had not failed Him.

Katragama is also the famous site for fire-walking. A deep trench is dug, 50 feet long and 4 feet wide, where logs burn for hours until they turn to hot coals with flames shooting out from them. Those who have taken a dedicated vow to Sri Skanda to walk these coals must get permission from the head priest first and for ten days stay at Katragama, eating only vegetarian food and cleansing themselves as preparation. Once a Ceylonese friend of mine arrived at Katragama the day before to see the fire-walking. When she got there, a keen urge came over her to walk the coals. She went to the top of the mountain and the swami there said, even before she could ask, "I give my permission for you to walk the fire. Bathe in the ganga, fast for the day, and walk the fire without fear, in love."

After the bathing ritual, she sat waiting by the river. Someone put a palm branch in one of her hands and a coconut in the other, and she entered the line with those who had been preparing themselves for days to fulfill their vows by walking the fire.

When her turn came to walk, instead of seeing the long path of hot coals, all she could see was a bright red carpet and at the end Sri Skanda in all his glory beckoning her to come. She fearlessly danced down the bed of coals, and even though her sari was trailing in the fire, it did not burn or even get singed. A Westerner, arrogantly wanting to prove that fire-walking was only mind over matter and that Skanda was a fabrication of the imagination, said he would walk. He ended up in the hospital with terrible burns on the feet and legs and was bedridden for weeks.

Living in the Orient was at times very difficult for me. Once I was praying ardently for help. I was living at the end of a lane in a small house with no furniture in it and few possessions. On one side were fisher-folk whom I often befriended when they were in need. Next door on the other side was a Catholic church, and sometimes the Catholic priest would visit me. One morning after I had been praying hard for help, the boy who cooked for me came about 6 a.m. and said, "There is a priest at the door." I asked, "What is he doing here so early?" thinking it was the Catholic priest. On going to the door, I saw a holy man from Katragama standing there.

He was tall, serene and majestic-looking, holding long peacock feathers. Through both his cheeks was skewered a long piece of metal, showing Skanda's power over flesh. It went in one cheek and out the other, with no sign of blood. Often I have seen this, yet there is never a scar or sign of blood upon removal. I was so excited to see this being from Skanda's shrine that I practically dragged him in, asking him to sit down. He motioned me to come close and took from his bag an iron statue: "Take this and hold it at the top of your bed for five minutes and then return it to me." I did as he requested. When I returned the statue to him, he stood up without a word and left. He walked up the lane, went to no other houses, and was seen no more.

Things went well from then on. Skanda knew my needs. I felt later that it was He in another form.

For many years, Skanda made me aware of His presence when the word "Skanda!" would burst from my lips of its own volition. While standing in front of Sri Sathya Sai Baba at his ashram in India, without prompting I spoke the name "Skanda!" Sai Baba looked intently at me and asked, "What did you say?" I repeated the name, and he turned to everyone around us and said, "She calls Him by His correct name, `Skanda.'"

Sri Skanda requested that I not speak of Him for one year after returning to America from my eighteen-year stay in India. Later He came and gave me instructions to hold a monthly ceremony, or puja, at the Hindu Temple in Queens, New York. Those in charge of the temple graciously agreed and gave permission to offer the Skanda-Jyoti puja, which since 1982 has been held around the time of the full moon and is open to people of all religions.

Sri Skanda also gave to me detailed instructions for the Skanda-Jyoti puja ceremony. After the actual services are completed by a Hindu priest, each of the following two mantras are repeated thirty-two times.

In His instructions, Skanda explained that these mantras, when said with devotion, harmonize the Shiva-Shakti, or yin-yang, energy within each person.

"The vel," Skanda says, "is symbolic of the spine, at the top of which is the head, inside of which flows Jyoti-Light, or the arisen kundalini." To emphasize His instruction, He showed the light within the vel. "In Jyoti-Light there is Equilibrium, Bliss and Grace. Those who want God-realization must begin at the bottom of the spine, at the coccyx. I am the Strength and Force who guides the kundalini from the bottom to the top of the spine."

Skanda then showed Himself guiding the kundalini straight up, His hands around the spine. When the kundalini rose and finally burst forth, the Goddess Jyoti appeared.

"First see Jyoti as a face in the vel," says Skanda, "then the whole Goddess explodes as the power rises, and She will stand in Her glory. Bliss is felt, and all aspirants who are in attunement with Her will get grace. The blessing then overflows to the Earth, helping to raise the consciousness of humanity. All this happens within but is symbolized without as the vel of Skanda.

"I am the leader, the General, who guides these forces up the spine. You who yearn for liberation, look to me, follow my words, and victory will be yours. Turn away from the orders of the general during the battle, and defeat is the result. When there is war, the army must listen to the general."

As Sri Skanda finished the details of His instructions, He intensified His ethereal form. He stepped forward with His right foot, holding His vel with arms held high. He gave forth a burst of energy, inhaled a deep breath, and on the exhale emitted a heavenly, high-pitched sound. He put His vel firmly upon the ground and stood sure and tall. Over His head appeared in large letters:

Victory

Remember and Believe

So began the divine relationship with my Bhagavan Sri Skanda....

Release Fears through Love

"I wish to remind you that a steady path is better than a burst of enthusiasm that fades away and becomes depleted, like smoke wafting away into the air unseen and forgotten. I once said to you and I remind you now, `My children, if you see a rainbow in the sky, in a dream, in a vision or meditation, in a book or even on a television, remember Me, and remember our victory of good over evil. Then know that I am with you. When you see the rainbow, say My mantra thrice.' But this enthusiasm only lasted from one full moon to another full moon, then began to fade. Be children of hope and faith and enthusiasm, which brings power to this Earth plane that is in inertia and needs the power of Godliness. Work harder than the enemy, darkness.

"Go forward and win the battle of life with enthusiasm and joy, for it is an inner battle to overcome the enemy of the lesser self within you. I beseech thee not to look back at past mistakes and errors, but keep the mind and heart on the goal. When the old feelings of the past flow and merge with thy thoughts and cause chaotic feelings on this plane, look at them and recognize them only long enough to cast them out and away. As they come forth, I will help them to dissolve in My Light. Don't dwell in the past, but know past mistakes are illusion, maya, unless you still relive the past in thought, feeling or action. As you move forward, you must let the past fade away.

"This moment let thy fears come forth, and I will pour My Light upon them. Quietly sit and let them come forth, and as they rise upward to confront thee, feel My Light, My Understanding Love melt them into the nothingness. Watch inside you right now. As I raise My vel, My spear, what darkness dare withstand this Power of Truth? Let the sacred breeze from My altar touch thee and blow away thy illusions. Feel the Light of Truth; let it free thee from doubts of thyself and others. Become My True Children of Light. You are not here in this sacred temple by chance. I have drawn you with My Love. I know you all. I wish to help you through the pitfalls of your minds. Allow Me to enter your hearts as Love. Feel that I am real; I am here. I have come down from My Kingdom to help. Trust, feel and know the joy of freedom.

"I, Sri Skanda, Son of Shiva, have come

at your inner heart-felt call

for help to attain and know thyself."

Know I Am Real

"From My celestial abode in My own world or what you refer to as heaven, I have come down through layers of heaviness to abide with you upon your Earth that I may fulfill My destiny — that for which I was created — to help those seeking souls who long to know themselves and who also wish to serve at this catastrophic time of change.

"Children of My Being, never forget for one moment that change, however severe it seems to you now, is for the ultimate growth and good of humankind. When the dust of despair and chaos has settled, you will understand and be grateful.

"Let your heart's vision see into the future beyond the battles and see the outcome. Come stand on the hill and look to the future and see the glorious results of all the travail. Warriors of Light must keep going through the darkness!

"Each day follow the instructions of the maneuver. You are fighting, within and without, the greatest battle your planet has ever known. Light must hold supreme. It will, because you will hold the Light. The torch must be held high. Jyoti's Light must prevail within you and manifest without.

"Feel Me now. I let forth My Power — My Loving Bliss. I am Bliss — though a soldier, though a General. You are Bliss — though fighters for Truth. Our weapons are Love and Light.

"Feel Me. Know I am real. Know Me as the Bliss of reality within. I have never come so close to the Earth plane as I come right now.

"Sit in silence. Breathe Me in. Imagine My face, <%-5>eyes closed in Bliss as it flows from God through Me to you.<%0>

"Let it melt your doubts about yourself, about others. Let My Bliss permeate your being and feed your soul. Feel Me. The key is Love.

"Imagine Me in all My Beauty and let it saturate you. Become My Beauty. See your faces smoothe out. Let worldly worries drop away. Keep faith!

I, Sri Skanda, Son of Shiva, have spoken."

The Truth of
Sri Ganesha's Form

Behind all lore is truth.

Find the jewel hidden within.

Then all you wish to know will unfold.

While writing this book, I thought, "Can I write about Sri Skanda and not about his older brother, Ganesha, the first son of Shiva? Of course, I can't." With that in mind, my thoughts flew backwards to my early days in the Orient. I remembered saying in jest and fun to a newly found Hindu friend who had a picture of Ganesha, "Who would worship an elephant?" And I merrily laughed in fun, though not in ridicule.

A day later, while sitting in meditation, who appeared in my inner vision but an elephant with laughing eyes. I apologized and never made fun again. I have learned to love Sri Ganesha's form, but rarely in any statue have I seen it correctly carved, especially the face which, though full of mirth, is the epitome of wisdom itself.

When I had learned to appreciate, understand and love Ganesha's elephant form, He gave to me a gift — to see Him as His True Self, as He is in His celestial abode. I awakened on the ceremonial day of His birthday. Ganesha stood there on my altar in all His splendor, in His princely celestial form. He looked very much like Skanda. I said, "You are so beautiful, as beautiful as my Skanda," and then I laughingly said, "Well, nearly as beautiful, not quite." He serenely smiled, and all day He remained in this glorious appearance. On the next day, He returned to His elephant form.

In Jaffna in southern Ceylon is an ageless, ancient temple, carved in beautiful stone. Inside is one small shrine which I often visited before going to see Yogi Swamigal, a great saint who lived in Jaffna. When I would go to him, he would always say, "Have you been visiting the stone swamis again?" I would say, "Does it matter?" and he would chuckle, "No."

At this particular time, I was having many troubles and felt I had reached the end of my rope. I wanted to go home, but was not given permission to return to the United States by the Masters. I walked up the three small stairs to the little shrine. It was very dark inside the inner sanctum, where a black carved stone statue of Ganesha in His elephant form was enshrined. I could not see the form in the darkness. With tears running down my cheeks, I heard myself call out, while standing in front of a Hindu shrine, "Jesus! Help me, Jesus! Please, Jesus! Help me!"

I thought I saw a movement within the shrine, as if someone inside was waving a black cape. I peered inside intently. To my amazement, I saw the large stone ears of Ganesha waving back and forth. The stone statue had come alive.

I was surprised, for I had called to Jesus, and both Jesus and Ganesha had heard my prayers. And as I stood there, I remembered the story of a saint who was asked by a woman to petition on her behalf to Mary. The saint then knelt before a shrine of Saint Francis and started to pray. The woman stopped her and said, "You are making a mistake. I asked you to pray on my behalf to Mary, not to Saint Francis." The saint answered, "All shrines are the same, for it is God Who hears our pleas and answers them."

I walked away from the temple feeling that the world was all right. And as I went out into the sunshine from the dark, cool temple, I felt as if all the heavens had opened and God was one and had heard me.

I have pondered much on the true meaning of the form of Ganesha and have never found an answer that would clear my soul's yearning to know the truth behind His form.

One day I went to my room and laid down and said, "Ganesha, could you explain what I would like to know?" I fell into a deep sleep. Suddenly I was awakened by Ganesha and I heard Him say, "Take a pen in hand and write."

I did not move. He repeated, louder, "Take a pen and write."

This is what I wrote:

"To bring understanding to the illiterate of long ages ago, so long ago that the flood had not yet engulfed Lemuria, fables or tales were told to the race emerging from the darkness of an unenlightened mind. These stories had been handed down and have remained as symbols to be understood only by the few.

"Just as Jesus spoke in parables only to those who were to understand, so in those long ages past, to bring intelligence to the race emerging from ignorance and to awaken some understanding in their brains, symbols were used to educate them and quicken their evolution.

"This was in the age when the Gods walked the Earth and were the spokespersons for the illiterate and just-awakening souls. The initiated understood that the signs were used to stir the intellect of the unfolding race. These symbols have remained until this day, handed down from father to son, mother to daughter. Many still worship them, hardly understanding what they do. Yet when a heart is felt in a mantra or prayer, can a God resist love?

"It matters not the legend, as you call it, or the beginnings, if the heart is open. Slowly, the understanding and higher consciousness will follow and be experienced within as the growth of the soul. For is that not what man's life on the physical plane is all about?

"The growth is the moving upward from the lowest chakra to the highest chakra. Does it matter what My form is all about if the results ensue? The ignorant, the unlearned children, will not want change, but change will come in spite of that, for at the time of the end of every age or epoch, there is a cutting away of the old. Jesus said, `I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.' (John 15:1-2). The branches that are not taking root in the Truth, that are dead, must be cut away to make room for the living.

"You have known Me in My true form, as beautiful as My Brother Skanda, but do you love Me any less in a grotesque appearance as an elephant? Does My princely and Godly form, as you call it, give you any more wisdom, or does it just plant a seed of desire to understand what is behind the symbolism?

"When I appear to you as Ganesha the Elephant, and you say you see beauty, joy and laughing eyes, is that not as beautiful as a princely form? I have nurtured the race from its inception long ages past and will continue to do so for the children of the planet Earth. Is that enough? Or do you need to know that I am Wisdom and that I bring it forth within all who worship and open up their beings to know the Truth?

"All Hindu myth is symbolic, and behind each form is another story for those who seek. To know truth, one must step aside from the Earth and fathom deeply. These answers, when discovered, satisfy the soul. Others, steeped in fantasy and lore, will have no interest in these inner meanings. The outward appearance is enough for them. They wend their way from life to life, never digging deep into the mystery of the Self to find the diamond hidden there. To those of My children who have lived eternally in the Light, I am a Prince, I am Divinity, it is true. I took the elephant form to teach, awaken and stir the cells of the brain in those who dwelt upon this Earth so long ago, who were swallowed by the flooding waters and sank below.

"Again, in another age, they took form to start the upward climb to knowledge, just emerging from the animal state, this everlasting wending upward from dust of earthly life. Could I, as a Son of God, have helped that race with words not understood, when all that they could comprehend was to strive and live from dawn to dusk?

"The evolution of man has been slow but sure. Time is naught; it is a fragmentation of the mind."

I saw a quick transition from Ganesha's serene face as an elephant back to a princely face like Skanda's, and back and forth, again and again, from one face to another. Ganesha continued:

"The two forms I just revealed are both true. Both are real to those who know I am a princely form; to others, I am Ganesha the Elephant. I am the Intelligence, the Word of Truth, that starts the upward climb. As it has been said, "In the beginning was the Word," and the beginning was Intelligence. So My trunk forms the letter in Hindu scripture that represent Om, the word or sound of thought. In those days when giants roamed the Earth and the Sons of God came down to help the race of Mother Earth, I repeat, I trod the Earth. And as time ensued, to create an understanding of what I was teaching, a symbol for the newly evolving race was made. The simplicity of an elephant was one which could be understood — one who could overcome all obstacles. The overcoming of obstacles of the lower self was taught thus.

"That I have shown you My True Self, does that make you wiser or your life less hard? Or does this answer the riddle that you have so long pondered upon when others would not listen as you tried to tell them of My True Form?

"You have seen with your soul's eye the truth of My Being. The race of Earth still in ignorance dwells, hardly using one small portion of its God-given brain. It remains stagnant and ignorant, unable to understand Wisdom and Life, Truth and Light. We of the celestial realms plead that evil shall drop its dark veil that has kept man in ignorance of his own Self. For this, My Brother of many names — whom you address as Sri Skanda and others call Subramanyam, Murugan, and other such names until they realize that He is the Divine Essence of God — took form to break the darkness of evil. I have taken form to break the darkness of ignorance.

"Thank you, children, for your interest in Truth.
"I will reward all those who will read this book
and understand with their inner souls.
Ganesha or Prince, all the same am I.
What matters the outer form to the One on High?

"I, Sri Ganesha, First-born Son of Shiva, have spoken."

After Ganesha finished, I came out from my room deep in thought. "Is this true, all that Lord Ganesha has said?" My eyes were drawn to a bright yellow pamphlet in the bookcase. I took it out. It was called The Glory of Ganapati (another name for Ganesha), written by Sri Vasishtha Ganapati Muni.

This book was new to me and I started to read it in amazement, because within this little booklet's pages was confirmation of all Sri Ganesha had said. The Hindu scriptures and the Bible were coming together in truth.

It said, "Ganapati represents the Primordial Sound from which all worlds have taken birth. He is the Lord of the Spoken Word, the Master of Speech." The Lord of Speech represents the sound `Omkar,' or `Om.' This was reminiscent of the first verse of John in the Bible, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."

I turned another page, and Sri Muni said, "The Image may look monstrous, grotesque [the same word used by Ganesha] to the ordinary vision, but to those who can really see, the divine beauty and harmony of form will be unfolded." He called Him "Prince Elder, the first-born." In the Vedas, the Hindu scriptures, the Creator of Word is in charge of creation, because all manifests from sound.

"Counted as first in the Galaxy of Gods, He occupies a unique place in the worship of the realm of yogic sadhana (spiritual effort). To rational minds, the half-animal and half-human form of the deity is the creation for a primitive age when man was first emerging from the subcontinent in an animal state. In this way, the Elephant was understood by those whose evolution was just beginning. To make the Godhead understandable at the time of Lemuria and before, they cast the idea, the power and the purpose of the Godhead into a figure or image. As Sri Aurobindo said, `The spirit in form, the soul in body.'"

Sri Muni continues: "Therefore the Gods came down from the Supreme Ether, to take their part in the cosmic functions, and also to descend to Earth and be born in the heart of man so there would begin to grow a relationship and intimacy and finally an identity between God and Man." Thus, Sri Muni's book confirmed all that had come from the wisdom of the diamond within, as told to me by Sri Ganesha.

The Bible also confirms this: "In those days there were giants in the Earth; and also after that, when the Sons of God came in unto the daughters of men." This was a sacrifice of the Celestials to help hasten the evolution of humankind.

Christian doctrine says that the Lord, the Father, is in heaven and sends the Son of God to bear the cross and lead humanity. This truth also is sustained through the work of the Perfected Beings. These Masters are high above, watching closely the progress of the Earth, and they manifest or send down their emissaries to help at the hour of need. The Planetary Beings are watching over us, ready to come to our rescue if necessary.

Therefore, many parts of the puzzle of life found in various scriptures have come together to make the picture more clear.
 

O Son of Shiva, shining like a resplendent sun, a Prince, please keep Thy word to us and dispel the veil of darkness from all who read this book and let them be triumphant in combat with their inner battles and be unvanquished and know their own True Self.

I humbly bow before Thee,

My Beloved Prince Ganesha

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