GANESHA Speaks- 8 Lessons for Managers

Ganesha Speaks- 8 Lessons for Managers

Lord Ganesha symbolizes the victors that are vital to excelling in professional as well as personal life. While in our own lives we often resort to Lord Ganesha for guidance and offer him prayers, even in our professional lives, in the corporate world, this revered hindu deity has a unique role to play.

Stories from Ganesha’s life teach us and guide us  through our professional as well as personal life. Let’s  read a few that can enlighten us.                          

Story of Ganesha’s Creation

Shiva’s Anger

Ma Parvati asked Lord Ganesha to guard the entrance while she takes a bath. Lord Shiva returned home at the same time but was restricted from entering the house. Due to this Ganesha lost his head to Shiva’s divine fury yet neither did he break the trust of his mother nor breach his duty. When Parvati learnt of this, she was enraged and decided to destroy the world. She was stopped by Shiva who realized his mistake and gave Ganesha a new head of an elephant and the status of being foremost among the gods.

Learning: Anger shall lead to repentance.

All of us are in such a hurry to prove that that we are always right, that we use our might before actually analyzing the true situation. In most cases, anger leads to disappointments rather than quicker success. Being calm and level headed are the stepping stones to corporate success.

The Story of Kartikeya and Ganesha

Ganesha Wins the Race

Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, thought of getting Ganesha and his brother Lord Kartikeya (also known as Subramanya and Murugan) married and gave them a challenge that whosoever travels around Mother Earth and returns home first will be the first one to get married. Listening to this, Lord Kartikeya immediately boarded his peacock and embarked on his venture.

On the other hand, the pot-bellied, elephant-headed Lord Ganesha, though over a devised a smarter plan. He rode on his rat and circulated his parents seven times, paid obeisance to them seven times and worshiped them with complete devotion. And then it is said that he explained to Lord Shiva and Ma Parvati that his parents are his world and one who devotes himself to his parents, it is equivalent to going round the world.

Learning: Think and Act, Utilize your Resources

In this tough and competitive world, one has to smart and intelligent enough to be able to solve problems. Utilize available resources to make the best out of the worst. Intelligence goes a long way rather than expressing physical strength.

The Ganesha and Kubera story

Ganesha Eating

Kubera, God of Wealth, was quit proud of the fact that he was the richest God. One day, he held a lavish dinner and invited many popular guests, among them were Lord Shiva and Ma Parvati. As the Divine couple could not attend the dinner, they sent their son, Ganesha who was a small child.

Ganesha began to devour all the food and soon there was no food available in the venue.He then began to eat all the vessels, dishes, furniture and other things at Alakapuri, Kubera’s city.

Ganesha then proceeded to swallow the host of the dinner and the terrified Kubera ran to Lord Shiva’s abode and sought his help. Lord Shiva handed a cup of roasted cereals to Ganesha and his hunger for food ceased immediately. Lord Kubera realized his mistake and sought forgiveness for his pride from Lord Shiva.

Learning: Pride Comes Before the Fall

Do not be proud of what you possess. Instead, concentrate on how you can make use of your possession for good things. Confidence is silent and insecurities are loud. Humility is a very endearing quality which is becoming hard to find. No one appreciates people who keep boasting about their achievements. Humbleness can help you build genuine and richer relationships with people you work with.

Lord Shiva and Ganesha

Shiva and Ganesha

When Lord Ganesha was born, Lord Shiva made a rule that Lord Ganesha must be worshiped first to ensure success in any endeavor.However, Lord Shiva forgot about his own rule and left for a war with the demons in Tripura. He did not worship Lord Ganesha before doing so!While he was on his way in his carriage, the wheel peg got damaged.It was only then Lord Shiva remembered that he forgot to offer prayers to Lord Ganesh before departing for the war.He offered his prayers to Ganesha and proceeded to the battle ground. Lord Shiva won the war!

Learning: Follow the Rules

Being a leader you must lead by example. there can never be separate rules for two different classes. You must follow certain rules, even if you feel you are exempt from doing so.

Ganesha and His Mouse

Ganesha and His Mouse

In the court of Lord Indra, there was a musician named Krauncha. One day, Krauncha accidentally stepped on the foot of Vamadeva, who cursed Krauncha to become a mouse. However, Krauncha grew multiple times his size and started destroying everything that came his way. To teach Krauncha a lesson, Lord Ganesha mounted him. The mouse could not bear the weight of Lord Ganesha and pleaded him to become light-weight. Since then Lord Ganesha is using the mouse as his vehicle.

Learning: Humility and Modesty are Virtues one should possess.

Try not to become too big for your boots, as circumstances might force you to eat the humble pie. Modesty coupled with humility avoids unnecessary conflicts and ill-feeling.

Modesty brings best wishes. It costs nothing and can literally open doors at times. Modesty from great people can inspire some aspiring struggler too. So, it’s better to be humble yourself in the first place.

Ganesha and River Kaveri 

Rishi Agatsya and The Kaveri Story

Once upon a time, Rishi Agastya sought the blessings of Lord Brahma and Shiva. The sage wished to create flowing river in a suitable location to offer water to the southern lands. The Gods, listening to his prayers, had his kamandalu filled with sacred water. The Sage then reached the Coorg Mountains. On his way, he spotted a small boy and requested him to take good care of his pot containing water as he needed to go to get fresh.

The small boy was none other than Ganesha and he placed the small pot on the ground as he felt that location was perfect for a river. Then a crow landed on this pot and Sage Agastya shooed off the bird. The crow flew off tipping the pot to the ground and spilled off some water.

Learning: Be Positive

It can be distressing to think that bad things happen merely through chance or accident. But they do. The saying that everything happens for a reason is the modern, New Age version of the old religious saying: “It’s God’s will”. Every action happens for a good cause. So do not be worried even if something bad happens in your life, eventually there will be a good ending.

Ganesha and The Moon Curse

Ganesha Curses The Moon

One night Lord Ganesha went for a ride on his mouse. The tiny mouse could not bear his weight and tripped. The moon started laughing at the funny sight. Ganesha got angry and cursed the moon saying that anyone who looks at the moon on the night of the Ganesh Chaturthi will be falsely accused. The moon begged Ganesha to remove the curse and Ganesha also realized that he had overreacted but he could not take the curse back.

Learning: Don’t Act Always on Impulse

In Seneca’s words, “Be not too hasty either with praise or blame; speak always as though you were giving evidence before the judgement-seat of the Gods.” Always think before you react because anger passes on but actions remain. So next time you feel the blood rushing down your veins a tad faster, take your emotional temperature and allow yourself to cool down. You will be amazed by the change in your perspective regarding the situation and how to deal with it.

Vakratunda Avatar and Matsaryasur

Vakratunda Avatar

Matsaryasur was a ferocious demon who worshiped Lord Shiva and asked him for the boon of immortality. Shiva blessed Matsayasur and said that he will not be destroyed by any human, god or demon. Enraged with power, the demon started crushing the three worlds. Lord Ganesha transformed into Vakratunda and captured Matsaryasur. However, when Matsara begged for forgiveness, the Vakratunda set him free and peace was restored.

Learning: Forgive and Move On

Forgiveness in the words of Swartz, “It is an active process in which you make a conscious decision to let go of negative feelings whether the person deserves it or not.” Keeping scores, trying to get even and pulling-down always make you less than what you are. Moreover, the energy you invest into holding a grudge steals energy from other important things.

Studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack; improving cholesterol levels and sleep; and reducing pain, blood pressure , and levels of anxiety, depression and stress.

Disclaimer: The author of this post informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong to the author. The author respects the religious sentiments, thoughts and feelings of every individual, caste, sect, cult, group etc. and does not intend to hurt or humiliate any religious feeling of any individual, group, caste, cult, sect, faith etc. This Blog Post is created and solely to guide and impart knowledge and co-relate the learning from the stories mentioned in this blog post.

Learning Attitude

Your attitude towards life decides your experience of it. The attitude of looking to “learn” is the most powerful attitude to carry since it allows for an inherently positive experience of life. For example, when you are in a seemingly negative life situation, if your attitude is to just complain, and feel frustrated, you will never allow yourself to really get a sense of the learning that this situation is trying to provide you – and when you don’t “learn”, what needs to be learnt, you just keep repeating the same life situation again and again until you finally learn, after which a new reality can come through. If you see yourself repeating the past negatives constantly (like living the same negative experiences in new faces) it just means you are not “learning” and hence there is no positive growth in your reality.

The simple way life works is that when you’ve really learnt everything that you need to learn from a present reality, you become ready to move to a new/expanded reality. Until then you mostly just keep repeating the same patterns, and life feels as if its gotten stuck on a tune. The immediate reaction people have when they are in a negative situation is to complain, fret and be frustrated, rather than having the attitude of allowing what arises and bringing awareness to their inner space to get a sense of the negative patterns within them that this reality is reflecting – such an attitude is a complete shift in paradigm from the old attitude of fretting about a negative reality.

When you just sit complaining about a negative reality you are inherently focused on the negativity and hence keep perpetuating it – this allows no room for growth or improvement to come in, or allows it very slowly. Instead, if you simply look to learn from every situation, to look within and identify the negative patterns that your present situation is helping reflect (which is what awareness is), you keep letting go of inner resistances steadily, and thus moving out of contrasting/negative realities more swiftly.

Be the change you want

Reality always manifests from inside to outside – the inside is what creates the outside, or rather it’s our inner vibration that attracts our external reality. So if you want a change in your reality, guess what needs to change first? – your inner space. By this “inner change” I don’t mean you need to change who you naturally are, rather you need to change your maturity level, expand your outlook, let go of inner resistances and deepen your understanding. Your natural makeup is your uniqueness, and it’s something you need to align with, but your maturity level and your learning can keep deepening eternally – in your physical life, you will never reach a point where you have nothing to learn, if you think you’ve reached such a point, you are basically living in denial.

When you know that physical life is an eternal movement of learning, why would you feel that you are stuck in a negative reality, instead of seeing it as a platform for learning and growing as a person? Instead of the attitude of “why is life doing this to me” develop the attitude of “what is the learning this situation is giving me” – in this way you won’t be wallowing in self-pity and would thus not keep perpetuating a negative life situation for long, you will learn, grow and move on to an improved reality. Worrying, blaming, complaining and fretting serves absolutely no useful purpose, instead it does the opposite by creating more resistance – it’s just a waste of energy when you indulge in any of these behaviors. If you want change, look within and change the aspects in you that have attracted your current reality – it’s always about bringing awareness to an inner negativity and thus letting go of it.

Use your awareness for faster learning

A lot of people ask about how to let go of negativity after bringing awareness to it – if you notice, this is an inherently illogical question, it’s like asking how to stop eating bad food when you’ve become aware that it’s bad – well, you just stop feeding it to yourself, it’s not a technique it’s just the normal thing to do. When you become aware of something negative you automatically stop fueling it. Of course, it takes time before the negativity can die away, because it has a lot of past momentum, so you have to allow time for it to dissolve – instead of constantly worrying about when it will dissolve. The fact that you’ve become aware of a negativity is enough for it to dissolve, so your job is to just “learn” by bringing awareness to your resistances, and the growth will happen on its own. Negativity, that you have been carrying for years, needs time to dissolve even after you let go of it – it’s pure physics that a object which is already in motion requires time to stop even if you are not fueling it, it will move on its past momentum for a while.

The power of your awareness keeps growing when your attitude is to look within to detect the patterns of resistance/fears and negativity in your inner space. You can’t achieve a strong awareness overnight, it takes time. It’s like when you wake up from sleep in the morning, it takes time to feel fully awake – so again you need to allow for this time instead of constantly fretting about it. Of course, the fretting happens when one is highly irritated with the present reality and wants out, but this fretting inherently is delaying the change. If fretting is happening from the past momentum of the mind, just let it be, don’t try to suppress it and don’t give belief to it either, just allow it to dissolve by staying in an open awareness. When you know fretting serves no purpose, you will no longer fuel this behavior in you.

When you’ve learnt what needs to be learnt from your present reality, you automatically move into a better reality (the one without the negative elements of the old reality). Life is an eternal growth of course, so don’t imagine that you will ever reach a reality where you would have nothing to learn – the deal is to keep moving forward rather than be stuck, because it’s the stuckness that feels depressing. Movement forward always feel exhilarating because you keep staying in sync with your life-stream’s pull and hence will feel less resistance in you. The attitude of learning ensures that you never get stuck and thus live out your potential to the max.