Whole Life Yoga Podcast
James Boag
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Gaṇeśa - more than the remover of obstacles
Gaṇeśa, famed as the ‘remover of obstacles’ is so much more! Along with Śiva, Śakti/Mā/Mother Divine, Viṣṇu/Nārāyaṇa, Skanda/Subrahmaṇya/Kārtikeya/Murugan and Sūrya/Sun, Gaṇeśa is one of the six foremost ways of representing that which is beyond representation, totality/the source/ultimate reality in the Indic tradition. Literally Gaṇeśa or Gaṇapati is the Lord/leader/the one who can bring together, reconcile and integrate all the gaṇa-s - all the members, all the parts, all the units. As such Gaṇeśa is a potent symbol of the integrated, joined up state of yoga and the process of reconciliation, forgiveness and expansion of understanding that is the practice of yoga. In this episode James shares in response to a student expressing frustration at only being able to find Gaṇeśa described as ‘the remover of obstacles’ when she was trying to find out more about mantra-s to Gaṇeśa online. Here, James speaks briefly about some of the import of the mantra-s: Oṁ gaṁ gaṇapataye namaḥ And: Vakratuṇḍa mahākāya sūryakoṭi samaprabha Nirvighnam kuru me deva sarva kāryeṣu sarvadā Beginning to paint a more nuanced picture of the vast richness of Gaṇeśa. … Coming soon: Whole Life Yoga on demand online course: It all begins with Gaṇeśa - Recitation, movement, storytelling and interpretation Sign up now for Spring 2026 online satsang course on the Bhagavad Gītā: https://jamesboagyoga.com/bg26
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