What is Ananta? The spiritual meaning of the infinite

Formlessdivinity is all over the place, in every particle of creation. But sometimes a devotee wants to play with the Divine, and so they give Him a form. For example, Ganesha consciousness is formless, but we give Him a form, and invoke Him by saying, ‘Lord Ganesha, though you are everywhere, I would like to offer my gratitude to you by all that you offer to me: flowers, fruits, incense, and diya light. You let the sun and moon revolve around me, and I take a little camphor lamp to perform your ‘aarti’. So, all that you gave me, I offer them back to you.’ Ideally, pooja should be done with this intense feeling. We want to return all the benevolence He has showered on us, back in some form. In this manner, a devotee expresses his devotion to the Lord. Just as jewellery is taken out of the vault to be worn at special occasions and then kept in the vault again at the end of the ceremony, similarly, at the end of the festival, we ask the Lord to return to our hearts from where we had invoked Him. The festival of Ganesha Chaturthi is about bringing out the priceless wisdom hidden in our minds and using it to enjoy the bliss in our lives.

Our whole life is a program of containing the infinite into the small finite container. Our body is finite, but our consciousness is infinite. The whole skill and technique is to have them together. That is Yoga. That is skill in action. As the wave can never be separated from the ocean, the individual soul can never be separated from the Divine. Yoga brings us to this realisation. Feeling and experiencing infinity within this finite body, living timelessness within the timespan of life - this is what we are here for.

When we recognise this presence within ourselves, we begin to see the deeper significance of the Ganesha Chaturthi rituals.

The ritual of immersing (visarjan) the idols after a few days of worship reinforces the understanding that God, the infinite consciousness, doesn’t reside in the idol. He is present inside us. So, experiencing the omnipresent in form and deriving joy from it is the essence of the Ganesha Chaturthi festival. In this way, such organised festivals and worship lead to an upsurge in enthusiasm and devotion.

We bring home Ganpati with a sense of joy and gratitude as if a loving family member had arrived. We start planning for the decorations, invitations, and making special Prasad. We offer God his favourite things; share our innermost feelings and desires; we sing and dance. At the end of the day, we are excited to go back home from work as if someone very special is waiting for us. The devotee feels Ganesha’s presence in his house and soaks it in. And after the celebrations, we immerse the idol by inviting the Lord back into the abode of our heart. There is only one power. He is the root, the origin. He is the form of Lord Ganesha. There is no place in the world where He isn’t present. If devotion arises in anyone’s heart, it starts with Ganesha.

(The author is a global humanitarian leader and spiritual master who founded The Art of Living in1981. As Gurudev turns 70 and The Art of Living steps into the 45th year of making life a celebration on this planet, month long celebrations are underway at The Art of Living International centre with eminent personalities from the sphere of politics, entertainment, arts, academia and faith arriving at the centre for thoughtful conversations, cultural showcases and launch of several service initiatives.)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

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