The Barriers to Understanding
Lyndon B. Johnson was a skilled and savvy politician who had accrued many friends on both sides of the aisle. I personally did not like him because he started sending American soldiers into Viet Nam. But he had been a student of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who created Social Security) and I did not know that I would come to appreciate many of his other policies when I got older.
That is an understanding I came to in a recent meditation — that we cannot know as much about a situation when we are confusedly involved in it, as we will come to know and appreciate when we are older and can look back with the perspective of time.
Perhaps the most popular god of Hinduism is Lord Ganesha — Ganapati of the elephant head. People of many cultures see him as a sign of Good Luck. Hindus invoke Ganesha first at the beginning of every meditation or puja, as the Powerful One who can remove all obstacles on their path.
If you lack funds, Ganesha can remove the barriers to your obtaining them. If you need a job, he can remove prejudices that may keep you from getting it.
And if it seems that the obstacles to Peace and Freedom are certain human beings who are competing in the political arena…wait a minute. Surely this is a misunderstanding of Ganesha’s role!
