Esoteric Cults/ Ganapatya Branch

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Esoteric cults

In the beginning (9th century) , Shankarâchârya stated precisely about the

Hindu main six branches (Shanmata). The branch of the Ganesh worshippers, who

consider this deity as the Supreme One, is known as the Gânapatya branch. Of

course, all of these different branches were considered as orthodox, that is to

say in accordance with the Veda teachings. .

The Gânapatya included other gods in their rituals, but they considered these

other gods as part of Ganesh. For instance, they thought that the Ganesh holly

body is made of is navel (Brahmâ), of his face (Vishnu), of his eyes (Rudra );

his body right side is Sûrya, his body left side is Shakti . He is the OM

sound, he is the Lord of the Five Elements. The Gânapatya divided themselves,

in course of time, in six sub-branches, characterized by specific rituals

adressed to different Ganesh forms. The fist three sub-branches strictly follow

the Vedic prescriptions : these are the Navanîtaganâpatya, the Suvarnaganâpatya,

the Santânaganâpatya. The three other sub-branches are esoteric ones and worship

the following Ganesh forms : Mahâ Ganapati , the Great Ganapati; his color is

red, he owns ten arms and wears the Goddess seated on his left lap. Mahâ

Ganapati is the Ganesh esoteric form which seems to be most often represented

Haridrâ Ganapati with four arms and three eyes; his color is the curcuma yellow

Ucchista Ganapati, red, seated in the lotus position (padmasana); he embraces

the naked Nîlâ Sarasvatî, Goddess, of a nice blue color. The Ucchista Ganapati

worshippers follow esoteric practices ("the left hand path") very particular,

prohibited by other branches. Those sects (cultual branches) are sayed to be

esoteric, since their devotees are adepts of tantric practices. Some attempts

will be given below to briefly clarify what is tantrism. Some basis about

tantrism

Tantra is (it would be more precise to tell "are"), form a set of texts which

have been elaborated during past centuries; important ones are nearly one

thousand years old. The word Tantra comes from the sanskrit root "trayati"

which means to release, to disengage. Accordingly, the Tantra ultimate target

is to free human beings from their limitations. Tantrisme includes a set of

methods, even we can say accurate methods, which aim at getting a transmutation

of the energies at work in the human being. Let us explain. The Yogi experiment

(this exactly means that we don't speak about any belief, therefore it is not a

religious postulate) that the human being is composed of several "levels", from

the coarsest (the physical body) to the most subtle. These levels, or layers,

are named kosha in sanskrit. We don't intend to discuss here about the

intrinsic existence or non-existence of the soul. At the very least, this

concept leads to some confusion when it is compared with the super-conscious

states experienced by the great Yogis (we don't speak about the students of a

Yoga course - even a high level one...). "Ordinary" man is conducted by his

passions : he does not have any control on his body, on his breathing, on his

reactions, on his mental activity, etc. He is only conscious of his body and,

in the best cases, of the crude aspects of his breathing. He even does not know

anything about the prana - the energy of life - which underlays the breathing.

And he is the toy of his "mental - psychic - body"... Let us try to understand

why. The traditional Yoga teaches that the whole Universe is energy. This root

power is guided by the three Guna . The word Guna can be translated, for want

of something better, by "mode of existence", "position characterizing

everything". For a human being, excessive tamas leads to breakdown, melancoly,

excessive râjas brings restlessness, anger, greediness, etc. Tamasic and

rajasic energies circulate in the body and grant to him the present turn of

mind. The subtle channels which carry those energies are called nadi . Those

short explanations being understood (assuming that the glossary has been

consulted for the Sanskrit words -if necessary), one may understand that the

Yogi purpose and practice aims to balance the Tamas and Râjas energies, and to

develop and improve the Sattwa energy. To achieve this objective, there is a

lot of techniques. The Yoga (codified by Patañjali) consists of eight stages,

which are not necessarily in succession, but it is merely unwise to overpass

the preliminary stages : Yama, or social behaviour : ahimsa (non-violence),

satya (truth), asteya (honesty), brahmacharya (sexual control) , aparigraha

(absence of possessivity) Niyama, or moral rules in the personal life :

shaucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (austerity) , svâdhyâya

(self-observance), îshvarapranidhâna (surrender to God) Asana, postures

Prânâyâma , breath control, Prana and other energies named above mastering

(the Prana is the life energy, conveyed by the breath) Pratyâhâra : senses

withdrawal Dhâranâ, concentration on a visible or mental meditation support

Dhyâna : the deep meditation state Samâdhi : the immersion in the

Super-Consciousness. More or less, the Yoga path follows this way. However,

everybody has to find (with the help of a capable teacher), the framework of

the techniques which fits to him best : Hatha Yoga, obviously, and also Râja

Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Antar Mauna, Mantra Yoga, Jñana Yoga, etc...

Every teaching underlines such-and-such aspect, but, in any case, it has to

satisfy the compulsory and preliminary purification of the disciple energies,

before they can be adequately transmuted. On his side, tantrism offers a more

direct track, expected to bring quicker results (only a few decades span of

painstaking and regular work). To be simple, one may say that the goal is to

awaken the Sattvic energy of the Kundalini, asleep in the Mûladhâra chakra and

to conduct this energy, via the sushumna nadi, crossing every chakra, up to the

Sahasrara chakra. We don't intend here to explain more about the chakra

symbolism; in fact, it looks to be a very complex matter. Furthermore, it is

linked to practices which are irrelevant in this Web site. We will only keep in

mind that tantric practices emphasize the importance of the Shakti .

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