this is a fantastic question that we don't often explore. So let me do that. It's been a minute and i want to stretch those muscles again =) https://twitter.com/elakdawalla/status/1215475960322985985

Removal of Obstacles is a big time idea. God clearing your path, giving you a problem free life, solving the issues you're dealing with. Indeed, if I was gonna try to be a huckster missionary, that'd be one of my big selling points. 'pray to this guy, and your problem is solved'

but what does it actually mean? what obstacles are being removed, and what is the benefit here? Let's break it down.
First, Ganesha, our beloved elephant headed dork deity. He's also called Vigneshwara, the Lord of Obstacles, or Vighnahara, the Remover of Obstacles.

And at the beginning of any Vedic or Hindu ceremony (and some jain ones), we pray to him to ensure that there is no evil presence or bad luck or ill will in the ceremony about to ensue, or in the project we're gonna start, or the house we're moving into etc

Why him, though? Well, because Shiva told us to, and that's good enough for some set of believers. (story here, just scroll up from the tweet- https://twitter.com/elektrotal/status/901197617622687744)

but that's not really a satisfying answer. Instead, look at Ganesha for what he is, the Divinity in the form of an elephant. An elephant is a giant monster of an animal, with huge tusks and a huge head and a huge trunk, and where it wants to go, it goes.

so it's kind of simple to make that connection- an elephant can clear any path it wants, and no obstacles will stop it from going where it wants to go, and similarly, Ganesha can go where he wants and remove all of the obstacles in our way as well.

And then there's also the story itself. Ganesha has his head lopped off by his mother's husband, and replaced by the head of a bull elephant. Being dead and then having posthumous surgery is a pretty big obstacle to overcome! and yet, there he is, durdling away on his mouse.

the sanskrit word 'vighna', which we use as obstacle, also means Hinderances, and the scriptures speak of three classes of hinderances for which a person might want to seek help beyond this plane-

1 Ādhyātmika (ailment of the body),
2 Ādhibhautika (extraneous one of a physical nature),
3 Ādhidaivika (divine calamities).

Body ailments are easy- you get sick. you break something. you have smallpox. etc.
Extraneous ailments is a bit harder, because it encompasses everything from visitations from demonic spirits to, and i'm not joking, deliveries in inauspicious hours. and who can't relate?

finally the divine calamities. acts of god. earthquakes and lightning strikes and tsunamis and what have you. And in these three categories we kinda cover all the bases of obstacles one might need a divine elephant to trample.

But beyond that, what does it mean in practice? What do we, living in the age of kali far from the direct grace of the divine, expect to have happen when we pray for the removal of obstacles? what are we actually trying to get?

the ultimate value here is frankly what i consider the reward of religious belief in general- it's not direct action. It's not a thunderbolt from the sky to get that fallen log out of my path. It's resolve. It's a firming of your spine and a clearing of your head to fight through

Removing obstacles is for me less about physicality or external solutions to my problems, and more about putting me in a mindset that I can now channel the lord and solve this stuff myself. It's pausing, taking a deep breath, and elevating how you look at an issue.

it's a puzzle in a video game that you switch from third person view to a top down look to see if you can understand how best to navigate. It's looking at your board state objectively, setting aside your own thoughts and plans and imagining how someone given your hand could win.

All the while, there's the knowledge in my head that Ganesh has my back. That my little elephant dude was able to overcome so much and has such a ridiculous store of wisdom available that i just need to tap into and draw out of myself.

This is honestly part of why hinduism is so big on icons and idols and iconography. It's a reminder in an image of an entire corpus of wisdom and wellspring of strength. Whether the stories are real is up to you, but the effect is absolutely tangible.

When i start a wedding with a ganesh puja, or start a writing project or buy a new car or whatever, what i'm doing is bringing that reminder to the forefront, that i must be vigilant and mindful of the obstacles i bring to the table with my assumptions and behaviours.

and that i need to remember that Big G is watching over me, not to keep me out of trouble (that's not what hinduism is for), but to make sure that i know that trouble will come and that I am equipped to handle it.

You will always have obstacles. You will always have to fight through them. Nothing in this world is easy. If it isn't physical obstacles, then it is mental ones, or human ones or self generated ones.

Sometimes removing obstacles means seeking outside assistance. Getting therapy, finding some big friends to help you shift those boxes, reading a FAQ or getting a sideboard guide. Sometimes it means removing yourself from this path and finding another one that gets you going.

Because the answer isn't always the one you want. looking at your problem objectively might tell you that this bread loaf just isn't going to rise, no matter how many yagnas in honor of Ganesha you perform, so maybe just make a pizza and call it good.

Sometimes, staring at a problem for too long will get you so deep in the weeds that you just can't see a way out. this is what Ganesh is for. taking that time for a puja or a prayer or a moment of deep breathing helps pull you back out of this hole, and evaluate your position.

Use that time. Refocus. And soon you'll find that the one who removed those obstacles and surmounted those challenges of inauspicious deliveries and infestations of serpants and untimely flowering of trees was, well, you.

a short #hinduthread about the removal of obstacles. May your path be clear, and if it isn't, may you channel your own inner elephant and make it clear =)