My life as a Polytheist changed the first time I prayed in a Hindu temple, because I was in a living temple where the Gods were present and Their worship was genuine. I received darshan from Ganesh, and I felt a blessing I had never felt in any other holy place.

The devotees surrounding me were primarily from India, but I was still welcome to worship with them. Their focus was on the Deity and on receiving darshan, which is the purpose of going to temple. Western Polytheists need to look at Sanatana Dharma as our guide and role model.

So throughout my life I have looked to Sanatana Dharma to show me the correct attitudes and behaviors for approaching and serving the Gods. Why? Because theirs is the oldest path to the Gods in our world, and there is a reason their faith has never been extinguished.

I'm a western Polytheist struggling to live a very ancient tradition after it was extinguished in its native country, and that is a very challenging path, so I have looked to those who have maintained their ancient traditions despite invading religions.

But then I have also had profound experiences and blessings from the Goddesses and Gods of Sanatana Dharma. They have entered my heart without my being able to do anything about it, so I accepted it because darshan is unbreakable and immutable.

Sanatana Dharma shows us what is possible when we place the Divine at the center of our life and make spiritual development our priority. This was something my parents never taught me, for all their Christian evangelizing. What if we could live with the Divine at every moment?

That is what I experienced when I first visited a Hindu temple; the Divine as the reality of creation and the human condition. I realized that putting the Gods first was my only path to salvation, and I have never looked back. Isn't this what Polytheism teaches us?

But in the west we tend to glorify material advancement and intellectualism above spiritual experience, to say nothing of actually engaging the Gods as the ultimate reality. This is why western Polytheists are at such a disadvantage, and why we're not connecting with our Gods.

If we want our Gods to be present in our life, we have to go to the Gods and make Them the ambition of our life's work. We must cultivate that relationship as precious and vital, through cult, prayer, offering, and spiritual engagement. These are the tools Hinduism teaches.

So there I was, sobbing my eyes out in front of Ganapati, and another worshiper asked me if I was okay, and I said I was overwhelmed- I just couldn't believe all of this was possible. And she said "this is every day for us", and I just kept sobbing my eyes out in gratitude.

I wondered why Ganapati should receive my prayers or even care if I live or die. Just look at the color of my skin. And yet all I felt from Lord Ganesh was the Truth of the Divine Reality taking my heart by storm, by love, and I know that I have received darshan.

What happens when we give ourselves over to the Gods is not losing ourselves or sacrificing anything, but finding the reality of the human condition as spiritual beings, not just bodies that eat, reproduce and die. The Gods show us the path to liberation, no matter who we are.

There are some deities who cut through all boundaries because the nature of their Truth is so powerful, so profound. They cut through illusions of me, mine, gender, ethnicity, social status. The Gods of Sanatana Dharma are such Gods, in my experience.

Deities like Ganapati or Ganesh are deities who tear down obstacles to Dharma and plant awareness. Ganapati sees no barriers and knows nothing that can stand against His nature. Humans create boundaries through their ignorance, but Ganapati walks over them.