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Thread: My dream of Shiva and Genash

  1. #1
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    My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Hello all,

    I am not a hindu. However, about a year ago I had a dream (I was muslim at the time) that I was on perhaps a huge mountain or it could be a piece of land in midair. I stood before TWO HUGE statues. One was Shiva im not sure if he was standing or in a meditative position I have no recollection of that. Genash was right beside him. It is strange because I had not thought of hinduism in a long time. WHen I was 16 I looked a bit into it, however I never thought about it for years. As i stood before the statues I was in complete awe because they were so huge! There were other people just walking around. I turned and started to move and saw water rising off the side like an ocean and these strange animation type fish were jumping out.

    Thats all I can remember.

    I would love to hear some interpretation. Perhaps it was my psyche or perhaps it was something else.

    -juan

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    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Can someone please teach me some devotional phrases or mantra to Shiva and Genash? I would appreciate it. I want to honor my dream by doing some devotion even if i am not hindu.

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    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Hello friend,

    As you have asked some phrases and mantras of Shiva or Ganesha, I would like to help you. Shiva and Ganesha are among the 5 important deities in Smartha Tradition. There are thousands of phrases and mantras relating these two, but I would like to give you the most used or important ones:

    For Shiva

    Mantras:
    Aum Namaha Shivaya(This is called as Panchakshari Mantra or Five Lettered Mantra) , This mantra is mostly used in the worship of Shiva, and it is given greatest importance by Shaivites.

    Phrases for Shiva: Mrityunjaya Mantra, Shiva Gayatri Mantra, Sri Rudram

    Try to listen to audio of this mantras and phrases to get clear idea.

    For Ganesha:

    Mantras:

    ॐ गणेशाय नमः (Aum Ganeshaya Namaha)

    Aum Gan Ganapatye Namah: This is Lord Ganesha's mula ("root") mantra .It is also known as his ''beej'' Mantra. This mantra is used for Yoga Sadhana in which we pray to Lord Ganesha and merge ourself with the supreme knowledge and peace. This is a mantra from Ganapati Upanishad. One can always use it before starting any new venture so that success comes without any hassle.

    Aum Vakratundaya Hum
    This is a powerful mantra from Ganesha Purana. When things are not in your favour, or when the minds of the people turn negative, depressed or discouraged, the attention of Ganesha may be drawn by this mantra to straighten their ways. The HUM symbolizes "Delay no more, my Lord, in straightening the paths of the crooked-minded ones." This mantra is used many a times in the Ganesha Purana to reduce the violence of cruel demons. In addition, this mantra could also be used for healing any spinal problem, such as curvature of the spine or curved limbs. Dedicate 1,008 repetitions of this holy word to straighten and heal such deficiencies.

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    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Excellent! Thanks a lot. Do I have to wash up before doing the mantras or can I say them anytime throughout the day?

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    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Interesting. What was your impression of Hinduism before you had this experience?
    "My spiritual father is Swami Vivekananda" Canibus

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    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Hello Age,

    Well at the age of either 15 or 16 I looked into hinduism and with blind faith would sometimes pray to the deities. But i wasnt officially hindu nor did i know what i was doing. I became muslim for 7 years and just recently gave it up. This dream occured during a time when I was a muslim. Ofcourse at that time I had the angry dogma that Hindus were Pagans and "stupid". Unfortunately I thought this way because I followed my Ego and the Islamic DOctrine strengthen these (Me against the world) view.

    What was strange though is during that time that i had that dream, I had not really been thinking of Hinduism... So I dont see why I had the dream. I am very curious as to why I had the dream.

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    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Namaste Spiritualseeker.

    You have rightly understood the play of Ego which some anachronistic beliefs, specially in the Abrahamic religions seek to strengthen. I think it is a divine privilege granted to you to have had such a dream at such an age. Since you also have the right perspective about Hinduism, especially the practice of worshipping many gods, you might do well to take up some kind of worship, because a personal god brings God closer to the person.

    You are now, however, not unique in having Hindu connections: we had an aged Muslim colleage who had visions of God Ganesha in his dreams, so he always kept a portrait of the god on his desk. He said his senior Muslim friends appreciated it and were of the opinion that he was divinely privileged. In God Ranganatha's temple in Srirangam, Trichy, Tamilnadu, you can see Muslim women maintaining the lamps at the outer courtyard, supplementing oil and wicks. In the vicinity of our residence, there is a Muslim shop that specializes in selling Hindu religious items: the salesmen there know as much as we Hindus know about our rites and religious practice. During my boyhood days, the severity of ailments such as the jaundice, scorpion and snake bites were reduced by mantra and the practitioner was at times a Muslim who would use a needle and a pitcher of water for the jaundice cure, would chant some mantras for sometime at the end of which the water turned yellow. Of course, this treatment was supplemented by herbal medicine. In Tamilnadu, several Muslims learn Sanskrit and study Hinduism and Hindu history in schools and colleagues.

    Since the Vedic religion was prevalent the world over in the ancient days, it is not very surprising that roots of Hinduism sprout up in the soil of good minds; if they are carefully nourished, the world could be a much better place to live.

    Unfortunately, my experiences with my Christian friends or acquaintances are not the same: with them I find an exclusive religious preference. Although they might not criticize Hindu religious practices, they wouldn't appreciate them either. To give an example, we had a pair of Christian colleagues who would contribute to the Ayudha Puja celebrations in the office, but would not partake them: instead, they would have their 'prasAdams' reserved for them before the puja began, so they received it unsullied by Pagan worship.
    रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
    ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥

    To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.

    --viShNu purANam

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    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Namaste

    You have rightly understood the play of Ego which some anachronistic beliefs, specially in the Abrahamic religions seek to strengthen.
    Yes I feel it is way too close minded. It took me a bit to get rid of my old beliefs due to how deeply rooted the Abrahamic religions make it within a person. Its basically either you follow Islam or your in hell.

    think it is a divine privilege granted to you to have had such a dream at such an age. Since you also have the right perspective about Hinduism, especially the practice of worshipping many gods, you might do well to take up some kind of worship, because a personal god brings God closer to the person.
    I think you may be right. I was considering doing some devotion to Lord Shiva, however a part of me wonders if I should. Sometimes I wonder if there is a Deity. THen when im possibly accepting that perhaps there is a Deity it makes me wonder if Lord Shiva is. Because when I heard the story of Lord Shiva cutting off the head of Genash (Before he was given the elephant head) I wonder how come Lord Shiva wasnt All Knowing and All aware of who the boy was. Since if he is God then I think he would know. But perhaps I am thinking too hard. I would love some responses. I will try to tackle everything with an open mind.

    A part of me wants to start worshipping Shiva, but I dont know if its just my desire for exoticness or out of mere confusion on my part.


    You are now, however, not unique in having Hindu connections: we had an aged Muslim colleage who had visions of God Ganesha in his dreams, so he always kept a portrait of the god on his desk. He said his senior Muslim friends appreciated it and were of the opinion that he was divinely privileged. In God Ranganatha's temple in Srirangam, Trichy, Tamilnadu, you can see Muslim women maintaining the lamps at the outer courtyard, supplementing oil and wicks.
    Do you recommend any particular devotions to Lord shiva? As already mentioned in the thread I learned some mantras in worship of Shiva and the mantras of Lord Genash.

    Since the Vedic religion was prevalent the world over in the ancient days, it is not very surprising that roots of Hinduism sprout up in the soil of good minds; if they are carefully nourished, the world could be a much better place to live.
    Are Vedas all preserved? Also is Hinduism older than shamanism?

    Thanks for the response.
    -juan

  9. #9

    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Quote Originally Posted by Spiritualseeker View Post
    Also is Hinduism older than shamanism?
    Well, Sanatana Dharma is literally "the eternal law", and is said to be timeless. If we take it to mean the action that springs forth from the correct view of reality, then I would agree that it is indeed without a beginning.

    However, if you mean the formal group of religions in the Indian sub-continent which revere the vedas, then no, shamanism is much older. But then, shamanism is a very broad term, which accounts for all experiential and/or mystical traditions.

    I believe it was Joseph Campbell who put forth the idea that the earliest eastern mystical traditions (i.e. Hinduism, Taoism) were codified versions of shamanism; that as people moved in to bigger and bigger cities, they needed shamanistic practices that would not disturb the neighbors. And so, from there we got meditation, mantras, etc... as opposed to loud drumming and ecstatic trances.

    I mean, when the rishis wrote the Upanishads, they were living in the forest seeking direct experiential knowledge. They did not consider themselves Hindus, and I'm not sure that they even had a concept of a "belief system". For all intents and purposes they were shamans.

    So I would say Hinduism is a shamanistic tradition, and by the same token, shamanism has always been Sanatana Dharma. But what use is dividing it in to categories? There is an unbroken continuum between the Soma drinking, trance seeking rishis, and the modern day householder performing a puja.

    Call it the perrenial philosophy, call it shamanism, call it Sanatana Dharma; these are all words for the same thing. And what do all of these things teach? That we spin the most simple thing in to so many convoluted categories and objects. The one manifests as many. Om

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    Re: My dream of Shiva and Genash

    Namaste simex!

    Wow I never thought of it like that. THat does make some sense. Before I didnt know that Hinduism isnt just a belief system but an actual method for experiencing the divine. See what im looking for in life right now is not just a belief that I can just use my thinking mind to say "I believe this", I instead want confirmation through direct experience. I want the divine if God exist I want God, if there is no God well I still want the oneness of all things or the eternal truth.

    THanks for the enlightening reply.

    Next wednesday I am going to try to go to a Hindu Temple to learn meditation. Who knows where it will lead. Perhaps years from now (if im still alive) I will be a Shiva Worshipping fellow, or perhaps I will atleast tasted some Hindu Mystical Experiences that will help me become compassionate and loving.

    Peace
    -juan

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