Re: How does devotion to multiple gods work?
Namaste,
I've discovered this thread a bit late, I see. It's a shame I did not find it sooner, because this was a topic that had been bothering me for some time as I developed my bhakti yoga more intensely just before I gave it a break. Before this, I had never prayed exclusively to Ganesha, although it was a tendency of mine to go to Him for help with secular problems. I did pray to Shiva, Krishna, Rama, Lakshmi and Durga from time to time, but as I knew only a handful of these Deva's epithets and special mantras, I mostly devoted myself to actual worship of Ganesha. Formal worship is not as important as sincere longing in your heart, but I had a fussy way of disciplining myself into learning the proper ways of addressing God.
While my bhakti was no less sincere than it is now, its stance on what it meant to worship a particular form was severely skewed in many ways. Threads on this board entitled "Who is the Supreme: Shiva or Vishnu?" did not help very much on this either! It's a warning to those who spend too much time thinking about this. In arguing about the Lord's various ornaments, names (and indeed S/He has many!) and appearances, we are forgetting that the most important thing is just to surrender at His/Her feet with love and pure child-like devotion to one's parent. I had this silly notion that if on some particular day I called to mind Sri Krishna and spontaneously praised Him in my heart before invoking Ganesha I was wronging my ishta-devata by not paying His aspect dues first. How juvenile, right? 
But I could not help but feel this, and I realise now that it was a very bad habit to nurse. I've been trying to train myself to be less discriminating in this respect, but it is something we all have to overcome ourselves.
While I was mostly leaning towards Saivism at the time, for me Lord Shiva is more abstract (and in a way, a better focus for deeper meditation) form of Saguna Brahman and so it has worked out marvellously for a time. It is the reason I use His mantra for work, passing the time in queues, and in proper japa meditation. While I've always considered Ganesha my ishta-devata, I will admit that for me He seems more and more to be there as the "psychic operator" to my real ishta-devata, Divine Mother. How have I come to this conclusion? It is as others have pointed out on this topic - intuition, being drawn back to the darshan of a particular Deva almost without your knowing time and again. Ganesha has been nudging me into the arms of His beloved mother where He knows my tears of devotion flow the fastest.
But it's what I love about the devotional part of worship in Sanatana Dharma. There is no fixed number of Devas you must worship, no rules about what sect you must decide to adhere to. Separating the aspects on the basis of worship for achievement, money matters and moksha is not a problem in my eyes, but it should not distract one from the devotion felt, from developing real bhakti for God. Be sincere in your heart, and love the Lord in His many forms, as Father or Mother. Even in His humblest manifestation, He ever listens and cares for us.
Om namah Shivaya
"Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Om Gam Ganapataye namah
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu
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Originally Posted by sar78
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