Ganesha in OUR summer house

I wouldn't say that he has replaced the Buddha, rather that he is now occupying the place that the Buddha sat when he resided in our summer house before he went to Singapore to keep Grace company.  Once he had gone, we found we rather missed having him in place when we meditated and were surprised when we saw him in Singapore at just how still he is.   You will remember that he was found at a Red Cross bric a brac sale and had probably been consigned to being sold because the family whose father or mother had perhaps owned him, didn't really get his significance.  This happens a lot so we found we didn't need to look any further for a new inspiration than to go to the local auction house where house after house is cleared by relatives who don't want the old stuff which they probably found when they inherited their parents or uncle's house.  You see lots of these beautiful and significant pieces were brought back by men and women who lived in India and China and who understood and loved the culture as well as the actual carvings.  

We found our new carved ivory companion God, Ganesha in Cheffins sale room in Cambridge.  He is quite small and was a bit grubby until I gently cleaned him up with a toothbrush.  In Hindu and Buddhist religion he is worshipped as a top God.   He bestows wisdom and removes obstacles and he is well worth having as a friend.   This is one of the stories of his birth.  The goddess, his mother, Parvati, created him.  They say that she literally made him out of the earth at the bottom of her bath.  Goddesses can do this kind of thing.  I think he must have been fully formed because she immediately gave him the job of guarding her bathroom door.  When her husband, Shiva came back and found a stranger guarding the door, he struck off Ganesha's head.  "Oh" Parvati cried..."that's our boy"!   Siva sent his troops out to find the head of a sleeping being and they found an elephant whose head was summarily removed and brought in to replace the boy's head.  A very early transplant story but nobody knows what happened to the elephant.  Ganesha was restored to life by Siva and made the leader of troops.  He was also given the boon that people would worship him and call on him for help before undertaking any venture.  There are many other stories of him which I will tell you another time but for the moment, we are getting to know him and will be asking him for lots of help in the future.