I feel the saying “If you can believe in enlightened pink elephants - you can believe in anything” a bit insulting. Not only are you implying that it is silly to have this image as a deity (which millions of people do, by the way), but it is also totally unfair to presume that if you can believe in this then you can believe anything, as though it was sillier to believe in this than to believe on Jesus or what not.

Also, the author seems to forget that the pink elephant is not an envision of a god but rather a metaphor of the values it stands for, a model to pursue as a symbol. I really do believe an apology is required here for I don’t reckon it was actually the author’s intention to come off as offensive to other people’s beliefs.

@ Raymundo: wonderful.. wonderful misunderstanding! I`m looking forward to orange`s return!

As I understand it, all of the “Gods and Goddesses” in the Hindu Traditions are metaphorical representations of certain values and are the stories built around different incarnations of the Divine.

I was told that Ganesh is the beloved remover of obstacles , who is so gentle that he is trusted by even the smallest of creatures and is often depicted riding a mouse. His big ears show that he listens more than he speaks.

Here is a pretty good link about Ganesh, the Elephant God:

Here are some others:

http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordganesha/a/ganesha.htm

=http://www.crystalinks.com/ganesh.html

http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses/ganesha.htm

We mustn’t give power to appearances.

@Judi: Thanks for the additional links - very handy!

I found this great link there - a poster that explains the aspects of Ganesha:

http://www.sanatansociety.com/indian_art_galleries/pieter_weltevrede/pw_go_ganesha03_teaching_poster.htm

@Raymundo: Sorry, that my post isn’t detailed and long enough to rule out all the possible misunderstandings.

If you have some time, than read it again my politically correct friend.

The posting is about the power of the mind and not about insulting Hindus or any visual representation of any God.

On the other hand … the Muslims were very smart by not allowing the depiction of the prophet. Any religious visual representation easily leads to false idols … as we have seen in many religions and fables against idols …

Thanks Dieter. We have a friend who attends a Hindu Temple dedicated to Ganesh and who was kind enough to bring us with him to visit. It was then that I finally learned more about this form of worship.

This is one of the things I love about LA. We have friends and neighbors from all over the world, who have come her from many different traditions. Quite wonderful really!

@Judi: Agreed. I think Hinduism has an enormes wealth of wisdom and transcendental symbolism we all could learn from.