My teacher used to ask, ‘When I want to show you a bird sitting in a tree & I point to it, where do you look? At my finger, or to where my finger is pointing & the bird?’
Similarly, Indian culture uses symbolism to help a person grasp some relative understanding of the omniscient, omnipotent & omnipresent Absolute State of Consciousness (Brahman), that is otherwise inconceivable by thought.
Today marks Ganesh Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganesh. But far from being a bizarre, elephant-headed deity in the Hindu pantheon of gods, each time we see his image, whether we are consciously aware of it or not, the sentiments attached to this majestic animal are conjured inside ourselves & may just give us the necessary wisdom & strength required to remove the obstacles blocking our path, from the often seemingly inaccessible jungle of life.