Aparita Bhandari

Unlike my father, and like many people, I am skeptical of miracle-working sages. I’ve heard many accounts of self-styled gurus who con average folk with their sleight of hand. Despite my skepticism, out of respect for my father I accompanied him on a visit to the sage. Unlike stereotypical images of mystical men with long flowing beards and ash-smeared foreheads, this sage was a regular-looking man. He wore a simple orange cotton garment, which had no pockets or long sleeves to hide objects. I sat before him, and bowed as I would to an elder.

The sage held out his hands, and I was guided to extend mine. He muttered a few lines, and suddenly I felt something in my hand. It was a small idol of Ganesh. The sage asked me to keep it in my room and chant a Ganesh mantra every day. “You are worried,” he told me.

“God will help you overcome your troubles.” I’m still unsure how the idol got into my palm, but my father was sure it was a miracle. He guided me in the placement of the deity in my room — deities should face North or East. I was in fact going through a difficult phase at that time. I was almost done with college, and I was worried about my grades. I was concerned about my future and unsettled by my parents’ suggestions about marriage possibilities.. I decided it couldn’t hurt to take the sage’s advice and integrated it into my yogic meditation. Every morning, after doing the asanas, I took a few minutes to chant a mantra addr-essed to Ganesh. — Beliefnet.com