Anindita Ganguly
First and foremost, I am a human being, walking the arduous path of life, with its ups, downs, unexpected twists and turns. I try to cultivate love, meaning and purpose. Sometimes I succeed and at other times, I fail. My challenge is to remember that I walk with God, not alone. It is easy to remember this, while, I am at peak points in my life. Not so easy when I am in the valleys. My act of remembering that I walk with God is the greatest source of comfort for me. The God, in whom I have my faith in and pray to is an Universal Consciousness, permeating through every atom and molecule, creating and binding all that exists. It is the unnamable, incomprehensible, mysterious, faithful, fiercely loving, fearless, Divine Consciousness, which is capable of accomplishing the impossible, which the human mind cannot conceive, yet, also exists in the daily details of my days. My God has many names and is beyond one religion or practice. I respect and honor people’s conceptions and experiences of the sacred. I believe that my faith is based on my relationship with God, characterized by agape love and compassion. My faith journey includes working on my relationship with God and also developing a loving and compassionate relationship with myself and others.
Just like other relationships, my relationship with God is based on my experiences. The lens of my relationship and experiences of God are filtered through my various identities, such as daughter, wife, mother, sister, Indian-American, clinical psychologist, teacher and friend. HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT A THERAPY SITE AND NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. PLEASE REACH OUT TO PROFESSIONAL MENTAL HEALTH AND MEDICAL PROVIDERS, AS NEEDED.
This is a faith based passion project (labor of love) and the goal is to explore different spiritual and religious wisdom traditions and concepts in psychology which may help readers to live with authenticity, meaning and purpose, especially in these challenging and turbulent times.
The people who have significantly influenced my worldview are my parents (Ram and Anuradha Ganguly), two brothers, husband (Indrajit Ray), my friend Joy, and my son. My dad, Ram Ganguly, is possibly the hardest working person I know. At age 40, he came with his three children and wife to the United States to start a new life so that his children will have the opportunities of living the American dream. His independent thinking is demonstrated by his lecture to us early in childhood that a “Brahmin (highest level of the caste system) is by behavior and not birth”. When I asked him what this means, he stated his belief that a person’s actions define his or her character and God-realization and that birth into a caste is irrelevant. My father has a layer of deep kindness beneath his sternness, especially about the importance of education. I am grateful for his support and encouragement in pursuing my education.
My mother, Anuradha Ganguly, taught me about faith in God. She stood firm in her faith in God throughout the ups and downs of her life. Her firm belief was that relationship with God and faith is what sustains a person through birth, life and death. She believed everything else is a mirage.
Another person who was a “powerhouse in spirituality” was my mother’s friend , Joy Charlesworth Durment, who later became my friend. Joy was an authentic woman, whose talk and walk in faith matched. She demonstrated faith, humility, graciousness, and kindness. Joy was an incredible person that I was blessed to have known and had great interfaith conversations with her. Joy was a mighty spiritual warrior despite her quiet and gentle demeanor.
I am grateful for my husband, Indrajit Ray’s, steadfast support, encouragement, honest conversations (“keeping it real”), sticking with me through the highs and lows of our lives, love and kindness. Indrajit is not someone who sugar coats his words and his honesty has challenged me to grow as a person.
The most amazing and Supreme Gift God gave me and my husband is our son. He does not like me to talk much about him and so I will respect his request.
I am very grateful to Dr. Ortiz (Alortiz3@gmail.com) for helping me set up the blog.
PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR READERS’ COMMENTS