Who is Gaṇeśa?

As part our How To Do Tantrik Pūjā, we now start discussing the next moment in our puja-krama, sequence of worship: Gaṇeśa puja! This a bit like a talk we gave some time back called

We'll go over the necessary nyāsa, dhyāna, pūjā and pranāmah mantras in the next class for a more detailed worship but in this talk, I just wanted to say a few things about Pauranic vs Vedic Gaṇeśa and discuss Tantrik Gaṇeśawith reference to Mūlādhāra Chakra and our embodied being to contextualize why its so important to get his blessing before beginning any Tāntrik sādhanās. Mainly, we go over the importance of the body in spiritual life, and the symbology of Gaṇeśa's meditation mantra: 

oṁ kharvaṁ sthūlatanuṁ gajendra-vadanaṁ lambodaraṁ sundaraṁ
prasyandan-mada-gandha-lubdha-madhupa-vyālola-gaṇḍa-sthalam।
dantāghāta-vidāritāri-rudhiraiḥ sindūra-śobhākaraṁ
vande śailasutāsutaṁ gaṇapatiṁ siddhipradaṁ kāmadam॥

OM, I pray to Gaṇapati, Lord of the Gaṇas, Pārvatī's son, the giver of all perfecton and fulfiller of all desires, who is short and stout of build with a large belly, the beautiful elephant-faced king of the elephants surrounded by bess intoxicated by his fragrance (streaming fluids), whose cheeks are quivering with the blood of enemies torn asunder by the striking of his tusks, making him beautiful (as if) annointed with vermillion!

After chanting this mantra, you can worship Gaṇeśa internally, in your heart using your imagination (māsana-pūjā) and/or you can offer a simple red flower at the feet of your picture, statue or lamp with the following mantra:
oṁ gaṁ ētē gandhapuṣpē gaṇeśāya namaḥ

And then, you can conclude by chanting these prayer mantras:

oṁ devendramaulimandāramakarandakaṇāruṇāḥ
vighnaṁ harantu heramba-caraṇāmbuja-reṇavaḥ

May the red dust of the lotus like feet of Heramba Gaṇeśa, the Lord of the Gods, whose crown is adorned with the red nectar of the mandāra flower remove all obstacles!

oṁ ekadantaṁ mahākāyaṁ lambodaraṁ gajānanam
vighnanāśakaraṁ devaṁ herambaṁ praṇamāmyaham

I bow to the divine elephant-faced, single-tusked Heramba Gaṇeśa with a large body and big belly who destroys all obstacle!

oṁ sarvavighnavināśāya sarvakalyāṇahetave
pārvatīpriyaputrāya gaṇeśāya namo Namah

I salute that Gaṇeśa the beloved son of Pārvatī, the destroyer of all obstacles and the cause of all auspiciousness.

Jai Śrī Heramba Gaṇeśa Ki Jai!