:: November/December 2003 Volume 2/Number 6

Koan Collection

By Julie Deife

On the Cover
Loga Ramin Torkian and Ganesha Shrine
Koan Collection
6109 Melrose Ave.
323-464-3757

Loga Ramin Torkian of Koan Collection

Loga Torkian does puja every morning when he arrives at work, before he and his brother open for business. He takes off his shoes and crawls inside the main 6 x 6 chamber occupied by Ganesha, Shiva and Lakshmi. Pictures of Loga's and his brother Bobek's guru Subramanya Swami adorn the walls. Singing Sanskrit mantras to each in turn, he makes offerings of camphor, water, rice and fruit and lovingly places fresh flowers on them.

Loga's relationship with the deities and guru is such that he speaks to each of them asking for "a happy, prosperous day at Koan" as well as a few personal requests. Then he repeats the devotional act at each of three other shrines on the premises: the second (Loga and Ganesha, on the cover) is in a main room, the third is outside the front entrance where rice and water are also tossed out onto the sidewalk, and the fourth sits tucked inside a niche' in a wall of an entry room.

The co-owner brothers have been doing the morning puja since opening 12 years ago. According to Loga they do it for two reasons: for the self and our own personal evolution, and because it creates a shakti and prana in the space. Indeed the shop is filled with a remarkable collection of deities, furniture, and ritual items that artfully coexist.

With deities happy and hard at work, incense burning, and mantras sung by Ravi Shankar filling the air, Koan Collection is open again today for business.

Julie Deife