A devotee asked me many years ago why we need to praise the Siddhas. I had no answer back then except that I knew it felt good to heap these praises. Besides it, I was instructed by Agathiyar in the Nadi to worship the Siddhas, and later, when we met Tavayogi, he asked us to praise the Siddhas to rid us of our past Karma. I did as told and never questioned the Siddhas and my guru.
Many years later, Agathiyar, in asking me to commission his bronze statue and worship him, told me to "give" life (Uyir) into the otherwise lifeless or inert metal by asking us to chant Agathiyar's name 100,000 times. We could only manage 45,000, even with the help of all those who had gathered for his Jayanthi that day in 2010. But Agathiyar accepted it. So it seems that we have this power within us to create. Indeed, the sperm from a male, when united successfully with an egg in the female, brings on pregnancy. Together, we bring on another soul into this world. So it seems that it is we who breathe life into the idols of these deities. I guess this is done through the numerous rituals daily at the temples, too. I believe, with the coming of devotees in huge numbers to these temples and performing rituals, we help sustain the power in these idols.
But it is otherwise in the Samadhis of the Siddhas, for Agathiyar questions us, "Who are we to give life and power to the Siddhas who are already a powerhouse in these places?" We are asked to refrain from performing rituals but instead sit quietly in their presence and tap into these energies that are prevalent in these places. So too are we asked to seek out the abodes of these Siddhas to be with nature and tap into the unlimited energies that are present in nature.
Just like we do not water the trees but instead water the growing plants, an established temple and an established guru or master do not need further publicity or to be made viral. Let us instead turn to the many individual divine souls among us who are doing their part in making the world a better place. Let us turn within and re-establish contact with our soul (JeevAtma) that is a part of the bigger ParamAtma (Sivam). This was the last directive given to me by Agathiyar, too, to know the Atma and Sivam, after bringing me on a journey of exploration and discovery on the path of the Siddhas that began with worship to them, traveling to their abodes, carrying out charity, taking up rituals and Yoga, writing about them and eventually dropping all these tools to do nothing, but to watch the result, the explosion, the transformation taking place within. Agathiyar told me what could be more obvious than one growing back his hair and seeing it turn black once again. It is happening right before my eyes and that of others, too, who have come forward to acknowledge it.
We fail to realize that we are participants in this life-giving process. We are not only a product of creation but a part of it too. Though we are very much alive, sadly, we are drowned in misery, failing to see through this veil of Maya. Indeed, we are all blissful by nature. When ignorance of the Atma or Self and its potential is shed, Sat Chit Anandha prevails. We then attain the state of Sivam.