The other time I got a 'bashing' from Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal was when I got carried away and started entertaining friends and relatives who came for the prayers by giving advice which got me into trouble later.
When devotees came to participate in the prayers at our home, Agathiyar Vanam, they started to open up and reveal their problems too. As my wife and I were good listeners, they started to open up the Pandora boxes. Naturally, we sympathized with them and started giving our views, opinions, and suggestions to overcome their dilemma. We used to recommend who they should see too for their problems.
These devotees came often and sometimes stayed late into the night which was disrupting our life to a certain extent, as I had to work and our daughter had school the next day. Sometimes they used to call us at the break of dawn too. When I mentioned this to Tavayogi over the phone, he immediately asked me, why I interfered in their affairs, which startled me. Tavayogi is fond of answering a question with another question. Tavayogi reminded me that I should direct them to Agathiyar who was seated in my home. "Ask them to open up to Agathiyar, cry their hearts out to him", added Tavayogi. "Agathiyar will take care of their problems", continued Tavayogi. That was a good beating I received from him that day.
Since then I stopped guiding them but instead led them to Agathiyar, giving them a moment of privacy with the most compassionate father. Later we prayed to Agathiyar that all these should stop too, and he granted that too.
I am glad too that those who came to see and learn a thing or two about how prayers or Puja was conducted for Agathiyar, soon moved on to perform their own Puja in the comfort of their own homes. I do not wish to start a following in my home and around me with devotees dependent on me to lead the prayers.
It is beautiful to hear and I share their bliss and happiness when they call me to say that they had conducted Puja in their homes personally without a middle man. They came into communion with God directly!
By they starting the Puja in their homes they open up yet another path to others in their families too, who initially might be suspicious of their moves and faith and believes, but soon settle to accept what their kin are up to without laying any obstacles. One day they too might come unto this path - the path of the Siddhas.