What is It that created us, is sustaining us and will one day leave us causing this physical body to drop? Is this physical body attached to It in some way? Moving in a little further, we realize that we are not this body, but an entity that survives beyond this physical realm. On dying, It breaks the limitations of this physical body and material world and moves back into the spirit world.
We then step back into the 4th dimension or astral plane, we are told.
Then the question as to which came first? It or the physical body? "Udambu Uyir Yedutthathaa? Uyir Udambu Yedutthathaa?"
When Tavayogi was hit by a passing bus while riding a motorcycle, many years ago, it took him some time to recover. I confronted Agathiyar, asking him if it was proper for him to stand aside and watch, letting that accident take place. I could accept it if it happened to me but how could something so terrible happen to one who carried Agathiyar in his heart and soul, I questioned. When I asked Tavayogi he gave a rather simple reply, hardly raising an eyebrow. "It was my Karma, Son."
Many have asked me the same question now that Tavayogi was recovering from a coronary artery bypass surgery. Agathiyar says even Erai if he chooses to take a physical form will have to go through all the miseries in life, the torment and pain of growing old and will have to face death. That is the dictates of the physical form, that no one is exempted from.
The ego in us drives us to think that we are in control of our lives and everything that comes along. When after all our efforts and attempts have been exhausted, neither having reached our goal or overcome our problems, we tend to rethink, realize and accept that there is indeed a power source beyond us/within us, that dictates the flow of things and determines the outcome or results of all our efforts.
This entity can be called and identified by any name or form. But we all agree that It exist. The Siddhas call It Erai. When It takes form It is Eraivan. When It carries It's qualities It is Erai tanmai.
The divine or Erai is very much a part of us as It is also manifested in all the things around us. To one who has attained the knowledge to control and manipulate the entities in nature nothing is impossible. He can draw the holy ash in his palms, he can materialize anything from thin air etc. Although he is able to perform these feats, he is limited to things that are already in existence. He could assemble a new thing from existing things but cannot create anything anew.
Only Erai has the nature to create, help sustain, and destroy besides veiling and showering its grace. If we work in accordance with the will of Erai all things sail smooth. If you find obstacles on your path, know that it is placed by you and your karma. At times the forefathers' and ancestors' or pitrus karma tags along too, standing in your way. Take the hand of Erai and he shall lead you across the obstacle or show you an entirely new and different path. Look for signs on your journey. Follow them rather then bulldozing through like a mad rampaging elephant and ending up bruised and hurt.
But take note that one has to put in the effort and at the same time pray that Erai works with us in reaching our destiny and goal. If the path or decision we choose might not be appropriate for us then Erai most wisely might guide us accordingly.
Working in cohesion with Erai brings positive results. Work with Erai for the good of humanity and all creation. Erai loves to assist you if your thoughts, deeds and efforts are towards the upliftment and betterment of the society. Rather then asking for personal desires to be fulfilled ask that you would want to serve others. When we choose to become a tool of Erai, Erai takes care of all our other needs. Rather then worship Erai for personal gains, worship and pray for the good of all. Then Erai comes into you to carry out his divine work. You become an apostle of Erai. But always let it be reminded that you are only It's tool and not It. The moment you consider yourself as It, ego steps in. Ravana and many others from the Indian epics and myths met their downfall because they began to equate themselves with the divine and used all the Siddhis, forces and powers given to them as gifts and boons for the extreme devotion and austerities they showed, performed and undertook, against the very giver or Erai.
Erai can only be realized by breaking away from self-centeredness and seeing It everywhere. A priest who has served Erai for years might not necessarily be humbled through his service and might not be willing to lift a hand in bringing aid and help to a fellow human, instead a man who does not pray or frequent temples might rush to the aid of another. Who is a better person now?
Note that the head of a family and his partner caring for the family is a responsibility and does not constitute or cannot be equated as serving another.
When a temple priest was called in to do the pre-marital rites at the home of my daughter's long time schoolmate, the priest hauled up her parents and chided them for placing the altar in the living room, we were puzzled. Although he gave a lengthy explanation and reasons to them, in the midst of all the invitees, on why the altar needs to be in a separate room, my wife pointed out to me that her aunt had no option but to place the deities paintings and other items on a shelf in the living room too. She was living in a tiny two room government quarters and had to care for her eight children. How could she afford a separate room to house an altar? She did not have that luxury.
When Sue Perkins of BBC One and Joanna Lumley took a walk along the streets of India, covered in two separate but wonderful documentaries, "The Ganges with Sue Perkins" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05kpsp7) and "Joanna Lumley's India" (https://mywatch-seriestv.com/joanna-lumleys-india-season-1-episode-2.html) they meet many homeless people and people segregated by society. Among them was a girl who grew up on the platform in India and now has a child of her own and was still living there. Another family of three lives in a single spaced home where they stayed, cooked, ate, prayed and slept. A boy who came to Delhi when he was 12 years old lived and grew up in the open grounds for the past 38 years. He still stays here (https://mywatch-seriestv.com/joanna-lumleys-india-season-1-episode-3.html).
When AVM family members arrived at the hotel in Palani, tribal indians staying in tents pitched on an open ground next to the hotel, caught out eyes and attention. Taking a walk to the temple later, we realized there were two more spots where a number of these indigenous peoples had pitched their tents. We later packed some food parcels at a hotel and distributed to them.
All these souls have hardly a proper roof, shelter or shed over their heads, how then can they allocate a room for the altar?
When AVM family members arrived at the hotel in Palani, tribal indians staying in tents pitched on an open ground next to the hotel, caught out eyes and attention. Taking a walk to the temple later, we realized there were two more spots where a number of these indigenous peoples had pitched their tents. We later packed some food parcels at a hotel and distributed to them.
All these souls have hardly a proper roof, shelter or shed over their heads, how then can they allocate a room for the altar?
Let us be practical. Let us not push onto others our thoughts, opinions and ways. What is practical for one might not work out for another. We need to adapt all matters, be it religion, spiritualism, traditions, cultures or normal daily norms and practices, accordingly to situations and current times. There is no hard and fast rule to living. Live within your means. Find peace within yourself.
A well known radio DJ who at times argued with his listeners on air, stopped me and my family once on the busy streets of Brickfields one hot afternoon and chided us on the way my daughters had anointed the bindi on the forehead. They had a tiny sticker bindi. He asked them to follow and uphold and upkeep the Indian tradition and culture. He did not approve a modernized look.
I did not need that lecture from him especially as I had just come out of a lengthy Nadi reading where Agathiyar had told me to cool down and stop becoming angry unnecessarily. He had given me a course on anger management thanks to my mother reporting to him through her daily prayers. My mother knowing that I would only listen to Agathiyar prayed to him daily asking him to help me with my anger. Tell me which God doesn't listen to a mother's prayer? Agathiyar chose to put it to me in a rather diplomatic way, telling me that I would lose all the merits gathered through my tapas by losing my temper and getting angry. I listened quietly and finally bid farewell to Agathiyar. As I was with my family, and it was one in the afternoon, we decided to go for lunch. It was a Sunday. The streets of Brickfields were rather empty. There were numerous parking bays available. Yet as I stepped out of Nadi Nool Aasan T.Ramesh's apartment, I find to my disappointment and ANGER a car double parked against mine. Now who and why would someone in clear mind want to park his car in such an inconsiderate manner as to block me from coming out of my parking bay. God, it was a Sunday and there were ample parking bays available!I honked for a while but no one came to move the car. He had pulled up his car handbrake that made matters worst. I came around the car several times wondering what to do. It was a hot day and my body temperature too began to move up the scale. My family was having a field day though laughing away at my expense. They began to look towards the sky and were asking if the Siddhas were monitoring our every move through CCTV's?
I tried to give the car a push and luckily it moved! I took my car out of the parking bay. After lunch we wanted to purchase some groceries before heading back home. That is when we chanced upon the DJ!
When he began advising us about failing to uphold our tradition and culture, my temperature rose again. His idea of a traditional bindi was one large round bindi that fully covered the forehead. Tell me which teenage girl would want to spot a bindi that large on her forehead and roam around the streets these days? People tend to go overboard holding on to tradition and culture not understanding that these two aspects of life will eventually change on its own accord, accordingly to the times and the situations, adopting new trends and mediums into it, and keeping up with changes as an outcome of new levels of understanding in the society. I blew my top that moment. I told him off, saying it was a matter of choice and that it was their wish how they wanted to decorate themselves, as long as it was decent and within legal and moral boundaries. I then asked him to wear the dhoti rather than the pant if he was so obsessed with tradition and culture. If in event he passes away was his wife willing to jump into the burning pyre or sati as our ancestors did in the past, I asked? I told him to uphold all that he said first before advising another. He immediately left the scene in a hurry.
I had failed miserably in keeping my cool that day. I am sorry Agathiya!
Be grateful for everything given to us till this moment. Our mantra should only be a simple note of appreciation, a thank you to the divine that moves in us as the breath. If till this moment we took the breath for granted, from now on be aware of the breath that automatically goes in and out of us. Together with it send a simple thank you note. By bringing our awareness to the breath we begin to live in the present. Time and space stops. Misery and worries stop. Karma freezes in time. The body begins to rejuvenate. It replenishes itself. What other tool or master do we need than our own self to lift us up to higher levels of spiritual achievements where it receives the grace of the divine. The divine then comes down to greet us on our journey of inner exploration. So start with a simple prayer asking the divine to come within us and lead us on. Sit quietly and observe the breath. We shall come to know all.