Monday 13 August 2018

A PROGRESSIVE JOURNEY

Agathiyar brings many to the fold of his path, the path he and many others after him had treaded, in seeking union with Erai. He is entrusted with revealing the karma of seekers, that determines the birth taken and the subsequent life and journey of a soul on this earth and beyond. The past karma is revealed in meditation for the advanced seekers and through a medium known as Nadi Jothidam for those beginners like you and me. 

A post from Velayudham Karthikeyan Aiya's blog Siththan Arul brings us back to time immemorial where the Siddhas, being compassionate and kind, put forward to the Almighty who they prefer to call Erai their wishes for humanity. The Siddhas had wished that whoever seeks out the Siddhas for solutions to their problems and surrenders to the Siddhas, they shall be pardoned for their past deeds, however bad and evil they may be, and shall not be put through the trial and tribulations and made to face the consequences but instead be saved. Erai granted the Siddhas their wish. 

The next instant the Siddhas wrote down; the reasons for each individual’s sufferings; listed out solutions and remedies; and showed ways and means to overcome or end the seekers problems, sins, diseases, illnesses and sufferings. They wrote them in Tamil prose on dried palm leaves. This writings came to be known as the Nadi.

Annette Merle Cleveland introduces the Nadi in her blog, NADI ASTROLOGY THE SECRETS OF LIFE REVEALED,
"Nadi astrology is a means to show us where we went wrong in respect of our duties, why we are experiencing the difficulties that we are having and offers a solution as to how to resolve these problems", 
While many seek the Nadi to know the reasons for their troubles; for a solution to their prolonged illness; for their career development and monetary issues; to know of their marriage, matrimonial and marital ties; to secure property and posts; and sometimes for trivial and petty issues too; a handful these days come to test the authenticity and genuineness of the Nadi readers, the Siddhas and their revelations.

Although there is a sudden influx of people seeking their Nadi for all the above reasons, Annette  reveals a pertinent point and the true purpose and the reason for the Siddhas to come foreword with this mysterious means of revelation to mankind, which has been overshadowed by mans' never ending tale of miseries.
... the Sidhas stated that by the time man evolved himself to these modern times, his mind would have become so clouded by the things of this world that he would have forgotten his true spiritual nature. Consequently, this astrological system was created to bring people to a memory and realization of their true, divine nature.
The Sidhas also said, - That from the chaos of the modern times a yearning would rise within the heart of man to seek beyond the supposed limitations of this world. Thus, this system of truth was written by eighteen Sidhas for each individual soul and shows the entire role of the soul from the beginning of time.
Thus, the enlightened Sidhas were instrumental in chronicling spiritual information onto these palm leaves for the benefit of humankind.

Furthermore, these ancient beings also set out to reveal a method by which each soul could discover the existence of God in this diverse universe. They knew that a divine power existed, which was an infinite form of energy that existed in all creation. Consequently, they set about putting into place the prescribed paths of karma and devotion so that all human beings could have a guiding light to realize their true spiritual natures.
http://www.alternativeapproaches.com/pnuke1/article6.htm
In short the Nadi was meant to bring us to a true realization of ourselves and to rise above all mundane needs and worries. Here is were Agathiyar and the Siddhas after giving us a detailed account of our past life and the present will reveal a prediction of the future based on the karma we have accumulated. 

Karma takes its toll on us as ordained by the Erai but fear not as there is a court of appeal and the Siddhas preside over it.

D.C. Desai quotes Paul Brunton in DIVINE GRACE THROUGH TOTAL SELF-SURRENDER, 
Divine grace is a manifestation of the cosmic freewill in operation. It can alter the course of events in a mysterious manner through its own unknown laws, which are superior to all natural laws, and can modify the latter by interaction. It is the most powerful force in the universe. It descends and acts, only when it is invoked by total self-surrender. It acts from within, because God resides in the heart of all beings. Its whisper can be heard only in a mind purified by self surrender and prayer.
With continuous appeal through prayers, the divine moves things in our favor. But then some asks that all sufferings end - to the disappointment of family and friends who wished that they had lived longer. Here then Erai complies with the wishes of the soul that yearns to leave the body, although much remedies have been carried out and expenses incurred in the process, and many hours of prayers put in by the family so that he could live. With free will and the divine's touch we can determine our path anew, hence changing whatever was in store for us. But the saintly ones choose not to upset the pattern, structure and flow of life leaving it to the divine and karma to take its cause without any interference. They prefer take upon themselves and face boldly the effects of their karma. In rare cases they take upon themselves the karma of their disciples too.

For those who heed their words and take the cue, the Siddhas come along with us, constantly providing more Nadi readings, personally charting their lives anew, often bringing the change for the better and leading us into the spiritual path and closer towards Erai.

Pon. Govindasamy in his "Sirsabaiyum Porsabaiyum" published by Bharath Book Bureau, Madras, 1970, makes an observation that if Veda Vyasa who was the representative of Lord Vishnu was responsible for the Vedas, Agathiyar who was the representative of Brahma, was responsible for the Agamas. So it does not surprise us if Agathiyar is authorized to reveal our karmas and guide us on the relevant rituals or agamas to appease the planets, Gods and Godesses besides disposing of ones karma through these holistic rituals. And so it was that Agathiyar having brought us to an understanding of karma, and the many means of eradicating and disengaging from its hold, he engaged us to do rituals.

Agathiyar did not throw in any theology, dogmas, doctrines or philosophical discussions but rather took us by the hand to get on the ground in doing the actual rituals related to the puja and had our hands dig into our pockets to come out with contributions and again get on the ground to serve the needy. He took us a step at a time, guiding us with detailed instructions, only giving that much information that would render the task on hand done, and giving us sufficient time to put his asking into place. Slowly he worked on us bringing us along to do charity alongside rituals and fulfill certain dharma and agamas to move on to the next level.

After being satisfied with the devotion and rituals, Sariyai and Kriyai respectively, that form the initial first two stages of a four part journey, he has brought us to the court of Lord Muruga and handed us to him to further guide us hence bringing upon a progressive upliftment in this personal journey towards the gates of Yogam or divine virtues and stature and Gnana or divine wisdom.

Here is an opportunity for us to decide what we want in life and work towards it. If it is not in the works we can put in a request for it or to take place. There is a means to salvation in the final run when we have exhausted all our wishes and desires. We are looking forward to journey further on this mysterious and mystical path of the Siddhas. If we fail at any stage, we won't be disappointed for we can always come back and continue from where we left. No effort put in towards reaching the goal is wasted. Join us as we discover together this journey and turn within.

As NS Shanmuganathan share the following from a book he read,
A yogi, therefore, instead of making futile attempts to form a perfect logical conception of the nature of the absolute in the lower empirical planes of his consciousness, directs his attention and energy to the progressive purification, refinement and concentration of his empirical consciousness and its elevation to higher and higher spiritual planes, until the supreme transcendent plane is reached, in which the veil between the ultimate truth and the consciousness vanishes altogether and the consciousness is absolutely united with the truth.