Life teaches us many things. Each of us leaves this world richer. We gather experiences. We take on new thoughts dropping the old. We take on new desires shedding the old. We take on new opinions dropping the old. We take on a new coat of skin shedding the old. Our priorities change in life. Our perspective of life and its problems changes with time. No amount of bookish knowledge can replace experience. Experience sinks into the heart. It makes us weep if it hurts or brings extreme joy if it is memorable.
The challenges changes in intensity as our roles change. A care free individual has to take on new responsibilities when married. A whole new world is in store as he steps into parenthood. The child begins to teach him to care, be patient, to serve. He takes on new attributes dropping the old. He begins to fit into a new role. These newly acquired experiences help us make new choices in life.
Life is full of choices. We can decide how our life should be. Walking the path I realized that there is always two ways or approach to all matters. For instance you can lend a hand to someone and help change his fate, buy him food and appease his hunger, safe a man from jumping of the bridge and more. Or you can walk away doing nothing about it claiming that he deserves it and its his karma.
You can either regard this body as a temple and bring the divine to live within. Or you can regard this body as filth and never care for it, turning towards the thought of the divine elsewhere.
The paths are laid ahead. It is left to us to make a choice. The choice is ours. Which path would you chose?
I for one am beginning to see the truth and a purpose in the former. We come with our baggage of sins, but we are provided numerous avenues for us to lift ourselves from this sea of karma. There is no way we can change the past but there is a sure way to make our own future. Along the way we take the hand of the divine to help remove the obstacles.
Imagine if the doctors did not attempt to revive a patient leaving it to his karma. Imagine if the fire fighter did not dose the flames leaving it to the occupant's karma. Imagine if the learned kept their knowledge to themselves. Imagine if the scientists kept their findings secret.
We are here to discover and share our discovery with others. Similarly the saints discovered a whole new world and understanding and shared it with others bringing the light into our lives. Would you want to share your joy?
Serve others and you shall derive joy. Help others and you shall derive joy. Teach others and you shall derive joy. Heal another and you shall derive joy. Guide another and you shall derive joy.
Just as we put out a prayer to the divine to heal us, stop the sufferings and pain, to break and clear the obstacles, and change our fate - it is only fair that we work to bring a change in the lives of others too. One must understand that the divine helps those who help others.
We did not take this birth to live for ourselves, appease our needs and satisfy our desires. We are here to help others. It is said that the Siddhas appealed to Erai that they be given the gift of helping mankind to bring them to his kingdom, to help them to settle their scores, and to change their fate and destiny in some cases. Similarly should not we ask the divine to bring us opportunities to help another live a better life?
A parent takes on many responsibilities. It is said that the child's karma does not affect a child till he attains puberty. The parents take on his karma till then. When the child begins to know the difference between good and bad actions and voluntarily performs them does he begin to accumulate fresh karma.
We are here to bring change to our karma, fate and destiny and not to live it out as destined. The poor have to come out of the rut. The bad have to turn a new leaf. The ignorant has to gain knowledge. The sick has to recover. The struggle to survive has to go on. We have to move up the ladder, not go down or remain on the rung.
To know the traits of doing business one needs to join as an apprentice to a successful businessman. To turn a new leaf one has to associate with good people and leave his previous alliance. To gain knowledge in a particular field one must learn under a proficient teacher. To recover from an illness one needs to seek a qualified medical practitioner. So too to learn about Erai, one needs to seek those who have been to his kingdom and back.
The saints chose only to speak about the joy derived from seeing the divine, although they have had to go through a maze of troubles in reaching the destination, for it is considered permanent and ever lasting.
Many a saint has revealed this joy and emancipation. So have the other saints left a note about their experiences by way of divine songs. Listening to Ramalinga Adigal's "Thiruarutpa" brings us to experience this state of bliss. Reading the Arutpa brings immense joy to the soul. These songs bring instant upliftment and hope to a downtrodden and hurt soul. The saint brings Erai's kingdom right to our doorstep. He opens the latches to each door and shows us vividly the many faces of divinity.
The following scene from the movie "Lucy" in a way comes close to depict the final state of Adigalar.