When a former warlord who is wanted, seeks refuge at the Shaolin monastery asking to become a monk, the students oppose and ask him to leave. The abbot steps in and allows him to stay though. He explains, "All beings carry the spirit of Buddha. Buddha is open to all who are searching. Tribulation leads to wisdom. He (the warlord) knows confusion. I think he is not far from enlightenment."
True to his words, one goes through many trials and tribulations before enlightenment is possible. We are lead to experience injustice and human suffering, and a multitude of emotions that come together as a result as we walk through life. Abandonment, Accidents, Accusations, Agony, Alienation, Alone-ness, Anger, Anxiety, Shame, Attacks, Belittlement, Bereavement, Betrayal, Bitterness, Confusion, Criticism, Deception, Demeanness, Demoralization, Depression, Deprivement, Despair, Disappointment, Disgrace, Disgust, Domination, Embarrassment, Emptiness, Failure, Fear, Filth, Frustration, Guilt, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Humiliation, Hurt, Inadequacy, Incompetency, Insecurity, Insignificance, Insults, Invisible, Left out, Losing control, Losing the mind, Lost, Manipulation, Misunderstood, Mistaken, Nastiness, Neglected, Offensive, Out of control, Outcast, Powerless, Pressured, Put-down, Rejected, Ridiculed, Ruined, Scorned, Shattered, Sick, Suffocated, Terrified, Tormented, Trashed, Unaccepted, Unloved, Unsafe, Unwanted, Vengeful, Violation, Vulnerable, all that finally results in one becoming withdrawn from society. (List of emotions sourced from https://englishstudyhere.com/) It hurts and grieves us to see these emotions that many carry with them and that has lead to tragic endings.
It is our duty as fellowmen to come to the aid of souls undergoing sufferings. Compassion and love begin with a nice word of encouragement for these hurt souls. These shall motivate and get them going on with their lives. Gowri Arumugam and her label Raagawave Production, who, if you would remember, were instrumental in bringing out the album, "Agathiyar Geetham" a couple of years ago, has made a song "Poraadhu", aimed at boosting one's morale and bringing hope and cheer. The music video awaits release.
We tend to agree with Lee Eisenberg's review of the short film "The Neighbour's Window". He says that "What you can see does not necessarily tell the whole thing." Often we are told that the grass is greener on the other side, and tend to believe until we reach there and it turns otherwise and not as expected. Although our eyes are the window to the world but do we see the whole picture? As we walk with the Siddhas we begin to realize more and more that we are more and more ignorant and blind to the subtle workings of things around us. For instance, Will Zulkowsky in his book ‘Meetings with Yogi Ramsuratkumar’, published by Yogi Ramsuratkumar Bhavan, highlights the simple act of drinking tea with the Yogi that has us wonder in amusement.
Even drinking tea with Swami was a unique experience. The tea was brought in a pot with the cups empty. Swami would then place each cup carefully in front of each person, then proceed to pour the tea. Once the tea was poured, after Swami sipped His tea, then could the rest begin. This was the protocol. Once I unconsciously moved my tea cup closer after Swami had placed it. Swami then stopped, gave me a look and told me firmly I had just spoiled His work. He said then that he had to make some adjustment to compensate for my blunder.
My art teacher in primary school used to bring us outdoors to parks and have us view nature through the viewfinder cut out from cardboard and pick and draw only what we see through the opening. Looking through the framed window helps bring us to focus on a particular scene and keep out other distractions. We only see what falls within the four sides or edges of the opening and not beyond. Eventually, after hours of labor, unperturbed by what goes around us, we have a masterpiece on our hands. Anthony Bourdain in the CNN series "Parts Unknown" ends the episode "Madagascar" with a wonderful statement, that "The camera is a liar.. it shows everything.. (at the same time) it shows nothing. It reveals only what we want. Often what we see is seen only from a window... moving past and then gone. One window. My window. If you had been here chances are you would have seen things differently." How very true.
A seeker who came over to my home after hearing about Agathiyar at AVM told me that she was impressed reading about my maiden journey to the land of her origin and was pretty surprised that I did not mention any negativities, nor write about the negative aspect or perspective and bad things about her homeland as many seem to share with her upon their return home. I told her that as I was focused on what Agathiyar told me to do on the journey, that is to carry out my remedies, I did not see anything else. I also told her that I could show these people filth and rubbish dumped in my city too. It is what we seek; what we want; and what we wish to see that comes up before us. If you wish to see rubbish and filth, you shall most definitely see it. Your eyes will pick these up. On the contrary, if you see Agathiyar daily he shall appear every place we go. My wife once pointed out, "Have you noticed that all of a sudden Agathiyar seems to crop up every place we go." Many devotees too have expressed their surprise in seeing Agathiyar in places they have been. This could be in the form of pictures, paintings, statues, as a person, as light or a glow, as a sensation or aroma. P. Radulescu says in his review of "The Neighbour's Window" that, "Every family sees only what they want to see; only what each other's heart dictates to be seen."
The 1954 Tamil movie ''Andha Naal" and the 1970 movie "Nadu Eravil", both films made by S.Balachander, the Alfred Hitchcock of Tamil cinema, has each suspect to murder in trying to provide an alibi give his/her version or story of killing or murder that had taken place. The former is "set in the milieu of World War II". The story is about the killing of a radio engineer. The suspects are his wife, his mistress, his brother, his sister-in-law, and a neighbor. Interestingly each one's account of the incident points to a new suspect." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andha_Naal). The latter movie revolves around a rich man and his wife living on a private island. Learning that he shall die in 20 days, he assembles all his relatives together. "Unfortunately, they are murdered one by one in the night. All are terrified. The suspicion on the murderer shifts from person to person." Most of the time the perpetrator leaves behind a track that is picked up by the forensic and gets caught.
Man tends to leave his mark behind in all his endeavors or wherever he sets his foot. We welcome if it is constructive and helps bring or does some good to humanity as have the great discoverers, scientists, and saints. But what if it brings or does further damage. In a documentary, we see a Mongolian nomad dismantle the tent that she and her family had pitched while their animals grazed the fields. We see her clean up the place before leaving to look for another spot to stay over. What surprised me was that she went on her knees and very carefully made good the grass with her hands. They then show their gratefulness by performing a simple ritual to thank nature for accommodating them before moving out. The camera then pans to the left where we are shown an abandoned oil rig, machinery, and empty drums, remnants of an exploration well left behind by intruders. As Simon Reeves in his travels documented on BBC earth, seeing the sad state of things around us, acknowledges that "We are very good breaking up things; we are not so good in offering a fix", this scene made me sick to my stomach seeing this state of abandonment by civilized men. It made me rethink who was more civilized and ethical. The nomads move with nature. When their livestock and animals have grazed the fields they are forced to move out in search of greener pastures and fields. Similarly when adverse weather approaches they are forced to move too. They do not determine the next course of action. Nature does; nature determines. They only toe the line.
In another documentary, we are told that the Chinese were fond of building walls: the defensive wall of the "inner city" which housed government buildings and of the "outer city", housing mainly residences. They had walls built to surround individual homes, courtyards, and spaces too. The ancient Chinese lived in perfect harmony with nature too, which is still carried into modern homes through the traditional practice of Fengshui, "a form of geomancy linked to Taoism, originating from the Chinese metaphysics of human harmony with nature." We had similar tall walls built around temples and palaces too. A home has walls; and a room too, signifying space. Each step we take brings us into another space, frame, or shot and into another moment in time. I was always amazed by my Muslim friends who always gave out their traditional greeting whenever they intruded into or moved into someone else's space, be it the seen or unseen. The Indonesians greeted anyone, irrespective of age, whom they pass by, humbly seeking permission to pass. The indigenous people always sought permission from the spirits of the jungles as they traveled deep into the jungle. The Siddhas paid their respect to deities, spirits, and energies that kept guard at the beginning and at numerous spots along the tracks in the jungle. The Chinese are known to built small shrines for the spirits and worship them before they intrude to clear and start building any project. Everything happens within time-space.
Can we remain a watcher and not enter the space, frame, or shot, that only creates more possibilities in our lives? If only we never moved, we will not be in another frame. We will not intrude into another's space and time. We will remain forever a watcher not influencing, changing nor modifying the scene. Is this the true meaning of being still or summa eru? I guess this is what we eventually end up doing as a spirit after death, only able to watch but never able to influence and interact with our loved ones without a medium at least as shown in films like "Ghost". "Patrick Swayze in this movie is murdered, and his spirit stays behind to warn his lover, Demi Moore, of impending danger, with the help of Whoopi Goldberg, a reluctant psychic." The Tamil movie "Mudhal Thethi" shows us the frustration of a departed soul in being unable to extend help to his family. "When he is laid off by the bank Sivagnanam unable to find another job, and dejected, tries to kill himself so that his family would receive his insurance money. His soul reaches the court of Yama, the god of death. Angered by what he considers as an irresponsible act, Yama sends him back to earth to see the dilemma his family goes through after his death. Sadly he can observe the goings-on but is unable to participate and bring reprieve to them." (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudhal_Thethi)
I came to understand that one shall face confusion till the moment of enlightenment. You might think all is clear to you... But they dash even that... Making us re-evaluate our understanding each moment. We will never have the answers..not till the very last moment of enlightenment. But it's good for otherwise there is no reason to live if we already knew everything. So when I shared the statement of the abbot of the Shaolin monastery from the movie "Shaolin" that meant, "If you are confused you are close to enlightenment" on Whatsapp to a few readers of this blog, I received several wonderful insights from their replies.
Reader 1: "Maybe at every level, new experiences bring in new confusion and new learning..."
Reader 2: "Yes Anna. But then that confusion becomes a lesson for the next direction also Anna. But we only understand after Appa Agathiyar reveals"
Reader 3: "Hahaha yes ar Anna. Nowadays I tend to get more confused. Whenever I'm confused I just open Siddha Heartbeat blog and read through. I'm waiting for your next post...I know you have told everything, Anna. Still, I believe there is something to enlightenment me."
Reader 4: "Confusion begins when we start to realize the ephemeral nature of all that we took for granted."
Confusion leads us to seek answers first from others, be it the family, friends, or the masters or guru if we have one. Executing the ideas and solutions given, experiencing its outcome, learning more lessons, he soon learns and realizes that the answers are all within him and comes to settle within.
A reader wrote to me: "Our Masters take us under their wings when we are most impure. They then roast us in the fire of sadhana, (புடம் போட்டு) purify us and present us to Lord Shiva. Even Lord Shiva comes to us only when we are pure. Our Masters, in my view, are a step higher." I could relate this to what Agathiyar told his devotee. He said that he had found the diamond (the devotee) and was handing him over to Lord Shiva.
The reader shared a saying he read: "If you can see the illusion, you are enlightened; if you think you are enlightened, then, you are in illusion." When the veil or curtain drops, seeing through the illusion of Maya that surrounds us, we understand all that is to be known, that it is all a divine play, and that we are here to learn some lessons. For one we soon learn that contentment and satisfaction bring peace and happiness.