All the reading and Satsang I did in my bachelor days brought on numerous questions and doubts that were not clarified. Then Lord Shiva came in a dream and asked that I keep my questions to a later date. At about the same time I was transferred bringing a stop to my home puja and temple visits too. There was a period of hibernation from all forms of worship and a stop to all my reading. Today I understand why the divine intervened that day and brought a stop to my endeavors. He wanted me to have practical knowledge rather than bookish knowledge. He wanted me to get on the ground and wet my feet and soil my hands. He wanted me to start the rituals by doing it myself rather than be a spectator. He wanted me to be officially introduced to my gurus, and directly learn the path, the method, and teachings from them by following them rather than picking them up from other sources. He wanted me to have the experiences that I had read about in the pages of the books before.
Experience is the key to discovery. The Siddhas give us experiences and then educate us on it. Life then is a continuous process of learning. Learning is never complete as experiences don't end abruptly overnight either for the journey continues till our last breath. Goddess Ma told us that the Siddha path is one of learning. These shall become wisdom or Gnana for another. Agathiyar later, asks us to go within where the experiences one has in traveling within will become Gnana. The body provides us ample opportunities to experience life.
As I battle with my body trying to understand why it is behaving the way it does these days and struggle to settle into meditation, Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal came to briefly mention what was taking place. After I ventured to carry out yoga asanas and pranayama in 2007 it culminated in the three dosas becoming displaced erratically resulting in extreme discomfort and bodily aches in 2011. Agathiyar then put a stop to it, suggesting that I take certain herbs to bring some balance back to the three dosas. It was a traumatic period where I began to dread that the day would dawn as I felt the pain in my body and especially in my lower back especially in these hours before daybreak. I would drag myself out of bed and get ready to drive to work. I found some relief from following Agathiyar's recommendation and continuing with physiotherapy. Then one day a miracle took place. My physiotherapists asked me if I was doing the 5 exercises she showed me at home daily. I told her that I did. Surprisingly she asked me to do it in front of her. The moment I began to move into the first pose, something snapped in my lower back at the exact point of pain that I had endured for some three years. It was as if a knot gave way. It brought instant relief and joy. I cried out in relief. I was cured that day.
But the pain recurred again in 2016. Dhanvantri came to heal it telling me that I had excess Vata in me. Tavayogi and Mataji who were visiting us in Malaysia then gave a herbal preparation to bring some relief. It went off just as it had come on.
In 2018 the pain came back. Lord Muruga came through the Nadi and through a devotee simultaneously to heal by back with the feathers of the peacock and having me drink water charged with the Arutperunjothi mantra. Later I came to understand that he had healed my causal body or Karana Sarira, being the seed of the subtle or astral and gross body and where all illness, disease, and pain originates. The divine deals with the unseen and unknown while we see only the gross.
The causal body is the most subtle of the three and is contained within the other two. It is the body that transports the essence of the individual from one life into the next reincarnation. It is composed of karma and samskara, which are, respectively, the record of the yogi's actions in all states of existence and the experiential impressions and imprints on the mind. (https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5802/causal-body)
We learn further from Ruzbeh N Bharucha's writings at https://www.speakingtree.in/allslides/the-three-bodies-that-encase-the-soul-633928 of the three bodies and its nature. What is very obvious to us is our physical body made of matter, which is made of five elements namely Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Next, we are told of the subtle or astral body, made of three elements namely mind or manas, subconscious or Chitta, and the organs of knowledge; eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin, or jnana indriyas. Finally, the causal body, that covers both these bodies, is made of three elements, namely the Prime Ether or Param Akash Tatwa, Prime Air or Param Vayu Tatwa, and Prime Fire or Param Agni Tatwa. The causal body drives the astral while the astral drives the gross physical body.
It contains all our previous experiences, memories, habits and information on all the lives we have already lived. The astral and the causal bodies remain together at the time of death, both exiting the physical body. (https://www.kalindiyoga.co.uk/)
This is how we function. The Param Akash Tatwa binds and holds and determines the health of the individual. Hence the need to care for this and the overall causal body is of prime concern to us and the divinity in us. And so it happened that Lord Muruga dealt with my causal body and its ailment by stroking my back with a bunch of peacock feathers.
First, the disease attacks or gets ingrained into the causal body. That is because it’s the first layering of one’s body and also the most subtle. Closest to the soul is the Param Akash Tatva, then Param Vayu Tatva and then the Param Agni Tatva. (Source: https://www.speakingtree.in/allslides/the-three-bodies-that-encase-the-soul-633928/the-three-bodies-that-encase-the-soul-425563)
Ruzbeh mentions seven cosmic energies residing in the causal body that is continuously charged by the cosmic energies in the atmosphere. Hence the reason for Lord Muruga to get all those gathered at my home to chant the Arutperunjothi mantra and have me drink the charged and energized water. The back pain subsided after some time.
We learn that "Yoga's purpose is to maser (amplify) the energies of these three bodies, starting with the gross or physical, then the subtle or astral, and finally, the causal body." https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5802/causal-body)
Yoga, like "Ayurveda that looks at the root cause of the dis-ease", helps us to connect with our various bodies. "We can balance or heighten these elements through our asana practice." (https://www.kalindiyoga.co.uk/)
The causal body contains the anandamaya kosha (bliss), where the yogi experiences calmness, peace and joy. A yogi connects with the causal body through the last two of the Eight Limbs of Yoga as described in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, which are dhyana (meditation or concentration) and samadhi (superconsciousness or bliss). ( https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5802/causal-body )
My physical body or Kariya Sarira was merely mirroring the pain and discomfort. Its cause was somewhere else. I understood that if we want to know the attribute of the elements or dosas, we need to experience them. Today I understand what Agathiyar meant then, that the pain that I endeavored for some three years as superficial and only skin deep or ஸ்பரிச உணர்வு and why he brushed it off lightly - to my dismay. I know how painful it was. But I understand that he wants me to go beyond the pain, the physical and astral body, and its limitations.
"Our astral bodies are our way of feeling pleasure or pain. It relates to our senses, five organs of action (known as karma indriyas), five organs of knowledge (known as jnana indriyas), five pranas and four elements of antahkarana (the inner instrument). This antahkarana is made up of the mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), subconscious (chitta) and ego (ahamkara). So in total there are 19 elements that make up our astral body - the body used for feeling and sensing." (https://www.kalindiyoga.co.uk/)
Earlier my friend had shared a message by Swami Satchidananda that explains the Antahkarana further. It is interesting to note that there is a solution to end one's karma too.
“கரணங்கள் நான்கும் தனக்குள் ஒடுங்கிடில் கருமம் இல்லையென்று பாரு” - அகண்ட பரிபூரண சச்சிதானந்த சற்குரு சுவாமிகள்.
The Swami says that once the four Antakaranangal or அந்தக் கரணங்கள் (மனம், புத்தி, சித்தம், அகங்காரம்) subside, one's karma is conquered.
அதாவது மனம், புத்தி, சித்தம், அகங்காரம் என்ற நான்கு அந்தகரணங்களும் அவற்றால் ஆட்டிவைக்கப்படும் பஞ்சஞானேந்திரியங்களையும் அடக்கினால் வினைகள் தீரும். வினைகள் தீர்ந்தால், நாம் எடுத்த பிறவியின் நோக்கம் புலப்படும் என்றார். அத்துடன் அகங்காரம் நீங்க சாந்தத்தைப் பற்றிக்கொள்ளுங்கள் என்றார். அடங்காமல் அலைந்துகொண்டிருக்கும் சித்தத்தை அடக்க, ஏகம் என்ற எங்கும் நிறைந்திருக்கும் சிவத்தைப் பற்றிக்கொள்ளவும் கூறினார். புத்தி தெளிவு பெற சத்தியத்தைப் பற்றிக்கொள்ளுங்கள்; பின்னர் மனம் தானாகவே இறையுடன் ஒன்றும் என்று போதித்தார்.
When the five organs of knowledge (the eyes, nose, ears, tongue, and skin) or பஞ்ச ஞானேந்திரியங்கள் (கண், மூக்கு, செவி, வாய், மெய்) that is moved by the four Antahkaranas to perform subside as a result of subduing the former, the karma dissolves. Once the karma is shed we shall come to know the reason and purpose for our birth and this lifetime. Agathiyar told us that once we journey within and take on the new experiences we shall reach a state where we shall learn our purpose in coming here. To rid our karma we need to tackle the four Antahkaranas namely mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), subconscious (Chitta), and ego (ahamkara). Swami Satchidananda shows us the means too. By working on our ego or ahamkara by being cool in all matters and situations; bringing the subconscious or Chitta that roams about to sit still by taking the hand of the divine and that has to be only one; adopting honesty in life to have clarity in intellect or buddhi, eventually, the mind or manas shall automatically merge in God.
In September 2019 Agathiyar asked me to start back on the yoga asanas and pranayama that I had learned from Tavayogi in 2007 and put into practice. But he cautioned me that it was not necessary to do the whole set of asanas and pranayama but select those that he told me I shall come to know. Besides these practices, he gave me a single dose of his Agathiyar Kuzhambu to consume. It was like the end of life for me as I began to call out to all the Gods and Goddesses for help. I threw up, I peed, I excreted all at once. I was crawling, and dragging myself from the toilet to the washroom numerous times. However deadly the session was, when it subsided I felt relieved and "alive" with a feeling of joy running through my body. I was relieved to recall Siddhar practitioner Arivananthan who prepared the magic portion on the instruction of Agathiyar, tell me one takes this purgative only once in six months. But my joy was short-lived. Agathiyar told me to take another formula that I could prepare myself and that had an equally potent effect. I managed for some 51 days before giving up. I think the duration I took it was sufficient for Agathiyar did not mention it again until.... lately when the three dosas were expelled on its own accord without taking the purgatives. I asked him to end it, and he tells me it was no easy task to clear the body of the impurities. He tells me it was not easy clearing the junk that I had accumulated and stored for some 61 years now. I shall have to bear with it.