Radhanath Swami in his book "The Journey Within - Exploring the Path of Bhakti", Mandala Publishing, 2016, shares the story of Parashara and Ananta. Parashara says to a disciple "When our eyes are opened by the words of the wise we see lessons in even the most common of things." This is the beginning of an awakening.
God tells Neale Donald Walsch, "It is what you do, it is how you are in the world that will shake people awake that will startle them into seeing what their possibilities are." How very true. As Radhanath Swami says, "A great teacher brings his teachings thru example", Buddha, Ramalinga Adigal, and many more saints did not merely preach their ways or paths but lived it, showing us the outcome and results of their spiritual (ad)ventures,
Ramalinga Adigal sings about his bodily transformation after the advent or coming of God. He practically held a conversation with God for he sings of the compassion and grace of the divine in wanting to grant him a state at par with Him. These saints came to jolt mankind from their slumber and prove that the most unimaginable was indeed possible. Their wish is for us to start the journey too and follow them. Ramalinga Adigal invited us telling us that his feat and achievements were true and that we too could achieve it.
We could find many similarities between what Agathiyar told us and Neale Donald Walsch's conversation with God. When God tells him that "his function was to empower us to make happen what we wish to happen and not to make it happen for us", it reminds me of Agathiyar telling us that Gnanam or wisdom was not to be gifted by him, instead one has to earn it. Ramalinga Adigal came to reinforce this statement on us, telling us we need to place effort. Our progress shall be relative to our efforts. These saints empowered us with their grace and blessing to venture further, giving us techniques and tips to pursue and remove obstacles respectively.
A man who strives to achieve what he sets his mind on shall be joined by the divine resulting in his success. One such man was Captain Gopinath of Deccan Air. I just saw the movie Soorarai Pottru. The film was partly inspired by events from the life of Simplify Deccan founder G. R. Gopinath. (https://en.wikipedia.org/)
An awakening could also be a rude one. Pattinathar dropped everything that he had sought in his life after reading a note from his son, "Even the eyeless needle shall not come with you in at the end of lives journey." My father missed the bullets from the machine-gun of a Japanese fighter plane just as he stepped out of a bank. He hit the dirt, both his hands holding on to the cash that he had just withdrawn. He dropped his desire to accumulate wealth further spending his last days giving them away and staying satisfied and happy.
I was awakened one day to the fact that we could know our past, present, and future. How was that possible? This information came to me through my colleague who had himself seen his Nadi two years before we had this conversation about it. He was told of his past, present, and future then. It was amazing news to me. He helped me book an appointment with the Nadi reader. I soon saw myself arrive at Sivabalan's home. He had brought in the Nadi reader from India. My past, present, and future were told by Agathiyar. Since then Agathiyar had been speaking to me through his Nadi. He awoke me to the reality of things that surround us. He made me feel blessed for all that he had provided. He then had us travel on a journey of sheer amazement and discovery. He began to spell out the possibilities in life, man rising from the mundane world into the extraordinary world of the Siddhas. The journey continues to this day.