Looking at both my 6 months and 3-year-old granddaughters I often ask them who they are? Why did they come? What was their purpose? Now looking back on my life, I am still puzzled over so many questions. We are only aware of what had taken place in the past years when we shift through our memory. Most of the time someone else has to refresh or fill in the gaps regarding many instances in our life. What is my earliest memory of me and my surroundings? I cannot seem to touch that point in time. What I remember is certain scenes from my childhood that are fragmented all over my internal hard disk. If only we could defrag those files, sort and organize them as in a timeline for easier retrieval.
In which dimension would the point of singularity be? Who or what exist before that state/dimension? Are you sure you were"born"? You can't be born if you existed prior to this embodiment, and, so, you can't die. It is said when the great saints came out of samadhi, they came out laughing. Probably, they realised no one was ever born, for anyone to die.
From the concept of Time to the vastness of Space... What a wonderful journey it would be. The age of the universe is @ 13.8 billion years. The farthest galaxy from earth is MACS 0647 JD, which is supposedly 13.26 billion lightyears away.
What would it be to be there this very instant and look back at earth? The Milky Way would be the farthest observable galaxy. Nothing will be seen beyond our galaxy, in the opposite direction,as light would not have reached the observer there. But, newer galaxies will be visible beyond MACS 0647 JD.
We assume that light is the fastest, in our galaxy. How false it is. The expansion of the universe is at a rate faster than the speed of light, as we are not able to see beyond. The cosmos continues to expand at a rate faster than the speed of light. Therefore, there can be no vault limit to the vastness of the cosmos.
I am sure you have seen the picture of Lord Shiva sitting in dhyana. He has put forth the entirety of Creation as a thought/dream, and watches it play out. The moment He withdraws that thought, Creation comes to a standstill. The entirety of Creation is but a figment of His imagination. The Lord sitting in dhyana, is the first vibration of subtle form, Maheswara tattvam, which descended from Sadhakiyam. It was of great wonder as to what He was meditating on. I recently came across an answer to this ( I forget where). When the entirety of Creation meditates on Him, it is said that He continues to meditate, from the very onset of pre-time, before Mahakala and Mahakali, on the nature of Parabrahma, That which is, and, is not. Even Maheswara is absorbed into the Primal Consciousness, at the end of Time. What would then remain? Pure Consciousness, even before Its own vibration as Para. There would be no Nada or Bindu. What a state. The Lord, as we know Him, is one of the eight Vidyeswaras... Known to us as Sri Kanda Parameshwara. He is such a Pure Soul, He is on par with Sadasivam, and even beyond them.
Such a cosmos has Lord Shiva as its Creator, Sustainer, Destroyer, Obfuscator and Benefactor..ஐந்தொழில் ஈஸ்வரன். And, He is known to us as Bhuvaneswaran, and together with His Consort Bhuvaneswari are the parents of the microcosm and the macrocosm.
Now, this Creation is said to take place at the level of the Maheswara tattva. The Lords of this tattva are said to be eight in number...அஷ்டவித்யேஸ்வரர். These eight Great Souls are called ப்ரளயகலர் ஆன்மா, meaning that during the dissolution of all that could have been imagined, these Souls merge with Paraparai, who,in turn merges with Paraparam.Beyond them are the Sadhasivars, the Nadam, the Bindu, Paraparai and Paraparam.
We now exist as சகலர் ஆன்மா...Maya rules over us and gets Her way, by using our Ego to do Her work. When the Great Masters raise us to their level, we become a விஞ்ஞானகலர் ஆன்மா. We, then, get to understand Time and Space. Thus, the third gets revealed on its own, namely, Causation. Then, Maya has no hold on us anymore. When the Time of that subtle embodiment comes to an end, we merge with Lord Bhuvaneswara...ப்ரளயகலர் ஆன்மா.
The five variables of Asudha Maya tattvas are காலம், கலை, நியதி, அராகம், வித்தை.... Timeline of events, Art of doing, Desire to do, Predestination of events and Scholarship to do the same. Maya, when it comes to individual souls (புருடன்) limits our individual existence, to what is enough for this embodiment, in a need to know basis. Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakthi have the same five variables in looking after the entirety of Creation. Here Maya is suddha. Since our embodiment is within the confines of Creation, we are limited. They are beyond, and the cause of Creation, and, therefore, they are unlimited by Time and Space. The five variables are different, for the same soul, during different embodiments. Hence, our remembrance of the past is sketchy, to say the least, though not absent. The experience of various embodiments are different too, though they are interlinked,as சஞ்சையித்தம், ப்ராப்தம் and ஆகமீயம்....கர்மவினை... the essence of the work of the soul as predestined by Maya.
Only by effacing one's ego (அகங்காரம்) can we transcend Maya. In that state, individuality (ஆணவம் - பசு தன்மை) will be retained without a sense of doership, and the Lord's wishes will be carried out, like the state of the Great Masters. That alone is, and should be our goal of human life. Thereafter, it becomes His responsibility.
ஈசன், மாயையை கொண்டு த்வைத்த பாவத்தில் காரணமும் காரியமும் நடத்துகிறார். ஈசன் சித்தம் எதுவோ அதுவே நடக்கும். ஆன்மாக்களுக்கு அகங்காரம் உண்டு. ராகவேந்திரரும் பட்டினத்தாரும் ஈசன் அழைத்தவுடன் உலகியலில் இருந்து விலகினர். அவர்களிடம் ஆணவம் இருந்தது. அகங்காரம் இல்லை. ஈசன் சித்தம் புரிவதில்லை. அதை பின்பற்ற அறிவும் இல்லை. ஆதலால், ஈசன் தான் கரை சேர்க்க வேண்டும்.
The saints and siddhas retained their individuality but dissolved their ego. They realised Him.
In the Devi Mahatmiyam, it is said that the entirety of Creation is contained on the toe nail of the Divine Mother. It is also said that the lifespan of Lord Vishnu is the time taken by Shakthi to loosen Her Hair and knot it back again.
With this background, our existence is like a small viral particle that has probably not yet been seen. Yet, what an ego we possess. The desire and ownership we claim over animate and inanimate is beyond expressions. The work of the Masters and the Divine must necessarily, be gargantuan. If only we give up our ego,or, at least have a desire to give it up, the Great Ones can really make a God out of us... inner alchemy...புடம் போட்டு புனிதன் ஆக்குவிப்பது.
Gordon Matthews in his translation of Meykanda Devar’s "Shivagnana Botham" writes,
To Sakalar, souls immersed in all three impurities, God comes as a Guru of human form; he imparts it concealing himself as a Guru. To Pralayakalar, souls affected only by Anava and Kanma, he comes as a Guru in Shiva’s form; he himself standing before them as Guru imparts true knowledge. To Vijnanakalar, souls involved only in Anava, he comes as the inner principle of the soul’s consciousness; he himself appears, as true knowledge.
Veeraswamy Krishnaraj in his comprehension of Arulnandi Shivachariyar’s " Shivagnana Siddhiyar" writes,
Lord Shiva appears to Sakalar with Anava, Kanma and Mayai Malams in human as a Satguru. To Pralayakalar with Anava and Kanma Malams, Lord Shiva appears as divine God. Those souls that are rising, Vijnanakalar - the highest class of souls among the three mentioned in Shivagnana Siddhiyar with only one impurity known as Anava Malam, do not need an external Guru to instruct them. Lord Shiva by remaining inside them as the inner guide rids them of the Anava Malam, bringing the merits and demerits to a resolution and conferring spiritual knowledge or divine grace known as Saktinipata, the descent of Sakti into the soul. Vijnanakalar receive Gnana from Lord Shiva himself as the incorporeal inner guide.