Study nature, and you will come to marvel at the divine creator and his mysterious hand in all things. Having created he stood aside to let the natural law take its course.
The Siddhas lived close to nature having experimented on them the various techniques and findings. Agathiyar tells us that whatever teachings he passed on to us is a result of findings and practices carried out in their lives and that proved to be worthy of mention and that had brought extensive results in bringing about advancement to the physical body and the soul. Having said that Tavayogi always tells us not to take their words for granted even if it came from the Siddhas. He asked us to live it and put it to test. So when he wrote in his book "Atma Darisanam" that if we time our breathing, an ordinary healthy man would breathe 25 to 30 times in a minute or in 60 seconds while the sick would need to breathe more often in a minute, and the Yogis would breathe less, 15 to 18 times a minute, I timed mine and was pleased to see the results.
And so today I fully understand why Tavayogi took me on a pilgrimage of a different kind, breaking away from the norm. If I had made a pilgrimage of temples to facilitate my carrying out the parikaram or remedies in 2003, this time around in 2005 he led me to caves and samadhis of the Siddhas. I am glad I was shown these places before the public was restricted by the authorities as in the Kallar hills, the hills of Kutrallam and Kalyana Theertam, and before things got modified or changed or lost their identity or originality. He was pretty surprised to find out upon our arrival at a cave that was known as Agathiyar's Cave during his years of meditating there was now denoted as Auvaiyaar's Cave. He was sad to see a portion of the cave used as a store for large cooking utensils. Similarly, on my recent visit in 2016 to the cave of another Siddha that Tavayogi took me to, I was surprised to see paintings of the particular Siddha being worshiped and oil lamps littered all around. On the local front, it saddens me to watch videos of a cave where I had the most amazing experience there when I was with my family and was shown around by the temple priest and his aid. Certain quarters have begun to place statues of prominent Siddhas in an otherwise most serene place where the Siddhas are known to be meditating even in present times. On another visit, I was sad to see a busload of visitors noisily make their way into the cave just as I made my way out. Either they did not know the significance of the place or were not bothered to uphold a sense of respect. Agathiyar has reminded us many a time to maintain silence in these places sacred to the Siddhas, be it their samadhis or meditation spots, refraining from even the urge to sing their praises, chant their mantras, or light lamps, and perform other rituals. These rituals although required in temples where the energy has to be boosted and maintained regularly through rituals and prayers are not required at the abodes of the Siddhas. He snubs us asking us who are we to give them power or sakti when they are absorbed in samadhi meditation having attained and gained all the power from their years of tapas. We are asked to make ourselves available and absorb the prevailing energies in these places and return refreshed and refueled. Today I pretty well understand why Tavayogi just sat down and went into meditation at all the caves, abodes, and temples of the Siddhas we visited.
Currently, Siddha enthusiasts and individuals with vested interests are capitalizing on the increased interest in the Siddhas shown by the public. They and several institutions cash in on the sudden rise in interest of the public towards the Siddhas. Sadly most bring either a shallow or distorted account of the lives and places of these Siddhas.
Recently I was sent a link to an episode by a TV channel. Although I leave after watching just a few minutes into these videos most of the time for none of these episodes could hold and sustain my attention for long, I sat through watching this particular episode as I knew the ashram head pretty well. I was rather surprised to see the ashram head who we knew very well being portrayed as and made out to be an Aghori and his ashram made to seem mysterious. There was no mystery either surrounding the man or his ashram. In truth, he is the most gentle of souls and the most down-to-earth person, having come to worship Agathiyar he was merely 8 years of age. I had been to his ashram and was showered with love and kindness and honored at the end of the day besides having an opportunity to participate in their rituals. When I was at Kallar Ashram for the Guru Puja in 2016, he invited me over to his ashram sending a couple who were devotees to fetch me. I was given the opportunity to perform libation or abhisegam to Agathiyar and was honored in public. He himself has made numerous visits to Malaysia before the pandemic. He visits AVM whenever he is in town. He had carried out numerous puja, abhisegam, and yagams at temples where AVM/AUM hosted these festivities. He had come over to my home and had participated in our family puja. Without even wishing to interrupt nor intrude into our puja he sat through the puja watching it. So did he sit through our Satsang session watching us share our experiences during our pilgrimage to India in 2016. He used to treat many devotees with herbs, give valuable advice, and help energize their homes by performing Yagam in their homes. We still talk over Whatsapp. It was rather absurd that the episode carried narration and visuals in a rather annoying and frightening way but not his interview.
On the other extreme, a clear act of manipulation was seen in a video that I saw sometime back. The interviewer practically stuffed words into the poor lady's mouth hardly giving her an opportunity to speak her mind. With the intent to popularize his guru he led her to accept that it was his guru she saw.
This has convinced me that my words of caution to Jnana Jothiamma in the past to stay away from media of any sort, does hold water. This word of caution might surprise you coming from one who has a brother who is a journalist and a daughter in the final semester of studying Mass Media. There is always avenue for misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the subject discussed, written, and depicted if one is not careful to listen, understand, and convey the message either in writing or in visual form. Hence, the reason I snubbed a medical person studying the field of psychosis for his curiosity and inquisitiveness in wanting to know how Agathiyar spoke to us. He had relentlessly tried to pursue me and finally caught up with me at a temple function for Agathiyar. If I had relented to speak to him further that day, he would have made me his subject of study finally driving his predetermined hypothetical proposition or statement to prove that it was all a hallucination. I told him to walk the path just as I did to know the facts rather than interview me as his subject as I knew one who is convinced that it's all hallucination needs to be convinced otherwise. Otherwise, he ends up refuting later just because it does not please his standing, notion, opinion, study and finding on the matter. Neither is it my job to correct others.
I saw a video interview given by a spiritual leader some time back where he had all the reasons to get annoyed at the interviewer on the subject of Yoga. It was obvious that he was not knowledgeable about the subject but yet assigned to do the interview. On being asked, he admitted to both. Neither was he practicing Yoga nor did he do his homework in researching about the subject before coming on stage. On the other hand, we have seen many professional media journalists who read about the subject or person to be interviewed before standing before the camera. The former is a far cry from the latter.
In a recent coverage of a local temple, a devotee having watched the episode pointed out to me that excepts of the narration on the Siddha were taken from this blog post. I came to watch it later and it all sounded familiar. I had no qualms about sharing but was dismayed and disappointed at the content of the series. The information given was too brief and at times had nothing related to the Siddhas although the series was supposed to be about them. I had expected more.
Similarly, I had been passed links to many videos on Siddhas that I had to end watching within minutes. They caused more fear towards the Siddhas rather than help nurture love for them, their teachings, and bring them to their path. No wonder people had a wrong perception of the Siddhas when I came to worship them and follow their path and teachings. It still continues.
Only when the journalist, interviewer, reporter, YouTuber, Vlogger, host, or any other person for that matter begins to walk the path and follow it shall he have the feel, experience, and knowledge to understand the underlying truth and report "As It Is" without sensationalizing it or being misinformed. One has to shift through the myth, legend, and hearsay to arrive at the truth. One has to be convinced of the truth. Only then can he come up with a commendable presentation on the Siddhas. When my brother sent a fellow journalist over to interview the Nadi reader whom I frequented, she was so mesmerized with the secret of the Nadi that she went back to him to have a reading for herself and her family.
We have a responsibility to society just as we are responsible for the family. As the practice of reading has depreciated and audio and visual has taken their place we are duty-bound to give true and authentic content. Let us not mislead others. An eight-part series on the life and times of Sargurunathar and the book "Tamil Mannin Thanthai" by Gnana Bharathi should serve as a yardstick for a well researched and documented video and book respectively.
When Tavayogi asked me to talk about the Siddhas in the initial years of his visits to Malaysia, I replied to him how could I when I have no knowledge about them. When he asked me to do the same recently during his visit in 2016, I told him that it would be akin to the blind leading the blind. But Agathiyar has persistently made me write the blog even as I decided to stop writing several times. He gives me the subjects and even the words and sentences. I only have to capture them and note them immediately lest it is forgotten. I guess he wants certain things to be told and passed on to those keen to know. I shall remain his humble servant and tool if it serves a greater purpose. Thank you, dear Lord.