Debby Germino quotes the Zen Buddhist teacher, Norman Fischer in her blog at https://medium.com/
Norman Fischer writes about impermanence in the following way in his article, Impermanence is Buddha Nature, in Lion’s Roar.
“As far as classical Buddhism is concerned, impermanence is the number one inescapable, and essentially painful, fact of life. It is the singular existential problem that the whole edifice of Buddhist practice is meant to address. To understand impermanence at the deepest possible level (we all understand it at superficial levels), and to merge with it fully, is the whole of the Buddhist path. The Buddha’s final words express this: Impermanence is inescapable. Everything vanishes. Therefore there is nothing more important than continuing the path with diligence. All other options either deny or short-shrift the problem.”
As Buddha says impermanence is inescapable, we are shown by the Buddhist monks in a symbolic way where a Mandala is painstakingly created, only to be destroyed later after a small ceremony, thus transforming their minds into enlightened ones.
A mandala is a symbolic picture of the universe. The mandala's purpose is to help transform ordinary minds into enlightened ones and to assist with healing. According to Buddhist scripture, mandalas constructed from sand transmit positive energies to the environment and to the people who view them. They are believed to effect purification and healing. Mandala sand painting was introduced by the Buddha himself.The design of the mandala is marked with chalk on a wooden platform. This meticulous process takes an entire day. Starting from the centre and concentrically working outwards, the monks use metal funnels called chak-pur to place millions of grains of dyed sand to make the elaborate patterns. The vibrations of the chak-pur being grated with a metal rod cause the sands to flow like liquid. Other popular substances are powdered flowers and herbs or grains. In ancient times powdered precious and semiprecious gems were also used.Once the mandala is complete the monks ask for the deities' healing blessings during a ceremony. As the monks chant, one monk begins the destruction of the mandala by scraping a knuckle through the sand, creating a cross of grey sand. Another monk takes a paintbrush and slowly and carefully sweeps the sand from the perimeter to the centre of the mandala. The destruction of the mandala serves as a reminder of the impermanence of life. The coloured sand is swept up into an urn and dispersed into flowing water - a way of extending the healing powers to the whole world. It is seen as a gift to the mother earth to re-energise the environment and universe. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/customs/mandala.shtml)
Fearing that we shall begin to get attached to the guru and his place, Tavayogi broke the camel's back on his very first visit to my home by instilling in me that he too shall one day perish. Instead, he asked me to hold on to that which lives on in all of us forever. I never had his photo at my altar or hanging on the wall. I never had any memorabilia of his, neither did he pass me any. When news reached us that he had gone into samadhi some two hours after his arrival back at his Ashram upon being discharged from a Medical center, we never shed a tear. He last spoke to me over the phone while at the hospital. His last words were, "If I do not return to the ashram, Mataji shall take charge." I knew he had done his job well and it was time for him to leave. Earlier in 2007, when the news of the demise of my first guru Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai, reached me I did not shed a tear too. He told me he had seen the Jothi just days after he began his last worldly penance. All he had asked that I do was to feed a thousand people in Tiruvannamalai which I did subsequently through Jnana Jothiamma and Swami's family. When I passed the message of Supramania Swami's demise to Tavayogi asking him what I should do as his disciple, Tavayogi asked me only to pray that his soul is placed in a high place. If we had always believed that the Guru is the one dispersing the knowledge and the disciples are the sole beneficiary benefiting from the guru-disciple relationship, today we have come to understand that the disciple's prayer for his guru too goes a long way in aiding the guru's journey, continuing even after the guru leaves his mortal frame behind. The guru-disciple relationship benefits both parties. If so, I fail to understand why one has to cry for the loss or demise of another especially for one who had worked and toiled years to reach the abode and the kingdom of God. Should not we rejoice that he or she has attained the state that they have yearned for and worked towards?
Life teaches us that nothing is permanent. Look around us and we shall know. Even establishments that began with the blessings of the divine have to give in to the laws of nature and her wrath at times. If history stands as a witness to the disappearance of many cities and civilizations, in recent times we have seen states of dilapidation or extinction of several others too. Many years back we received news that the statue of Agathiyar in the Kallar hills that we tracked up to pay homage to was broken and removed. After Tavayogi moved to his new Ashram the old ashram began to fall apart. Recently the statue of Agathiyar and Loba Ma at Kalyana Theertam was washed away by floodwaters too. So too did Agathiyar have me dissolve the AVM group to have its family members continue their Siddha worship in their respective homes with their family instead of converging at AVM. Can we presume that all this is an act of God too? The Siddhas who know the truth let things be. They let things take their cause unless humanity cries out to them to intervene.
Those who worship idols and nature have always been the target of criticisms. Many are known to ask how can you limit the might of God who is in all and prevails everywhere within a statue. We have a government. Can anyone show us the government that rules? Can we show an individual or a department has the government? It has machinery in place to carry out its various functions. These are scattered all over at the federal and state levels. If you need to apply for a particular permit for instance you need to step into the relevant office and submit your application to the officer in charge. Similarly, in God's administration that is even bigger and encompasses many worlds, 14 according to Ramalinga Adigal, you need to go to a spiritual spot or temple or place and place your wishes to the deity in attendance. Hence the reason we scuttle around specific temples and places of worship going on pilgrimages hoping to drop a note to the divine in these places and praying to see results soon. Temples and rituals are essential to all beginners on the path. To one who has traveled far on this path, with the grace of the divine and His blessings, he carries with him their energy wherever he goes and can initiate or energize stone, metal, sand, water, or any other element to an equally sacred state. This is how Agathiyar in his travels began to create Sivalingas and worshipped them. He then left it behind for others to sit in meditation and derive and partake of its energies. Over time people began to perform rituals towards them. All the rituals in fact are meant and done to increase this energy force in and around us. Agathiyar time and again tells us that there is no necessity to conduct rituals in their sacred abodes and samadhis. We need only sit in silence and gather the energy. Who are we to harness and transmit energy to them by way of our rituals asks Agathiyar? These spots are themselves potentially energized by the tapas that the saints had undertaken over the years. Could this be the reason Agathiyar has except for an occasional bath with water for the bronze statue of his, asked us to abstain from all forms of rituals at AVM too?
In revealing himself, he first came with a name as Agathiyar to us, as the male gender. Then as a form, as a granite stone at Agasthiyampalli and Papanasam in India, and a bronze statue at AVM. Later we are told that he was of the female gender too having met and greeted us as a lady at numerous spots on our pilgrimage to India. Tavayogi adds a variant and another perspective of him. He came in the form of light to him. To mark the spot where he had the darshan of Agathiyar he had devotees place a statue of him. This has since been broken and removed by others. Then Tavayogi tells us that he is the Breath and in asking us to observe it, brought us to step out of Sariyai and Kriyai into Yoga. Finally, at least for now, the man himself comes to us and declares that he takes the form of vibration. To those who have worked their way up and are able to accept that he is beyond name and form, Agathiyar comes within as vibrational energy.
Rebecca Joy wrote at https://www.healthline.com/health/vibrational-energy,
You are a living energy field. Your body is composed of energy-producing particles, each of which is in constant motion. So, like everything and everyone else in the universe, you are vibrating and creating energy. Vibrations are a kind of rhythm. Rhythms happen on a grand scale, like seasonal changes and tidal patterns. They also happen within your body.
She points out that the visible rhythms that can be felt and measured are that of heartbeats, breathing rates, and circadian rhythms. There are much smaller vibrations too as in each one of our cells and molecules.
Using atomic force microscopes, researchers have detected vibrations on the nanoscale — much smaller than 1/1000th the diameter of a single human hair. Proponents believe it’s possible to speed up or slow down the vibrations that occur at the cellular and atomic levels by changing our thoughts, behaviors — and even our surroundings. Changing those nanovibrations, it’s thought, could ripple outward, affecting our mental state and physical health. Researchers are finding that vibrations of many kinds — electromagnetic, sound, and light — can be used to encourage healing and stimulate growth in the body.
She writes that these vibrations generate electromagnetic energy waves. Electrical and magnetic energy in the body in turn stimulate chemical processes.
She lists out Breathwork; Meditation; the Act of Expressing Gratitude and Generosity; Observing certain Diets; Outdoor Immersion or getting out into Nature; Energy Therapies; Yoga; and Healthy Relationships as in Satsang, all go far in increasing these waves. She adds,
Studies have suggested that the vibrations produced during the rhythmic chanting of the syllable “om” temporarily deactivate the amygdala and other brain structures involved in processing emotion.
My friend wrote earlier,
Every part of Creation is, and should be a vibration... There has to be a primal, fundamental vibration which should be Paraparai. Everything else has to be a harmonic of this basal frequency. Based on such a frequency and its myriad variations, there is a difference in name and form. In truth, there can be no difference at all. This should be the Oneness of the entirety of Creation.
The perception of these differences are subject to the evolution and transformation of the individual ego... the less the ego the more the differences. I guess, in samadhi, the ego ceases to exist, and there is complete Oneness. The Great Ones have destroyed their ego, but retain their individuality. They have been graced with the knowledge of Paraparai, and have the ability to change the vibrational frequency of any other individual or a group, to attend to the genuine needs of their disciples for the betterment of the collective whole. It is thus clear, that individual souls are a minute, yet significant part of the collective whole, or, otherwise there can be no completeness.
I guess, without sounding egoistic, God and the individual souls are very important to each other, and play an intricate dance... one with awareness, and, the other, in ignorance. God, by His Grace, desires us to get that awareness, and be with Him.... The state of ஈசத்வம். Therein lies the work of the Great Ones. That is their desire to raise us to their state.
He adds further,
I had been out this evening. On the road, Amma (Krishnaveni Amma) spoke to me. "Do you know the state of Pure Consciousness... Paraparam? That state is before the primal vibration of Paraparai. It is a state before the Primal Intent. There is no existence of the Five Great Acts of God. Therefore, there is no Intent. Every intent comes with its own vibration. His Pure State is without intent, without vibration. The anthakaranas are also states of intent/vibration. Even Shakthi is unable to fathom His Completeness. His Primal State cannot even be experienced. Such is He."
One would wonder why Agathiyar always asked us to look up to Lord Siva. Even in these current trying times of combating the pandemic, Agathiyar has asked us to pray to Lord Siva. The pure state of Siva is before, and beyond the primal vibration of Paraparai as mentioned above. A state that is timeless. Never subject to rot, disease nor elimination. It goes beyond form and name. This is the state that we should be working towards. Lord Siva comes as Agathiyar to lead us to this state.
Looking back at the many teachings and practices given to us, we can only appreciate and be grateful towards the divine for leading us to engage in a series of methods and ways to enhance, energize, revitalize our inherent energy source that either has depleted over time or exhausted excessively due to various factors, or activities.