There was a time when Agathiyar set me on a regime asking me to consume his formula daily to expel the Vata, Kapha, and Pitta beginning with his Agathiyar Kuzhambu. Then the cleansing began to take place on its own. My granddaughter would watch me blow out the mucus from the nose and expel the phlegm, and the bile, coughing it out into a mug that I always had by my side as it comes on as I hit the sack. She asked me why it happens in the midst of our bedtime stories. I began to explain the change that need to take place if we were to become jothi or light. One has to transform his asudha deham to sudha deham and later to pranava deham. Then this is followed by gnana deham and oli deham. I told her I would like to become the light. She went into deep thought and came out of it. She told me she does not want to become light but would like to remain a child. How an apt answer and a wonderful desire it was. She was already divine in nature and wants to prolong it. She is tasting divinity each moment and wants to enjoy it further.
In the eyes of Lao Tzu, “the infant with its pristine purity and innocence is the perfect symbol of Tao itself.” He goes on to say that one needs to bring tenderness in him.
Imagine being like a little child again and believing everything you hear. There is something so wonderful about that trusting, open-hearted naivete that God loves. The more I have grown up, the more I realize that maturity in Christ is all about “growing down.” It is about becoming a child again. Not being childish but being childlike in our ways and our thinking. (Source: http://www1.cbn.com/Devotions/being-a-child)
I was one to believe everything said. I took the Nadi readings as the gospel. I took Tavayogi's words as divine commandments. Recently when Agathiyar explained the Udal, Uyir and Atma, while some looked elsewhere for another explanation I brooded on it for days and many things dawn on me that came out as subsequent posts.
Henry Wei in his book “The Guiding Light of Lao Tzu”, Synergy Books International, writes that both Lao Tzu and Jesus consider reversion to the state of a child as necessary for salvation for entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
Ervin Laszlo in bringing us an insight into the mind of the child tells us that, "Young children up to the age of 4 or 5 are permanently in the open region of activity, alpha region or theta region. Children are in that region until they are 8 or 9 years old."
"These are the slowest recorded brain waves in human beings. They are found most often in infants as well as young children." (From https://mentalhealthdaily.com/ we learn of delta waves.)
There is many a thing that we could learn from a child. We only need to observe them closely and they shall teach us too. My four-year-old granddaughter, a Generation Alpha, asks me a year back "Who is God?" This reminded me then of my daughter, a Gen Z, who asked Tavayogi "Why do people die?" and "Where is the Soul?" when she was only 7 years of age back then in 2005. It never occurred to us to ask these questions when we were a child. We see a drastic change and leap in all fields in recent years with the advent of Gen Y, Z, and Alpha.
It is said that Atmas relive the experience in animals and plants and other living matter. Finally, it is cleared to take on a human birth. This human birth is considered rare by the Siddhas and saints. In the Mongolian film "The Cave of the Yellow Dog", a Grandma tells a kid a story to illustrate why human birth is so valuable. A small child who happens to arrive at the tent of an old woman, while looking for her pet dog that had gone astray, is given a good wash and tidied up, and fed by the old woman. While waiting for someone to claim her in the wide and vast Mongolian-Manchurian grassland or steppe the Grandma tells her a story.
"I will tell you a story. Long ago a rich man lived in this land. He had a beautiful daughter but she fell ill. No medicine could help so the father decided to ask a wise man for advice. The wise man said, "Your yellow dog must be sent away." The father asked, "But why he protects us and our herd." He replied, "That is what I have to say and what you wanted to know." The father did not have the heart to send away the dog. But for his daughter's sake, he had to do something. So he hid the dog in a cave that was impossible to escape from. He brought it food every day. But one day the dog was gone. The daughter did get better. Soon the daughter was in love with a young man, and they got married and had a child."
The child then asks Grandma "What happened to the yellow dog?"
"Perhaps the dog was born with a ponytail", replied Grandma.
When Grandma suggested that the dog might have taken birth as a human in its next life, the child puts forth another question to her, "Will I be reborn as a person in my next life?" The grandma of the Buddhist faith then explains the concept of birth and how difficult it is to gain a human birth in a simple manner and through a simple illustration to the child.
Grandma: "Come I shall show you something." She gives her a needle and a tray of rice grains. She has the child place grains onto the tip of a needle. "Tell me when a grain of rice balances on the tip of the needle."
Child: (after several attempts): "That's not possible."
Grandma: "That's how difficult it is to get a human birth. That's why human birth is so valuable. See my child how hard it is to be born as a human being."
Once back home, the child asked her mother if she (her mother) could remember her previous life. She replies "No," and that only children could remember them and always talk about them. "Only little children can do that; they often tell colorful stories. People say they are always talking about previous lives."
I guess the 1 to 5 varahai where the Atma lingers and spends some quality time with these children before veiling itself as revealed by Agathiyar, are the moments where their previous lives are screened to them. Similarly, we are told that at the end of our show here, again we are treated to a recording of our show, to have us recall all we did in this life. In the former, if we are given a run-through of what to expect although as Atmas we already had decided what we wanted and where and when to be born, in the latter, since our next birth has to be justified, we are shown all the proof to substantiate the decision and reasons to take another birth.
If some species reproduce using external fertilization, that is fertilization happens externally as in the plant and lower animal kingdom, in the remainder of the animal kingdom and humans it is within the female species that this wonder takes place. After several losses, Agathiyar asked a devotee whether he wanted a child that came as a result of an act of lust or a child that was divine in nature. As God is love or Anbe Shivam, the latter carries the seeds of love in them later. Hence we understand the reason many are asked to wait at times for years by Agathiyar to be blessed with healthy and good children. We have heard of stories from the past where parents undertook tapas, went on pilgrimages, and conducted Havas or yagam, badly wanting to have a child. Many have asked a child for a boon. These children later became saints, gurus, or spiritual leaders.
Then there are other reasons to ask us to hold on patiently too. Sri Velayudham Karthikeyan Aiya had posted an episode on Thursday, 25 December 2014, that reminds us to take heed of Agathiyar's words and advice. A very young couple came to the Jeeva Nadi Guru of Chennai for a reading one day. The boy's parents were separated. The girl's father had passed away. No one wants to come forward to solemnize the marriage. They wanted to go ahead and marry and asked to know if they would face any problems. They wanted Agathiyar's opinion on that matter. Agathiyar reveals their relationship was linked to a past birth. Although they will face no problems getting married Agathiyar requested them to delay the marriage for as long as possible. They became disappointed. While the girl asked how long should they postpone the event the boy interrupted saying that they wanted to get married as soon as possible. He had decided and he only wanted to know if there was any atonement or parikaram for them from Agathiyar to follow. Agathiyar tells them that there is no parikaram for this. There are many reasons why Agathiyar asked to delay this marriage. The child yet to be born has to be healthy. He reveals that as it was they have had intimacy many times even before getting married. Agathiyar ended the reading by saying that the rest is their choice. They left disappointed with the outcome of the reading. The Jeeva Nadi Guru realized that the boy did not believe in Nadi and astrology.
After 1 1/2 years, they came back looking sad. They had gone ahead and married despite Agathiyar asking them to delay the marriage. They cried for forgiveness and admitted that it was a mistake that they did not heed Agathiyar's words back then. Now they were facing the consequences of their actions. The boy started to narrate what had happened. His family circle did not have offspring. A male child was a rarity within this family. He rushed to get married wanting to fulfill and fill this void. When the child was born, the newly born male child was born with an increased head circumference or Macrocephaly. He looked horrendous, said the father. They wanted to know if their child would become normal like any other child.
Agathiyar says there are times when he can only reveal indirectly and only caution the seeker. The seeker has to understand and take heed. "Why should I show interest in changing your fate? It's not necessary! But when one comes to me, I shall try my level best to show them a way. Those who don't believe need not follow Agathiyar's advice. Let things happen as fated. Those who refuse to listen need not come to me! You are one of those."
Agathiyar reveals a secret to them. His father since young was a womanizer. The girl's mother was one of the victims. As the boy's father and the girl's mother had a relationship they both were siblings. That was one of the reasons his father never stayed with his mother. Since now both of them have passed away Agathiyar chose to reveal. The girl who was angered hearing this immediately began blaming Agathiyar for not revealing the secret a year and a half back. She said they would not have gotten married if they knew this at the very first place. The boy too joined in and questioned, "If we had waited a year would this problem not have arisen?" Agathiyar replied that they had to undergo their karma for some time and quickly added that it was not due to his curse that they are facing these problems. It was fate. He had given the advice then so that they could change their fate. But they refused to listen and understand. He told them the past has passed. But the most compassionate father did not give up on them. He asked them not to worry. A foreign doctor will operate on their deformed child. The parents were assured that although the swelling would not subside entirely, the child would not look horrendous. The child shall live. But they would have to wait five to ten years to see the results, added Agathiyar. After 12 years the couple arrived with a perfectly healthy and intelligent son and they have since then become staunch devotees of Agathiyar.
If children who are an embodiment of truth, purity, and innocence pay the price for the adult's actions, some Atmas make a calculated move, while others are kicked into taking an immediate birth. There are then the Atmas waiting in line to come in, given the very first chance. They come as a result of an act of love. We need to be responsible parents and view everything as sacred. Agathiyar in his Kavadi Chinthu expresses that the bliss of the Lord permeates every action of us and every sector of our lives.
As for us, we have been corrupted to the extend divinity has left us. Looking around we find the act of sex has turned into one that appeases the needs of the flesh. It has lost its divinity. Sex has degraded into pure lust. Then there are the cases where sex is forced on the partner without love but out of lust. Similarly many use religion and spiritualism to fleece the believers. Anyone who trips and falls is said to have gone into samadhi. Yoga has been corrupted these days. The words yoga, samadhi, mukti, siddhi, have all lost their true meanings. The truth has gone into hiding. Now we are searching for it and see it as a goal to set and achieve. We begin to set goals to achieve a state that is already inherent in us. Everyone is a Buddha. Everyone has a Buddha-nature. It is just that most do not realize their state as they are veiled in illusion and Maya. In actuality, it is all there hidden by our fears, jealousy, enmity, and all other negative traits. Once the veil drops we see our true self that is pure and innocent as the child.