Eventually, with sincere effort on our part and with their grace they enter our body again and take up residence in it. The Atma that left us the very moment that we began to think that we were in charge returns to its home and takes charge of us. It comes as the Guru to lead us on till we attain oneness with the Param, the Paramatma.
ஆன்மா உடலையும் உயிரையும் தனது கட்டுப்பாட்டுக்குள் வைத்துக் கொள்ளும் ஒரு சூச்சமம். இந்தச் சூச்சமத்தை பிறந்த குழந்தைகள் 1 முதல் 5 வராகை வரையிலும் உடன் இருந்து மறையும். மறைத்தலின் காரணம் இன்னதென்று இப்போது உனக்குச் சொல்ல இயலாது. ஆனபோதிலும் ஆன்மா ஒருவரின் செயலைப் பொறுத்தே மீண்டும் அவனை வந்து சேரும். ஆன்மா உன்னோடு இருந்து உன்னை ஒரு பாதைக்கு இழுத்து செல்லும் அப்போது நீ அதனை உணர்ந்தாள், உன்னில் அதிர்வாய் தோன்றி மறையும். அந்த அதிர்வினை நீ உனக்குள் நீடிக்கப் பழகினால் உன்னால் ஆன்மா என்னும் உனது அதிர்வுகளில் ஊடுருவி என்னுள் (இறை / அகத்தியன்) வந்து சேர ஒரு வழி.
When the divine takes up residence in us eventually we become him. Swami Saravanananda explains, "At whatever age, the aspirant gains illumination or the effulgence enters in him or emanates from within, some remarkable changes take place in the body frame. The divine light seems to change the very structure of the DNA and RNA in each and every cell of the body, with the result, that they seem to function in the opposite direction. It is said that each cell of the body possesses partial consciousness and rudiments of intelligence. The divine light that passes into the cell makes them fully awakened into perfect or near-perfect intelligence. The result is the perfect immortal physical body. By his own self-will, the Lord has expressed in the human body and come to exist as such."
These are the saints that we know of.
Gordon Matthews in his translation of Meykanda Devar's "Shivagnana Botham" writes,
"When God comes as a Guru and teaches the soul, the soul is made to see that the world of experience, evolved from Maya, is non-real. It ceases then to identify itself with the non-real and to depend upon it, and in so doing it discovers its oneness with God."
I remember Tavayogi thrashing me each time I begin to hold onto something. He tells me that we do not need it. I now understand that he was instilling in me non-dependancy on all things external.
"By reason of the soul's virtue in previous births, God, who has been immanent in the soul, making it know, now vouchsafing to take the form of a Guru, initiates the soul in the Saiva mysteries, saying, - O thou son of a king, fallen among savages, the senses, and brought up by them, thou hast been ignorant of thy true greatness and hast wandered in ignorance. The primal one himself teaches these souls as a Guru."
"When the soul in previous births has performed Sariyai, kriya, and yoga, these meritorious practices reveal the knowledge which is the right path but does not give deliverance. Knowledge imparted by a Guru is given to those who have performed tapas in previous births, tapas consisting not of austerities, but of Sariyai, kriya, and yoga, the first three of the four degrees of Shiva worship. They are not the sadhana, but they lead to it. These three forms of worship lead to the fourth, Jnanam. Those who have performed Sariyai, kriya, and yoga attain the heavenly states of Salokyam, Samipya, and Sarupya respectively, and experience the joys that are there, the fruits of these forms of worship. Being born again into the world.... By performing what still remains to be performed of them, they cut off worldly desire so that it cannot bear fruit, and obtain knowledge of the real.
This knowledge received from a Guru is the last of the four Padas which prepare the soul for release. Jnanam is, in all cases, of divine, not human, origin; but the manner in which it is imparted varies according to the class of soul.….the soul on account of that development of Sariyai, kriya, and yoga seeks and finds the Guru and obtains knowledge. This knowledge for which the soul is prepared by Sariyai, kriya, and yoga is imparted by God, not, by ordinary human agency, as in the case of the arts and sciences. By the fulfillment of Sariyai, kriya, and yoga, the ripening of impurity (Malaparipaka, the maturing or ripening of impurity signifies the removal of impurity from the soul) and the descent of Sakti (Saktinipata understood either as the descent of grace upon the soul) is produced. Seeing this readiness of the soul, God who till now has been helping the soul to know, immanent within it, graciously appears as a Guru and instructs the soul. Then as soon as that knowledge is received, the soul, leaving the savages and uniting inseparably with God, attains his sacred feet.
Though I had Supramania Swami and Tavayogi as living gurus some time back the former showed me to his gurus and Shiva while the latter too showed me his gurus and Agathiyar. Swami Shivananda says, "He alone can show you the path to attain God, who is the Guru of Gurus, and obviate the snares and pitfalls on your path." He himself went in search of a guru and explains how he benefited from the association with the guru. After serving as a doctor in Malaya Shivananda decided to quit his career and become a mendicant in 1923.
"I led the life of a wandering monk, just for a short period, in search of my guru and of a suitable place charged with spiritual vibrations, for spending my life in seclusion and to do rigorous sadhana. I met many mahatmas and learned wonderful lessons. A deep study of the ways of mahatmas opened my eyes and gave me the strength to stick to rigorous sadhana in the right direction. I came to Rishikesh in June 1924 and found it my destination. I found Rishikesh an ideal place for intense and undisturbed spiritual practices true for all seekers after truth. I prayed to the Lord for his grace. From the sacred hands of Paramahansa Viswananda Saraswati, I received holy initiation on the bank of the Ganga on 1 June 1924. My Guru gave me initiation and enough spiritual strength and blessings."
I am glad my gurus showed me Shiva and Agathiyar. The Guru of Gurus encompasses the whole lineage and network of gurus. For how else is it possible that Gopal Pillai who had gone into samadhi delivers Agathiyar's message and the Vasudeva mantra to me through my nephew who is a student of Gopal Pillai's disciple, Annamalai Swami?
Just as Swami Muktananda writes in "Where Are You Going? - A Guide To The Spiritual Journey", published by Syda Foundation, 1989,, "Meeting the Siddha Guru, we receive the blessings of all the perfected ones", Siddha Konganar in prayer mentions that in the mere mention of Agathiyar's name, one has the entire Siddha tradition and lineage turn their attention on us.
Initially, we might seek many places for a guru to guide us, but know that the ideal guru shall come looking for us when we are ready to accept his teachings. Lucy Cornelssen in "Hunting the I", Sri Ramanasramam, 2005, says, "If you are ready for him, he will meet you without any searching for him on your part. And only then can you be sure that he is the Guru for you."
Paramahansa Yogananda met his guru in such a manner too. He describes the sacred moment when he met his Guru Sri Yukteswar in his "Autobiography of a Yogi", Self Realization Fellowship, 1990.
"Together Habu and I set out for a distant marketplace in the Bengali section of Banaras…... As Habu and I moved on, I turned my head to survey a narrow inconspicuous lane. A Christ-like man in the ochre robes of a Swami stood motionless at the end of the lane. Instantly and anciently familiar he seemed."
Gnanananda wrote, "My master was waiting for me under a tree on the shore and the powerful glow of his eyes drew me automatically to him like a magnet."
Paul Zweig in the introduction to Swami Muktananda's "The Perfect Relationship", published by Syda Foundation, 1985, wrote "Swami Muktananda himself traveled all over India seeking a Guru. He became a monk at the ashram of Siddharuda Swami. After almost twenty-five years, he met Bhagawan Nithyananda who became his Guru. Swami Muktananda realized that the secret was with the Guru and so the need for one to learn at the feet of such a Guru. In a flash of self-understanding he knew that he had found his other half; that now he was whole again."
Swami Muktananda stresses, "The Guru is as necessary as prana, the life force, is necessary to the body." He writes in his book, "Kundalini - The Secret of Life", Siddha Yoga Publication, 1994, "If he tries to discover a path by himself, he will simply go around in circles, walking for a long time but never reaching his goal. The Guru has found everything you are seeking; that which you want has become the Guru's wealth. The difference between you and the Guru is that you are the seed and the Guru is the full-grown tree; you are the beginning, and he is the end."
Now I understand why both my gurus were delighted to see me at their doorstep. If Supramania Swami handed me his lifetime achievements and merits gained from his tapas, Tavayogi handed me the seed that would sprout to spread the words and teachings of Agathiyar and the Siddhas. If we come to sow the seed continuing our ancestral lineage, the gurus pass their merits and the seed on to someone before they left their mortal frame, hence continuing the lineage of masters.
Swami Muktananda in "The Perfect Relationship", Syda Foundation, 1985, wrote, "He felt that the secret resided with great beings, with saints; they were themselves the secret and he could learn what they were by loving them and sitting at their feet."
As for Yogi Ramsuratkumar, he was chiseled, molded, and nurtured by three great gurus. Truman quotes the yogi on his three masters who worked on him. "This beggar had three fathers. There was much work done on this beggar. Aurobindo started, Ramana Maharishi did a little and Ramdas finished."
Swami Sivananda has this piece of advice for seekers of a guru,
"Let each man take the path according to his capacity, temperament, and understanding. His Satguru will meet him along the path. Listen to all, but follow one. Respect all, but adore one. Gather knowledge from all, but adopt the teachings of one master. Then you will have rapid spiritual progress. Once you choose your Guru, implicitly follow him. God will guide you through the Guru."
Ram Dass in "Paths to God - Living the Bhagavadgita", Harmony Books, 2004, writes, "We are surrounded by a web of well-wishes, all wanting to help us get free."
The Siddhas too are ever waiting and hoping that an aspirant or a likely candidate should stumble upon them where they could take him in and groom him to become another Siddha at par with them. They work on one's karma so that he is free from the results of his past actions and can start work on a spiritual journey as planned and ordained by them. Hence the reason at the onset they speak about our past karma and set us on a pilgrimage to temples to carry out remedies and attorn for our past actions.
In "Secret of the Siddhas", a Siddha Yoga Publication, 1980, Swami Muktananda writes that "the grace of a Siddha simply removes the veil of ignorance so that one realizes that one is already perfect."