We must all agree that we seem to have the most number of religious occasions and festivities all year round. Each month ushers a god or deity with specific rituals and prayers. We have seen and participated in them since the day we remember. Apart from getting the satisfaction to be a part of the festivities has any change taken place in us that brings us closer to the divine? Though we would have connected with them momentarily the moment we return home all this is lost as we face the daily challenges in life. Isn't there a means to connect and stay connected forever? The saints are depicted with a smile and bliss and a halo around them that shows their constant connection. I guess we must work on it too as they tirelessly did. They were a determined lot and as such managed to make the connection and remain connected. As for us, we tend to get irregular and short-lived moments as in low bandwidth communications. Yogi Ramsuratkumar says that indeed it is tough to get connected in this age of technology and the myriad of waves from gadgets that interfere. Just as the stars are seen in their totality at sea or from remote regions devoid of artificial lighting maybe we need to move into the interiors to actually connect. I guess here we have the serenity and calmness and tranquility of nature that would assist us in reaching out. But Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal want us to battle our way without leaving the home. Already as it is they have been very helpful in giving us the techniques and methods. But we just cannot seem to win the war. Maybe it is not meant to be in this lifetime. Maybe we can go so far as to know the way but cannot stay on track in this lifetime. Though both Supramania Swami and Tavayogi say we can always come back to polish and work on it in another birth, ain't it a wasted birth if we let it slip out of our hands having come this far. Speaking to Mahin yesterday I shared with him how I tested my worth before Lord Muruga. When he came during the Thaipusam gathering we had at AVM he took on the form of his image at the Natadreeswarar temple in the middle of the Kaveri river in Erode. The significance of Lord Muruga standing with his right leg forward is attributed to him coming forward to usher Agathiyar. Lord Muruga that day stood in this posture having come through a devotee for the entire time he was with us. Traveling with Tavayogi I came to know many things. Not that he had me sit at his ashram and bring out the sacred texts and explain them but he took me places. In these moments he would say a thing or two relevant to that moment. It was during one of these moments when we were about to visit a Mahan or saint in Tavayogi's eyes that he purchased a lime and took it with him. If we are known to bring flowers from our garden, milk, and other items as an offering to the gods in the temples, and bring sweetmeats that our gurus like while visiting them, he told me when one turavi or mendicant visits another they pass on a lime as a mark of respect and gift to someone on the path of Gnana. This makes sense as the turavi is one who has left his family and riches to walk the path to godhead we cannot expect him to make purchases and hand them these. So when everyone had their turn in standing before Lord Muruga to listen to what he had to say, I stood before him with a lime in my left hand and flowers in my right. Just as a Zamin only agreed to meet Ramalinga Adigal if the saint conformed to his thoughts, I told myself if he sees me as still stuck in Bhakti he shall pick the flowers and if he thought I had progressed to Gnana as Tavayogi wanted us to, he shall pick the lime. He touched the lime in my hand. I was delighted and fell at his feet placing both at his feet.
