Agathiyar has simplified the means to reach him in this era where we want everything fast - from fast food and fast delivery to fast and speedy arrival, express education, etc. Indeed I now understand why Tavayogi said with a surprised tone and a look on his face asking me how I reached Agathiyar so fast when he had to carry out extreme austerities and travel far, spend days and nights in the jungle, caves, and hills. Yet in comparison to other devotees these days I would ask them the same too as for instance, we had to place some "effort" into bringing him into the bronze statue of his that he had us commission in 2010. He specified in the Nadi reading that we had to give "life" to the statue by chanting 100,000 times his name (Nama Japam) and carrying out libation to his statue with nine items which we did. Recently he came through a devotee and carried out libation to his own statue and handed it to her to continue in her home. Later at a temple festival, he carried out his own libation coming into a devotee. When he came to my daughter's home he stopped us gathered there in the midst of chanting the Arutperunjothi Maha mantra and instead had us chant his name. I understood that given those who had gathered there, they had no inkling about the Siddhas as they were newcomers, thus they had to start with the basic Nama Japam, for the Arutperunjothi mantra was meant for those who understood the journey fully.
In our curiosity to know what was beyond the four walls we entered the garden. There we met Lord Ganapathy sitting under the king of all trees on the temple grounds. Thinking that there was more to the worship we entered the temple and stood before the inner sanctum after circumambulating and worshipping all the other deities and gods lined up along the way. Similarly, prior to Tavayogi introducing us to the path of Siddha Margam officially after three years of our worship of the Siddhas in our home, we carried on with the recitation of the names of the Siddhas that we received from several Upagurus earlier. Thinking there was more to it we gathered more songs of praise to the Siddhas looking into books and the internet. We were introduced to several facets of the one God or Yegan. As Tavayogi accompanied me places and as we entered each temple he would not do the norm that all pilgrims do. He would head for a Siddha peddham or shrine, sing a couplet and begin to meditate in divine communion with the Siddha present there, taking in what God had to offer. Tavayogi never offered anything to any god anywhere. This was pretty obvious at the Tanjai Big temple. As we arrived at the temple grounds the temple was closed for the afternoon. He spread his shawl under the shade of a tree and lay on his side taking a short nap. I thought that when the temple bells were struck at 4pm and the doors opened to the public he would head straight into the inner sanctum. But instead, he went behind and sat at Karuvurar's shrine. He could have done that upon our arrival as Karuvurar was housed under a roof in the open. He began to leave the temple grounds immediately. When for most the humongous Sivalinga was the attraction he did not pop in but chose to wait for me to rush in and pay my respects when I put on a long face.
There were no rituals in all the places we went. Agathiyar too in later years in addressing our question regarding the Siddha samadhis spoke about the conduct and how we are supposed to carry ourselves while there. He told us not to carry out any rituals but instead sit in meditation and take in the positive vibes and energy prevalent and arising from the samadhis. That was all to it. Indeed now I fully understand Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar's answer to his silence when asked to bless me during my visit to Ongaarakudil in 2003. His reply that stepping into the grounds of Ongarakudil itself was a blessing though confused me back then is understood perfectly now.
Today we understand fully the koan that goes "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is." During the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese Ch’an master Qingyuan Weixin famously wrote:
“Before I had studied Ch’an for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains, and rivers as rivers. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. But now that I have got its very substance, I am at rest. For it’s just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers.” (Source: https://tricycle.org/magazine/first-there-mountain-then-there-no-mountain/)
Just as Tavayogi wrote a phrase "Aandavan Uraigindra Edam Thangal Ullam, Athuve Payanathin Thodakkamum, Mudivum" which translated meant, "Erai lives in your heart, from where the journey starts and ends too" while autographing my copy of his book "Andamum Pindamum", the journey starts with Lord Ganesa and ends at his feet. Thinking that a temple or shrine of Agathiyar would carry his image, I was surprised to see Lord Ganesa sitting as a granite statue at the Sri Agasthiyar Kumbamunivar Sannadhi at the entrance to the Adi Kumbeswarar Temple in Kumbakonam.
We look outside for the divine seeing him as separate from us in the beginning visiting the temples in the neighborhood and other popular temples elsewhere, and after traveling to the far reaches of the temples and shrines in the hills and dales, seeking and searching for him we realized that he was all along with us, in us and we in him, coming to realize finally that "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is." First, we saw the mountain and began to climb it. Once atop its peak, we ask ourselves where did the mountain go? We are the mountain standing atop it. Treading the path we need to see the essence of things and not the physical form, just as the Siddhas see our souls rather than the physical self. Swami Sivananda saw the river Ganga as the Goddess and performed daily arati and rituals that to another would only remain as just a river that flowed through the terrains. Swami Vishnudevananda on writing about his first encounter with his soon-to-be master Swami Sivananda, in "My Years with the Master", expresses his logical taught that pits against the vision of the saint.
"Before leaving (after having met him for the very first time), I went down the Ganga where it was the custom of the Ashram to do Aarati (waving of lights) every evening. All the devotees and inmates of the Ashram assembled by the banks of the Ganga to watch Master perform this evening worship. I was skeptical. I was of a scientific temperament and knew that a river is only water, H2O - imagine worshiping H20!! But as I stood there and watched Master waving the lights, I saw the river become a mass of flowing lights. At that instant, the river assumed a divine flow, a manifestation of the Grace of the Lord. Master turned and looked at me and in my mind, I heard his message, “God pervades everything; this too is His Special Form.” This entirely changed my outlook on life." (Source: http://www.sivanandaonline.org)
Tavayogi had learned to see God in all. As such just stepping onto the grounds was sufficient to make contact with God. God hears us wherever we may be as he is the Prapanjam. When Sanjiv Malhotra told me he needed to seek a reading during the pandemic but as travel was restricted, enquired if Mataji would read and translate the Jeeva Nadi kept at Kallar, I pointed out to him that Agathiyar had given strict instructions to Mataji to read only for those in search of Gnana as the Jeeva Nadi at Kallar was not to be read for man's mundane desires and existence. Our conversation ended there. Just yesterday we made contact again and spoke again. He shared a miracle that took place recently. Nadi astrologer Thiru Janakiraman and several others headed for the north on a pilgrimage. On coming to know about their visit to Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India, he volunteered to drive them to the temple. Arriving at the temple grounds Sanjiv carried the Jeeva Nadi on his head and they entered the temple. After sitting in Lord Krishna's presence Janakiran suggested they look into the oracle for any word from Agathiyar. They sat under a tree. Indeed Agathiyar had something to convey but not before having them call up a bystander and read the Nadi for him. That was a surprise move. On completion, Agathiyar told Janakiram and his entourage to return home ending their intended visit to other places abruptly. Agathiyar then asked that he (his Nadi) be brought to Sanjiv's home. Agathiyar spent a night there and delivered a message to Sanjiv and his family. The divine comes to those who seek him.
Sanjiv had earlier written a piece sharing his trip to Tamilnadu that I had posted at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2018/04/agathiyars-child.html
Gone are the days when we went looking for him. His pronounced presence is felt by many who began to worship the Siddhas. Agathiyar in asking Tavayogi to visit the north, ended his visit abruptly and asked that he head back to Kallar ashram. Surendran who planned a detailed itinerary with Jnana Jothiamma was derailed and Agathiyar had him go to his peak at Pothigai instead. The bronze statue of Agathiyar at AVM was originally supposed to be placed at the Jegathguru Sri Raghavendra Swamigal Miruthiga Brindavanam, Ipoh but Agathiyar choose to stay put in my home instead. Even now as Agathiyar tells me that he shall move house to Mahindren's home, a fellow devotee jokingly said that Agathiyar might change his mind again. Indeed this is their game and play or lila. We do not have much say when we have surrendered to them. It is only when we think that we are in charge of our lives that the Siddhas step aside and watch us do blunders. As Lao Tzu asks that we go with the flow Agathiyar too referred me to the opening line of Sadhu Om's song that I play often in my home asking me to accept and come to terms with what was going on around us.
In BBC Earth's "First Contact - An Alien Encounter", a scientist shares her views on an alien encounter if there was one in the future. "I think it is much more likely to be a one-way communication such as we currently have with Shakespeare or the ancient Greeks and the Romans. We can't ask questions of them (aliens) but they have provided us a wealth of information, that we can learn from. Another scientist says that "Search for life in our solar system is one thing but the search for life beyond it might be closer to archaeology because we are receiving signals of what may now be dead civilizations."
Similarly, we have many questions regarding the Siddhas too. Did the Siddhas outnumber the people back then in the many past yugas or were they a rare lot as in present times? If the Siddhas were ordinary men like us and had lived with us and had fathomed the mysteries of life where are they now? There were many answers given before but lately, Agathiyar told me when I placed this question before him that he was the very vibration. While scientists are looking out to space for potentially habitable worlds for signs of aliens or beings like us, the Siddhas go within from the grosser material world to the much subtler worlds and finally reach the bottom pit where Agathiyar declares that he is the very vibration.