Just as one can only receive an acknowledgment from one's guru after sticking around with him for some 12 years, much of what Supramania Swami, Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal, Ramalinga Adigal, and Agathiyar said in the past only makes some sense now after some 20 years.
As my parents had shown me and my siblings god as the paintings and statues at our home altar and in the temples, God to us then was the painting and the statue.
From Sariyai that is living in the world that God created, where only our thoughts reach out to him, the guru comes to lead us to know him up close and better. With the coming of the guru, he brings us to Kriyai. We begin to take up rituals and practices, directly communicating and dealing with God now. God whom we saw outside in places of worship in Sariyai comes to reside in our hearts as a mantra in Kriyai and resonates within us 24/7. God is now the very Mantra.
From looking after our own needs the guru brings us to open our eyes to the reality around us and gets us involved with charity and feeding. We begin to help those in need. Compassion blossoms within our hearts. God is now Love.
Our heart opens up to him and he now takes abode in our homes and within us, or rather the soul in us is awakened from its deep slumber. The soul that went into hibernation as a result of our ego calling the shots, awakes and takes its rightful place. With this surrender, God and the soul call the shots now. God and the soul are one now.
Now it is time to work on the physical body, that is one of many. The guru introduces us to become aware of our Vaasi or breath, which we hardly notice just as the heart and many other organs go on doing their work unnoticed. Just like nature, the body too does not expect us to acknowledge its presence and its worth. But the day both perish we are jolted out of our dream state. Then we scramble to take action which is a bit too late. It is of utmost importance to care for the body as we would care for a precious entity or thing. It is only with this body that we can come to know God. Hence the reason all the saints had spoken about how rare a human birth is. Do not waste this opportunity to know God.
Through a disciplined lifestyle and adhering to the calls made by the Siddhas, the body that is meat in essence is slowly and carefully transformed into a jewel. First, the thrash that has been accumulated for years as a result of an improper diet that the yogis term as Rajasic and Tamasic has to be thrown out or dispelled from the body. The physical body is renewed. From an impure body or Asudha Degam, we take on a pure or Sudha Degam. In detoxifying the internals, removing and eliminating toxins from the body, and then feeding it with healthy nutrients, we then move on to a deeper cleansing reaching for the very cells that are then transformed and return to their original state of purity. Both science and mysticism come together bringing this transformation together.
Just picking up the techniques and science of Yoga is insufficient. We would just end up as another master and teacher on the subject, or just having a beautiful and healthy body. For one to move on or within and transform further into the Pranava and Gnana Degam, the Divine Light or Arutperunjhothi has to come within. Swami Saravanananda in his book, an English translation of Ramalinga Adigal’s "Aruperunjhoti Agaval" published by Ramalinga Mission, Madras, writes that "The Divine Light seems to change the very cell of the body, with the result, that they seem to function in the opposite direction."
Marshall Govindan in his book "Babaji and the Eighteen Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition", 1991, Kriya Yoga Publications (Reg), 196 Mountain Road, P.O.Box 90, Eastman, Quebec, Canada, reproduced with permission via e-mail), writes that, "When this universal love and sacred warmth develops, the body, as well as the soul, became prepared for the descent of the grace, in the form of light."
Swami Saravanananda writes further, "With the descent of sufficient Divine Light the psychic head begins to emerge. According to Vallalar, this psychic head (a crown or diadem of light) is made up of a special and highly refined type of brain called Omkar brain. As soon as it emerges, it draws more cosmic light; the more the light the greater the growth of the psychic head. With the advent of the psychic head, more and more changes take place in the already purified body. The cells and thence the whole body begins to transcend the limits imposed on them by impure Maya (the grosser principle of nature) and try to break one more of its veils. The cells undergo alternate condensation and expansion for an unspecified period and the body slowly emerges out of its bondage and begins to grow. This expanding and ever-prospering body is called the subtle body or the body of Omkar or Pranava body.
Ramalinga Adigal told us that "the Prana Sakti moving in you is itself Pranava Degam. When you sense the Pranavam you shall question yourself if the Pranavam is driving you or you are driving it. When you reach that state you shall have the answer. That moment shall be one of extreme bliss. Go deep within this bliss."
பிராண சக்தி ஊடுருவிச் செல்கிறதே அதுவே பிரணவ தேகம். பிரணவத்தின் சக்தி உணரும் தருணம் உன் பிரணவத்தால் ஊடுகிறாயா? அல்லது பிரணவம் உன்னுள் ஊடுகிறதா என்று தோன்றும். என்று அப்படியில் காலடி வைகிறாயோ அன்று உமக்கு விடை பிறக்கும். பிரணவத்தின் நீயே அதைக் காண்பாய். அது பேர் ஆனந்தம். இன்பத்தில் ஆழ்ந்து கொண்டு வா.
Dr. K.Loganathan in referring to Agathiyar's "Gnana Saitanyam" quotes Agathiyar: "My son! These truths have been hidden by the Siddhas from the reach of ordinary people. For unless they become BEING orientated and have trust in HIM, He will not instruct on these secrets assuming the form of Guru. I Akattiyar, disclose now these secrets of Sivayoga for the benefit of those good sons of mine."
Here we understand the reason Agathiyar initiated us through Tavayogi on his Theecha mantra that was not to be spelled out to anybody. Tavayogi told us quite bluntly that our heads would blow up into pieces if revealed. This mantra is passed on to the student by the guru during the first initiation the student receives. At the onset itself, Agathiyar defines the path for his student through his mantra. It is just that as we are freshies we never got the message then. Today the puzzles have come together. In reciting his name we are then brought to realize that he is the very breath in us. Taking hold of our breath we come to realize and experience the Prapanjam that has its source in the Pranavam AUM or OM and vice versa. Agathiyar in his "Agathiyar Antharanga Theechavithi", அகத்தியர் அந்தரங்க தீட்சாவிதி, mentions that the Pranavam AUM or OM is the source or seed, ஓமென்ற பிரணவமே ஆதி வஸ்து. Tavayogi simplifies it in his book "Andamum Pindamum". AUM that is the Pranavam was the source. From it originated all the energies (often referred to as the Prapanja Sakthi). ஓம் என்கின்ற பிரணவம் தான் ஆதி என்பதும், அந்த ஆதி வஸ்துவே உலகமெல்லாம் நிறைந்து நிர்கின்ற ஆதி சக்தி.
As the body is relative to the universe, a study of either one will justify the other. Tavayogi spells out that the existence of the Pranavam in consciousness is also within us in our heads. When my daughter as a child was complaining of pain in the throat, the doctors examined her and could not find anything wrong with her. We brought her to the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields. We were blessed to have the Chief High Priest the late Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera see us personally. After graciously seeing us, he placed his hand slightly above her head and hummed the "M" syllable and sound in the last portion of the Pranavam AUM for some moments. She was relieved of the pain. Now we understand the significance of the Pranavam AUM and what the Chief High Priest did. The mantra resonates within, healing the self, and is easily absorbed by others in our presence as in osmosis. Now we understand why Ramalinga Adigal termed the psychic head as Omkar brain. That to which we once were connected through the crown of our head that was yet to be fully developed as a child, is eventually reached out in the developed psychic brain in one who gains the grace of God.
The Grace of God has come to us beginners as his Theecha mantra. By the Grace of God, we have come to receive his Theecha mantra. He has lit the lamp in us. It is our duty to fan the flame to burn brighter by repeating the mantra till this very mantra that is him engulfs us in flames and we attain the state of Gnanam and Jothi, acquiring the Gnana Degam and the Oli Degam.
In telling us to pursue our efforts and that Gnanam was not given or gifted, but has to be earned, and that all the efforts that the Siddhas ask to place and carry out are tried and tested methods that they themselves had carried out in the past, they reveal that we would eventually come to understand the reason we were born. Agathiyar told us that "When your breath touches the சுழுமுனை or Suzhumunai, and traverses the seven chakras one by one, and upon reaching the seventh chakra, a Sakti or power will come within. That is சுழிமுனை or Suzhimunai. Then everything is clear. That is Gnanam. The answer shall dawn. At that moment we shall know the reason for taking birth."
உமது மூச்சி உனது சுழுமுனை தொட்டு உமது ஏழு சக்கரங்களில் பயணம் செய்யும் கால் ஏழாவது சக்கரம் தொடும் நிலையில் நீ உனது பிறவிக்கான பலனை அறிவாய். உனது நிலையை நீ தொடும்போது அக்கணம் உன்னை அறியாமல் உன்னை நோக்கி ஒரு சக்தி உன்னுள் இறங்கும் - அதுவே சுழிமுனை. நீங்கள் உள் பயணிக்கும்போது எல்லாம் தெளிவாகத் தெரியும் சமயம் திரை விலகியத்திற்கு அர்த்தம். அதுதான் ஞானம். ஆதாவது நீ பிறந்ததன் நோக்கம் அறிவாய்.
Just as we need a fire to light another fire we need the gurus on this journey. Ramalinga Adigal gives us the boost we need to journey further. He says that "Tavayogi in his light form, is trying to bring salvation to you. He is traveling with you. You traveled in his way and followed his teachings. You spread his fame and helped him attain the state of Jothi. He who is currently with you shall continue to travel with you. There is much to learn. You have my blessings. I shall travel with you too till you reach the destination. I accompany those who go deep within. Follow your breath. Place the effort and you shall reach the destination."
"தவயோகி ஆத்ம ஜோதியாய் உங்களை கரை தேர்த இன்னமும் முயற்சிக்கிறான். உங்களோடே பயணிக்கிறான். அவன் வழி நடந்து முழுமையாக கடைபிடித்து வரும் ஒரு சீடன் நீ. அவன் புகழை பரப்பிய உன் தவ வலிமையால் அவன் ஜோதி நிலை தொட்டு விட்டான். தற்பொழுது அவன் உங்களை வழி நடுத்த உங்கள் அருகில்தான் இருக்கிறான். இன்னும் இன்றும் உங்களோடு பயணிக்கிறான். நீ கற்பதற்கு இன்னும் இருக்கிறது. எனது பரிபூரண ஆசியோடு கற்பிப்பாய். உன்னுள் ஜோதி எரியும் வரை நான் உன்னோடு வருவேன். ஆழ்ந்து இருப்போருடன் நான் சேர்ந்து இருக்கிறேன். உமது பிரணவத்தை கொண்டு செல். ஜோதியோடு கலப்பாய்.
Dr. K.Loganathan aptly emphasizes here that "the study of scriptures, memorizing reciting and so forth in a ritualistic manner is quite useless unless real metaphysical journeys are entered into and something that's possible only if BEING helps along as the Inner Guru. An important precondition for this help to become available is the Openness and Fluidity of the mind. A mind that is NOT OPEN, fluid and flexible, because it is NOT READY to LEARN and reform itself is denied this kind of help."