Once we believe in God, he sets us free - free not to carry on and do our thing or indulge in our worldly pleasures further but instead letting go of our hold on them and finally experiencing true freedom in every sense. He replaces our ambitions, desires, likes, and wants with his. He sets aside our fate and charts a new destiny. He takes us into his arms, with love and care. There is no escape once we are caught in his clutches and his tight grip. With attention to our daily needs and lives taken care of, he then has us do his work here. This applies to the guru too, as eventually we come to realize that they are one. Just as Tavayogi says of the bee that stings a worm, molding it into its form, Yogi Ramsuratkumar says the same of the potential seeker being molded by his guru. “The King Bee would bring any potential worm to its nest and would sting all the time till it becomes another King Bee. Likewise, a Guru also works on his disciples till the disciples get to the state of the Guru. The process is painful but there is no escape. Even if you want to escape from the Guru, the Guru will not leave you. Like a frog in the mouth of a King Cobra, the disciple cannot escape from Guru."
But religious heads, spiritual leaders, masters, gurus, and upagurus must open their hearts first, and accept all immaterial of their faith, beliefs, following, understanding, knowledge, and economic standing. Religious instituitions, temples, churches, and mosques must keep their doors open at all times for the hungry seeker who literally seeks food to appease his hunger, the religious seeker wanting to understand the ways of his religion, the spiritual seeker seeking to know his Atma, and the hurt and wounded who want to find some solace in the words of God and be in his presence.
In the movie "Jesus Revelation", Lonnie Frisbee speaks about his journey to pastor Chuck Smith. "There is an entire generation right now searching for God. I kept searching and searching and just finally got to the end of it. There was still a void. And my people .. well... they are a desperate bunch. In desperation... man,... there is power in that word. I know we must seem pretty strange. But if you look a little deeper, if you look with love, you will see a bunch of kids who are searching for all the right things just in all the wrong places. So to answer your question, how do I describe my people.... They are sheep without a shepherd, chasing hard after lies. And the trouble is your people reject them. So I ask you, pastor. How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? We can only walk through doors open to us. And your church... well... that is the door that is shut." Learning from him, the pastor opens his door to Lonnie Frisbee and some of his friends.
Looking back at how Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) materialized or rather unfolded, I now understand the work of God and the interest he showed in his children, in opening his door and bringing them over. With spiritual figures who become unapproachable as followers begin to create a divide and separate them from society, with religious appointees carrying out only what they are paid for, and with groups, societies, movements, and establishments laying codes and rules to adhere to, being selective as to who should come or leave, as Lonnie Frisbee asked where and to whom do these souls turn too? Shanga made me realize recently that Agathiyar at AVM accommodated all, embracing them with love, listening to their problems, and providing solutions and food for thought. At times, he healed their pain and their hearts and soul. Only later did he bring the transition within from within. If we rush for year-end sales, festive sales, moving out sales, and closing down sales, as they are only around for a short period of time, Agathiyar intended AVM to be around just sufficiently long enough for a handful to pick up the tricks of the trade and move on. With whatever they could pick up from within its four walls, he set them to continue on their individual journey, promising that he would come to herd them back to the pen. Those few who came to learn and took it back gained immensely from the happenings and experiences that followed and that took place within these walls. As a devotee quipped jokingly that he had to spend much and face difficulties, and exercise and prepare himself first before heading for Kailash, where he had to face breathing difficulties, and only then could come to a realization, as for us at AVM Agathiyar created a portal and had all deities and devotees come over. Indeed Tavayogi too did mention with a note of surprise that we had come to Agathiyar pretty easily while he had to scout the tough terrains both externally and internally before seeing him. I am glad I toed the line, though I had told him off at times and stood to my stand on certain matters. But eventually, he made me understand the bigger picture and the bigger purpose in life. When Tavayogi left his family and home to become a mendicant, his daughter could not accept it. Agathiyar in a Nadi reading told her to see the bigger purpose. If he was to remain with her, he would only be a father to her. If she lets him go, he shall be a father to all.
Tavayogi who traveled the length and breadth of India, decided to find a place to go into Samadhi after spending some 4 years in tavam and coming down from Sathuragiri. But Agathiyar had a much larger task for him on hand and waiting for him. He had him look for a place called Agathiyar Vanam. Tavayogi finally located it at the foothills in Kallar. He squatted at a run-down temple and later was shown a piece of land where he was allowed to pitch an ashram by the village head in the late 1990s. This came to be the Agathiyar Gnana Peedham. Agathiyar had him leave for Malaysia to plant the seed and spread the teachings of the Siddhas in 2004 following in the footsteps of his Paramaguru Jeganatha Swami and Guru Chitramuthu Adigal. I met him the second time he came down in 2005 and the seed was planted in this soil. A guru-disciple relationship bloomed. It had flowered, as Tavayogi told me and my family on our visit to Kallar in 2013. Coming to Malaysia in 2016 he told the AVM family that the seed he planted had borne fruits, seeing and following the growth of AVM in a matter of a mere 4 years. It was all due to the grace of the guru and the divine. It was all due to the work they put in us. It was all due to their concern and care to bring salvation to us. If nothing moves without the will of God in this world, and no transformation takes place without the given experiences, similarly, only the will of the guru can move us to achieve greater heights spiritually.
Swami Muktananda explains why one needs a master in "Kundalini - The Secret of Life", Siddha Yoga Publication, 1994, (Muktananda, Kundalini - The Secret of Life, 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.”
What happens with the coming of a master? Srinath Raghavan posted the following on fb.
We all live in a personal bubble of our own,
A bubble that is highly colorful but opaque,
So nothing outside it's purview is ever seen by us,
We live and die our life, inside this fantastic bubble,
Thinking and believing whatever is in it is the only truth,
Nothing outside can ever exist and it should not too,
We can very well break its brittle wall from the inside,
But we choose not to, for fear of being exposed to uncertainty,
When with the touch of the Master from outside, the bubble breaks,
That's when we will finally realize, how foolish and limited we were,
To have accepted the truth that's known to us, as the Final Truth...
~ Freedom is breaking the bubble and seeing and feeling the reality beyond your own.
Yes, with the touch of the Master from the outside, the bubble breaks, and reality dawns. Then, as Ramana Maharishi says, "... the spiritual energy of a master transforms the consciousness of men."
Paul Zweig in the introduction to Swami Muktananda’s ‘The Perfect Relationship', SYDA Foundation, 1985, writes about the moment the master came into Muktananda's life.
"After almost twenty-five years, he met Bhagawan Nithyananda, who became his guru. In a flash of self-understanding, he knew that he had found his other half; that now he was whole again."
If Swami Muktananda describes his guru as his other half Agathiyar tells us that the soul or Atma residing in the deep reaches of our hearts and self, that is the Self, is indeed one's own guru who had been imprisoned by the ego that arises its ugly hood and sends the Atma into the dungeons.
Tavayogi in his "Atma Thattuvam" writes that the Jeeva brings together the body or Udal and breath or Uyir, and thrives with it, running the household. உடலும் உயிரும் சேர்ந்து செயல்படுகின்ற ஒரு பொருளைதான் ஜீவன் என்கிறோம். உயிர் உடல் இரண்டையும் இணைத்து வைக்கின்ற ஒப்பற்ற கருவியே ஆத்மா எனப்படும். Like Agathiyar says, Tavayogi too states that the Atma is a tool that binds both the Uyir and Udal. It takes charge and control of the Udal and Uyir. But the reason we cannot identify it is that it is subtle in nature, as opposed to the gross nature of the Udal which is known through the senses, and the Uyir which is known when awareness is brought to the breath.
Agathiyar through a short memo to us explained further.
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 we are caught in the grips of personal ego and Maya or illusion in this world, we never realize the existence of the Atma until a physical guru comes along and the guru within is awakened. The guru brings our awareness to our Atma and brings us to realize the Self, hence gaining Self-realization. The guru then walks away having touched another soul and creating another milestone on the path.
Swami Muktananda says,
"That word (Guru Om), which I received after so many years, spread through my body from head to toe like wildfire carried by the wind. It produced in me both inner heat and the coolness of joy. Before meeting my guru, I had practiced many different kinds of yoga, but it was I who had practiced them. However, that word activated a spontaneous yoga within me. I was filled with amazement."
He says everything - postures, Mudras, and breathing processes - all happened on its own. He became ecstatic.
"After the awakening of the Shakti, this process of yogic movements began to take place within my entire body. The pulsation of his ecstasy pervades my entire body like the movement of the wind. The Kriyas were his, the yoga was his, and meditation took place because of him. The final message that I received was from him. The power of his word permeates each of my blood cells; the fluids of my entire body are his. That is why I am joyful. Gurudev entered me and replaced all my bodily fluids with his. He evicted me and took up residence in me. He annihilated my ego. By making my individuality his, he became me. This is the guru’s compassion. Only when I lost myself in the ecstasy of Bhagawan Nithyananda did I realize who he was.
Swami Muktananda says his joy arises from the one word - Guru Om; from the churning of the love between the guru and the disciple. He adds, "Only the guru can know that delight and taste the elixir that arises in every pore of the body." Ramalinga Adigal too sings that only the Divine Lord knows the delight and joy that he was feeling in him. The Divine that knows shares with other souls his delight and taste of the elixir. Are we prepared to taste it?
Today I fully understand his ways and methods. Giving in to his wishes and play sees an entirely different story being written. Even his predictions change as he plays the divine game. His story is not set in earth and stone, but rather one written in fire, water, air, and space. Coming from space, ether, Akasha, call it what you want, it returns to that space, renewed, energized, and modified. If for most they live out their fate, choosing to see only in greyscale, those who come to be embraced by God shall see their lives painted in vivid colors of heaven, as the kid in the movie "Heaven is for Real" describes heaven as "All the colors of the rainbow are in heaven they are all more .. just more and brighter."