When astrologers instill fear regarding the entry of the planet Saturn into one's horoscope chart, the late Siddha physician and astrologer Dr.Krishnan was the only one who asked that we invite him into our lives. Let us get it done and over with says the doctor. Divine law has placed it such that one's karma shall be paid in full during these periods and we can then move on to better things. Such is the compassion of the divine that it wishes to see us break the shackles of karma. He sends the Siddhas to help us with it. Tavayogi often listens to the problems of people who come up to him. He will tell them the reason stating that it was because of karma after they pour their heart out to him. He will then show them to the Siddhas asking them to worship and recite their names. With sincerity and devotion, they shall see obstacles and hurdles cleared. Above and beyond that one shall gain the strength to face his problems. The Siddhas shall stand by him. Swami Vishnu-Devananda in his "Meditation and Mantras", Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd, Delhi, Om Lotus Publications, 1978, wrote, "Those who experience what seems to be undeserved suffering are only working out previously incurred karma. The law of karma is absolute, and the effect of a desire or tendency must definitely be reaped, although it may be in a different lifetime and under different circumstances. This gives an idea of how long man has been going through birth and rebirth. He has been reincarnating as long as there has been desire. It is the desire that binds him to the physical plane."
The Siddhas are Godsend souls who work hard to bring man out of the dark pit Maya or illusion that lures man into its belly. They become beacons lighting the path so that we see clearly where we step and tread avoiding the pitfalls. Bringing man to rise above his sufferings they prepare him to become pure in all ways. As purity is equated to light, man becomes divine. He then sheds his light on others who come by. When the Siddhas come by know that the dawn of Satya Yuga has begun for him for he has to change his old ways and speak only the truth upholding Satyam or honesty. This is the lifeline that is thrown to him. The moment he speaks a lie one of the many strands of this line snaps and he lowers himself and moves closer into the dark pit. Upholding truth and justice and many other noble thoughts and ways were always expounded by the Siddhas as a means to purify man, cleansing and dropping the veil, and the sheet of ignorance. All the sacred texts speak about good values. All masters speak about them too. Man who upholds these values moves to become divine in the eyes of other men. Worship of the Siddhas brings them further up in the chain of evolution where they step into working to become a Siddha too.
A pure heart is the abode of the divine. A contented soul is a rare commodity these days in this age. Swami Vishnu-Devananda in his "Meditation and Mantras", Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd, Delhi, Om Lotus Publications, 1978, translates a sutra of Patanjali that says, "Liberation (or mukti) takes place when the mind has the same purity as Purusha itself." Patanjali shows the way to Samadhi or absorption, that of knowing and realizing the seed of consciousness. "God resides within you in your heart. This is both the starting and ending point of the journey", wrote Tavayogi in autographing my copy of his book "Andamum Pindamum"
ஆண்டவன் உரைகின்ற இடம் தங்கள் உள்ளம். அதுவே பயணத்தின் தொடக்கமும் முடிவும்.
Patanjali has laid the means and methods of climbing the stairs or ladder and eventually reaching the kingdom of God that lies within our hearts. BKS Iyengar in revealing Patanjali's "Yoga Sutras", says that sage Patanjali listed ways to attain Yoga or union, beginning with the control and mastery of external issues and finally bringing one within. The eight aspects or limbs of Yoga of which the first five namely,
- Yama or restraints and ethics of behavior;
- Niyama or observances;
- Asana or physical postures;
- Praṇayama or control of the prana (breath); and
- Pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses,
Knowing the seed of consciousness and having realized it Patanjali shows the way to Dharaṇa or concentration; Dhyana or meditation; and Samadhi or absorption.
BKS Iyengar in his "Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali", HarperCollins Publishers India, 1993, says Patanjali lists four padas namely:
- Samadi pada, that "deals with the science of disciplining the fluctuations of consciousness. For this reason, it begins with the code of conduct",
- Sadhana pada "gives detailed information regarding the practices",
- Vibhuti pada "explains the hidden wealth which comes through these practices", and
- Kaivalya pada "speaks about cultivating actions that cannot produce reactions so that consciousness may dissolve in the light of the soul for the very being."
If our parents started us off with Samadhi pada which was devotion to the deities, the guru comes to bring us to carry out sadhanas in the Sadhana pada. We then step into the Vibhuti pada moving towards the inner quest (Antaranga sadhana). By having us go within on an internal journey, it gives insight into the very purpose we came for. Finally, "In Kaivalya pada we lose our identities and merge in the soul (emancipation)" says Iyengar. Patanjali shows the way to how one can reach the abode of the soul forever so that all the actions he performs in the world, will not reflect any reaction, hence severing the fine thread of birth and rebirth.
Patanjali authored the "Yoga Sutras", a comprehensive study of the human psyche, some 2,000 years ago. If Patanjali is the father of Yoga, BKS Iyengar is considered the world's greatest teacher of yoga. BKS Iyengar had reversed his fate with sheer determination and effort. Today he stands as a godly and fatherly figure to all who pursue Yoga. I guess Patanjali "incarnated" in him carrying his words and desires to see man become divine. The Siddhas mold us into another Siddha, taking their image, form, and soul. But for all this to happen man has to take the first step. He has to tread the path with dedication and discipline. He has to stay on the path and not go astray.
Swami Vishnu-Devananda enlightens us, "What is perceived or cognized by an individual is entirely dependant upon the orientation and tendencies of that mind and not on the object itself, for the object is one." Indeed, when I attended a course on Neuro-Linguistic Programming at the office back then during my working days, the tutor held up an ATM card and asked us to describe it. We all answered that it was an ATM card. After hearing us out, he brought us thinking out of the box. To the one seated directly before him, he only saw a line. The one to the side saw the front of the card and the other saw the back of the card. But the card was one. This is how we see life too.
Swami Vishnu-Devananda enlightens us further. "The object remains the same, but when it is perceived by more than one mind there immediately arise varying views of that object. It is the individual attitudes or karmic situations that determine how a person sees something." He adds that an object is either known or unknown to the mind because of the coloring of the mind. Could this be the various veils of varying colors that Ramalinga Adigal reveals as hiding the truth from our eyes, that deceive us, and create an illusion? For a yogi, there is no positive or negative about karma. For a yogi, karma is neither white nor black, for others it is threefold - black, white, and gray meaning there are subjective reactions to the work that must be carried out, and this, in turn, creates new karma.
Patanjali says that we are not of the body; neither are we the mind. We are the witness, Purusha, the self. Sitting alone in silence, only the Purusha remains. The Purusha witnesses the thought go by and over time loses its attention on it too. What dawns on us during these moments is self-knowledge.
Patanjali concludes, "For a person who has transcended Prakriti, the qualities of nature come to an end for they, the three Gunas, have fulfilled their purpose - which is to push him through growth and to create the field for transformations on the path to self-realization." How wonderful. Reaching the finale. Kaivalya is that state in which the Gunas attain equilibrium and merge in their cause, having no longer a purpose in relation to Purusha. The soul is established in its true nature, which is pure consciousness. End.