A reader from Kerala asked the following question that prompted me to write about it.
"Aiyya it's always my doubt _ why should they say to include meditation _ the process of shutting down the external world maybe_ in our worship? Actually, does it do any good? What does Siddha path say about it?..... if you too wish to, please write about it sometime."
I replied to her "It has to happen on its own ma. Comes spontaneously. True meditation happens when everything shuts down on its own and not in trying to keep them out." It is futile trying to tame the mind. It is a struggle to beat the temptations in life. We are part and parcel of this world and all its happenings. We are connected to each other. There is no escape but to live in this illusion or Maya. But the secret is to try and stay aloft. Take in the pleasures of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell but be prepared to let go any time the need arises. Take in the pleasures that money and wealth can buy but be prepared to let go too. Enjoy the privileges that come with position and authority but be prepared to let go. Live life with a purpose and to the fullest but be prepared to let go when the time comes. Though I have failed miserably in getting myself to sit in meditation, there was an instance where I witnessed libation or abhisegam to the Sivalingam that went on for some moments some time back. When I came to my senses I began to ask myself if I had dozed off while trying to meditate and dreamt it. Or maybe I had slipped into that state, rather spontaneously without effort or realizing it. I was the watcher or observer then or rather there was that picture before me that did not necessitate any action from me. I guess this is what Agathiyar meant when he asked that I do nothing after the energies were awakened in me. He said that it shall do its work. All further and continued efforts in yoga were put to a halt once the result was seen. Similarly, he asked us to stop all our social and religious activities that included charity and rituals, as I presume we had brought a balance to our karma and he did not want to jeopardize it by increasing the merits that would require us to come back in another birth to reap the results of our good actions. He had us instead go within and abstain from all activities and worship, observe the breath to arrive at the moment of merely watching our thoughts subside on their own, and enter a realm of silence in all manner.
Rajiv Agarwal recounts his venture and journey in moving deeper into his goal of attaining enlightenment, where he began to have spiritual experiences. (https://innerspiritualawakening.com/rajiv-agarwal/my-journey/.)
"It was during this time I started having fantastic spiritual experiences. Sometimes I felt so ecstatic that every cell in my body would explode with bliss. I felt that I was floating in an infinite ocean of ecstasy. I was absorbed in these expanded rapturous states of being for hours. A sense of immense sacredness and divinity infused my entire consciousness. During these states, my body sometimes used to go into spontaneous states of yoga. Sometimes my body would become so flexible that I could bend spontaneously into difficult yoga postures. Many of these postures were completely unknown to me but the body automatically aligned itself to certain ancient forms."
Rajiv continues further,
"Another curious thing happened with my breathing; I experienced spontaneous Pranayama and kumbhaka (Ancient yogic breathing patterns and techniques). It is a cessation of breath, which leads to higher states of consciousness. I experienced both the outer and the inner cessation of breath. After I took a deep breath in, my breath used to stop for around a minute to a minute and a half. During this time the mind felt utterly still and pure. After the inner cession, I would exhale, wherein my breath used to again stop for approximately a minute."
He ends his piece with "Spontaneous states of bliss and ecstasy arise, carrying me to the infinite shore of immense joy."
I had a similar experience where my body began to twist and turn after I dropped to the floor as I came out of the toilet many years back. Though writhing in pain and agony it was true bliss. Agathiyar came to confirm that that was the sign of the sleeping energy in each one of us awakening up. He too added that that was truly blissful. I followed rigidly the many practices given by Agathiyar in the Nadi from 2002 onwards and Tavayogi showed us the techniques from 2007. These practices and efforts are till the second chakra the Svadhistana, says Tavayogi. After that, the Siddha has to come to lead us by the hand. Indeed all our efforts came to an abrupt stop in late 2019. The next two and a half years that coincided with the pandemic saw the dormant energy that was awakened in 2007 stagnate at the chakra associated with the water element that is the Svadhistana. In 2022, the most compassionate guru broke the banks of the pond and released the flood waters to move upstream. This was a turn in moving within as opposed to our external travels previously. When the lake's bank burst, was released spontaneously in a rather dramatic manner. It led to several fainting spells and the body becoming numb and stiffening like a log. But fear not he says it is all a part of the process and has to be experienced and endured when the chakras are activated late in life.
In Ramalinga Adigal's verses from his Arutpa are his experiences in the form of outpourings of songs, he mentions some 12 years of suffering, a result of spontaneous transformation within, where he says only the divine would know the nature and extent of the misery. He finally lets go of all his efforts letting the divine work its way through him. "We will not worry no more, neither will we attempt to slog or work towards it no further. He sings, "We shall withdraw within and wait for the guru's grace to work its beauty in us"
இனித்துயர் படமாட்டேன் விட்டே னே
என்குரு மேல்ஆணை இட்டே னே.
இனிப்பாடு படமாட்டேன் விட்டே னே
என்னப்பன் மேல்ஆணை இட்டே னே.
These days as the Prapanjam is called upon, it does self-healing taking control of the body. Currently, I am going through a spate of body aches and pains that are at times blissful too. I just watch leaving it to do what it desires. Breathing comes spontaneously whenever a surge of energy comes within us. Every cell begins to vibrate. It is this surge of energy that speaks, heals, and blesses those around. As Tavayogi said once, call it whatever you want but as far as he was concerned it was Agathiyar, I too have come to accept it following the way of my guru.
The Vishnu Granthi was addressed back then on 6 October 2001 by means of my nephew passing me the Vasudeva mantra that is said to pierce and balance the Vishnu Granthi in a mysterious way and manner. R Venu Gopalan in his book, "The Hidden Mysteries of Kundalini", writes that the Vishnu Granthi adds obstructions for the sadhaka keeping one under the wraps of attachment and bondage. It helps dissolve all the past karmic deeds for a better future. From Awakening State at http://www.awakeningstate.com/spiritual-awakening/om-namo-bhagavate-vasudevaya/, we learn that "This Sanskrit mantra can be practiced to attain freedom (moksha) from Samsara – the “Karmic Wheel” that keeps us bound to cycle after cycle of incarnations. This liberation mantra is a karmic eraser." Agathiyar told me that my past karma stood in the way of deriving the benefits of all my spiritual practices becoming a stumbling block. He gave me the right tool to help me clear my karma. Indeed when I carried out the breathing exercises as shown by Tavayogi in 2007, the prana began to build up within my body to the extent that I feared it would explode. This was the Arambha Avastha. I learned later that there are another two knots Brahma granti and Rudra granthi. I learned further that further practice of pranayama would pierce these too and the six chakras. It was only after 18 years of practice that Agathiyar permitted me to withhold my breath in retention or Kumbhaka bringing me into the second stage of pranayama called Ghata Avastha. Next, we arrive at Parichaya Avastha where the piercing of the Rudra Granthi happens.
Nishpati avastha would follow subsequently where Kevala kumbhaka or sahaja kumbhaka which is "the holding of the breath with no particular state of respiration in consideration" happens. From asking us to forcefully take control of our breath and later just noticing it, Agathiyar asked us not to place any effort in breathing and told us that it shall go one on its own. We shall arrive at the fourth and final stage called Nishpati avastha, after which there is no longer a need for any yogic practice. This is said to be the state of Samadhi while still alive.
But to arrive at the state of Samadhi which is a return to the state of contentment one has to cleanse the physical body of the impurities that we have gathered over time. So is it with the many thoughts that we have come to attract? Then when the energy inherent in us is released it does its own clearing. Eventually, the physical home too is cleansed of the rubbish that we have gathered over the years thinking it would do some good in the future. This is what I have seen happening in the short time after Agathiyar had us go within in late 2019 till now. The home now reflects his home he tells us, having brought the Prapanjam down. The Prapanjam does its work just as Agathiyar told me that the energy that was awakened would do its work in us. If Agathiyar came by several years ago and spruced up my home then Bhoganathar came to brighten it further giving it a fresh coat of paint. He had me give away or throw away all that I thought would be useful one day. I guess this is the reason our elders had us clean our homes at least once a year on the pretext of ushering in the Pongal festival.
First, we are made aware of our past karma by the Siddhas. We are shown ways to cleanse it including performing rituals and charity. They have us drop all previous learnings, cleansing and ridding the wealth of knowledge that we have accumulated over the years from our encounters with others, devotees and holy men, books and all the readings and Satsang and all the listening and following. Standing naked and empty, they begin to fill us up. Bringing us to the next phase, they work on cleaning our body, mind, and thoughts having us observe the eight limbs of yoga. With the energies activated and clearing the path and cleansing the Nadis and Chakras, they open up wonders within the body, without our effort. The body becomes the abode of the divine energies. As it is said that a following evolves around a saint and that a saint's abode becomes a temple now they cleanse the home too turning it into a fitting temple.
In the movie "Pearl Harbor", the captain tells Cook Miller "The ship is proud of you, son" moments before they are surprised by a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Later when the captain lies dying and dispenses orders to Miller to convey to the crew, Miller tells him "Everyone is where they need to be, Captain. You trained us well." Similarly, if a guru has trained us well we can take charge in any circumstances. The student shall continue his legacy. He does not go seeking another guru. He is complete, filled with his guru's teachings to the brim that he upholds and follows.
Devotion too has to come spontaneously. Bhagawan Ramana speaks about his visits to temples in BV Narasimha Swami's book "Self Realization, The Life and Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi", Sri Ramanasramam, 1985. He describes his earlier experiences and that upon his awakening.
"After the awakening into the new life, I would go almost every evening to the temple. I would go alone and stand before Siva or Meenakshi or Nataraja or the sixty-three saints for long periods. I would feel waves of emotion overcoming me. The former hold on the body had been given up by my spirit since it ceased to cherish the idea 'I am the body'. The spirit therefore longed to have a fresh hold and hence the frequent visits to the temple and the overflow of the soul in profuse tears. This was God's play with the individual spirit. I would stand before Isvara, the controller of the universe and the destinies of all, the omniscient and omnipresent, and occasionally pray for the descent of his grace upon me so that my devotion might increase and become perpetual like that of the sixty-three saints. Mostly I would not pray at all, but let the deep within flow on and into the deep without. Tears would mark this overflow of the soul and not betoken any particular feeling of pleasure or pain."
I began to understand the reasons for the spontaneous flow of tears before the Gods at the temples I visited. The keyword here is spontaneity.
P. Karthigayan in his "History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu, Notion Press, 2016 beautifully summarizes the Siddha path. He writes, "The Siddha cult is initiated on one by fate, encouraged by his nature, kindled by god's will, endured by his aspiration and accomplished by his spontaneous knowledge." One could never come closer than this in describing the core elements that are needed if one were to come to the Siddha path. Even the handful of us who are relatively new to this path can advocate the truth in this. For instance, I was initiated into the path by fate too; encouraged by my nature to thoroughly learn everything that I laid my hands on; every act of mine was kindled by God's will, sustained by his grace, and halted at times out of his compassion and love; indeed I endured it all seeing his aspiration for me to see through his will, and finally I shall accomplish that by the gift of his spontaneous knowledge.