TAKING BIRTH REPEATEDLY

Though it is wonderful to see the field bloom with flowers of the same color as far as the eyes can see, adding another color brings a highlight to the plain. Life is full of color. So is it with people. While some might sail the seas without any idea where they are headed, letting the winds determine the course, others might set a goal or have a goal forced on them or take up following another as a mentor. Man who was simple to the core is a complex being now as a result of his desires to the extent that his pretty short lifespan cannot possibly accommodate. Hence, we need to take that many births to exhaust and drain these desires. 

I used to wonder why Tavayogi kept repeating the same speech everywhere he went? Reading the book "Jeeva Brahmakya Vedanta Ragasiyam" by Satchidananda Yogeeswar I was asking myself why he repeats the same matter again and again in subsequent pages. He answers my query in a later chapter saying that one needs to drive a notion again and again so that it is registered and remembered. So too I guess I end up repeating the same in these pages. Please bear with me.

What seemed to be a repetitive speech that Tavayogi gave whenever he took the stage to talk seemed to make sense now. He used to compare the effort and work needed in molding and making a Siddha to the effort and work needed before one could plant a seed on the fields. It doesn't end there. One has to water and care for it before it comes to be harvested. If Tavayogi helped us prepare the grounds and planted the seed in us, Agathiyar continues to care for the crop. He often reminds me not to let his effort and work he put in in us go to waste. 

Agathiyar compares making a Siddha out of us with making and perfecting a musical instrument that could reproduce all the notes that the musician intended. It takes time and perfection. To produce music, he has to assemble and bring together numerous musical instruments and players. Similarly, Agathiyar brought our attention to how difficult it was to bring together all the components needed to perfect a man. "If music itself has so many variations imagine how varied man would be", he asked. It is indeed an uphill task. "Imagine the variations in your atoms and cells. Imagine the various thoughts amongst you. The Siddha needs time to gather all these components and bring them together just as the strings are laid out precisely in a Veena and played." 

இப்படி இசைக்கே எவ்வளவு மாற்றங்கள் இருக்கும் போது மனிதனாகிய நீங்கள் எவ்வளவு வேறுபட்டு இருப்பீர்கள். உங்களுக்குள் இருக்கும் அணுக்கள் எவ்வளவு வேறுபட்டு இருக்கும். உங்களின் எண்ணங்கள் எவ்வளவு வேறு பட்டு இருக்கும். இவைகளை ஒவ்வொன்றும் பிடித்து  வளைத்து வீணைபோல் நரம்பினை மீட்டி இசையாய் வெளியிடுவதற்குச் சித்தனுக்குக் காலம் வேண்டுமே. 

When I told him that we would need a long life to accommodate all these changes, அதற்கு நீண்ட ஆயுளும் வேண்டுமே, he replied that that is the reason we are reborn again and again, அதற்காகத்தான் மனிதர்களுக்கு அத்தனை பிறவிகள். 

There you have it. The reason to take birth again and again. But if one were to break the code and enter the portal, he ends the cycle. The key and the answers and the way lies with the Soul. It is time we focused on knowing our Atma or Soul. It is time we listened to it rather than the Ego. The Atma only speaks when we are silent. When our thoughts die down. When we take a sit. When we begin to look within. Take time for yourself or rather your Atma. Let it speak to you in these moments of silence. Know thy Atma before it is too late, and it leaves the body. At least put in some effort now so that in the event there is a need to take another birth, the soul shall help us recall our past ventures and bring forth these experiences. Agathiyar says that the one whose soul awakens in him comes in search of the Siddhas. The Siddha shall usher him and care for him.

ஆன்மாவைத் தேடுபவனுக்கு அவன் மேற்கொள்ளும் அனுபவங்கள் எல்லாம் ஆன்மாவோடு பதிந்து  விடும். மீண்டும் மறுபிறவி எடுப்பானாயின் ஒரு பொழுது அவனுக்கு அந்த ஆன்ம அவனுடைய முன் ஜென்ம அனுபவங்களை அவனுக்குத் தூண்டிவிடும். தீண்டல் பெற்றவன் சித்தனை நாடி வந்து விடுவான். சித்தனும் உங்களைக் கவனித்து வருவார்கள். 

The Atma or Soul is in existence then, now and ever. If man engages bodily he shall not retain the experiences. The one in search of his soul shall have all the experiences embedded in it.  

உடலுக்குத் தான் முதலும் ஆரம்பமும் முடிவும். உனது ஆன்மாவிற்கு அல்ல. வாழும் மனிதன் உடலால் மட்டும் வாழ்ந்துவிட்டால் அனுபவங்கள் ஆன்மாவோடு பதியாது. ஆன்மாவைத் தேடுபவனுக்கு அவன் மேற்கொள்ளும் அனுபவங்கள் எல்லாம் ஆன்மாவோடு பதிந்து  விடும். 

The Atma does not carry the imprints of karma. He revealed that the Atma in fact helps clear our karma by showing us the way. Once karma is cleared the search to know the Atma intensifies. His search for worldly gains loses its intensity and his seeking would solely be on knowing the Atma (Agathiyar) and reaching him.

ஆன்மா உனது கர்ம வினை தாங்கி வருவது அல்ல, ஆனால் ஆன்மாவே உனது கர்ம வினையைச் சரிசெய்வதற்கு உதவி புரியும். கர்மவை சரி செய்த பின், ஆன்மாவின் தேடல் அதிகமாகி மனிதனின் அன்றாட தேடல் தீர்ந்து போகும். அவன் தேடல் முழுதாய் என்னையே தேடி வர முயற்சி செய்யும்.

Once you come under the purview of the Siddhas you are in safe hands. Our problems are his problems. He wards off dangers. Though there are many instances that break our faith on the Siddhas, we have to understand that we shall never know the underlying circumstances that lead to something awful happening. Only he knows and he is not telling. Agathiyar had refused to reveal why someone went through hardship and torment. But upon his insistence Agathiyar finally revealed the truth of him taking another birth and suffering. He had robbed the honor of his own daughter. Hearing this the man committed suicide. I too was said to have erred in a past birth and earned the wrath and curse of others. According to Agathiyar, I had Brahmahathi Dosham that was carried and lingered on in this birth that I had to clear by giving donations to three Brahmins and visiting the temple for Saturn and another that house the Trimurti, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. I did not know the extent of my sin until Muthukumar Swami of Kutrallam spoke about it. It means someone had killed a Brahmana, a child or a cow in his life. We just do not know the story behind our story or rather history.