I guess as I am 64 now, I can comply with all that the Siddhas task me to do. In fact, I am grateful that I had much time on my hands during my bachelor whence I began home puja to the deities at dawn and dusk. So did I have time to continue in 2001 from where I stopped for some good 14 years. Besides the songs in praise of the deities I included recitation of the names of the Siddhas from a small booklet given by the Nadi reader Senthilkumar. I began following the protocol as listed by Siva Sri Muthukumara Sivachariyar in his books "Illa Vazhipaadu" and "Alaya Vazhipaadu" that was sorts of a Standard Operating Procedure or "SOP" on how to go about with home puja and prayers at temples respectively. In "Illa Vazhipaadu" we are taught the ways to invite the deity of our liking to grace our homes. This book carried simple rituals and the appropriate mantras at each instance of the puja, that included inviting and welcoming and ushering the deity, giving a seat, giving a bath where applicable, providing a new attire, and serving food followed by singing their praises etc.
Singing songs has been in practice since time immemorial. A baby is put to sleep with a lullaby. Group of loggers haul their logs in a timely manner singing a song. The soldiers are sent off to war with a patriotic song. The military parades with the accompaniment of music. The Othuvar dishes out bakti or devotional songs in the temples. The saints are known to sing songs at the height of their devotion.
Then one day the singing stopped on its own accord. I could not sing further. I could only shed tears of joy and bliss. Soon the rituals too stopped. It was time to just sit and imbibe the energies that were inherent around us, summoned by the years of worship to the deities and the Siddhas. That was the start of the Prapanjam connecting with us and coming down as minute showers in devotees who were receptive to these energies. One day Ramalinga Adigal came unannounced and brought down the full force of the Arutjothi and Prapanjam that almost lifted the devotee through whom he came off the floor if we had not held on to him tightly. Soon he came regularly and taught us to tap into the Prapanjam's energy. It was truly and literally an uplifting experience.
Then Agathiyar brought down the Prapanjam to stay for good replacing his bronze statue in which he resided in the days of his stay at AVM and had us move him to another devotee's home. Recently Lord Murugan asked the new host if they were ready to depart with him. As the couple kept quiet, he moved on acknowledging that they were not ready as yet to take the next big step.
It is something to befriend the Siddhas. It is totally mind blowing to have the Prapanjam at our side. It was all possible when I opened my heart and my home to them, inviting them to take abode in both these spaces. For one who was steeped in the worship of deities and temple worship, Paramahansa Yogananda's autobiography opened my eyes to the existence of gurus in physical form. Supramania Swami opened my heart to accept them. If Tavayogi officially introduced me to the path and showed me Agathiyar as God, as Siva and as VaSi the breath, Ramalinga Adigal linked us to the Prapanjam. Agathiyar who permanently took residence in our home, filling it with its energies, revealed himself as the Prapanjam. The Prapanjam in turn took the form of Vaalai and resides in the home and as our breath. The home took on appropriate names as it transformed: from his garden Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia to a sacred center of learning and practice, Agathiyar Tapovanam Malaysia and much later becoming a place where Gnanam was dispensed taking on the name Gnana Kottam. If these transformations took place externally similar transformations were taking place internally too at times unaware and at other times fighting for my attention. But the Siddhas were with me every moment in time. They were there each time I fell seeing to it that I was not hurt. They were wise not to start the transformation earlier as it would have affected my mobility and attendance at work. Now they can do as they wish and please as I am relieved of my responsibilities. Even if I were to drop dead in the midst of this transformation it does not matter for as both my gurus said we shall come back to continue from where we left. Arriving here at this spot on the spiritual ladder itself is something that I did not bargain or expect. It indeed was gifted by the Siddhas though they always told us that nothing was gifted. For how else can I explain the immense treasures that they have passed on to me to cherish and share. The very proximity to them itself is something beyond this world and beyond our achievements. And all we did to deserve the world was to listen, follow, practice and uphold obediently everything said. The guru's word is indeed the mantra.