If one patronizes a spiritual movement and is comfortable going over and participating in its events he would never become a spiritual head or leader. Neither will the existing head of the establishment give way. He would only know the true extent of hosting and running a show if he moved out to start on his own. When a devotee who frequented AVM and participated in its puja and charity activities, in moving into a new home, wanted to conduct a puja and sought permission for Agathiyar to grace his home in the form of his murthy or statue, Agathiyar granted his wish but reminded me that my wife and children should not be involved in the preparations. Mahindren whom he sought assistance from arrived only later due to some miscommunication on the time of the puja. The host had to do everything with his wife and a close friend of his. We were merely a witness. As he took much time and it was past the set time, Agathiyar came and announced to all that he was already there and asked to start the puja immediately. After the puja, he confessed that it was no joke hosting a Siddha puja.
I wanted the devotees to start their journey as I did in my home back then. To help kickstart their journey we brought Agathiyar's statue into the homes of the handful who opened their doors to him to grace their homes. Later Agathiyar had me stop bringing him out. It was our desire to see them continue with Siddha puja in their homes turning it into another AVM. Lord Murugan in coming later relayed Tavayogi's similar wish too that each home become AVM. The general concession that devotees gather once a week on the day for the guru or on other auspicious days at a center or temple was set to be broken here at AVM. In September 2019, Agathiyar brought the shutters down on AVM and had them go their way. While some continued the puja with their family in their homes, for others their journey took a break or ended abruptly.
Seeing his disciple Guru Namasivayar reach the zenith of Gnanam, Guhai Namasivayar of Tiruvannamalai forced him out of his shadows and made him move to Chidambaram. The reluctant disciple after much persuasion made a deal that he would leave only if his guru showed up at Chidambaram. Upon arrival at the inner sanctum of the Chidambaram temple, he saw his guru waiting for him. A true guru upon monitoring the spiritual growth of his disciple would let him go. One has to even learn to leave the guru and vice versa for even that would account as an attachment.
As Agathiyar wanted the new host of the home he moved into as the statue to conduct his Jayanthi which shall be celebrated in numerous places this Saturday, the devotee called me asking what time should we start and whom to invite. I replied that since he was the host, he should decide. I believe that the moment Agathiyar's statue moved out of my home and my hands I should not dictate or determine the next course of action. He was under the purview of the host entirely. A devotee (A) was asked to part with a statue of Agathiyar that he had worshipped long with another devotee (B) in the Nadi. Agathiyar came in the Nadi of the new host (B) to ask him to receive him in his home. Citing various reasons, he (B) had the statue moved to the home of another devotee (C) who then cared for Agathiyar. When she (C) died the children decided to move him to a rented shophouse. (B) told me that he was saddened and disturbed hearing this. I told him to let go for it was not his concern anymore. Since Agathiyar had decided to move on he too should learn to do so.
Agathiyar has given numerous instructions to many. To some, he comes around asking if they complied. For others he lets them be, knowing pretty well that they shall come around to him sometime in the future. He moves on, seeking other potential souls to mold into a Siddha. I am glad that I was willing to part with him the very moment Agathiyar mentioned his intention to go over to Mahindren's home. But later he decides to move into the home of the new host, Krishna for reasons that only he knows. Along the way, he tested the new couple if they were willing to let him move home. But as they remained silent Agathiyar shelved the idea as they were not ready to move into the next phase. As there are two sides to the coin, while Agathiyar wanted to test them if they would let go and bring them to the next phase of Gnanam, they saw it as Agathiyar testing their devotion or Bhakti to him and keeping him.
As they say, the Siddhas and the Gods are having a field day playing their Lila, this is indeed a testing ground for us. If fellow men are known to test our patience, and nature, the Siddhas and the Gods do their part too in having us become "holy".
We read at https://medium.com/illumination,
"The nature of this World is that it is a Test — Unless the Believer convinces himself of that and instills this idea in his mind, and equips himself with patience (in the Face of tests), his life will become more difficult and he will miss out on reward."
Among the AVM family members, I was amazed to see some arrive at the right understanding and perception of life. The couple Balachander Aiya and Shanthi Amma, in their sixties like me, have come to terms with life accepting everything that comes their way as the will of God and his test. When a new mother spoke about having laid out three choices to name their newly born son, contemplating which to pick, I told her what Thondu Seivom Balachandran told me after coming out reading his very first Nadi. He asked me if his parents named him or Agathiyar for if his name was mentioned in the Nadi that was supposedly written thousands of years ago, how can his parents claim that they named him. To this the new mum surprised me by saying that we are living a movie that was already made, echoing Yogi Ramsuratkumar. Speaking to a follower of this blog and a devotee of Agathiyar, who had returned home to India to take a break from work in Germany, I was keen to know if he had come across any literature that could shed some light as to why the Chola dynasty said to rule as far as our shores decided to leave abruptly. There is said to be evidence that has yet to be unearthed pointing to their rule in the present-day Malay peninsula. I believe scholars in India could shed some light as the Cholas originated from India. But he surprised me that he preferred to read stuff that could enhance the souls rather than dwell on greed that drove men to amass more lands. Here is another candidate whom Agathiyar could begin to mold.