THE TRANSFORMATION

If everything is God's doing, and we are asked to accept whatever comes our way as we had earned that sometime back in the past and it is returning to us now, be it good or bad, why are the Siddhas prepared to help us out here? It can only mean that though it is all a movie played before us and a play of the divine and that the soul sought to have these experiences, there is some avenue to bring some changes, and there is some free will with us to responsibly change the outcome of things that are to take place. Though the saints have chosen not to touch or change or move things for their personal gains, they come to our aid when called for. The Siddhas are known to give us hope and raise our spirits when the going gets tough. We need only listen and comply. 

Looking at whatever little we know of the Siddhas they are with us in the subtle, in spirit, as the soul, and in the gross. How did they come to reach that state having lived and walked the face of the earth just as we are doing now? It is said that they went through a transformation that saw them turn their gross body into the subtle. Though the works of the Siddhas are incomprehensible Ramalinga Adigal who came last in this lineage did manage to shed some light on how he shed his mortal form and joined the rest of the Siddhas shining in the sky as stars and one with the Prapanjam. A rare account if not the one and only, is given of this transformation that took place in the last moments before Ramalinga Adigal disappeared in his room as we say into thin air, at Siddhi Valagam in Methukuppam, in the article "A Vision of Dematerialization of Ramalinga's Living Body" by Gangadharan, a disciple of Mother Mira Alfassa on the now-defunct website http://www.ramalinga.com. It was stated that Mother Mira Alfassa who was an aid of Sri Aurobindo of Pondicherry had seen, during her meditation, the happenings that took place on that memorable Friday night when Ramalinga Adigal attained the Jothi in Sidhi Valagam. Ramalinga Adigal seems to have even gotten rid of the gross body for when the authorities entered his room Siddhi Valagam in Methukuppam, what they saw was an empty room latched on the outside. Where did he go? What happened to his physical body? To understand his end we have to visit the events leading to his transformation. It did not happen overnight but it was a gradual process of a reversal of some kind. 

Dr.C.Srinivasan in his book "An Introduction to the Philosophy of Ramalinga Swami", published by Illakkia Nilayam, Tiruchi, 1968 states that this was possible by the "Universal spiritual communion and devotion to God, and allowing God to be infused in him. The Light of Grace was infused in him. God and the light of Grace had alchemized Ramalinga Adigal's body and finally, he became blazed with the Supreme Grace  Light." This becomes pretty obvious when one follows his experiences and devotional out-pourings, laments, wailing, utterances, plodding, pleading, petitions, and revelations as compiled in the form of the Thiruarutpa.

G.Vanmikanathan in his "Pathway to God Trod by Saint Ramalingar", published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, has given us a beautiful and much-awaited biography cum journal on the saint's experiences and spiritual evolution. 

Vanmikanathan writes,

"Though the period between 1823 and 1835, i.e., from the date of birth to the 12th year of our Swaamikal has been classified as the period of Kandhakottam, .. which has as its theme-shrine the temple of Murukan in Kandhakottam which goes today by the name of Kandhaswaami Koil... He is initiated by Murukan Himself into the methods of His worship." 

Here we have to acknowledge that all Saints have had a beginning in Bakthi or devotion too. 

Gnana Bharathi in his book “Tamil Mannin Thanthai” writes that at 12 years of age, Ramalingam followed a guru and traveled the hills and the plains to the abodes of the Siddhas. Coming to know that there was indeed a way to remain immortal he sat in tapas for 12 years under the tutelage of his guru. At the end of the 12-year tapas, his body glittered like gold and his guru himself could not bring himself to see Ramalingam as he shone with blinding brightness. Ramalingam had attained a body that could not be affected by the five elements and could not be brought down by any other factors. His body was to know no hunger and thirst too, said his guru. His guru blessed him to teach the path to others so that they too could defeat death. Ramalingam was by then 24. Ramalingam came back to the society. What he saw disturbed him a lot. He felt the sufferings of the innocent people who were being manipulated by certain quarters in all ways possible. Besides discrimination based on caste and the multitude of religions that had arisen, he saw other faiths moving in and encroaching on the locals who were in a dire state of disarray. He fought the problems that had cropped up in his absence that had infiltrated society during that time. To the locals in Patiripuliyur who gathered around him and sought his advice over the confusion that had arisen after another movement was telling them that they should leave idol worship, Ramalinga Adigal replied to them to continue what they were currently doing as that was best for them. Bhagawan Ramana too is known to ask those who enquired about the path to follow, to follow what they were currently doing. 

Ramalingam began a journey of propagating his newfound path, the worship of Light bringing salvation to their souls, beginning in Chennai and proceeding to Thiruvotriyur and Tirutani, moving to Pondicherry and then later to Chidambaram, Sirgazhi, and Vaitheeswaram, moving south to Madurai, Thiruvathavur, Thiruperunturai, and Karunkuzhi and briefly returning to Madurai, before settling at Karungkuzhi from where he frequented Chidambaram. Staying at Karunguzhi he began to supervise and direct the construction of the Dharma Salai to feed the hungry on a piece of land some 80 acres in size donated by the locals at Vadalur. He brought together his followers through the Sanmarga Sangam and educated them in divine knowledge or Gnanam through the Sanmarga Bhotini Padasalai. 

He would stand before the Lord whom he took as his guru asking him to command his next tasks. "தொழுதுநிற் கின்றனன் செய்பணி எல்லாம், சொல்லுதல் வேண்டும்என் வல்லசற் குருவே"

Ramalinga Adigal proclaimed that he gained Mukthi and with it came Gnanam and Sitthi and finally became a Siddha. 

முத்தியைப் பெற்றேன் அம் முத்தியினால் ஞான, சித்தியை உற்றேன் என்று உந்தீபற, சித்தனும் ஆனேன் என்று உந்தீபற.

He claimed that it is through divine experience stretching beyond even the supra-mental consciousness that Arutperunjothi shows himself and can be realized. தனுகர ணாதிகள் தாங்கடந் தறியுமோர் அநுபவம் ஆகிய அருட்பெருஞ் ஜோதி. 

For this transformation and its accompanying experience to happen, we need to let him in. He has to take residence in our hearts which then becomes his Sabai where we can seek refuge. சபை எனதுளமெனத் தானமர்ந் தெனக்கே அபய மளித்ததோர் அருட்பெருஞ் ஜோதி.

Ramalinga Adigal says that in gaining Siva Anubhavam he was admitted, "into Samarasa Sanmargam by the bounteous and boundless descent of the auspicious Supreme Being in him which resulted in his immortality". பெரிய சிவ அனுபவத்தால் சமரச சன்மார்க்கம் பெற்றேன் இங் கிறவாமை உற்றேன் காண் தோழி.

Ramalinga expounds that only God would know what he experienced. சந்நிதியிற் சென்று நான் பெற்ற பேறது சாமி யறிவாரடி.

When many choose to not reveal God's grace working in and through them, just as the battle cry and eventual victory cry are let out amongst the beat of the drums and the blow of the horns upon the conquest of a domain Ramalinga Adigal beats the drums and blows the horn at his achievement and God's grace. "Blaze with the drum that I have become one with the Supreme Blaze of Grace; Blaze that I have acquired the kingdom of Grace Supreme". அருட்சோதி ஆனேன் என்று அறையப்பா முரசு, அருளாட்சி பெற்றேன் என்று அறையப்பா முரசு, மருட்சார்பு தீர்ந்தேன் என்று அறையப்பா முரசு, மரணந்த விர்ந்தேன் என்று அறையப்பா முரசு.

Indeed why should we shy away from sharing these achievements especially if it came not by our efforts but by his grace and compassion and when his form and speech became that of God. தன்னுரு என்னுறு தன்னுரை என்னுரை என்ன இயற்றிய என்தனித் தந்தையே. 

Ramalinga Adigal lists how God's grace worked on him to transform him into an image of His in his 1596 verses on Arutperunjothi. Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar breaks this long song down into sub-topics in his publication entitled "Gnanigal Aruliya Tinasari Paaraayana Nool". The beginning verses touch on the creation. Ramalinga Adigal then mentions the various bodies that man is made of. From seeing God externally initially, he brings us to see him within. With His Divine Grace (திருவருள் வல்லபம்), his relationship with the divine blossoms, bringing him to see the divine as Sivam Pathi (சிவபதி), Arul Guru (அருள் குரு) and becoming his Life Breath or Uyir that takes on many manifestations, including that of Mother (உயிர்த் தாய்), Father (உயிர்த் தந்தை), Partner (உயிர்த் துணை), Friend (உயிர் நட்பு), and finally a bond that is cemented with the Life Breath (உயிர் உறவு). He becomes the very essence of Nature (Satthu or இயற்கை உண்மை (சத்து). He gains divine understanding (Sitthu or இயற்கை விளக்கம் (சித்து). As a result of this understanding, he moves into a state of total bliss (Aanandham or இயற்கை இன்பம் (ஆனந்தம்). Henceforth the divine nectar (Arul Amudham or அருள் அமுதம்) flows within and without bringing endless Grace to him and Joy to all those who come in touch with him.

Gnana Bharathi in his book “Tamil Mannin Thanthai”, mentions that before he entered the room at Sittivalagam Thirumaligai in 1874 and merged with God, Ramalinga Adigal told those who had gathered that although he would be out of sight, he would go into a PerAnandha Nittirai or the Slumber or Sleep of Great Bliss. He shall be around another 42,000 years as a Gnana Siddhar and after that take on the form Pranava Degam and become a Pranava Degi. 

His final moments are vividly shown in detail and moment to moment to the blessed Mother Mira Alfassa in her moment of meditation who shared it with Gangadharan. Gangadharan wrote as follows.

He was verily a supreme form of the divine. A flood of light radiated from his pure and luminous body in all directions. The intensity of the flood of light that radiated from his whole body was very powerful and one shall have the strength and capacity to bear and receive it. My (Mother Mira Alfassa) whole body vibrated with joy and pleasantness because of the vision of the light of his body.

After some time of concentration, he rose up and saw the physical sky. The full moon was shedding its blissful cool rays over the earth. A little distance away from the moon was seen a very bright dazzling star of light. Vallalar poured his concentrated gaze at it for some time. He became enraptured with blissful joy in his heart, which radiated on his face. A little time thereafter, he again sat on the white seat of the plank and entered into deep concentration.

Though Vallalar was inside the closed and bolted room, he could see clearly the whole universe with its tiers of many worlds of mind, life, and the physical including the physical earth and sky with its moon, stars, and clouds.

When he was thus absorbed in deep concentration, an effulgent truth-light of grace broke out from his heart and with its unique heat began to burn his radiant physical body very slowly, as at a snail's speed, and that in an upward direction, from the heart towards the head. The burning of the body may be somewhat likened to that of an incense stick which however burns downwards by its inner heat of fire, forming ash covering but without the falling down of the ash-form. When the upper part of his radiant body was burnt completely from heart to head, there was left in its place a form of pure white substance, which also radiated its light of consciousness. The burnt part, however, showed all its features intact and clearly, and even the burnt hair of his head was seen distinctly as luminous white hair. Then the heat of the pure light of grace descended to burn the lower part.

After the whole body was thus burnt, Vallalar was seen as a bodily form of pure white substance from head to foot, radiating its light. The white form kept intact all the different kinds of cells of his body and all the distinctive features and formations of his interior and exterior body. His bodily form did not shrink in size after the burning. I saw no visible flame nor sensed its heat during the burning of his living body, nor smoke, nor any bad smell as of burnt tissues, nor heard any cracking noise as of burnt bones. Instead, there was a sweet fragrance since the time his body began to burn and it spread everywhere. I sensed in my heart an ineffable calmness and silence, which gave me in turn a state of bliss.

Now a second stage of burning began. The unique heat of grace light began to burn slowly Valalalar's luminous form of white substance from head to foot downwards. When his white substance full of its radiating light, was thus burnt completely, the white substance became very fine sub-atomic conscious particles, which permeated and pervaded the entire universe and the farther pure worlds of consciousness beyond. The fine, white, and conscious particles with their radiating light also entered into and got distributed everywhere on the earth and even in matter. After the universal pervasive distribution of the particles, they could be seen no more and disappeared from my sight. Now there pervaded everywhere the sweet, soft, and fine fragrance of camphor which gave my body a blissful sensation and enraptured my heart as well.

Then I had the rare vision of Vallalar's universal luminous golden form. In fact, the immensity of his golden form is contained in the whole universe. This form too disappeared from my view and was replaced by another vision in which I saw the golden light of truth-knowledge and grace entering into all the directions more speedily than the lightning. It permeated and pervaded the whole universe and the farther pure worlds of consciousness. It entered into our earth and all its crores of the physical forms of beings and objects and in the apparently insensible matter and even in the very dark realm of the vast in conscience. All the forms that were permeated by the golden light of truth changed into golden forms of beings and objects. The golden light entered my whole Adhara including the physical body. My body felt in all the cells vibrations of ease and pleasantness.

Then I heard some words of grace. However, they were indistinctly heard and could not be deciphered, as I was absorbed in a rapture of bliss due to the sublime vision and experiences. Thus, the vision lasted an hour and ended.

The ordinary but fantastic workhorse that is our mortal human body which houses the divine is like all living things and matter subjected to aging, disease, illnesses, seizures, failing organs, etc that leads to death in the former and deterioration as in the latter, is truly a miracle. It has to be cared for as a prized possession since we are reminded by the saints that human birth is a rare opportunity and the physical body a vehicle to attain states unconceivable by the human brain. The magic starts in the womb of a mother at the moment of fertilization of the egg creating a zygote that rapidly divides into many cells turning into a blastocyst and developing into the embryo and later fetus. A divine hand is seen shaping it and seeing through the whole process. How can we then waste this miraculous body given to us?

Just as it is only one who has been there who can relate what takes place, the Siddhas seemed to have spoken about these transformations but it is incomprehensible to us. Rather than talk about it, the Siddhas decided that we should have the experience first, and only then can we truly and fully understand the process. So they quit talking and gave us practices and tasks that eventually shall work wonders in us bringing the transformation slowly within us without jeopardizing our daily routine. We need only listen and comply. Karma that brings hardship, suffering, and illnesses can be faced and endured in life by accepting the divine will and living it out without interfering as the saints do. Karma can also be spent by making difficult pilgrimages that wear it down as the devotees do. Hence the Siddhas have us go on pilgrimages that help shed the Karma that we carry around and the excess fat that we carry with us too. Karma can also be burnt in the sacrificial fire and by doing austerities and tapas as the Sadhaka does. Karma can be remodeled and shaped by taking on Yoga and putting our body to the test as the Yogis do. Once we rid Karma, the score is settled and a balance brought about in our account written in the book of merits, we need to rid the body of all the accumulated poison consumed over the years by consuming herbs that clear the entire system and bring a balance to the three Dosas. Then we need to rebuild this house by consuming Sattvic or pure food and strengthen it by taking herbal preparations or Kaya Kalpam. When this body is perfected we gain the state of a Suddha degam or a purified body fit to receive him now. By the grace of the divine the dormant energies are awakened within that then begin to their work effortlessly, without our efforts as in the earlier phases. Transformation on a subtle level takes place. Just as a rapidly flowing river does, it clears the Nadis in the subtle body of all blockage and turns the wheels of the chakras or turbines to spin vigorously channeling the energies for us in the higher realms. The impure body that is subject to decay and putrefaction is turned into an imperishable body. The Siddha, Rishi, Gnani, and Yogi then decide what to do next, to leave and carry on doing God's work in his realm or to remain and herd the rest of us towards the Light. Many like the Siddhas chose to be in the subtle realm but work on us in the physical realm. Ramalinga Adigal’s disciple Kalpattu Aiya was adamant that his guru would come to take him just as he had come to Kalpattu Aiya’s home and instructed him to Vadalur, hence taking him in. After 25 years on 26 April 1902, his wish came true. Ramalinga Adigal appeared before Kalpattu Aiya. In that state of joy, Kalpattu Aiya dropped his mortal frame. Ramalinga did the last rites for Kalpattu Aiya. Dhanvantri too told us that Tavayogi who had attained Light would continue to guide us. Both Bhagawan Nithyananda and Yogi Ramsuratkumar told their disciples that they could do more in the subtle realm. The Yogi came to my guru Supramania Swami days after his Samadhi and passed him his picture. The Yogi came from his Samadhi and sat with Swami and me and joined us in reciting his name. The Yogi came to us at AVM twice through a devotee. The Saints are very much alive and with us. We just need to summon them. Like his guru, Supramania Swami showed his presence in our home too. Tavayogi too came to address us several times after his Samadhi. Now I understand why we were asked to recite the names of the Siddhas.