At times I think ignorance might be bliss. Our forefathers were ignorant of many happenings and hence led a peaceful life. Just imagine what knowledge has done to us these days. If ignorance led our forefathers to live in fear of the unknown, knowledge has led us to live in fear of the known. We need to be cautious and remind ourselves of dangers lurking around the corner or at every bend, and keep indoors for fear of contracting diseases, illnesses, etc. Many things that were a mystery then when probed and known come to haunt us each second. I guess that is why Agathiyar often says not to probe the source and the end. I guess that is the reason all the ideas conceived from reading and learning from others were put on hold for some 14 years and replaced with experience that came by walking with the Siddhas.
The net has replaced books these days though the die-hard still goes for the books. There is so much information about almost everything on the net these days. We seem to be drowning in news and information that comes from all sides, through the net, and speaking to others. Everyone is only too eager to spill what they know and their opinion about everything else. I too I suppose have joined the bandwagon. I think we need a break from all this onslaught of information. We need to find some time to be with ourselves, to be alone, to be sitting with ourselves, as a witness to whatever thought that arises in these moments of silence, and making sure not to pursue even that thought for it would be akin to an active mind engaged in external matters. We draw our attention to the breath that brings us to focus on the Agya chakra. The breathing stops momentarily on its own. The breath is still. There is stillness. When thought settles what could possibly remain? The Self. Dhakshanamurthy, the all knower. Everything shall dawn on us then. But sadly we including me can only engage with and remain in the source for these few moments only to continue the dance again. I too am desperately trying to prolong these moments. But the lure of the world is too strong. The lure of the flesh and its sensations, the lure of taste and its addictions, the lure of the sights, the lure of sound, the lure of smell, and the lure of our thoughts, seem too strong to break away. We have to admit that we are pretty weak. The day we are strong enough we shall break the ties and the cycle. Till then it would be partial attempts made to break away from both the circle and cycle.
Besides the good and positive the net is used to disperse hatred and enmity too. Hate speeches and accusations are hurled even by those professing that they follow a guru. I wonder how the guru does not stop this or maybe they are just following the guru or think that their actions might or would please him.
At times it looks like we are using God for our desires and purpose. When one who claims that he is devoted and loves God, chooses to stay indifferent when God assigns a task or decrees a no-no, choosing to follow his or her heart, then walks up to him, reaching out to him or asking that God bless his or her efforts, what is God supposed to do but to bless our ventures or train of thoughts or our actions. If we had instead chosen to live his vision and see through his desires would not that be far way above devotion and love for him? Only in doing his work shall one see contentment and completeness.
Just the other day I went over to the pharmacy to get something that could soothe my 3-year-old granddaughter who was coughing badly. The one who attended to me opened up that she has been doing Yoga for the past 2 years under the tutelage of a Yoga master running several centers. She was only 20. I was so delighted that she had started early. It was pretty obvious that she was seeing results. Take up a chore or task, service to God or others, puja or rituals, or Yoga and do it this instant. You shall see the transformation take place.
When gurus are known to beat around the bush in revealing the source and we are told that these secrets are hidden as Paripaasai in the songs of Siddhas, Swami Vivekananda had no time for games. He confronted his guru Ramakrishna Paramahansa to show him God. A classic tale is told in "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Introduction by Swami Nikhilananda", of how Ramakrishna gave Narendra @ Swami Vivekananda the experience of God rather than speaking about him or describing him.
"In a state of mental conflict and torture of soul, Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) came to Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. He was then eighteen years of age and had been in college for two years. He entered the Master's room accompanied by some light-hearted friends. At Sri Ramakrishna's request, he sang a few songs, pouring his whole soul into them, and the Master went into Samadhi. A few moments later Sri Ramakrishna suddenly left his seat, took Narendra by the hand, and led him to the screened verandah north of his room. They were alone. Addressing Narendra most tenderly, as if he were a friend of long acquaintance, the Master said: "Ah! You have come very late. Why have you been so unkind as to make me wait all these days? My ears are tired of hearing the futile words of worldly men. Oh, how I have longed to pour my spirit into the heart of someone fitted to receive my message!" Then, standing before Narendra with folded hands, he addressed him as Narayana, born on earth to remove the misery of humanity." Narendra was startled, "What is this I have come to see?" he said to himself. "He must be stark mad. Why, I am the son of Viswanath Dutta. How dare he speak this way to me?"
In answer to Narendra's question, "Sir, have you seen God?" the Master said: "Yes, I have seen God. I have seen Him more tangibly than I see you. I have talked to Him more intimately than I am talking to you." Narendra was amazed. These words he could not doubt. This was the first time he had ever heard a man saying that he had seen God. But he could not reconcile these words of the Master with the scene that had taken place on the verandah only a few moments before. He concluded that Sri Ramakrishna was a monomaniac, and returned home rather puzzled in mind.
During his second visit, about a month later, suddenly, at the touch of the Master, Narendra felt overwhelmed and saw the walls of the room and everything around him whirling and vanishing. "What are you doing to me?" he cried in terror. "I have father and mother at home." He saw his own ego and the whole universe was almost swallowed in a nameless void. With a laugh the Master easily restored him. Narendra thought he might have been hypnotized, but he could not understand how a monomaniac could cast a spell over the mind of a strong person like himself.
But during his third visit, Narendra fared no better. This time, at the Master's touch, he lost consciousness entirely. A few more meetings completely removed from Narendra's mind the last traces of the notion that Sri Ramakrishna might be a monomaniac or wily hypnotist.
Narendra, because of his Brahmo upbringing, considered it wholly blasphemous to look at man as one with his Creator. One day at the temple garden he laughingly said to a friend: "How silly! This jug is God! This cup is God! Whatever we see is God! And we too are God! Nothing could be more absurd." Sri Ramakrishna came out of his room and gently touched him. Spellbound, he immediately perceived that everything in the world was indeed God. A new universe opened around him. Returning home in a dazed state, he found there too that the food, the plate, the eater himself, and the people around him, were all God. When he walked in the street, he saw that the cabs, the horses, the streams of people, the buildings, were all Brahman. It took him several days to recover his normal self. He had a foretaste of the great experiences yet to come and realized that the words of the Vedanta were true."
Later attaining the state of a guru himself, he wrote "I could preach you thousands of sermons but they would not make you religious until you practiced the method. These are the truths of the sages of all countries, of all ages, of men pure and unselfish, who had no motive but to do good to the world. In all religions, we find that the truths they teach are the results of the experiences of particular persons. Thus it is clear that all the religions of the world have been built upon that one universal and adamantine foundation of all our knowledge that is direct experience. The teachers all saw God, they all saw their own souls, they saw their future, they saw their eternity, and what they saw they preached."
"To get the subtle perception we have to begin with the grosser perceptions. We have to get hold of that which is setting the whole engine in motion. That is the Prana, the most obvious manifestation of which is the breath. Then along with the breath, we shall slowly enter the body which will enable us to find out about the subtle forces, the nerve currents that are moving all over the body. As soon as we perceive and learn to feel them we shall begin to get control over them and over the body. The mind is also set in motion by these different nerve currents, so at last we shall reach the state of perfect control over the body and the mind making both our servants. The man who has discovered and learned how to manipulate the internal forces will get the whole of nature under his control. Very few people have the power to grasp the higher, fewer still the patience to attain it"
My farewell message in the Amudha Surabhi group reflected the words of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda too.
Agathiyar took time to spell out the ways and means of saving our souls. Agathiyar surprises us with the message and assurance that all of us shall eventually reach the state of Jeevan Mukti. But we need to come out of Maya first. If all this while we have been working on the body that is only a sheath or covering, adorning it with cosmetics, clothing, and ornaments, bathing it, feeding it, and praising the self and each other and inflating the ego, now he wants us to work on the soul. He wants us to take responsibility for our actions, and change accordingly, only then the soul come out of Maya. The soul needs to grieve over the sufferings of others. Then compassion begins to well in us. It's only when the soul feels the pain of another that it shall come to and remain on the path of the Siddhas. We need to work on this.
Bringing us to understand our role and true purpose in taking this birth, Agathiyar slowly brought us to understand the soul within and work on it too. We understood the soul to be the bridge that connected the body with the spirit. He brought us to strengthen the soul or gain Atma Balam by using the body as a tool. If initially we were told to gather merits or points by carrying out acts of dharma and service, leading to an accumulation of good karma that can be used to offset and balance those wrongs done intentionally or otherwise, slowly he brought us to realize that beyond and above collecting Bonus Link points that can be exchanged for gifts later on, these acts of charity serve the very purpose of dissolving the stone-hearted who never gave a second glance or look at the plight of the poor and hungry. If through worship the soul cried for the grace of the divine, his blessings, or arul and darshan or vision, now by doing charity, his soul now grieves for the pain and sufferings of a small section of society who are exposed to continuous suffering and misery. Then his glance falls on the sufferings and pain of animals too. Ramalinga Adigal went a step ahead and it pained him to see the plants and crops wither. Compassion arises in the hearts. Only when the soul griefs for the sufferings of others shall one come out of Maya says Agathiyar. The day we win over Maya and its grip and hold on us is the day we could possibly come to the fold of the Siddhas. The day compassion arises in us is the day we gain access to the Siddhas.
Hence the Siddha Margam is not for the masses as seen in Bakti and the temples, says Agathiyar strongly. It is definitely not for window shoppers and spectators. It is not for people who come to fulfill their material desires. I pointed out the need to serve through my blog writings revealing the reasons as told by Agathiyar. I have begged, pleaded, and came out harsh on those who chose to watch rather than help. Yet I could not melt those hearts. I could not trigger the compassion in them. My charm did not work on them. I dropped many from the group for their indifference to the plight of the poor and to my requests.
I have failed in trying to bring more people to do service to our fellow mankind. My next course of action would be that of Ramalinga Adigal too, "Vanthen Kadai Virithen. Vanguvaar Illai. Selgindren. I came with my wares. Sadly there was no buyer. I shall leave." As Ramalinga Adigal locked the doors to Satya Nyana Sabai, I shall bring the shutters down on Amudha Surabhi. We are moving to Siddhivalagam.