Tuesday 16 January 2024

LOOKING FOR A PATH?

Can one become a Siddha by mere reading of Siddha texts? Can one become a Siddha by researching and writing about them? Can one become a Siddha by reading their Nadi for himself and others? All these shall provide knowledge about the Siddhas and make one well-versed in the subject of Siddhas. That is all that it does. One has to walk the path. What is then the path of the Siddhas? Do we need to bring changes to our present lifestyle and times and begin to lead a life like them as they did in ancient times? If yes what was life back then? So what did Agathiyar mean when he told me to come to the path of the Siddhas in my very first Nadi reading? Besides worshiping Lord Ganapathy and Lord Shiva, he told me to worship him (Agathiyar) and the Siddhas too. I was familiar with the former two Gods but worship of the Siddhas was something new and unheard of back then when I was 43 in 2002. Accompanying me throughout my reading was the 24-year-old Sivabalan who brought in the Nadi reader Sentilkumar of Avinashi following the tradition that his parents and uncle Sivamani had set. He immediately gave me or rather sold me a painting of Agathiyar for RM11. So I bought Agathiyar paying a price and brought him home. When I completed paying homage to the Nadi and the Siddhas for documenting my life in these dried palm leaves, called Nadikku Dhaanam, I learned the ritual of worshiping the Siddhas with flowers and gifts and reciting their names. Thus my journey began in worshipping the Siddhas in the privacy and comfort of my home. The first place I headed for to learn more about Agathiyar was the local affiliate of the parent Agathiyar Sanmarga Sangam (Ongaarakudil) as I remembered them collecting donations on the streets. I headed for Dengkil and learned about the movement and its guru Thavathiru Rengarajah Desigar, from Anbarasan, Vasanthi, and Manivannan. I purchased VCD's of talks given by their guru and books in print.  In 2005, I came before Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Agathiyar Gnana Peedham (of Kallar) who was here to officiate an affiliate body of his Peedham. Now I had a guru who officially initiated me into the path. I followed him a month later to India where he took me places and showed me miracles. He brings me to include my family too in the puja. I had a guru who helped me polish my skills in Yoga practice in 2007 picked up from books, fine-tuned the rituals including the Homam that he had initiated over the phone, and introduced new practices and rituals to enhance and uplift my standing. In 2013 my family and I traveled to Kallar ashram after Agathiyar sounded an alarm in the Nadi. Agathiyar sent youths to my home after their Nadi reading the same year to watch and participate in our home puja. I guess I was an accomplished Sadhaka then who could show others the path too.  Agathiyar initiated us to carry out charity giving us the numbers of volunteers needed for this task and showing us to the recipients of these aid. 

Then it was time to turn our attention inward. He had me wind up the WhatsApp groups Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) and its charity arm Amudha Surabhi which kept us updated on puja and charity in 2019. After Tavayogi officially initiated us into Yoga showing us some Asanas and Pranayama techniques, these practices triggered energies, in the Muladara chakra, awakening the sleeping giant unknowingly, that saw the body go through pain and discomfort. But Agathiyar was by my side assuring me that it was all part of the process. Seeing the pain come on in 2010 and leave in 2012 only to make a comeback in 2016 and later in 2018, it left me completely in 2020 after the energies that had ponded in the Manipuraka chakra burst its banks and made their way in a jiffy to the Saharara chakra where it dwells till this moment reminding me of its presence by giving me sensations of a whirlpool and petals flowering at times and a piercing or rather stabbing or probing sensation at other times. After Sariyai, Kriyai, and Yogam, Agathiyar had us know the nuances of the many possibilities in Yoga that were identified as the 8 limbs or Ashtanga Yoga. 

This is how I have arrived to where I am today taking up Agathiyar's call in the Nadi to come to his path. Though the paths and experiences are many, those who do not have any inkling of where to start may follow what I did and pray that Agathiyar and the Siddhas will guide you further. Have a safe journey.