Wednesday 7 February 2024

THE SOUL'S DESIRE

A long-time friend in the Marga called me to ask if I knew any Siddha physician. I pointed him to my dear and close friend and Siddha practitioner who had helped me with Siddha medicines each time Agathiyar asked me to take them. Then he called me after seeing him and voiced his surprise. I sensed some uneasiness in him. The Siddha physician had told him that his son needed fish in his diet to overcome his health issues. I guess he could not accept it, being an orthodox and rigid follower of the Siddhas and being a vegetarian. But he fails to understand that there is a provision to give fish as an ancient Siddha medicine to patients by Siddha practitioners.

The Siddhas are truly radical. They break us and our hold on things, perspectives, and beliefs. Bhogar told a mother who was in the path of the Siddhas that she needed to take fish to correct her health issue. When my daughter lamented that though she was trying to bring up her children as vegetarians, the older generation rooted in their old ways forced meat and fish down their throats, Agathiyar consoled her by telling her that he would convert the food. How does that happen? When the relatives of a girl seeking a husband limited the choices for a groom insisting that he be a vegetarian and one who is into the worship of the Siddhas, Agathiyar asked them to open up to others too for how else can the Marga or way expand and flourish he asked. 

A Londoner Jay Lakhani tells us not to let the menu reflect one's spiritual stand. He says we should not classify people purely on their diet, "Do not reduce religion to the menu in your kitchen. Do not reduce religion purely to the idea of diet. It is not what you eat but how you lead your life that truly dictates whether you are truly religious or not." He quotes Swami Vivekananda as having said "When something within you tells you that you do not want to eat meat, you are ready to give up meat. But do not force it on other people or yourself. When you feel that these animals are almost human, the thought of how can you eat them arises. It must come from within you then you will give it up."

Why are some then slaves to their tongue? The lure of meat is too great a challenge for them to surpass. All desires including the lure of the flesh and tongue have to die a natural death. If restrictions were imposed and fear instilled, it would lay dormant only to take up its hood when the situation and conditions were conducive for it to flourish again. Hence the need to exhaust all worldly desires, never leaving even a seed to germinate later. A devotee who was vegetarian told Agathiyar that her father who loved fish had asked for it on his deathbed. Agathiyar told her to give it to him and appease his desire for he had come solely to fulfill his wants and desires, ஆசைக்கென்று எடுத்த பிறப்பு.

Please let people evolve in their own time. God is in no hurry so why are we rushing to convert and change others to comply with our choices. Take the hand of the divine in all matters and you shall be safe. Read more in my earlier post at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2018/10/to-be-or-not-to-be.html and at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2022/01/to-be-or-not-to-be-vegetarian-revisited.html

Agathiyar told me some time back that henceforth I should be writing about the soul or Atma. I wondered how I was to do it with my limited knowledge. I have not fully understood the gross world and life, how could I understand the subtle? Slowly he educated me. 

If many come to live out their individual desires, others live out their lives without knowing why they came till the end. By the grace of the divine, I came to know my purpose which surprisingly has aligned with my work, just as Agathiyar's revelation of his 5 tenets aligned with the activities at Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) that we did in the years between 2002 and 2019. When Agathiyar brought three youths to AVM and had me initiate the first into his mantra and the other two into the practice of Yoga, he told me that henceforth I shall be their guru. He added that I had desired it. I was taken aback for since day one having seen personally, read, and watched how spirituality too had deteriorated to a sad state just as the material world in all manners of speech and conduct, I had abstained from fear and kept to myself and shared my thoughts and experiences to only the few whom I knew. So I asked myself when I desired to be a guru? I asked Agathiyar the same. He remained quiet. 

When just days ago, Haary Roshaahn Yograj analyzed the "Spiritual Numerology of Moses" or better known as the "Soul Contract Reading" I was stunned to be told that my purpose in coming here was to be a catalytic spiritual teacher. Wanting to know further about this term, I came across Teal Swan articles at https://tealswan.com/resource, giving a detailed description of this term.

"A spiritual Catalyst is a person who precipitates an event or a change on the level of spirit (the essential, incorporeal part of someone or something). Spiritual Catalysts, like gurus, have attained a high level of spiritual authority, awareness, and knowledge, which enables them to guide others. Spiritual Catalysts, however, do not aim to become “Leaders” to their disciples as much as they wish to cause their disciples to question and find answers within themselves. It is the firm belief of a Spiritual Catalyst that if a person is caused to initiate their own exploration on the level of spirit, that person will then become the conscious leader of their own life. It is also the belief of a Spiritual Catalyst that if a person becomes the conscious creator and leader of their own life, that their life will inevitably become a kind of living enlightenment; thereby allowing that person to live in a continuous state of internal peace and joy."

This is exactly what Agathiyar told me and my family this evening. He told us how was he to depend on one person to do his work. He had to raise everyone to come to the state where they carry out his work. Agathiyar came this evening and surprised me asking if I had come to know my purpose here, stunning me further, referring to the reading. Again he said that as I had desired it he had to fulfill my desire. And again I asked myself when did I desire. Finally, it dawned on me that this desire was not one generated by Shanmugam Avadaiyappa in this birth, but that of the soul even before I was born. The "Spiritual Numerology of Moses" spoke about the soul's desire. When I shared the message with Haary he too was in disbelief initially but was glad to know the truth of his predictions. Agathiyar added that he had to prepare me as such I had to accept all the trials and tribulations that came and keep my calm and peace. He asked that I do nothing, telling me that he had not given me any practice as the present scenario I was in was a test in itself. 

Agathiyar is trying to break devotees' hold on the idol worship of the Siddhas too, getting them into the next phase which is Yogam. If Tavayogi stepped aside and showed us to Agathiyar, Agathiyar had us break away from temple worship or Sariyai first to bring us to the worship of a personal Siddha as in Kriyai and break that too, pressing us to take up Yogam and know the Self. He shall then come to explain and clarify bringing on the dawn of Gnanam. 

Ramalinga Adigal was offered to carry out God's work of creation, sustenance, destroying, veiling, and showering grace. He did not end his life in worship but became the very object of worship, merging in it. So did the Siddhas turn into divinity. But man opts to remain to serve, worship, and pray till the end. Man coming from temple worship comes to worship the guru or the Siddhas. He substitutes temple worship with the worship of the guru or the Siddhas. He keeps worshipping throughout his life. He forgets that he can step into the shoes of the guru, the Siddhas, and the divine.