There is so much hype surrounding the initiations given by traveling and preaching gurus. We read and see videos of participants' bodies shaking uncontrollably, tears flowing, cries, and dancing. When I stepped into the room with my wife and another 6 souls who were there for initiation into the path of the Siddhas in 2005, Tavayogi had Perumal pass around a piece of paper on which was written a mantra. It was Agathiyar's initiation mantra or Teechai mantra, we learned later. Tavayogi spoke a few words and told us to chant the mantra always. That was all to it. While the others dispersed, my family stayed back with him where we spoke further regarding many things but nothing about the initiation. Earlier in the morning when I met him for the very first time, telling him that I had read the Nadi and Agathiyar had asked to come to the worship of the Siddhas, he told me that I had come to the right place where the initiators of the affiliate Peddham he came to officiate would lead me. He also wanted me to bring my family into the fold and the worship of the Siddhas. I had been worshipping the Siddhas in my home alone for the past 3 years then after my very first Nadi reading in 2002. He told me it was not enough that I came. They had to come too. That is how my meeting with him and our initiation later in the evening ended. Nothing dramatic.
He pointed me to Nadi Nool Aasan T. Ramesh when I told him that Agathiyar had asked me to come back for a reading after 3 years which was about then. Just before he left for his Kallar ashram, Agathiyar in the Nadi asked that I immediately get initiated by Tavayogi. I rushed to meet him that very night after the reading. Though we were both puzzled, Tavayogi obliged. But this time he just touched my shoulders. That was all to it. That is how my second initiation ended. Nothing dramatic.
Following on his heels a month after he left for India, Tavayogi took me to several places mentioned by Agathiyar in the Nadi reading. When we were returning back to the ashram having covered the jungles and caves, temples, and abodes of the Siddhas, I told him that this trip should not end like any that a tourist takes. I told him I needed something to work on. Just before I left for Malaysia he called me over and gave me another initiation. It was a mantra that he spoke out and I wrote down. That was all to it. That is how my third initiation ended. Nothing dramatic.
Many years later he emailed me a mantra and asked that I chant it. That was all to it. That is how my fourth initiation ended. Nothing dramatic.
In all these initiations he did not fell me, have me dance nor cry out in ecstasy. Instead, he gave me homework to do. Yes, I had to recite and chant, and slowly the powers of these mantras manifested in me. There was no easy way to it.
When Tavayogi visited us again in 2007, he passed on certain Pranayama and Asana practices, showing us and having us follow him in doing it. That was all to it. That is how the move to the next phase that of Yogam was initiated to accompany the rituals and recitation of mantras of Sariyai and Kriyai that were being carried out then. Nothing dramatic. I had to practice what he gave. It activated the Mooladhara chakra without my knowing. Nothing dramatic until Agathiyar revealed the activation as the cause for the pain in my lower back in 2010 that stayed on for some 2 1/2 years, in a Nadi reading.
Even when Agathiyar came to us as the bronze statue, he instructed that we recite his name 100,000 times. But my family and friends could only manage 48,000 times that morning of 3rd January 2010. As our throats hurt we stopped. That was all to it. That is how imparting the energies into his statue and energizing it ended. Nothing dramatic then. The following weekend Agathiyar mentions in a Nadi reading that he had accepted the puja. But as the years went on in 2013 to our amazement he opened his eyes in this bronze statue.
As the years went by, when the bridge was completely drawn down giving them direct access to our home, the real action and showdown began. The Siddhas began to manifest, bringing their messages. Soon they came through selected devotees. It was only after years of worship to the Siddhas and apprenticeship to the guru that these miracles took place. When we earned their trust and had stayed on long enough, 12 years according to Tavayogi, they began to manifest their energies in numerous ways. The action and their lila go on till this day. We never sought explanations and neither did they provide one. They only told us to step aside and watch their play or lila. Besides carrying out miracles, healing, and blessing they began to dispense Gnanam too. They brought torrents of Gnanam on us. For instance, just as the Buddhists considered everything as meditation, Agathiyar too asked us to do everything with care and attention which is equivalent to the meditation done by Buddhists. Agathiyar told us everything we did this far was puja too. For instance, he equated my travels to the jungles and the cave as puja. He equated the Yoga practice we did as puja. Observing the breath was puja. Eating with awareness was puja. And yes sex too. He brings sacredness to everything we do. He says the divine is in all. What was made to be and believed to have stood afar and beyond our imagination and our reach, is now seen in our midst. What was feared and venerated then, with our ignorance removed, is seen as very much in us and all around us.
We understand that birth arises because of the need to satisfy the natural law of cause and action. Birth also is taken in some for a purpose. We might be the cruelest person on the face of the earth. We then shall need to take another birth to undo the evil and repent. On the other hand, we might be the greatest samaritan or philanthropist, but we shall be taking another birth too where we shall be rewarded equally for our actions. So when Agathiyar recently asked us how many times he had to stuff this Atma or soul into a body, he was speaking about the need to end both and thus ending taking birth. All our actions good and bad have to stop.
Many in our midst think that taking up worship of Gods, Siddhas, and discipleship to gurus, is akin to taking a policy or surety against death, that death does not come to us. These people are truly ignorant. All that comes to live shall die someday. Even the many saints have succumbed to illnesses and diseases and passed away. Coming to Gods, Siddhas, and gurus do not automatically protect us from accidents, harm, illness, suffering, and misery. So why turn to them, some might ask? I shall live my life to the fullest. Fine no harm in doing so.
But for those who have already taken the first step, following any faith for the matter, though he shall go through all the difficulties as others in this gross body and world, his soul and subtle body undergo numerous changes unknown to him. His soul begins to come to the forefront and guide him to the right people, associates, teachers, masters, and gurus to help further his purpose and journey here. One day after having taken crores and crores of birth he might turn up at the door to the divine's abode and step into his arms and rest in peace finally. He shall then end this cycle of birth and death.