The Siddha path and its rewards have been sensationalized. When Agathiyar told me my journey had ended, I was surprised. Not that I was disappointed, on the contrary, I was delighted. Was this all to it, I asked myself. Then where did all the magical and mind-boggling things related to the Siddhas that we have read and heard emerge from? Why was it made to appear hard and difficult and almost impossible to achieve all this while by many quarters? Why were much of their practices kept in secrecy?
Giving us a Nadi reading to know why we are here, the reason to be born again, they had us rectify our past sins and mistakes either directly or by other means. As for others who were spotless, they had to come to reap the rewards of their good actions too, hence taking on another birth. They extended an invitation to come to the worship of the Siddhas which with the coming of a guru in the physical form explained was to eradicate all the sins in all the births we took with the help and assistance of the Siddhas. The Siddhas who could see the past, present, and future could help us balance the score and reach the state of Mukthi, going back to the time before the need arose to take the very first birth when we were a clean slate, a pure soul. With karma taken care of it was time to get the physical body in shape and set the three Dosas right. The body had to be cleansed internally now. We had to work on our diet less we began to pollute the vehicle again which was now rid of impurities. Giving us specific Asanas and Pranayama techniques through the physical guru, they prepared the channels and networks within the subtle body to take on the surge of energy currents, that were to be released. The Siddhas stand by to monitor the internal transformation that follows, assisting in releasing the blockages and ensuring its continuous flow till it reaches the ocean of bliss at the Sahasrara.
Now all our efforts end. The Prapanjam begins its work flowing within as in osmosis, (the spontaneous passage or diffusion of water or other solvents through a semipermeable membrane - https://www.britannica.com/) Here it was from the Prapanjam into the subtle body and bringing visible changes in the gross body too.
When I asked Agathiyar what further practice I should do, as Lao Tzu says to go with the flow, he answered to do nothing and that these energies shall do their work. It was time to reap the rewards of our devotion and practice. But more than that it was the result of their grace that saw the journey ending on a happy or rather blissful note.
In an article on Guhai Nama Shivaya in 'The Mountain Path', 1990,
“In Virasaivism it is the Guru’s job to cleanse the devotee of the threefold impurity that clings to the three bodies. This process would have been initiated by Guhai Nama Shivaya’s human Guru, but it was Arunachala-Shiva who completed the job.”
Agathiyar brought down the grace of Sivam. Sivam shall bring down the grace of Param. Param shall bring down the grace of Brahmam. As Paul Zweig says of Swami Muktananda in the introduction to Swami Muktananda’s "The Perfect Relationship', Syda Foundation, 1985, "He felt that the ‘secret’ resided with great beings, with saints; they were themselves the ‘secret’ and he could learn what they were by loving them and sitting at their feet", Agathiyar held the secret and has revealed it to us sitting at his feet. Agathiyar was now Dhakshanamurthy himself, dispensing Gnanam.
Swami Chidvilasananda in 'Inner Treasures', a Siddha Yoga Publication, 1995, writes,
"In the tradition of the Siddhas, the Guru is recognized as the embodiment of the grace of God, and therefore it is the Guru who oversees the Sadhaka’s transformation, infusing it with divine grace. In Sidhayoga, the Guru’s grace intensifies your longing for the vision of God. The Guru’s grace continually nudges you forward on the path towards oneness. The Guru’s grace draws you within the realm of divine peace. In that ultimate state, the only attachment you have left is to the Guru’s feet."
Margaret Simpson in ‘A Perfect Life’, Siddha Yoga Publication, 1996, says of Swami Muktananda's experiences,
"After the awakening of the Shakti, this process of yogic movements began to take place within my entire body. The pulsation of his ecstasy pervades my entire body like the movement of the wind. The Kriyas were his, the yoga was his, and meditation took place because of him. The final message that I received was from him. The power of his word permeates each of my blood cells; the fluids of my entire body are his. That is why I am joyful. Gurudev entered me and replaced all my bodily fluids with his. He evicted me and took up residence in me. He annihilated my ego. By making my individuality his, he became me. This is the guru’s compassion. Only when I lost myself in the ecstasy of Bhagawan Nithyananda did I realize who he was. Only the guru can know that delight and taste the elixir that arises in every pore of the body."
Swami Chidvilasananda in the 'Darshan' a Siddha Yoga Publication, May 1992, (Chidvilasananda, Darshan, 1992), writes,
“A true Guru wishes only the best for his disciple’s upliftment. The Guru totally sacrifices himself to redeem his beloved disciple. The Guru bears every pain to purify the disciple and have him experience the vision of God.”
Swami Chidvilasananda continues,
“Grace comes from a master. Whatever brings you to the Guru, if you are really open to what the Guru has to give, unfailingly you do find relief and an experience of inner transformation. Grace has the power to cleanse us completely. When you have grace you have everything. Allow grace to function through your mind, your intellect, your body, your dreams, and your speech, and you continually live in grace rather than in the creations of the mind."
After having followed Sariyai which was introduced by our parents, we came to take up Kriyai with the coming of the guru, he brought us to Yogam and is now dispensing Gnanam. Having us go on pilgrimages and his abodes in Sariyai, he had us take up rituals in Kriyai. Taking up Yoga, he has us tap into the Prapanjam and filled us with its energies.
If he had emptied me back then in 1988, asking me to take a break from asking questions that saw all my home puja, temple puja, Satsangs, and readings come to an end for the next 14 years, he came to fill me in with Siddha stuff after my Nadi reading in 2002. In 2019 he had me even drop all these in exchange for some years of sitting in solitary. He had us go within. Though I had never entered the state of intense meditation that is often spoken about by others and that we read and watch, Agathiyar tells me my journey has ended. Was this all to it, I kept asking myself in disbelief. I asked myself if there wasn't more to it, just as a story is told of a seeker and Babaji by Sriinaath Raghavan on fb.
"There was an ardent practitioner of Kriya Yoga who would go to the Mountains often to meditate. On one such trip, he unexpectedly happened to meet the Eternal Yogi, called Babaji. He fell at Babaji's feet, and told the great Saint, how he always wished to see him and receive Deeksha. The Saint however kept silent and listened with a patient ear, because all of them who happened to meet, more or less told the same thing. After the Seeker finished talking, Babaji asked him to follow through a dense jungle, winding their way across many slopes, till they finally reached a cave, where the Saint lived. They sat inside and Babaji offered the Seeker a drink of something plain like water, but one that refreshed him to the core. Then the Seeker settling himself down asked, "Can you initiate me into the practice of Kriya Yoga?" Babaji gently nodded his head in approval and imparted the highest wisdom of Kriya to the Seeker.
The Seeker after receiving the teachings felt uncommonly dejected and turning towards the Master complained, "Master this was not how it was mentioned on the website, it was far more complex with a lot of Mudras and Bandhas?" Babaji once again nodded his head gently and vanished from sight. It is said that this Seeker still roams the Mountains in search of Babaji, who is yet to confirm which one is right, He the Master of the Kriya or the Website. Alas! No matter what, we can never look beyond the book because we are hooked."
But he has made it all too easy. No wonder Tavayogi told me that we had come this far quite easily. Then he reveals "You have been in touch with me for crores and crores of births." Enquiring again and again if there was anything I needed to do further, his answer was always "Do Nothing. Just be still." Now he has come to fill this vessel with Gnanam and freed me to move among others. He has tasked me to teach Yoga to others, taking on from where I left off learning from Kriya Babaji's lineage. I guess this is the purpose that he was talking about some time back. I guess he has meticulously worked on this soul all through the births, little by little, to become an image of him and bring his work to others.