Walking through the life cycle one then arrives at the age when he marries. A bond is created with another that further expands our circle. Going through married life, taking care of one's needs and the family, and kin and society too, when he reaches the age of 60, he goes through another wedding ceremony. Looking through the net we come across a repetition of the rituals initially conducted when we were newly married couples, adopting the same when the male attains the age of 60. I believe it is way beyond these rituals this time around.
This time around we are acknowledging that beyond this body and breath that keeps us alive, there is a soul that needs to be realized and given due recognition. If before 60 we were occupied with raising a family and building a career, now most of us would have retired from work or an occupation. Now we have the time and resources to spend on working on the Self.
In clearing the air on the body, breath, and soul or Udal, Uyir, and Atma respectively, Agathiyar through a brief memo dictated by him to Mahindren and transcribed by the latter, we came to understand that it is the individual Atma who decides to take birth to either fulfill its purpose, or to experience something anew, or to fulfill unfulfilled desires from a past birth, or to return a favor to another, or to work out its Karma further. The Atma designs the model and body to take to serve and fulfill all the above. It initiates the gathering of the raw elements and materials from both parents to bring forth an embryo, a fetus, and a new life. Breath is breathed into it with a specific number that is stored in the navel upon birth. This is fed and expensed during our lifetime. The Siddhas who learned the art of extending and living long, through various techniques in Yoga Asanas and Pranayama, managed this breath well and attained the said state.
This is a time of "reflection and appreciation for the life granted by the divine. This second inning of our life is an opportunity to seek deeper truths and connect with the divine" now since we have all the time. Having lived as lifelong partners or mates, we now realize that we were soulmates too. Now I understand why Tavayogi told me to bring the family too to the path. We need our wives with us and vice-versa to move ahead and progress. With the physical, emotional, and religious aspects of life in harmony, we step into the spiritual realm. Stepping into our 60th year, if we live long enough, is a phase of life that of reckoning the soul. It is a time of Self-discovery. In discovering the Self we realize that we are all one. We see the soul in us, in each other and others just as Agathiyar says that he only sees the soul in us. We realize that we are Siva and our wife and our counterpart Sakhi is Sakthi. We are the Yin and the Yang. As our physique is different we complement each other in areas that we lack. We come together in unison now dropping our individual personalities that we carried before, fought over, and compromised in life. The solo journey undertaken previously to realize each individual's Atma, merges becoming one. Both husband and wife walk the path of exploring the Atma. The journey now expands to include and embrace all those around us. Just as Agathiyar says he only sees our Atma, we begin to see others as Atma's that have come for a reason and purpose. Now the journey is pure and subtle in nature. We leave our hold on the gross and address the fine and subtle in us and others. Love and compassion bloom within and spread to all those we come across. This is the state of the Jeevan Mukta. He and she live to serve God and humanity. Working on watching and realizing each other's Atma we prepare ourselves and have the ground ready to have the ParamAtma come, seeking a unison as Ramalinga Adigal beautifully describes the moments before this sacred union in the song that follows.
As I wrote earlier, this is as far as our solo journey brings us. This is when the butterfly emerges from the cocoon. Thenceforth the individual soul in us or the JeevAtma takes on the role of bringing others to the path, to taste the blissful state it is in too, that of a Jeevanmukta. Whatever he does thenceforth is for the good of all of creation. The tasks and mission henceforth add to the merits of the gurus and the rest of the lineage. Besides this, his acts shall help eradicate the remaining Karma of his parents and ancestors. He joins the other Jeevanmuktas to power and energize the Prapanjam in return. It is the time to give back to the Prapanjam what he had taken before while walking the journey. He moves in this world but is not attached. He could move the world too if desired but he stops short of giving a helping hand to lift the souls from their predicaments. He whiles his time here until his time is up. He then continues his work in the subtle plane. This is the nature of the gurus.