When I went for my morning walk and later stepped into the restaurant to break my fast yesterday, the manager who was from Karaikudi, India out of the blue said to me that one should have a liking for what he does. Hours later when Ratnam, our friendly neighborhood pest controller came over to my home for a routine check, he too said the same. But on a sad note, he told me in his profession he had killed many tiny lives. I told him what my wife said and held to. If it is a pest it needs to be rid off. Otherwise, it would do much harm and damage to life and property. Indeed a mosquito bit my daughter and a year later bit me that had us both warded for days in the past. It is easy for the masters and gurus to live by the principle of "Jeeva Karunyam" or love for other beings for they own nothing except the robe that they adorn.
It is also equally difficult to hold on to the principle of non-interference. If a car was to knock into our baby or kid, would we just watch? If a home was burning down would we just watch? If someone was drowning would we just watch? If someone had fallen off a building or cliff would we just watch? If someone attempted to commit suicide before our own eyes would we just watch? This is where we have a choice either to interfere or otherwise. Which would you choose? My brother who adopted the principle of Ahimsa, not willing to kill a life, would blow away the mosquito when it landed on him. But it was a different story after he had a child. He too began to hit them when he had a newborn baby. Just imagine if all the doctors were to lay down their tools not wanting to interfere with man's fate. I strongly believe that God comes as doctors and nurses to help mankind, just as saints do. What if the firefighters too stopped to just watch the fire engulf the buildings? Hence there are many in many sectors that provide service and strive for the upliftment of the living standards of man. While they do these as a profession and as work, the saints on the other hand bring upliftment to our souls, doing it out of love. They have us work on us.
I used to walk by beggars in the past without dropping a dime. It never occurred to me to help them. It never occurred to me that they were hungry. I was not touched by the plight of others. I was in my own world. Though we were not well off, we never went hungry. There was always the coconut meat that I would scrape off its shell and appease my hunger, after finding nothing else to eat in the kitchen. But coming to the Siddhas my heart opened up after Tavayogi and Agathiyar asked us to carry out charity and feeding. All the initial acts of helping others brought their plight to our attention and we slowly began to connect and share their troubles. Compassion slowly blossomed in our hearts. I believe if I was purposed to improve the lives of these unfortunate souls, Agathiyar would have had us at AVM and Amudha Surabhi carry on with our activities and service to others. But I have come to figure out that my mission was something else that Agathiyar has yet to reveal, for he had me stop this phase of Karma Yoga and focus on the next stage that of Raja Yoga, taking care of the body and the Self to know the Self within. Today I cannot stand to see the plants wither in the summer heat. Ramalinga Adigal sings that he is saddened seeing the crops wither in the heat. If I used to chase away cats in the past, these days I cannot bring myself to see kittens that are ever playful fall sick. I guess I am beginning to connect and am touched by these souls rather than seeing them as mere names and forms as I did earlier. Agathiyar used to say that he only addresses our souls.
Speaking about the magic of music in the YouTube series "Songs of the River", Shantanu Moitra learns that the singer Bombay Jayashri has been caring for children with autism for some 17, 18 years, using music to heal their souls. Expecting the audience to sing words of praise as usual after one of her shows, Jayashri was taken aback when a kid walked up to her and told her repeatedly that she had sung wrong which hurt her. She came to know the next day from his mother that he had autism. True to what he had said when she received the recordings of the show later she saw the mistakes she had made without realizing it. She says that that boy Prakash that day actually cared for her performance. This changed her perception of many things she tells Shantanu. "Then one thing led to another. My student Abhinaya and I spoke about it." She told her student Abhinaya, "Maybe we could share music with children who are inclined towards music." They started visiting schools where they had special children and singing for them. She tells us that she has been doing it for about 17, 18 years (at the time of the interview).
Later I came across a documentary "America's Musical Journey" that spans the whole origin and evolvement of American music. Here too we are told that children with autism who have trouble connecting with anyone connect with music better than with people. "Music has a profound power. And today doctors are finding out that music is a powerful tool that helps kids with autism. Words are a challenge for children with autism. They often find music easier to understand because music is processed by a different region of the brain", says Morgan Freeman.
Similarly, my daughter pointed out that those who stammer to speak, sing wonderfully though because they use a different part of their vocal cord. I told her that a short film was made that spelled out the same.
On our homefront, watching what had transpired over the years at AVM, we realized the power of songs and music to bring down the Siddhas and deities and bridge both worlds.
Indeed music is known to pacify and calm us. My pulse has dropped to 55. Then I learned from watching a documentary that the pulse of animals in hibernation beats only three times in a minute to conserve energy. I guess Agathiyar in having me slow down also slowed down my pulse. I cannot retain anything or rather nothing stays for more than a moment in my mind. It is lost the next moment after it arrives in my ears. I do not hold anything in me. It is like a blank space with nothing written permanently or in permanent ink and I have nothing to think about. Am I losing my mind? Is it good or is it a medical problem or is it due to my aging? But though it is obvious that I am aging, it is equally obvious that I am growing new hair in the bald patches I had on my head in the past. My hair is turning black. How does one explain that? Agathiyar in coming through a devotee brushed my hair and pointed this marvel to those gathered asking what else he should do to make people believe. My sexual urges are high and I still enjoy sex with my wife. Agathiyar now wants us to get married again during the coming Guru Purnima. He wants us to be dressed in our marriage attire and have family and friends around. I am no monk or mendicant. I shall be a family man till my last days says Agathiyar. Using us as standing proof, Agathiyar wants us to show his children that his devotees should get married and stay married, erasing and alleviating the fear in many that the Siddhas would break up the party and the relationship between husband and wife and force them to take the path of a mendicant or Turavi. My guru Supramania Swami too lived with his family till his last days attending to his Tavam. One could ask how it is that Tavayogi instead became a Turavi. Tavayogi voluntarily chose to take up the path after regaining his eyesight. He wanted to repay Agathiyar for the gift of sight that he lost in his 20s. He turned a Turavi as promised when he turned 50.