We must know when to drop things and the methods and practices we have either picked up, learned, and put to good use previously, be it rituals, yoga, or other spirituality-elevating things. We at AVM have dropped many rituals that Agathiyar and Tavayogi initiated after attaining their benefits. Similarly, no rituals are required at Samadhis of saints and Siddhas says Agathiyar. He asked us how can we possibly spiritualize or energize the place when the one seated in Samadhi there has attained a high state of evolution and himself or herself is a pool of energy. We are asked to instead sit in silence and partake or tap these energies for ourselves. Similarly, Agathiyar had us stop all rituals to his bronze statue at AVM some time back telling us that it was a fully energized "nuclear force" now and only needed to be cooled down with water. Similarly, when the energies in the Chakras within me were activated in 2010 after putting into practice the techniques that Tavayogi showed us in 2007, Agathiyar asked that I halt them. He told me that henceforth it shall do its work. When the goal is attained it is not necessary to revisit unless called for. Though he has halted all forms of rituals, he added that we could pick it up when the need arises. So when the pandemic reared its ugly head several months after we were told to stop all rituals and go within watching the breath, Lord Siva asked us to carry out the Homam and recite his Mrityunjaya mantra and Vasudeva's Dhanvantri Mantra. Bringing me to Agasthiyampalli in 2005, Tavayogi told me that it was ten years since he visited the temple. Later when I thought I would start my travels upon alighting from the plane at Trichy Airport, with my family who had set foot on Indian soil for the very first time in 2013, with a visit to Agasthiyampalli, Tavayogi told me it was not necessary. We listened to him and rerouted towards his ashram in Kallar instead. Just as Tavayogi brought me places I brought the AVM family members there when we arrived in India again in 2016, to witness the inauguration of Tavayogi's new ashram.
But I find that others, even the heads of missions, find it hard to drop their hold on things, even the religious and Yogic practices that they have become accustomed to doing and have become a regime and habit. When then are we going to grow out of the cocoon? We settle for the comfort and safety of these practices. It is time we broke free from the cage and flew into the skies. It is time we broke free from the rope that tied us down to the pole and set off to venture into unchartered frontiers.
If we are enslaved by our habits, wants, and desires in the material world, coming to the spiritual world thinking that we could snap out of it, sadly we fall for another snare in the disguise of rituals and ceremonies. Ramalinga Adigal sings that it was only at the moment he parted with caste and religious bigotry that he saw the Jothi (சாதி சமய சளுக்கை விட்டேன் அருள் ஜோதியை கண்டேனடி).
I am glad I never fell into any of these traps. I am grateful that Agathiyar has stood by me and safeguarded me all this while. How can I possibly repay him?