Tuesday, 1 October 2024

THE TRANSFORMATION

Though Tavayogi never gave a hint about what to expect if we put into practice the Asanas and Pranayama techniques that he showed us on his visit to Malaysia in 2007, it triggered the dormant energy that came to lie asleep after doing its job of creating this body and its accessories. Though he gave us this wonderful tool that Agathiyar says was a treasure later, none of the few who were present to watch him show us and did it that day continued this legacy. They have missed a chance of a lifetime. It is not every day that a guru or master comes to give us a treasure. 

What this practice did was to bring in excessive Prana within each breath, expanding the capacity of the lungs that was used to sedentary living, never pushed to its limit. This was the very first and obvious difference that was noticed. Soon many transformations took place in the physical body and its internals. Later subtle energies were released once the house was cleared of its impurities. This energy created both pain and bliss as it made its way up on its path with eagerness to join with her lifetime mate whom she left to start a new home in each one of us. Now that we are in her clutches she brings us to know her soulmate. We are a family once more again.

Swami Muktananda sheds some light in his book "Kundalini - The Secret of Life" published by Siddha Yoga Publication, 1994.

"The basis of all disease and pain is the impurities that block the flow of Prana in the Nadis. These blockages are caused by imbalances and disorders in the three bodily humors - wind, bile, and phlegm. She (Kundalini) penetrates all 720 million Nadis, consumes all the old decaying fluids, and then releases vital energy into them all. The Nadis become filled with Prana. It is only after the body has been purified that the Shakti can work with full force."

"On her journey to the Sahasrara, Kundalini passes through all the sense organs, purifying them and investing them with new powers. As Kundalini rises to the ocular center, she purifies the eyes. As the Kundalini purifies the sense of touch, one begins to feel thrilled of love through every pore and hair of the body. One becomes immersed in the joy of touch. When Kundalini reaches the center of smell it purifies that, and one comes into direct contact with the essence of smell. When the Shakti moves to the auditory center, she purifies this too. When a shower of nectar is released and begins to fall dropping onto the root of the tongue, the taste buds become extremely refined. Even the simplest food is relished."

Swami Muktananda writes "Because the Shakti is subtler than the subtlest some people may not be aware of it during the initial stages of practice." 

Swami Kripananda, in writing the introduction for Swami Muktananda's "Kundalini - The Secret of Life" published by Siddha Yoga Publication, 1994, says that,

"This knowledge (of the Kundalini) was so well hidden, in fact, that when Swami Muktananda received Kundalini awakening from his own master Bhagawan Nityananda and began experiencing its effects, he had no idea what was happening to him. He wrote his first great work the spiritual autobiography "Play of Consciousness" to prevent his own students from running into the same confusion and to help them understand the process unfolding within them." So did Agathiyar too, ask that I share my experiences in beckoning and coming face to face with this powerhouse with my readers so that we shall come together to know her majesty."

Tavayogi never wanted to touch that subject nor initiate the public into this energy. But although he never initiated us into arousing the Kundalini directly in whatever manner, select yogic postures and practices that he taught a handful of us during his visit in 2007, did magic in us in bringing us to experience it unknowingly over the years. Agathiyar revealed later that the techniques we picked up from him and with practice did just that over time. He surprised me in a Nadi reading on 13.10.2007, mentioning that the Siddhas were delighted to see the Kundalini Sakti arise. உண்டாகும் குண்டலினி சக்தி உனக்கு உயர்வதைக் கண்டு நாங்கள் வியந்தோம் அப்பா. With the Muladhara activated in 2007, Agathiyar monitored my progress more closely. 

There is no written rule and a path for this energy to travel and traverse once aroused from its slumber. The Yogic practice did help me, though I had no idea it was the reason I went through some 2 1/2 years of lower back pain until Agathiyar revealed it in 2012. On 30.1. 2020 Agathiyar told me that I had stagnated in my worldly affairs and told me, "You cannot possibly break the shackle alone. Hence follow the practices that I am to give you." நீ உலக வாழ்க்கையில் நீர்தேங்கிறாய். இவ்கடிவாளத்தால் உம்மால் மீண்டு வர இயலாது. ஆகையால் யாம் சொல்லும் வழிமுறைகளைச் செய்து வா.

When these energies stagnated at the next chakra the Svadisthana for some fifteen years, Agathiyar broke its banks in July of 2022. It had begun to stagnate and pond at the Manipuraka until 2022 when I guess the time was right to break the bunds and let the waters free. Since then there was no looking back as the waters made their way to the river mouth and estuary at the crown of the head. With Agathiyar watching us every moment, the process though painful at times went on smoothly and we saw its results, to my bewildment and to his excitement and satisfaction. 

He told me "Currently your Muladhara and Svadhisthana are open. At present your breath is at the pond (lake). The time of its opening is near. Now is the right time to start your practice. This would open up the chakra completely." 

இத்தருணம் உமக்கு மூலாதாரம் திறந்தது, ஸ்வாதிஸ்டானம் திறந்தது. இப்பொது மான் மூச்சி குளத்தில் இருக்கிறது. அவை திறக்கும் தருணம் வந்தது. இப்போதுதான் நீ உமது பயிற்சியினை தொடங்க வேண்டும். இந்த நிலையில் அச்சக்கரம் முற்றும் திறந்துவிடும். 

R Venugopal writes in his "Soul Searchers - The Art of Breathing", Health Harmony, New Delhi, 2000, "The Svadishtana is regarded as a blockage to the awakening of the kundalini. He says the actual awakening starts from the Manipura chakra only. Till the time Manipura chakra does not get purified and awakened the Kundalini cannot rise fully."

Shortly after on 22 August 2022, I felt a pull of a nerve and a tug right below the navel immediately upon waking up and stretching myself in bed at 6.40am. It brought on a swirling sensation followed by a chillness. My whole body became numb right to the tips. But it was blissful. Soon I felt nauseous and had the urge come on to pee and urine. I collapsed twice on the way to the toilet picking myself up each time. Back from the toilet, all was fine. 

The next day, I woke up at 7.20am, to go to the loo but I could not piss. I collapsed again. I called my wife asking her to bring the peacock feathers over. I picked myself up and climbed onto the bed. She stroked my body with it. My body became numb from the shoulders down. I lay like a deadlog on my bed. Although I could not move even an inch of my torso I was able to see, hear, and talk and was aware of what was happening to me. I asked myself if this was what a dead body would feel like. Soon it went away.

Seeking answers to what had taken place, Agathiyar cleared the air later. He told me not to worry and said that the pond water had been released. கவலை கொள்ள ஒன்றுமில்லை. தேங்கி இருந்த நீர் வெளி கொண்டது. Previously he had told me that energy had stagnated which I understood as at the Svathisthana. It was released now and the energies continued their journey further, by their sheer momentum and flow, without any effort on my part. But he warns me that I have to maintain it at the crown of the head and never do anything that jeopardizes this state, otherwise, it shall fall back to the Muladhara. He says it then shall be a wasted effort on the part of the Siddhas to assist these energies to move to higher chakras. If that happens Agathiyar says that he shall have to reprimand me. This was a stern warning from him. 

On 9 October 2022, Agathiyar clarified further, "Due to man's inappropriate lifestyle, the Muladhara chakra or Kulam (pond or lake) has been dammed and prevented from flowing. With continuous practice of breathing techniques over time, the chakras gain power or energy or Shakti. By continuing this one can become light and continue living as light, can become Brahmam in the Paraveli and reach the Holy Feet of Sivan who drank the poison."

மனிதனின் முறை அற்ற வாழ்வியல் முறையால் முடக்க பட்டுக் கிடக்கும் மூலாதார சக்ரம் (இங்குக் குளம் என்பது சக்கரத்தைக் குறிப்பதாகும்)
காலத்தினால் மேட்கொள்ளும் மூச்சி பயிற்சியினால் சக்கரம் சக்திகொள்ளும்
அப்படி செய்து வரவே ஒளியாகி வாழலாம் பரவெளியில் பிரமம் ஆகலாம் விஷம் குடித்த அந்தச் சிவனின் பாதம் அடையலாம்

This reminds us of Swami Muktananda saying the same. 

"It is only after the body has been purified that the Shakti can work with full force. The basis of all disease and pain is the impurities that block the flow of Prana in the nadis. These blockages are caused by imbalances and disorders in the three bodily humors - wind, bile, and phlegm. She (Kundalini) penetrates all 720 million nadis consumes all the old decaying fluids, then releases vital energy into them all. The Nadis become filled with Prana."

Just as Agathiyar says once it is aroused it does its work and there is nothing for us to do further, M. P. Pandit writes "What is being laboriously attempted, dangerously pursued, and problematically achieved in Kundalini yoga can be assured in yoga, like Sri Aurobindo's, in a very natural way by throwing oneself open to divine consciousness and grace, letting it descend into oneself, and letting it decide which centers of consciousness are going to be operated upon, which one is most open and ready. It is more in the natural way of evolution to let things develop in this manner rather than having a systematized procedure."

Alice A. Bailey writes that "When this process is carried forward with care and due safeguards, and under direction, and when the process is spread over a long period of time there is little risk of danger, and the awakening will take place normally and under the law of being itself."

Swami Muktananda writes "When Kundalini awakening takes place through grace it will rise of its own accord and become established where it should be established. Kundalini will take care of herself... when the Kundalini is awakened by the grace of the guru the grace itself will guide it in the correct manner. There is absolutely no danger in such a case."

Just as a student prepares himself to sit for an examination, a seeker and aspirant on the path of Light, seeking to become another Siddha and Light, has to prepare himself with the guidance and help of his teacher. He starts by purifying his physical body, both externally and internally, correcting his diet, taking care to keep the three Dosas in their respective proportions, and simultaneously keeping his mental health under continuous surveillance and check so that it does not deviate from its course. Though a teacher is not necessary to build and maintain these virtues, one is required to teach us Asana and Pranayama. Prayer and worship to the Siddhas bring a master along in the physical form who gives us the method and the way and has the Siddhas come to us in the subtle form to monitor our internal transformations. With diligent practice subtle changes begin to take place under the supervision of the Siddhas. They set the journey within moving according to our state of body and mind. Soon we see the results. The body attains purity. The Divine comes within. The merger of energies takes place bringing calm to the rapid and turbulent waters.

Just as water transforms from liquid to gas to vapor, to the ether, the mortal frame is transformed slowly first into a Siddha deham or perfect body, which is the body of the Siddhas. Solely relying on our efforts might not produce the expected results. This attempt to achieve a perfect body is only possible by the grace of God and the guidance of those who have been there and back.