It is said in the Puranas of the past, that the Gods came down from the heavens or their realms to the earth. Myths and legends grew surrounding these stories. People began to sculpt and engrave into the recesses of walls of temples incidents from these stories. Over time man came to see God only in these images.
Though they are not in flesh, their spirit and soul live among us in a different parallel plane I believe that is a subtle realm. Ramalinga Adigal like Agathiyar, Bhogar, Dhanvanthri, Lord Siva, Lord Murugan, Ambal, and the other deities, Bhagawan Ramana, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Supramania Swami, and Tavayogi too, come these days through their devotee, still keeping in touch with us. I think that the Gods still are very much present walking and working through us. But having taken the body we forgot our true nature and essence as the Tattvas keep feeding the false notion of the "I" and the Ego in which it is wrapped and sealed.
The Atma that desires to take a body builds for itself a body and its accessories to live out its desires and carry out its purpose from the elements of both its future parents. The ParamAtma in wanting to see the individual Atma gain the experiences it desires, aids in bringing this couple together, shooting the arrow of love through their hearts. Brahma breathes life into it. Sakti the Prana energy and force comes along hitching a ride on this breath, doing her work. Vishnu comes to sustain the body and its elements. The rhythm, dance, and cycle of the breath go on as long as Siva keeps dancing to the beat of each breath, coming and going.
The very first breath that comes within is said to bring life to and bring alive the entity. The breath that comes within, if made to remain within forever, is said to keep one in the state of Samadhi. The breath that leaves, never to return, leaves us cold to decay and rot, and dead. What then remains when we die? One has to die first to answer this, right. Otherwise, it is just either hearsay or shall only be theoretical in all manner.
We do "die momentarily" each day in our sleep. The world we know and the body we know though exist is switched off for the duration of the sleep. Where does it go or where do we go? The sleep state shuts out everything that is usually consciously known to us. What is sustained and running are the unconscious workings of the body. When we close our eyes, our vision of the world and others is shut out, though we hear and sense our being and the surroundings. When we go into a meditative state, one is unaware of even the sounds and the body I am told.
Dreams though seem real do not leave a mark on us. Rarely do we remember them too. So Agathiyar too tells us not to get attached to what happens around us. Live the experiences from moment to moment with full awareness. Attend to what needs to be done at that moment and move on he says. Is the world and all that happens a dream state too?
We all die. Even all the Godmen who preached deathlessness and revealed the secrets and the doctrines of living forever and gave us the traits and the practices died too. So who are we kidding? Show me one person who has lived through the ages. Every creation ends. Every man and saint dies too. Period. The Siddhas too admit this. One can throw all the Siddha texts at us telling us about deathlessness and its possibility. But is there any living proof of such a person who has proved it is possible? This is the nature of creation. So what are we talking about sustaining life in this body to live for ages? Even the Siddhas take on another body to remain here after the first house becomes debilitated and useless to further remain in it to continue their purpose. One who has been living for ages has to come forward and tell us that it is possible and that he is the proof. Otherwise, it is just hearsay. Many have tried all means to stay alive. It has been futile. We do not see it happening before our eyes. It is said that Ramalinga Adigal entered his room at Siddhi Valagam in Methukuppam and never appeared again according to eyewitnesses some 150 years ago. Gnanabharathi in his well-researched book "Tamil Mannin Thantai" surprises us when he writes of families of eyewitnesses' having seen Ramalinga Adigal come back in the flesh after 28 years in 1902 before his disciple Kalpatu Aiya. The man on seeing Ramalinga Adigal in the flesh again left his body. Adigal placed him in his Samadhi and stayed around for several days before disappearing again.
When I met Tavayogi the first time he was in Malaysia, I told him I wanted to see him achieve the state of light that many talk about. But Tavayogi very humbly replied that he too had to come back to attempt again. When I asked him what Ramalinga Adigal meant when he said the dead shall arise செத்தவர் எழுவார் என்று கைத்தாளம் போடு again he very humbly told me that he did not know. It takes a great man to admit that he knew not. It is said that when Agathiyar questioned the Siddhas who had gathered around on what they knew, each spoke his piece. When it came to Bhogar, he replied that he only knew Agathiyar.
Just like there is a birth every moment, there is a death the next moment too. This transition of souls is going on every moment without our knowledge. I suppose there are souls in the waiting and waiting in line for the right moment to manifest their Karma and desires by taking on a physical body on this earth. The soul picks the time and space, its would-be parents, form, gender, the nation, and decides the extent to which it can shoulder and carry the Karma or the extent of desires it can exhaust in one lifetime. Besides the Karma, and the desires of one, there are other factors that determine or justify a rebirth. The parents could come back for the sake of the child. A child who cares for his or her parents, besides being an obligation, works out his or her Karma too as in giving back. A husband can come back for his wife or vice versa. One can come back for another, be he a saint or a pauper, with whom he or she had a relationship in the past, all to settle and fix the loose ends or make good, repair, and repay the score. A disciple could come back to the guru or the guru comes looking for his disciple to close the teaching.
Agathiyar can speak about Karma. So can Tavayogi. But we should never speak about it, especially right to the face of another. For we too are an accumulation of the cumulative baggage of Karma from the past and have yet to place it down. It would be akin to the pot calling the kettle black. Tavayogi never spoke about Karma until someone came by and shared his troubles and suffering. Only then did he open up about Karma. He would tell me later how to differentiate between these two. All problems and troubles are of our own making in this life and shall go away with our quick thinking or as they say with the use of our brain as in problem-solving. Sufferings on the other hand are due to our Vinai or past Karma that either one can choose to live with or look for remedial measures. There are quick and immediate fixes, either in the form of taking some kind of medicine or going for a particular treatment. Giving cash aid, food, or groceries, or helping out those in need, helps both parties settle their respective individual scores. But these are only intermediate measures, and not long time cures or solutions. One has to find the root cause. This is where the Siddhas come into the picture.
The Siddhas would gather together and carry out Satsangs sharing their findings and writing them down. These came to be the Siddha texts that have come to serve mankind. For those of us who want to know the means and ways to overcome suffering due to their Karma, the Siddhas can extend a hand for they have either documented our life story if they had followed us through our past births, or could look into the past, present and future to reveal them. Now we understand why Agathiyar has asked that we carry out Satsangs and document our experiences. They did the same.