Today, when everyone was gathered at the Annual Agathiyar Guru Poojai in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, I attended the Chitra Pornami festivities at an estate temple in Semenyih. The temple and the adjacent Tamil school where my granddaughter is attending school are in my daughter's neighborhood. After the pooja and dinner at the temple last night, my wife and daughter helped out in peeling the potatoes for today's lunch, and she and I helped serve the devotees today. It gave us a great sense of satisfaction in having participated actively rather than arriving as a guest and devotee. Later this evening, there was the fire walking ritual that I stood and observed up close. I saw the temple priest stand in the scorching heat of the day and the heat emitted from the pit of flame, helping out at the event. Standing with him, the temple committee, volunteers, and beside those who had prepared themselves for the ritual and were standing in line, during this intense moment, I was overcome by tears of bliss and joy, and appreciation for what they had committed to do as a show of their devotion towards God.
Since I had been hearing the call to come out of Bakthi or devotion and step into Gnanam since day one of coming to know the Siddhas and my gurus, as I stood on the treshold of Gnanam, before the Ego in me could manifest into a horrible and ugly "me" thinking that I was much superior and begin to look down on those remaining in devotion, Agathiyar tore it down. He was telling me, or rather showed me, or rather had me experience the energies that had come down to claim and accept these simple folks' devotion. As I stood amidst these energies, and felt and took in the bliss and joy, too, I sensed that the Gods had accepted their devotion. The lesson I learned today strengthens the message that I had been receiving from all corners lately, that of telling me that there was no right and wrong and that all was well and happening as it should. When many masters tell us that all paths lead to one, I tend to agree with J. Krishnamurti, telling us that there is no path. "Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path, whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect." Indeed, it is more than a rebellion. It is a revolution in consciousness.
