When my wife asked Agathiyar if rituals carried out upon death and after death were necessary, he replied that it was for others but not for us. Today, I have come to realize what he meant by that. If the purpose of coming here is to attain Samadhi, but if it has not been reached, then all these rituals are necessary. For the Jiva that attains the state of Samadhi and leaves the body after 21 days, it is not necessary. Now I understand why Agathiyar told the family of a famed Nadi reader not to carry it out. A close friend of his shared with me further that Agathiyar had disclosed the reason. Agathiyar said that as the Jiva of the deceased was meditating in the hills of Pothigai, he was not to be disturbed nor distracted by the constant calling out to him and remembrance of him through these rituals. Neither is Samadhi about making statues replicating the deceased, and erecting a building around them, which later becomes a temple. True Samadhi is attained while in the body. Now I understand why Agathiyar consoled me when Supramania Swami's wish to be buried at his kudil was not seen through, but instead he was buried in an existing cemetery along the Girivalam path, telling me that it was the right place and it would gain fame.
When I had the calling to see my Nadi in 2002, he asked me to worship the Siddhas. I had no idea about them. I decided to visit the many peedhams, kurukulams, societies, and movements associated with Agathiyar and the Siddhas back then in 2002. But none carried out rituals or puja, or worship of the Siddhas. These movements that were in existence for some time, some since the eighties, were only carrying out charity or had shifted to the teachings of Ramalinga Adigal and worship of Light. In disappointment, I turned to the many books available in the book stores and the internet for guidance, and began to extract certain songs and adapt them for my usage and individual and personal worship and prayer in my home. What initially was meant for personal consumption soon became an aid and a tool to those who came to join my home puja later in 2013, when my home became Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM). I compiled several more books that I then shared online for those seeking help online.
But over the years, life has taught me many lessons. We are here to gain experiences and learn lessons from them, and change our previous judgments and views as we mature and come to know better. We are not here to change others. He or she shall learn the lessons in their own time. This was the lesson I learnt in traveling with Agathiyar. I was overanxious for others to follow too after discovering this path and where it led us. But others did not see it the way I did or the urgency in it. Recently, Agathiyar came and said that it was each individual's fate to either come to it, only to leave the path later, or never know about it. He asks me to tend to my garden and reap the fruits of my effort.
As a friend recently told me, and we agreed that though we are all Buddhas, there can only be one Gautama Buddha. So, can everyone profess that he was following Ramalinga Adigal's teaching and Sudha Sanmargam, but there can only be one Ramalinga Adigal. I guess only one shall shine. But he shall be a beacon to others when their thirst for material things fades and they begin to search for inner peace.