Agathiyar and my gurus pointed us to worship. Even before they did my parents led us siblings on worship. I remember my parents share puranas or divine stories and their personal experiences and encounters with the divine in many forms. These helped bring us to stay on the path of devotion. With a little tutorship under some fine teachers and correspondence courses, listening to discourses by the well-read and the learned at temples, and information and tips from strangers that come by quite strangely, we added to our store of knowledge on worship and path of our forefathers. Diving and dwelling into the pages of spiritual books and later reading online materials added more substance and value.
With coming to the Siddhas, the secrets in the traditional understanding and acceptance of the spiritual and religious path were made known slowly, by Agathiyar and my two lovely gurus and other upagurus who came by. They brought us to continue our worship of all the Gods and Goddesses in the Hindu pantheon both at home and in the temples. Soon they brought us to carry out the rituals that are normally the domain of the priests and their trained lot, removing the need for dependency on others or middlemen. The Siddhas, through the Nadi readings, began to reveal many secrets. These days they chose to come through fellow devotees and speak their minds. From external worship, they moved us on to go within. From caring for the physical body they moved us to care for the soul.
These days they talk about the need to strengthen one's soul. This is done through two means that of worship and prayers and by doing charity and service. Each soul takes a body at the right time which can defer among us. Its abode or place of residence in this body too is said to defer. The souls are at different states as they take birth. Just as lighted lamps each burn at different brightness and some die off earlier while others burn longer, similarly the souls come with various intensities of brightness and sacredness. This is due to their prior engagements in earlier births taken and the number of merits credited to their account. If they came with a ready stock of merits that translates into Soul Power or Atma Balam, they shine bright and came to be delivered safe and sound in a body that takes shape accordingly. If the soul chooses to come only for a short time for reasons known only to it and the divine, we tend to lose the child.
These days they talk about the need to strengthen one's soul. This is done through two means that of worship and prayers and by doing charity and service. Each soul takes a body at the right time which can defer among us. Its abode or place of residence in this body too is said to defer. The souls are at different states as they take birth. Just as lighted lamps each burn at different brightness and some die off earlier while others burn longer, similarly the souls come with various intensities of brightness and sacredness. This is due to their prior engagements in earlier births taken and the number of merits credited to their account. If they came with a ready stock of merits that translates into Soul Power or Atma Balam, they shine bright and came to be delivered safe and sound in a body that takes shape accordingly. If the soul chooses to come only for a short time for reasons known only to it and the divine, we tend to lose the child.
But all is not lost since the Siddhas have devised ways to help strengthen the Soul Power. Worship and charity are the means to turn up the heat that burns all karma, past, present, and future. These noble and sacred tasks that were gifted to us by Agathiyar to carry out from day one without much explanation nor reasons given, turned out to be the gists and cream of the five tenets that Agathiyar had spoken of at the Tamil Sangam in the past. We were only made aware of the tenets quite recently but were already made to engage in, carrying them out without the knowledge nor expecting the fruits of these noble actions. If extreme austerities are carried out by others to turn up the heat in their body; and if others chose to go within to turn up the heat, Agathiyar brought us to the easiest option, that of worship and charity to help do away with our karma. With karma out of the way; the body, mind and all other related bodies purified to a certain extent; the Siddhas clear the path of all obstacles and move us into high gear, bringing us on a journey, first to all their abodes, caves and temples, and later bring us to look within. The Siddha path is a must in this jouney, where one is prepared by them, to attain further accomplishments, leading to mukti, siddhi, liberation, enlightenment, etc and final merger with the light, being enveloped by the light and becoming it.
Today we realize that the Siddhas and later saints have drawn up an extensive compendium of knowledge on life, hidden in the sacred songs that they revealed over time. The formula, the magic, and the means were given to us through these songs, texts, and scriptures. The many kavasam or sacred songs that we were encouraged to sing, safeguards us from harm's way if sang daily. It does come to our aid in times of trials, tribulations, and danger. The Sivapuranam on the other hand, is a song that has to be sung daily to help bring us to an elevated state even as we live our lives and not when the breath and soul have left us. Sivagathy has to be achieved and attained while still alive instead of stating that one has achieved the state on his or her demise. But sadly many of us have volumes of these beautiful books but never indulged in it till the day we are tested. When all hell breaks loose and the sky falls on us we run helter-skelter seeking shelter and solace at temples and other places of worship, and ashrams and turn to prayers or to others hoping for a miracle.
The Siddhas regard this birth as very auspicious and rare. Many other saints too have reminded us that it was a rare commodity and not to be wasted. The great grand old lady Avvai who was a saint and poet told us of the rarity in gaining birth.
Shantideva, a Buddhist master from the monastic University of Nalanda, India, too describes human birth as a rare gift. He says,
Ramalinga Adigal is said to have traversed the toilsome Purgative Way, the not so arduous Illuminative Way, and the joyous Unitive Way in "Makers of Indian Literature - Ramalingar" by G.Vanmikanathan, published by Sahitya Akademi.
Today we realize that the Siddhas and later saints have drawn up an extensive compendium of knowledge on life, hidden in the sacred songs that they revealed over time. The formula, the magic, and the means were given to us through these songs, texts, and scriptures. The many kavasam or sacred songs that we were encouraged to sing, safeguards us from harm's way if sang daily. It does come to our aid in times of trials, tribulations, and danger. The Sivapuranam on the other hand, is a song that has to be sung daily to help bring us to an elevated state even as we live our lives and not when the breath and soul have left us. Sivagathy has to be achieved and attained while still alive instead of stating that one has achieved the state on his or her demise. But sadly many of us have volumes of these beautiful books but never indulged in it till the day we are tested. When all hell breaks loose and the sky falls on us we run helter-skelter seeking shelter and solace at temples and other places of worship, and ashrams and turn to prayers or to others hoping for a miracle.
The Siddhas regard this birth as very auspicious and rare. Many other saints too have reminded us that it was a rare commodity and not to be wasted. The great grand old lady Avvai who was a saint and poet told us of the rarity in gaining birth.
“Rare indeed is to take a human birth, rarer than that is to be born with a perfect human form, sight, hearing and speech. Amongst them, it is rare to see one who does austerities and charity. When one does austerities and charity the gates to Godhead is opened.”She has rightly analyzed and has pointed us to the means of salvation.
Shantideva, a Buddhist master from the monastic University of Nalanda, India, too describes human birth as a rare gift. He says,
“Only as a human can you be devoted to God, the creator."He reminds us not to waste a rare opportunity to devote oneself to God. He says,
“This human leisure, opportunities, and faculties are very rare to obtain and easily lost.”He questions us,
“If one squanders the chance to fulfill the aim of human life, how will such an opportunity arise again?”Swami Muktananda quotes Saint Sundardas in "Where Are You Going - A Guide to the Spiritual Journey", published by Syda Foundation, 1989,
“The great Saint Sundardas wrote, “You have attained this human body through God’s grace. You cannot attain it repeatedly. This human body is a priceless jewel. Do not throw it away.”Hindu texts mention that there are 8,400,000 species of life forms beginning with the aquatics, and culminating in the human being. Manikavachagar amply expounds in his "Thiruvachakam - Shivapuranam" that,
“Having taken all these life forms to achieve his present state that is being born as grass, worm, trees, various animals, stones, rocks and pebbles, various creatures, Asuras, and Devas, and having exhausted myself in doing so, I found the truth to exist under your feet and thus I entered your home, my Lord.”Adi Sankara too has spelled out the miracle of birth. Sankara says,
“Only through God’s grace may we obtain the three rarest gifts: Human birth; the longing for liberation; and discipleship to an illumined teacher.”Swami Chidvilasananda in "Inner Treasures", A Siddha Yoga Publication, 1995, mirrors Sankara’s thoughts.
“The Indian scriptures teach that earth is the place where you come to work out all your karma, the consequences of your actions, both good and bad. This is where you have the opportunity to learn the greatest lessons and ascend to the highest awareness. Even celestial beings want to take birth in this place. It is the work of the Saints to awaken people from samsara, the world of the wandering, from this chakra, this wheel, the cycle of birth and death.’’As the Deepam is lighted at Tiruvannamalai and in all our homes let us light the light in us too. Let us thank Annamalaiyar, Agathiyar, the Siddhas and our gurus for leading us from the Asat to the Sat; darkness to light; death to immortality.
Ramalinga Adigal is said to have traversed the toilsome Purgative Way, the not so arduous Illuminative Way, and the joyous Unitive Way in "Makers of Indian Literature - Ramalingar" by G.Vanmikanathan, published by Sahitya Akademi.
Discrimination of the Real from the unreal is the keynote of the journey on the Purgative Way; the travel from darkness to Light is the journey on the Illuminative Way; the resurrection from death to a life of deathlessness, to amritvam, is the journey on the Unitive Way.These three ways are defined in the universal prayer from the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28, as follows.
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrtyorma amrtam gamaya
om shanti shanti shanti.
Lead me from the asat to the sat.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality
Om Peace Peace Peace.
"The essence of each of these three mantras is the same: “O, Guru, help me free myself from my sundry misunderstandings regarding myself, the universe and God and bless me with true knowledge.” (Source: http://www.amritapuri.org/3731/asatoma.aum)Let us make good use of this birth for our betterment, see both materialistic and spiritually progress and work towards the betterment of others, the society and country too.