MAKING THE LEAP

When we approach a Siddha and ask for direction on our worldly matters, although they guide us, they prefer to address the issues of the soul rather than the body. Their main concern is for our soul, to lead it back to the kingdom of the Lord. Hence they come in many ways to remind us of our purpose in taking birth. In that moment of awakening from a deep slumber, some choose to follow the path and direction shown, being assured that the Siddhas will lead them to the destination. Many continue their slumber, as the bed is very inviting. 

For those who tag along, they are shown the mysteries behind the veil of illusion. The Siddhas begin to reveal the secret and hidden path back to the abode of the Father. They come along all the way and safeguard us from harm's way. The divine sends the whole retinue of forces to overlook and care for us. And so it was that I too stumbled upon the path, or I thought I did. But today I know that the path was there waiting for me. It was shown to me, otherwise, I would not have seen it or recognized it. I took heed of the signs, the commands, the directions and ventured further into the maze of mystery.

When I heeded Agathiyar's call to come to the path, worshipped him and held on to him, as a result of the correct guidance from my guru Supramania Swami and Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal in the physical form who were shown to me by him too, I came under his protection. When I asked Tavayogi for further guidance and direction he told me, "What am I too direct, he is directing you." When I stood before Lord Muruga when he called for those who have surrendered to him to step forward and hold his hands, he told me the same too, "I have nothing to give you, you are being led by Agathiyar."

I remember when I visited Ongarakudil back then in 2003 and asked of Rengaraja Desigar to bless me, he remained quiet. Thinking that he had not heard me, Nadarajah who was managing the establishment, told me to speak louder as he was poor of hearing. I spoke louder. Yet no response. I spoke even louder then. He turned to me and said, "What am I to bless further when coming here to (Ongarakudil) itself is a blessing." I was disappointed then. Today I understand that he had foreseen that I was to meet my very first guru Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai four days later and my second guru Tavayogi of Kallar Ashram two years later.

When someone visited Yogi Ramsuratkumar and asked for his blessings, the Yogi did not bless him but sent him off. The Yogi said that the man had just arrived after visiting another saint. He did not want to "disturb" the blessings showered on him by the saint. This episode is mentioned by Will Zulkowsky in his book "Meetings With Yogi Ramsuratkumar", published by Yogi Ramsuratkumar Bhavan.

We have the chance of witnessing some really interesting moments with Him (Yogi Ramsuratkumar). For example, a young American man with a shaved head who had just come from seeing Anandamayee Ma, a famous North Indian Saint, appears one evening while we are sitting with Swami. He tells Swami that he has graduated summa cum laud, i.e. first in his class, from Harvard University and has completed three years at John Hopkins Medical School. As a result of his medical studies, he realizes that pain and suffering are everywhere and has come to India to find out what is the root cause of suffering before he goes out to practice medicine.

Swami first asks him what a dirty beggar like Him could possibly tell a Harvard grad. Swami listens nicely to the man for about two hours and then the man leaves. A few minutes after the man leaves, Swami turns to us and says that "this beggar could do nothing for that man." About ten minutes later, Swami tells us that Anandamayee Ma had made a blessing over that man's head and that He did not want to disturb it.

In ‘Yogi Ramsuratkumar’, Olga Amman too writes about a visitor and the Yogi’s attitude towards him.

After a few moments, one of the devotees explained to Bhagavan that he had come from Calcutta, and that his journey had been very long. These three ladies (Olga and her companions – Ed) come from Italy”, was the saint’s comment. 

Yogi asked the same devotee: “Don’t you have a Guru in Calcutta?”

“Yes, I have”, the man answered, and told his Guru’s name. 

“Then, why don’t you follow him? Why do you need to visit this beggar?”

The conversation ended there.

The Yogi has this to say of a guru,

“This beggar has no knowledge of the religious rituals. All the rituals and religious practices prescribed in the Vedas should make one reach the feet of the Guru, if these rituals and religious practices are done with all sincerity. Once you attain the feet of the Guru, then you need not worry about your spiritual growth. You need not do any rituals also. It is enough to listen to your Guru and remember your Guru. Your Guru will take care of you and he will take you to the destination." - Yogi

It has been an exciting journey for us at ATM with many others coming along. Many left on the way seeking greener pastures. Those few who chose to remain with ATM are great souls who have come for a purpose - his purpose, as we came to know. They are being exposed and shown to us slowly by the divine. They came to ATM, brought together by Agathiyar, and since then has kept them close to him, grooming and guiding them constantly.

The Divine has a plan laid out for all of us. He wants us to submit to his divine plan. He wants us to place aside our individual plans. His plan is for the good of the whole of Prapanjam while ours is for the self and the immediate family.

After having hibernated in the dark dungeons and caves or Kugai of the heart chakra, Agathiyar, our Parama Guru came within the confines of our hearts that was the abode of Kuga (Lord Muruga), bringing in the light of knowledge and illuminating the space, to reveal the magnificent splendour and majesty and golden hue of Lord Muruga, the embodiment of Gnana. Kuga broke the shackles that have bound us for ages, breaking the chain of ignorance and shredding the veil of illusion or Maya, awakening us from the sleep of ages. 

Hence the Siddhas on this marvelous journey, today have brought us to the door that opens the heart chakra. From Muladhara, Svadhisthana, Manipura we now stand at the doorway to Anahata. Having hibernated for ages, the Guru has come to awaken us and lead us to the next level. Let us take his hand and invite him into our hearts. We have come to do his work but have forgotten our purpose and deviated. He has come to remind us. Time and again the guru drops by to remind us of the promise or obligation towards the divine. The divine asks of us to admit him into our hearts so that he could do his work through us. As Sri Ramakrishna explains, "When the mind learns to dwell there (at the heart chakra), man experiences his first spiritual awakening", the veil of illusion that had us believe that we were separate is pulled aside and Reality, our real self, is shown.

Rohit Mehta writes in "The Creative Silence", The Theosophical Publishing House, 1957, "Reality always is, it has not to be brought into existence. Because there are screens hiding reality," we do not discover it. "It is only as veil after veil is rent asunder that the reality comes to view."

This path is not of finding something anew or a path of discovery. It is an unveiling of something that is already there. Once we see our true nature we are enlightened the very moment.

"We become only that which we already are" states Djwal Kul, in Book Two of "The Human Aura", Summit University Press, 1971. He writes further, 

"Draw nigh to me and I will draw nigh to you" are the words of the Lord spoken within the soul of the Apostle James as the key to the union of god and man through the blessed mediator, the Christ Self. In order for god and man to be one on earth even as the soul of man is one with the Spirit of God in Heaven, the Christ comes forth to mediate the frequencies of matter and of the spirit. The perfect blending of the energies of god and man are realized, then, through the Christ Self of the individual or through masters ascended or unascended who have attained the harmony of the Christ Mind. To fulfil then the first half of the equation, "Draw nigh to me and I will draw nigh to you" mankind must raise the energies of consciousness to the level of the heart chakra... the magnet that you create within the heart chakra is the ascending triangle... the presence of this forcefield... will draw the descending triangle of gods consciousness into the heart chakra... "

Swami Satprakashananda in his "Meditation - Its Process, Practice and Culmination", Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, 1976, says "As a devotee is drawn to god, so god is drawn to a devotee." The merging of creator and creation takes place forming the matrix that is the six-pointed star or Sadachara. The merger of ATM souls with the divine was a spectacle to behold where Lord Muruga implanted his matrix or Sadachara in the hearts of his devotees who surrendered to him.

In "The Chakras" by CW Leadbeater, The Theosophical Publishing House 1927, the nature of the chakras are explained.

"All these wheels (of the chakras) are perpetually rotating, and into the hub or open mouth of each a force from the higher world is always flowing.. which we call the primary force... without this inrush of energy the physical energy cannot exists.

In the undeveloped person, it is sluggish while it glows and pulsates in the evolved, Leadbeater adds further.

From https://beherenownetwork.com/the-fourth-chakra-the-heart-in-balance/ we learn further.

The heart chakra is in the middle of the seven main energy centers in the body... When the “fire in the belly” of the third chakra is sufficiently charged and you are determined to follow the call of spirit, you make the energetic leap to the heart chakra, which bridges the three lower earth-bound centers with the three non-physical centers in the throat, the “third eye,” and the crown of the head that provide you with access to the more expansive spiritual realms.

And in reverse, the heart serves as the access point for downloading divine love from above into the lower chakras and thus purifying your personal needs and desires, allowing you to come into balance within yourself and with the world around you. You can give and receive love, which is the main job of the heart chakra.

This is love that comes from within yourself. This is looking at a flower blooming in the spring and feeling tears come to your eyes because your heart is overflowing with its beauty. This is the love you feel when you have forgiven those who have hurt you, when a newborn takes hold of your finger, when you are permeated with the bliss of the divine within.

When many pay to attend classes that teach how to open the heart, as Tavayogi used to say that we got to come into the company of the Siddhas quite easily, without the hardship that he and many others went through, the heart chakra was opened by the divine itself, asking only one thing from us - that we surrender to him. We are blessed indeed. All these is possible only by the grace of our Gurus, through masters both ascended or unascended as Djwal Kul says, and the consent of the divine.

Aum Agatheesaya Namaha.