As he had traversed the path of the Siddhas for years and arrived at the state of a Tavayogi and Jeevan Mukta, and though he asked me why we were still hooked to the path of Bakti and inquired when we were coming to that of Gnanam upon arriving on our shores, I asked Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal why he needed to build a temple. He replied that it was not for him but for others (the public). He stood out as an exemplary Siddha in public, taking up calls to give talks at temples, offering prayers, and carrying out rituals. Though he knew the truth, he had to bring us to arrive there, beginning with the elementary school. If he were to speak about his experiences of the higher levels and translate them into concepts, we would not understand. Hence, he knew the best way was to show us the way and the means, the method and the practices, and have us experience them for ourselves. Agathiyar, too, had told me that it was only those practices that they did and saw their results that they passed on to us. If Supramania Swami gifted me all the merits that he had gained over the 40 years of his tavam, or austerities, and Tavayogi gifted me what Agathiyar told me was a treasure in showing me certain asanas and pranayama practices, Agathiyar, after both my gurus went into Samadhi, told me to share the internal changes taking place with readers of this blog so that they would know what to expect on this journey heading towards Light. He listed the phases of the journey towards arriving at the state of Light in coming through a Nadi reading in 2025, read by Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar on her visit to AVM. He assured me that he was there for me to see it through.
We are here to guide you. I know your heart. AVM's children will walk the talk in following your ways. Henceforth, take up the very first Diksha mantra given to you while retaining the breath in Kumbhaka. As you continue, the impure body, or Asudha degam, will become pure, or Sudha degam, and become the body of Prana, or Pranava degam, and eventually the body of Light, or Oli degam. Pay attention to the breath during this practice. You will arrive at gaining the Siddhis, or the ability to do miracles. Before that, take up the study of the Tatvas or Udal Kuru Tatvam that govern this body, which your guru Loga Raasan (Thangarasan) spoke to you about.
யாம் இருக்கோம் உன்னை வழிநடத்த. உன் மனம் நான் அறிவேன் அப்பா. இல்ல மழலைகளுக்கு நீ காட்டும் வழியைப் பின்பற்றி நடப்பர் தானே. இன்று முதல் என் முதல் தீட்சை மந்திரத்தைக் கும்பகத்தில் நின்று சொல்லித் தியானமது கொள்ள வேண்டும். கொள்ள கொள்ள அசுத்த தேகம் சுத்த தேகமாகி பிரணவ தேகமாகி ஒளி தேகமாகும் வித்தையே ஞானம். அதற்குத் தியானத்தில் வாசியைக் கவனி. மெல்ல மெல்ல அட்டமா சித்துக்கள் உந்தனுக்கு கூடும் தானே. மகனே, அதற்கு முன் உடல் கூறு தத்துவங்களை நீ அறிய வேண்டும். லோக ராசு குருவாக உந்தனுக்கு செப்பி உள்ளான் தானே.
Ramalinga Adigal speaks about this transformation too, as Dr. C. Srinivasan wrote in his "An Introduction to the Philosophy of Ramalinga Swami," published by Ilakkia Nilayam, Tiruchi, 1968. We learn of the state of Guru Sakiram, or Shiva Sakiram, where, perceiving God in the form of Light, the soul is saturated with compassion and love. It experiences divine life, or Uyir Anubhavam, and attains purity of the body that leads to a golden body, or Sudha Degam. The extent of this achievement, though, is dependent on the grace of Arutperunjhoti.
R. Kuppusamy, in his "Kadavul Vignanam", explains that the object disappears or உருவம் அருவமாகும். Only the seen or காட்சி exists. This Ramalinga Adigal calls Gnana or Uyir Anubhavam (ஞானம், உயிரனுபவம்).
Experiencing Uyir Anubavam in a Sudha Degam, where transformation to a pure body takes place, love incarnates. The universality of love in all fellow beings arises. Oneness in life is achieved. He/she sees the divine in all life forms. They see the smallness of oneself and the greatness of God. They experience the spontaneous flow of God in them. Furthermore, they see divinity in all creatures. They see God in the form they are ready to receive. They enjoy supreme grace, or Arul Anubhavam.
After coming by the Siddhas and listening to their song, the Siddha Geeta, King Janaka went into deep contemplation, thinking about the impermanence of life and how small a soul he was and how minute his lifespan was compared to the vastness of the universe out there and its age.
The 'I' that stands witness to the observation and identification of three things that exist initially in coming to Dhyana, the object, the subject, and the seen, is lost, revealing the Atma, or soul, that becomes the watcher without registering the sights, sounds, and thoughts. Thence, Dhyana comes to an end. (ஆன்ம அனுபவம் தியானம் சித்தியானதன் அடையாளம்). The fruition of this state is the gaining of Atma Anubhavam.
Atma Anubhavam leads one to Atma Tarisanam, or self-realization, or Para Turiyam, or supra-mental perfection, where we taste God and the glory of Arutperunjhoti. The soul is charged with divine grace.
King Janaka decided,
"Let me take resolve to rest in my inner chamber. Now I have at last been awakened by this high-souled Siddhas. From now on, I shall heed my soul, follow the Atma, which is the only sure means to attain freedom and supreme bliss. Let me sit alone and withdrawn. I shall win quietude in my own soul and find all my peace and contentment therein."
Pursuing further, only the experience of Brahman exists. This is Samadhi.
Rather than lose himself in Samadhi, rather than dissolve in Brahmam, rather than sit lifeless, Agathiyar disrupted Tavayogi's desire to end his journey and go into Samadhi, and instead had him look up a place called Agathiyar Vanam and set up an ashram and preach the path to seekers. Tavayogi had to settle for Sahaja Samadhi instead, something that Tavayogi told me he would attain. This is karma yoga. He became a Jeevan Mukta, a soul free while still living in a body. Thenceforth, he came to our shores and redeemed us, too.
A Jeevan Mukta, or spiritual catalyst, as described by Teal Swan in an article at https://tealswan.com/resource, is
"a person who precipitates an event or a change on the level of spirit (the essential, incorporeal part of someone or something). Spiritual catalysts, like gurus, have attained a high level of spiritual authority, awareness, and knowledge, which enables them to guide others. Spiritual catalysts, however, do not aim to become “leaders” to their disciples as much as they wish to cause their disciples to question and find answers within themselves. It is the firm belief of a spiritual catalyst that if a person is caused to initiate their own exploration on the level of spirit, that person will then become the conscious leader of their own life. It is also the belief of a spiritual catalyst that if a person becomes the conscious creator and leader of their own life, their life will inevitably become a kind of living enlightenment, thereby allowing that person to live in a continuous state of internal peace and joy."
Tavayogi came to sow the seeds after Agathiyar told him to come to our shores. Agathiyar took it up from there. Similarly, Agathiyar had me commission and make his bronze statue in Swamimalai and bring it over to my home on 2 January 2010, where the next day, he had us give it life and soul by chanting his mantra 100,000 times. He came to reside in it. In 2013, he opened his eyes in this statue just as he did at Agasthiyampalli and Papanasam in 2005. In giving his statue life, or Uyir, we received his grace, or Arul. After he had me send him away to the home of another devotee and eventually returned after several months with LobaMa as a statue too, telling me to drop even him and asking when we are to become one, he told me that it was time I knew the Atma and Sivam. With his grace, we come to know the JeevaAtma and its parent ParamAtma. This is gaining Atma Anubhavam, the fruition of Dhyana.
When in a state of continuous Dhyana, even in waking hours, whatever is consumed changes its state (தியான மயமானால் பொசிப்பு மாறும்). Now we can understand the story as to why Lord Narayanan sent four to Agathiyar to learn about fasting. Eventually, they came back to the Lord, frustrated, mentioning that Agathiyar kept cooking and feeding people, including himself. Similarly, we understand now that the food taken by Agathiyar was not taken to keep him alive and sustain him, but for the elementals around. Through serving food, he likes to spread himself among the people and thus to adjust any imbalances in the mental, emotional, and physical bodies. He lives in tune with the universal consciousness, and in such a tune-up, the food is given to all the elementals around him, with himself as the channel. (https://blog.good-will.ch/WordPress/2010/10/23/rishi-agastya-a-little-miracle-and-some-stories). I have had a ferocious and frequent hunger come on at times, too. I have felt the food assimilate within as if feeding all the cells within. Furthermore, I felt as if I was eating for the rest of the world too. It was a blissful state.
When my daughter told Agathiyar that she was not in control of what her children consumed away from home, he told her that he would change it and not to worry. When the divine comes within, all that is consumed by us turns into medicine for the body. As is written in Bhuvaneswari Kavasam, என் உணவெல்லாம் உனக்கேற்ற நைய்வேத்தியம் ஆகுமம்மா, all that we consume is offered as Prasad or Neivaidyam and consumed by the divine.
Thomas Moore, in his book "Care of the Soul", HarperCollins Publishers, 1992, too says, "Communion, union with divinity, is accomplished by means of food. Taking food into the body is a ritual way of absorbing the god into oneself."
Just as he resolved to withdraw within, his minister came to announce he had an appointment with some dignitaries. King Janaka pondered for a while. At that moment, he realizes that the soul neither can benefit from action nor beget harm by inaction, as it is pure and immortal. He then decides
"Let me rise up. Let the body pursue whatever it has been used to. To restrain it all of a sudden will be wrong and damaging. If the mind remains desireless, the results of actions done by the body and its limbs will be taintless."
King Janaka leaves to meet the arrivals. He stood out as a Jeevan Mukta even while ruling his kingdom.
Similarly, I have come to understand why Agathiyar did not send me away because of my past sins but took me into his fold instead, for the soul is ever pure and untainted by man's actions. It is only, for want of experience, that we sin, compounding what Agathiyar told me - that it was he who had me lose hold of my senses and lose my way momentarily and err.
Next in line is that of Atma Darisanam, which Agathiyar had promised my wife and me that he and LobaMa would come before us in the physical form, just as I had asked Tavayogi to see, days after he arrived in Malaysia in 2005. Tavayogi, who told me that due to his age, he had missed the boat in attaining the state of Jothi that our Moola Guru and Parama Guru Agathiyar, Ramalinga Adigal, and Jeganathar attained, said that he had to settle for Sahaja Samadhi and come back again and attempt to reach the state of Light, was elevated to the state of Jothi, according to Dhanvantri, who came before us through a devotee. Later, Agathiyar, in a Nadi reading, told us that he had attained the state of Jothi partly due to our praises of him and tavam and was doing his work in his realm, while Agathiyar came to guide us further.