We had a pleasant visit from Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar of Kallar Ashram yesterday. Though I met her upon her arrival in Malaysia at the home of a host and devotee, Agathiyar asked me to fetch her to my home, where he wanted to see her. He then came in the Jeeva Nadi read by Mataji herself, with a short, sweet, and precise message for both her and me too. Hearing that I was on the right track boosted my spirits. He asked that I continue with what I was doing. It was a brief visit, during which we spoke a lot about the ashram, Tavayogi, and Agathiyar, as she had to leave to conduct a Puja in the home of another deity.
The last reading that came through Nadi reader T.Ramesh was a couple of days after Sivarathri, which was equally promising and satisfying. Agathiyar spoke about my home and the Puja we conducted on Sivarathri. He spoke about the Kundalini that he had aroused within me. I guess Agathiyar is happy with us.
Taking my morning walk moments ago, I gave thanks to Prapanjam for the clear skies and bright sun that we had missed for a very long time, as the haze from the burning in Indonesia enveloped our skies too. The haze suffocates. Then I realized that death occurs when the breath leaves to never return, while Samadhi occurs when the breath comes within to stay for good. Hence we see Yogis and saints, yoga practitioners and aspirants, forcefully hold their breath and retain it, and some tragically die while attempting it. I, too, to this day cannot bring myself to go into meditation. But Agathiyar never minds it nor forces me to go into that state forcefully. Just as Tavayogi apprehends devotees who bring up the subject of Kundalini at the onset of their journey, Agathiyar scolded me the moment I asked about Kumbhaka. Though I had taken up the Asana and Pranayama practice that Tavayogi showed me in 2007 and saw varied results later, in 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, and in 2022, Agathiyar never had me indulge in this practice of Kumbhaka or retention of breath forcefully.
As I was walking, it occurred to me too that only the elevated souls could relieve the grief and karma of another; those at par with another tend to take on the other's karma. Hence, the reason Agathiyar and Tavayogi caution us against taking on others' karma. If the fate of a common man is written in stone, the Siddhas can break the stone and rebuild it, rewriting our fate and charting a new destiny. That is what both Agathiyar and his guru, Lord Muruga, did too, bringing me salvation. Hence, we understand the reason for the Siddhas to come forward to bring relief to their devotees.