When I chauffeured Tavayogi to the opening of a new Peedham in a house in a housing estate in Banting in 2007, he suddenly surprised me, telling the small crowd that had gathered that day, "Now Shanmugam shall speak about the Siddhas". What was I to talk about the Siddhas? I hardly knew them. I had come to their worship, taking up Agathiyar's call in my Nadi reading back then in 2002. I took up home puja, singing the praises and reciting the names of the Siddhas that I had gathered from numerous sources. That was all I did. I was stunned and left speechless. Gaining my composure, I began to give an introduction to Tavayogi, with whatever little I knew about him, and very cunningly brought everyone to chant the Arutperunjothi mantra, which came as an escape route from having to speak further. But now, after traveling the path for some 24 years, I have so much to talk about them that my life revolves only around them and the many miracles, blessings, and grace that they have showered on us and continue to shower. But I cannot possibly take the stage like Tavayogi did for Agathiyar has forbade me, telling me that he shall not bring me out in public. Instead, he had me write, hiding behind these words and pages. I guess I can do equally as much through these writings, the numerous books that I have uploaded online, and the videos that are uploaded on YouTube.
https://gnanakottam.blogspot.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@ShanmugamAvadaiyappa
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/agathiyarvanammalaysia
The footer of this blog carries the following: "Taking the First Step into the Mysterious & Mystical World of the Siddhas." Indeed, the journey has been one shrouded in mystery and mystical too. I have yet to fully comprehend it. That is the reason we keep coming, taking further births and living the lives out, with the hope that at least we will arrive there in one of these births. But is this true? We are so used to knowing time as a timeline of events. Though it appears that the journey is long and rough, seeing it as a timeline, we soon come to realize that we never left in the very first place. Though the journey brings us places, so that we can live out our past Karma, experience, and fulfil our desires, and those of other souls too, in actuality, we never left home. Tavayogi, in autographing my copy of his first book, "Andamum Pindamum," in 2007, said it beautifully in the following words, something that only dawned on me later.
"God resides within you in your heart. This is both the starting and ending point of the journey."
ஆண்டவன் உரைகின்ற இடம் தங்கள் உள்ளம். அதுவே பயணத்தின் தொடக்கமும் முடிவும்.
We are told that a pure heart is the abode of the divine. A contented soul is a rare commodity these days in this age. So the idea of having us go to holy spots and carry out charity is to bring us towards purying out hearts. This is the phase of Sariyai. With the coming of the gurus, we carry out Kriya that purifies our home and heals Mother Earth. Then the guru brings us a step further, or rather brings us to step within, giving us the Yoga practices that purify our internals. Soon, in going within, we arrive at the dawning of knowledge or Gnanam.
Patanjali, in revealing that "Liberation (or Mukti) takes place when the mind has the same purity as Purusha itself," shows the way to absorption, or Samadhi, or that of knowing and realizing the seed of consciousness. Patanjali shows the way to how one can reach the abode of the soul forever so that all the actions he performs in the world will not reflect any reaction, hence severing the fine thread of birth and rebirth.
(Source: Swami Vishnu-Devananda, in his "Meditation and Mantras", Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd, Delhi, Om Lotus Publications, 1978).
So the very first place to start is to draw aside the veils of ignorance, just as the curtains are drawn aside in the inner chambers of these temples to have us have a peek at the Divine that resides in our hearts. This is Sariyai. The guru then comes to pierce our hearts and open the door to the cave within our hearts. This is Kriyai. He then has us bring our breath to knock on the doors that are lined up all along the way until the door to the kingdom of the divine opens at the Ajna, and we arrive at Sahasrara, where we taste eternal bliss. This is Yogam. The divine knowledge comes within, answering all our queries and doubts from within us, without seeking elsewhere. We become a guru unto ourselves.
The very first teaching, or rather beating, that I took, that came as an arrow that pierced my heart, was the day Tavayogi graced my home for the very first time in 2005. He brought down the total joy and bliss in me at having him come over, telling me that I was living in Maya, thinking that he had something hidden within his attire of a mendicant. Only over the years did I come to understand that he had done me a favor. He made me lose my ignorance and hold on him, even before it took hold of me, and instead asked me to hold Agathiyar. I am grateful to him for bringing me out of the dark pit, Maya, or illusion that lures and confuses us, covering or veiling each and every man.
Taking the bitter medicine that Tavayogi had given me to drink, I began to hold on to Agathiyar's hand. Once I was out of the pit, he gave me a good bath and cleansing, both externally and internally, of the years of accumulated moss that had covered my Arivu or intelligence, sight, and senses, and Agathiyar in giving me his Agathiyar Kuzhambu, purges me of the poison that I had drunk, in all these years of neglect, bringing this body and form back into top form and shape.
So, as Andy Williams asks, "Where Do I Begin" in the Love Theme from 'Love Story', and as Julie Andrews answers in "The Sound of Music", "Let's start at the very beginning, A very good place to start....", we too ask where do we then begin this journey of bringing a change in us. Contrary to thinking of the Yugas as a chain of happenings taking place in a timeline, it is, in actuality, the changes that take place in one.
Paramahansa Yogananda, in his "Bhagavad Gita, God Talks With Arjuna", tells us the Kurukshetra war is within us. He interprets the Kurukshetra war "not merely as a historical event, but as a perpetual, allegorical battle occurring within every human being. He teaches that the battlefield is within our own cerebrospinal centers, where the forces of good and evil, higher consciousness and lower ego, engage in a continuous struggle."
(Source: AI Overview)
First and foremost, in coming to the Siddhas, they reveal our Karma and help us bring an end to it. When astrologers instill fear regarding the entry of the planet Saturn and its transit in one's horoscope chart, the late Siddha physician and astrologer Dr. Krishnan was the only one who asked that we invite him into our lives. Let us get it done and over with says the doctor. Divine law has placed it such that one's Karma shall be paid in full during these periods, and we can then move on to better things. Such is the compassion of the Divine that it wishes to see us break the shackles of Karma. The Divine comes as the Siddhas to help us with it. Tavayogi often listens to the problems of people who come up to him without interrupting. Once it is all off their chest, only then would he disclose to them the reason, provided they either ask or are willing to listen. He would simply state that it was because of Karma. He will then show them to the Siddhas, asking them to worship and recite their names. With sincerity and devotion, they shall see obstacles and hurdles cleared. Above and beyond that, one shall gain the strength to face their problems. The Siddhas shall stand by him. The Siddhas bring man to rise above his sufferings. Only then is there room for him to receive their teachings. They then begin to prepare him to become pure in all ways.
When the Siddhas come by, know that the dawn of Satya Yuga has begun for him, for he has to change his old ways and speak only the truth, upholding Satyam or honesty. This is the lifeline that is thrown to him. The moment he speaks a lie, one of the many strands of this line snaps, and he lowers himself and moves closer into the dark pit. All the sacred texts speak about upholding truth and justice, good values and noble thoughts, etc. All masters speak about them too. These are means of purifying oneself, cleansing, and dropping the veil and the sheet of ignorance. Man who upholds these values moves to become divine in the eyes of other men. As purity is equated to light, man becomes divine. He then sheds his light on others who come by. He too shines as a beacon, hence I came to know the reason Agathiyar said that he cannot only depend on one person, but needs many to assist and do his work here in uplifting the other souls too.
Agathiyar became the beacon lighting the path so that I could see clearly where I was stepping and treading, avoiding the pitfalls. He worked hard on me, toiling day and night to bring me to his fold or Thiru Kootam, reminding me constantly to keep my temper under check so that I do not fall and return to the lower rungs of the stairs, in this case, the lower Chakras. It would be a wasted effort on his part, he said, acknowledging the fact that Tavayogi told us that all our efforts in Sariyai, Kriyai, and Yogam would only bring us to the second Chakra and that we need the Siddhas to lift us from there. Here is where Agathiyar, on Monday, 22 August 2022, set free, the dormant and sleeping Kundalini energy that was awakened and aroused by the Asana and Pranayama techniques given by Tavayogi in 2007, and which, as told, had ponded at Svadhistana. Agathiyar often tells me that they only share with us what they did, saw, and experienced. After the Kundalini was free, when I asked him if therewas any further practice to be done, he answered none and said that she would do her work in me.
Worship of the Siddhas brings us further up in the chain of evolution, where the Siddhas work on us further towards becoming a Siddha too. The Siddhas mold us into another Siddha, taking their image, form, and soul. But for all this to happen, man has to take the first step. He has to tread the path with dedication and discipline. He has to stay on the path and not go astray.
Agathiyar, who came as a bronze statue in 2010, asked to be moved to the home of another devotee, hence having me break my hold on him. Soon, he told me to even let him go, asking how then can we become one? Agathiyar spoke about emancipation that day. He brings me from Bakti to Gnanam, something that Tavayogi had been telling us all these years, and brings us to the teachings of Adi Sankara, bringing us from Dvaita to Advaita.
If our parents started us off with Samadhi pada, which was devotion to the deities, the guru comes to bring us to carry out Sadhanas in the Sadhana pada. We then step into the Vibhuti pada, moving towards the inner quest (Antaranga Sadhana). By having us go within on an internal journey, it gives insight into the very purpose we came for. Finally, "In Kaivalya pada we lose our identities and merge in the soul (emancipation)," says BKS Iyengar, something that Agathiyar had asked me to lose the identification so that we could merge as the One or Yegan.
(BKS Iyengar in his "Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali", HarperCollins Publishers India, 1993).
Patanjali says that we are not of the body; neither are we the mind. We are the witness, Purusha, the self. Sitting alone in silence, only the Purusha remains. The Purusha witnesses the thought go by and, over time, loses its attention on it too. What dawns on us during these moments is self-knowledge.
Patanjali concludes, "For a person who has transcended Prakriti, the qualities of nature come to an end for they, the three Gunas, have fulfilled their purpose, which is to push him through growth and to create the field for transformations on the path to self-realization." How wonderful.
Reaching the finale. Kaivalya is that state in which the Gunas attain equilibrium and merge in their cause, having no longer a purpose in relation to Purusha. The soul is established in its true nature, which is pure consciousness. End.