Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal's teachings were minimal but whatever few words he said made a great impact on me. Much of what he said did not make much sense to me then, but I realized its inner meanings later. Most of the time I was in disbelief and most likely showed it out openly for he used to ask, "Don't you belief me, son?"
I had very few questions. To all these questions he answered briefly too and to the point.
The brief introduction in the morning at the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham at Batu Caves and later some moments with Tavayogi in the evening, was enough for me to pack my bag and follow him a month after his departure to India.
He welcomed me with open arms, and started small talk, making me very comfortable. The next morning he took me on his daily walk. Hardly had we walked some distance, he turned to me and told me that Agathiyar had come. I looked at him in disbelief. Huh! I thought, "Is that possible?" He continued. Agathiyar had asked Tavayogi what he was going to give me. Okay. Fine. I nodded, still looking bewildered and surprised and wondering if that was possible. Silence creeped in. We continued walking.
When Tavayogi took me to various caves and Samadhis, he brought me to Konganar's cave in Uthiyur. As we walked through the bushes and scrubs lined all the way along the path towards Uthiyur hills, he turned around to me and told that all the Siddhas were welcoming us by showering us with flower petals. I looked towards the sky. I saw nothing happening. This time I asked, "Is it?" He mentioned the aroma of sandalwood in the air. I could not smell nothing. He turned to me and asked, "What don't you believe?" He hastened his steps leaving me to catch up with him.
During my stay at the ashram, I wanted to do my share of charity, and requested Tavayogi to conduct a prayer and feed the poor, the following day, being an auspicious day, a Thursday and Kritigai. With Tavayogi leading us, we went downtown to Methupalaiyam to purchase vegetables for the annadhanam. While serving food, Nadaraja, the cook and caretaker of the ashram, out of the blues, commented that the day's feast was even greater than the usual annadhanam carried out at the ashram on full moon days. Tavayogi whispered to me that it was not Nadaraja speaking but the Siddhas. Naive as I was, I asked Tavayogi if the Siddhas were present at the Peedham to receive our prayers? Tavayogi turned to me and questioned me back, "What! Do you not believe they are around?" He must have thought I doubted their presence by asking each time if they were around - at the Peedham, in the caves, and at the Samadhis that we visited.
During my stay at the ashram, I wanted to do my share of charity, and requested Tavayogi to conduct a prayer and feed the poor, the following day, being an auspicious day, a Thursday and Kritigai. With Tavayogi leading us, we went downtown to Methupalaiyam to purchase vegetables for the annadhanam. While serving food, Nadaraja, the cook and caretaker of the ashram, out of the blues, commented that the day's feast was even greater than the usual annadhanam carried out at the ashram on full moon days. Tavayogi whispered to me that it was not Nadaraja speaking but the Siddhas. Naive as I was, I asked Tavayogi if the Siddhas were present at the Peedham to receive our prayers? Tavayogi turned to me and questioned me back, "What! Do you not believe they are around?" He must have thought I doubted their presence by asking each time if they were around - at the Peedham, in the caves, and at the Samadhis that we visited.
At Agasthiyampalli I had cried my heart out but Agathiyar did not open his eyes as promised in the Nadi. Seeing that he was already standing outside, I hastened to Tavayogi thinking that he was ready to leave. He signaled me to approach him and asked that I stand at the exact spot where he had stood earlier. He pointed to the inner sanctum and told me, "Look Agathiyar is opening and closing his eyes!" I peered into the sanctum but it was pitch dark. I could not make out the granite statue of Agathiyar much less see him open and shut his eyes. I remained silent, squinting my eyes trying to make out something. Seeing me silent, Tavayogi with a note of disappointment, brushed the happening aside and invited me back into Agathiyar's temple asking me to pose for a photo and that he shall snap it. As I began to take my seat at the same spot that I had sat earlier, he asked that I move into the inner sanctum, dismissing my thought that someone will say something. But still fearing to do so, I chose to sit on the trestle at the doorway instead. Tavayogi suddenly removed his shawl and threw it to me asking that I lay it on the floor before sitting. I did as told and that is when as I turned to see Agathiyar, he was watching me with his left eye open and giving me a wide grin. I had made it a point to observe him especially at this temple the moment I arrived since he had promised to "see" me. He was in granite. Both eyes were carved closed. Is this a miracle or not? Now no one sculptors a statue with one eye open, do they? And yet here he presented himself in this vision so that I do not convince myself later that I had been wrong and that he had had his eyes open all the while.
Hardly had I come out of this amazement, when Agathiyar amazes me again at Kutralanathar Temple at Courtallam. Agathiyar opened both his eyes blinking them in the granite statue of his. When I turned to Tavayogi to mention this miracle, Tavayogi brushes it aside saying, "Have you seen, son? Come now, lets move on. They will only show for a while", and casually walks away from there, leaving the temple premises. In the recent Jeeva Nadi reading with Tavayogi, Agathiyar reveals that in one of my past births, I had been a fruit trader at this temple premises and me and the family had served Agathiyar.
In all these travels with Tavayogi, never once did he turn around to see if I was coming. He would walk ahead with such speed and energy fully focused on his destination. At every temple we visited he would head straight for the Siddha samadhi and return home.
Then at Palani he surprised me when he turned around suddenly and stopped in his tracks, asking me, "Yenna Magane?", meaning "What is it son?" I had just been taken on "a blissful ride" when he put that question to me. I saw a sudden twinkle in his eyes and glee on his face then. I just walked right up to him and placed my head on his chest, in total gratitude. I thanked him silently from the heart. Total silence and bliss prevailed. He moved away continuing his walk while I followed him like a puppy, still in a wonderful daze.
During my daughters wedding recently, Tavayogi turned to me while on stage and looked at me with teary eyes, full of joy and happiness. Later as I sent him off, he told me all the Siddhas had come and blessed the newly weds. Later Agathiyar in the Jeeva Nadi reading for the newly weds mentioned the same to everybody's' joy.
Whenever he was in the temples of or presence of his Paramaguru and Guru, Sri Jaganatha Swamigal and Chitramuthu Adigal respectively, he would just fall to the floor and weep automatically. That was the amount and nature of devotion he had towards his gurus.
I was blessed to spend much precious time with him and observe his every move, bringing myself to learn from his actions and moves. I am forever indebted to Tavayogi and Agathiyar for all the joy, happiness and bliss that they have been showering on me, my family, friends and all at AVM, AUM, Thondu Seivom and AmudhaSurabi.
Whenever he was in the temples of or presence of his Paramaguru and Guru, Sri Jaganatha Swamigal and Chitramuthu Adigal respectively, he would just fall to the floor and weep automatically. That was the amount and nature of devotion he had towards his gurus.
I was blessed to spend much precious time with him and observe his every move, bringing myself to learn from his actions and moves. I am forever indebted to Tavayogi and Agathiyar for all the joy, happiness and bliss that they have been showering on me, my family, friends and all at AVM, AUM, Thondu Seivom and AmudhaSurabi.
