Tavayogi once asked me, "Athu yeppadi magane Agathiyar unga veethil vanthu avvalavu solabamaaga amarnthu vittaar? Nange yellaam kadu malai nu thedi sendrom!" with a look of joy and approval. He asked, "My son, how is it that Agathiyar had come into your home easily without you having to search for him in the jungles and hills as we did?" I did not have an answer. But after I heard Tavayogi say this, I realized that moment that I was blessed to have him come into my life compared to others. Tavayogi said further that it was not easy to come into the worship of the Siddhas and their marga. How do I explain this? I thanked my stars, my parents and my gurus for all their blessings that moment.
All I did was to follow Agathiyar's dictates. That is all what I did. When in the very first Nadi reading of the Pothu Kaandam, Shanti Parihara Kaandam and Gnana Kaandam, he asked me to come to his path, worship Lord Ganapathy, Lord Shiva and him, I did as told. When he asked that I do Nadikku Thanam or contribution towards reading the Nadi I gave as stipulated. When he set me on a string of pilgrimages to temples to perform remedies for my past karma I did as told. That is all I did.
Then I meet Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai. My very first encounter with my first guru brought tears of joy in me for no reason. As I sat in front of him thinking he was going to draw up my younger daughter's astrological chart, instead he spoke about him, me and us. The first statement he made was, "Now since you are here, everything is over." I did not know what to make out of his statement then. How do I explain this?
All I did was to follow Agathiyar's dictates. That is all what I did. When in the very first Nadi reading of the Pothu Kaandam, Shanti Parihara Kaandam and Gnana Kaandam, he asked me to come to his path, worship Lord Ganapathy, Lord Shiva and him, I did as told. When he asked that I do Nadikku Thanam or contribution towards reading the Nadi I gave as stipulated. When he set me on a string of pilgrimages to temples to perform remedies for my past karma I did as told. That is all I did.
Then I meet Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai. My very first encounter with my first guru brought tears of joy in me for no reason. As I sat in front of him thinking he was going to draw up my younger daughter's astrological chart, instead he spoke about him, me and us. The first statement he made was, "Now since you are here, everything is over." I did not know what to make out of his statement then. How do I explain this?
Whenever I recite the following lines from Nakkeerar's VINAYAGAR THIRU AGAVAL, I am brought back to the sacred moments that I spent in the company of my gurus: Agathiyar, Supramania Swami and Tavayogi.
மோனா ஞான முழுதும் அளித்து
சிற்பரிப் பூரண சிவத்தைக் காண
நற்சிவ நிட்கள நாட்டமுந் தந்து
குருவுஞ் சீடனுங் கூடிக் கலந்து
இருவரும் ஒரு தனியிடந் தனிற் சேர்ந்து
தானந்தமாகித் தற்பர வெளியில்
ஆனந்த போத அறிவைக் கலந்து
ஈசனிைணயடியிருத்தி
மனத்தே நீயே நானாய்
நானே நீயாய்க்
காயா புரியைக் கனவெனவுணா்ந்து
எல்லாமுன் செயலென்ேற உணர
நல்லா உன்னருள் நாட்டந் தருவாய்
காரண குருவே கற்பகத் களிேற
வாரணமுகத்து வள்ளலே போற்றி
mona gnana muluthum alitthu
sirparipoorana shivattai kaana
narshiva nitkala naattamum thanthu
guruvum seedanum koodi kalanthu
eruvarum oru tani edam thanil sernthu
thaananthamaagi tarpara veliyil
aanandha pootha arivai kalanthu
esan enaiyadi erutthi manathay
neeye naanaai naane neeyaai
gaayaa puriyai kanavena unarnthu
yellaam un seyalendray unara
nallaa un arul naatham tharuvaai
kaarana guruve karpaga kalire
vaarana mugatthu vallale potri
My next moment of joy came when I turned up at the local chapter of Tavayogi's Agathiyar Gnana Peedham Malaysia in Batu Caves. When I opened up to him my intention in seeing him, that Agathiyar had asked me to come to the path of the Siddhas, Tavayogi replied, "Well you have come to the right place. Everything shall be taught here." After spending some time in private with him, as I rose to leave, I fell at his feet, besides been customary, I wanted to do so. He immediately moved away and told me sternly not to fall at his feet but that of Agathiyar, pointing to a pair of wooden sandals or paatham and Agathiyar's hugh painting. Only then did my gaze fall on the holy sandals placed at the altar of the peedham. Clutching and taking hold of the pathugai of Agathiyar, I broke down crying for no reason. How do I explain this? Tavayogi told me he too cried like that many many years before.
I realized that Tavayogi cried each time he sang a hymn at the Siddha caves and temples he brought me to. I did the same too for no reason at all. Along the way, Agathiyar asked me to stop crying. Instead he brought me to an elevated state of joy. There were many moments where my initial tears of sorrow turned to tears of joy for no reason now. The Agathiyar Peedham at Sri Gombak, Selangor; Jeganatha Swamigal's samadhi in Tapah; the Nattukotai Chettiar Temple in Penang; the Sivasubramaniam Temple, Kepayang, in Ipoh; the Kanthan Kallumalai Sri Kaliamman Temple in Kanthan, Chemor; and the Sri Shiva Shanmugar Cave Temple at Sungai Siput, Perak emitted intense energy. This extended abroad too in India. The Dakshanamurthy sannadhi at Thiruvanaikaval, Trichy and Kuthambai Siddhar's samadhi at the Mayuranatharswami Temple, Mayiladuthurai were places of intense energy vortexes. And of course Palani has always been a favourite energy spot for me, what I call Twilight Zone.
Then Agathiyar told me to get his bronze statue made in Swamimalai and worship him in my home before he moves to the Jegathguru Sri Raghavendra Miruthiga Brindavanam Kinta, in Ipoh upon completion of the temple complex. I did as told, performing the homam and abhisegam. One day Agathiyar decided to stay put at my home. My humble home took on the name Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM). Many have either seen or felt Agathiyar's presence at AVM too. Many have had their wishes granted. I am happy for them.
I realized that Tavayogi cried each time he sang a hymn at the Siddha caves and temples he brought me to. I did the same too for no reason at all. Along the way, Agathiyar asked me to stop crying. Instead he brought me to an elevated state of joy. There were many moments where my initial tears of sorrow turned to tears of joy for no reason now. The Agathiyar Peedham at Sri Gombak, Selangor; Jeganatha Swamigal's samadhi in Tapah; the Nattukotai Chettiar Temple in Penang; the Sivasubramaniam Temple, Kepayang, in Ipoh; the Kanthan Kallumalai Sri Kaliamman Temple in Kanthan, Chemor; and the Sri Shiva Shanmugar Cave Temple at Sungai Siput, Perak emitted intense energy. This extended abroad too in India. The Dakshanamurthy sannadhi at Thiruvanaikaval, Trichy and Kuthambai Siddhar's samadhi at the Mayuranatharswami Temple, Mayiladuthurai were places of intense energy vortexes. And of course Palani has always been a favourite energy spot for me, what I call Twilight Zone.
Then Agathiyar told me to get his bronze statue made in Swamimalai and worship him in my home before he moves to the Jegathguru Sri Raghavendra Miruthiga Brindavanam Kinta, in Ipoh upon completion of the temple complex. I did as told, performing the homam and abhisegam. One day Agathiyar decided to stay put at my home. My humble home took on the name Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM). Many have either seen or felt Agathiyar's presence at AVM too. Many have had their wishes granted. I am happy for them.
Agathiyar took the reins and led me, giving me directions through his numerous Aasi Nadi readings. When I asked Tavayogi for further directions when he visited us in Malaysia last year, he replied that he had nothing to say as Agathiyar was directing me, with a look of joy and approval.
How do I explain all this? If someone shows me a stone and tells me it's Siva, I take it as Siva. Why is it so difficult to accept and move on? Why do we need to counter and correct others perceptions and opinions? Why do we need to ridicule others faith and beliefs? Eventually when the realization dawns on us that all this is an illusion or maya and a play of consciousness or a play of god, it will also dawn on us then that we had made a fuss over nothing.
This story was retold by Paul Zweig in his introduction to Swami Muktananda's "Secret of the Siddhas." Two aspirants went to Baba Musa asking him to accept them as his disciples. Baba Musa agreed but assigned them both to work in the fields. After two years of toiling in the fields, one of them thought, "What's so unusual about this field? I have a field of my own. I could work there and consider that, too, to be service to the guru." He decided that he might as well return home and work on his field. But the other stayed on thinking, "I am serving the guru already. Why don't I wait and see what happens?"
After some years Baba called him to inform that he could now leave, with a reminder that: "Wherever you become immersed in your seva, you will receive inner wisdom."
Many now came to study with him in his own place. His friend who left the guru early, on hearing about his fame that had spread far and wide, came to see him. He was surprised to see his friend, become a holy man. He wanted to know how he attained this divinity and what Baba Musa had imparted to him after he left the guru. The holy guru now replied that Baba did not teach him anything but he continued toiling the fields. "I soon became contented and this enhanced my interest in the chore that was given. My work became more satisfying and there was a state of peace within me. My ordinary chore turned to seva or service to the guru and eventually became "a divine apprenticeship." I experienced a state of meditation even as I worked the fields. The seva became a technique for me to immerse myself in god. I began to have glimpses of ecstasy and love and was immersed in it. I saw the Supreme Consciousness pervading the entire universe. I saw everything as god."
Such is the guru's teaching giving very profound experiences to the disciple arising from common day to day moments or occurrences, "turning one's life into a form of meditation."
Tavayogi asked us to wait 12 years before he would impart any knowledge. I am still waiting, carrying on with my chore as directed. Sadly seekers and aspirants are in a hurry now to achieve all kinds of states and recognition in the spiritual path within a short time. They are not willing to wait but instead move on to other "pastures" hoping to get what they desired fast.
What was important to us as a toddler, does not interest us anymore. What was important to us as a teen does not interest us anymore. This is how we evolve, losing interest in all the things that we cherished at one time. It happens naturally. So accept everything and move on for your opinions shall change one day; your likes and dislikes will change one day; and your perspective of the world will change one day. The world and our thoughts is in a fluid state always changing and evolving. Let's move on accepting these changes.