Coming to travel the road with the Siddhas, was an interesting journey. It was something new, away from the traditional and the norm. Here we got engaged directly and began doing the rituals ourselves. There was no middleman, priests or mediator. It was good in the sense that we took hold of our lives and did these rituals to our satisfaction. It wasn't only rituals but we began to serve people in small ways. Agathiyar brought us slowly to open our homes and our hearts to others. Slowly Agathiyar brought us into yoga, giving us simple asanas, pranayama and meditation techniques to follow. Besides that he revealed many secrets. We realized that their perspective of life was way beyond our comprehension. It was because they had access to the past records, the present and the future. They had privy to many information and a complete picture of each individual's life and that of the world we live in too.
As I stepped further into their circle and learnt about them, their lives seem to be mystical in nature and magical too. I chose not to dwell in it but rather studied their messages for mankind.
That is when I began questioning what seemed to be several contradictory beliefs and statements made about the Siddhas.
1. Pattinathar regarded the body as filth and the world as an illusion or Maya. Just when I began to ask myself if these thoughts we related to Vedanta, Ma.Rathinasabapathy Pillai in his book "Kaya Siddhi" confirms indeed it was. Pattinathar was the saint who converted his physical body to the form of a Shivalinga, and left in the subtle form to merge with the formless Erai.
1. Pattinathar regarded the body as filth and the world as an illusion or Maya. Just when I began to ask myself if these thoughts we related to Vedanta, Ma.Rathinasabapathy Pillai in his book "Kaya Siddhi" confirms indeed it was. Pattinathar was the saint who converted his physical body to the form of a Shivalinga, and left in the subtle form to merge with the formless Erai.
Thirumular who similarly regarded the body as filth in the beginning, later realizing the creator within him, began to regard the body as the abode of the Divine and took good care of it.
உடம்பினை முன்னம் இழுக்கென் றிருந்தேன்
உடம்பினு குள்ளே உறுபொருள் கண்டேன்
உடம்புளே உத்தமன் கோயில் கொண்டான் என்று
உடம்பினை யானிருந்து ஓம்புகின்றேனே
"When the body deteriorates, the soul prepares to leave. One would not reach the state of Gnanam. Learning the techniques of sustaining the body, I kept the body standing and retained the soul in it."
உடம்பார் அழியின் உயிரார் அழிவர்
திடம்பட மெய்ஞானம் சேரவு மாட்டார்
உடம்பை வளர்க்கும் உபாயம் அறிந்தே
உடம்பை வளர்த்தேன் உயிர்வளர்த்தேனே
Lord Muruga told me the same thing too. He said the body was important to attain Gnanam hence the need to care for it.
While many saints like Pattinathar regarded the body as an obstacle to achieve and merge with Erai, an equal number of them like Thirumular cherished the body and worked towards keeping it healthy, extending their lifespan. Today I realized that there are many approaches to realize Erai, among them the way of Vedantam that nourishes the soul and body which Pattinathar and initially Thirumular followed; and that of Siddhantam, which nourishes all three, the body, soul and spirit and that which Thirumular came to accept later.
2. Agathiyar asked me to have his statue commissioned, made and worshiped. Then a head of an ashram run under Agathiyar's name chastises me for worshiping an idol quoting from Sivavakiyar's songs. I tried to explain to him that he might not need idol worship as he had some 35 years behind him. I was a freshie having just moved into this sphere hence I needed it. But he refused to listen. I continued steadfastly with what Agathiyar had tasked me to do, ignoring the rigid and uncompromising mindset of others and their show of authority and wanting to get an upper hand in deciding what is right or wrong for others.
Soon I came to know that there is a reason, we are asked to worship Erai in the form of a statue. Just as one automatically closes his eyes when he sneezes, when one stands before the idol in prayer he automatically closes his eyes and sees the Lord within without his knowing or doing. What takes place during this moment or in a wink of an eye in prayer is the Lord unknowingly brings our breath to the state of Kevala Kumbam. Ma.Rathinasabapathy Pillai mentions this in his book "Kaya Siddhi."
Kevala Kumbam is described in "Magic of Yoga" at http://the-magic-of-yoga.blogspot.com/2007/11/anatomy-of-mechnical-respiration.html as the ultimate state.
The ultimate in Pranayama and Kumbhaka is called Kevala Kumbha, where one suspends the mechanical breathing in and out, with help of mechanical, aasan and pressure locks, but only sustaining himself with natural ventilation and exchange of oxygen in nostrils. There are many degrees of it, depending on mental state, posture, place and time. This can be used to transcend Mind and is the goal of Raja Yoga.
In prayer, this happens by the grace of the Lord without any effort on our part. Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar expounds that the Siddhas themselves will come within and move our breath without the need to take up various techniques.
Master Uva very candidly shared this moment at Thirupathy Balaji's temple. When he made his way to see the magnificence and beauty of Balaji up close, an opportunity that came by when he was accompanied by a friend who was a police officer with the Indian force, the friend told him that even though he knew the management and priests at the temple, they would only be spared and allowed a few moments and asked that he make good use of the moment to catch sight of the Lord without fail. Once they come up close to the Lord, Master Uva unknowingly shut his eyes automatically and prayed. He was jolted out of his prayer when he felt a blow on his back. The friend who was quite sore that he had closed his eyes after having brought him there and having continuously reminded him not to miss the opportunity to look at Balaji in all his majesty, had given him the blow.
Erai who plays his lila, stages it and takes part in it too. We are all a segment of Erai living a life that we had desired and chose. Just as Erai took a form and birth living through us, we give form and birth to Erai as statues that we adore and worship. It brings bliss in us and elevates us especially if its personal. It is another reason to continue worship.
Traveling further down the road, I understood from Ma.Rathinasabapathy Pillai that to know Erai, one has to know and understand the visible body first before he can even investigate what is thought to be the invisible Erai. I came to see the body with its precise functions, as the greatest miracle. The body needs to be admired, cherished and cared. It also happens to be the vehicle that brings Erai to us. Knowing one's body, he would then venture to know his maker. He will know that he is a spark from his maker; that he has taken a soul which carries data of the routes and destination it had desired. The soul determines the make of the vehicle to enable it to travel the route and reach its destination. The spirit provides the fuel for the whole journey.
The desires that the soul carries drives the physical body to move and act accordingly. The idea here then is to bring a change whereby the soul that carries an individual's desires, wipes out its own desires and instead instills in it the desires of Erai and works towards accomplishing Erai's will. When the thought of Erai is carried and held in place of other thoughts or replaces other mundane thoughts, Erai will work through us, resulting in bodily changes, that eventually brings the body to be retained till either wishes to let go of it. Here ones fate is erased and a new destiny takes shape.
When I went for my very first Nadi reading to a Nadi Nool Aasan showed by my colleague, I too like others gave my thumb print and went through the routine question and answer session to locate my Nadi. After four years I was introduced to another Nadi Nool Aasan by my guru Tavayogi. He begins to read the Nadi without the need to place another thumb print. He tells me it was the Aasi Nadi and not the regular Kaanda Nadi that needs a thumbprint and question answer session to locate. The reading for the day is immediately erased mysteriously by an act of Erai when I get an initiation from Tavayogi again the same night as instructed by Agathiyar. The tape recording of my Nadi reading turned into a hiss just minutes after the reading began. Just as a tape recorder allows one to record fresh recordings over an existing one while erasing the earlier one, Erai deciding to change my fate, erased the reading and blessed me with a new one bringing a new direction and directives. I had a new destiny waiting for me.
So what happens to the fate that was written for me that my soul carried along with it? Erai came to grant salvation from my past deeds, replacing my fate with a new destiny that he would bring to materialize soon. Agathiyar got me to come to his path, conduct worship of the Siddhas, brought me to commission his statue and perform libation or abhisegam. Tavayogi got me to perform the ritual of lighting the sacrificial fire or homa. These rituals took care of my karma that tagged along and that were a cause for me to take this birth.
To offset these karma further, he got me to carry out charity and open my home to devotees of his. By sharing my life with others, speaking and writing about the Siddhas, more merits were gained that worked in my favour to reduce my karma. He made me, who had taken the body to workout my past karma and fulfill my desires, to become a vehicle for him. This is known as Maarjaala Niyaayam according to Ma.Rathinasabapathy Pillai. The soul then becomes Kandhan, he adds, a fact that Lord Muruga confirms.
References:
- P. Kathigayan's "History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu", Notion Press, 2016.
- சித்தர்களின் சாகாக்கலை, சி எஸ் முருகேசன், அழகு பதிப்பகம், 1998.
- திருவாசகம், கங்கை வெளியீடு, 1998.
- காய சித்தி, மா இரத்தினசபாபதி பிள்ளை, சைவ சித்தாந்தப் பெருமன்றம், 2005.