We did not choose our parentage. We did not choose our country to be born. We did not choose when to be born. All these was decided by our soul that looked for all the great possibilities to live out its karma, desires and dreams.
So what choice do we have then? We have the choice of making moment to moment decisions. We are in control of the moment. We have the right to determine our life now in the present. Even if the karma we carried has brought all the right elements together for us to move according to what was fated for that moment, we can change our fate with some concerted efforts and by making a wise choice, either to pursue the direction of some ill fate or change it hence renewing our destiny. But sadly most of the time we fail to make wise decisions and end up as a victim to our own fate.
By taking the hand of the wise, the Siddhas, we are given an insight to the consequences of the matter at hand and tend to choose wisely. Although the immediate effects of our choice my be contrary to what we had expected at times, in the long run it would be for the good of all. Here is where a little consultation through the numerous means of predictions help.
By taking the hand of the wise, the Siddhas, we are given an insight to the consequences of the matter at hand and tend to choose wisely. Although the immediate effects of our choice my be contrary to what we had expected at times, in the long run it would be for the good of all. Here is where a little consultation through the numerous means of predictions help.
Speaking about renewing our destiny, it would be even better if we could drop our desires, likes and dislikes and take on the wishes of the divine and work towards it. This is how the apostles of God moved. This is what Arunagiri did. If prior to Lord Muruga's appearance and saving him, Arunagiri had lived out all his desires, to the extent he contracted a disease as a result of over indulging in fulfilling his appetite for it. Once he was saved he surrendered his life to the lord. The lord asked him to sit quiet. He did. The lord asked him to go places where he would meet him, he did as asked. Arunagiri now lived for the lord. The lord moved in him. His actions were those of his lord. He became an apostle of the lord.
How many of us are willing to stop living for ourselves and begin to live for the Erai? For this to happen individual appetite and desires need to be dropped. Then Erai fills us with his desires. His desires will trigger actions that off course would bring good to all of his creation while ours are solely for the benefit of ourselves and the immediate family.
This is where Agathiyar brings us to share our time and life with the unfortunate, bringing some cheer to them. He moves us from being self centered to care for the rest of the world too.
But before we can tackle the world we need to consistently work on our "self". The Chief High Priest the late Venerable Dr K. Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera in his book "You are Responsible" from the Wisdom series of books published by the Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur, 1984, gives us some tools to bring the much needed change in us and live life fully.
- You are responsible for your life,
- You are responsible for your relationship with others,
- Blame not others, accept responsibility,
- You are responsible for your inner peace,
- Expect nothing and nothing will disappoint you,
- Be grateful,
- Compare not with others, and finally
- Forgive and forget.
Similarly towards this purpose, the Siddhas have written extensively on virtues to be adopted. They have given us guidelines on how we are supposed to live this life in their works. The Siddha Tiruvalluvar gave us the "Tirukkural". Siddha Avvai gave us the "Avvai Paadal", "Aatthi Chudi" and "Kondrai Venthan", all in the Tamil language. Siddha Pathanjali gave us the "Yoga Sutras" laying out eight stages of individual development in his Yoga sutras: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Svatmarama gave us the "Hatha Yoga Pradipika".
Tiruvalluvar, reminds us of the following:
- Be righteous;
- Be kind in speech;
- Be grateful;
- Maintain self-control;
- Do not desire another man’s wife;
- Be forgiving;
- Do not envy;
- Do not covet;
- Do not slander;
- Perform charity;
- Be truthful;
- Abstain from anger; and
- Be courteous.
Avvai in her work entitled "Aatthi Chudi" has 109 advises for us, amongst them:
- Do good;
- Control anger;
- Do not hinder aid to others;
- Feed the hungry;
- Help the needy;
- Keep reading;
- Do not be jealous of other’s achievement;
- Help your relatives and friends grow with you;
- Look after your parents;
- Do not forget those who have come to your aid;
- Do not secure what does not belong to you;
- Do not venture into things that are degrading by nature;
- Abstain from using harsh language;
- Refrain from thinking degrading thoughts;
- Do not harm others;
- Give your best in every venture that you undertake;
- Lead an honest life; and
- Respect others.
They all start with the very basic, working on the characteristics of a person. They speak about good morals and attributes. The very first lesson that they teach us is to bring change in our behavior, speech and beliefs. The Siddhas emphasize on character building, good behavior, right conduct, right knowledge, and yogic practices. They ask us to restrain our anger, lust and ego.
Agathiyar in my Nadi readings has mentioned the importance of overcoming the adverse feelings in order to rise to the level of a Siddha. These are the very basic requirements that one has to have in order to transcend further to the state of compassion that is required for a Siddha. Ramalinga Adigal and Siddhartha were very compassionate towards other beings. These features in them lead them on towards attaining the effulgence and nirvana respectively.
Agathiyar in my Nadi readings has mentioned the importance of overcoming the adverse feelings in order to rise to the level of a Siddha. These are the very basic requirements that one has to have in order to transcend further to the state of compassion that is required for a Siddha. Ramalinga Adigal and Siddhartha were very compassionate towards other beings. These features in them lead them on towards attaining the effulgence and nirvana respectively.
In the preface to his "Manumurai Kanda Vasakam", the original in Tamil by Thavathiru Rengaraja Desiga Swamigal and translated into English by R.G.Rajaram, Rengaraja Swamigal list out Ramalinga Adigal’s teachings and his path that of Samarasam which contains four disciplines :
- Indriya Ozhukkam (Ozhukkam means self - control) that is of two kinds,
- Gnana Indriya Ozhukkam: listening to the praise of god, preventing bad words entering our ears, avoiding looks of harshness and wickedness, abstaining from touching evil things, abstaining from gluttony etc.
- Karma Indriya Ozhukkam: speaking sweet words, telling no lies, resisting by all means from harmful deeds to other living beings, leading a religious life, associating ourselves with people of saintly character, and maintaining a healthy body.
- Karma Ozhukkam: the mind has to be directed to the cit sabhai (cit sabhai is the heart in which the divine abodes) by taking it away from other objects, not to inquire into the faults of others, not to be wicked.
- Jiva Ozhukkam: the discipline that teaches one to treat all human beings as equal, and feel the presence of oneself in all human beings, one must not be affected by the various distinctions as social, national, linguistic, caste, religion, etc. because the soul belongs to a different sphere where no differences exist.
- Anma Ozhukkam: the further development of jiva ozhukkam wherein the soul looks upon all living beings alike (not only human beings but also other beings). The soul feels great compassion for all the beings, considers ‘anma’ as the ‘sabhai’ and the ‘inner light’ as god.
Once we take care of these, then perception and understanding will changed accordingly. The world will still be the same. Nevertheless, we shall see it in a different perspective then. We shall accept everything as Erai’s doing. We shall go with the flow. We shall see the world differently. Moving further on there comes a stage where nothing is understood, instead everything is known.
The one place we can immediately bring change for the better is in our selfs. Working on this space for some time, we shall realize that the divine, pleased with us shall begin to command us with his work for humanity. Taking up the challenge he begins to give us more responsibilities. Eventually seeing our efforts and the results of our efforts he begins to work within us silently. Changes within that are not our doing, takes place. When we clear and empty and prepare the home (our body and thoughts) for his arrival, for him to reside, he begins furnishing his abode with his stuffs. He moves in. He moves us. We too become his apostles.