Erai gives us all an equal opportunity to participate in his work but we are so preoccupied with our self and our vested interest in all things that we do not see the calling. Once the calling is heard the child of Erai heads towards him, looking for ways to communicate with him. Traveling long distances and taking on journeys that open up the whole wide world to him, and bringing him to acknowledge the presence of Erai in all of creation, the heart of the seeker opens up to him.
Once he is settled to listen to Erai, the divine begins the conversation. This conversation with Erai takes place within. From coming in many forms, through the nadi, guru, people we known and total strangers, he moves within and the internal conversation takes place. The dialogue with Eri takes place in this domain of silence and privacy.
Erai works through him who works for the good of others. As long as we live to serve our own needs Erai takes a backstage. When Tavayogi became a mendicant, his young daughter could not come to terms with it. Agathiyar pacified her that if Tavayogi stayed with the family, he would only be a father to her and her siblings. If Tavayogi became a mendicant he would be father to all.
Pattinathar had a calling in a rather drastic manner, where his son reveals through a note to him, that even a broken needle would not accompany him in his last days. That statement broke the camel's back. Pattinathar gave up his fortunes and left to seek that which would permanently come with him throughout his life.
Bhagawan Ramana too had a sudden calling the moment someone who returned from Tiruvannamalai spoke about Lord Annamalaiyar. He left for the Holy town and never came back to Madurai.
Yogi Ramsuratkumar was not accepted in the ashram of Swami Ramdas. After pleading with his guru to accept him and driven to ask if he was to be a beggar in the streets, the master replied, "So be it!". The yogi remained a spiritual "beggar" blessing one and all in later years.
Although Tavayogi took to become a mendicant, he never persuaded any of us to take on the saffron robes. He told me to bring the family into the worship of Siddhas. Similarly all of us at ATM have been encouraged to tie the knot and carry out the responsibilities that comes with it. He asked us to divide our time between family, career and devotion to him.
Agathiyar continues to give us numerous tasks, most of the time its either mooted or initiated by the ATM family members themselves and he comes to endorse and bless our ventures. It is a beautiful relationship we have with the Siddhas. We continue to serve them while taking care of our other responsibilities. This formula seems to work for us well. We shall stick with it for now.