Tavayogi did not preach to me about the path in the confines of his ashram but chose to take my hand and lead me on a journey instead, to have first hand encounters with the siddhas and their magnificent world. The world of the siddhas is not another planet to be explored but that which runs parallel to ours and it just takes a fraction of a second for us to step in and within, most of the time unknowingly or by accident.
Agathiyar asked me to go more places and meet more sadhus and gurus. But I told him I had him. No living guru could possibly surpass him. So I chose to deal with him directly. He too dropped the subject. Instead he came over to my place as I had wanted. I am deeply indebted to him for the mercy and compassion he showers on us. Just as Tavayogi introduced us to Agathiyar and the path and took a step back, Agathiyar too gives us space to explore; to make mistakes and to learn from them. There is no right and wrong way of doing things we soon understood. The important thing is to engage in the task given. He comes along to enhance the job, guiding us appropriately.
This is a beautiful relationship that we have here. Living in his world as do the majority of his creation, we were reminded of our duty towards him. We became servants of him, serving him through physical means, through sariyai, the path of a servant. Soon we were tasked with a wider and comprehensive responsibility that reached out beyond the individual self and extended towards serving all of his creation. He brought us to perform rituals or kriyai, for the well-being and welfare of prapanjam.
A doctor might have patients stand in line and might need to administer medicine individually to his patients according to their ailment. An injection would bring quicker relieve then taking tablets. The siddhas devised a way to bring a relatively quicker relieve to ailments and grieve, through the ritual of performing the Yagam or its smaller version that of a Homam. The numerous dried plants, herbs, parts of trees etc that goes into this sacrificial fire brings relief to many at the same time through inhaling the smoke emitted that travels for miles.
Tavayogi started me on conducting this ritual over the phone the first time. I was reluctant as it was the domain of the temple priests and a pious affair. He made it sound simple and gave me the encouragement to start. Later on during his visit to Malaysia, he fine-tuned the process by performing it himself. We watched and learnt the details. We chose to light the sacrificial fire every Thursdays, Full Moon and Amavasai days and other auspicious days for the numerous deities too.
Once when someone from Malaysia contacted Tavayogi and asked for the means to come out of their predicament, he suggested to them that they perform a Homam. As they were in no position to go over to India, Tavayogi suggested they do it at AVM. That is when we realized that the Yagam and Homam can be customized to suite the occasion and the result seeked. The family joined us at performing the Homam and they saw the desired results. Another person who had the means to go over to India sat at the Yagam conducted by Tavayogi and saw the desired results pretty soon. Taking the cue from there, I suggested to someone I befriended on social media that he conduct a Homam at his home in Bangalore to achieve his desires. He is happily married now.
From performing the Yagam to please and contain Mother Nature's wrath, on the heels of the recurring phases of the tsunami, he soon moved on to include the plight and sufferings of its people in his puja. When he started doing the Sarva Dosa Nivarana Maha Yagam at his Kallar ashram grounds, I followed suite but on a small scale and with a small group of family and friends. This Yagam/ Homam was conducted to coincide with the annual Agathiyar Jayanthi and Guru Puja day.
Whenever there is an immediate need for attention from the siddhas, my family and I will sit down at the sacrificial fire and put in a sangkalpam or wish. Agathiyar tells me that the siddhas themselves sat to perform a Yagam so that Tavayogi could live, fulfilling our prayers.
Performing the Homam at home is a sure and simple way to gain and reap benefits and have desires come true as is attested by our own experiences. The path of the siddhas is not a doctrine to be followed strictly nor scriptures to be read and memorized and repeated to others; but a personal journey of learning and building the faith based on our own findings. It is a day to day living where the boundaries of sariyai, kriyai, yogam and jnanam are touched, hence bringing the bond between Erai and the self closer each day.
Read more at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bduv5PhFtuqncAherXq8WMPJ80yXFd7n/view