PRAY TILL YOUR HEART BURST 1

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." - Albert Einstein. 

How do you see life then? I choose to see everything as a miracle. What about you? 

Creation is a miracle. Birth is a miracle. Life itself is a miracle. Every single moment a miracle takes place, some that is visible and audible while many miracles go unnoticed. We are so engrossed in our chase for things that bring pleasure to our five senses that we forget to feed the soul. Even then we are selective with the pleasures that we seek. When was the last time you looked at the sky? When was the last time you spoke to a bird? When was the last time you stood mesmerized at watching the flower bloom? 

The divine providence has created the space for us to work out our desires to our heart's content. He has given us a limited time that is running out fast, to fulfill our wishes. Yet we have forgotten to thank Erai for our very existence. We have forgotten to thank him in many ways for the many things he has provided for. 

When I opened up an avenue for the ATM family to come together to thank him I was amazed at the quick response. Many opened their hearts to relay their thanks to Agathiyar this day. 

• Thank you for being with me all these years. Thank you for being with me in times of joy. Thank you for being with me in my times of pain.
• Thank you for choosing me to be your devotee appa. Thank you for being with us all the times. 
• My thank note will be too long when I come to say thanks. Since He is the 1 who guide me throughout the journey of this soul started. He never failed to bring me to close with him as much I am now. I have done so many mistakes but yet he corrected me all the time and proved me his is ultimate God father. I’m really thankful to him for the help he did to me, the strength he given to me, the beautiful Gurus he given to me and healthy life n family n so on.
• Deeply indebted to Agasthi appa and Irai... Thank you is small word.
• Thank you for Everything Appa.
• He is the one that guiding from unknown times of birth till now..thank you.
• Thank you for my wonderful spritual journey and giving me an opportunity to serve other souls in your mission. My heart burst with profound love for you appa.
• Nandri Appa.
• Thank You Agathiar Ji for being with me and my family, for being present always whether I realised it or not, for bringing me in your fold from one corner of the country to another. Thanks for making m a better human being than I was.
• Thank you APPA for loving me more than anyone and even when I never loved myself..thank you APPA for forgiving me and still giving a chance to correct my past birth sins, with the boundless love ..thank you appa for your compassion and guidance..I owe you everything , though I don't posses anything of myself.
• Thank you for each and  everything You gave me Appa .. Om Sivaya Agatheesaaya Nama.
• Thank you APPA for the past, present and future.. 
• Father, thank you for each and everything that happened in my life but I am so much moved whenever I think about the occasions  you blocked the situations(when I was a non believer or a total skeptic) where I were to do some non righteous or god defying acts(many times miraculously). Thanks appa for all the kripa, with which now I'm able to think about you..only your kripa..
• Without him I am nothing. I can't find the words to thank him. He is everything in my life. Blessed to be under his shelter. Still I have to come out from me to reach his feet.
• Appa thank you for each and everthing that happened in my life the thanks not enough to say hw gratitude i am to u aggathiar appa we love u so much pa.
• Thank you Appa for your immeasurable grace, unconditional love and compassion for me ,my loved ones and our ATM family.
• I  really need to thank  our father  Agasthya daily. We love him for his immeasurable grace and guidance...though it is difficult to express our love and gratitude to the one who cares and loves us more than our ownsleves. By bringing in the divine people and guidance and inspiration  from around the Globe. He is there in our pain and pleasure holding our hands and wants us to merge with divine. I am grateful and will always be.

I know that we are all grateful to him. But we need to tell it openly and frequently. It would be best if we could thank him daily.  It is not that he needs to be told how grateful we are but showing gratitude to him does marvelous things within us. For one the ego diminishes and love blossoms. A study shows the following result: "Counting your blessings increases your emotional health."

Researchers had one group of students write each day about things they were grateful for, a second about things they were angry about, and a third about random topics like the color of their shoes. The ones who wrote about things they were grateful for were the happiest! Even more interesting is that those who wrote about the things they were grateful for were less likely to be sick.

Did you notice the blue sky? The beautiful clouds? The mountains in the background? There are so many beautiful things to be grateful for, and as we practice being grateful we will notice them more and more. 

On the contrary,

"When people are not grateful they tend to complain, and that isn’t good for anyone. Some people have a hard time being grateful for what they have." 

(Source: "Why?: Powerful Answers and Practical Reasons for Living", published by Deseret Book.)

Hence the reason we listed the things we are thankful and grateful for.

The saints who were grateful to Erai expressed their feelings through the songs of devotion that we have come to be familiar with. Although we do not have the divine knowledge or jnanam to come out with such songs we can always adopt and sing theirs. By singing these songs their experience becomes our experience too.

A friend once asked angrily why we need to praise Erai? Do they expect us to worship and praise them?

I was surprised when Agathiyar asks me to come to his path, the path of the Siddhas in my very first Nadi reading. When many go seeking the numerous paths out there to see which is most adaptive to their preconceived ideas of Erai, Agathiyar had already chosen a path for me. I was surprised when he asked me to worship Lord Ganapathy, Lord Siva, the Siddhas and himself. Now I guess my friends query is answered. Yes Erai asked to be worshipped. Agathiyar even sent me to meet my very first guru Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai and had me meet my second guru Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar in Malaysia. Agathiyar paved the way for me to journey on the path shown by him by showing me first the many miracles that the Siddhas were capable of. He then gave me techniques to put into practice through the Nadi and Tavayogi. He brought me and others to do charity. He brought us to perform rituals personally without the need for mediums in our own homes. Now, why did he have us do all these? What is it in it for him? What has he to gain from our devotion towards him? No, they do not expect anything from us. What can we possibly give them? The garland? The flower that is strung to make the garland was given by him. Lighting the camphor? That too was given by him. The silk cloth that adorns his form? There is nothing that was created by us that we can give back to him except the soul that came from him too. He is asking for what is rightfully his. Now, why are we reluctant to give what is due to him?

I am reminded of Manikavasagars verses in the Lord's Sivapuranam that states it is only by his grace that I have come to worship him.

சிவன் அவன் என்சிந்தையுள் நின்ற அதனால்

அவன் அருளாலே அவன்தாள் வணங்கிச்
சிந்தை மகிழச் சிவ புராணம் தன்னை
முந்தை வினைமுழுதும் ஓய உரைப்பன் யான். — 20

By praising and giving thanks certain subtle changes take place within us too, besides the obvious joy and ecstasy that is seen visibly. The soul that is not seen by the naked eyes rejoices in celebration of every moment it is with Erai. The soul expands tremendously gaining Atma Balam in his presence. The tiny spark of his spirit that is in us and that we carry through each birth expands to engulf and envelop our soul in effulgence.

Sadly devotion was seen as a business by him. He wanted to know what he gained from trading with Erai, what he would receive through showing his love for him and expressing gratitude to him. I guess everything is a deal for him. There was another lady who questioned my wife what we gained by worshipping Agathiyar the very first time she set foot at ATM. There is no way I can show them what we have gained from the worship of the Divine. Each has to walk the path, experience the terrain, seek shelter from the weather, go hungry for days, withstand the scorching heat and the freezing nights, to know the journey as Tavayogi and many others went through or gain it the easy way we did - the way of devotion or bhakti - as Tavayogi pointed out.