THE WORLD BEYOND NORMAL SIGHT

We learn all life long. Be it academic, general knowledge, administrative, matters of the heart and relationship, and learning to fill the stomach or feed the soul, the learning never ends. We have gone through all these too. Today Agathiyar and Lord Muruga have brought us to know the soul. 

While the learned try to figure out God, the common man and simpleton learn to see God in everything. Lama Surya Dass in his "Awakening the Buddha Within" quotes Neem Karoli Baba, "It's better to see God in everything than to try to figure it out." 

Our energy is been continuously used up attending to the matters of the world and the incessant activities of the mind. Besides exhausting our energy in this, we are trying hard to figure out something that is beyond our understanding and beyond this mind. Agathiyar nor Tavayogi never thrashed out theology, doctrines, or theory to us but instead had us get to the ground and dirty our hands, doing things. As we work they tell us a thing or two. We need to figure that out too. 

Today he has asked us to stop all forms of questionings. He has brought us to sit in silence. From learning lessons and gaining experiences in the outside world, he is bringing us within to gain new experiences. If we have had external gurus and upagurus then, today he personally guides our thoughts from within.

As Lama Surya Dass says, "As we learn to let go we see that our energy is returned to us", coming to the moment sitting alone doing nothing the energy stays within. Just as there is duality in everything, night followed by day, happiness followed by sorrow, etc, a full day of activity ends with some moments of rest and sleep. A life of activity will come to rest automatically as one age and loses his mobility and life soon perishes. Although life in the physical body ends with death, another journey takes off after that we are told.

On the contrary, the Siddhas do not sit back and wait for nature to take its course but work towards sustaining life in the physical body putting off or cheating death. The Siddhas began to share this secret and elevate other souls too. They stayed in the society bringing renewed hope to mankind of the possibility of extending one's life span. If they came out with kayakalpas (kayakarpam) or longevity recipes as P Karthigayan terms it, the divine on its part brings ambrosia to ooze from within, termed ambrosia of the gods, the medicine for immortality. 

Why would one want to remain immortal? Of what use is it to remain immortal only to stay away from society and just watch the world go by. Or of what use is it to remain immortal only to go back to the routine of daily living as before?

As we see it, those who have come out of near-death experience, sadly, talk about it excitedly for days only to go back to their daily routine. Should not they turn to become apostles of God and spread his word and love in appreciation for the extension or bonus years given? Why would God save you and not others bringing your soul into the lifeless body if not to do his work? 

We are so engaged in our work forgetting that we came to do his work. Today Agathiyar through his 5 tenets for taking human birth expresses the activities that we need to carry out to fulfill a well-lived and complete life in the eyes of the divine. These 5 tenets are the basic commands that one has to uphold. There is no mention about raising the kundalini, astral travel, gaining and performing Siddhis etc. 

1. He speaks of coming to know the reason we took birth. This was disclosed during our regular Nadi readings. 
2. He speaks of offering our gratitude and appreciation to our creator, which we have been constantly doing: worshipping, conducting rituals, performing the fire ritual, conducting libation, etc. He brought me to have his statue commissioned in Swamimalai and worship him. On 8 January 2009 Agathiyar gave me specific instructions on how his statue was to be made at Swamimalai and brought over to ATM (then AVM) to be worshiped. I had always had the thought, why Swamimalai and not somewhere else. Then Rightmantra Sundar in his blog explains why Swamimalai comes to mind when one needs a bronze statue, which I had posted on 27 September 2014. Sundar says that at Swamimalai these bronze statues are made using age-old traditional methods and according to the agamas, hence Swamimalai is preferred for making temple Urchava Murthis. Statues made at Swamimalai are renowned worldwide. The lost wax method of casting these statues are a specialty here. Clay or mud from the riverbanks of Kaveri used by bronze statue creators at Swamimalai is most suitable for making the molds as it captures even the most minute details, revealing even thumbprints! Over the years, Agathiyar explains why he wanted his image made in Swamimalai through Jnana Jyothiamma's Jeeva Nadi reading. Agathiyar reveals that it was the wish of Lord Muruga, Lobha Ma and Agathiyar himself that he should be made at Swamimalai. He enlightens us on the significance of Swamimalai and the Kaveri River and the reason for Agathiyar to be made in Swamimalai. Agathiyar explains that it is Lobha Ma's wish that his statues made on the banks of Kaveri (Swamimalai in Tanjai) and blessed by Swamimalai Muruga, should reach places all over the world. Although Agathiyar's image has been depicted in many forms over time, the image of Agathiyar from Swamimalai will eventually be his identity and worshiped the world over. Lord Muruga himself has conceived this image and blessed each statue made here.
3. He speaks about serving him and fellow humans. We carry out our responsibilities to our parents, and family, our ancestors, our gurus etc. We are asked to respect the divinity and its deities in all forms from the major to the minor. 
4. He speaks about our obligation towards society neither shying away from them or remaining indifferent to their needs. We undertook to bring food and aid to strangers, the hungry, poor and unfortunate, and the homeless.
5. He speaks about going further to help life in the lower planes to achieve a higher state through association with us, our thoughts and our actions. This is achieved through our rituals and the many sciences that came about as a result of their research and findings. He brought us to do rituals. Through these rituals, the materials and items used in these rituals served the divine. The flower petals rather than falling to the ground and decomposing, reached his Holy Feet gaining moksha. The flowers that made it become a garland that is used to adorn him. Similarly, all the rest of the items used in puja of the divine are elevated to a divine state, releasing them from their lower forms. They too are given an opportunity to serve the divine, to become holy and becoming prasad to his devotees, taking on the energies of the divine.  Besides bringing moksha or liberation to them, we appeased the unseen forces and energies in the other planes that receive our offerings through puja, libation, and the fire sacrifice. The items that are used to perform libation drain away and both along the way and finally as it reaches the sea, become food for many microscopic organisms. 

"Microscopic organisms are tiny life forms, often consisting of a single cell, and very sensitive to change. They are vitally important in the food chain and to the health of our planet. They are the base of the marine food web and, directly or indirectly, are food for everything else in the open sea."

"In addition, these microscopic organisms have a role in maintaining the Earth's atmosphere – they help remove carbon dioxide and release chemicals that help form clouds." (Source: http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/wildlife/microscopic-organisms)

Similarly,

"Floating and flying above us are not only the usual suspects - birds, bats, insects - but countless microscopic creatures as well."(Source: http://discovermagazine.com/galleries/2014/june/aerosphere)

Microscopic organisms in the pond water.

Microorganism in the sea.

Microorganisms in the soil.

Microorganisms in the air.

The 5 metals that originated from the earth, that was heated up by the fire element and poured into the mould made of river mud that originated out of the earth and water element, brought forth a wonderful and beautiful replica of Agathiyar's statue at Agasthiyampalli that today is housed at ATM, elevating these elements to the status of Agathiyar. The mud from the river banks of Kaveri at Swamimalai that was used to encase the wax figurine, and the hot molten metal that was poured into the mold giving birth to the bronze statue that came to be cast, gained a status to be worshipped as Agathiyar. By performing rituals on it for the past nine years the metal became Agathiyar in our eyes. It became alive and opened its eyes. Today he watches every activity from his small room at ATM. Agathiyar reveals in the Jeeva Nadi that many miracles will be shown through these statues of Agathiyar. These statues will become "alive". All these will take place with Lord Muruga's blessings. Agathiyar reiterates that these miracles had taken place in Jnana Jyothiamma's presence too, reminding us of the miracle he performed at AVM. In October of 2013, we at ATM (then Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia) held prayers almost every day during Jnana Jyothiamma's stay in Malaysia. During the libation or abhisegam, Agathiyar most graciously opened his eyes to bless all those present!

Similarly, the elements that made their way to places of worship such as temples served the divine and were elevated to a higher level of birth. Of course, owing to the reason that they cannot move into these sacred places on their own, we need to help elevate them by bringing them along. The building blocks of the temples too have attained permanent residence in the house of God serving him and his devotees well. 

It is wonderful to gain an understanding of the workings of the universe and to know our purpose here. Rather than aimlessly travel this journey Agathiyar threw the loop and roped us in at the nick of time bringing us to his fold, hence saving us and the soul within. We await more revelations from him patiently.