After completing my 60th year, I went back to my hometown to pay obeisance, homage and thanks to the God's who had taken care of me as a kid then. The home where a Chinese medium gave me an "extension" to my life was there minus the medium. The rituals stopped with his demise. The Wat Phodhiyaram Thai Buddhist Temple, in my hometown of Taiping where I grew up and learned the teachings of Buddha, ushered me with open arms, with the great big Ficus Religiosa or sacred fig or Arasa Maram or the peepal tree, also known as the Bodhi tree or Aswatha tree, where Buddha sits even today, recognizing me, tells the other trees and plants that this lad had returned to visit Buddha and give his thanks. I visited the shrine of Muniandy Samy, the deity at our neighborhood where I grew up, thanking him for taking care of me in my childhood. I am forever grateful because they had watched over me.
While back at my wife's hometown a Chinese man upon finishing his tosai, walked up to me as my family sat at the restaurant taking our breakfast. Seeing his six packs I asked if he worked out at the gym. He surprised us when he mentioned that he was in his eighties and goes to the gym daily and has been doing it for the past twenty-plus years. He showed us his biceps and moved on to speak about his family, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and how successful they were. It was indeed a great way to start a day. https://www.star2.com/family/seniors/2017/11/04/never-too-old-be-bodybuilder/?fbclid=IwAR3-liAH9Paz5LkZhbaq9QXlhptRk9ddd3-RGVK86g8kjLdMmdumoeZul98
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| Uncle Tan & me |
I love to hear success stories. Both my daughter and nephew are doing well in the fields that they have chosen. My other daughter is happy to study in the field that she chose.
But it was a different story when moving on to my hometown to meet some past colleagues of my father-in-law. The conversation dwelt on pain, sorrow, bad times, tragedy, illness, and death. A man who was limp after being hit by a stroke, reminiscing the good times, shed tears as he could not come to terms and accept his fate. His Chinese wife though was merry and spoke about her children who were doing well, livening up the atmosphere for a change. Visiting another man who was to celebrate his 86th birthday this Saturday, he told us he was prepared to leave, even having engaged a man to do his last rites upon his demise. He was grateful and thankful for a good life and a good 40-year career.
These visits made me ponder how my last days will be and end? Will I be brave enough to face any of these similar consequences? Will I be able to accept the fate that deals a blow through old age or welcome and accept old age and its package of deals willingly?
I begin to realize then that life is all about perspective and how you see and take things. Acceptance of circumstances and fate will bring you to a state of calm and peace within.
When my wife, granddaughter and I go to the park we see Chinese men and women taking walks, jog and exercise. These days yoga that originated in India is mostly practiced in the west and abroad, minus the devotion. What happened to our community I tend to ask? Why are they not concern about exercising and their health?
When our forefathers from India and those of our neighbors from China came to Malaya they worked their back to make an honest living as they came with nothing. After 62 years of independence, one should expect our community to make it good in a land of milk and honey, but sadly we see the community struggling to make ends meet even these days. What went wrong? Are we to blame the government of the day back then? Were there no policies to safeguard the community back then?
Who has the answers to all that happens around us? Can we comprehend the workings of the divine, ever?
Ram Dass writes in "Paths to God", Harmony Books, 2004, "I had to realize how unfathomable it was for my rational mind to comprehend what the guru was doing to whom or why", telling us we cannot comprehend the thoughts and moves of the gurus too. Indeed we can never comprehend the ways of the divine and the guru. At times they would ignore and shun some while paying attention to others. Ram Dass says of his guru Maharaji, "Somehow he had sensed in that person a moment of ripeness a readiness for that little tap", giving a person something to work on while sending another back empty-handed.
Ram Dass says "The guru performs a siddhi when we are ripe for a certain change to take place. Siddhi stories feed our faith by reminding us that there is more going on than meets the eye." He says you need to perform siddhis for people to sit up and notice. "You get people shaken up a bit and they are open to new possibilities. That roughly is the way siddhis are generally used." A guru exercises his powers with caution though as seen below.
Ram Dass tells of a story to illustrate this point. A woman whose son was bitten by a cobra begged Shirdi Sai to give some sacred ash to save him. Sai did not. When a devotee begged him on her behalf he replied "Don't get involved in this. Her son's soul has already entered another body in which he can do especially good work, work that he could not do in this one. If I draw him back into this body the new one he has entered will have to die in order for this one to live. I might do it for your sake but have you considered the consequences. Have you any idea of the responsibility and are you prepared to assume it." The devotee was only seeing the mother's grief. Sai saw a bigger picture.
Balakumaran in his "Guru Vazhi", Visa Publications, 2005, mentions a similar episode that happened to him. Seeing a man and women holding a child, standing in a queue in the hot sun, out of pity, Balakumaran whispered to Yogi Ramsuratkumar, asking him to see them first. The Yogi ignored him and went on talking with his devotees. After Balakumaran asked repeatedly, finally Yogi asked "If it was disturbing him? Ask them to come", he said. The couple came up and sat before the Yogi. They asked for something to which Yogi replied "My father will grant" and went on talking to others. After 15 minutes, Balakumaran motioned them to leave so that others could meet the Yogi too. But the couple refused replying arrogantly, "Let the Yogi say." After a while, Balakumaran again requested then to leave but they told him to mind his business. Sensing the tense situation the Yogi demanded that they leave. They left abruptly, without even showing respect to the Yogi. Yogi reprimanded Balakumaran telling him, "This is my place and I know who to let in." The divine knows best. Our judgment often fails us.
These days we dare not judge another. We have come to understand that the divine works on the principle that he pays us back for all the good and bad done to others in the past irrespective of our nature or character in the present life.
The puzzle of life seems to come into place and we seem to see it fit, thanks to the teachings of the Siddhas. Just as a toddler takes his/her first step to walk with the aid of his/her parents holding both his/her hands, the path of Sariyai is introduced by the parents by bringing us to the temple, showing us the image and idol as God. We are also taught to pray in our homes at the altar. We live in the world of Siva, Saalogam.
The puzzle of life seems to come into place and we seem to see it fit, thanks to the teachings of the Siddhas. Just as a toddler takes his/her first step to walk with the aid of his/her parents holding both his/her hands, the path of Sariyai is introduced by the parents by bringing us to the temple, showing us the image and idol as God. We are also taught to pray in our homes at the altar. We live in the world of Siva, Saalogam.
In Kriyai a guru or the messengers of God come along to teach us rituals, standing alongside us or Saameebam.
In Yogam we take on the divine teachings and uphold the practices turning the self and body to one similar to him or as Saaroopam.
In Saayutcham, the divine comes down and we merge with God himself.
Just as household appliances and the residential sector operates on 120/240 volts according to the country concerned, and the demand for operating the device, a piece of machinery in an industrial area would need 415 volts, to drive it, this three-phase electricity is rarely used for domestic purposes. But an 11 kV transformer station can supply the residential area, and the 33kV lines take power from one small sub-station to another for distribution to the whole county or town. Similarly, God has to bring himself to take on the forms that are lesser in magnitude and power for man cannot withstand the intensity of God in his direct form. Hence, God comes to us as his messengers or Siddhas who posses his powers but with less intensity.
Just as household appliances and the residential sector operates on 120/240 volts according to the country concerned, and the demand for operating the device, a piece of machinery in an industrial area would need 415 volts, to drive it, this three-phase electricity is rarely used for domestic purposes. But an 11 kV transformer station can supply the residential area, and the 33kV lines take power from one small sub-station to another for distribution to the whole county or town. Similarly, God has to bring himself to take on the forms that are lesser in magnitude and power for man cannot withstand the intensity of God in his direct form. Hence, God comes to us as his messengers or Siddhas who posses his powers but with less intensity.
The physical body, soul and spirit within is charged accordingly with every stage of spiritual development. P. Karthigayan in his "History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu", NotionPress, 2016, says that "substances of perishable nature will get replaced by substances of cosmic nature and complete the transformation known as kayasiddhi." Concentrating on the Lalaadam, the midbrow point, and controlling the thoughts that go astray to attain the thoughtless mental state of mounam and with prolonged adherence to mounam, the state of tavam sets in. Probing questions in this state are answered from within. This is gnanam.
Agathiyar often says we have known each other. How does one happen to come by the Siddha marga? Karthigayan says, having the virtues of past births one pursues the Siddha path with numerous other tools and aids coming to assist the growth. While Fate initiates the process, encouraged by one's nature, and kindled by the Gods will, one endures on the path by his/her aspirations and finally accomplishes the goal by his spontaneous knowledge as he/she travels this path.
How does one succeed on this path? Belief in the teachings of the Siddhas is the foundation. Acquiring knowledge to know the facts behind the science of the Siddhas, and with a prayer asking to better understand their writings, the divine will aid our quest for knowledge with fewer struggles. Siddhas encourage inquiry followed by contemplation. All spiritual seekers who have started their religious life by worshipping idols shall slowly see themselves elevated to a higher state of realization and finally tune their knowledge to work in line with the wisdom of their spirit. Both Mahin and Malar have hit this point when they answered my query yesterday.
When I was in service I thought of the extra time I would have to spare to be in the service and company of Erai if I retired earlier. It has been 3 years and 9 months now since I retired optionally. I felt I had not achieved much headway in the spiritual field, maybe having wasted these 3 years for there was nothing tangible or any physical evidence of any progress. Then both Mahin and Malar pointed out to me that since I had no desires to either become a guru to others, start a peedham or movement, and never wanted the many physical gifts that Agathiyar wanted to pass on, he might be giving me things that are not physically seen but that could be working from within. What a wonderful insight and understanding.
Kogie messaged me several days ago, "For the one who says he has no need for anything and no want for anything...It is he who shall be bestowed with everything." Such a beautiful and meaningful verse.
The ultimate goal of the path would then be to attain immortality or Jeeva mukti as revealed by Agathiyar.
We stand between the perishable earth and imperishable sky, ether or space. We, in turn, take on the 3 elements of water, fire, and air and both the earth and space to become a composite form. God who creates Kaalan to combat and battle him, in his play or lila, soon saw Kaalan take control of us. God then came to redeem us from him. It is his play, a past time. Knowing this we could go along with the play not getting overly excited or depressed. At the end of the day we know that all shall be absorbed within him again.