Spiritualism these days has come to be discussed, learned, debated, adored and seen rather than entered, ventured, explored and traveled. The search for the divine has become too academic with classes and courses offered, and certificates handed out. Spiritualism is being offered as an academic degree. Is it then only within the reach of those who can afford the fees to enroll or attend these courses?
When I attended a puja in a temple back then in my bachelor days, upon finishing the yagna, the priests passed around the coins that were placed in the sacrificial fire for a price, asking us to bring back Goddess Mahalakshmi to our homes. The lucky coin will bring in riches he added. I asked myself what about those devotees who had equally attended the puja but could not afford to pay the price? Would the Goddess deprive them of wealth? Does God have a price too? I walked away refusing to pay to buy God that day. God was sold as a commodity.
Soon I detested the need to have middlemen or engage them in all religious matters. When I moved to my own house, I brought all the pictures of the Gods and Goddesses I had been worshipping over. My family and I conducted our own puja, whatever little we knew. The Gods and Goddesses moved in with us.
I took up the worship of the Siddhas in my home. Today they too have made my home their home. I am glad Tavayogi took me on a virtual walk around his ashram, narrating what he did and showing me photos of the activities when he was in Malaysia. It triggered me to visit his ashram, my first stay in one. I am glad he took me on his usual morning walk around his ashram the morning after I arrived at his ashram. He shared the news that Agathiyar had come the night before and asked what he was giving me. I am glad that he took me on a walk to the hills and jungles of Uthiyur where he showed me the cave where he had meditated during his wanderings. I was witness to the sacred ash materializing out of nowhere in the cave of Konganar. I am glad he took me on a walk to the falls at Kalyana Theertam and the caves of Kutrallam - my very first stay overnight at a cave. I am glad he took me on a walk to Agasthiyampalli and Papanasam where Agathiyar opened his eyes in his statues. I am glad he took me on a walk around Palani and Thiruparankundram, where I got my first taste of bliss. I was blessed to have my guru take me on these walks instead of have me sit in a classroom and conduct classes. Agathiyar says that the experience he gives us will make us wiser and all the doubts and questions we have had will be clarified and answered. Hence the reason he asks us to stop questioning. Rather than have a question-answer session in class, he prefers to let us have the experience and learn from it. Ma too told us that the Siddha path is one of learning from experience. One's experience will become wisdom to another. True to what we were told, Ramalinga Adigal's experience and those of the Nayanmars, Alvars, Siddhas and other saints stand as wisdom for seekers.
Soon Agathiyar came along to walk alongside us bringing the whole force with him, the Siddhas, and his guru Lord Muruga too. Both Tavayogi and Agathiyar got us to carry out numerous tasks that they handed out to us. We practiced, performed, conducted, toiled, and finally ran to deliver them. Today we stand proud that we have been part of their world assisting in their workings and doings. As a reward, they have showered on us things that cannot be mentioned nor spoken about. We can only stand in awe and amazement asking Agathiyar "Who are you?"
This post is dedicated to Tavayogi and Gowri Arumugam who penned the lyrics for the title song of the album Agathiyar Geetham that carries the same question "Who are you Agatheesa?"