Wednesday 16 October 2019

SERVING AGATHIYAR

Agathiyar has given me everything, without me asking for even a single thing. I have nothing to seek further. I am satisfied. He is satisfied with me too I suppose.

A good soul whom I met at the Kallar Ashram in 2016, used to call me from Chennai and at times from the USA and share her songs, many beautiful pieces she wrote out of love for Lord Muruga. She would share her spiritual journey with me too. Once she invited me to join her and some fifty others to Palani to witness a religious ceremony conducted by someone devoted to Lord Muruga. As I had no intention to go places anymore, I turned down her invitation without hurting her feelings. In recent months she invited me to Pondicherry to receive initiation from a guru from whom she herself has had initiations. She would regularly call me an update me on her spiritual progress under the tutelage of the guru. Finally, I had to tell her that I was not keen for any initiation, in a nice way. I replied to her that my search had stopped which was the truth too. 

After reading the Kaanda Nadi for the first time in 2002, I followed Agathiyar's instructions asking me to go places both in Malaysia and India, to relieve me of my karma. After meeting Tavayogi in Malaysia, and having being invited over to his Kallar ashram, Agathiyar too invited me to several more places through an Aasi Nadi reading. I was blessed to have Tavayogi take me over to these amazing places where Agathiyar waited to bless us. In further Aasi Nadi readings, Agathiyar revealed his pleasure in seeing me with Tavayogi at those places he had called me over to. In one of the readings he invited me over to several more places but I told him that I was not going places anymore as I have him, Tavayogi and Supramania Swami. I have held on to this statement until this date. Agathiyar dropped the talk entirely. He only told me to go see my guru in 2013 again, that I sensed had an urgency to it. I visited Tavayogi with my family that year. The next time I traveled to India was for the inauguration of the new Kallar Ashram and temple complex in 2016, again upon his invitation and Tavayogi's.

Once I took up Agathiyar's call, and followed his guidance through the Nadi readings, and was guided by both Supramania Swami and Tavayogi, my search stopped. I stopped frequenting temples and other places of worship, religious societies, and organizations. Once, Tavayogi who had received an invitation to attend a puja for Agathiyar at a temple in Brickfields called me to represent him, I had no choice but to go. 

When several pilgrimages and prayers were organized by us locally, I followed. I occasionally stopped over at some religious spots with my family en route to my hometown. Apart from this, I ceased to travel to places of worship or interest both locally or abroad. I told Agathiyar if he were to give me anything at all let him give it to me in the confines of my home which has today become his home too. 

When Agathiyar slowly sent over young men and women to learn about the worship of Siddhas, I encouraged them to see, participate and learn and begin doing the rituals and prayers in their homes rather than come together each Thursday to worship at my home. Today I am amazed and delighted to see many perform and conduct prayers with their families daily in their homes. I think I have broken the trend and tradition that transpired all these years of looking up to a guru or head of a peedham, ashram, society or organization and gathering there once a week or on festive occasions to conduct prayers and hold satsang. Today Agathiyar lives in the homes of many rather than in one peedham. Today Agathiyar lives in the hearts of many rather than one guru. 

When Agathiyar proposed to his devotees to build temples or peedhams or ashram for him, many took up the requests. I too eagerly looked to see if it was possible and viable for me to take up Agathiyar's request after he asks me in my very first Nadi reading to build a temple for him too. But I only faced dejection and I soon dropped the idea. Soon my first guru Supramania Swami initiated the idea to build a temple in his village, initially, and later proposed that we build it near his guru Yogi Ramsuratkumar's ashram in Tiruvannamalai. But the work was stopped by a mysterious hand in a mysterious way. When Tavayogi finally began work on his new Kallar ashram we all chipped in with the expenses. I thought my work was done. But that was not to be. 

Lord Muruga brought up the subject again in a Jeeva Nadi reading in early 2018 asking for a temple for him. I was not keen then as before. Seeing me not moving to bring his request into reality, he took up another channel to convey the matter again to me. Agathiyar came through a devotee in the midst of a festival that we had organized at a very old temple build in 1939 that housed Agathiyar too. He told me to prepare to move house, within the next 18 months, telling me that he would do it himself as I remained silent when he asked if I would not do it? I left him to carry out his proposal, being the least interested to make the move. Just short of a month towards the deadline, he calls me on 5 September telling me in his Aasi Nadi that the Siddhas and he and the whole pantheon of Gods and Goddesses were happy in the present place and that I need not move. I thanked him for his compassion and understanding. 

Over the years I have seen and heard of infighting within temple committees and society members over a difference of opinions and some differences had to be resolved through court actions. I have seen temples mushroom next to another just because of differences between devotees. I have seen temples demolished and rebuilt by the opposing camp to be demolished again. I have seen many temples in a pitiful state without proper governance. 

I have seen temple committees struggle to complete their temple projects often incurring the wrath of people, the authorities and worst, incurring debts. Temple construction has been stalled in many ways due to a lack of funds. I wonder, should not any wise man who engages to build something of this nature, ensure that he has sufficient funds before he engages in a project of this nature. Sadly many start on mega projects with the desire to promote Agathiyar. We in the construction industry and profession have been trained to seek and ask for allocations for all our programs even as early as at the stage of discussing the conceptual drawings, before even engaging in the design stage and other preliminary matters. Although I had the knowledge and some 36 years of experience in this field, I knew that I did not have the resources nor the network to engage in a project of such massive nature as building a temple. 

I have seen friends and comrades in spirituality and religion become enemies due to differences in opinions. I have seen friends tarnish others taking to social media due to these differences. 

I have seen devotion and rituals to Agathiyar come to an end when there are no takers to continue where another left. 

I have heard that families have been disrupted by either partner engaging in fanatical worship at the expense of neglecting his or her duties. 

I have seen and heard of seekers and aspirants going cuckoo engaging in various practices after having being initiated by others. Many turned up at my home under mysterious circumstances. Agathiyar saved them. 

I would rather remain with what works fine with me as for now. We have survived some 17 years, having Agathiyar with us and conducting his worship at AVM that later took on another name ATM. ATM took on the role of a parent home or the Thai Veedu and we had Agathiyar's worship done in all the homes of its family members. We all grow together. We learn from each other. There is no guru or person to look up too except Agathiyar. He comes to us through the Nadi or speaks through his devotees today. This formula I believe works well for us at ATM.

We never invite dignitaries or holy men over, but if they wished to come over we greeted them as we do others. I let strangers who come asking to know about Agathiyar, into my home, but if I sense something wrong I show them the way out. I can do this since it's my home. I am not being rude nor am I, egoist. But I need to protect the sanctuary Agathiyar Vanam that I had painstakingly build over the past 17 years. We cannot have infiltrators come within our circle and do damage. I prefer to take up damage control measures rather than have all our hard work crumble to the ground because of pests and termites. I have seen many come as devotees and seekers but create havoc and damage to both the guru and their establishments.  

History teaches us so many lessons but we fail to learn from others mistakes and follow suit. Today all that we have gone through personally and seen from other's experiences serve as learning to us, not to fall for the gimmick or threat, and most importantly not to make the same mistakes. We have become wiser by watching all the happenings around us. Above and beyond this, we have Agathiyar on our side. That is most consoling to us and gives us the strength to move on without fear or favor.