When called to their fold I could not stop asking myself why was there a need for so many organizations under his name. Why could not all these organizations come together under an umbrella body in the name of Agathiyar and worship him and serve humanity, I asked myself. I am beginning to get the answers today. Just as a restaurant carries many dishes on its menu, there is a need for many paths and stages even on the same path.
Reading the Nadi he casually put in a word asking me to come to Siddha worship. I took the bait. Calling out to us, asking us to come his way, Agathiyar made all the necessary arrangements for us to follow his path. We never knew nor imagined that he would bring us this far. He has kept his word. Fulfilling all my obligations towards satisfying the wreath of my karma through a pilgrimage of temples he cleared the way for me to meet my very first guru Supramania Swami. Spending some precious 5 hours with him during our first meeting and several days during my second meeting some 3 years later, my guru gifted me with the reward of his 40-year tapas before going into samadhi. He came back in spirit form and did a miracle at my home just like his guru Yogi Ramsuratkumar did at his kudil in Tiruvannamalai. They both came out of their samadhi to join us in prayer, with Supramania Swami traveling the extra mile to cross the seas to Malaysia. These days Agathiyar, Ramalinga Adigal, and the Siddhas join us at prayer too. As my wife says they have laid the bridge, connecting both the realms and making travel accessible, we look forward to the day where it works both ways.
The Siddhas refrained from giving long discourses, instead set us immediately walking the path performing Siddha puja, and conducting rituals, while paying homage to the Siddhas. Unknowingly to us, we had already embarked on the maiden journey of Sariyai. Bringing me to Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar Ashram, Agathiyar through him taught me the rituals and the ever incomprehensible workings of the Siddhas. With the coming of Tavayogi we began the journey of Kriyai and found ourselves on the fringes of Yoga. Sending Upagurus along, Agathiyar strengthened our understanding of Yoga.
Tavayogi introduced me to do charity. Agathiyar came to advise us to give to all irrespective of whether they were worthy of handouts, aid, and food, whether they were poor or rich, hungry or otherwise, in the beginning, telling us that if we were to be selective on who deserves and who doesn't, we would never start, venture and engage in giving in the first place. Only after we had created a habit of giving did he tell us to verify, shortlist and give only to those deserving and truly unfortunate and in need. We had exercised his words in all our dharma programs.
Similarly, he opened his doors to all kinds of seekers: the true and genuine seekers; window shoppers; touch and go seekers; seekers seeking miracles and cures; etc. Accommodating them for some time, finally, he burnt the very vessel so that those who were well equipped with his teachings could swim across the tide and rapids to safety and safely continue their worship by themselves while those who hitchhiked; the stowaways and holiday seekers were swept away by the strong current of the passing life and the lure of maya.
Reading the Nadi he casually put in a word asking me to come to Siddha worship. I took the bait. Calling out to us, asking us to come his way, Agathiyar made all the necessary arrangements for us to follow his path. We never knew nor imagined that he would bring us this far. He has kept his word. Fulfilling all my obligations towards satisfying the wreath of my karma through a pilgrimage of temples he cleared the way for me to meet my very first guru Supramania Swami. Spending some precious 5 hours with him during our first meeting and several days during my second meeting some 3 years later, my guru gifted me with the reward of his 40-year tapas before going into samadhi. He came back in spirit form and did a miracle at my home just like his guru Yogi Ramsuratkumar did at his kudil in Tiruvannamalai. They both came out of their samadhi to join us in prayer, with Supramania Swami traveling the extra mile to cross the seas to Malaysia. These days Agathiyar, Ramalinga Adigal, and the Siddhas join us at prayer too. As my wife says they have laid the bridge, connecting both the realms and making travel accessible, we look forward to the day where it works both ways.
The Siddhas refrained from giving long discourses, instead set us immediately walking the path performing Siddha puja, and conducting rituals, while paying homage to the Siddhas. Unknowingly to us, we had already embarked on the maiden journey of Sariyai. Bringing me to Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar Ashram, Agathiyar through him taught me the rituals and the ever incomprehensible workings of the Siddhas. With the coming of Tavayogi we began the journey of Kriyai and found ourselves on the fringes of Yoga. Sending Upagurus along, Agathiyar strengthened our understanding of Yoga.
Tavayogi introduced me to do charity. Agathiyar came to advise us to give to all irrespective of whether they were worthy of handouts, aid, and food, whether they were poor or rich, hungry or otherwise, in the beginning, telling us that if we were to be selective on who deserves and who doesn't, we would never start, venture and engage in giving in the first place. Only after we had created a habit of giving did he tell us to verify, shortlist and give only to those deserving and truly unfortunate and in need. We had exercised his words in all our dharma programs.
Similarly, he opened his doors to all kinds of seekers: the true and genuine seekers; window shoppers; touch and go seekers; seekers seeking miracles and cures; etc. Accommodating them for some time, finally, he burnt the very vessel so that those who were well equipped with his teachings could swim across the tide and rapids to safety and safely continue their worship by themselves while those who hitchhiked; the stowaways and holiday seekers were swept away by the strong current of the passing life and the lure of maya.
Bringing us an understanding of how births are determined and revealing the determining factor, karma that draws upon our past merits and deeds, forming the skeletal frame for life to emerge again, Agathiyar brought us to redeem our body, soul and spirit from the neverending grip and clutches of the cycle of birth and death. He brought us to serve others through the family and through association with the society that was a responsibility. He brought us to do charity that was an option waiting to be taken up, to strangers and the unfortunate individually first, and later through association with like-minded souls. He reintroduced to us his 5 tenets for this purpose. Then he drew the line telling us that it was enough and that we needed to go one an entirely different journey, that of going within, working on our soul now, gaining Atma Balam.
We can pray for another at a temple, offer offerings for another and conduct remedies or pariharam for another in selective cases where the individual is in a coma, unconscious, immobile and bedridden, or if it is a child. Similarly, we can attend a Yagam and gain its benefits by just merely being present as passive participants, inhaling the smoke, listening to the mantras chanted, partaking the food served or annadhanam, etc. In Sariyai and Kriyai we can stand and watch without active participation but in Yogam and Gnanam each individual has to practice and experience individually to reap the benefits.
As Sariyai and Kriyai can be done collectively but not Yogam and Gnanam, hence Agathiyar broke the group Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) and its charity arm Amudha Surabhi (AS) and shocked the sleeping devotees out of their deep slumber. Some felt lost, as the shepherd chose to let them loose. Only then did they realize that they had been honeymooning instead of taking worship and dharma seriously. Only a handful realized that they had gained the freedom to venture on their own, taking all that they had learned from the association or Sangam to carve a path for themselves individually. This handful continues to conduct puja in the comfort of their homes, turning their homes into another AVM and doing charity on their own or in their own family circles giving life to AS. Bringing the crowd that was curious to know about the path to do Sariyai and Kriyai collectively, Agathiyar brought a handful into Yoga and today the few who stayed behind to pay allegiance to him, have been shown the door to Gnana.
Yogam and Gnana is for those committed to discipline and willing to empty all their previous learning respectively. The undisciplined and unruly has to adopt rigidly to practices to excel in Yogam, bringing mastery over the body, mind, and self. If in Sariyai and Kriyai we sailed aboard a vessel that carried many others too, in Yogam and Gnana we turn this very body of ours into a vessel suitable for the divine to come within and reside. If in Sariyai and Kriyai we sailed aboard a vessel, in Yogam and Gnana the divine hitches a ride in us.
Tavayogi once told me that our efforts were required only until we progress to the second chakra Svadhistana. The search has to stop after coming by a guru. The search stops after Svadisthana. After that, the Siddhas will lead us all the way up the spiritual ladder by personally taking hold of our hands. Agathiyar too tells us that the seekers have to reach out and hold tightly to the hand of the guru that stretches out to them. The Gurus and Upaguru too have a journey to fulfill and cannot afford to wait on them. I remember how Tavayogi used to walk ahead of me, as if possessed, without turning back or waiting for me to catch up on him as we tracked into the deep jungles. The guru within will take us along only if we surrender to him. The moment we lose sight of all other paths, ways, masters, teachers, and aids that take the form of ropes dropped down the well and instead hold on the current rope (Guru), we will see steady progress climbing out of the pitch-dark well. The problem with us is even after taking on a guru and his teachings we still let our eyes and ears stray hoping to pick up other messages and looking out for guidance elsewhere too. As too many ingredients spoil the soup, too many teachings bring only further confusion.
Today Agathiyar comes personally to convey and share the inner secrets of creation, karma, rituals, and yoga. He stops short of explaining, in brief, the final phase, Gnanam, telling us that it has to be lived and experienced by each individual. The Siddhas and Ramalinga Adigal ventured and came back to reveal their experiences through the many Siddha songs and the Arutpa respectively. There is no SOP or chartered path. Each has to discover their own. Shall we begin the inner journey?
We can pray for another at a temple, offer offerings for another and conduct remedies or pariharam for another in selective cases where the individual is in a coma, unconscious, immobile and bedridden, or if it is a child. Similarly, we can attend a Yagam and gain its benefits by just merely being present as passive participants, inhaling the smoke, listening to the mantras chanted, partaking the food served or annadhanam, etc. In Sariyai and Kriyai we can stand and watch without active participation but in Yogam and Gnanam each individual has to practice and experience individually to reap the benefits.
As Sariyai and Kriyai can be done collectively but not Yogam and Gnanam, hence Agathiyar broke the group Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) and its charity arm Amudha Surabhi (AS) and shocked the sleeping devotees out of their deep slumber. Some felt lost, as the shepherd chose to let them loose. Only then did they realize that they had been honeymooning instead of taking worship and dharma seriously. Only a handful realized that they had gained the freedom to venture on their own, taking all that they had learned from the association or Sangam to carve a path for themselves individually. This handful continues to conduct puja in the comfort of their homes, turning their homes into another AVM and doing charity on their own or in their own family circles giving life to AS. Bringing the crowd that was curious to know about the path to do Sariyai and Kriyai collectively, Agathiyar brought a handful into Yoga and today the few who stayed behind to pay allegiance to him, have been shown the door to Gnana.
Yogam and Gnana is for those committed to discipline and willing to empty all their previous learning respectively. The undisciplined and unruly has to adopt rigidly to practices to excel in Yogam, bringing mastery over the body, mind, and self. If in Sariyai and Kriyai we sailed aboard a vessel that carried many others too, in Yogam and Gnana we turn this very body of ours into a vessel suitable for the divine to come within and reside. If in Sariyai and Kriyai we sailed aboard a vessel, in Yogam and Gnana the divine hitches a ride in us.
Tavayogi once told me that our efforts were required only until we progress to the second chakra Svadhistana. The search has to stop after coming by a guru. The search stops after Svadisthana. After that, the Siddhas will lead us all the way up the spiritual ladder by personally taking hold of our hands. Agathiyar too tells us that the seekers have to reach out and hold tightly to the hand of the guru that stretches out to them. The Gurus and Upaguru too have a journey to fulfill and cannot afford to wait on them. I remember how Tavayogi used to walk ahead of me, as if possessed, without turning back or waiting for me to catch up on him as we tracked into the deep jungles. The guru within will take us along only if we surrender to him. The moment we lose sight of all other paths, ways, masters, teachers, and aids that take the form of ropes dropped down the well and instead hold on the current rope (Guru), we will see steady progress climbing out of the pitch-dark well. The problem with us is even after taking on a guru and his teachings we still let our eyes and ears stray hoping to pick up other messages and looking out for guidance elsewhere too. As too many ingredients spoil the soup, too many teachings bring only further confusion.
Today Agathiyar comes personally to convey and share the inner secrets of creation, karma, rituals, and yoga. He stops short of explaining, in brief, the final phase, Gnanam, telling us that it has to be lived and experienced by each individual. The Siddhas and Ramalinga Adigal ventured and came back to reveal their experiences through the many Siddha songs and the Arutpa respectively. There is no SOP or chartered path. Each has to discover their own. Shall we begin the inner journey?