THINK HARD

Witnessing the COVID-19 pandemic up close, my brother who is part of the frontline here told me how the dead are carefully and at the same time properly handled so that the dignity of the deceased and surviving family is respected. Watching some newsreels of the scenes of the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in Equador of dead bodies of family members kept in the homes for days and when the smell is unbearable they are dumped on the streets, as the mortuary and cemeteries could not cope with the number of dead, is so saddening and makes one start to think about our momentary existence, life, and death. It might seem, that man is fragile indeed, exposed to dangers, harm, disease, viruses, old age, and death.

The saints have given us songs of prayers where they plead that the divine keep man out of harm's way. Then the Siddhas tell us that we need not be subjected to the blow of death but rather can become immortals like them. P.Karthigayan writes in his book "History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu", that the Siddhas asserted that immortality was possible. It is of two-fold or dual in nature, he says. One needs to attain Atma Siddhi or spiritual immortality and Kaaya siddhi or physical immortality. In Atma Siddhi, the Siddhas preserved their soul with the spirit within and in Kaaya Siddhi they preserved the body and soul. Hence we are told that the physical body can be preserved. While some Yogis considered their body as a bag of sin and filth and rejected the same; the Siddhas considered the body as an abode of the divine itself and a means to achieve exalted spiritual heights. Hence they found ways to immortalize their body by scientific means.

Tirumular on realizing the importance of the physical body extolls the need to care for it, even more so as it becomes the abode of the divine. The soul that is attached to the body engages it to gain and strengthen its Atma Balam or Soul power. The means to achieve spiritual experiences and soul advancement is through engaging the body. Knowing this there is a need to care for it.

உடம்பார் அழியில் உயிரார் அழிவர்

திடம்பட மெய்ஞ்ஞானஞ் சேரவு மாட்டார்

உடம்பை வளர்க்கும் உபாயம் அறிந்தே

உடம்பை வளர்த்தேன் உயிர்வளர்த் தேனே. 

உடம்பு அழியுமாயின், அதனைப் பெற்றுள்ள உயிரும் அழிந்ததுபோலச் செயலன்றி நிற்பதாம். ஆகவே, உடம்பு அழிந்தபின், அவ்வுடம்பைத் துணைக்கொண்டு இயங்கிய உயிர், தவமாகிய துணையைப் பெறவும், பின் அதனால் இறையுணர்வை அடையவும் இயலாததாய்விடும். இதுபற்றி, உடம்பை நிலைபெறுவிக்கும் வழியை அறிந்து அவ்வழியில் அதனை நிலைபெறுவித்த யான், உயிரை நலம் பெறச் செய்தவனே ஆயினேன்.

உடம்பினை முன்னம் இழுக்கென் றிருந்தேன்

உடம்பினுக் குள்ளே உறுபொருள் கண்டேன்

உடம்புளே உத்தமன் கோயில்கொண் டான்என்று

உடம்பினை யானிருந் தோம்புகின் றேனே. 

சிவ நூல் கேட்பதற்கு முன்பெல்லாம் உடம்பை அழுக்கு ஒன்றையே உடையதாகக் கருதி இகழ்ந்திருந்தேன். சிவநூல் கேட்ட பின்னர், அதற்குள்தானே பயனை அடைதற்குரிய வழிகள் பலவும் இருத்தலை அறிந்தேன். அதனால், அவ்வறிவின் வழியே, உடம்பிற்குள் தானே இறைவன் தனக்கு இடம் அமைத்துக் கொண்டிருக்கின்றான் என்பதையும் அறிந்து, இப்பொழுது நான் உடம்பைக் கேடுறாதவாறு குறிக்கொண்டு காக்கின்றேன்.

(Source: http://www.thevaaram.org/thirumurai_1/onepage.php?thiru=10&Song_idField=10313)

Jetsun Milarepa, a Tibetan Siddha's initial realizations were as follows.

I have understood this body of mine to be the product of ignorance, composed of flesh and blood and lit up by the perceptive power of consciousness. To those fortunate ones who long for emancipation it may be the great vessel by which they may procure Freedom.

He gives us a stern reminder of not wasting time any further.

But to the unfortunate who only sin, it may be the guide to lower and miserable states of existence. This life is the boundary mark whence one may take an upward or downward path. Our present time is a most precious time, wherein each of us must decide, in one way or other, for lasting good or lasting ill.

Swami Chidvilasananda in her "Inner Treasures", a Siddha Yoga Publication, 1995, writes,

The Indian scriptures teach that earth is the place where you come to work out all your karma, the consequences of your actions, both good and bad. This is where you have the opportunity to learn the greatest lessons and ascend to the highest awareness. Even celestial beings want to take birth in this place. It is the work of the saints to awaken people from samsara, the world of the wandering, from this chakra, this wheel, the cycle of birth and death.

Her guru, Swami Muktananda quotes Sundardas in "Where are you going? - A Guide to the Spiritual Journey", published by Syda Foundation, 1989,

The great Saint Sundardas wrote, “You have attained this human body through God’s grace. You cannot attain it over and over again. This human body is a priceless jewel. Do not throw it away.” 

To be born a human is a gift. Shantideva describes human birth as a rare gift. This human birth doesn't come easy. Shantideva says, “Only as a human can you be devoted to God, the creator.” He explains that “The human body is the vehicle for longevity, while the spirit is the vehicle for immortality.” Shantideva reminds us not to waste a rare opportunity to devote oneself to God.  He says, “This human leisure, opportunities, and faculties are very rare to obtain and easily lost.” Finally, he questions us, “If one squanders the chance to fulfill the aim of human life, how will such an opportunity arise again?”

In “Atma” - “Reincarnation: The Soul’s Secret Journey”, The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, The International Society For Krishna Consciousness, it is mentioned,

In one human life, we can create sufficient karma to keep ourselves entangled in the cycle of birth and death for thousands of lives. As human beings we also have the rare opportunity to become spiritually enlightened with transcendental knowledge and the chance to break the endless cycle of reincarnation. It can take many lives, or you can do it in one lifetime.

Adi Sankara lists human birth first among the three rarest gifts obtained through God's grace: human birth; the longing for liberation; and discipleship to an illumined teacher. Reading this statement itself brings so much bliss to the self. We have attained the human birth, longed for him, and have had two lovely gurus and a wonderful Satguru in the name of Agathiyan. What could we ask for further? It is just a matter of time where our continuous and persistent efforts will yield results. The deciding factor is the grace of God.

The great grand old lady saint, Avvai too regards this birth as very auspicious and rare and shows us the way to Godhead.

Rare indeed is to take a human birth, rarer than that is to be born with a perfect human form, sight, hearing and speech. Among them it is rare to see one who does austerities and charity. When one does austerities and charity the gates to Godhead is opened.

We have attained the human birth, perfect in all ways, have engaged in austerities and charity, and await his grace in bringing us back to his shores. Agathiyar has brought a halt to all rituals and charity asking us to focus on going within these days. An ardent reader who keeps checking this blog for new posts daily and who frequents AVM to serve Agathiyar and practitioner of all things said by Agathiyar, in a way, a clone of me, shared the following observations of his after reading my previous post "Prana, Karma, and Experience."

This topic was really meaningful. Everything connected each other. Karma become a lesson and teaching us experience. Thru that experience we have learned not to repeat it and follow our Guru guidance to remove the karmas. It can be good or bad karma but to end the cycle I have to remove both and empty my suitcase. Maybe that's why Agathiyar Appa stop Anna from involving in Thondu, because Agathiyar Appa knew that Anna already cleared all the past karmas and if continue that might lead to increasing the good karma. So Appa stop that and asked to work on pranas & yogas to go within. And the pranas is what helping us to bring us to the state of Being. Hope my understand is correct Anna. Karma itself work in so many ways which is above our thoughts. That’s why Agathiyar Appa didn’t go so deep on that because that might end our journey clueless... But now Appa gave that experiences and then only revealed it slowly for us to understand how deep it is. And before that Appa teach all of us the importance of Prana. When comes to chakras Siddhas always talking about Kanal (fire) to activate the chakras at each spot. And we have to put effort to work on our Prana to increase the Thavakanal to burn karma to activate the mulathara chakra. 

Such a profound understanding of the system. Agathiyar says to be born as a human, one needs sufficient merits or punyam, in the very first place. It is a great vessel to attain emancipation says Milarepa. As Milarepa says, "This life is the boundary mark whence one may take an upward or downward path. Our present time is a most precious time, wherein each of us must decide, in one way or another, for lasting good or lasting ill", we need to relook at our purpose in coming here.

As I placed the final touches to this post on the gift of birth, the local television station runs a piece of news reporting that an 18-year-old had dumped her child, having given birth in the toilet of her home, unknowing to other family members, by placing the baby in a bag and dropping it from her apartment window, adding on to numerous similar cases of abandonment of newborn babies. It saddens us to see that ignorance in some can lead them to do things beyond our wildest imagination.