When someone asked us what we had gained in coming to the Siddha path, we were startled. We never intended to gain anything out of it. Hence we had no answer for her. We just executed what Agathiyar and our gurus told us. If she had asked us if there was a difference after coming to the Siddha path, we could have listed many things.
For one, no one had highlighted or talked about the need to do home puja before that. It was a practice or ritual that was up to individuals to commit themselves too. Many never enter their puja room much less conduct a puja. Many go to temples on specific days for specific reasons. There was always a reason to pray, otherwise very few made it a norm to worship God just for his sake. When ill, when wanting something, or when troubled, only then they saw God as a means to escapism. When things were back to normal God was shut out from their lives too until the next round of illness, needs, and troubles showed up.
The following are shared not to blow our horns but to instill in readers how easy it is to gain the blessings of the Siddhas if only we opted to follow them. With the coming of the Siddhas, Changes do indeed take place, some very obvious while others very very subtle.
The following are shared not to blow our horns but to instill in readers how easy it is to gain the blessings of the Siddhas if only we opted to follow them. With the coming of the Siddhas, Changes do indeed take place, some very obvious while others very very subtle.
Nadi Nool Aasan Senthilkumar of Avinasi started me off with the Siddha puja by reciting the names of the Siddhas during the ritual of paying homage to the Nadi and its authors, the Siddhas, after my very first Kaanda Nadi reading or General Canto in 2002. I followed this ritual at home placing flowers at the feet of Agathiyar's painting given by Sivabalan at his premise where the reading took place. Before this, I had my altar filled with pictures of the entire pantheon of Gods and Goddesses and photos of several gurus on my walls too. Agathiyar came as a new member of the Siva family. Change No 1.
Coming to worship him, Agathiyar arranged for me to step on the soil of origin of my father and my ancestors and carry out the parikarams or remedies he gave in 2003, fulfilling them through visits to numerous temples in India, which was my birthplace in many previous births too. He threw in a bonus too in the form of my guru Supramania Swami. I met him by "accident", visiting him on the pretext of drawing up a horoscope for my daughter. He exerted the need to light a lamp at home. He told me he would come to watch me through its flames. I was figuring how that could possibly take place. He gave me a mantra to accompany my prayers. I never knew the importance of keeping the flame alive until my second visit to Tiruvannamalai in 2005. When Supramania Swami noticed that the flame had died out at his altar he was physically shaken up and rushed to ignite it telling me he had kept the flame alive all this while. He brought his guru Yogi Ramsuratkumar from his samadhi to chant with us, showing me that miracles were possible, as we sat in his prayer room. I was amazed to note that a Gnani of his status still performed the daily ritual of sitting at his altar, rolling the beads of the rudraksha maalai, invoking his guru through the mere chanting of his guru's name and frequented the temples when the opportunity arises. When I arrived at his cottage or kudil, he suggested that we visit his guru's samadhi, a stone's distance away, and watch the Pradosham puja conducted. He invited me to a Vishnu temple some distance from his village home. He showed me the importance of lighting the lamp and keep the flame alive, that I soon learned to be the portal through which the divine connected with us and journeyed to and from between planes. Today the divine visits us too through this portal. Change No 2.
When I came to know Tavayogi in Malaysia in 2005 and invited him over to my humble home, he arrived and did a small puja on our requests. Later over the phone, he asks that we carry out a homam that was something new to us. He encouraged us, assuring us that it was rather a very simple ritual and listed out all that we needed to purchase. He asks us to recite the names of the Siddhas during the ritual. That was sufficient. We did as told. Later when he came over again to Malaysia and my home in 2007, he initiated the placing of the Purnakumbham to complete the ritual. He brought us to engage in a ritual that was traditionally the domain of the priest. We dropped our reliance on others to get connected to the divine. We could connect with the divine through lighting the lamp; invoke them by performing the Homam, and bring them to reside in the holy vessel Purnakumbham. By bathing the murti or statue of Agathiyar with this energized holy water and repetitive chanting of Agathiyar's name, the otherwise mere piece of metal gained exceptional powers. One fine day Agathiyar opened his eyes in this bronze statue. Change No 3.
What was confined and done in the privacy of my home was soon exposed to other potential aspirants by his will. He brought Bala Chandran after his first Nadi reading to participate in the Pornami Puja at my home. Soon Bala brought many to see the Nadi and subsequently brought them over to Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) a name I gave for my home for easy identification and to send our location. Bala's team called themselves, Thondu Seivom. We carried on conducting the prayers and rituals as directed and shown by our gurus. Many took back their experiences and learning. Some took to performing the rituals in their homes too. Change No 4.
Not satisfied to have his worship kept within the four walls of AVM, Agathiyar exposed and introduced us to the public too, by creating the time-space for us to bring the Siddha puja to the knowledge of the public, by arranging for us to light lamps, sing their praises and conduct the rituals of Homam and libation or Abhisegam in temples too. These were events that took place beyond our planning, expectations and want, but we executed each and every event to his utmost satisfaction, whenever given the opportunity or opening. Change No 5.
I was never a writer. I was in the construction industry serving the housing needs. But when I volunteered to return to my HQ in 1994, I found myself doing presentations for the department. I soon dabbled in IT and its related matters; reading a lot on animation, movie-making, and video production, hoping to enhance and improve my presentations. And I sure did for a Department Head quipped to me not to show off. I felt sad for her. What she should have done is sent her boys to learn from me a few tips and improve their presentations making it at par or even excel mine. I would have been happy to teach and felt proud that they have superseded me. I began to learn to create annual reports and departmental bulletins that drew me to engage in learning to create my own books and publish them online. What started as a webpage to store my artwork in digital form after the originals were collecting dust, soon carried a detailed piece on my maiden pilgrimage to India. I soon shared many related stories and carried videos on YouTube too. As I realized blogging was much much simpler when it comes to embedding videos, I opted to focus on this relatively new online journal or informational website. Soon Agathiyar took the upper hand and took my hand in drafting the posts telling me subtly that this was a task assigned to me for now. Change No 6.
I was one to have walked past a hungry man or a beggar without even giving a second look many years before. He changed me. When I met Tavayogi he showed me photos of the numerous charitable activities he carried out at his Kallar Ashram. When I went over to his place a month after his departure I saw an opportunity to do my part too. Hence began my act of feeding the poor and hungry individuals. With the coming of Thondu Seivom we expanded our wings to feed the homeless, the unfortunate, the misfortunate, and any other person in need of help. We realized that Agathiyar and Tavayogi got us engaged in these acts of doing charity to open up our eyes and hearts to see the suffering around us and to bring compassion within respectively. Change No 7.
All the experiences and lessons gained in carrying out and seeing through all these activities which although seemed to stand apart from the domestic chores, regimes, and responsibilities towards the family and society led to changes in the ways we moved and reacted with them and the public too, now with enriched and renewed wisdom. If these changes were more aligned towards changes in our activities, the most obvious change that came about was that in our perspective and understanding. Change No 8.
If I have compiled my initial solo journey that was spent in chanting numerous mantras given back then, published as "Milestone on the Path of the Siddhas" in 2011, available for download at https://drive.google.com/file/d/17UoMCNHxotIiDPnDTgc078LfGziEmeUJ/view, today we have been brought one full circle to where we started, alone, as we take a step onto the ninth-mile. As we dare to embark and undertake a journey of a different kind, it brings us back on a solo journey, though one that is internal and personal this time around, one that goes within.
It reminds us of BKS Iyengar in describing Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, he clearly defines the route, beginning with Yama - restraints or ethics of behavior; Niyama - observances; Asana - physical postures; Praṇayama - control of the prana (breath); and Pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses, that he describes as a forward journey. Bringing us to do Asanas, Pranayama, and Pratyahara he brought all the other activities that we had engaged successfully in before, to a halt except for blogging. Today he has shut me up within the confines of my home asking me and others to go within teaching us the techniques as and when required. Following them, we saw subtle changes take place within. Iyengar describes Patanjali as taking us on a reverse path, or a return journey now moving inwards, from the body towards the soul, with Dharaṇa - concentration; Dhyana - meditation; and Samadhi - absorption; that is termed as the true renunciation, contrary to the common belief and understanding that of renouncing the world. This is Change No 9.
If I have compiled my initial solo journey that was spent in chanting numerous mantras given back then, published as "Milestone on the Path of the Siddhas" in 2011, available for download at https://drive.google.com/file/d/17UoMCNHxotIiDPnDTgc078LfGziEmeUJ/view, today we have been brought one full circle to where we started, alone, as we take a step onto the ninth-mile. As we dare to embark and undertake a journey of a different kind, it brings us back on a solo journey, though one that is internal and personal this time around, one that goes within.
It reminds us of BKS Iyengar in describing Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, he clearly defines the route, beginning with Yama - restraints or ethics of behavior; Niyama - observances; Asana - physical postures; Praṇayama - control of the prana (breath); and Pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses, that he describes as a forward journey. Bringing us to do Asanas, Pranayama, and Pratyahara he brought all the other activities that we had engaged successfully in before, to a halt except for blogging. Today he has shut me up within the confines of my home asking me and others to go within teaching us the techniques as and when required. Following them, we saw subtle changes take place within. Iyengar describes Patanjali as taking us on a reverse path, or a return journey now moving inwards, from the body towards the soul, with Dharaṇa - concentration; Dhyana - meditation; and Samadhi - absorption; that is termed as the true renunciation, contrary to the common belief and understanding that of renouncing the world. This is Change No 9.
A koan goes "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is." During the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese Ch’an master Qingyuan Weixin famously wrote: “Before I had studied Ch’an for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. But now that I have got its very substance, I am at rest. For it’s just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers.” (Source: https://tricycle.org/magazine/first-there-mountain-then-there-no-mountain/). So there is one more major, drastic, and mind-shattering change awaiting those who dare to venture within and find out for themselves the truth. Are we ready for it?