The common notion is that those who perform Siddhis are Siddhas. Is that all the Siddhas do and are capable of? It is sad that we have degraded the Siddhas to being merely magicians and miracle makers. It is said that this is the era of the Siddhas and there is talk about the coming of the Siddhas. Someone asks sarcastically where were they all this while? We too thought that the Siddhas would jump from the skies and perform miracles and bring a drastic change to the world and its inhabitants, in short, saving the planet as Clark Kent alias Superman does.
It was not to be so. Neither are they aliens. Rather they are very much down to earth. They are currently grooming and trying to make and mold us all into becoming Siddhas too. They do not bring us to be overly concerned about gaining the Siddhis that are by-products in the process of churning the self. Siddhis are gifted and accompany travelers on the path. But one is constantly reminded not to fall for its lure too just as one falls for the lure of the pleasures of life, attention, and recognition, and power and authority in the material world. Instead, they bring us to value the essentials or prime achievements of a Siddha. The Siddha knows his Self. He knows from whence he came and where he is headed. The Siddha knows the origin and end of the world and understands the intricacies and the workings of all the laws that govern it. The Siddha knows every being too. Hence the reason they can spell out the past, present, and future of each individual.
The most compassionate father wants to see us become Siddhas too. For this purpose, Agathiyar has simplified his path for us. He made changes to the age-old regime, practices and rituals etched in time and stone, simplifying them for us to follow. Bringing us to move beyond Sariyai that was introduced by our parents to us, Agathiyar brought us into Kriyai via appointing a guru. Today he personally rushes us through Yogam reminding us of the goal ahead in Gnanam. In Yogam he rushes us through the Yogasanas and Pranayama that Tavayogi taught us and brings us to swiftly glide across the four stages in Pranayama termed as Avasthai.
1. Arambha avastha is entered when the practitioner is introduced to pranayama and is taught to perform Nadi-sudhi or purification of channels of energy in the body. The experience gained in this practice is that the practitioner starts experiencing Prana moving throughout his/her body that enhances the senses of perception. The result is that the Brahma granthi or knot in the heart is pierced through.
2. Ghata avastha is acquired by the constant practice of "the retention of breath called kumbhaka or cessation of breath called pratyahara where withdrawal of the senses is arrived at by bringing the attention inwards towards the breath, observing it without trying to control it. By doing this, connection with the external senses and stimuli are all gradually severed." Ida and Pingala begin moving in the middle channel or Sushumna resulting in the piercing of the Visnu granthi or knot in the throat. In Ghata Avastha we are reminded that "the seed is fast decaying and that it is the time of change and disruption. The yogi/ni experiences resistance and pain whether mental, physical, or emotional. His/her whole foundation is shaken or even collapsing as they are shaken to the core mentally and emotionally. The life that they have been living has outgrown its form", just like the pupa cannot contain the emerging butterfly no longer. "They go through a psychic death so that life force energy can be released in a new form."
True to these words Agathiyar told me that I had stagnated at Svadisthana and came to give certain techniques to rise up further. Similarly, he gave others certain practices and techniques too. We are seeing a sudden urgency as Agathiyar takes the whip and disciplines us, hastening us, and asking to show some seriousness in our practices. Now we understand why there is suddenly an urgency in Agathiyar driving us hard to carry out these practices coming often to check on us if we are doing it.
True to these words Agathiyar told me that I had stagnated at Svadisthana and came to give certain techniques to rise up further. Similarly, he gave others certain practices and techniques too. We are seeing a sudden urgency as Agathiyar takes the whip and disciplines us, hastening us, and asking to show some seriousness in our practices. Now we understand why there is suddenly an urgency in Agathiyar driving us hard to carry out these practices coming often to check on us if we are doing it.
3. Parichaya avastha is a state attained when the breath along with prana, along with agni through thought, piercing the kundalini, enters the Sushumna. "The Parichaya Avastha is when the breath leaves Sunya in the heart or Anahata and goes to the Mahasunya or Ajna between the eyebrows which is the home of all the siddhis upon the piercing of the Rudra granthi." Here the lock that Ramalinga Adigal defines as கண்புருவப் பூட்டு is broken. Damodaran Raman wrote at http://vallalarspace.com/user/c/V000020815B
சுழு முனை நாடியின் மேல் வாசலான புருவ நடுவைத் திறக்க வேண்டும். ஆனால் புருவ நடுவானது பூட்டப் பட்டிருக்கிறது. வள்ளலார் கண்புருவப் பூட்டு என்றதைக் கவனிக்க. பூட்டைத் திறப்பது எப்படி? வாசிதான் பூட்டைத் திறக்கும் திறவுகோல் ஆகும். வாசி எப்படிப் பூட்டைத் திறக்கும்? மூக்கு வழியாக ஓடிக்கொண்டிருக்கும் வாசியைத் தடுத்து ஒடுக்கித் தலைப்பகுதிக்குத் திருப்ப வேண்டும். திருப்பினால் மேல்நோக்கி விரைந்து செல்லும் வாசிதான் பூட்டை உடைத்துப் புருவ நடுவைத் திறந்து புருவ நடு வழியாக வெளியேறும். புருவ நடு வழியே செல்லும் வாசிதான் நாடி நாதத்தை எழுப்பும்.
The result is that "Karma is destroyed by the double-edged sword of Pranavam "Aum" that prevails within and "Kaya-vyuha, a mystical process of taking various bodies to exhaust all previous karmas without the necessity of being reborn. We read that the method is detailed by Patanjali and a commentary on this by "Swami Vivekananda explaining how the verse tells of how a yogi creates another body or a group of bodies (Kaya-vyuha) to exhaust karma quickly."
The practitioner gains command over the five elements too by the practice of the five Tattwa dharanas or forms of concentration, hence conquering and mastering the five elements that are the primal cause and source of creation. If in Ghata avastha we saw "the seed decaying" and an urgent need to change and reform, in Paricaya Avastha we are told that the reverse is taking place where "the seed is now germinating", thanks to the continued practice of pranayama. "There is a release of tension and uncertainty. Profound changes and new qualities are emerging. It is a time of deliverance. It is the beginning of a new path. Resistance is dispersed and rectification is happening naturally and easily."
The result is that "Karma is destroyed by the double-edged sword of Pranavam "Aum" that prevails within and "Kaya-vyuha, a mystical process of taking various bodies to exhaust all previous karmas without the necessity of being reborn. We read that the method is detailed by Patanjali and a commentary on this by "Swami Vivekananda explaining how the verse tells of how a yogi creates another body or a group of bodies (Kaya-vyuha) to exhaust karma quickly."
The practitioner gains command over the five elements too by the practice of the five Tattwa dharanas or forms of concentration, hence conquering and mastering the five elements that are the primal cause and source of creation. If in Ghata avastha we saw "the seed decaying" and an urgent need to change and reform, in Paricaya Avastha we are told that the reverse is taking place where "the seed is now germinating", thanks to the continued practice of pranayama. "There is a release of tension and uncertainty. Profound changes and new qualities are emerging. It is a time of deliverance. It is the beginning of a new path. Resistance is dispersed and rectification is happening naturally and easily."
4. Nishpati avastha, "the fourth and final stage is where the practitioner reaches a state of perfection in breath and attains bliss. At this point, he is able to perform Kevala kumbhaka or sahaja kumbhaka - holding the breath with no particular state of respiration in consideration." The result is that "having destroyed all the seeds of karma, such a yogi feels neither hunger nor thirst, nor sleep nor swoon and drinks the nectar of immortality. He becomes absolutely independent, free from all diseases, decay and old age, and can move anywhere in the world." No longer in need of any yogic practice, he enjoys the bliss of samadhi or the state of consummation between God and Man. "It is the consummation of prāṇāyāma coinciding with the jīvanmukti state." "Having destroyed all the seeds of karma", he sustains and lives on Prana, and "drinking the nectar of immortality", hence "enjoying the bliss of samadhi" that equates to being liberated in a sense.
If the decaying seed in Ghata avastha is given a new life reversing decay and brought to germinate in Parichaya avastha, in Nispatti Avastha it begins to blossom and bloom. "A new life begins filled with contentment and harmony. The yogi/ni is detached and the Sukha and Duhkha don’t affect them anymore. The yogi/ni submits to the will from above. They are no longer bound by old patterns and attain freedom and liberation."
If the decaying seed in Ghata avastha is given a new life reversing decay and brought to germinate in Parichaya avastha, in Nispatti Avastha it begins to blossom and bloom. "A new life begins filled with contentment and harmony. The yogi/ni is detached and the Sukha and Duhkha don’t affect them anymore. The yogi/ni submits to the will from above. They are no longer bound by old patterns and attain freedom and liberation."
Agathiyar has groomed and brought us to walk through these states spoken about in the Siva Samhita. He tells us today that we have had enough of talk, satsangs, lectures, and seminars. It was time to sweat it out doing the practices. Enough of remaining a spectator and a passive participant. Hence the reason he broke the groups too. It is time to walk the path. He tells us that we have had enough of empty promises and portrayals of a colorful future by many masters on the path. Neither did they bring their followers to experience and realize the state. Agathiyar has come to give us the said experience. This is the true meaning of the coming of the Siddha Era. The Siddhas are not magically going to change the world but we are going to do it, with them working through us. We are grateful to Agathiyar for simplifying the subject so that we can understand and follow and can partake the bliss that results from these efforts and practices. We are grateful to him to consider us as candidates with the potential of becoming a Siddha and working tirelessly on us. With his grace, we shall succeed eventually. He has faith in us that we can become accomplished Siddhas. Let us not fail him.
Sources: http://www.srimayogaschool.com.au/pranayama-info.html
http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection§ion_id=1305
https://www.santosha.com/philosophy/hathayoga-pradipika-chapter4.html
https://www.intuitiveflow.com/spiritual-development/
http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Ni%E1%B9%A3patti-avasth%C4%81
http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Ni%E1%B9%A3patti-avasth%C4%81