LETTING GO

The lyrics to the song "Let It Go" from Disney's "Frozen" is so meaningful and powerful. We too should learn to let it go. 

The snow glows white
On the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation
And it looks like I’m the Queen
The wind is howling
Like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in
Heaven knows I tried…

Don’t let them in
Don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal
Don’t feel
Don’t let them know…
Well, now they know!

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door!
I don’t care what they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway

It’s funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can’t get to me at all!

It’s time to see
What I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong
No rules for me
I’m free!

Let it go! Let it go!
I am one with the wind and sky!
Let it go! Let it go!
You’ll never see me cry!
Here I stand and here I’ll stay
Let the storm rage on…

My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back
The past is in the past!

Let it go! Let it go!
And I’ll rise like the break of dawn!
Let it go! Let it go!
That perfect girl is gone!

Here I stand in the light of day…
Let the storm rage on!!!
The cold never bothered me anyway

Watching the life story of the world-renown mathematician Sakunthala Devi now made into a movie, reminds us of the need to let go in many instances. Here are some instances where we can Let It Go.

• We tend to hold on to the past that then influences the present which then presents the future in an altogether different form. If we learn to let it go, we shall see the present in a different way, unadulterated by things from the past. The future then shall be seen anew too. 
• Let go of the pain and anger. If we can't bring ourselves to forgive another it is all right, but don't carry the bitterness in you. Let go and move on. 
• If you have received an amulet or charm or anything given for a specific purpose, let it go once it has served its purpose. 
• Siddha practitioner Arivan tells me the medicine he gives is meant to be taken for a particular period or number of days. Let it go when the specified period comes to an end. 

Many more are the instances where we are required to let it go if we want to progress ahead.

• Bringing us on pilgrimages, and bringing us to do rituals and charity on the pretext of wiping out karma, Agathiyar brought us to gain merits instead for a better life ahead either in this birth or if time has run out for the next. The karma has to be realized and lived although its full weight, load, and burden shall be lightened to a certain extent. Agathiyar then let us go of our hold on Sariyai and Kriyai too. When your work is done through Sariyai move on to Kriyai with the guidance of a Guru. When the Guru leads you to Yogam use it as a tool to step into Gnanam. Agathiyar tells us that the charity we did, the worship and ritual we did, and conducted, the asanas and pranayama we are doing are all tools and means meant to bring us to the path of Gnanam. When it brings us to our destination it is safe for us to let it go.  Do not carry the temple and the ritual with you. Bringing us to stop rituals and charity Agathiyar tells us that we have sufficient credit hours to take us to the next course or semester. He brings us to Yogam that brings us to the experience of Gnanam. The remaining karma shall burn in the fire of meditation. 

• Tavayogi let us go too. He did not hold us back bringing us to the path, after teaching the path, after showing us the path. Spirit has to be free and cannot be caged by rigid doctrines, its codes, laws and do's and dont's he would always say. 

• Guhai Namasivayar let go of his student Guru Namasivayar the moment the latter saw the curtain catch fire and burn at Tillai Chidambaram temple while with his guru at Tiruvannamalai. The guru knew his student through his tapas had fed the inner fire or Arutjhoti that it burned the veils that hides the Arutperunjhoti. 

If there is one thing that we need to ask to be prolonged it is life, for at least till we attain the state of a Siddha. One on his deathbed would pray asking to be kept alive and save them from death at least till the son or daughter is married for instance or for other reasons. Have they ever prayed to ask to keep them alive to carry on with service to fellow mankind, performing puja for the benefit of all of prapanjam, and to be able to carry on the practice of yogam and eventually attain Gnanam, the state of the Siddha? Our asking to keep our dear ones alive always stops short at to be kept alive to carry on with the worldly affairs, hardly praying for an extended life intended to do God's work here. When we are given an extension in life it is not to carry out our old ways but to see it as a rebirth given to serve him and to go deeper into his teachings and finally attain his state. Tavayogi was stopped from taking his life. He came back to serve Agathiyar. Yogi Ramaiah was stopped from taking his own life. He came back to serve Babaji.

As old age catches up it teaches us to slow down and rewind and enjoy every moment. A child teaches us to slow down too but do we do it. We drag the poor toddler along as we rush with quickened pace from one chore to another. We rush him to swallow the food as we rush off to do another chore or task. We push the smartphone into his face while we spend hours on the phone with another. The time spent in idle talk could be used and well spent playing with the child who is in the prime age of exploring and observing. Learning should come to them through active participation and means and not passive as in sitting before a TV.  

As Agathiyar said much has already been said. Now we shall enter the experience. Hence he hastened us to do charity and puja as if anticipating the lockdown in view of the pandemic and locking down the AVM group sending everyone to plan, execute and experience for themselves now. Life is never the same. We move on to meet new friends. We have new additions to the family circle. Many fade away from sight and mind. It is all about letting go.

The Siddha path is not solely about making magic portions, performing miracles, carrying out Siddhis, healing, or predicting the past or future, although we shall come across all these traveling the path. Nor is it about building Siddha temples, ashrams, and starting peedhams or institutions for the devotees or starting a following like in bhakti or the path of devotion. This is not a place for sightseers, window shoppers, nor spectators, only active participants. Each one on the path has to put into practice what is taught and make it a part of their life and live it out. The ideal of every seeker, aspirant, sadhaka, or devotee of the Siddha path should be to attain the Siddhas state of consciousness.

To believe something is to see from the outside or to look in from the outside. Faith on the other hand comes with experience in stepping onto the path. As one walks the path deeper and deeper into unchartered territories, he develops faith in the divine. As one begins doing acts of dharma, compassion begins to build from within. His heart mellows. He sheds tears for others. Since experience maketh a man we are here to gain that.