While we are trying pretty hard to figure out and comprehend the tattvas that Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal have asked us to understand first before engaging in meditation, in "Conversation with God - Book 4", Neale Donald Walsch and God draw a similar line of query and answer. God tells him "An awakened species sees the unity of all life and lives into it." They know "experientially that there is only one thing and all things are part of the one. Because they exist in another dimension they can view the sub-molecular structure of all things. They observe that there is only one energy in the universe that is the source and force that mixes up the foundational elements of which it is comprised, adding and subtracting, creating all things in existence through alchemy, hence altering the vibrational frequency of these variously combined elements to generate differing expressions of the essential essence." Whew. What a revelation. Thank you, Neale and God.
We learn that "the elements are both conscious and make choices", in other words as Neale puts it, "consciousness exists at the elemental level." Could this be the reason why early man and even some remote civilizations today still pay respect and homage and worshipped nature and everything around them, both living and dead, solid or liquid, seen and unseen? Agathiyar is said to have fed these elements in keeping creation or prapanjam alive. From https://blog.good-will.ch/WordPress/2010/10/23/rishi-agastya-a-little-miracle-and-some-stories/ we read rather quite an interesting piece of information about how Agathiyar fed these elements by serving people food. Could these elements be the host of Buthas or பூதம் that is said to reside and live in and of us?
Last week I came across a transcription of a seminar given by Sri Kumar in the Nilagiri Hills in 1996 about Agastya, Master Jupiter. ..... He has great, round eyes, is often traveling with his disciples and loves to cook and to serve. Through serving food he likes to spread himself into the people and thus to adjust any imbalances in the mental, emotional, and physical bodies. In the scriptures there is the story that once a group of disciples in the Himalaya had the questions who is the one fasting most, and Maitreya told them, “It is Agastya, he never eats.” They wanted to see Agastya and went to him. Agastya said: "Observe me for three days.” They were very surprised to see him cooking, eating and serving. He was not missing any meal, and every meal was from our standpoint very excessive in its quantity. After three days the group asked: "We have not understood your way of fasting.” He answered: "In so far as you don’t feel that you are eating, it is fasting.” He does not think he is eating. He lives in tune with the universal consciousness and in such a tune-up the food is given to all the elementals around him with himself as the channel.
The lighting of the sacred fire or Yagam or its smaller version the Homam too is said to feed and appease the Gods and Goddesses and all the beings of the other realms and worlds. We are told that however devastating a wildfire could be to man, and nature that is "the general realm of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects—the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth", forest fires are surprisingly compared with a Yagam. Is it then nature's way of correcting and bringing a balance to the eco-system? Is nature feeding the elements in the absence of man observing the age-old tradition of lighting the sacrificial fire?
In CWG we learn further that "the elemental level is consciousness in action. Every cell in our body acts with intelligence or awareness of its inherent function." Similarly "every element of the universe is imbued with this foundational intelligence. Every ounce of this life be it the cell, the particle, or the sub-molecular element, is embued with foundational intelligence. The element itself is this intelligence in particle form." Amazing. This explains the secret of the body in healing itself. In the event, we wound ourselves,
"the wound will bleed. The blood will start to clot within a few minutes or less and stop the bleeding. The blood clots dry and form a scab, which protects the tissue underneath from germs.
Not all wounds bleed. For example, burns, some puncture wounds, and pressure sores do not bleed. Once the scab forms, your body's immune system starts to protect the wound from infection.
You also may see some clear fluid oozing from the wound. This fluid helps clean the area. Blood vessels open in the area, so blood can bring oxygen and nutrients to the wound. White blood cells help fight infection from germs and begin to repair the wound. Tissue growth and rebuilding occur next. Over the next 3 weeks or so, the body repairs broken blood vessels and new tissue grows. Red blood cells help create collagen, which are tough, white fibers that form the foundation for new tissue. The wound starts to fill in with new tissue, called granulation tissue. New skin begins to form over this tissue. As the wound heals, the edges pull inward and the wound gets smaller. A scar forms and the wound becomes stronger. As healing continues, you may notice that the area itches. After the scab falls off, the area may look stretched, red, and shiny. The scar that forms will be smaller than the original wound. It will be less strong and less flexible than the surrounding skin. Over time, the scar will fade and may disappear completely. Scars form because the new tissue grows back differently than the original tissue. If you only injured the top layer of skin, you will probably not have a scar. With deeper wounds, you are more likely to have a scar. (Source: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000741.htm)
At times a little help is required to help mend things. When my daughter broke her leg, after four months of patiently waiting, sitting it out in a fiberglass cast, for her right tibia and fibula bones to mend on its own, we were given the sad news that her's was a rare case of non-union of the bones that happens in 5 % of the patients. The good doctor at the general hospital suggested a new and alternative treatment as we did not want a titanium bone plate placed in her body. With a genuine effort to bring relief to patients and ingenuity in healthcare, the trained medical professionals together with lots of prayers on our part, and with God's grace, the ACP injection or Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy administered on her worked wonders. After she received three injections over the next few days, miraculously there was positive growth of new bone cells in the region of the broken bones. Nature only needed the doctor to extract her blood, separate it using centrifugal force, and injecting her plasma into the affected area, and help boost her internal system to come forth and do the rest of the healing, "using the body’s own healing processes to speed up or complete the recovery process from injury."
"The process involves a simple blood draw and office based injection and uses only the patient’s own blood, the risks are very few. After the blood is drawn, it is spun rapidly in a device called a centrifuge. This separates out the platelets and the special molecules they contain. The molecules are then injected directly into the site of injury. The hope is that high concentrations of these naturally occurring substances will speed up healing - http://www.drchristo.com/autologous-conditioned-plasma-injections.html.)
This and similar miracles take place daily in our body with minimum interference from us and without our realization. Often we take these for granted. What then is this intelligence that comes to the fore and takes charges of matters when the need arises?
If the body has its chemistry in healing from within, when one's self-esteem is low another could help him by "lending" his spirit or "fire" for a faster recovery. Words of encouragement, support groups, group prayers, evangelism, a simple talisman given, or a dash of the sacred ash, together with help from the invisible hand of the divine and its angels, all go a long way in building up their spirit to battle the illness. Agathiyar told us that upon hearing our pleading to safe Tavayogi from the impending danger to his life, gathered the Siddhas and held a Yagam. Tavayogi survived the ordeal. Later upon surrendering the running of the ashram and the Jeeva Nadi to Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar he surrendered himself to the recurring ordeal and went into samadhi.
We are told that "thoughts are cells communicating with each other." We are brought to understand that the energy of our thoughts has an influence over the cells of our body. We now fully understand why Agathiyar asks the next of kin and relatives of a dying man to keep reminding him to lift his spirits while his family went ahead to carry our remedies that Agathiyar stipulated in the Nadi. Sadly the man who was bed-ridden for some five years gave up on himself. He surrendered and lost the battle. All the remedies and Agathiyar's grace could not help because he had given up the spirit and fire to live. While the remedies to a certain extent could move the "matrix", it was his spirit's and his soul's desire to live that could bring about a total recovery in him. In another instance, Agathiyar, upon speaking to the soul of my mother-in-law who was ill, in turn, asked her to talk to her soul and reply whether it wanted to live or leave. He gave her an extension of life.
Whenever someone complains of ailments I always point them to my mother and ask them to speak to her. My mother who is in her nineties is a spirited lady. I thought seeing her in high spirits would infuse some strength in them hopefully. On 6 December 2015, we received disturbing news that my mother was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). It came as a surprise and shock to the family as she was healthy although she was approaching her 90's. She had complained of breathing difficulties and asked to be admitted. On my arrival at the private hospital, I was informed by my siblings that as her vital organs were failing, she was in the High Dependency Unit (HDU). She was conscious and could take sips of water and bits of food although she was all wired up. The doctors and hospital staff attended to her well, caring for her with all the love and attention for it is not every day you get to receive a patient who has reached the prime ripe age of ninety. The family prayed to God and the Siddhas to spare her life. We included her in our prayers asking for her speedy recovery. By God's grace, my mother began to recover fast. She was moved to the ICU from the HDU the following day. To our delight and joy, her condition became stable and she was transferred to the normal wards shortly. On 14 December 2015, to our relief, she was discharged and sent home.
Similarly, an aunt of mine and another aunt of my wife's both had a stroke around the same time. My aunt who kept her appointments with the physiotherapists began to walk again and took charge of her life again. My wife's aunt who shunned physiotherapy and instead sought alternative therapies, seeing no results became disappointed and gave up hope and soon passed away.
I came to know this morning that a devotee of Agathiyar whom we met at Kallar Ashram in 2016 was recovering from a stroke. Speaking to her I was amazed at the spirit she carried with her. She who pens her sadness and misery, her anger and confusion in the form of songs to the divine, tells me that after this unprecedented incident some 15 days back, she has resolved to spread the kindness and compassion of the divine to others. She quoted Mahakavi Bharathi's lines "தீக்குள் விரலை வைத்தால் நந்தலாலா உன்னைத், தீண்டுமின்பம் தோன்றுதடா நந்தலாலா" from his poem, "காக்கைச் சிறகினிலே நந்தலாலா", telling me that she had grown up reading such fine poems of the poet that gave her the strength to see through all the sufferings and poverty in life. I saluted her for her bravery and spirit. Surprisingly when I went through some 3 years of pain in my lower back as a result of my yogic practices, the reason only revealed by Agathiyar later, he added that I should learn to see the bliss in pain too. If only he knew the pain! But then of course, he knows. Ramalinga Adigal sings that only God knows the pain and suffering he went through during the 12 years of austerities or tapas.
Unlike both my mother and she, sadly many give up on themselves becoming fully dependant on a shaman or the drug or a miracle cure. With drugs and remedies only half the battle is won. One needs to have a high spirit to combat, overcome, and come out of his illnesses. Telling ourselves repeatedly that we shall regain our health helps. But again sadly those who come to visit the sick bring in the negative vibes via their thoughts, speech, and energy that further makes the sick lethargic and lose whatever little hope they have. When visiting the sick please only tell them that they would recover soon and well and that you shall pray for them. Give them words of encouragement and leave. Never turn into becoming a doctor yourself proposing another alternative treatment or medicines. Let the doctors do their job, do not interfere by suggesting other drugs, and methods. Neither comment on the treatment nor suggest another hospital. Asks of what mishap took place from other family members and not from the patient. Imagine how many visitors he has to answer to. He has to relive that tragic moment, again and again, to explain what took place. That's the least good you could do for the sick. This is also the reason the Siddhas always give promising words of encouragement in all our endeavors, even if they knew it might not work out in our favor. But at the end of the day the experience, good or bad, stays with us and we become wiser in our next choice, endeavor or investment.