TRUE GURU BAKTI

I received a few photos and a video from Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar of the extent of work done on Tavayogi's samadhi building yesterday. I realized that Tavayogi had handed over the management and operation of the Agathiyar Gnana Peedham to the right candidate. Mataji saw to it that what he had envisioned was done. The day saw me question my worth as his student. I felt very small before her. She has shown me true guru bhakti. We are only doing lip service in talking about our guru in these pages while she is working to bring the ideals of our guru into reality. 

Tavayogi was a mill owner producing cotton garments in Tirupur, Kovai. A tragic turn of events made him blind while in his thirties. His mother brought him to a temple dedicated to Mother Goddess who was known to heal and cure the blind while his wife did housework to sustain the family. On the brink of jumping onto the railway tracks after vainly waiting a year to regain his eyesight he was stopped by a voice he heard that told him "Do not take your life. I am here." Tavayogi regained his eyesight shortly and went back to running his business. But he promised that he would dedicate his life in service to Agathiyar and to Agathiyar's cause, after attaining the age of fifty. He kept his word. At fifty he left his family voluntarily and became a mendicant. This reminds us of how Babaji came to Yogi Ramaiah to save him too. 

Just as Ramaiah was to leave for the USA to further his studies, he contracted bone tuberculosis which disrupted his plans. The disease took its toll on him and he was immobilized for six long years. During that period, his wife and servants cared for him at San Thome in Madras while Ramaiah used this time to his advantage by reading a lot. Ramaiah also published his first book based on Omkara Swami’s life, "A Blissful Saint." During these years, Prasanananda Guru aided him in meditation while Omkara Swami shared with Ramaiah his knowledge of yoga. He had a visit from Mauna Swami too, a disciple of Shirdi Sai Baba. Shortly afterward, Ramaiah had a vision of Shirdi Sai Baba himself. Ramaiah asked Baba if he was his Guru. Baba replied, "No, but I will reveal to you who your guru is", and Ramaiah was shown his Guru Babaji. One day Ramaiah succumbed to the pain and misery that he was undergoing and decided to end his life. He held his breath, not letting it go. Suddenly he heard Babaji's voice. Babaji told him, "Do not take your life! Give it to me!" Surprised and taken aback by the divine intervention, Ramaiah surrendered himself to Babaji. The next day, upon awakening, Ramaiah felt that he was healed. Summoning the doctors, Ramaiah was given a clean bill and certified fit. To everyone's astonishment, Ramaiah had indeed healed completely. Very soon Ramaiah regained the use of both his legs. Shortly in another vision, Ramaiah saw Babaji limping. He questioned Babaji as to why he limped. To Ramaiah's surprise, Babaji replied that he was taking on Ramaiah's illness (bone tuberculosis)! Recently when my daughter feared for the eye operation that was scheduled for her, Agathiyar told her that he shall bear her pain and asked her to go without fear. We are blessed indeed to have him oversee our lives.

This is called ஆட்கொள்ளல் or to intervene in a timely manner and bring the subject to their fold. This we see in the lives of many saints including Sundarar where the good Lord stepped in during his marriage ceremony and redeemed him. Sundarar too lost his sight and regained them later. Tirunavukarasar underwent untold misery as a result of severe pain in his stomach that was miraculously cured later resulting in his newfound faith in the Saivite religion. He moved on to become one of the greatest saints of all times. On the local front, a man who had severe stomach pain was told in his dream that his illness would be cured and that he shall receive the gift of healing others. The only condition laid was that he switched religion. He did as told and has been healing the public.

Traveling the length and breadth of India Tavayogi finally was instructed to build an ashram at Agathiyar Vanam, Kallar. His small ashram in the foothills of Kallar has since shifted to the present-day site some 2 kilometers away with contributions from devotees. Tavayogi has since gone into samadhi on his ashram grounds. Mataji is trying to complete the samadhi structure works just in time for the scheduled kumbhabisegam coinciding with the Vaikasi Visakam festival that falls on 25th May 2021.

IT SHALL BE A LIFE LONG LEARNING

Our learning starts with our parents teaching us and then progresses as we attend school. The learning continues as we take up a job and are placed in an entirely different environment. Experience begins to become our teacher now. If previously we were sheltered and spoon-fed, now we encounter and face all sorts of experiences as we begin our lives as young adults. We then begin to shoulder responsibilities becoming a husband or a wife and becoming parents. The need to share our lives with extended families emerges as the caring within the family grows. Our once self-centered life is now centered around the family and society. Soon one retires and takes up a social activity to keep his time occupied. This is a typical life that we live. But in all these the learning never stops. 

Betty J Eadie in revealing the secrets and mysteries of life in her book "Embraced by the Light", understood the earth to be a place where we schooled. She adds that whatever we become of here is meaningless unless it has brought benefit to others. In serving others we grow spiritually. If Betty says that we are here to school, Neale Donald Walsch in his "Conversation with God" to "Awaken the Species" says that we are already well equipped with sufficient knowledge and have only to apply it here, giving life a purpose and making it holy.

If in the early days we read about religion and became well equipped to answer doubts and questions, it was always superficial in nature without the element of the experience. These days the Siddhas create the scenario, the events, and the happenings, giving us the much-needed experience.

The most distinct test of my obedience to Agathiyar came by way of a series of events that he laid on my path the moment I left the Nadi reader having read my Nadi. Throughout the Nadi reading, Agathiyar lectured me on anger management.  I knew that my mother had reached him first. She was a smart lady. She knew who to approach. Since she knew I loved him a lot, my mother used to pray to Agathiyar earnestly asking him that I should drop my anger. Agathiyar heeding the plea from my mother for help in having me drop my anger addressed me that day for one solid hour. I had no choice but to sit and listen to him. The divine shall come to the call or prayer of a mother. 

The moment I came out from the Nadi reading with my wife and daughter accompanying me, Agathiyar put me to test immediately to see if I could uphold what he had just told me. It was a Sunday and as there were ample parking lots available, please tell me why should someone choose to double park his car beside mine? The doors were locked. Looking inside I saw the handbrake drawn up. How was I to push the car then? It was an extremely hot afternoon and I was very hungry. The heat from the sun and the heat from the furnace in my tummy aggravated my anger in seeing the dilemma I faced with. No one came for his car as I kept honking. My family was having a field day at my expense looking towards the sky and asking if the Siddhas had installed closed-circuit cameras. They were watching the fun together with the Siddhas. Nudging the car continuously, I managed to move it sufficiently enough for me to drive off. 

We drove further up the street to have our lunch at a reputable restaurant, but as service was extremely slow we decided to leave. Now driving into another street to park, we walked to another restaurant along the main street. That is when I saw a popular radio host walk towards us. I smiled at him. He stopped and walked up to me. He held my shoulders and backed me up against the wall of the shophouses. He pointed to both my wife and daughter and inferred that my children should follow like their mother in keeping a large kumkum or bindi rather than a minute one. Hunger makes a man angry, right? Top it up with an hour of detention class with the grandmaster, an annoying driver who had no brains, and a restaurant that delayed the food, my anger escalated further and hit the top charts on that Sunday afternoon. I told the radio host that it was their choice and that if he was so concerned about upholding the culture and tradition he should come in vesti first rather than in pants. He fled upon seeing my outburst. I had lost the challenge that Agathiyar put me through. He had pieced together the whole scene upon the stage that he set up almost instantaneously after giving me a detailed SOP and guideline, and sat back to watch how I handled it. I had failed terribly in my test on anger management that day. 

Betty J Eadie in writing on her near-death experience, says she watched the world from the heavens. She saw beacons of light shoot up into the sky. These were supposedly the prayers emitting from individuals. Some were broad and large while others were akin to penlights and mere sparks. She saw angels rushing to answer these prayers, responding to the brighter lights or prayers first. Insincere prayers were not heard while those in dire straits and immediate need of help are responded to immediately. She was also told that there is no greater prayer than that of a mother for her children. These were the purest of prayers with no self-interest in them. The mother gives herself to the children, hence her prayers are intense. The mother's prayer is always heard.

Betty has several pieces of advice for us too. She reminds us that in praying for someone at his deathbed one should ask for God's will to be done, rather than insist on our desire, otherwise we could end up frustrating and or delaying the transition that the person was undertaking. Avoid a conflict from arising at these times. It would help to just let the soul go. She adds that God who is fully able to see the past and future knows best. The outcome is always perfect although we see it otherwise. 

Then she says that there was no need to repeat a prayer or requests. With a single prayer said, then comes faith and lots of patience. Pray for whatever you desire and let go. Let God do his will. If and when his will becomes ours too, we see the prayer answered. 

Finally, she reminds us not to forget to thank him when he has granted our wishes. Betty says it beautifully, "In humility, we must ask and in gratitude, we must receive." Prayers bring God to us. With constant prayers, we will come to know that he lives among us. 

A teenager who grew up in the home of his uncle took to translating the Nadi readings for non-Tamilians who came before the Nadi readers from India stationed in his uncle's home. Many years later together with his wife, they brought many seekers of the Nadi to the temples both in Malaysia and India to help them carry out remedies. When his wife's relative took ill and was bedridden for five years, this couple never gave up on him and his family. They would refer to the Nadi on their behalf and go do the remedies too. But sadly the relative passed away. All the other relatives came down hard on this couple venting their anger and frustration on them and Agathiyar for not saving the man. They saw all the efforts of this couple as a waste of time, money, and energy. There is never a Nadi reading for a dead man. But Agathiyar made an exception in this case. He called the couple in for a reading after the man died. Agathiyar asked the couple, "What am I supposed to do? I had repeatedly told you to remind him (the man) to lift his spirits high and fight and never give up. You too did as told and carried out all the remedies I gave. But that soul asked me to take him back as he could not bring himself to see his family continue to suffer further in taking care of him. You are asking me to keep him alive while he has given up on life and decided that he wanted to leave. Tell me now to whom shall I listen to?" The couple understood the deep message that Agathiyar put forth for their understanding, bringing clarity to the whole episode. The relatives though were only seeing the physical and material Agathiyar saw the soul. 

Ram Dass in "Paths to God", Harmony Books, 2004, tells us another similar story. A woman whose son was bitten by a cobra begged Shirdi Sai to give some sacred ash to save him. Sai did not. When a devotee begged him on her behalf, Sai replied "Don't get involved in this. Her son's soul has already entered another body in which he can do especially good work, work that he could not do in this one. If I draw him back into this body the new one he has entered will have to die in order for this one to live. I might do it for your sake but have you considered the consequences. Have you any idea of the responsibility and are you prepared to assume it." The devotee was only seeing the mother's grief. Sai saw a bigger picture.

Ruzbeh N. Bharucha in his blog and writings at https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/the-master-s-grace reveals,

Yes, the laws of karma are rigid and the cards are dealt without emotion. What one has sowed, one shall reap. The experience shall be gone through. There is no escaping this fact. And yet throughout the ages, through time, Sages, mystics, Sufis, the Holy Scriptures, all proclaim that The Master is Merciful. On one hand we have the unyielding laws of cause and effect. On the other hand we have the mercy and tenderness of The Master.

When a devotee stood before Bhogar enquiring about her sibling, Bhogar came on sternly telling her that he shall not lift even a finger in bringing him out of his sufferings. He has to go through it. Bhogar though assured her that he shall be safe. On the other hand, Agathiyar manipulated the fate of a newborn fated to take another birth elsewhere just for the sake of his devotee. Even as Goddess Ma came to remind Agathiyar of the consequences of their action and reconfirm his instruction, Agathiyar told her to go ahead. The child was saved. 

Ruzbeh Bharucha in channeling Baba Sai's energy says, "Give your divine best to each moment and then leave the rest joyously to one’s Goddess, God, Guru. But most importantly He wants each one of us to give each moment our very best and then leave the rest to one’s karmic blueprint and the grace and wisdom of one’s Master. 

Author Balakumaran in his "Guru Vazhi", Visa Publications, 2005, mentions an episode that happened in the presence of Yogi Ramsuratkumar. Seeing a man and woman holding a child and waiting in line in the hot sun to have a darshan of the Yogi, Balakumaran pitying them, whispered to the Yogi asking him to see them first. The Yogi ignored him and went on talking with his devotees. Balakumaran asked again. The Yogi ignored him again. After Balakumaran asked repeatedly, finally the Yogi asked him, "Is it disturbing you?" "Ask them to come", he said. Balakumaran invited them in cutting the queue. The couple came up and sat before the Yogi. They asked for something to which the Yogi replied "My father will grant" and went on talking to others. After 15 minutes, Balakumaran motioned them to leave so that others could meet the Yogi too. But the couple refused to move and replied arrogantly, "Let the Yogi say." After a while, Balakumaran again requested them to leave but they told him to mind his business. Sensing the tense situation the Yogi demanded that they leave. They left abruptly, without even showing respect to the Yogi. The Yogi turned to Balakumaran and told him, "This is my place and I know who to let in." Balakumaran only saw the couple's discomfort. The Yogi saw a bigger picture. We can never foresee what is to take place. Our judgment often fails us. The divine knows best. 

So too did Bhogar teach me a few lessons when he orchestrated a drama or lila to have me learn lessons from it. While he treated a couple's two-year-old child he told the mother of the child to go for Kerala treatment that would ease her bodily discomfort. He also told them that I knew the center. It reached my mind then that he was referring to the Ayurvedic treatment that a fellow devotee had taken for his pain in his shoulder after having a fall. Taking the cue and since the treatment came highly recommended from a Siddha, I booked an appointment to have my wife see the physician for her frozen shoulder. As I dropped her off to find a parking space, the devotee to whom Bhogar addressed and who had tailed us to make an appointment pointed out to another center along the same street that carried the same treatment. I went in to verify with whom I had made the appointment. The lady at the counter acknowledged that the appointment was with them and that I needed to bring my wife over as they were waiting to treat her. Walking over to the other center, I found my wife engaged in consultation with the in-house physician. Seeing me enter the ladies at the counter surprisingly invited me to join my wife. I stopped to tell them that I had made an appointment with the other, they answered that it was all right to see the physician here. As we were about to sign up for a 7-day scheduled treatment I received a call from the center telling me that they were waiting for us. I told them that I was already in consultation with their physician. But the lady behind the phone insisted that I turn up at the other center. Dazed I told the physician that we need to sort this matter out and enquired if both the centers came under the same umbrella and management. They replied telling me that it was an annexed building as the main center could not cope with the crowd. I told them that I shall see what the other side has to say as they were very persistent that I came over. 

Going over to the main center, the lady at the counter invited my wife in for her treatment. I asked her what treatment she was going to give when the report from the physician had not arrived in her hands. The physician had told us that as they had to prepare the ingredients for her treatment it will take some time for them to reach back to us with the schedule for her treatment. The lady kept asking us to come in for the treatment. Finally, she told me to drop the earlier diagnosis and see her physician. Since I could not make head nor tail about the whole episode I chose to go with the flow. The physician we saw suggested yet another approach and treatment differing from the earlier and told us that they shall get back to us regarding the schedule for the suggested 7-day treatment. I understood that there was not to be any form of treatment that day but only consultation from both the physicians. As we came out the lady at the counter who we came to know later, was a masseuse too, insisted that my wife walk in for the treatment! After an hour and a half of jostling around between the centers and another hour and a half of treatment that surprised us as both physicians told us that the treatment was not to start until sometime in the first week of April, my wife walked out refreshed and smiling. As for the devotee who was shown the center by Bhogar she signed up for the 7-day treatment and had to wait for the center to schedule the start of her treatment.

Receiving our schedule by Whatsapp later we did not make any changes to the timings as they had tried to accommodate the times we had asked for. But as it came to our attention that my daughter had to see the eye specialist and undergo several procedures I called the center up to postpone the treatment until we settled our daughter's case. Since another devotee who took up the cue from Bhogar too, was told that the slots for women were taken up I proposed to the center that they switch my wife slots with the devotee's mother. But there was hesitation on their part and they were giving reasons that it cannot be done. The one on the phone identified himself as a physician when I told him not to complicate matters and to refer to the physician. In fact, I was assisting them in bringing a client. But there obviously was a stumbling block there. Then I told him the reason we came over was that Bhogar had recommended us to them. He seemed ignorant of the Siddha. He knew Dhanvantri though. When I asked him if he knew Agathiyar, he told me that, "That is Siddha practice and we are different." I told him that since he viewed them as different I shall not go ahead with the treatment for my wife. 

The devotee who was shown to the place and signed for the 7-day program stopped going after the sixth session as she felt no improvement in her condition. As we sat together to go through the series of unfortunate events and wondering why Bhogar had shown us there in the first place, and whether it was the right place that we went to, as all things turned topsy-turvy and did not make any sense in the end, Agathiyar in the midst of our discussion arrived and invited Bhogar to explain and to clarify to us. Bhogar told us the following. In addressing my doubt, he said, 

"Man has 5 bodies or sheaths. The place you went to was right. Our "subordinates" did the treatment. Your wife was to receive the treatment only once. (Hence the reason we stopped going further). In Siddha there are variations. That is how the practitioners view it and see it. I sent you there so that you could come to see that these differences existed among the practitioners. You have learned well. You have been enlightened (on this matter)."

Then he turned to the devotee, 

"I sent you over because of issues in your body. The (hot) water that was used (for treatment) carried medicinal properties. It shall penetrate your physical body and go within and cleansed all the associated bodies too. You shall not see immediate results in this treatment that we (their subordinates) carried out. Please be patient. I shall come and deliver unto you what is required from time to time. You shall be relieved of your pain. Trust us." 

Bhogar then gave us all a general reminder.

"Each time you approach a treatment you need to have faith in it that it shall heal you. Otherwise, the treatment would not be effective nor shall you see the desired results. Even your slightest suspicion shall reverse the results. Do not be confused."

மனிதனுக்கு 5 உடல் உண்டு. சென்ற இடம் சரி. உங்களுக்குச் சிகிச்சை அளிக்கும்பொழுது எங்களின் நவ கன்னிகள் மட்டுமே வந்து செய்தார்கள். ஷண்முகனை நான் அங்கு அனுப்பியது ஒருமுறைக்கு மட்டுமே. ஆம் சித்தத்திலும் வேற்றுமை உண்டு. அதை அவர்கள் காண்பதுண்டு. அதை நீ அறிவதற்காகவே யாம் உன்னை அங்கு அனுப்பினோம். அதையும் நீ சரிவரக் கற்றுக்கொண்டாய். உனக்குத் தெளிவு கூடியது. 

மகளே உன்னை உன் உடல் பொருத்து உன்னை அனுப்பிவைத்தோம். அந்நீரில் மூலிகைகள் கலந்து உள்ளன. அது உன் உடலைத் துளைத்து கொண்டு உட்சேன்று உன் தேகங்களை சுத்தம் செய்யும். எங்களது சிகிச்சைகுறித்த காலத்தில் உமக்கு எதுவும் பலன் அளிக்காது. பொறுத்து கோல். தக்க சமயம் யாம் வந்து உமக்குச் செய்ய வேண்டியதை செய்து கொண்டு இருப்போம். உனது வலி போகும். எங்களை மட்டும் நம்பு. 

எப்பொழுதும் ஒரு சிகிச்சையை அணுகும்பொழுது மனதில் உறுதி வேண்டும். அவை நமக்குக் குணம் அடையும் என்று. இல்லாவிடில் அவை பலன் அளிக்காது. உனது சிறிய சந்தேகம் கூட அப்பலனை தடுத்து விடும். குழப்பம் வேண்டாம். 

Bhogar brought clarity to the whole episode and put our doubts and questions to rest. As we stood at the threshold of the Siddha path sometime back Goddess Ma came to tell us that the Siddha path is one of learning from experience. How true her words have come to be.

TRYING TO VISUALIZE THE 5 KOSHAS

The Siddhas have given me another topic to dwell on now. Bhogar came to mention that we have 5 Koshas or sheaths and that treatment at times is meant for the more subtle bodies rather than what we presume is for the physical. In saying thus he clarified that the treatment in Ayurveda that he advised a devotee to undergo as such would not be seen as effective and rid her physical pain and agony immediately but the herbal treatment shall work within to clear her problem and bring relief to her in the long run. She had stopped short of a day and ended the treatment for she saw no positive results. A famous master who has since gone into self-exile wrote about the many forms of treatment and their effects on these various bodies. He lists that Allopathy is ideal and treats the physical or Annamaya Kosha, Homeopathy for the Manomaya Kosha, and Ayurveda for the Vijnanamaya Kosha. He adds that Pranayama aids the Pranayama Kosha, and Meditation the Anandamaya Kosha.

The subject surrounding the various bodies can be quite confusing and difficult to understand and comprehend as it was to me for apart from the physical, the rest of the bodies are not seen nor are they tangible. How do you explain something that is not visible to the eyes and cannot be touched? 

Sally Kempton has simplified it for commoners like you and me at https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/philosophy/getting-know/. For instance, in penning this blog and its posts I could reaffirm my earlier belief that right from the subject till the choice of words and sentence construction it all came from a mysterious source within that stood by me as I penned each post on this blog. The author and administrator of the blog Siththan Arul, Thiru Velayudham Karthikeyan Aiya shared with me that he always felt a divine presence beside him as he penned the post in the early hours of dawn each Thursday. The blog has since being continued by Thiru Krishnan who goes by the pen name Agnilingam. 

Reading Sally's piece "If you become engrossed in a project like writing, painting, math, or even problem-solving, you’re accessing the Wisdom Body or Vijnanamaya Kosha or Awareness Body" enlightens us further, making sense now of what I encountered in this brief moments of inspiration in writing the blog. I would have my phone beside me and take notes as soon as it comes and work on the full text later. Once the post is written and posted I would get up and walk over to Agathiyar and hug him each time for a well-written post that enlightened me too. In giving me a subject he drives me to research it. Reading it for my understanding is one thing. But to make it simplified for the readers, it requires his touch and his hand in jointly penning the page. 

Sally explains further with a couple of examples. "A composer I know often plays random sounds until his ordinary mind (Manomaya Kosha or Mental Body) steps back, making room for the wisdom body to “download” music that is genuinely creative and new." The famous music director AR Rahman is said to have acknowledged that "You just grasp a film and start working, and something unpredictable comes out from a third element." Sally adds, "Another friend tells me that when he’s stymied or stuck on a personal or professional problem, he’ll formulate a question about it, then sit for meditation. At some point, as his thinking mind gets quiet, wisdom will arise." I believe we have all gone through these moments too.

Now for the various other sheaths or Koshas. We know very well what the Annamaya Kosha or Physical Sheath or body is and can do. But after taking up Yoga we began to become more aware of it and found that our present knowledge of our own body that was with us all these years was indeed shallow. Acharya Gurudasan in his introduction to a piece he wrote on Kriya Hatha Yoga for Siddha Heartbeat in the past, mentions, "Kriya Yoga is a 5 phased integral approach to attain God-realization. Each of them addresses one or more of the Koshas. Koshas are the 5 sheaths or bodies of our existence." Yoga dwells into these secrets of the body. In those brief moments where we enter and maintain a pose, we become aware and interact and communicate with these bodies provided it is not done as a regime to be completed within a said period or centered on gaining benefits. If prior to Acharya Gurudasan leading us and showing us Kriya Hatha Yoga we had hurriedly worked through the phases of Yoga picked up from the books and later from Tavayogi, Acharya showed us to wind down as in Sally's words become "grounded and consciously inhabiting the physical body." We become aware of our internals too. When we slow down and move into these asanas or positions, all the thoughts and energy is diverted from the mental body to the physical. The body begins to heal from within. Pranayama techniques come to aid the healing by bringing in large doses of prana or energy from the cosmos within. Pranayama techniques bring vitality and energize further the Pranamaya Kosha or Vital Energy Sheath. With practice, we feel the prana inhaled or the resultant energy expand within to the extent that we fear the body shall blow up. But the feeling is good, and we are invigorated and ready to go. The feel-good factor that comes about for no reason, without the need for a spur or an external catalyst or an indulgence as in our favorite food or in watching a favorite movie or being with a favorite person, and as Sally describes "And on good days, there was some part deep within me that was happy, really happy, about nothing at all", this then is the Sheath of Bliss or Anandamaya Kosha. Ruzbeh N. Bharucha writes that "Our aim in yoga is to reach a connection with the Anandamaya Kosha - when we reach that inner place where everything is silent and calm, we have found our connection with Anandamaya." 

As Sally writes, "Once you become sensitive to the energy within and around you, you will start to recognize the vibrational signature that you and others leave in a room, or even on a piece of clothing", this is where we connect with the other subtle and divine energies too, as Agathiyar finally tells us that he stands as "a vibrational signature" too that is ever-existent in all of creation. Here we can relate to the efficacy of Mantras recited and etchings on Yantras, sand, soil, or anything else for that matter that leaves a signature in the vibrational realm, changing, modifying, strengthening, or weakening the ripples that are generated and flow. Healing the energy body either through a medium or through meditation opens up the closed chakras or energy centers moving the stagnated energies, clearing the blockages, and supercharging this Vital Energy Sheath to top form.

The Manomaya Kosha or Mental Body that is filled with so many thoughts can be subdued either by replacing a thousand thoughts with one single thought as Buddha taught or by observing the breath without active participation as Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal taught.

My cardiologist friend who receives messages from Krishnaveni Amma of Kalyana Theertam shared the following from her where we see another perspective, that of worship and devotion and the transition from Bakthi to Gnana with the use of these bodies.

That worship of the Supreme, done by this embodiment (the gross body), is Bhakthi Yoga. When sufficient, diligent progress is made on the Path, with the Grace and Blessings of the Masters, that worship turns inwards, towards the Source, the Self, it is the beginning of Gnana Yoga. As one goes further inward, the process of internalisation gets more intense. The embodiment ceases to be relevant to sadhana.

Such a time period is measured by Prana. The external breath is not material or relevant to sadhana, though it is required in the beginning. When Prana takes control, the mind starts to die. Pulsations of the Prana is the only determinant that can be gauged but not controlled. If your sadhana is good, then, you feel the beat of Prana. The best way to know your progress is to be aware that as you enter deeper into meditation, the body reduces, and ceases to breathe. Watch this.

The Annamaya Kosam exists merely as a shadow. The sadhana is continued by the Sukuma Sareera... a combination of Manomaya Kosam and Pranamaya Kosam (Astral Body). This retains the wisdom and karma of sadhana, transversing the many births the soul takes, until, one fine day, in the suitable birth, Gnana is given to the soul, by the Masters and Lord Shiva. Oneness becomes a reality. Though the soul retains its identity and performs gross deeds, with the instrument of the body, in addition to the subtle deeds performed, it is no more under the sway of Maya. (ஆணவமும் கன்மமும் உண்டு; மாயை இல்லை). The science and tantra of creation, sustenance, and dissolution becomes clear, as is the role played so far, and henceforth."

Swami Saravanananda in this book, an English translation of Ramalinga Adigal’s "Aruperunjhoti Agaval" published by Ramalinga Mission, Madras, writes of illumination that brings on transitions in one.

At whatever age the aspirant gains illumination or the effulgence enters in him or emanates from within, some remarkable changes take place in the body-frame. The Divine Light seems to change the very cell of the body, with the result, that they seem to function in the opposite direction. With the advent of psychic head, more and more changes take place in the already purified body. The cells and thence the whole body begins to transcend the limits imposed on them by impure Maya (the grosser principle of nature) and try to break one more of its veils. The cells undergo alternate condensation and expansion for an unspecified period and the body slowly emerges out of its bondage and begins to grow. This expanding and ever prospering body, is called the subtle body or the body of Omkar or Pranava Deham or body. Consequently, the old body becomes middle-aged, then to the youth of eighteen years, to twelve years (pure body), to eight years, and finally five years (Pranava Deham). After five years the body grows to the size of the universe to become casual body or a body of gnosis (Gnana Deham) which is the natural abode of the soul.

From an article on the net, we are told of the various Koshas or sheaths that cover our body, running parallel to the various Dehams or bodies described above. The author speaks of:

The inward journey beginning the very moment he becomes aware of the divine presence working through him. He then surrenders to the will of God, hence surrendering the sheath of his intellect or Vijnanamaya Kosha. When the transformation from the influence of the mind-stuff begins moving towards the full surrender to the divine, the individual has begun to be liberated, becoming literally a beacon of bliss-light. As the divine attributes of the Atman or self that manifest in the very subtle Sheath of Bliss (Anandamaya Kosha) that surrounds the soul (Atman) come to be known, transforming the very subtle part of the being, he verily becomes a guide, a guru and a saint. When the transformation of that very subtle part of the being has been given fully to the divine, the individual becomes literally a beacon of bliss-light. Simply being in the presence of such a being is uplifting. Such an elevated individual is often acknowledged as a saint. Once aware of the divine presence, "he has already begun the transformational process and surrendered the sheath of the intellect (Vijnanamaya Kosha) where the analytical or intellectual component of the being is fully informed by the divine light attributes, accumulating experiences and knowledge enlightened by the higher deeper aspects of self. Such Sage has digested and integrated the informed divine light into the analytical aspects of the being. He moves from an ordinary man to become a saint. All his experiences and knowledge are then tailored to teach him the higher and deeper aspects of the self or Atman. The teachings that were focussed on gaining experience in life and knowledge for living in the physical world, shift to that of knowing the soul and one's true purpose and mission. He becomes well informed and knowledgeable not through the normal means of attaining them but is informed by the divine attributes within him. The divine attributes of the Atman or self manifest in the very subtle Sheath of Bliss or Anandamaya Kosha that surrounds the soul or Atman.

The article continues,

As the intellect undergoes this transformation, the mental sheath (Manomaya Kosha), associated with the senses, is similarly transformed. Of course, this individual is fully aware of the divine as the prime mover. Since the ego has been given to the divine, every action related to the senses is observed and understood to be none other than the indwelling God or goddess doing the experiencing and enjoying. Such a Buddha can enjoy all the senses without fear of confusion or being lost spiritually in them. For the great tantric who have attained to this state, conventional rules which guide and provide stability, safety, and structure are irrelevant.

As the divine light descends into the sheath of energy (Pranayama Kosha) the entity becomes a Siddha in the truest sense of the word. As defined in the Upanishads, a Siddha is one who has progressed from the exalted ‘state of freed while living’ (Jivanmukta) to ‘supremely free with full power over death’ (Paramukta). This state is referred to in Siddhantha literature as Soruba Mukti or Soruba Samadhi. This Paramukta will rarely retain the transformed physical frame and when so, remains as an avatar. 

MODERATION IS THE WAY

The movie Dhanusu Raasi Neyargale comes across with a wonderful message from a mother to her son. 

The son who believed and carried his grandpa's words telling him that his father died because he did not carry out the remedy meted out in astrology, later becomes obsessed with astrology, seeking it out to make the right decisions and for directions. His mother finally reveals to her son that his father did not die due to that reason but rather they did not have money for the treatment. If everybody saw his death as sudden, his father knew he was dying and could not do anything about it. When the son asks why she did not reveal this earlier she tells him that if he believed in astrology only he shall be harmed whereas if he had believed that the reason his father died was because of lack of money, he would have conned or harmed many in chasing after wealth. She finally adds "that believing astrology is not wrong, but believing only in astrology is a mistake."

And so too it is with the Nadi. Many cannot seem to break away from their overindulgence and dependency on the Nadi even after coming to the path and worshiping the Siddhas for many long years on. I chose not to go back or be pulled into the discussion on Nadi and have refrained from promoting or recommending the Nadi to seekers. It is time we moved on. If I am to entertain the questions on Nadi I shall most definitely be tied down to the post and can never venture far into new pastures and territories. 

Overindulgence or extreme passion traps souls we are told in the Disney movie "Soul" where "the zone, a place that souls can enter when their passions create a euphoric trance, but which can also become a trap for obsessed lost souls" (https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Soul) exists. 

Moderation is the key. Buddha's middle way is the way. S.N.Kandaswamy writes in his book, "The Yoga of Siddha Avvai", Babaji's Kriya Yoga and Publications, Inc, 2004, that "It becomes apparent that the path of the Siddhas was deemed by Saint Tayumanavar to be the golden means between the two extremes of Saiva Siddhanta and Vedanta for the attainments and final liberation." He adds that "The Siddhas reconciled the apparent contradictions arising out of Jnana Kanda and Karma Kanda on the one hand, Vedanta and Siddhanta on the other." 

True to the saying that when we close a door another opens, the Siddhas have turned to another means or medium to communicate their thoughts. Bhogar came to clear the air today on the mystery behind my recent adventure with Ayurveda that I had covered in past posts. He told us that we had gone to the right place at the right time and that my wife was destined to receive treatment but only once. Hence, the reason for the cancellation of the scheduled 7-day continuation of the treatment. He told us that we are to expect variations in the treatment, although it was of the same practice. Hence, it is now understandable why there was a variation in the scope of treatment between the first physician and the second. As for those who are directed to a means of treatment by the Siddhas, Bhogar asked that we have faith in it and pursue it through although apparently, we do not see visible or obvious or drastic improvement or changes. No doubt should arise regarding the efficacy of the said treatment as at times the treatment is meant to treat the other bodies besides the physical body. Hence, the reason one does not see drastic change or relief in the physical body. 

WHEN DIVINITY COMES WITHIN 1

The migrant Indians having arrived from the Indian subcontinent during the colonial era, settled in numerous places in then Malaya, keeping within to their communities. They were mostly based in tea estates and rubber plantations. A few other communities like my fathers came over to do business. Each community built a temple or shrine in all the places they settled in and prayed to their ancestral deities that were exclusive to their clan and community then. The temples were run community-based and were frequented by the particular community with an occasional outsider dropping by. These communities each contributed to the upkeep of their temples. It was a continuation of their worship that began in India and came with them to the countries they settled in. There were temples built by individuals too and managed by their families. 

As the estates and plantations came to be bought over from the British by well-off individuals and became privately owned, the temples and the tradition continued to survive. But as these smallholders and their estates were taken over by larger corporations or taken over for the purpose of development and housing as in recent years, the workers were evacuated leaving the only place they knew that was home to them for generations. The temples were left standing though, welcoming the occasional devotee and the return of the workers and their families once a year to conduct its festivities. Nevertheless having moved out from the estates and plantations the tradition of erecting temples continued in their new places of residence. 

What was a gala-time full of festivities associated with the temple celebrations has dwindled down to a formal form of worship these days in the absence of the local devotees who stood as pillars of support to these temples. These days attending worship at the temple has become more of a formality made on particular days of the week and other auspicious days. It is seen as a requirement to substantiate our identity and faith. These days it is held that if we lose the temples we lose our identity. So too is the driven need to speak the mother tongue in current times less it is lost in time. 

So when Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal and Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar come to Malaysia and began to preach the Siddha way, they hinted at the need to move away from Bakthi or devotion and move to Gnanam, I told them that temples were an identity of our existence in a multiracial and multicultural society like ours. Take it away and we lose our identity. So when Mataji spoke to me yesterday about the wild elephants running on a rampage through her ashram grounds and surroundings knocking down walls and damaging the property and added that the wise men who frequented the ashram had advised her to install the statue of Lord Vinayagar who shall then supposedly ward off the elephants, she asked me for my opinion. She feared that it might offend Tavayogi who had solely preached and upheld the worship of Agathiyar in his times. I told her to go ahead and have Lord Vinayagar installed for many reasons. Besides the wading off of the aforementioned threat by the elephants, the general public is very much attached to temple worship and the worship of the deities. The Siddha way is alien and a mystery to many. But temple worship comes easy has it has been the norm to many for generations. Let them circumambulate Lord Vinayagar and go back in peace. Next, whenever the Siddhas begin to compose their songs they all start off with a prayer to Lord Vinayagar. Even the most radical and right-winged Siddha Sivavakiyar who opposes idol worship starts his song with a prayer to Lord Vinayagar. Agathiyar who is said to reside at the Adhi Kumbeshwar temple in Kumbakonam surprisingly is in the form of Lord Vinayagar. When I mistook the date of Lord Vinayagar's Chaturthi celebrations and arrived a day later to purchase the Arugampul garland to place and decorate Agathiyar as Lord Vinayagar during my puja at AVM, the florist pointed out to me that I had come a day late as the Chaturthi was observed and the festivities were done the night before. But since he had some Arugampul garlands left over, I purchased them and went ahead with my puja and worship to Lord Vinayagar that evening. A few days later Agathiyar called me for a Nadi reading. He lauded my move to worship him as Lord Vinayagar and told me that was the truth too. Lord Vinayagar or Ganapathy Dasan as Agathiyar addressed him, took a brief moment in the same Nadi to state his appreciation.

In the years before coming to the worship of Siddha my devotion was passive in nature. It revolved around daily worship at home and at the occasional worship at the temples in town. Worship at home was over in a jiffy, bringing the palms together to the chest and saying a prayer mostly for the self. Prayer was often self-centered then and mainly a must just before our examinations. Bribes, gifts, and prasad were offered to the deity in return for good marks. It just goes to show our innocence then. Although we were religious in a sense keeping abreast with the festivals that surround the deities and did observe them in our homes too, it did not touch the spirit then. It was void of the love or bond or closeness between the self and the deity. It was more cosmetic in nature, making us look good in society, giving the impression that we were god-fearing and devoted. Neither did we extend our arms to be of service, attending to the care and needs of the temple that was a part of Sariyai, that I came to know in recent years, as there were appointed committees to oversee the running of the temple and take care of its needs. I did know though, that my father was contributing monthly to the upkeep of a particular temple in our hometown as it was run and managed by his community. Then we had another old man stop by our house to collect donations to upkeep the running of another temple in town. 

As a young boy, I followed my friends to read the Thevaram under an elderly teacher from Ceylon. I frequented the Wat Phodhiyaram Thai Buddhist Temple that was next door each Sunday to listen to the many stories told of the Buddha and have a free meal. I took a Bible correspondence course from a Church based in Singapore to know about Christianity. A love to know the divine blossomed within. This love was shown where as a child I painted a most famous scene depicting Saint Avvai's encounter with Lord Murugan on the wall of my home. 

Avvaiyar, believing she had achieved everything that is to be achieved, was pondering her retirement from Tamil literary work while resting under a Naaval tree. She was then met by a disguised Murugan, who jousted with her wittily. He later revealed himself and made her realise that there was still a lot more to be done and learned. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avvaiyar)

Later in my teens, I would be invited to paint murals of Hindu Gods and Goddesses at the temples my brother-in-law help build wherever he was stationed, for the manual group from his public works department. When he helped build the temples in Simpang Empat, Semanggol, and Menglembu, Ipoh, he roped me in to paint its walls. After watching the movie on Sri Raghavendra he became an instant devotee of the saint and today runs the Jegathguru Sri Raghavendra Miruthiga Brindavanam Kinta, Ipoh. 

During my college days, a gardener of Pakistan origin at the polytechnic I studied in, and who accompanied me on the hour-long bus drive into town each morning would share his blissful state in following his faith. Ending my college life and taking up a job saw me frequenting the temples in the coastal town of Lumut that I worked in. As I had much time on hand after office hours, I took up reading about religion and took to worship of the deities in my bachelor home. I got hooked and addicted to worship as I woke up at dawn to perform a simple puja learned from books. I would prepare the night before picking flowers in the garden for the early morning prayers. I did the same in the evenings too without fail. I had senior consultants in the engineering firm like Sethumathavan, Sivaraman, and Kandaih who were a constant inspiration to me with their sharing of views on religion besides their sharing of their vast experiences in engineering.

Then beginning in 1988 till 2001, there was a gap or void in my life where all worship, reading, discussions on religion came to a complete halt. All that was learned and practiced was put aside. It was just work and family. The equation that God was all-merciful, full of compassion, and kind did not balance in real life. Not that I was a victim of injustice but my friends and their families were really put to the test. I guess God thought that I needed a break or I shall harm myself. Hence he came in a dream and asked me to set my questions aside and for a later date. That later date came some 13 years later.

The years 2001 till now saw me turn to the path of the Siddhas after heeding Agathiyar's call, his second, through the Nadi in 2002. A year earlier he had come cloth in mystery and disguised calling me to take on the Vasudeva mantra and chant it. I did as told without questioning. The ride of a lifetime began. It has been an interesting journey of on-hands learning and experience as opposed to the years of reading and talking about religion. The Siddha path is not for the weak at heart I soon came to learn from the experiences shared and as seen in the life of my gurus Supramania Swami and Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal. The third calling came through Agathiyar and Tavayogi, inviting me over to his ashram to witness the many activities he had laid out for the benefit of seekers and the general public. I took up the call and a bonus was thrown in where Tavayogi personally took me on a pilgrimage of Siddha sites and together with the grandmaster Agathiyar showed me numerous miracles. 

With the coming of the guru in physical form, we engaged in rigorous and lengthy rituals at his ashram, in our homes, and at the temples that were Siddha friendly. Soon that was reduced to minutes and came to a halt bringing us to remain silent and go within. The Yoga practices that I picked up from the books in my early years of the search were strengthened by Tavayogi and Acharya Gurudasan. 

The Siddhas break our ego, giving us blows not to hurt or injure us but to wake us up from our dreams. In wanting to thank Tavayogi for stepping into my home, though I got a scolding when he told me, "You are living in Maya. I am a nobody. Hold on to the energy that resides both in you and me. I call it Agathiyan", I got enlightened eventually to see through and beyond the veil that shrouded my sight and vision. I saw the truth that lay beyond all the glamour and limelight that enveloped and surrounded Godmen. In asking for a blessing from Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar, though I felt rejected and came away in disappointment when he told me "To step into Ongakarakudil was itself a blessing", I was enlightened eventually to realize the power, spirit, and nature of his Ashram which was a true dwelling of the Siddhas. Agathiyar made me realize that I needed to become a proper vessel first to receive their blessings and teachings. 

The Siddhas break our hold and attachment on all things be it in the material world or the spiritual too. And so he ended the years of our attachment to the small humble group that we went by the name Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia, that was conferred the name Agathiyar Tapovanam Malaysia by Lord Murugan and later took on the name Gnana Kottam. 

Taking on the blows, if we stay long enough on the path they shall give us all the necessary experiences that shall make us shed the veil that we have falsely covered ourselves with; the veil that is forcefully placed over us; and the veil that surrounds us and suffocates us.

The priestly clan is seen to pass on their sole means of livelihood that revolved around conducting rituals at temples to their children as do many others from other professions train their children to continue their profession. If in the traditional art forms or businesses, the parents seek to see their children pursue and continue the tradition or see their wishes come true in engaging a study and a career or take over their businesses and take the trouble to educate and pass on their horned skills to their children, should not we see to it that apart from the material gains that came with a good education, job or business, the inborn spark, and spirit in our children is fanned up by personally tutoring our children and grandchildren in religious and spiritual matters? 

I sat with my family to watch Disney's animated movie "Soul" last night. What a marvelous depiction of two souls getting to know the difference between one's purpose in life and finding the spark in life. I could relate the movie to what we have gone through. In giving us the 5 tenets in life at the Tamil Sangam of years gone by, Agathiyar clearly listed the five purposes for which each human is born. This was only made known to us recently through Vashisht Vaid blog at https://holysageagathiyar.com/ and only after we had physically fulfilled them. In having fulfilled the call of the purpose in taking birth, Agathiyar then comes a-calling again, the fourth time, knocking on our individual doors now, bringing us to find the spark in each individual's life. As we are told in the movie fulfilling dreams and desires does not change life significantly; and that it is the experience that gives us the spark, Agathiyar exposed us to a flood of experiences, physical, emotional and subtle in nature. At times it was personal experiences. At other times it was retold by others who went through it.

Recently it did dawn on me as to who is going to guide our children and grandchildren who were a gift from the Siddhas, on the path of the Siddhas, as we had been instructed to refrain from all forms of rituals and charity and go within. Agathiyar told us that others will take over from where we left in both sectors. Come September 2021 it will be two years since we abstained from rituals and charity keeping to his word. I want these children to cherish the blissful moments that we had in invoking, and singing the praises to the Lord and the Siddhas. We cannot possibly send them to another, though in the path of the Siddha, to groom them for there are too many variations and a vast difference to their approach, ideology, etc amidst them. These children will return confused. We had come a long way in bringing drastic changes to the mindset and practice of Siddha Neri as vouched by Lord Murugan. Our next ideal would be to bring the divinity within us. We have managed to bring the Siddhas to reside in our minds, hearts, and our homes where they have taken residence permanently with constant puja, rituals, recitation, and chanting. We are currently engaged in connecting with and bringing the divine energy from the Prapanjam or cosmos within too with the blessings and guidance of the Siddhas. This is the spark that we have to sow and nurture in our children and grandchildren. We have to prepare the field and provide a conducive surrounding for the seed to germinate and grow into Siddhas. The stage shall then be set for them for similar divine experiences to create the spark of divinity within them too. When divinity comes within man becomes a saint. Just as the Siddhas always come and ask us to kindle the physical flame that we light in our homes to burn brightly, they come within to fan the flame that burns within to burn brightly with the aid of our breath enhanced by the breathing techniques that they show us. 

Just as Joe Gardner brings hope to an otherwise "soul 22 who feels hopeless and broken about her purpose, and Joe rides with her as far as he can as 22 finally enters Earth," (https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Soul) we are dutifully bound and have a responsibility towards these souls who the Siddhas chose to send to us as children and grandchildren to be tutored and nurtured in the way of the Siddhas. We cannot possibly let them struggle given the myriad of options and distractions out there. Hence I mooted the idea of reviving Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) recently to Mahindren for the sake of these children who are growing up fast and furious. He volunteered to spearhead the movement. Once the pandemic comes to settle we shall see a gathering of children singing the praises of the Siddhas as did the youths come together in 2013. This time around the gatherings will be entirely for the children and focus on their spiritual development. May Agathiyar bless all our endeavors.

THE WAKE-UP CALL

Man who is known to debate endlessly over every single thing retards his progress by doing so. I have seen devotees of Agathiyar in my days of seeking, debate at length as to which is right or wrong, dissecting and analyzing the factors thoroughly even before they embark on the journey. Some others need assurances before starting the journey. Many want to know the results to be expected and the fruits of their action first. They fail to realize that whichever way they choose it will enrich their experience, and they become wiser. They fail to realize that life becomes a teacher, teaching them through experiences. 

When people sit back and argue as to which syllable or word to use or recite as in namah, or namaha, or as in namah or swaha while reciting and chanting mantras; as to the right way or intonation in reciting or pronouncing a particular mantra; and as to which variant of the mantra is right, the good student takes hold of whichever tool given and makes quick and fast progress walking ahead of others leaving them to debate. He walks away from the debate leaving it to come to a closure which often it never does. Rather than engaging in fruitless debates and wasting precious time, he covers much ground meantime.

Similarly, I had received an e-mail from someone who wanted to know why the Agathiyar mantra I had received from Tavayogi which I had mentioned in one of my e-books was different from the one he had received from a Siddha elsewhere. Another devotee who like me had received a similar mantra from Agathiyar through the Nadi but with a slight variation was obviously disturbed and had my nephew call me up to inquire why there was a variation in the mantra and which he was to follow.

A story is told of the arrogant young monk who decided to apprehend an old man for reciting a mantra "wrongly".

A young monk after years of tutelage under his master finally was told by his master that he needed to leave the monastery to get to see the rest of the world. He was instructed to preach the teachings he had acquired at the monastery. The monk left the monastery that was his turf for years and came down the mountain. Upon reaching the plains, the young monk came across an old man chanting on a riverbank. The old man was chanting the mantra that the monk had mastered at the monastery. But it seemed different - with a slight variation. So he apprehended the old man telling him that he was going about the wrong way of reciting the mantra and taught the old man how it should be recited. The old man listened attentively. The young monk was proud that he had passed on what he was taught and that he had found his first candidate to whom he had started to preach.

Now the young lad had to hire a boatman to take him across the river to the nearby village where he could continue preaching. About halfway through the journey across the river, the young monk noticed that the boatman had gone all pale and was looking over his (the monk) shoulder with his mouth wide open. The young monk turned around. What he saw shocked him too. The old man whom he had met at the shores was now standing beside the boat - on the surface of the water! The old man whispered to the lad that he had forgotten the mantra he was taught. He requested that the monk repeat it. The young monk who was pretty shaken up, held the old man’s hand and asked for forgiveness for underestimating the power of his practice. He asked that he pardon him for being egoistic and arrogant and begged to be taken in as his disciple and be allowed to follow him back. 

Due to individuals feeling of insecurity, man has schemed and manipulated fellow men throughout the ages. Even in religious and spiritual circles, he has been made to depend on others for his spiritual-religious needs. Just as parents wrongfully use the fear factor to discipline their children to keep them under control some individuals, and religious and spiritual institutions instill fear in devotees to gain control and their respect. It is time we took charge of our lives and take another look at our relationship with God.

MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE PRAPANJAM

Tavayogi instructed me to carry out the homam or a smaller version of the Yagam or Yagna in my home after I came to know him. I did but reluctantly. I was not captivated by rituals. But he urged me on telling me it was a simple affair and guided me as to what was required and how to go about it, all over the phone. When he visited Malaysia later he introduced more things and procedures into the ritual as I watched and learned from him. He too had started lighting the Yagam at his ashram grounds after the 2004 Tzunami hit parts of the world and devastated towns, destroyed property, and swept away lives. Prior to that horrific event and rage of Mother nature, he carried out the yagam but it was to honor the birth and guru puja of Agathiyar. Soon he introduced the Sarva Dosa Nivaarana Maha Yagam that accommodated prayers to heal the sick and rid the sins of devotees too. By being present at the ritual and by inhaling the smoke that emitted as a result of the herbs and medicinal plants offered into the sacrificial fire it was believed that the health of those who attended would improve. He initiated the move to let devotees sit at individual small Yagam pits that were prebooked for a small contribution and light their own fire as Tavayogi sang and lead the prayers. But due to lack of manpower to supervise and guide these devotees he discontinued it in subsequent years but retained the main Yagam pit that he presided over. The Siddhas were said to come down from their abodes and witness and bless the event. So did I light up the sacrificial fire concurrently with the rituals at Kallar Ashram. Many gathered at AVM while some made the journey to Kallar to participate. Agathiyar mentioned in the Nadi that the Siddhas did come down at both places.

Seeing that I was reluctant and wasn't fully convinced of the efficacy of the ritual, Agathiyar came in the Nadi and told me that I wasn't doing it for myself and my family but for the well being of all that existed in the Prapanjam or all of the manifestation of the cosmos, universe, etc. Only then I realized the magnanimity of the ritual and the great responsibility that was given to me and my family and the few who gathered at my home. We took up the task with dedication, and did the ritual regularly, on Thursday, Full moon and New moon days, and other auspicious days. The heat built up in us too as the fire was fed with ghee and other herbs and medicinal plants. Other devotees joined us and gathered together to carry out the rituals that soon found their way to selected temples that accepted Siddha worship. It brought on a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment knowing that we were doing a small part to give back to the cosmos. 

Although we are told in the many texts that the fire in the sacrificial pit receives and delivers our offerings to the deities in their realms, we never peered into the everchanging form of the fire to identify deities. We took it as an honor in being given an opportunity to honor prapanjam instead as Tavayogi and Agathiyar intended. We knew that our small effort would go a long way to heal and protect it.

This ritual was carried out through the years, beginning with our meeting with Tavayogi and getting initiated officially into the Siddha path in 2005, through to late 2019 when Agathiyar brought it all to a halt, asking us to drop it and move on into the many aspects of Yoga. Sariyai and Kriyai were brought to a halt as we embarked on Yogam and Gnanam. Surprisingly even the many programs of charity charted and carried out were brought to a halt as we stepped into going within. The pandemic and the lockdown that came into place ensured that we adhered to this. Hardly did we step outdoors except to purchase the essentials. 

Although we were rather unclear initially about Agathiyar's move in the closure and dissolving of the groups that came soon after, eventually he disclosed the motive of his move. He had come to tell us that henceforth it was a lone journey. We too figured his move and what he was up to subsequently. We learned that he was breaking our attachment to it all. We had grown fond of the group and the family. We had grown fond of the Satsang. We had grown fond of the rituals and puja. But if he allowed us to be, we would still be engaged in what we started doing in 2013. We understood that he meant well in dissolving all that was painstakingly put in place and organized, just as the Buddhis monks after painstakingly sitting together to create the Mandala destroy it after a small prayer. It was to drive the point that nothing was permanent in this world. 

Another reason I guess is that we had contributed enough to the Prapanjam. Now it was time to receive from it. The immense power of prayers, puja, and rituals was seen and experienced by all those who gathered, as it helped bridged both worlds, the Siddhas and ours. The Siddhas crossed over and came to bless and guide us, dropping the need to seek their blessings and messages conveyed through the medium of the Nadi anymore. Now they found another means and another medium to communicate and touch us personally through selected devotees. Soon they came to assist and show us the way to connect and tap into the cosmos. It came in torrents as in a torrential pour, unassisted and by their grace. The floodwaters were let out. The dam was opened. They helped bring the cosmic energy within us and showed us numerous practices to enhance the flow and retain the energy within. Amazingly when I was with Siddha physician Arivananthan he had shown us to stand on tip-toes and raise our hands to stretch and reach for the sky while at the same time planting both the feet firmly into the ground. But he told us it was a means to strengthen the nerves and keep the body fit. Similarly, though we could feel the prana surge within us as we practiced further, we never knew that the yoga practices Tavayogi showed us and that we adopted helped bring the prapanjam within until Ramalinga Adigal initiated us into it.

While the Yoga practices cleared the path of the nerves removing deadlocks and blockages and revived the chakras to perform optimum, the Prapanjam came within and energized the elements within the body. Just as Agathiyar had reminded us that we were not doing the homam for our sake but that for the wellness of the Prapanjam and all in it, the Siddhas, in return, helped bring the goodness of the Prapanjam to us. The fort that is the body or Kaya Puri was hence strengthened as the Prapanjam was brought within. The various bodies in turn were strengthened and energized too, the energy spreading out through the layers and beyond coming in contact with all those within reach and receptive to it.

As the saying goes a good deed deserves another, the task given to us that was done unselfishly and without questioning the fruits of our action or desiring rewards for carrying it out saw the Prapanjam return the favor in our deepest hours of need. Lord Dhanvanthri came and told my daughter that the Prapanjam shall heal her eyesight and that he shall heal her with his energy too. True to what he said, the doctors today certified that she was recovering well after her operation. The doctors and their deep knowledges were the tools and the method to perform the procedure and their effort end there. The healing has to take place from within often assisted and aided with continued monitoring and care, and with medicines and technology. The Prapanjam comes to take over and continues from where the doctors left. 

Today we fully understand the reason the Siddhas took to performing the Yagam. Besides amplifying its strength through the chantings that accompany the ritual, the very structure of the Prapanjam is preserved and strengthened to serve God's play or Lila. As the water evaporates and rises to form clouds by the heat generated by the Sun, smoke, and mantras from the Yagam pit reach out to the sky forming and becoming cloud storage from whence files could be downloaded when and as required to save a soul, to heal another, etc. As the saying goes "You reap what you sow", the merits and good deeds done for the continued sustenance of the Prapanjam return to us enriching our lives. Please do take up the practice of performing Homam in your homes. 

EVOLVING WITH THE SIDDHAS

Gandhi in writing about his acquaintance with religions writes in his autobiography that he came to know two theosophists who invited him to read the Gita together. A verse from Sir Edwin Arnold's translation of the Gita made a deep impression on him.

If one ponders on objects of the sense
there springs attraction
from attraction grows desire
desire flames to fierce passion
passion breeds recklessness
then the memory - all betrayed - lets noble purpose go
and saps the mind
till purpose, mind, and man are all undone.

In writing about passion that goes astray, he believes in the efficacy of prayers to cleanse the heart of passions.

"Supplication, worship, prayer are no superstition; they are acts more real than the acts of eating, drinking, sitting, or walking. It is no exaggeration to say that they alone are real all else is unreal. I have not the slightest doubt that prayer is an unfailing means of cleansing the heart of passions. But it must be combined with the utmost humility."

Gandhi writes "If an unbeliever he will attribute his safety to chance. If a believer he will say God saved him." To be humble is to believe that there is someone above us moving the chess pieces.

He adds that "Knowledge of religion as distinguished from experience seems but chaff in such moments of trial. When every hope is gone, when helpers fail and comforts flee I find that help arrives somehow from I know not where."

Tavayogi told us that when he was traveling the length and breadth of India seeking answers, often going hungry, there was a moment when a couple turned up before him giving him a hot meal. On the last leg of his travels to Sathuragiri before he began to camp in its jungles for 8 years, an "old man" who came by gave him a bun that reviewed Tavayogi who was on the verge of collapsing out of extreme fatigue and pain in his chest as he marched into the forest. The blessings showered on my gurus sprinkled on me too as I was served hot food by good samaritans, devotees, and neighbors bringing the food to my doorsteps as I stayed alone and to myself and in the comfort of my home for the most part of the past year and a half. Their blessings trickled to my family too as help came to my daughter when a private doctor who discovered her eye disorder wrote us a referral letter to see the specialist in the government hospital. The specialist while she brought forward her operation on the eye with the problem to an earlier date, immediately called for her presumed good left eye that was discovered to be in need of treatment too to be attended to the same day. In a matter of days, she was attended to and discharged. As Gandhi says somehow help arrives, indeed it did.

We are indeed fortunate to have the Siddhas as our gurus. Coming through their medium of communication, the written word on treated and preserved palm leaves called Nadi or Olai, Agathiyar called me to his abodes led by Tavayogi. A brush of the wind, a scent or aroma that lingered in the air for a while, a coolness or chillness that ran through the back in the hot summer; these were the signs that he showed me. This was the modus operandi of the ever-elusive Siddhas. A wink or a stare in his granite statue at Agasthiyampalli was a much-awaited bonus as he had promised me in the Nadi. From the unseen, he then showed himself in the physical form as the guru. Soon he came in the statues or paintings opening his eyes to capture our attention that is forever fixed elsewhere, opening our eyes to the reality of his existence. 

Gandhi wrote on the guru.

"An imperfect teacher may be tolerable in mundane matters but not in spiritual matters. Only a perfect gnani deserves to be enthroned as guru." Such powerful words. The Siddha fits his description aptly. The word Siddha is defined as the "perfected one".

Siddha (Sanskrit: सिद्ध siddha; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished". It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual perfection or enlightenment. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/)

They make their presence seen, heard, sensed, felt, and known in various ways according to the extent of our involvement on the path and evolvement in our various bodies. To the beginner whose sight is laid on the external, they perform countless miracles. Bringing his attention now to the path, they come as a beacon of light or a lighthouse safely guiding him from harm's way and the rapids and rocks that lie submerged beyond his sight in deep troubled waters. Furthermore, they come as food for the elements within us to keep us alive. In event our body fails us they come as medicinal herbs and prasad or energized food offerings that work on the physical body or level. They come through medical doctors and medicines as lifesavers. They become his saviors or guardian angels.

To those who come under the tutorship of a guru in physical form, he is both master and guru. The guru lifts him from his practice of Sariyai and leads him through the other stages namely Kriyai, Yogam, and Gnanam. To those who begin to worship them within, they make their presence felt not seen. The momentary sense of extreme earth-shaking vibration that takes place under our feet; the bliss within oneself as their energy passes through momentarily and at times to stay to gesture or convey and say a few words to those gathered; are a couple of ways to realize their presence around us and within us respectively. If and when necessary the Siddhas' energy comes through a person or medium to heal as in healing the chakras in the energy body. Soon they come in others and speak too, the energy now verbalized. They make us aware of their energy that is ever prevalent and present in all of matter. They bring the prapanjam or cosmos to aid and heal us. They come as a receiving tower reaching out to the skies that taps the cosmic energy from the cosmos and turning into a transmitting tower that now passes on the energy onto others in need, hence bridging the two bodies - the energy and physical bodies. 

If we are told on the onset that God was in all things around us, we would neither accept nor would we recognize him and walk past him or through him. It is said that those who know the truth dread to step on the slopes of the holy hill of Arunachala for there are said to be sages in samadhi underneath. The saint Karaikal Ammaiyaar was said to have walked on her head to Lord Shiva's abode not wanting to tread the holy place with her feet. So did I find it difficult to digest it when Tavayogi pointed to the skies and told me the Siddhas showered flower petals on us as we made our way to their abodes in the jungles. I looked up towards the sky and saw nothing. The sky was not falling. I used to take deep breaths trying to inhale the smells and aromas that he pointed out to me that he said lingered in the air in these places. Of course, I could not possibly have seen and taken in the aroma. I had not even a fraction of Tavayogi's experience in the field. It was my maiden journey following my guru into the woods to discover the Siddhas. Try as he did to make me aware of their presence and gain the experience I failed badly in recognizing the traits of the ever-evasive Siddhas. When Tavayogi pointed out to me that Agathiyar was opening and closing his eyes in his granite statue at Agasthiyampalli and I was struggling to see the miracle, I sensed his disappointment as he let me inside the shrine again and have me sit closer to Agathiyar. Maybe he thought my glasses and poor sight were interfering with my vision of the miracle shown. But the most compassionate Agathiyar did not let me return to my homeland empty-handed. As I crossed my legs to sit on the floor, Tavayogi threw me his shawl and motioned me to spread in on the floor and sit. That was when I saw Agathiyar open an eye, his left in the granite statue of his installed by King Kuberan at the very start of Kali Yuga! 

And so it was that they placed a marker or stone at the spot wherever God materialized his energy form and was seen or felt or heard. These soon became shrines and temples and places of worship that showed the locals, God with form. Tavayogi too placed a statue at the spot in the jungles of Kallar where Agathiyar gave him darshan in the form of light, only to be removed later by the authorities. 

A friend lamented to me that some senior devotees whom he knew and who had come to the path some 30-40 years ago, had taken up the path of the Siddhas had come one cycle and were seeking the Nadi to solve their issues. They had started with the Nadi but after many years on the path seem not able to lose their dependency on it. Haven't the institutions they were aligned with and the gurus taught them to let go of the tools? Tavayogi often asked us, "Why do you need the Nadi (when Agathiyar was with you)?" The Nadi is sought to gain ground on the path. The Nadi is akin to the farmer irrigating and watering the field. Once we germinate we can safely let go of our dependence on it and take up the faith in Agathiyar as our roots grow deeper into the soil or Marga or path. Once we have covered sufficient ground and depth and come to know the Siddhas through the Nadi, we can drop our hold on it and engage in direct talk with them. But true to what he highlighted, they are still hooked to the medium, freezing in time.

We were fortunate to be shown the practice and the tools. We learned, gained the experience, and were willing to let it go only to pick the tools again if and when necessary. When we excel in a practice the guru weans us out of it bringing us to yet another practice. As Sadguru says the Siddha path is about sadhana, there is no end to sadhana in the Siddha tradition. Tavayogi even after living the life of a mendicant and attaining the state of a Tavayogi kept on practicing pranayama in the early morning hours. He would call for a puja or lighting the sacrificial Yagam when the need arises. If and when there is a necessity they take up the tools to implore Lord Siva or to show us the way, as Bhogar implored Siva while conducting libation or abhisegam, to open his door and let us in. Similarly, Goddess Ma showed us how to please Agathiyar and gain his blessings. Agathiyar told us that hearing our plea they had taken up the fire ritual or yagam to implore Siva to save Tavayogi's life the first time he was battling with life. Ramalinga Adigal out of compassion for us too was willing to come down from his stand on not indulging in the worship of lesser deities and those arts and practice related to them. Although it wasn't his turf yet he stepped out of his way to satisfy our pleas. But as we did not have the things he asked for on hand he referred the devotee to another deity.

I had stayed away from such worship that took place in my neighborhood as a child. I would see a goat slaughter from afar and the deities invoked. They were fierce and frightening, holding up whips and swords. But I would attend the feast that followed and would savor the goat that was sacrificed. As a student, I witnessed similar sessions of trance. To our surprise, the energy came on my brother but minus the sacrifice in the temple that my brother-in-law help built while stationed there to oversee the public works projects. The deities left my brother one day informing us that they shall not come through him henceforth. 

My first close encounter with Ma Kali was when my colleague invited me to his home and Kali manifested in someone. I was reluctant to meet her for fear of her but upon insistence, I stood before her. The moment she lifted her hand and placed it on my head I fainted not before I felt a surge of heat go through the crown of my head. 

When Agathiyar sent youngsters to AVM to learn puja or worship to the Siddhas, we witnessed the many manifestations of the deities in succession paying homage to Agathiyar. Contrary to what was potrayed on Tv, and media they were all gentle. We saw the other side of them. They did not acknowledge our presence, neither did they address us. They came to see Agathiyar and pay their respects to him. Soon they began to address our cause. Then the Siddhas stepped into our homes together with the divine. We never knew that what started as a small prayer to the Siddhas could go a long way in bringing divinity into our small homes. I guess the size of the home was insignificant to them. They only saw the size of our hearts. 

A BIG THANK YOU

With God's grace, the timely intervention of the Siddhas, the vast knowledge, and the numerous state-of-the-art medical technologies including diagnostic medical equipment, durable medical equipment, the countless treatment equipment, life support equipment, the medical laboratory equipment, etc made available to care for patients and the life-saving procedures conducted by the skilled hands of the medical team, and with your prayers, my daughter went through the procedure to correct her eye disorder successfully yesterday. Now she shall need time to recuperate. Thank you again.

She was the one who brought me to the Siddha path says Agathiyar in the Nadi. She would spearhead the bhajans we had at AVM whenever she was around. In a past birth my wife, me, and she were at Papanasam selling fruits at the temple grounds. She would offer fruits to Agathiyar in this temple. When she was down with the dengue fever Agathiyar in the Nadi told us that he had come to her with Tirumular to increase her white blood cell and platelet counts when she spent a night at the hospital.

While we were wondering what triggered her disorder, my cardiologist friend deduced correctly. He wrote to me,

I read your latest post. My prayers and best wishes to your daughter. It is rather unusual to have retinal detachment at an young age. At that age, it is usually associated with severe eye strain. Do have her thoroughly investigated. I am sure your doctors are going to do that.... just my concern.

She is a student in Bachelor of Social Sciences (Media Communications), a fusion of journalism, broadcasting, film studies, and media literacy. Her studies involved long hours before the computer. With the lockdown, there was even more exposure watching the screen as lessons were carried out online. My first guru Supramania Swami had predicted correctly that her eyesight would be affected as he looked into her horoscope the very first time I met him in 2003. As Tavayogi used to tell us obstacles and problems shall arise but with the blessings of the Siddhas, they give us the means and the ways and the strength to overcome them, we see the truth in his saying. But the timing could not be better, as she had completed her thesis and is now undergoing her internship in a company. She is required to produce promotional videos. All that has to come to a halt while she recovers. Ironically my elder daughter too met with a road accident and broke her leg while doing her internship. She too recovered with the grace of the divine. The four-month study she was offered by a university in South Korea as a part of an annual student exchange program between the two universities was postponed to her advantage. We dread to think about how and what she would have done if she discovered her eye disorder while there. 

She told me that she wants to write about her experience once she recovered fully just as her sister had written her experience on her blog. Her sister wrote a letter to a local daily too.

http://berrysweetprincess.blogspot.com/2011/04/caring-malaysians-kindness-helps-ease.html

http://berrysweetprincess.blogspot.com/2011/04/learning-to-walk-again.html

http://berrysweetprincess.blogspot.com/2011/04/autologous-conditioned-plasma-acp.html

http://berrysweetprincess.blogspot.com/2011/05/feelings-of-discomfort.html

http://berrysweetprincess.blogspot.com/2011/10/year-went-by.html

We cannot put in words our gratitude to the divine for looking over our shoulders at all times. Thank you, dear Lord.

WORKING TOWARDS THE IDEAL

Let it happen and I shall believe says the man. Belief and it shall happen say the Siddhas. Man needs a miracle to convince him. The Siddhas ask us to believe in miracles and it shall materialize. The Siddhas do not perform miracles for show. Instead, deep faith brings forth miracles. The divide between God and man is broken with the coming of the Siddhas. They are the hand that raises us and prepares us to meet God. They bring God down to us. Their concern is for humanity to discover God. Hence they come as angels, guides, and gurus. They stand like beacons, lighthouses, libraries, and a place to turn to when all hell breaks loose. They come to support, give a shoulder, take on our pain, lift our burden off our shoulders and relieve us of its weight. Even before we come face to face with impending danger the Siddhas wait ahead of us ready to assist, save, comfort, and bring relieve us. Traveling their path and as they come down from their heavenly residence to join a sinner like us on our journey, the path of thorns disappears, and in its place roses bloom. These are words from someone who has seen their magical touch in every moment of his life. 

And so it hurts when those who had been in the Siddha path for years turn against them to scorn and blame the Siddhas for their losses, failures, and suffering. The irony is that breaking their ties with the Siddhas, wondering in search of other paths and what it has to offer, they come back and knock on the door again. Those who have vouched their lives for the cause sadly are the ones to leave first. But the Siddhas are not the least disturbed for they know far too well that they shall come back one day. I guess Agathiyar is showing and teaching us a lesson by orchestrating all these happenings before our eyes.

There is always a lesson to be learned behind every encounter. If it is hurtful we are reminded not to repeat them. If it hurts to see another fall and hurt himself, we are reminded not to follow suit. 

I use to wonder why should these great beings who are at par with God come to us meager humans who have so many flaws in us? Was it to give us riches that are perishable in a split of a second? What is their message for humans? 

Trying to figure out our purpose in life on earth, we moved from one goal to another, realizing that that was not IT as we saw them brush each goal of ours aside. Finally, they revealed from within that to join their institution or assemblage is THE goal that we should strive for.

Along the way, we engaged in puja, what was solely done for the self and family, expanding to cover the wellness of all and for the good of prapanjam or the universe. In engaging in rituals too, we were in actuality praying for all the contributors whose produce came to be used in the sacrificial fire that reaches out bringing these offerings to the deities. We engaged in charity feeding the hungry and stocking their homes with sufficient groceries to sustain them for a period. In savoring good food we never failed to think of others who missed the meals that we enjoyed hence bringing the essence to them through our thoughts. Showing us the way to keep fit, they shared the ancient art of Yoga and correct diet and living. This soon expanded to others as it was passed on to them too. With the little understanding we had, partaking a drop from the vast ocean of divine knowledge that they sat upon, we shared them too to those keen to know, not wanting to dump this precious knowledge to those who window shop.

The Siddha institution or assemblage that has a large following however speaks about a small number of sages, Siddhas, rishis, munis, and saints. Why only some came into the limelight? For instance, while Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar lists the names of 131 Siddhas in his Siddhargal Potri Thoguppu, and Tavayogi lists out 207, it is common to mention only 18 Siddhas. My wife gave me the answer. She told me although there are many only a certain number will be shown to the outside. Many will not be shown to the public.

Becoming at par with them, as fellow Siddhas was their ideal dream for us too. Of course, this is only possible for those who equally cherish this dream too. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. One needs to have vairagya or determination. Otherwise, he needs to have self-discipline or be prepared to be disciplined. They then move us towards achieving it. Having either or both never then is a day where they let their guards down and let go of the noose, letting us loose. They watch over us, groom us, mold us, nurture us to shine just like them. All it takes on our part is a little bit of commitment to their cause. Soon their cause becomes ours too. We sail together bringing down barriers and erecting monuments that tell a tale to those yet to follow.

Let us not rest on our laurels, fame, and fortune but instead turn our sights on the ideals of the Siddhas. Let us strive to become Siddhas too.