Malaysia is a nation where all nationalities have come together in the past. Some came bringing maritime trade, others came to start small businesses that they had been carrying out in their native country, and many were brought as labor to man the many estates and tea plantations. Others came to take on jobs made available by the British colonization of Malaya then. (British acquisition of Penang, Melaka, and Singapore - the Straits Settlements from 1786 to 1824 started a steady inflow of Indian labor. The Sikhs mainly worked in the police force, while other northern Indians were involved in the business. The Malayalees, Ceylonese, and Christian Tamils may be involved in government and private white-collar work, the Chettiar in money-lending or finance, while the Vellalar and Muslim Tamils may be in various kinds of businesses - https://en.wikipedia.org/)
Today Malaysia has become a potpourri of culture, customs, religion, dressing, and food. We get to know and taste the myriad benefits of diversities that have taken hold of man since then.
I schooled in a Christian missionary school back in Taiping. College life brought me to stay with my sister in a Chinese family initially and later in a Punjabi family in Ulu Kinta. Working life had me stay with Muslim colleagues in Lumut and later in Kuala Lumpur. Life and equally the people have been good to me. I have no complaints looking back at my personal life. But looking around at society and the manner it is moving saddens me. It looks like virtues, conduct, teachings, and practices have eroded over time, lost and forgotten. Religion is supposed to fill the gap here. Ethics on right living has been given to us throughout the ages and history by our great and wise and experienced ancestors. What have we done with all these scriptures, texts, and wisdom contained in them? They seem to collect dust on the rack. Have we emulated them and brought them back to life through our lifestyles?
Agathiyar once lamented to us that no one was following the Siddhar Vazhkai Neri Muraigal or the doctrines on the path of the Siddhas. I asked Ramalinga Adigal what was he thinking in setting up Satya Gnana Sabai. I feel his objective in setting it as a place of learning for the Devas whom Lord Shiva would tutor was lost and never materialized for reasons only the divine can answer. Many such establishments have emerged over time. Many have sustained time and the scrutiny of their followers while some others have been abandoned.
Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal too took up Agathiyar's bidding to build an ashram, first at Thuripaalam in Kallar and later in the present site some 2kms away. In his absence, Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar tends to this ashram and its visitors. I once asked Agathiyar why his ashram was not a crowd puller like so many others. Agathiyar replied that it was not for the masses but those who sought after Gnanam.
During Mataji's recent visit he asked her to read the Nadi for those who came seeking it in complying with the name of the ashram itself, the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham. The Nadi in her possession now was not to be equated with the many Nadi exposition that have become commercialized and a profession over time. Though Tavayogi had on numerous occasions told us that we do not need a Nadi reading, Agathiyar occasionally blessed us with one. Similarly, he had a reading for us, read by Mataji during her recent visit, like the one he had Tavayogi read out in his last visit to Malaysia in 2016.
Agathiyar replied to my inner yearning wishing that Tavayogi was with us now as I really need his guidance as I take another step toward reaching another milestone on the path. He told us that Tavayogi was with him engaged in some other work and that he would personally lead us on. Ramalinga Adigal too told us to hold on to Agathiyar and he shall shred and tear down the numerous veils that stand between us. We are truly blessed to hear these words.
Much of what Tavayogi said in passing is beginning to make sense now. The songs of Ramalinga Adigal too make some sense now. Experience gained walking the path has enlightened us. We see similarities with what was spoken by these gurus. In the first few years of our apprenticeship with Tavayogi, he used to ask us to ask questions. But though many did ask about things they read, heard, and watched I had nothing to ask as I had no experience in any of the subjects spoken about. I would sit quietly and watch the exchange of questions go on for hours. Now I need Tavayogi to explain the happenings and the changes taking place. Hence the reason for wanting to have him around at this much-needed moment. But Agathiyar has assured us that he would be there for us.
How can we possibly repay their kindness, compassion, and grace? Thinking that serving him in all our future lives would settle the debt, I mentioned it to him when he kept asking what I wanted. But that was not what he had in mind for us. He asked me to look around and see for myself what was happening around. "Is this what you want?" he asked. I knew then that that was not how we repay him. Speaking later to Mahin about this, I told him maybe we should ask for Gnanam just as Tavayogi had advocated many times. But what was Gnanam? How can we ask for something, although it is spoken widely about, that we don't know? Tavayogi too had mentioned the need to come out of Bakthi into attaining Gnanam. Listening on to our telephone conversation, Agathiyar comes later telling me that Gnanam was not gifted by him but we need to earn it. He speaks about the inner journey that the energy in us has to travel to reach its summit whereby Gnanam shall dawn within us. All our experiences put together shall bring on Gnanam mentions Ramalinga Adigal to us.
Meeting over a puja for the Siddhas at the invitation of a devotee of Agathiyar over the past weekend, the fourth such meeting since we moved into the endemic phase, we all tend to agree that it has been a wonderful journey for all of us at Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) and Agathiyar Universal Mission (AUM). We always go back and watch the documentation on the numerous pujas and events that we carried out all these years. It is truly heartwarming and heart-melting at times.