THE PASSING OF THE BATON

Here was I happily compiling a series of videos entitled Passing the Baton on puja, yoga, and singing of Bhajans and uploading to my YouTube Channel when Agathiyar comes along to actually set the pace for passing the baton. 

He told my daughter and son in law that henceforth they shall carry on the puja for Agathiyar just like what we did at AVM. At the same time, he told me and my wife that there would be no puja at AVM thenceforth. Instead, we and all those who come over shall sit in Tavam or meditation. He said his room shall be close only to open up for the forementioned purpose. This reminds me of the room at the old Kallar Ashram that housed the six-tier granite structure or "Aaru Aataara Peedham" that was out of bounds to all except those who meditated. Agathiyar had indeed lifted us to yet another stage having us forego the puja and rituals and pass them on to the younger generation. Similarly, he told me as my age had caught up with me that he could not yield me to his needs. Hence, he had to work on Mahindren who was in his early thirties. Even this is a bit late in age to start he added to a teen who came before him. He told her to start the practice of Yoga now as he was having a tough time trying to work on Mahindren's body too. This reminds us of what Agathiyar had said of Jnana Jothiamma that her body could not accept the intense transformation that came about late in her life after her visit to Kallar ashram. 

On another note, he told me and my wife that his bronze statue at our home AVM shall move to Mahindren's home relieving us of the duties that comes with caring for an idol. It has been a wonderful twenty-one years of worship to Agathiyar in general and thirteen years of worship to him in the form of the statue at AVM. It gives us great pleasure to know that Agathiyar is going somewhere where he shall be cared for. Mahindren is known to bath and dress Agathiyar's statue at AVM. He still conducts Homam in his home. Agathiyar has chosen an ideal place to move into. Agathiyar tells us that Tavayogi too was truly happy to see these developments take place.

During these years of worship where Agathiyar sent over many to watch and participate we have seen a myriad of personalities of curious onlookers, newcomers, strangers, and devotees whom we can categorize into sectors just like Tavayogi showed me living gurus whom he labeled accordingly to their desires and wants. Call it flaws with devotees but by addressing these flaws we might get to see ourselves in the shoes of these devotees. There are those who drop off their family and do some other errands or might rush off to meet ride off to meet another or a living visiting guru or wait elsewhere till the puja is over. Then there are those who do attend but chose to talk aloud to others or chose to answer calls on the phone, distracting those who are keen to follow. Then there are those who sit with us but refuse to open their mouth in chanting or singing or seem to do it within themselves. I ask myself what is so difficult in spelling out the name of God, deity and guru? Swami Haridhos Giri would tease those who do not join in his bhajan saying that some monster is sitting on their shoulders preventing them from raising their hands in singing the praise of Hari. That is how he got all the attendees to raise their hands and join him in singing while he was performing a bhajan at the Sri Subramaniya Swami Devasthanam, Sungai Petani many years ago.

Do not be shy in singing the praise of God. Say it now before it is too late says Agathiyar in his song Hariguna Maalai.

நாராயணா ஸ்ரீமத் நாராயணா
பத்ரி நாராயணா ஹரி நாராயணா
நாராயணா ஸத்ய நாராயணா
சூர்ய நாராயணா லக்ஷ்மி நாராயணா

நொந்துடலும் கிழமாகித் தளர்ந்தபின்
நோயில் நடுங்கிடும் போது – ஜீவ
நாடிகள் நைந்திடும் போது – மனம்
எண்ணிடுமோ தெரியாது – இன்று
கசிந்துன்னைக் கூவுகின்றேன் அருள்
செய்திடுவாய் ஹரி நாராயணா

நீடு கபம் கோழை ஈழை நெருக்கி – என்
நெஞ்சை அடைத்திடும் போது
நாவும் குழறியபோது – மனம் உன்னை
எண்ணிடுமோ தெரியாது – நான்
அன்றுனைக் கூவிட இன்றழைத்தேன் எனை
ஆண்டருள்வாய் ஹரி நாராயணா

ஐம்பொறியும் கரணங்களும் வாயுவும்
ஆடி அடங்கிடும் போது – எந்தன்
ஆவி பிரிந்திடும்போது – மனம்
எண்ணிடுமோ தெரியாது – இன்று
நம்பி உனைத் தொழுதே அழைத்தேன்
ஜகன் நாயகனே ஹரி நாராயணா.

உற்றவர் பெற்றவர் மற்றவர் சுற்றமும்
ஒவென்று நின்றழும்போது – உயிர்
ஓசைகள் ஓய்ந்திடும்போது – மனம்
எண்ணிடுமோ தெரியாது – இன்று
பற்றி உனைப் பணிந்தே அழைத்தேன் – ஆபத்
பாந்தவனே ஹரி நாராயணா

என்பொருள் என்மனை என்றதெல்லாம் இனி
இல்லை என்றாகிடும் போது – மனம்
எண்ணிடுமோ தெரியாது – நீ
அன்று வரும் பொருட்டின்றழைத்தேன் அருள்
அச்சுதனே ஹரி நாராயணா

வந்தமெதூர் வளைத்து பிரித்தெனை
வாவென்றிழுத்திடும் போது – மனம்
எண்ணிடுமோ தெரியாது – அந்த
அந்தியம் நீ வர இன்றழைத்தேன்
ஸச்சிதானந்தனே ஹரி நாராயணா

Agathiyar in slowly relieving me of all my responsibilities since late 2019, has asked me to zip up too. He said that henceforth if I needed to speak it would only be through this blog as the written word. 

MERE TALK ALL AROUND

Walking this path, I have been asked numerous questions by others. The day I met Tavayogi who was in Malaysia to officiate a local affiliate Peedham a man walked up to me and asked why I came and whether I had a problem. Many years into worship later when I hosted the annual puja for Agathiyar, a curious newcomer asks what I had gained from the worship. A psychologist who was trying to meet up with me eventually found me during a puja for Agathiyar at a temple. Though a total stranger except for the brief conversations on the phone, somehow my eyes trailed him as he walked into the temple. Raising his arms in salutations to Agathiyar he walked up straight to me and started a conversation. He asked if I could be hallucinating, arriving at the theory after reading about my conversations with Agathiyar that I carried in my blog. Another devotee asked me why we should praise the Siddhas and deities? When summoned to AVM a devotee asked the person who conveyed the message if it was Agathiyar or Lord Murugan who wanted to see her? Another who was attended to kept asking who had come rather than be grateful that they came to heal him.

The Siddhas are keen to make contact with us. Sadly, we choose to look the other way. Seeing the hidden potential in us to rise to the state of a Siddha they come through numerous ways to remind us of the past connection with them, that was severed for various reasons. Lahari Mahasaya was brought to a cave by Babaji and reminded of his past life. A story is told of a Siddha making numerous trips to a man's home wanting to engage with him. But the man gave reasons each time he came and postponed the future that was in store for him until asking for fresh coconut water one day, as the man hung to the branches of the coconut tree, the Siddha called out to him to halt. He asked if he was holding on to the branch or vice versa. The man came down and followed the Siddha. Esakhi Siddhar of Tiruvannamalai held on to the hand of a man and asked him if he would like to follow him. Lord Muruga asked my brother who was visiting Kallar if he wanted to follow him.

Many have come forward to research and document, direct or host documentaries on Siddhas having interviewed countless saints and gurus. Has anyone decided to give up his job and join them and their ways? On the contrary Thiru Sundarajoo Arumugam took Sri Raghavendra as his guru after watching the movie on the saint. 

Yogananda Paramahansa's autobiography made such a impact on my colleague that after five visits to the master's ashram in Ranchi he resigned his government job and became a monk at Ranchi. Rare are such souls. 

Looking up on something on the net I came across my daughter's blog where she had shared photos of puja at AVM. Though the blog at http://myindianheartbeat.blogspot.com/ has not been updated as she has her hands full running around three kids, it was nice to know that our children support and land a hand in our spiritual endeavors.  

If I thought that the best thing I could do for a living master like Agathiyar was to spread his fame, he asked me in return how can one spread the fame of one who is the very vibration behind the cosmos. I believe that what he meant was that rather than stop short of talking about them and spreading the fame, he is asking us to join the pack and merge in them. The Siddhas never settle for us being mere devotees. They never settle for us to be mere servants. They never settle for us to be mere preachers. They want us to reach the zenith too. This is the reason they breath down our neck asking if we are carrying out their dictates. As all these achievements have to be attained before the age of sixty, there is indeed a rush to see through Sariyai, Kriyai, Yogam and arrive at Gnanam within this short span of time. But man keeps postponing. Time and tide never wait. The wise one full of awareness would recognize the moment and take the cue. A venture started on time will see results. A moment of delay will result in numerous delays and hiccups in the chain of events.

We are grateful that Agathiyar has guided us well since day one. But most importantly we listened and followed. Today Agathiyar has handed over the worship or rather passed the baton to the kids. It is now for them to steer the ship and sail to the land of promise. 

TIME TO MOVE ON AGAIN

I dived into the sea naked except for the snorkel and later a gas tank. Asking me to come to the worship and path of his Agathiyar immediately after my first Nadi reading gave me his painting by way of Sivabalan who brought in the Nadi reader Sentilkumar and later a a small booklet that contained a long list of names of Siddhas to whom the Nadi reader introduced me to. That is how I began my worship in my home first. It was only three years later that Tavayogi in coming to Malaysia and Agathiyar in having me meet him, that Tavayogi asked me to bring the family too to him and the Siddha path. I did as told. The family joined me in reciting the names of the Siddhas and sing the songs of praise to them. Five years later when Agathiyar came in the form of a statue, we began to sing songs appropriate to the ritual of abhisegam or libation to the statue that followed. Tavayogi introduced us to lighting the homam officially the same year too. Now armed with bigger tools we engaged in a worship that was to move both worlds and our hearts too. An era of Siddha worship followed with Agathiyar sending strangers and potential candidates to the worship of Siddhas to my home to witness and participate in the puja. Now we shook the ground as well as the Siddhas, deities and Gods arrived amidst us and blessed us. 

While we carried out rituals, puja, tavam or austerities and charity, we unknowingly worked on our past and existing karma too. As we reached the peak of our external journey, just as Tavayogi got me out of each place the moment Agathiyar performed a miracle in our travels, Agathiyar did not want us to remain another moment longer taking in the bliss. Neither did he want us to carry on further adding on more merits that would bring on another birth too. In asking us to go within he ended the pujas at AVM and the charity work we did through our charity arm Amudha Surabhi too. The Nadi readings too came to an end the same year in late 2019, after the pandemic was declared with Nadi readers returning to their own land and families. He explained that it was time to move on to other pastures and seek new tuft to graze. I was glad as I could move on now. 

Agathiyar then chose to come through devotees including me. Soon the miracles were shown to others too. Many turned up to listen to the Siddhas and receive their grace. But it was all within the AVM family. Agathiyar kept it that way. His grace was exclusively for them. No strangers dropped by; neither did Agathiyar send them over. So, we never saw long lines of people waiting to be seen. The Siddhas contrary to other places only saw those who were in worship to them and carried out their teachings and practices. It was sort of an elite club until Agathiyar instructed me to write about the internal experiences taking place in me. In writing about the internal changes, I had to begin within the external rituals ad practices and that contributed towards inner change. But as Agathiyar always wanted us to experience a new state and leave it behind to explore other frontiers, he told me recently that he would not come through me anymore. I was glad as I could move on now. 

MORE LEARNING

I have become a preacher. I realize that this is would I end up doing unknowingly these days. Over the weekend we had a wedding in the family. I could not start small talk nor engage in the hot topics dealt by others. I kept to myself most of the time by taking on small chores and responsibilities to while my time. Occasionally one or two would walk up to me and talk on Agathiyar would surface. Hence when I accompanied Thiru Arumugam at his table, I took the opportunity asking him to narrate his efforts in putting up the Jegathguru Sri Raghavendra Swamigal Miruthiga Brindavanam in Ipoh Perak and have it documented.

He shared his sadness that the worship of gurus paled before temple worship in town. Tavayogi too upon arrival on our shores preached that we should move up the spiritual ladder and come to Gnanam. I too have come to realize that devotees favor the festivals, gaiety and cheer that comes with these festivities, which is absent in Guru rituals and ashrams. Here one had to adhere to discipline and silence. One has to understand that the path of the guru is indeed one of adhering to disciplines and silence. Hence it is only for those who have crossed the festive bridge. Agathiyar too spoke about this bridge. He told us that now it was a solo walk as the bridge had narrowed and would not accommodate rows and rows of followers as in the parade grounds. 

Before we come before God, for a favor or help, we need to ask ourselves if we were worthy of it. If we had never raised a voice for an injustice done to another or gave another a helping hand, how can we possibly stand before him asking the same? In these moments I would ask myself what I would do if I was Agathiyar. The man had not done Vaasi or breathing practices in his whole life but wants an extension of years of his life. How can that be given? The number of years we live is directly chained to the number of breaths we have taken along with us on this journey to use. Once the stock we brought with us was used up in all kinds of excessive and pointless activities, the body can no longer hold on without the very breath that sustains it? The only way is to accumulate prana by means of breathing techniques and practices and add to the count. This would give us some extra years.

Then another man might not have done charity in his whole life. But he stands before God asking for charity to be done to him. How can God give him these extra years when he had never helped kept another alive a few days by feeding and sheltering him? 

The saints say that both Dhanam and Tavam are essential to life. These are akin to the two breaths commonly spoken about, Ida and Pingala.

Their children too stand before God asking him to extend the lives of their parents failing to realize that God just cannot go on fulfilling wishes. Death is a painful reminder to all those living to buck up and take on their practices seriously. 

Blood transfusion can be given when there are donors or from the blood bank and organs can be donated to another, but one cannot give another his breath. But the most merciful and compassionate has mentioned to a handful of devotees that he had saved them giving his breath. They live till this day surviving on Agathiyar's charity of breath. If one has survived the ordeal with the timely intervention of Agathiyar, should not he then devote his whole live towards Agathiyar's cause? But it never happens. They go back to doing their old stuff. What is the point then in having then around for more years if they are not going to give back to society and mankind and do Gods work. 

When I shied away from listening to mostly first-time strangers and those who after frequenting my home would bring themselves to share their grief, sorrow or sufferings, Agathiyar asks only one thing to me. If he was to shut his ears, where would I go? This jolted me and made me prepare myself to listen to others albeit the advice that came flowing freely from me as in the past that brought me into hot soup. I became his ears and eyes henceforth. True enough he mentioned the song written by Sadhu Om in appreciation for his guru Bhagavan Ramana that outlined the need to accept all things clearly, "Yepodhu Nee Arivaayo Appothey Santhi Adaivaai", set to a lovely and calm music and sung by Sriram Parthasarathy. Agathiyar asked me to adapt and follow those lovely and meaningful lines of the song by Sadhu Om that are the gist and cream of Bhagawan Ramana's teachings.

Similarly during the last Sivarathri Yogi Ramsuratkumar came amidst us and unknowing to us was listening to the songs I played from Sriram Parthasarathy's Sadhu Om YouTube channel on https://www.youtube.com/@SADHUOMCHANNEL. After identifying himself as the beggar to my wife he asked that we play the songs again. He sat and listened to these songs in a state of heightened bakti as Bhagawan Ramana too was his guru among Aurobindo and Swami Ramdas.

If we thought Agathiyar was listening through us, he was also watching all things seen for he mentioned the movie "Saguni" and pointed out how a guru should know when to shut up his big mouth. 

Today Agathiyar has come to show me another facet of devotees where I can distinguish them just as Tavayogi helped me to differentiate the gurus. After inviting me to his Kallar ashram in India after our first meeting in Malaysia in 2005, and after Agathiyar similarly asks that I spend a couple of days at his ashram learning from him, I journeyed to India again hot on his heels. Besides volunteering to take me places that Agathiyar had stated in my second Nadi reading just days after his arrival in Malaysia, Tavayogi wanted to know if I wanted to visit gurus, and masters or visit the caves and abodes of the Siddhas. I chose the latter and we set of to the nearest cave in Uthiyur the next morning where Tavayogi had spent years meditating. 

Moving on to the jungles and hills of Courtallam and Papanasam, and visiting the Tanjore big temple, and other places we returned to his ashram after several days. Again, he invited me to visit the gurus and had a local man Mani bring us to several places in Ooty. The first place of stop was an ashram. The second was a temple and the third and final was a visit to a lonely man in a large unpopulated mansion. I had no idea why he insisted taking me there. But as we got into our car and drove back home on that damp twilight night, he related the differences between them. The first was eyeing for the post of heir to the ashram. The second was caught into rituals and would drown in it forever. The last was someone to look up to just as the Oldman later told us that he would be a star in the night sky the next time I came. The visit to the lone saint reminded me of my granddaughter's much-loved tale that she asks to retell again and again, "A Dark, Dark Tale", written by Ruth Brown. After coming across the dark moor, in the dark woods, dark house, and its dark door, the dark hall, and the dark stairs, and dark passage, the dark curtain, in the dark room, and the dark cupboard, in a dark corner, what should you come across but a dark box in which there was a mouse! So too as we approached the lone bungalow set in the woods of the cold and wet Ooty outskirts, and as we alighted from the white Ambassador and walked into the warm and cozy bungalow after running away from the rain drops and chillness outside, a large painting of Adi Sankara awaited and ushered us into the large living room. It was all quiet and still except for our movements. Calling out Mani made his way while we kept abreast with him finally finding an old man coiled up as a serpent in a corner of a single bed. Mani introduced us. Tavayogi and he spoke for long. I too was introduced as a Malaysian visiting Kallar ashram. Sometime later his aid came over to attend to his needs after work and brought us a hot steaming cup of Ooty tea that warmed our body and hearts. Before we left Dayananda Swami who initially stopped me taking his photo allowed me to do so and told me that he would be a star in the sky on my next visit. 

Today I pretty well understand the insistence of Tavayogi in showing me the many facets of gurus so that I could differentiate and be forewarned. So too Agathiyar brought many seekers to my humble home that turned into his Vanam and showed me each man's desire in wanting to know Agathiyar or the Siddhas. The learning process goes on. I guess these is then Gnanam that is spoken about. 

In Service to Sri Raghavendra

Thiru Sundararajoo Arumugam became a staunch devotee of Sri Raghavendra after watching the movie about the saint directed by S. P. Muthuraman in 1985. He was soon destined to build a temple hall for the saint. After several visits to the saint's abode Mantralayam, when he was 62 he read his Nadi. Agathiyar asked him for a spot in the temple he was to build for the saint. The temple cum meditation hall now stands at Lot 190051, Laluan Sg.Pari 4, Teluk Kurin 'B' (Kg.Kacang Puteh), Buntong 30100 Ipoh Perak.

Prior to this mission Thiru Arumugam had been giving facelifts and upgrading existing small temples in places where he had served while in service with the Public Works Department. These included one in Simpang Empat, Bagan Serai and another in Menglembu, Ipoh. Today the Sri Raghavendra temple is a fine monument of a devotee's gratitude to his guru. He serves the guru hoping that his guru would show another to replace him as a caretaker. 

He is also the father of Malaysian singer Gowri Arumugam who produced an album on Agathiyar titled "Agathiyar Geetham" in 2018 among many other hits. 

TIMING & ITS IMPORTANCE

It is not about the numbers nor perfection in the pronunciation when we are given a set of mantras to recite. For instance, when Agathiyar came in the form of the metal statue to AVM on 2nd January 2010, just in time to celebrate his Guru Puja the next day, we had arranged to gather and chant his name 100,000 times as he had instructed in my Nadi reading. Try as we did to reach the target, we could only achieve 45,000 times with the handful of family and friends who attended the puja. This chanting took us two solid hours too. Our throat was dry and parched and we were exhausted at the end of it. We decided to stop. But the most compassionate Agathiyar came in the Nadi after several days and told us that he had accepted our puja.

Similarly, in asking us to recite the name "Muruga" 1008 times, we might set our eyes on the number wanting to adhere to Agathiyar's instructions. But on day two we realize that the mind automatically settles down and an urge to remain silent rises. Calm and silence prevail within. It is then a sign to stop the mechanical chanting and go within, following the calm to the center of silence. This takes place on its own accord too. After some twenty years of singing the songs of praise to the Siddhas during puja there came a time when we could not sing any further. As Agathiyar says 

மனமது செம்மையானால் மந்திரம் ஜெபிக்க வேண்டாம்
மனமது செம்மையானால் வாயுவை உயர்த்த வேண்டாம்
மனமது செம்மையானால் வாசியை நிறுத்த வேண்டாம்
மனமது செம்மையானால் மந்திரம் செம்மையாமே

When the mind settles there is no need for Japa (of Mantras)

When the mind settles there is no need to raise the breath (do Pranayama)

When the mind settles there is no need to hold the breath (do forced Kumbhakam)

When the mind settles the mantra achieves its purpose,

we just wanted to remain silent.

So is it with carrying out the act of lighting and sustaining the Homam. When a devotee began to reignite the dying flames in the Homam pit, Agathiyar came and told us to let it be and conclude the ritual and puja. He said that the puja had been accepted. We ended the puja as told. Since then, a dying flame was a sign to conclude the puja though we might have lined up a long list of songs to be sung. 

Similarly, is it with the pronunciation of chants and mantras. A story is told of a young but arrogant monk freshly graduated from a monastery trying to correct an Oldman with his pronunciation of a mantra that he had been chanting for ages. 

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. 

The idea in giving us these practices is to get us started and moving in the direction first while he then comes and joins our journey. If we were to investigate, research, debate and argue on the onset we will never make the first move. This is what I came to know happened to the person who had questioned me about the differences in the mantra given by Agathiyar to both of us in 2009. He had called me when he came to know that I too had received the mantra earlier through the Nadi, from the Nadi reader and watching my video of it. He asked why he was given a slightly different version of it. I told him that I do not know but that I did not wish to investigate and that I had already started on it. He called me several weeks ago and enquired of me the effects and benefits of the mantra and told me that he wanted to start chanting it again. I told him it was not necessary as it would not benefit him now. Whatever tools, means and ways, practices and techniques given by Agathiyar has to be carried out during the stipulated time to reap its benefits. Though the Siddhas are beyond time and space, as man is caught in this time space web, and as he has to conform and live accordingly, the Siddhas study both the time and space to guide us further with our practices or tasks. It is a calculated move by the Siddhas given to us to achieve the desired results and see success in the venture. Furthermore, the agents of his assigned to help us at these moments would not be anywhere around during the times of our choice to start or carry out the tasks. The planetary positions too may not be favorable then to us then. He often tells me to adhere to time. He says that குறித்த நேரத்தில் செய்யும் அனைத்தும் ஜெயம்.

Recently Sriinaath Raghavan shared a wonderful piece on Fb about the importance of time besides food and discipline as extolled by Bhagawan Ramana.

"Sri Ramana Maharishi was a stickler for Time, Discipline, and Food. He was very particular about these three and if He saw anyone wasting any of it, He would not refrain from reprimanding them...... Even today when you visit Sri Ramana Ashramam in Tiruvannamalai, this inimitable "Dheedeer Chutney" is still served with a wise old lesson - "Don't waste what you have, be it Time, Food, or Wealth; else you won't qualify to receive what you deserve!"

When Agathiyar told me that the Tamil months of Thai and Maasi in 2009 was favorable to start the task and commission the making of his metal statue at Swamimalai, I informed Varadhraj of Bronze Creative to begin. As Agathiyar's statue was meant to be placed at the Jegathguru Sri Raghavendra Swamigal Miruthiga Brindavanam Kinta, Perak several well wishes questioned me telling me it was too soon to start as the opening of the venue would be delayed. I asked Varadhraj to pull the brakes. The work stalled. I realize this was a mistake I did listening to others as it contributed to many trials and tribulations when Agathiyar finally made his way here. Meanwhile as the official opening of the venue was delayed further and postponed thrice, I called Varadhraj to complete it not wanting to delay the process of making his statue that was a priority and task given to me. The preparation of the venue was secondary. True to my thoughts Agathiyar came in the Nadi and told me that he was to stay at my home on transit before finally leaving for the venue. But the most compassionate Agathiyar chose to remain in my home forever and had switched another statue of his in its place by having a donor contribute one purchased of the shelf. The lesson I learned was that every task given by the Siddhas has to be carried out at the moment mentioned. Any delays on our path will not see the expected results. Do not dilly-dally in these matters. 

A RECAP ON THE ATMA

It is amazing how Agathiyar brought us to know Udal, Uyir, and Atma progressively. But being the ignorant idiots we are, we were always looking towards bigger and larger things that we have been fed with through talks and books in the past. We did not realize that we had already arrived and had had the experience of the Udal, Uyir, and Atma. But without realizing it we were looking elsewhere and waiting impatiently for something on a majestic scale to take place. It needed Agathiyar to draw the veil and have us realize through his memo that the divine plays in very subtle ways. Though Agathiyar's memo to us was short and brief it took me seven posts to place what he had said of the Udal, Uyir, and Atma into the correct perspective that I could easily understand. There is only one Atma that is immersed in all of creation. That one single Atma that is the source of all creation, the (Param) Atma prevails in all of his creation. Period.

After bringing us to understand the Udal or the physical body made of tattvas, through his worship beginning in 2002, Agathiyar showed us the magnitude and majesty of the body that is capable of executing any venture in its prime. He showed us the importance of caring for this marvelous entity. Then he brought us to experience the Uyir or breath. We take for granted the breath that continuously flows in and out and through us day and night even in sleep and in our dreams. Who then is in charge during these moments? To bring an awareness to our breath he had Tavayogi taught us certain Vaasi or Pranayama practices in 2007. Through the practice of Pranayama the volume of prana intake increased multifold as we created contact with the Prapanjam. Agathiyar has been telling me lately to detach my thoughts from this world and instead connect with the Prapanjam directly. All things are only truly known when we connect with it. 

Then Agathiyar halted it in 2011 as the chakras and its energies that were dormant and in hibernation were activated and aroused as a result of these practices, giving the body some time to heal from the shock of the arousal. Though it is not pleasant nor a delightful encounter and experience, counter to what Agathiyar told us that this too was bliss, I understand that he wants us to look at pain and discomfort as such.

After some seventeen years of Tavam or austerities and some nine years of Aram or charity, he had us wind up on all the activities related to it, in 2019. In asking us to go within he brought me to continue only certain Vaasi practices. He had me teach it to Mahindran who was instructed to practice and teach it to those keen to move on to the next phase at AVM. The years 2019 till the present were critical years of transformation. But I was so ignorant of the signs and the happenings. I thought that the said years were wasted forced to stay indoors due to the pandemic and staying indoors trying to sit in meditation, as directed by Agathiyar which did not come easily for me. We have been bombarded with so many literatures and talks of mystical things taking place within and without, of inner and outer journeys that we sit with expectations, but the truth is nothing happens. Man for once is passive and sits still as the stone image of god. We think we gather extraordinary powers as we gain something in carrying out our daily live but on the contrary, it is about losing shedding and letting go. I learned from Mahindran that spirituality is not about achieving greater heights but all about dropping all our longings and belongings - which was what I had unknowingly done the past years sitting in solitude. Agathiyar came to say the same that it was not wasted when I presumed that I had wasted precious time. 

He brought us from learning the external traits in doing rituals and conducting puja and participating in the joy of giving and doing charity, to go within. In asking us to go within he had us gain the knowledge of something that was so close to us and internal - the Udal, Uyir, and Atma. This was what he meant to us when he directed us to go within. I mistook it for meditation and became frustrated as it did not happen. In asking us to know about the Udal both Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal came again and again to ask and remind us if we read Tavayogi's books. They asked us to read the chapters on the tattvas to know the Udal and how it is formed and functions. We did read but could not comprehend much. Each and every time and for whatever matters, Agathiyar points me to Tavayogi as a role model. He asks that I emulate and adopt his ways. He asks that I follow his footsteps, except that I should remain in the family.

Agathiyar had me consumed his Agathiyar Kuzhambu to cleanse the filth and trash I had carried in all of my sixty years of existence here. This set the three dosas back into their respective proportions for a hale and healthy body. 

By engaging in Aram or charity and good deeds we had an opportunity to mend and offset our karma. Aram and Tavam bring us to the next stage. Having given us the knowledge of the Udal and preparing it to receive the might of the Prapanjam through Uyir or breath, taking Pranayama as a tool, he has now brought us to the threshold of Gnanam. Tavayogi in his book defines Gnanam as the moment of realization of the Atma, first the (Jeeva) Atma and later the (Param) Atma. This is true enlightenment. We become enlightened by the very Atma that was with us throughout our lives albeit for the period when we thought we were in charge of our lives. Once we realize that it is not so and that there is a divine hand that moves us and surrender our will to it, the Atma moves in again and leads us to the state of self-empowerment and enlightenment, without the need for external tools and masters, teachers, Upagurus and Gurus. Mahakavi Bharathi realized this and shares it in his song "Nennai Saran Adainthen Kannama". Hence, we understand why Lord Murugan came and in telling us that he had something to give all of us insisted that we had to surrender first. When the ego, desire and attachment is surrendered, we are freed completely. Tavam brings the grace of the Atma to draw the veils aside. The Atma comes to do its part in ridding it completely later. We become enlightened. When we become enlightened, we attain Gnanam. That is Atma Darisanam. 

Veeraswamy Krishnaraj in his comprehension of Arulnandi Shivachariyar’s "Shivagnana Siddhiyar", writes that, 

"Vijnanakalar - the highest class of souls among the three mentioned in "Shivagnana Siddhiyar" with only one impurity known as Anava Malam, do not need an external Guru to instruct them. Lord Shiva by remaining inside them as the inner guide rids them of the Anava Malam, bringing the merits and demerits to a resolution and conferring spiritual knowledge or divine grace known as Saktinipata, the descent of Sakti into the soul. Vijnanakalar receives Gnana from Lord Shiva himself as the incorporeal inner guide."

Gordon Matthews explains this concept in his translation of Meykanda Devar’s "Shivagnana Botham". 

"By reason of the soul’s virtue in previous births, God, who has been immanent in the soul, making it known, now vouchsafing to take the form of a Guru, initiates the soul in the Saiva mysteries. The primal one himself teaches these souls as a Guru: for in the form of consciousness, he is in union (with him). When because of the soul’s meritorious practices, the primal one enlightens the soul as a Guru… When God comes as a Guru and teaches the soul, the soul is made to see that the world of experience, evolved from Maya, is non-real. It ceases then to identify itself with the non-real and to depend upon it; and in so doing it discovers its oneness with God."

The (Jeeva)Atma that went into self-exile when the ego took over at a certain period in our lives, has awakened from its sleep. The (Jeeva)Atma has gained the strength to make a comeback and tear down the veils of ignorance. It has gained Atma Balam. The Atma in us that is a part of the (Param)Atma then regaining its throne and takes its place once again as the inner guru. 

The Atma that is supposed to take hold of the Udal and Uyir controlling it sadly is driven to the shadows as we exhibit ego and the "I" in us takes an upper hand. It is only when we surrender the "I" that the Atma returns to reign. Its reign off course would be in line with the divine as opposed to that of the "I" that exercises its superiority. When the Atma comes back to regain control of the Udal and Uyir it brings on massive transformation within the body often without our input and brings on the whole of Prapanjam within too. We understand the state of Agathiyar now when he says that the Prapanjam is in him and he is in the Prapanjam. Agathiyar tells us that the power of the Prapanjam is limitless. இந்தப் பிரபஞ்ச சக்தி எண்ணில் அடங்காதவை.

The most compassionate Siddhas came to assist in providing ways and techniques to reach out to the Prapanjam. Ramalinga Adigal came to link us to the Prapanjam through the breath. We began to experience the Prapanjam. Henceforth the whole body began to absorb the prana contrary to the past where it was available in some quantities coming within hitching on the breath; coming within as food and water and assimilated and absorbed; absorbed from the water as we took a dip in the river and sea or had a bath at home; and through the sun's rays and just being outdoors. These days these sense organs and the senses are at their very peak. I have been asked to read and comprehend Ramalinga Adigal's experience that has come to us as a treasure by way of his ThiruArutpa, by Agathiyar last night. I guess it would shed much light.

Reading again all of Tavayogi's books after Agathiyar's memo to us, we are beginning to see that Tavayogi had already explained these in his writings. But ignorance stood in our way of comprehending his words and works. Tavayogi in his "Atma Thattuvam" writes, உயிர் உடல் இரண்டையும் இணைத்து வைக்கின்ற ஒப்பற்ற கருவியே ஆத்மா எனப்படும். Like Agathiyar says, Tavayogi too states that the Atma is a tool that binds both the Uyir and Udal. It takes charge and control of the Udal and Uyir. But the reason we cannot identify it is that it is subtle in nature as opposed to the gross nature of the Udal that is known through the senses and the Uyir that is known when awareness is brought to the breath. As the Uyir is known through the Udal and vice versa, we realize the importance of the Udal then and begin to treasure it. When we are caught in the grips of Maya or illusion in this world, we never realize the existence of the Atma. 

Pon. Govindasamy in his "Vallalaarum Brahma Gnana Sangamum", Bharath Book Bureau, Chennai, draws a chain of evolution here. The souls that were once atoms took on the form of Bhuta Ganangal. Later changing into minerals, took on the plant form. Entering the forms of animals, they were reborn as humans. Finally, they end the journey here as Jeevan Muktas. Thus, the journey is already charted for every one of us. It is just a matter of space-time before it is attained or should I say reduced to its original form. 

அணுக்களாகயிருந்த ஆன்மாக்கள், பூதவர்க்கங்களாக உருவெடுத்துப் பின் தாது வர்க்கங்களாக மாறி, பின் தாவர வர்கத்தையடைந்து, பின் விலங்கு வர்க்கத்தில் புகுந்து, பின் மானிட வர்க்கத்தில் ஜனனம் எடுத்து, இறுதியில் ஜீவன் முக்தர் வர்க்கத்தில் பரிபூரண தசையையடைகின்றன.

It all starts with worship at home and in the temples. We have read about how several saints, were shown the dance of Siva, the Atma as a child in their homes and certain temples. Later as one pursues the path that the Atma identifies for us after the karma is cleared and we surrender, the Atma begins to express its thought and actions through us. We become an expression of the Atma. The individual then is an expression of the divine and divinity. 

KNOWING THE SIDDHAS

The Siddhas work is never done. They work 24/7. There is never a moment of sleep. This Agathiyar conveyed when he came last evening. When a Siddha treats a devotee he or she expects a miracle cure. We expect to be cured or relieved instantaneously. But the fact is that our body too should be in a certain state of wellbeing to recover fast. It might take days for it to recover to a good state of health if we already carry numerous ailments within. At other times the Siddha might only bring a quick relief if he has to attend to other urgent matters or be elsewhere. The recipient might need to be attended to again at another time. Hence the need for further treatment arises. 

Several days earlier he told us that the homes of selected devotees were not a hospital, and neither was he a doctor to attend to all sectors of society and all health issues. Hence, he passes them on to others qualified to treat. He comes specifically and personally for those in his path. One needs to have some knowledge about the Siddhas and his abilities and capabilities or powers if you might want to call it, before seeing him. Similarly, he told Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar of Kallar Ashram, who took over the Jeeva Nadi reading from Tavayogi, that the Nadi in her possession now was for the upliftment of souls to the state of Gnana, consistent with the name given to their ashram, Agathiyar Gnana Peedham. It was not to be read for seekers wanting to know solutions for petty issues. In both instances, Agathiyar asked that the devotee, seeker or recipient learn about the Siddhas and perform a Siddha puja before either coming to be treated or coming for a reading. This will bring on faith and believe in the Siddhas. Seekers need faith and believe in them to carry out remedies and respond to treatment given by the Siddhas. This was true for those who wanted to invite him in the form of the murthy or statue at AVM too. 

Agathiyar used to tell us upon his arrival at AVM in the past that he came from Kailash, Pothigai or Kallar to attend our puja or prayer or call for help or SOS. After delivering he would leave shortly just as we visit the gardens or Poonga Vanam in the evenings for a fresh breath of air. These days he stays to lecture us on good morals and the need to uphold dignity sharing some case studies with us, reminding us not to fall for lure of Maya. He speaks about all subjects, educating us further. We have since stopped reading, watching and listening to others. I believe Agathiyar Vanam that was a garden where he stopped by to look at the flowers blooming or rather look in on the blossoming of his devotees and subjects, has now evolved into the name he gave us Gnana Kottam, or a venue where Gnana thrives. It has become a place of learning now after the Siddhas took their abode here. 

When he asked me to follow in the footsteps of Tavayogi who remained a silent guru, I asked him if I should continue writing. He replied asking me to do so since Siddha Heartbeat was his voice he said. I am blessed to be an instrument in his hands. 

CONDUCTING PUJA

It is when times are bad that it is all the more essential for us to carry out a puja. It is when someone is warded or sick that we should take on this tool to bring on the grace of the divine, besides the blessings of loved ones who attend the puja. It is when trouble creates chaos in the home that we should conduct a puja. 

When I reminded a devotee to carry out puja in his house and have him call us over too, he gave multiple reasons from relationship troubles to having a sick dad to nurse. I told him that this gives him all the more reasons to carry out one. In carrying it out we seek that relationships mend and the sick are cured. When Tavayogi was initially warded and operated on, Agathiyar told us that the Siddhas gathered together to conduct a Yagam so that he shall survive the ordeal and return alive to his ashram. Our prayers were answered he said. It gave him time to settle all outstanding issues and once he handed over the management of the ashram and his Jeeva Nadi to Mataji, he left his mortal frame a year later. 

All those who came with problems, illness, and suffering were always told to carry out a Siddha puja by Tavayogi and Mataji. A government servant who was suspended and his passport withheld though could not go over to Kallar ashram to participate in the Yagam was instead pointed to AVM. We carried out a smaller version of the Yagam known as Homam. His case was dropped and he was reinstated in his job. Another man who had loaned his car to friends found himself in trouble with the authorities as the car was used to push drugs. His wife who took an immediate flight to Kallar ashram participated in the Yagam. Her husband was released shortly. When my wife and children were warded in the past I would find time to return home and conduct the Homam. They all returned home safe. 

Puja to the Siddhas paves the way for the bridge to drop and links both our worlds. They help us with our past karma showing us the means and ways to erase it, with Yagam and Homam as one of the tools, besides going on pilgrimages and carrying out remedies and doing charity. The Siddhas visit our homes and eventually reside in them. Soon they come to reside within us. They then show us the way to salvation. 

Similarly, at other times when all things are fine, we still need to carry out puja to pay gratitude and thanksgiving to the divine for caring for us. When puja is done in our homes and others are invited to participate, we end up offering food to them. Here we are given an opportunity to feed others. This is a means to gain the blessings of all those gathered that shall equip us with more merits to either fight our battle or top up the existing store of merits. 

When a Yagam or Homam is conducted a multitude of dried roots, bark, wood, dried flowers, and fruits that has their origin in the element of earth are placed in the sacrificial fire pit. While the element of fire consumes it and ash results another portion is let off into the air as the smoke which we then inhale. The element of space and wind tattva carries it along. The essential oils and other components tend to heal us and the Prapanjam. At other times these herbs are infused in the element of water and drank. 

Coming over during the puja conducted at yet another devotee's home recently, Agathiyar told me this was just the beginning when I asked him if he was satisfied and if Tavayogi's wish to see each home turn into Agathiyar Vanam was fulfilled. Well, it is a good start I suppose to better things to come.

CHERISH FOOD, WASTE NOT

Sriinaath Raghavan shared a wonderful piece on Fb regarding Bhagawan Ramana's anger at seeing food go to waste.

"Sri Ramana Maharishi was a stickler for Time, Discipline, and Food. He was very particular about these three and if He saw anyone wasting any of it, He would not refrain from reprimanding them. 

Once He saw a sizable waste of leftover vegetable peels in the Ashram Kitchen from the day's cooking and He wasn't too happy about it so He inquired immediately, "What are you going to do with all these vegetable peels?"

One of the inmates, an old lady, said, "Sure what can we do but discard it?"

Sri Ramana clearly wasn't happy with the response and said, "Do you know how much Effort, Time, and Discipline Prakriti (Nature) takes to create and sustain Creation? We on the other hand are quick to dispose of anything and everything that we don't deem fit? Wastage is the greatest sin and not knowing what to do with what we have is the greatest ignorance?"

Everyone looked at Ramana with guilty eyes, when Ramana demonstrated what to do next. He collected all the vegetable peels, washed them thoroughly, added some rock salt, green chilies, and curry leaves, and ground them in a mortar. When this "Dheedeer Chutney" or "Sudden Chutney" was served to all the Ashram inmates for supper, they relished it so much that it became a lifelong practice in the days to come. Even today when you visit Sri Ramana Ashramam in Tiruvannamalai, this inimitable "Dheedeer Chutney" is still served with a wise old lesson - "Don't waste what you have, be it Time, Food, or Wealth; else you won't qualify to receive what you deserve!"

I began to cherish food after befriending a colleague at the office I joined in 1980. Prior to taking up the new job with me, he was in the statistics department. Once he lost his way while carrying out his work in the Aborigine settlement in Tanah Rata Cameron Highlands. After several hours he finally walked onto the road heading for the aforementioned small town. His hunger pangs forced him to pick the Hibiscus flowers from the plants that were grown by the local council along the road till he laid his eyes on the town and satisfied his hunger in one of the restaurants. He shared another story that changed both his life and mine. As he was passing along the back lane of the capital city, he chanced to see an old man standing with a vessel. He was collecting the wastewater that was discharged from the sink of a restaurant. On questioning him, the man told him he was collecting grains of rice that were washed out as the dishes were cleaned in the restaurant. He would boil and eat it. 

A Muslim colleague from the office who had a Sufi master in Indonesia said that his master would wash his hands in the very plate he ate and drink the water too. When Tavayogi took me to meet Suyamjothi Swami at his Satgurunathar ashram in Ooty, we were served a simple lunch, rice, and soup. If it was home I would have cleaned the plate but as I was in public, I took what came into my hands and left the soup behind. Suyamjothi Swami walked up to me and asked me to drink the remaining soup. When we began to serve cooked food first to the inmates of old folks' and children's homes, later to the homeless on the streets, and finally to the poor in low-cost flats, we began to cherish food more and more. Today we clean the plate and lick our fingers clean. 

Just as after Agathiyar came to stay permanently in my home it became his Vanam or garden, just days ago when Agathiyar came he acknowledged the small herbal and vegetable garden my daughter had started telling her that it was his herbal garden. We add home-grown vegetables to our plate of meals these days. 

Eating has become all the more sacred now. The moment I take my seat, energy transpires through me. I eat and savor the food in silence. The energy reaches the very core of my cells. I guess prana from the food as with prana from breath was absorbed within the entire body. Let us not waste food for as Bhagawan says, "Don't waste what you have, be it Time, Food, or Wealth; else you won't qualify to receive what you deserve!"

KNOWING THY PURPOSE

Gnanam or divine wisdom can dawn in any place and at any time. It can happen in the thick of the forest, in the concrete jungle, or in the marketplace. It can come on while immersed in the joy of being one with nature, taking in its sights and sound, smell and touch, and being a part of it. It can happen while lying on the lap of the wife too. It can be in the midst of play with our kids. It can happen while sitting alone. It can come in the face of danger. It can come after months of suffering in pain. It can come in captivity. Something around us could trigger experiences that make a dawning arise within us or isolation and deep thought draws it from within us.  

Similarly, the divine energies can traverse and pass within and through us at similar moments. Agathiyar asks that I share these transformations and transitions with my readers. Just days ago with a cup of hot coffee in my hands, and listening to songs of Lord Shiva played I watched the morning sky change from pajamas into its working attire as the sun came up. I sensed within me waves of rejoicing and bliss right to the core. Listening to cinema songs do the same too, electrifying the whole body. Just eating my meals sends thrills and energy surges right to the cells and elementals. Smells and the touch of things have never been the same since the divine made some adjustments to the body. All these senses are heightened and at their peak these days. It is a whole new experience when all our senses perform at their peak. Bliss prevails even without the need to sit in worship and prayer. It comes on in torrents and at any time. Imagine how it shall be when it goes beyond its limits as with the saints?

What is this state that I am currently in I ask myself? How did I happen to arrive here? It is the outcome and result of the many hours of quality time allocated for the worship of the Siddhas. Why worship the Siddhas some might ask? Strangers who come before Tavayogi seeking answers to their problems, sufferings, pain, and agony are told the reason for it - Vinai, which translates into past deeds that come to fruition in the present, some that reward us while others torture us. For those seeking to know a solution, he asks them to worship the Siddhas, telling them that they shall see positive results in their lives. 

As for me, Agathiyar asked me to worship the Siddhas in my first Nadi reading where I was shown subsequently the method and approach as the Nadi reader carried out the thanksgiving ritual for the Siddhas in documenting my life and revealing it. I picked up from there and carried out daily worship of the Siddhas by reciting their names. I began to search for more information on them. My journey to knowing the Siddhas officially started when I was guided by two wonderful gurus in physical form, and through subsequent Nadi readings until the Siddhas themselves came through devotees and filled the gap created by the demise of my gurus and the coming of the pandemic that ended the Nadi readings. 

In coming to the path of the Siddhas, we are told about karma that reveals our past life experiences which determine our present life and where it is headed. They speak about our past, present, and future. They enlighten us on the ways and means to counter the harmful effects of our past deeds. Once the score is settled, the way is paved for us to receive the grace of the divine. Hence the Siddhas are stars in the night sky who guide us through the calm waters and become buoys and beacons of light that guide us from running aground as the weather worsens and as we ride the rough seas. They keep tabs on all our doings, advising and either initiating us or stopping our actions if it was detrimental to us. 

If Agathiyar who gave us the five tenets through the Tamil Sangam clarified man's general purpose in coming here, the individual Nadi reading shall lay out our specific purpose once we deal with our karma. In worshipping the Siddhas they might erase our entire fate and rewrite a new destiny too. Once life is lived accordingly to the karma earned or its effects cushioned by carrying remedies or is erased in its entirety by the merciful hands of the Siddhas the stage is set for man who is now a better person to embark on helping others reach the goal too. The guru who comes along for some might give us a new purpose in life. He takes his first step to attaining the state of a Jeevanmukta.

The Paramatma which takes a form and life as a Jeevatma, in coming within and working its way to the state of a Jeevanmukta, sees the world through his eyes. But the thing is that the Jeevatma is shrouded in a thin veil that blurs its vision. It lives in a state of ignorance. This "I" sees and understands the world and all happenings in poor sight. As long as the "I" lives his true Jeeva(Atma) hides behind the veil. When man sheds his "I" the veil drops. His home which was previously a store of thoughts and learning is cleared and emptied for the divine to occupy now. The divine then walks in and occupies this space. The divine begins to walk and speaks through him. 

One who pursues the path of the Siddhas adhering to their teachings and practices, soon sees himself attain the state of a Jeevanmukta, one who has attained salvation while living in flesh and blood. He now carries out the tasks assigned by the divine leaving behind his personal likes and dislikes, wishes, and desires. The ordinary man who was subjected to the effects of his karma, the tattvas or elements, the planetary progressions, and movements, has an umbrella over him that shields him from the adverse effects of the aforementioned. Karma as a result does not attach to his actions as it is the divine will that he carries out. Rid of karma and Maayai or delusion, he shines as a light to others. A Jeevanmukta works towards bringing enlightenment to others. His energies are passed on to those who come upon him or brush by him. He becomes a guide for others. He becomes a Upaguru. Others tend to follow his ways. He becomes a beacon himself. He becomes the candle that lights up other candles. 

Life might go on as usual for many looking after family and their career, with an occasional visit to the temples. Once we step onto the Siddha path, the need is there to work on these souls too. Just as criminals are rehabilitated, and just as the field is weeded and prepared to be sowed with good seeds, man needs to be prepared for the spiritually uplifting journey and a higher purpose in life. Pon Govindasamy reveals to us the divine's plan in his book "Vallalaarum Brahma Gnana Sangamum", Bharath Book Bureau, Chennai. He states that it is the mission of the divine to save the souls that are riddled, locked, chained, and tied down to the three Malam namely Aanavam, Kanmam, and Maayai, and bring them back to their state of purity. They shall evolve further as they drop their hold on each of these Malams. This task is given to the Vignanakalar or the Siddhas and the Maha Rishis who had defeated Maayai and Kanmam but are restrained by Aanavam. 

The Siddhas are forever willing to guide man back to Erai's abode. That was the wish they put forward to Erai. From Velayutham Karthikeyan's posting in his blog Siththan Arul at http://siththanarul.blogspot.com we understand the compassion of the Siddhas towards humanity. Karthiyen’s blog entry brings us back to time immemorial when the Siddhas, being compassionate and kind, put forward to the Almighty, who they prefer to call Erai, their wish to guide and save humanity. The Siddhas had wished that whoever seeks them out for solutions to their problems and surrenders to them, shall be pardoned for his past deeds, however bad and evil they may be. The Siddhas asked that man shall not be put through trial and tribulations and made to face the consequences of his actions but instead be saved. Erai granted the Siddhas their wish. After the audience with Erai, the next instant the Siddhas wrote down; the reasons for each individual’s sufferings; listed out solutions and remedies; wrote down ways and means to overcome or end the seeker's problems, sins, diseases, illnesses, and sufferings. They wrote them in Tamil prose on dried palm leaves. These writings came to be known as the Nadi. Hence the Nadi came to be written for every individual. Simply said coming to the worship of Siddhas helps to break the chain of karma. The Gnana Thiravukol or key to Gnanam is provided by the Siddhas. Agathiyar confirms that his job is to identify and prepare the candidate and bring him to Lord Shiva eventually. Though the Siddhas are waiting to help mankind, Karthikeyan adds that one has to seek out the Siddhas to solve his problems. 

God comes as Shiva to the Piralayaakalar who in dropping Maayai, evolved into Rishis. Veeraswamy Krishnaraj in his comprehension of Arulnandi Shivachariyar’s "Shivagnana Siddhiyar" enlightens us further. "To Pralayakalar with Anava and Kanma Malams, Lord Shiva appears as a divine God." 

The Piralayaakalar in turn educates the Sakalar. "Lord Shiva appears to Sakalar with Anava, Kanma, and Mayai Malams as a Satguru." To the common man or Sakalar who is seen to have the potential to receive their teachings and evolve into a Jeevanmukta, God comes as a Satguru with a human form and name. God as Satguru comes when he is ready to accept His teachings. God as Satguru prepares him to undertake the mystical journey. The candidate gets exposure to the path and is shown the means and ways, given practices and methods. The lineage of gurus before one's personal guru comes to guide him too accordingly. Upagurus come by to lead him further. Having complied with the basic requirements they take joy in having prepared him. He is then given the freedom to venture on his own. He finds his true self, nature, and center. He lives in society unattached and as a Jeevanmukta. He makes quick progress by remaining indifferent to all that happens around him and becomes a Rishi and a saint called Piralayaakalar. Finally, he takes the big step to becoming a Maha Rishi who is known as Vignanakalar. 

Veeraswamy explains the state of a Vignanakalar.

"Vijnanakalar - the highest class of souls among the three mentioned in "Shivagnana Siddhiyar" with only one impurity known as Anava Malam, do not need an external Guru to instruct them. Lord Shiva by remaining inside them as the inner guide rids them of the Anava Malam, bringing the merits and demerits to a resolution and conferring spiritual knowledge or divine grace known as Saktinipata, the descent of Sakti into the soul. Vijnanakalar receives Gnana from Lord Shiva himself as the incorporeal inner guide."

Gordon Matthews explains this concept in his translation of Meykanda Devar’s "Shivagnana Botham". 

"By reason of the soul’s virtue in previous births, God, who has been immanent in the soul, making it known, now vouchsafing to take the form of a Guru, initiates the soul in the Saiva mysteries. The primal one himself teaches these souls as a Guru: for in the form of consciousness, he is in union (with him). When because of the soul’s meritorious practices the primal one enlightens the soul as a Guru… When God comes as a Guru and teaches the soul, the soul is made to see that the world of experience, evolved from Maya, is non-real. It ceases then to identify itself with the non-real and to depend upon it; and in so doing it discovers its oneness with God."

Pon Govindasamy reveals that in each Kalpa, the seven landmasses under seven Manus appear and disappear one after the other. When the third land mass Kumari Kandam appeared, God sent Agathiyar, one of the seven Rishis, as its protector. Agathiyar then a Rishi and a Piralayaakalar, learned the sciences from God who came as Lord Murugan and imparted true knowledge at Pothigai. Agathiyar mastered the five aspects of God which are creation, sustenance, destruction, veiling, and blessing, and also achieved all eight siddhis. He then stood as a Vignanakalar, appearing as true knowledge or an epitome of Gnanam. He stood as Lord Dhakshanamurthi.

RESPECTING THE GURU

We read and watch how Osho takes us through dance and has us settle down in silence eventually. Similarly, the Gods seem to be in a state of constant dance and occasionally take a moment to go into retreat. The saints have seen and sang about this dance. Lord Shiva and Lord Murugan have danced before us. They get us to sing and dance along with them. I set off performing a dance that lifted me off my feet and had me land in a pit in a dark cave during my visit many years back. I was taken off guard and so were my wife and daughter. After some moments of bliss that echoed as laughter in the cave, my wife came up to me to give me a hand to get up. 

Similarly, once we have danced in tandem with the needs of the self, family, company, society, etc, they get us to sit down and finally observe a dance of another kind, the dance of the breath. Going into retreat we just observe the breath dance its way. I was watching this dance just moments ago. The breath traversed as if in tune with the songs on Lord Shiva that I played. Before arriving at an awareness of the breath though, we have to work on certain breathing techniques first. Eventually, we need to let go of these techniques too giving the breath the space and time to perform its dance. We are grateful to Tavayogi for having initiated us on this practice that Agathiyar regards as a treasure. Agathiyar warned us not to receive initiations from mass rallies reminding us that the Siddhas always give initiation one to one studying the health factors of the recipient, his or her mindset, and the flow of the breath in their nostrils in these moments. This reminded me of the many moments Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal came and set the flow right asking us to do Nadi Suddhi before initiating certain energies in us.

While successive heads of Peedhams and ashrams were afraid to make the change to simplify the worship and make it accessible to the common folk, we went ahead to simplify it bringing the laborious rituals that we once did, and that took several hours to a mere twenty-four minutes. The present heads had their reasons. They did not want to break the time-held traditions that have been upheld in these institutions. We understand and accept their stand. The path and the worship of the Siddhas that came through Tavayogi to us were slowly modified to suit the fast and furious lifestyle of Malaysians. My "Complete Book of Praise to the Siddhas", which was a compendium of songs in praise of Siddhars, was compiled over the years beginning in 2002 and catered for the non-Tamil speaking devotes carrying Romanized words. It saw many revisions and eventually was reduced to a handy booklet of a few songs and pages that would only take 24 minutes of our time. Our puja which took hours similarly was cut short to accommodate the needs of the day, hour, and the divine. There was no hard and fast rule at Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia. We were open to changes that the Siddhas initiated during these moments. We went with the flow. As Tavayogi ended his interview with me and my family who visited him at his ashram in 2013 saying that he has no idea what Agathiyar would do further, we too gather during these pujas drawing up a tentative program that we know shall be hijacked by the Siddhas. 

AVM which closed its doors in late 2019 upon Agathiyar's wish, is set to make a comeback again as Tavayogi, Agathiyar, and Lord Murugan desire, not as a center where everyone congregates but to materialize in each devotee's home. The method that came to us is being repacked and packaged and exported abroad anew now. It is set to make a breakthrough in Chennai too. Agathiyar came in a Nadi reading for a devotee in the metropolitan. I see her bringing his intention of turning each home into an Agathiyar Vanam to cross the seas and take a foothold in India too. An Indian devotee from Karaikudi and presently working in Germany mentioned his desire to emulate AVM and bring the Siddha worship there.

Agathiyar initially performs miracles to lure us into the path. In asking me to come over, he told me that he would open his eyes and look at me at Agasthiyampalli. I had no idea how it would take place. I went with eagerness following Tavayogi who volunteered to bring me there after I shared my Nadi reading with him. Since Agathiyar had promised to open his eyes and see me at Agasthiyampalli in the Nadi reading, I began observing his worn-down granite statue that Agathiyar told Dr.V.N.Jayapalan of Bangalore in his meditation, was installed by King Kuberan at the start of Kali Yuga. His image had been worn down, missing all the details, due to years of conducting libation or Abhisegam on him. He was carved in granite with both eyes shut. 

As Tavayogi ended his prayer with a couple of hymns, I continued with the recitation of the Siddhas' names or Potri as usual. As I started reciting the Pranavam - AUM, at Agathiyar’s shrine, I could hear and feel the Pranavam reverberate, and bounce off the granite walls. I felt a cool breeze sweep over me even as I was sweating away in the mid-morning heat at the shrine. As I uttered the last line of the Potri hymn, Aum Maa Siddhargale Potri, he had yet to open his eyes. He had yet to look at me. I broke down in disappointment. I cried and cried. I begged Agathiyar to open his eyes and see me. However, he did not respond. I shut my eyes as I wept continuously. After some time, I opened my eyes. Tavayogi who was earlier seated opposite me was no more there. As I turned my gaze toward the entrance I saw him standing outside in the heat. Thinking that he was waiting for me and ready to leave, I joined him outside. He ushered me to his side and pointed out that Agathiyar had opened his eyes twice. He whispered to me that there was the aroma of sandalwood in the air too. He asked that I stand at the same spot he had stood. “Concentrate now. Look at the Siddha’s eyes,” he said. As we stood in the open and in the heat of the day, the shrine was dark. I peered hard at the granite statue of Agathiyar but I could hardly make out his face much less see him open and close his eyes. I could sense Tavayogi’s disappointment that I could not see Agathiyar open his eyes from the tone of his voice when he consoled me, “Never mind, son. Let’s snap some photographs, shall we?” I entered Agathiyar’s shrine again and was about to sit at the same spot when Tavayogi motioned me to sit with Agathiyar in the inner sanctum. Seeing my hesitation to enter the inner sanctum, he told me “Go in and sit at Agathiyar’s feet in the inner sanctum. He is our father. Who dares object?” That is when Tavayogi throws his shawl over to me asking me to lay it on the floor to sit on as the floor. Only then I realized there were oil spills and grime where I was to sit. As I laid his shawl and sat, I turned to look at Agathiyar and what should I see? The Siddha had an eye open. His left eye. I looked hard in disbelief. I was sure they were engraved “closed” as I entered his shrine that morning. I was overcome with joy seeing Agathiyar look at me and I called out to Tavayogi, “Swami…” Even before I could complete my sentence, Tavayogi understood and told me, “Right! He has seen you, has he, come! They will show (themselves) only for a moment.” Tavayogi hurried me from the spot. Even as I came out from his shrine and looked back, the Siddha was looking back at me with one eye open, grinning away. Agathiyar blessed Tavayogi and me by opening both his eyes again at his sannadhi at the Kutraleshwarar Temple, shortly after he did a similar feat at Agasthiyampalli.

When Jnana Jothiamma came over to my home on a morning flight from Chennai in October of 2013, hot on our heels, as I and my family returned from Trichy the previous night, she pretty much wanted to see the libation and ritual of bathing or abhisegam for Agathiyar after watching it on Skype for years. Later my daughter rushed down the steps and showed me several photos that she had snapped during our puja. Agathiyar showed us he was alive and living or should I say kicking in the tiny piece of the metal statue at my home. He had opened his eyes in his statue during the libation. Since then he has been watching us. How do we reckon this? Can a granite statue open its eyes? Or a bronze statue for that matter? Well, it did happen! Today he makes His presence made known to us in multiple ways, blessing one and all. 

What is with the eye then? We watch the world with our eyes. The Siddhas show us many a thing first on the outside and later on the inside. If after having us experience worldly existence, engaging us in outside activities, puja, and charity first, Agathiyar gave us inner experiences later and wanted me to publish them. Recently he did show me and my wife something that he hushed us not to speak about, record, or publish. We shall respect his wishes since even the deities and Siddhas look up to him for his consent before going ahead with their call of duty. When Ma Kaali came she asked permission from Agathiyar first before engaging in saving the life of a newborn child. When Bhogar found out that a devotee's ailment was due to the activation or rather blockages resulting from an unjustified initiation or rather a matter of her being in the wrong place wrong time, he asks Agathiyar for approval to release the pent-up energies considering her age and health. A good student will listen to his guru.

YEGAN

"Where do I begin, To tell the story of how great a love can be, The sweet love story that is older than the sea," asks Andy Williams in his love song from "Love Story". Similarly, where do we begin to tell the tale of our love for the divine? It is a love affair that is dated since time immemorial. Though many of us have forgotten our lover he has never forgotten us. After each birth ends we are reminded of our love affair only to forget it in the next birth again. The saints though have remembered it and worked towards bridging both worlds or planes and meeting up with their lovers. We too can bridge the worlds and become just like the saints. It can all take place here, not in a distant world or another plane. Neither after death. It is possible right here where we stand, in this body and mind. Let us take the plunge here, right now. Start first as a bhakta or devotee, seeing him as God in the heavens. Let us worship the divine and his messengers. With devotion and surrender, seeing our keenness to know him, he then comes as a guru. He preaches his ways and teaches us the means and methods and takes us on a journey, first an external one showing his abodes and places in the hope that it might rekindle our past memories with him in other lives. Later we move within on an internal journey where we experience not the sights and sounds but his presence as vibrations and energy that were prevalent in those places we visited earlier, now right within us in this body. Soon we sense his presence and his vibrations all around us and in everything. But before all this is possible we need to prepare the body to receive his visit, his presence, and energy just as we clean up the home to usher visitors. But before all this is possible we need his grace. But before that is showered on us we need to place the efforts toward reaching him. But before that is undertaken we need the blessings of all those around us, both visible and invisible. 

We need the blessings of our parents, ancestors, family, friends, and others that go towards rendering a conducive environment and space to engage with our daily material lives, and that provides for a conducive state of mind, and good health. When a devotee stood before Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar asking to be blessed with a child, he asked her to donate a certain number of sacks of rice. When she shared her meeting with him with me I wondered what donating this got to do with conceiving a child. Today I pretty well understand the subtle workings behind each action of ours, and the butterfly effect it has on everything around us. In donating the rice to the hungry, they shall bless the souls who provided a meal for them. All these blessings come back as flower petals showering on the giver and making way for his or her wishes to be fulfilled. What we have gained in life has to be left behind and we carry anything with us said Supramania Swami as he passed on even his hard-earned merits that came from his forty years of Tapas and austerities to me. Hence the reason we fall at the feet of our elders seeking their blessings as at weddings. A part of the good that they did shall shower on us. Hence the reason we fall at their feet for their blessings before beginning a new venture or journey. Their blessings shall follow us and protect us. Similarly if one returns from a pilgrimage the grace of the divine follows him into his home upon his return and is showered on others who were not able to follow. The very Prasad that comes from these holy places is charged with their Grace that the divine can manifest in these. 

After getting sufficient blessings, then comes the toughest part - our effort. As with motivational talks, the hype is for a few days after which it dies off. As with any practice, the hype is for a few days before we let go of the practices. But one disciplined and perseveres sees results. Soon the initial efforts placed towards it on our part become effortless with his grace. His grace is showered on us without our asking. As Tavayogi said that our effort is only two steps until the Svadhisthana, they shall rope us in and pull us up further. They turn the tide in our favor. We then begin to reap the benefits of all our efforts but not before we are cleansed of past karma and purified to the soul. 

When I met Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar many years ago in 2003, he kept silent when I asked for his blessings. Finally, he told me setting foot at his Kudil itself was a blessing. I left disappointed and confused. Today I understand the subtle message he conveyed through that statement and his refusal to bless me. I should have asked for his Arul or Grace. His Kudil was already electrified with the energies of the Siddhas that are worshiped here and the number of acts of Dharma carried out all these years, something that we did not know and realize or could experience or feel then as we were just taking a fresh step then. As the very air around them and their abodes themselves already carries their blessings, saints give their grace that follows and transforms us, only when asked for.

We need the grace of gurus and the divine to tear down the veils and curtains that prevent us from knowing our Soul or Atma. The guru who has come to show us the way becomes a close buddy sharing his thoughts and visions with us. We lose sight of our own ambitions and begin to take on the vision of our guru. Soon love blossoms in our hearts. As yearning for his love blossoms and builts it comes to a point where the very love tears our hearts and tears us not able to see him, hug him, and speak to him. There is never a day that goes by without being in his presence and in his arms. We look forward to engaging in matrimony with him where we can always be in his arms and bosom 24/7. We merge together in divine matrimony eventually. All journeys both external and internal fall out as we embrace him and his energies and vibration take a sweep on us, swirling us and lifting us off our feet, and throwing us aside to experience the brief moment of the merger. He consumes us and we lose our own identity. We are one - Yegan.