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.