The gates to Heaven are open now I guess. For Agathiyar is making it simple to attain Siddhahood. If Tavayogi on watching us told me with a sign of disbelief, "How is it son you have made it here easily when we had to scale the hills and mountains and engage in extreme tapas, I felt blessed and was full of gratitude to the divine for his mercy and compassion. As I step into my 63rd year, looking back I shudder to think what had I done? There were many blunders I did and near misses but somehow I was saved from the situations that would have disrupted and diverted my life for the worse. Looking back I do not deserve their mercy and compassion. Agathiyar ran through my life journal of the past, present, and future when I read my very first Nadi reading and set me off to carry out numerous remedies to counter my past flaws and faults and karma that was in a bad light. He asked me to come to the worship of the Siddhas. I started the worship and remedies that were to be carried out at local temples immediately while the other remedies in India were done the following year. After I listened and followed as told he acknowledged these faults and disasters in my second reading three years later removing the burden of shame and guilt and telling me that it was all his doing too. He wanted me to have those experiences too. He asked me to forgive myself first and that he shall forgive me too. So I am indeed surprised that the way was paved smoothly for me to travel with the Siddhas.
If I thought chanting Agathiyar's name 100,000 times was a mighty task that Agathiyar gave me when he came over to my home in 2010 in the form of a bronze statue, he settled for the 45,000 chants that we could only manage among the handful of us that day on 3rd January 2010. He asked us to carry out a libation to his statue with nine items too. Recently in staying put in my daughter's home, he asked to chant only 1000 times. He made it easy on us. A week later at another puja in another devotee's home, a participating devotee was gifted a miniature bronze statue by Agathiyar who personally performed libation to it. She was asked to continue in her home. Well, he sure has made things easy for his devotees these days.
All it takes is chanting the name of Agathiyar. If time permits one could chant the names of the rest of the Siddhas too. In worshipping the Siddhas they help us with our past karma that stands as a hurdle and obstacles to better things in life. Once it is out of the way it is indeed good times ahead. While fulfilling our daily needs for survival Siddhas deep down in their hearts want to elevate us to their standing too. They begin to work on those who they see have the potential to grow. The growth mentioned here is that of the Soul or Atma. They enhance the Atma, removing first the veil that keeps us from knowing it. Once it gains Atma Balam he then begins to lead others to the ways and the means. With several methods and practices that are given, he is shown the means to get in touch with his origin and source. He meets the Prapanjam. He becomes one with it. He then commands it. The Prapanjam works in his favor. Now it is no more of individual desires and wishes but all his actions are for the betterment of the world and its inhabitants. When I hesitated to carry out the Homam or fire lighting ceremony in my home that Tavayogi asks me to do as I told him it was exclusively for the priestly kind, Tavayogi pushed me to do it. Later Agathiyar tells me in the Nadi that it was not for me but for the well-being of the world just like Tavayogi told me the temple ashram he built at Kallar was for others. When the pandemic reared its ugly head Lord Shiva had us carry out Homam in our individual homes with only the family around as most parts of the country were under lockdown. Later Prapanjam sensing another revival of the dreaded virus, asked us to carry out the Homam.
When man moves towards doing things for the benefit of the world rather than for his individual gains, he has taken a large step towards meeting the Prapanjam. It then comes to meet him halfway. He is then a Jeevanmuktha. In "Pathway to God Trod by Saint Ramalingar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay by G.Vanmikanathan says of a Jeevanmuktha that,
"A jeevanmuktha does not act on his own volition. God acts through him and speaks through him. The jeevanmuktha has imprisoned God in his heart, in every fiber of his body."
I guess when I read the Nadi the very first time, Agathiyar in calling me to his path and the worship of the Siddhas had envisioned that I shall build a temple as a service to other seekers too. I did scout around in excitement but the excitement died down as I faced rejection from existing temple committees to house Agathiyar in their temple premises. Soon I dropped the search to look for a venue for him. A consolation came by when my first guru Supramania Swami wanted to build a temple for Lord Muruga in Tiruvannamalai. But that was dropped after the divine sent a stranger who questioned Swami why he was stepping back into Bhakthi being a Gnani himself. Another consolation came by when Tavayogi built a temple ashram for Agathiyar in Kallar later. I thought my job was done through my gurus and took a breather. But in 2018 Lord Murugan in a Nadi reading asked me to build a temple for him. As questions ran through my mind as to why he wanted another temple as he already had many, Lord Murugan told me that though he was aware that there are many temples for him in Malaysia, he was portrayed differently. He said I shall show him in a different light. எனக்கு நீ ஆலயத்தை அமைக்க வேண்டும். நிற்கவே இம்மண்ணில் எந்தனுக்கு ஆலயமும் அமைத்து உள்ளார். என்னை வேறு விதமாய் காட்டித்தான் வைத்துள்ளார். என்னை நீ காட்டுகின்ற காட்சி வேறு. But recently he told me that they had dropped the idea and the assignment considering my age. They did not want to trouble me. Instead, he conveyed Tavayogi's wish to see each home turn into Agathiyar Vanam. Agathiyar shall move house too to a home of a young devotee where his worship shall flourish in times to come. As for me, he has asked that I continue writing this blog. தக்கதொரு எழுதிடுவாய் சித்த மார்க்கம் பற்றி. எழுத வைப்போம் சிந்தையிலே கலந்து நாங்கள். கருணையுடன் கருத்துகளை உலகிற்குப் பரப்பிக் கருணையான நிலை தன்னை பலர் அடையச் செய்தாய். உண்மையான மார்க்கத்தை உலகிற்கு ஓதி உயர் நிலையைப் பலர் அடைய வைத்தவன் நீ. அருள் நிலைகள் பெற்றிருக்கின்றார் பல மாந்தரும். மாற்றங்கள் பலர் அடையக் காரணமாய் இருந்தாய். இந்தத் தேசத்தில் சத்தமின்றி அகத்தியரைப் பலருக்கு நீ காட்டினாய் அப்பா. உன் தொண்டை மெச்சுகின்றேன்.
Then he told me "Enough of writing about him" and instructed me to write about the experiences taking place within me henceforth so that those who worship the Light and yearn to become it shall know what to anticipate and encounter on this journey. Come join me in this adventure of discovery on the way back home. I shall be glad if you make it before me.
Swami Saravanananda in this book, an English translation of Ramalinga Adigal’s "Aruperunjhoti Agaval" published by Ramalinga Mission, Madras, writes, "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, ..."
"The inward journey begins the very moment one 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 Vinjnanamaya Kosham. Once aware of the divine presence, "he has already begun the transformational process and surrendered the sheath of the intellect or Vinjnanamaya Kosham 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."
"As the intellect undergoes this transformation, the mental sheath or Manomaya Kosham, associated with the senses, is similarly transformed."
"As the divine attributes of the Atma that manifest in the very subtle sheath of bliss or Anandamaya Kosham comes to be known, a subtle transformation begins in the very subtle part of the being. All his experiences and knowledge are then tailored to teach him the higher and deeper aspects of the Atma. The teachings that were focused on gaining experience in life and knowledge for living in the physical world, shift to that of knowing the Atma and one's true purpose and mission. He becomes well-informed and knowledgeable not through the normal means of attaining them but informed by the divine attributes within him."
We are told that when the divine light descends into the sheath of energy or Pranayama Kosham,
"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 body."
Swami Saravanananda writes that when the transformation of the Pranava body is completed the next and final stage of transformation into the Gnostic body (Gnana deham) starts.
Though it might seem like the effulgence had come within through our efforts, rituals, worship, dharma, etc, in reality, no matter how much effort is placed in the spiritual field things are only possible with divine grace. If I have arisen to this stage it is not my doing but the 40 years of collective merits of the tapas and austerities of my first guru Supramania Swami that I inherited, the blessings of Tavayogi, and the grace of the Siddhas and the divine. I would return to dust to be tramped upon if I claimed that it was solely my effort that I rose to this state. It's only with the grace of the divine that can man come to him. His efforts minus the divine grace go nowhere. The Divine Light awakens the Atma and draws the veil aside. The Atma shows itself. The Atma then takes the lead, provided we surrender the "I". It takes over the wheels. The Atma is now captain of the ship and helps us stay clear of the rapids, whirlpools, and rocks, bringing us to calm waters. As peace and calm settle in, the journey back home begins.