All external worship and rituals are tied to internal transformations. For instance, when Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal come, they keep reminding us to kindle the light or jhoti from the oil lamp that we burn externally and at the same time ask that we kindle the light or Jhoti that burns within too. Karma too has an external means of eradication and an equally effective internal means. Agathiyar says we can burn our Karma away by conducting a Yagam or Homam, the ritual of lighting the sacrificial fire.
Then the pandemic came and we all were forced to stay indoors, which provided us time and space to carry out these puja, rituals, and yogic practices in the confines of our home with only the family. What Tavayogi taught us, the worship of Siddhas, the ritual of lighting the fire pit or Homam, and the Yoga techniques have come in handy in keeping us company as we are forced to stay indoors. Agathiyar had already told me to go within very much earlier, even before the lockdown, asking me to leave the house only if very crucial. He initiated us in taking tulasi or basil leaves with lukewarm water. He asks us to revisit certain Pranayama exercises taught by Tavayogi, asking us to spit out the sputum that comes with it. But he never indicated to us the pandemic that was to follow. Agathiyar asked me to seclude myself, camp overnight in his room, and go within. He taught me certain pranayama techniques and asked me to observe the breath. My days and nights were spent with him. I was asked not to leave the home unless very critical. During this period, the hearing, the sight, the smell, the taste buds, and the touch were all equally amplified or improved. As my eyesight improved, I had to make a new pair of glasses with a prescription power of 175 on my right and 150 on my left, a vast contrast from what was 525 and 475, respectively, in the '80s.
Our body is the biggest miracle that is so close to us that we often miss acknowledging. We are neither grateful nor treat it with respect and gratitude. We treat it as a vehicle to ferry our soul and dump it when it doesn't serve our purpose anymore. The Siddha, on the contrary, takes special care of it, bringing it with him as he leaves the physical world. The body can rejuvenate and heal itself by taking good care of it and, of course, with some assistance from certain food intakes and supplements that are known to the Siddhas. It is said that if one lives till 120, they might see new teeth grow. It is said that the cells are replaced every seven years, becoming practically a new person because, in that time, every cell in our body has been replaced by a new cell. I am growing black hair at my age of 66 now.
Agathiyar explained that the internal journey of going within will eventually, through our efforts and the grace of the divine, bring us to stand at the doorway of the seventh Chakra, where we will come to realize and understand the reason we are here. True to his words, I stand today at this doorway to know, learn, and venture on a new adventure into new frontiers and uncharted territories. As I was thinking about going into self-imposed exile, Agathiyar told me that it was not time yet to do so, for there was more that he would reveal and for me to share. Although Agathiyar had revealed the 5 tenets of taking birth as a human at the Tamil Sangam in the past, outlining man's general purpose and contribution, by going within each individual comes to know his specific mission. What would be my mission?
If previous astrologers had charted my horoscope based on my date and time of birth, when I went for my very first Nadi reading in 2002, Agathiyar plotted an entirely different placement of the Ascendant star or Lagna and the rest of the planets. After the initial prayer to Lord Vinayaga, Agathiyar described the nature of my thumbprint, stated the sign of the zodiac rising at birth or Ascendant or Lagna, Rasi, and my planetary positions precise to the very instant of my birth that day. What came as a surprise was that Agathiyar mentioned my Lagna as Tula. Cross-referencing with an old horoscope drawn up by AM Turaisamy Aiya in 1983, he wrote my (Utaya) Lagna as Kadagam too in the planetary chart, but had noted the Lagna as Tula in the Navamsa chart. Dr. Krishnan, too, had determined it as Kadagam later in 1996.
I came to find out later, in the 31 May 2012 posting of the blog Siththan Arul, that if the planets Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter, and Mars are known to retrograde, Agathiyar surprises us saying that the Lagna or time of birth too could do so in some cases. If this happens, the predictions do not take place. As the Lagna had retrograded, I understood the reason for all the past predictions not to have taken place. Much later in 2018, Lord Muruga, coming in a Nadi reading, said that he had changed my fate that instant.
In December of 2019, Agathiyar asked me to hold my breath in Kumbhaka for the very first time for the duration of the Diksa mantra. He asks to observe the breath. He asked to learn about the composition of the physical body or உடல் கூறு தத்துவங்கள் that Tavayogi had written about in his books first. Then in January of 2020, he told me to start back the Yoga techniques that we learned from Tavayogi, which were placed on hold by Agathiyar after the onset of my back pain.
On 15 May 2020, Ramalinga Adigal asked if I was experiencing the changes taking place within me after putting into practice all that was told to me. I shared my experiences, and he seemed pleased and endorsed them. He asked to continue doing them. He spoke about the need to place concerted efforts in my practice.
Dr. Geeta Anand, in her blog http://agatthiyarjnanam.blogspot.com/, says that "the Siddhas did not settle for Moksha after death. They use their body as a Moksha Sadhana, attaining it while alive. They manipulated the chemistry in the gross or material body or Sthula deham, defeating the five types of modifications that it is fated to go through, namely: aging, getting white hair, diminishing sight, disease, and death. They turned it into a Yoga Sareeram or Deham or Siddha Deham that is not shackled to a particular place, time, or situation using Deha Siddhi or lighting the fire of Kundalini. When Kundalini unfolds from its dormant state and ascends through the Chakras, it starts absorbing the element that each Chakra represents. Thus, it absorbs the twenty-four principles into itself. When it reaches the Ajna Chakra, the yogi’s body becomes a Siddha Deham, merging the Siva and Sakti principle present in the Sahasrara and Muladhar, respectively. Not satisfied with their achievement of attaining a Siddha Deham, the Siddhas ventured to turn it into a Pranava Deham or Mandira Meni or Mantra Deham. When the aspirant practices breath regulation, he changes the direction of the breath and makes it flow through the Sushumna instead of the Ida and Pingala, thus bringing the left and the right part of the body into equilibrium. This is called the union of Siva and Sakti, or Samarasam. Then the sound OM occurs within the yogi’s body, and his Siddha Deham becomes a Pranava Deham or Oomai Deham or the silent body. Now not contented by being a Jivan Mukta, having attained liberation while still in the bodily form they strive to gain an Effulgent body or Divya Deham, or Chinmayam, or Baindhava Sareeram, or Kailaya Deham or Jnana Deham, thence attaining Para Mukthi, where they go beyond time and remain as an embodiment of Sivam, merging in the supreme space or Vetta Vezhi or Sorgaloka Vezhi, glistening and glowing. This is also called Apancheekaranam or reverse manifestation."
Phew! What a journey. Just reading about it is mindboggling. Can we ever achieve these states?