GURU PURNIMA - WHEN THE PRAPANJAM SUSTAINS US, WORKS IN US & THROUGH US

Today is Guru Purnima. Today is also a Thursday. Thursdays are auspicious to the Gurus. When Supramania Swami passed away in 2006, Agathiyar told me to bring him to mind each Thursday during Puja. 

It comes as no surprise these days if seekers do not hang around and make their exit when gurus do not exhibit Siddhis or cater to their needs. Caught in the lure of the pleasures of life, we have postponed the big journey that the Siddhas laid out for us. Many remained at their level of initiation, never making the effort to carry out what was told. 

When Shiva became the first guru, over 15,000 years ago, he began the transmission of yoga to the Saptarishis. It is said that he came as a yogi in the upper regions of the Himalayas. Nobody knew his origins, but his presence was extraordinary, and people began to gather around him. However, he exhibited no signs of life, but for the occasional tears of ecstasy that rolled down his face. People began to drift away. Only seven men stayed on. When he finally opened his eyes, they pleaded with him, wanting to experience whatever was happening to him. He dismissed them, but they persevered. Finally, he gave them a simple preparatory step and closed his eyes again. The seven men began to prepare. Days rolled into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, but the yogi’s attention did not fall upon them again. After 84 years of sadhana, the yogi looked at them again. They had become shining receptacles, wonderfully receptive. He could not ignore them anymore.

It is fairly clear that seekers must be prepared to receive teachings, if any, from the guru. The years of waiting under the feet of the guru opened up the possibility for a human being to evolve consciously, cleared and cleansed all thoughts, and halted all action, making them a conducive vessel and later a vehicle of the guru.  If our parents showed us god in the image they were accustomed to, the guru comes to show us the way and means to discover god for ourselves. That is all the guru does and steps back to see the student bloom into a lovely flower. 

Ram Dass quotes from Dada Mukerjee's book "The Near and the Dear," available at http://www.ramdass.org/work-saints/

Saints are one in their work as divine channels. They link us up with the source from which all bliss flows: love. They bake the unbaked pots and make them fit to receive the divine bliss. They illuminate the path by removing all the darkness that holds us back. Their work does not end with the energizing or enlightening of some select few here and there. They also serve as the unflickering flame helping to light other candles. What bliss and joy Hanuman brought to his devotee Tulsidas! And what bliss and joy Tulsidas himself has scattered to millions of other devotees, helping to rekindle their lamps, although he himself parted with his body long, long ago. This has been the case with many great saints and their disciples, from Guru Maharaj to Shyama Charan, from Ramkrishna to Vivekananda. Through them and their own disciples they live in the memory of many old people. The work of the saints goes on, whether we know it or not.

Tavayogi, knowing pretty well that I would hold on to his physical form and offer obeisance and worship his image, stopped me in my tracks the day I showed outright joy and happiness in having him visit my family home back in 2005. I am glad he did that, although it hurt so much then. He showed me instead to Agathiyar and asked me to hold on to him tightly. Agathiyar, coming to us some time back, even asked that I drop my hold on him, asking how else we could become one? Tavayogi took a physical form to carry out his mission here, representing what Agathiyar stood for and preaching the Siddha ways. Now that it is done, he has merged with Agathiyar. Agathiyar, in coming to us, told us that he had to step in to guide us as Tavayogi was doing their work in their realm. Dhanvantri, in coming to us, told us that Tavayogi had become Light or Jothi. Now that he has merged with Agathiyar, today, even as Tavayogi is with us in the subtle form, guiding us on, we do not worship the form he took in this birth, but instead the source. 

All the saints come to dispel the darkness, ignorance, and the veil that prevents us from knowing our true selves. They work to bring us back on track to return to the source, starting us with external worship of the divine and slowly bringing us within. Sadly, we chose to worship the guru in physical form instead of forgetting his message to go beyond form and reach out to the source that is within the Guru and all of us. When all gurus are said to have merged with the Adhi or Mulam or source, why do we need to retain their images and forms, either physically or in our thoughts and minds? What is retained is that of the source. This is said to be the form of Light. We are to become it too.

Tavayogi gave me a taste of nature by bringing me to the abodes of the Siddhas, connecting me with Prapanjam rather than handing out notes and conducting courses and exams. He took me on the practical path again by giving me and several others Yoga practices to carry out in 2007, which forced the dormant energies to awaken and rise, culminating in pain and agony in 2010/11. Agathiyar broke the bund that held back the energies that had stagnated in the Manipuraka, after another 12 years, in 2022. When I asked him if there was anything further that I needed to do, he replied "Nothing" and that the energies would do their work. Ramalinga Adigal came to connect us with the Prapanjam too, after Agathiyar revealed that the Prapanjam was in him and that he was in it too. The Prapanjam is honoring all our wishes and showering us with gifts that we never desired. It is pretty obvious that the Prapanjam is at work now, as Agathiyar said.