Speaking to Mrs. Kogie Pillai from South Africa over the phone last night, she was pretty amused and delighted that we have made friends with the Siddhas after I ran through my journey with her, for you hardly come across one who is equally excited and wants to know more of these stories of close encounters with the divine energies. Yes, what was once a close encounter is now a flesh-and-blood reality. We have made contact with the Siddhas, and they have come to live with us, both in our homes and in our hearts, and living within us, just as the many stories, miracles, and memories reside deep within the recesses of our minds as vibration, song, and thoughts.
And it all begins when one begins to listen and follow as told, just as a child does. One has to become a child to begin to learn and experience in awe the astonishing stories that then begin to take shape. In returning to the innocence of a child, one would relish these moments, watching without analyzing, without questioning. As Agathiyar says, if man chooses to believe only after it happens, the Siddhas ask us to believe, and it shall happen. One just needs to believe what is said, seen, and heard to see the flowering of miracles take place.
And so one has to become a child in going over to a Nadi reader, too, and having the Siddhas reveal things about us. Furthermore, one has to sit still and listen in awe and amazement, just as I did at the age of 43, as my story unfolded before me and was revealed by the Siddhas through their medium of a piece of dried palm leaf on which were etched writings in Tamil, purportedly said to be written in the way past.
Mr. Sethu, from an adjacent block, who often came by to my cubicle in the office, passed me several cassettes of Ramalinga Adigal's Arutpa, which sent me reeling to the local musical stores and bookstores, searching for more of his songs. Mr. Sethu used to share his experiences in reading his horoscope, which drove me to see mine too. Sitting in his office waiting area, with others who had come to read their horoscopes too, exchanging small talk with them brought me to ask myself why Dr. Krishnan's predictions, or for that matter, those of a former astrologer who drafted my horoscope in the seventies, did not materialize as the others gave the thumbs up for the doctor. The Siddha physician and astrologer, Dr. Krishnan, answered my question that was veiled: if his predictions had failed to materialize for his clients, as mine never did, and not that it bothered me, but I wanted to know out of curiosity. He told me in the affirmative and told me the reason, too, if one were cursed in the past. Only then did I tell him that none of his predictions materialized for me. Asking if he could look into my chart and tell me, he told me it was not to be found in the charts, but that only the Siddhas know. He asked that I see a Nadi reader. As I did not know one then, and neither did he point me to one, I let it be.
When, in 2002, a colleague, Muralitharan Saminathan, who was transferred to my place of work, spoke about his experience in reading his Nadi in 2000, it reminded me of Dr. Krishnan, who had spoken about it in the nineties to me, and stirred my interest to see mine too. My friend fixed an appointment for me through the young Sivabalan, who brought in the Nadi reader Senthilkumar of Avinashi, Tamil Nadu. True enough, I was told that, as I was cursed in the past, I was deprived of all the benefits of my venture and efforts placed. I came to know about karma, which brought me to understand why all those people I knew back then as a bachelor in the eighties were suffering and were in hardship. I had questioned whether God was loving and compassionate, as we were told and as we read. As these questions hit the peak, Lord Siva came in the nick of time in a dream and asked that I hold back all these questions and doubts to another date. I followed and let it be. In a rather appropriate manner, I was transferred out of that coastal town of Lumut to the capital city of Malaysia, bringing on a new environment and new friends. The answers came via my first Nadi reading, some 14 years later, in addressing my karma. Agathiyar had me carry out remedies to remove, if not to at least soften, its effects. He sent me on my maiden pilgrimage to India after having me do my rounds locally. Hence began a journey that was mind-boggling and out of this world. As Mrs. Kogie said, I made friends with the Siddhas.
Arriving in Kuala Lumpur at the nick of time to catch up with an officer in the department, Mr. Segaran, who had submitted his resignation to become a monk in Paramahansa Yogananda's Ranchi ashram, before he left, he gave me a painting of Lord Siva, Paramahansa's book "Autobiography of a Yogi", and some sound advice to take on whatever tasks and jobs are given and that come my way, which served to mold me and make me an indispensable asset at the office. As it was administrative and secretarial work, I saw myself move away from my engineering field and picked up new skills in making slides for presentations and putting together publications for the department. These were to serve me later as I began sharing my travels on my websites, streaming my home Puja, publishing my online books in praise of the Siddhas, making videos and uploading them on the net, and blogging.
If one comes as a child before the Nadi reader, one has to come empty, leaving all that was learned and practiced before the guru. Only then can he fill us in with his experience and learnings, practices, and methods, and only then can we take back these tools to work on ourselves. And so it was that I came before my gurus in the physical form who molded me further.
Although Agathiyar often tells me that it was only what the Siddhas did and worked for them, proving efficient, they passed it on to me, too, in mentioning to me that I had come to achieve the results that usually come by way of practicing Hatha Yoga, giving me Puja and Tapas instead, Agathiyar dropped several tough practices, and had simplified the way, the means, and the method. No wonder Tavayogi, too, told me with amazement, asking how I could come thus far, easily, when they had to put in much effort. When I asked Agathiyar later if there was no simpler means to it, he too told me that it was the simplest he could give, as he too had to break his back in arriving there. What made my journey even simpler was the merits of the 40 years of tapas and austerities that Supramania Swami gave me. He who had taken on the hard work of arriving there passed on its fruits to me to enjoy.
And so it is that so many people come our way and help us, as Mrs. Kogie defines it, join the dots and map out our journey. Just as Neale Donald Walsch wrote in his series of books, "Conversation with God (CWG)", and Agathiyar, in mapping the purpose of mankind, gave us the 5 Tenets, we are all souls who have come by to help, assist, and aid another grow spiritually. I am thankful and grateful to all these souls who came by. Besides our family members and blood relations, so many others from different walks of life come into our lives as a string of events to see to our needs for that moment, or to make us take up a stand, or to lead us on a different path or thought, that makes me rethink if we are actually in charge of our lives, for it seems to me now that every single happening is orchestrated by a bigger and larger being, the hidden hand of the Divine.