Going on my morning walk with my wife, who had just returned after caring for our grandchildren in my daughter's place, we met a large-framed African man running in the park. When he stopped to attend to his phone, I walked up to him and congratulated him on being in great shape and top form. He was from Nigeria. I told him he reminded me of Michael Clarke Duncan, who took on the role of John Coffey in the movie "The Green Mile". He was all smiles. We stopped at the morning market for some greens and had our breakfast before heading back to the car. I was saddened to see many obese individuals at the eateries, and others struggling with their own weight and trying hard to drag themselves around. This was exactly what Agathiyar addressed a family just days ago. He apprehended the two sisters now in their fifties who were overweight and had ignored caring for their bodies, though having come to his path some thirty years back. As I sat outside giving them some private moment with Agathiyar, Agathiyar called me in and had me sit with them. He told me the past thirty years were wasted. He told them to exercise, walk, and keep fit. He asked that they review their diet and consume more protein, even if they have to eat meat. He asked me to write about this. I was surprised because, earlier, as they had arrived on time at 5.30 pm, I had invited them to take a walk around my neighborhood. That is when I noticed that they struggled to walk. This was what Agathiyar addressed.
Running a check on the Internet I find the following: "Managing obesity often requires long-term, individualized medical interventions categorized into four strategies, one of which was Lifestyle and Behavioral Therapy: Improving diet quality and increasing consistent physical activity alongside psychological support."
In consoling the stricken mother who had lost her son some weeks ago, Agathiyar told her that there were many children out there who she should begin to see as her own son. Again, this came as a surprise to me, for while I was sitting outside the prayer room, I told her relatives that she could stop by children's homes and care for the needs of the children there. "What if she has lost a son? She could adopt ten now", I said. That was what Agathiyar meant too. Anyway, in doing so, spending her time with these kids will divert her attention and might end her sorrow, for I feared if left to herself she would go into a state of depression.
Though initially my other half told me to stay out of it and mind my business, do what I came to do, I guess the better half that listened to Ram Dass's talk some days ago superseded and arranged for this family to meet Agathiyar.
Ram Dass had said, "And here was the paradox that all he (Maharaj) was telling me to do was to recognize the perfection of it all and, at the same moment, work full-time to relieve the suffering of it."
I just pray that they do whatever Agathiyar had told them.
If religion is rigid in all manner with no leeway given to step out of line, spiritualism, especially in the Siddha path, is customisable to our needs. The Siddha brings us to step out of the confines of religion and frees us, as we at Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) saw in all matters of rituals and puja. That is why, in asking me to build a temple for him (Agathiyar): and when Lord Muruga asked for one too: and since I did not pursue it further after my initial move to look for a space in any existing temple where the committee would accommodate his wish met with failure: and though Lord Muruga told me that he would give me the land, finance and people to do it, I remained silent: and when finally when Agathiyar told me "Nevermind, I shall do it"; and when the said 18 months was over with no temple building up; Agathiyar told me that they had tested me and Lord Muruga told me my home was his temple. Finally, when I asked how many temples he needed, he disclosed that I shall do it differently.
When Agathiyar brought the shutters down on AVM in 2019, and the pandemic moved in, upon reviving the Puja after shifting out of the pandemic, thinking about who was going to bring the kids to the path, we shifted AVM to Mahindren's home instead. But as the original following at AVM had moved on since, seeing the handful of followers remaining, Mahindren too brought the shutters down shortly after. Now I have come to a realization and ask myself, "Why should children live life to our dictates?" Let them be. Let them make their choices. Let them experience that too. Let them learn from these experiences. I remember Agathiyar reminding us that our role as parents is just to care for them. We must then learn to let go. Otherwise, we shall see another mother cry over her loss even after Agathiyar tells her to see her son in other children.
The Siddha path being customisable to our needs is seen in matters of diet too, as I was asked to write about by Agathiyar, and which I then carried in a previous post. Many point to the restriction apparently placed by Ramalinga Adigal, forbidding those who consume meat from entering his Satya Gnana Sabai. I really wonder if it was his ruling, for I understand that Ramalinga Adigal, who envisioned the temple complex and had others build it, never stepped into it, for he had left for Methukuppam then. When he comes into our homes he does not single us out for being none vegetarian. Agathiyar, too, coming the day before, in telling us that we are allowed to take meat if the need arises, told me to phrase it strongly in my writings so that it would sink into the minds of readers.