As a kid and later a youth, I never had an ambition nor went in search of anything, for that matter. Instead, I read a lot and tried to implement or put into practice what I read, be it the foods recommended, the exercises, the songs of praise to the Gods and Goddesses, the methods of Puja and rituals, the customs and traditions, or the Yoga practices I picked up from reading books. Though my worship was centered around temples and home puja back then, I never did any penance or shaved my head. Yet their grace fell on me. Though I would wait in line with others to meet the visiting Swamis to get their blessings when they made their rounds to the temples to give talks, I never went looking for a guru or master, as I did not know about them until I read Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi."
I never went in search of a path. The path appeared right at my door. It came through the Nadi reading. And so when Agathiyar invited me to come to the worship of the Siddhas, I did just that. Traveling their path, I never had a goal, ambition, or a deadline.
The treasures that many seek and yearn for were brought before me and placed at my doorstep. I did not venture into the jungles and stay in the caves. I did not dig a hole and meditate in it. I did not hold my breath in Kumbhaka. I have never fasted in my life.
It reminds me of Ramalinga Adigal's song "Arutprakasa Maalai," where he sings that his guru walked up to his door and gave him treasures. Like him, I was blessed to have Agathiyar pass me these treasures too.
I continued with whatever Yoga I learned from the books, and after meeting Tavayogi, he showed me, in 2007, a set of practices that I followed. Yoga too fell into my lap. I was gifted with it. Agathiyar later told me that what Tavayogi gave was a treasure. I did not realize that these practices had opened up my Muladhara Chakra in 2007 until Agathiyar revealed it in the Nadi reading in 2010, saying the heat of my tapas was at its height. He began to give me further techniques and practices to follow, and Patanjali guided me on the diet to follow. He spoke about the awakening of the Kundalini and its movement. I never knew, nor sensed, anything extraordinary, as often described and written about the Kundalini. Even the awakening of the Kundalini came by their grace. By the grace of the Siddhas, the awakening was harmless. When the changes became obvious, though only much later, as I pursued the path, Agathiyar in 2012 had me halt the practice as I was in pain.
Lord Muruga came in the Jeeva Nadi readings beginning in 2018, through Nadi reader Taranibalan Aiya. The highlight of these rare and far-apart readings was when Taranibalan Aiya told the host who accommodated him during his stay in Malaysia that, if permitted, he would bring the Nadi and have it read at my home, the reason being that I was in pain again and immobilised for some time due to the further internal transformations taking place, as a result of the activation of energies and vice versa. Lord Muruga brought instantaneous relief and cured my back pain. What surprised me that day was that, if I had previously seen the deities, often tagged and labelled as lesser deities parading, hearing and acting through devotees, solving the problems of their subjects, and on the other hand I had also listened to countless Nadi readings from the Siddhas read by Nadi readers, that day both mediums came together and worked in tally and in unison in a marvelous way and manner. As Taranibalan Aiya read the Nadi, work was going on in me, with Lord Muruga coming through a devotee. How does one explain all these? The transfer of energy, or Shaktipat, that they gave each time they came within a devotee eased our pain and removed the obstacles and dangers. It hastened and simplified my journey.
In late 2019, Agathiyar brought all our activities of Puja and charity to a halt and asked us to go within. In 2020, he told me that both my Muladhara and Svadhistana Chakras were opened. He said I had stagnated in worldly affairs. He said,
"All this while you saw to your needs in this world. Now you shall undertake an internal journey. I shall relate what needs to be done to realize your purpose in coming here."
He continued,
"You cannot possibly break the shackle alone. Hence, follow the practices that I am to give you. Reduce your involvement in outside activities. Sit before me and meditate. During this moment, carry out the cleansing breath as taught by your guru. Just the important ones. You shall sense a coolness within. Remain silent in these moments. Focus on your breath. Your breath shall touch the Suzhimunai and swirl. Travel along your seven chakras. That journey shall awaken your chakras. After traversing these chakras, when it touches the seventh, you shall know your purpose here. This is the right time to start this practice."
He started me doing the Yoga practices Tavayogi showed, after having me stop doing it when I had pain in my back in 2010.
Agathiyar's aid and companion, Ramalinga Adigal, gave me further techniques, asking,
"Have you understood the purpose of asking to go within? Do your experiences change within your body? This is only the start. Effort is needed. You shall lay the stepping stones and progress at your pace. What you are doing currently is wonderful. Continue with it. Watching your breath is right. You are changing its flow correctly. Continue with it. You are on the first step. Prana moving in you is itself Pranava Degam. When you sense the Pranavam, you shall question yourself whether the Pranam is traveling in you or if you are hitching on it and traveling in it. When you reach that state, you shall have the answer. That moment shall be one of extreme bliss. Go deep within this bliss. There is more. There is much to learn. You have my blessings. I shall travel with you till you reach the destination. I shall accompany those who go deep within. Follow your breath. Place the effort, and you shall reach the destination."
The next phase that they spoke about came as an extraordinary happening that took place on 22 August 2022. As I woke up and stretched in bed, I felt a nerve tug below my belly button and a sudden burst of energy and a swirling sensation in my abdomen, bringing on a cold feeling throughout my body. I felt nauseous while my whole body became numb to the fingertips. The urge to pee came on. I got up to go to the toilet. I fell twice but picked myself up. It soon subsided. Towards night, the top of my head was cool.
Again the next day, I woke up to go to the loo, but I could not pee. I fainted. I dragged myself onto the bed. My body became numb from the shoulders down. I lay like a dead log on my bed. I could not move an inch of my body. But I was aware of what was happening to me. I asked myself if this was what a dead body would feel like. Was I experiencing death?
Seeking answers to what had taken place, I placed a request before Agathiyar to clear the air. And he did. He told me that there was nothing to worry about. If previously he had told me that energy had stagnated, what I understood to be at Svathisthana, as Tavayogi had told me that our effort is only till this chakra and that they shall come and lead us on from there, the dammed waters were released now. He added that,
"Since the chakra was activated late in life, it would have some adverse effects on our bodies. When the heat of tapas increases in our body, blood flow will be less, bringing on numbness. This would result in urinary and excretion problems. The blood count will tip the scale."
He treated me too by dipping my hands into a bowl of lukewarm water to the accompaniment of my family chanting the Arutperunjothi mantra. He ran his hands along my back and spine, placed his hands on my head, and applied the sacred ash over my body. Asking if there was anything further I ought to do in terms of practice, he answered that there was none and said that "She", the awakened energy, shall do her work. As it worried my wife and me, Agathiyar asked me to go for a Medical checkup. I was given a clean slate.
This brings me to what Tavayogi had observed and commented: that I had it all come easy to me while he had to work hard. I believe the grace of Agathiyar, Lord Muruga, and Siva, together with my gurus, Supramania Swami, who gifted the merits of his 40 years of Tavam, or austerities, to me and Tavayogi, who shared the treasures of the Siddhas with me, paved the path for me to arrive Home unhurt and unscathed. Home is where it all ends too. Here is where we come to know the soul, or Atma and Sivam.