Those who missed the Agathiyar Jayanthi Vizha in January can head to Kallar Ashram in December this year. Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar who runs the Agathiyar Gnana Peedham in Kallar after the demise of Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal is in town currently. She will leave for India on 3rd November to see to the arrangements to usher in the grand fest again.
I have uploaded clips from the last Puja to YouTube recently. Book a date and get to participate in this grand annual event, and at the same time support the ashram.
I too will be carrying out a similar puja at my premises, or rather, his.
We had a pleasant visit from Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar of Kallar Ashram yesterday. Though I met her upon her arrival in Malaysia at the home of a host and devotee, Agathiyar asked me to fetch her to my home, where he wanted to see her. He then came in the Jeeva Nadi read by Mataji herself, with a short, sweet, and precise message for both her and me too. Hearing that I was on the right track boosted my spirits. He asked that I continue with what I was doing. It was a brief visit, during which we spoke a lot about the ashram, Tavayogi, and Agathiyar, as she had to leave to conduct a Puja in the home of another deity.
The last reading that came through Nadi reader T.Ramesh was a couple of days after Sivarathri, which was equally promising and satisfying. Agathiyar spoke about my home and the Puja we conducted on Sivarathri. He spoke about the Kundalini that he had aroused within me. I guess Agathiyar is happy with us.
Taking my morning walk moments ago, I gave thanks to Prapanjam for the clear skies and bright sun that we had missed for a very long time, as the haze from the burning in Indonesia enveloped our skies too. The haze suffocates. Then I realized that death occurs when the breath leaves to never return, while Samadhi occurs when the breath comes within to stay for good. Hence we see Yogis and saints, yoga practitioners and aspirants, forcefully hold their breath and retain it, and some tragically die while attempting it. I, too, to this day cannot bring myself to go into meditation. But Agathiyar never minds it nor forces me to go into that state forcefully. Just as Tavayogi apprehends devotees who bring up the subject of Kundalini at the onset of their journey, Agathiyar scolded me the moment I asked about Kumbhaka. Though I had taken up the Asana and Pranayama practice that Tavayogi showed me in 2007 and saw varied results later, in 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, and in 2022, Agathiyar never had me indulge in this practice of Kumbhaka or retention of breath forcefully.
As I was walking, it occurred to me too that only the elevated souls could relieve the grief and karma of another; those at par with another tend to take on the other's karma. Hence, the reason Agathiyar and Tavayogi caution us against taking on others' karma. If the fate of a common man is written in stone, the Siddhas can break the stone and rebuild it, rewriting our fate and charting a new destiny. That is what both Agathiyar and his guru, Lord Muruga, did too, bringing me salvation. Hence, we understand the reason for the Siddhas to come forward to bring relief to their devotees.
When many who hold on to a guru in physical form and visit his ashram, home, or residence are often lost the moment their guru or master leaves his or her mortal body; Tavayogi pointed me to Agathiyar instead. He showed me Sivam, the imperishable instead. If a physical bond is only as long as I and the other are alive, Tavayogi connected me to that which was, is, and will be. Agathiyar too told me that we had known each other for crores of years.
In asking me to worship Agathiyar and praise the Siddhas, he told us that they could shred all our problems. In asking me to conduct the Yagam or its smaller version, the Homam, he told us that we could appease Mother Nature and tame her wrath that otherwise could bring about natural disasters and calamities. In conducting the Abhisegam, or libation to his statue, we cool him down. In bringing me to the woods, forests, jungles, and caves, Tavayogi showed me Agathiyar as Sivam, and as the Prapanjam, and as the very existence and his very presence in all of his creation. Siddha worship bridged both worlds, with the Siddhas frequenting our homes now. Agathiyar brought the Siddhas and Gods and Prapanjam into my home. Ramalinga Asigal came to help connect us with the Prapanjam.
Tavayogi gave me the tools, the method, and the practice; showed me the means and the ways and stepped back. If he went around taking the stage to preach the path, Agathiyar had me stay home and stay away from attention and had me write about it all. As I wrote in the last post, I guess I have filled the shortcomings that Tavayogi faced in not being able to speak the English language fluently. He once told me that if only he could, he could have reached the farthest reaches of the world with the Siddhas message. I am glad that his messages have reached far through this blog going by the number of readership. I guess I have repaid Supramania Swami, Tavayogi, and Agathiyar for all they gifted me.
If Tavayogi initiated me into Siddha worship and had me begin conducting the Homam in my home, his guru, Chitramuthu Adigal, had us bring the Siddha worship into the corridors of the temples, beginning with the Thanneermalai Sri Thandayuthapani Alayam located at the foothills of Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill) in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. Thus followed a series of lighting the sacred fire in several other temples.
When Thondu Seivom Bala Chandran initiated the move to light oil lamps in the temples, it led us to light the lamps in numerous temples.
We soon took up doing charity for the old folks and orphaned children in homes, the homeless in the streets, and the unfortunate and poor passing a living in homes.
Having participated, watched, seen, and gathered all these experiences, Agathiyar had them all go their way, carrying the seed in them to their homes and others. As for me, he had us go within, for it was time for the Kundalini to do her work, as Agathiyar later revealed to me. As Supramania Swami said, nothing of our effort goes to waste. As he and Tavayogi say, we shall keep on polishing, and if it does not ignite in this birth, we shall come back to continue.
I guess I have filled the shortcomings that Tavayogi faced in not being able to speak the English language fluently. He once told me that if only he could, he could have reached the farthest reaches of the world with the Siddhas message. But we are grateful to Agathiyar for stalling his intent to go into Samadhi and sending him over to our shores, for otherwise I cannot imagine how my life would have turned out to be.
I had questioned in a previous post after a devotee shared a video that reminded me of the mantras (song) that Tavayogi and later Mataji recited when conducting the Yagam on their ashram grounds.
Days ago, the question of why Gods and Siddhas, and later people too, went around hurling curses cropped up. Tavayogi told me he was cursed to lose his eyesight after, as a curious kid, he tested a mantra given by Agathiyar, though he was warned against doing so, in his last birth some thousands of years ago. That curse continued into this life, where he lost his eyesight for close to a year. Another seeker who knocked on the door of my home was told the same: that his disobedience in testing a given mantra in a past birth resulted in his untold misery and suffering in this birth. I, too, am said to have earned the wrath of the Namboothiris after being born into this clan and challenging their time-old practice in a past birth.
I then came to understand that Agathiyar brought relief to his ancestors by lifting their previous curses.
It is said that Agathiyar had to come around to relieve his ancestors who were cursed to hang upside down from a tree branch.
Asking this of Mataji, who is currently in Malaysia, when I met her again yesterday, she enlightened me, making me shed my previous understanding and accusations against the Siddhas. Contrary to what I understood as the Siddhas cursing us, these songs were addressed to the Siddhas to seek their help in ridding us of all the curses we might have had thrown at us, knowingly and unknowingly, throughout the many births we took in the past and in numerous possible ways and manners. And what better means than to light the sacrificial fire that consumes all this Karma and curses of us, and the misery and sufferings, illness and diseases too.
If Tavayogi took the initiative and moved to conduct the Yagam at his ashram grounds beginning in 2005, following the disaster that the tsunami brought on a year earlier, in his absence, Mataji has continued it till this day. I have compiled highlights of this ceremony at Kallar ashram grounds over the years.
Tavayogi had initiated me to carry out the Yagam on a smaller scale, called a Homam, in my home too, and Agathiyar came to tell me that I was doing it for the good of all of creation. I feel blessed. I was given the privilege to sing with Tavayogi, Mataji and the rest of the devotees during the 2016 celebrations. I am blessed. Agathiyar has asked that I fetch Mataji to my home tomorrow. Again, I am blessed.
When Agathiyar told me to share my experiences, I believe he wanted me to share the results with others to lure them to the path, too. Agathiyar, too, did not fill me with knowledge but instead gave me the practices, the means and methods, and the resulting experience. But as the results were hard to describe and talk about, as they cannot possibly be put into words, he allowed me to share the visuals of these memorable moments caught on camera. This is indeed the ambrosia often spoken about.
After giving me the tool of Kriyai and Yogam, the former connected with the Siddhas and bridged both worlds, where they came into my home, and the latter brought within me an expanse of Prana that brought on immense joy and bliss. I recall the many moments these took place.
While inhaling the immense Prana that came within, doing the Pranayama techniques taught to me by Tavayogi in 2007, unbeknownst to me, it opened up my Muladhara chakra. This was only made known to me by Agathiyar in 2012.
Subsequently, the energy began to pool at Svadishtana. Again, I was not aware of it until Agathiyar came to open the gates to the dam and release the energy to travel further in 2022.
These days I am immersed in music and songs. I am immersed in nature. I have moved from Bhakti or Devotion to Kaathal or Love, towards my divine. If Tavayogi connected me to the Siddhas, Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal connected me to the Prapanjam. I could now have what I desired directly. But one has to watch his step, or in this case, his mind, for Maya can seduce him to inflate his Ego and turn him into a monster, as the Puranas describe the many Bhaktas or devotees turned Asuras. One has to keep his ego in check always.
As promised, here is the video compilation of how Agathiyar, in bringing me to his worship first, and later having Tavayogi take me on the path, eventually took me under his wings, and finally took me into his fold, not forgetting my family, too. He was full of praise for my wife and children in bringing the puja and worship alive in our home, welcoming his devotees and entertaining them, besides serving him since I took up his call that came through a Nadireading in 2002. He arranged for my daughter's wedding and arranged for Tavayogi and Mataji to grace the wedding and bless the newly wed in 2016. He then went out of my home for several months before returning with Lobama as a statue too in 2024. Then, during Guru Purnima that year, he had my children carry out our 60th wedding. The following year, he had us carry out his wedding to Lobama. In doing these, he has refuted all the previous accusations that I came across when I started on this path that the Siddhas would break up families and family ties for good. What else can a devotee ask for? I am truly grateful to him.
After yesterday's heavy thunderstorm and rain, which I slept through without realizing it, the skies were clear as crystal, just as they were in the days of the past. The haze that enveloped Malaysia and several other neighbouring countries, which started in Indonesia and Kalimantan, had disappeared magically. I pray that it stays away forever. I took my grandchildren to the neighbourhood field and neighbouring park. I realize that we need the bad to make us appreciate the good in all things and matters. To a dying man, the last breath is the most precious and valued thing. He would give anything to prolong it. At other times, we waste it on other insignificant matters. I have come to terms with the good, the bad, and the ugly now. We need the opposites. Everything exists to teach us these values and adopt them in our lives.
If I had wondered why others around me suffered back then in the 80s and only received the answer some 14 years later, after being told to lie back, that the ruling factor was Karma; I had wondered during the last Navarathri festive period why the Gods went to battle the Asuras in the times of the Puranas and came to know that those who were rid of Karma could take on the role of an Avatar, who drives away darkness and evil and restores balance and cheer.
I had posted about these two dilemmas in earlier posts.
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, in his book "Karma and Reincarnation - An Inspired Talk," sheds some light.
As for the first,
"After the realization of the Self, Parasiva, the forces of Dharma and previous Karma still exist, but through the force of the realization of God, much of the impending impact of Karma has dwindled, and it is faced differently, treated differently. Before the experience of realization, Karmas were dealt with in individual increments. After realization, the sum total is seen. The spiritual destiny is realized."
And as for the second,
"One does not have the experience of realizing the Self until all of his Karma is in a state of resolve. When this begins to occur in him, he actually sees that man is not man; man is the Self, God, for his Karma and the forces of his Dharma have begun to become transparent to him. Through the power of his realization, the Karma is created and simultaneously dissolved. This occurs for the one who lives in the timeless state of consciousness. If one were to realize the Self each day, he would live his life like writing his Karma on the surface of water. The swamis who renounce the world and do Tapas are trying to burn the seeds of the Karmas that they did not bring with them in this life. They set fire to the whole house. They renounce the world and put restrictions upon themselves that others don’t."
Days ago, the question of why Gods and Siddhas, and later people too, went around hurling curses cropped up. It is said that Agathiyar had to come around to relieve his ancestors who were cursed to hang upside down from a tree branch. Tavayogi told me he was cursed to lose his eyesight after, as a curious kid, he tested a mantra given by Agathiyar, though he was warned against doing so, in his last birth some thousands of years ago. That curse continued into this life, where he lost his eyesight for close to a year. Another seeker who knocked on the door of my home was told the same: that his disobedience in testing a given mantra in a past birth resulted in his untold misery and suffering in this birth. I too am said to have earned the wrath of the Namboothiris after being born in this clan, challenging their time-old practice in a past birth.
I just could not digest all this stuff. Again, I asked how God, said to be kind, loving, and compassionate, could go around cursing. Should not he be all-forgiving? Then a search on the internet shed some light.
AI Overview.
Yes, that is a well-known legend, though in scriptural traditions, it is less of a punitive "curse" and more of a karmic consequence of his celibacy. According to the Mahabharata (Vana Parva), the great sage Agathiyar (Agastya) was a strict ascetic who initially had no intention of marrying or having children. While wandering through a forest (or during a powerful spiritual vision), Agathiyar came across a terrifying sight: his ancestors (Pitrus) were hanging upside down in a dark pit, suspended only by a fragile root or blade of grass. A rat (representing Time) was slowly gnawing away at the single root holding them up. When Agathiyar asked them why they were suffering in this miserable state, they wailed that they were trapped in Pitr-loka (the realm of the dead) and sliding toward a hell called Put. They explained that because Agathiyar was practicing absolute celibacy, their lineage was coming to an end. Without a descendant to perform the required funeral rites and pass on the family bloodline, they could neither be liberated nor reborn. They told him that the only way to rescue them from hanging upside down was for him to return to the material world, marry, and father a child. To fulfill his duty to his lineage (Pitr-rin or ancestral debt), Agathiyar agreed to their pleas. He went on to marry the princess Lopamudra and fathered a son named Dridhasyu. The birth of his child finally broke the "curse" of the lineage's stagnation, allowing his ancestors to be freed from the abyss and ascend to heaven. The Mahabharata tells an almost identical story about the sage Jaratkaru, indicating that this was a common narrative device in ancient Indian epics to emphasize the sacred duty of continuing the family line.
Apparently, even curses bring on good consequences. Another story goes that Agathiyar, having attained the state of a sage and Siddha, was told by Lord Shiva that he was still incomplete and that he had one thing left to accomplish. He had yet to marry. And so he was betrothed to the princess LobaMa. Adhi Sankara too is said to have been questioned by a queen about his completeness, as he lacked the experience of marriage. He took the body of the king momentarily to become complete.
Speaking to Suren over the phone regarding all this last night, he asked me the same: why do you think these happened?
I could only point out what Lord Muruga told me about the play that Lord Siva, Agathiyar, and Indran staged in my life too. It was yet another creation of the "Gods", a play of Maya or the opposites. Words and actions carry weight; Agathiyar asked us to watch them to avoid falling into the trap and win over Karma and the cycle of death and birth for good. We are to watch our words and actions to break the chain. Any given promise has to be fulfilled too. Any work given has to be done to completion. Don't jump the gun and make assumptions, too. I too tend to make these mistakes. I too have to be extra aware; otherwise I shall be lingering between worlds.
I had no ambition or lofty goals. I wasn't a high achiever, though I studied and participated in sports and every event that came up at school and college. I was the usual average student at school. Neither was I outstanding at work. But I was happy throughout my days as a kid, teen, and young adult. I was pretty satisfied with what I had and was given. I had a career and a family, a car to move around, and a roof over my head; all that fell into my lap. I had no plans. I had no big dreams. I just did what every other person did. But someone up there was counting the days until he could bring me to do his work and eventually come into his fold. I guess he knew that only someone satisfied with his life could sacrifice the rest of his life to doing his work. I seemed to be the right candidate. Having my nephew come over to my home at 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon on the 6th of October 2001, he knocked on my door, bringing me the life-changing mantra. My nephew carried a message from his Paramaguru Gopal Pillai that he was asked to deliver to me. I did not know Gopal Pillai, who had gone into Samadhi earlier. Neither was the source of the message revealed to me back then. I was just told to follow. I was given the Vasudeva Mantra to recite and a painting of Lord Dhakshanamurthy to worship. I was told that it would pave the way to meet my guru. I did as told. Soon I learned that the mantra pierces or unties the Vishnu Granthi, or knot, an obstacle to receiving all good things from our efforts. Prior to this day, as a bachelor, I had picked up Yoga from the books. I read extensively, purchasing books on customs, tradition, and religion for want of answers to the many practices that we follow without understanding. All these books pointed out to God as loving, kind and compassionate. But it was otherwise on the ground when I bore witness to sufferings and tragedies that others went through right before my eyes. I questioned if God was indeed as portrayed, and this turned into anger towards him. In a timely manner, Lord Shiva came in a dream in 1988 and told me to keep in view and shelve all doubts and questions for another day.
In the nineties, as I frequented Dr. Krishan, an astrologer, I asked if predictions had ever failed to materialize. He replied that, if we had curses hanging over our heads. Asking him to look into my charts and see if I was cursed, he told me that only the Siddhas could reveal that through the Nadi palm reading. This too was kept in view, as I knew no Nadi reader then, nor did he show me to one.
The day that Lord Shiva meant came when I read the Nadi in 2002, when a new colleague joined me at my place of work and shared his story of reading his Nadi in 2000. This excited me, and he arranged for me to read mine. I came to know that indeed I was cursed in a past birth. I came to know why others suffered when Agathiyar opened up my bag of worms from the past baggage of Karma that I carried around. The rest is history.
It is all like a dream. Yes, dreams kept unfolding the moment I went with the flow. I never laid obstacles on the path shown, but bulldozed through them. I had no reservations, nor did I delay the execution of tasks given to me. And so the Siddhas came continuously to guide me further. If I was a free bird back then, the Siddhas equally gave me freedom to explore and experiment, going by doing the numerous tasks that they gave me.
Looking back now, I understand that apparently all the setbacks and disappointment, if any, worked in my favor; even the curses. Life was smooth sailing for me. Though these winds blew strongly against me, it did not deter me from carrying out his tasks. It can only mean that there was a mysterious hidden hand protecting me and guiding me with my choices. I recall how the Chinese gods asked my parents to give me up for adoption to them as they stood pleading that they save my life as a toddler. Then, many years later, Agathiyar came to claim me, telling me that we had known each other for crores of years.
Today I have come to believe that there are parallel worlds out there beyond our vision, where another Shanmugam Avadaiyappa is walking another path, for the choices were aplenty, hence opening up numerous possibilities in life. This life is one that was chosen for me, or rather, my soul chose to live out and experience.
Agathiyar came into my life to remind me of the connection. He introduced me to Mr Segaran, who was leaving the service to become a monk in Paramahansa Yogananda's Ranchi Ashram. He passed me Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi" that introduced me to gurus on paper. Agathiyar then sent me to Supramania Swami, where I personally came to know about his five gurus and their magnificence from him. Agathiyar then sent me to Tavayogi, where I came to know Agathiyar and the Siddhas. Tavayogi introduced me to rituals, asking me to take them up personally. Agathiyar came in the Nadi, asking me to continue for the good of all of his creation. Armed with the tool of Pranayama that Tavayogi gave me, I did not realize the changes taking place within until Agathiyar came to explain why I was in pain. The Kundalini arose, and Agathiyar saw to it that I was kept away from danger. The practice that Tavayogi gave, in opening the Muladhara, had the Kundalini travel the Chakras, bringing me to know what Gnanam was, as Agathiyar had foretold. After having my home turn into his garden, or Vanam, in 2013, and eventually, after giving me the experiences and learning, he brought the shutters down on all Puja and charity in 2019. Then he told me to know the soul, or Atma, and to know Sivam, not before asking me to even drop my hold, first his statue and later him. Today he has taken me into his fold, or Tirukootam.
If I wanted to provide the critics, who carried the notion that Siddhas break up marriages, wrong when I came to the path, so did Agathiyar plan my life accordingly, having me be an example to others. As it is said that the Siddhas foresaw the dawn of an age where marriages are likened to homes made of river sand that collapse easily at the very first wave that strikes them, I guess he has me break that bleak and gloomy vision. In the absence of home, Puja and temple visits in the eighties for some 14 years, he had me look towards my career and family. He had me marry and raise a family. He had me betroth my daughter in 2016 and run after my three grandchildren. In the absence of Puja and charity in the 2000s, he had me go within. Then he left our home briefly for the home of another devotee before returning, holding the hand of Lobama. When he had me come out of home confinement and solitude, he had my children arranged for my 60th wedding and came personally to carry it out through a devotee during Guru Purnima of 2024. He had us carry out his wedding to Lobama in 2025, with him personally guiding me again through a devotee.
It was all new to me but pretty exciting. It is truly mind-boggling and amazing to be a witness to all that has taken place in this tiny home of mine over the years. I often wondered why he chose us and our home to carry out his Lilas or play. But we are delighted and grateful. It was all fun and fair till this day, by his grace, the grace of the Siddhas and my gurus.
Agathiyar gave me a taste of life from their perspective too, and a touch and taste of it. I stepped into this world momentarily at Palani in 2003. It was entirely different from what I saw in my later trips in 2005 and later in 2016.
If I thank my parents for bringing me into this world, I thank Agathiyar and my gurus from my heart for bringing me into this world and, eventually, for delivering me.
I thank my parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, devotees, the AVM family, readers of this blog, and followers of my YouTube channel too.
A devotee wrote the following regarding how this blog has helped her.
I still remember.... it was a few days after 7-1/2 ended in my star. I was devastated and asking myself "why me" for 7-1/2 years....
That beautiful day, I was scrolling the internet without purpose when ur blog appeared again. This time I started to read from the first entry. Then went for naadi reading and came to Agathiar appa. I understand karma and my past deeds. The journey transformed me.
It's strange, as I have seen your blog before but ignored it totally. But that day ..... it's like a magnetic field pulling me to read more and more. To read again and again the same post. You wouldn't believe if I said I read all from day one until the 2020 post. Even some repeatedly. It's like some kind of addiction.
I do read old posts again even now too.
As you said, it was just a thin line of choice to follow Agathiar appa's advice or not. Everything changed from the day I saw your blog - Siddhaheart Beat! Agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com.
Every post, every story, and every experience you shared carries so many messages and information for me. You have been a lighthouse all the time. To be specific, I see messages from Agathiar appa thru ur website.
I thank her for her note.
I wanted to direct movies after being a Tamil movie buff during my school days. But I dropped the idea later. Then, when Tavayogi came by, I put together a video and played it to him, gaining praise from him. He was my star then. Today I have put together my story. It is in the making. I shall post it once it's done.
Mahindren used to drop by after work often, and we would talk about the path. Suren calls me, and we engage in similar conversations. A couple of days ago, I had a wonderful telephone conversation with a devotee, Yuvarani. She spoke about how the seed was sown at AVM. After the conversation, I sent her the following message.
"Tavayogi always asks us to ask questions. I am happy you did last night. It helped me place it all into its right perspective too. Tqvm ma for engaging in the talk."
Another devotee called to ask about her ailment, purportedly arising from a misalignment of bones and slipped discs that was giving her more pain and discomfort in recent times, although she had seen the doctors for treatment. As the Siddhas told me that they only gave me the practices and methods that worked for them, I passed on my experience of Lord Muruga coming through the Nadi and simultaneously through a devotee treating me in 2018 for my lower back pain that was similar to the pinching of the sciatic nerve.
In having these conversations, we begin to get a clearer picture and understanding. We get to see another's perspective and hear his or her experiences.
It is said that the Siddhas would come together to sit, share, and discuss their findings in the past and return to continue their research and findings for the betterment of mankind. In an article, "Siddha Agasthya – Foremost of the Siddhas", Dr. Mandayam shares more information from a Tamil manuscript written on Nadi or palm leaves about 3,000 years ago, titled "Prapancha Kaandam". I have given a summary of it.
The Siddhas recorded their knowledge on palm leaves after extensive discussions held in Alagan Kulam and presented them to Lord Dhakshinamurthi for his perusal. This included the 64 kinds of learning, 18 Puranas, 96 tatvas, and 48 branches of scientific knowledge. The entire literature in Tamil came to be called “Siddhavedam”. It was then translated into the four existing languages of that period, which were Sanskrit, Greek, Hebrew, and Chinese.
A conference of Siddhas called Siddhar Sabai was held at Courtalam. An institution known as Siddhar Gnana Koodam was inaugurated by Lord Murugan and was headed by Agathiyar. Bhogar from China (Agathiyar in the Jeeva Nadi revelation to Hanumathdasan of Chennai says Bhogar was from Mongolia), Thaeraiyar from Malaya, Yugimuni from Kerala, Pulipani from Kantha Malai, Pulastyar, and Kapiyar all served Agathiyar. Pulastyar and Kapiyar headed the literary section, while Pulipani headed research. Thaeraiyar, who was into surgery, headed a medical research centre established at Thorana Malai. Yugimuni, who was into herbal medicines, headed an Ayurvedic hospital at Paradesi Kundai. Bhogar, who was in charge of all scientific research, established an alchemy research centre at Tiruparankundram. Pambatti was heading a team researching venom at Marudamalai. After having established these institutions, Agathiyar again started on an extensive mission of propagating the wealth of knowledge gained by these Siddhas in Tibet, Manchuria, Egypt, Palestine, Rome, America, Africa, Malaya and the Arab world.
After satisfactorily completing their mission to propagate these teachings, the Siddhas entered Samadhi, merging themselves into the cosmos. Supramaniar went into Samadhi in Thorana Malai, Bhogar in Palani, Thaeraiyar, Pulipani, and Yugimuni in Kantha Malai, and Agathiyar himself chose to come back to Courtalam. He chose a spot called Dhashina Meru, also the abode of Dhakshinamurthi in the Pothigai hills.
So too did many come together during the heyday of Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM), bringing much fun and fair to the worship of the Siddhas. As Yuvarani says, they each took back the seed that was sown here.
When we speak of the Mahabharata as an actual battle that took place in the past in the land of Bharata, Paramahansa Yogananda, in his "God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita", published by Yogada Satsanga Society of India, 1999, sees it as a battle taking place within us. Paramahansa Yogananda writes in the introduction to his book that
Man's soul consciousness - the realization of his oneness with the eternal all-blissful spirit - has descended through various gradations into mortal body consciousness. The senses and blind mind and the power of pure discrimination both reign in the bodily kingdom; there is constant conflict between the forces of the materialistic senses engaging the consciousness in the pursuit of external pleasure and the pure discriminative power that tries to return man's consciousness to its native state of soul realization.
“I have written this Gita as it came to me,” he said, “as I was united in ecstasy with my great Gurus and the originators of the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita that has come through me belongs to them. And I know what my Master said: ‘A new Gita, hitherto only partially exposed through centuries in the many lights of various explanations, is coming out in its full effulgence to bathe all true devotees of the world.’”
Sri Yukteswarji had told him: “You perceive all the truth of the Bhagavad Gita as you have heard the dialogue of Krishna and Arjuna as revealed to Vyasa. Go and give that revealed truth with your interpretations: a new scripture will be born.” (Source: Yogananda and the Bhagavad Gita)
Kurukshetra, the battlefield, is the man's body. The battle was fought to "reclaim the kingdom from ego and its army of evil mental tendencies," says Yogananda. He says it's only possible to combat and overcome the enemy within through Yoga meditation. Paramahansa Yogananda explains that when our bad habits take the better of us and are established firmly in us, first starting as a habit and finally becoming our character when it is firmly lodged in us, these habits tend to "banish the free will of wisdom for 12 years."
"Complete physiological and mental changes" are required, including taking on good habits, to bring a reversal, he says. This takes 12 years to bring a notable effect and change in the brain structure. He adds that we need "a million years to purify the brain to express the cosmic consciousness within."
"It is also believed that spiritual progress happens in practitioners in the cycle of 12 years, i.e., it takes 12 years of disciplined practice to change a habit." (Source: https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/)
It explains. Agathiyar is said to have sat still in tapas for 12 years under the bottom of the sea. Arunagiri was told to sit quietly by Lord Muruga. He did for the next 12 years. He emerged as a saint, rid of all the impurities both in body and mind, becoming purified in body and soul. Gnanabharathi, in his book "Tamil Mannin Thanthai," traces the account of the 12-year period of disappearance in Ramalinga Adigal's life, which Adigal describes as a period of much pain and difficulty before emerging renewed in the streets of Chennai.
Arjuna is said to have gone into exile for 12 years for breaking a mutual agreement with his brothers and later another 13 years with his brothers after their defeat in a dice game. Another version of the story goes that Arjuna was ordered by Shri Krishna to spend 12 years in Tapasya, or austerities. (Source: https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/)
Similarly, the Kumbabhishegam in temples is done once every 12 years, and the Purna Kumbha Mela is also celebrated once every 12 years.
Tavayogi told me that the guru shall observe his student for 12 years before parting with him the secrets.
Hence the need to take rebirth numerous times, I guess. If Supramania Swami told me that we shall keep polishing, Tavayogi told me we shall come back to work on it further, picking up from where we left off.
It is interesting to note that if it takes 12 years to rid oneself of previous habits, science says that repetition and making a habit of good things register a corresponding response and outcome in the subconscious. By repeating 21 times, only then shall it begin to register in our subconscious minds. Tavayogi, too, in giving us the Pranayama practices, asked us to do it 21 times.
Tavayogi, who was a man of few words, too, whenever he took the stage, repeated his message. I should know, for I get to view and edit and upload his speeches after every event. Asking him once, he turned back to me, asking me if I was following whatever he said. He did not imply me, but the majority of people who turn up to listen. Reading the book "Jeeva Brahmakya Vedanta Ragasiyam" by Satchidananda Yogeeswar, I was asking myself why the author repeats the same matter again and again in subsequent pages. He answers my query in a later chapter, saying that one needs to drive a notion again and again so that it is registered and remembered. My blog posts too might seem repetitive to readers. A friend and reader from Kerala once wrote in, saying, "Even if you wrote it umpteen times, we learn from repetition the most." So too, I guess I end up repeating the same in these pages, at least so that I can remember them too.
Today we celebrate Vijayadashami, the tenth day of Navaratri, which marks Goddess Durga's victory over Mahishasura and restores and protects Dharma. It also marks the end of Ramlila and commemorates Prince Rama's victory over King Ravana. It made me wonder: if the Gods in the Puranas felt it necessary to intervene, defeat the arrogant, and bring about and restore righteousness or Dharma, protect the innocent, and guide humanity, why do later-day gurus ask us to accept it all as Gods' play and Lila? Lord Muruga too is said to have battled the Asura Surapadman. Lord Krishna too came as an Avatar to battle King Kamsa.
So what do we do? Do we just sit and watch injustice and terror prevail, or bring an end to it? Imagine if Mother Teresa were to walk by, not doing anything to bring relief and care for the dying on the streets of Calcutta back then. Do we just accept it as others' Karma and watch?
If I was both confused and angry as to why people around me suffered and was asked to keep my questions to another date by Lord Siva coming in a dream in 1988, I knew why they had to go through what they had to when I came to know about Karma in my Nadi reading, after 14 years. It put to rest my doubts and anger at God, too. I then came up with a piece after reading extensively about Karma, which I put together and posted back then.
So I came to face a new set of questions days back at the start of Navarathri festivities. When a couple brought many to know their Karma by reading the Nadi, and went all the way to arrange for them to carry out their remedies, with the affected party just gracing the ceremonies, Agathiyar warned them not to shoulder others' Karma. I understood that they should go through the trouble of making the efforts to see to clearing their troubles. I remembered Agathiyar explaining the reasons for temples to be built in difficult-to-access places in the past, for in making the journey there they would have shed a large portion of the Karma. The rest is then placed at the feet of the residing deity once they reach the temple or holy spot.
Then again, Agathiyar had many turn up at my door and saw to their troubles and worries, relieving them of their Karma using me and my home as his venue and assuring me that my family and I would not be affected in any way. Asking to be relieved of this great role, he asked me where and to whom I would turn if he were to shut his ears. I understood that he wanted me to let them in and listen to others while he worked on their troubles. If initially I thought that there was a conflict between Agathiyar's wish and Tavayogi's advice, I now understand why Tavayogi asked me not to get involved personally but to show them to Agathiyar in my home.
Revisiting and reading the piece on Karma, I find that apparently Karma works differently for one who is realized. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, in his book "Karma and Reincarnation - An Inspired Talk," sheds some light on this. He writes that for the Yogis, the Karma that once stood in the way of God realization is removed. Fresh Karma is then dissolved immediately. Karma waiting to germinate is roasted in the fire of their Tapas.
"After the realization of the Self, Parasiva, the forces of Dharma and previous Karma still exist, but through the force of the realization of God, much of the impending impact of Karma has dwindled, and it is faced differently, treated differently. Before the experience of realization, Karmas were dealt with in individual increments. After realization, the sum total is seen. The spiritual destiny is realized."
"One does not have the experience of realizing the Self until all of his Karma is in a state of resolve. When this begins to occur in him, he actually sees that man is not man; man is the Self, God, for his Karma and the forces of his Dharma have begun to become transparent to him. Through the power of his realization, the Karma is created and simultaneously dissolved. This occurs for the one who lives in the timeless state of consciousness. If one were to realize the Self each day, he would live his life like writing his Karma on the surface of water. The swamis who renounce the world and do Tapas are trying to burn the seeds of the Karmas that they did not bring with them in this life. They set fire to the whole house. They renounce the world and put restrictions upon themselves that others don’t."
Paramahansa Yogananda in "Autobiography of a Yogi", Self Realization Fellowship, 1990, says,
"In Nirbikalpa Samadhi the yogi dissolves the last vestiges of his material or earthly Karma. Nevertheless, he may still have certain astral and causal Karma to work out and therefore takes astral and then causal embodiment on high vibration spheres."
Yogi Ramasuratkumar, before shedding his mortal frame, told his devotees that he could do a better job from the other subtle realm. Agathiyar told us that he had to bring back Tavayogi to do his work in his realm, while Agathiyar has come to guide us further.
How does Karma work for one who is under the care of a Guru? Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, in explaining that Karma is transferable, and that "One can take on some of the Karma of other people, work it out for them and make their burden a little easier for them", says that,
"The guru guides and also shares a bit of the heavier burdens, if one is fortunate enough to be dedicated enough to have a guru who will lend his powers in this way. But each aspect of the Karma, the outgrowth of the Dharma, must be passed through by the disciple, creating as little as possible of a similar Karma on this tenuous path of the repetition of the cycles of life. The guru may take unto himself, into his nerve system, some of the heavier areas of your Karma in the same way your parents performed this function for you perhaps unknowingly."
Paramahansa Yogananda says that,
"By putting on the ailments of others, a yogi can satisfy, for them, the Karmic law of cause and effect; its workings may be scientifically manipulated by men of divine wisdom. Only great gurus can assume the Karma of disciples."
Paramahansa Yogananda himself struck the shoulder of a Chela with a burning brand, freeing him from painful death; thus satisfying the Karmic law through slight suffering by fire.
But have these saints refused to help another? Annie Besant and Bhagawan Das, in "Sanatana Dharma" by the Theosophical Publishing House, 2000, state that,
"Only a full and clear knowledge of the causes in the past resulting in the suffering of the present could justify refusal to help on Karmic grounds."
While Bhagawan Ramana brings us to a state of acceptance and non-interference, Yogi Ramsuratkumar removed others' Karma by lighting a cigarette and smoking it. As for them, they themselves took on pain and suffering, telling us that it was God's will. Tavayogi, who refused to touch others' Karma, and though he refused to refer to the Jeeva Nadi in his possession for his own purpose, was willing to read for others. Tavayogi too, who never messed with others' Karma but showed them to Agathiyar, made an exception in my daughter's case, telling me that she need not perform the remedies or Parikaram prescribed by Agathiyar in her Nadi. It should not be construed as disobedience on the part of the disciple, but rather as a deal between the guru and the disciple. I guess it is only when we have attained the state of Tavayogi, where we are beyond the reach of Karma and its tentacles, that we can be involved in ridding others of their Karma, for then it is not the individual guru doing it but the entire lineage behind him and Prapanjam and the divine working through him. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami adds to this new chapter of the soul's travel.
"You would truly be an artisan, an absolute expert at working out Karma in the mental and spiritual spheres, and could begin to help work out Karma for other people."
Agathiyar had summed it up under five tenets that each human has to adapt and accomplish here on the face of the earth. A summary of the five tenets translated by Vashisht Vaid into English and posted in his blog https://holysageagathiyar.com/. Sri Sri Daya Mata in the Preface to "God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita", published by Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, 1999, very beautifully sums up Agathiyar's five tenets for mankind in a single phrase: "No Siddha leaves this world without having given some truth to mankind. Every free soul has to shed on others his light of god realization."
We, too, have an option here: whether to live our Karma out by non-interfering or seek ways to come out of it or rectify them. The Siddhas are only willing to help us out in this if we are ready to seek them and follow as they dictate. As a starter, we could seek their guidance in clearing the backlog of Karma and settling our dues and past debts. We could worship Lord Ganesha, who is known to remove obstacles in place. So why worship Lord Ganesha? The elephant is known to tear down the jungle and make it anew. In the documentary series, "Secrets of the Enchanted Forest," aired on the channel "Love Nature", we learn that "The Asian elephants have spent their entire lives mapping and memorizing the forest. They are the unofficial custodians of these forests. No one knows more about how the forest works. They shape the entire forest. These forest gardeners of nature's garden create the forest landscape.
My past too was revealed in the Nadi reading. I was given remedies to perform. I did what was told and saw the results. My fate was changed even before I came to read the Nadi in 2002. A year earlier, in 2001, I received the Vasudeva mantra in a mysterious way that cleared the Vishnu Granthi, which is said to add obstructions for the Sadhaka, keeping one under the wraps of attachment and bondage. Just like an elephant shapes the entire forest, the obstacles that stood in my way of receiving the fruits of my efforts were wiped away further by Lord Ganesha after Agathiyar in the Nadi told me to chant his name and mantra. A new destiny came into sight as I traveled the path of the Siddhas after taking up the calling in the Nadi to worship them. Along the way, Agathiyar reminded me to be cautious of all my actions and thoughts and to keep in mind that it would create further Karma as I journeyed along. Tavayogi started to perform the larger version of Yagam or Yagnam on the grounds of his ashram after the tsunami of 2004 hit many countries. He then had individual families sit around the fire pits and carry out the Yagam while he attended to the larger one. If Tavayogi asked me to similarly conduct the Homam in my home to appease the wrath of nature, Agathiyar came along and told me that it was for the good of the Prapanjam. Agathiyar, in having me light the fire, brought over the Siddhas into my home by drawing the bridge that linked both our worlds. At the height of the pandemic, Lord Shiva, coming through Mahindren, had him take notes, in which he asked us to assist and aid Prapanjam in battling the common foe. Prapanjam, foreseeing a revival of the dreaded virus, herself came much later, through another devotee, asking us to do it. We carried out all these directives. Then Mataji told those who had obstacles and danger threatening them to take up the tool of lighting the Yagam at Kallar Ashram. They too saw their troubles cleared and problems solved. Later, when a family came over and carried out the Homam in my home, he showed me that we could burn away our fears and worries, sufferings, and misery in the sacred fire.
Agathiyar has given us ways and means to take on our Karma and, to a certain extent, that of those we serve. Help a hungry man by feeding him, and you have brought relief to him. The donor gains merit and is relieved of his Karma. Similarly, the Karma of the one fed is exhausted that very moment, too. The score is balanced. In introducing me to charity and feeding, giving me a sample at Tavayogi's Kallar Ashram for the very first time, Agathiyar sent some thirty youths from Thondu Seivom to carry it out on our shores. Through our charity arm, Amudha Surabhi, we moved to bring some relief to them. He opened our eyes and hearts to the sufferings of many unfortunate souls. As any further gathering of merits on our part would result in taking another birth to reap its fruit and benefits, I understand now why Agathiyar brought our charitable activities to a halt too after some time. Sensing the arrival of the pandemic, Agathiyar had us wind up the group, bringing the shutters down on AVM and its many activities, gatherings, Satsang, group puja, and charity. He had us withdraw from all the above. Now it was time to go within, face our soul or Atma, and work on empowering it, gaining Atma Balam. In having us go within, Agathiyar worked on us silently and subtly. He brought us to terms and to a state of acceptance. It is only when we give in to his will and carry out his tasks that we do not earn and accumulate the Karma of both our good and bad actions. Today, we are prepared to accept whatever comes our way, knowing pretty much that he is in charge of our lives. We have given in to his will. So it explains and puts to rest this new doubt that cropped up over the past few days.
Having said all about battling the foes and enemies and Asuras out there, Paramahansa Yogananda says the actual battle is within each one of us. We shall explore this in the next post.
In the midst of the Nadaswaram echoing at the temple I chose to go to for the Navarathri puja days ago, my grandchildren and I were caught by surprise when an advert appeared during the recitation. Apparently, they were playing music from YouTube that carried advertisements. Apparently, those seniors running the temple had no expertise to correct these flaws. I realized that nothing much has changed out there. It reminded me of the days when I had offered to extend aid to the patrons of temples and establishments, bringing technology within their reach and expanding their reach to others by hosting websites, blogs, and YouTube channels. As my ideas and offers to help them were turned down in the past, I began to create something for myself that soon gave birth to numerous websites, including indianheartbeat, the blog Siddha Heartbeat, and a YouTube channel, podcasts, and online Publications.
If academicians speak based on facts and research, the religious and spiritual tend to say things unsubstantiated, as the latter is about adopting a way of worship, faith, and belief. Tavayogi always tells me to question and not follow blindly and to support our argument with facts and references. In its absense ones own experiences hold water. The religious and spiritual also tend to hold on firmly to rituals and practices carved in stone. But the Siddhas surprised us when they brought us to carry them out directly. We saw for ourselves how the Siddhas came down and conducted the rituals and puja at AVM that we immediately adopted.
I ask myself what has changed and what has stood still. Is whatever we profess and follow the original, or has it all been replaced either in its entirety at one stage in time or diluted over time?
Subsequent to this and the dilemma I posed, which I posted in my last post, I came across the following video moments ago that sheds light on my queries.
I am glad that I was adaptive to the many changes that the Siddhas had me bring about on this short journey of mine, walking through the phases of Sariyai, Kriyai, Yogam, and Gnanam. It has released me from being held captive by rituals, methods, ways, means, practices, etc. I am free to soar in the skies. I am not attached to a brand or name. I am my own self, Shanmugam Avadaiyappa. This is not arrogance nor ego, but knowing the truth and becoming aware of the numerous snares and traps in both the material and the religious and spiritual world. If many desire to rub shoulders with celebrities, politicians, businessmen, etc and gurus, and be in their good books, I was blessed to come to know the Siddhas instead. I am proud to have made it to and to be accepted into their fold. I am grateful to them.
In an earlier post, I had raised whether we need to be involved in the affairs of the world, as in the Puranas we see Gods go against Asuras and wipe them out, or stand aside and watch, as many saints in recent times tend to have us do, asking us to accept what goes on.
Flipping through John Bowker's book, "Beliefs That Changed The World - The History And Ideas Of The Great Religions", published by Quercus Editions Ltd, London, 2007, I came to know that the aim of the Arhats (who are free from any basis for reappearance and who have, in effect, reached the goal) in the Theravadins and those ofthe Mahayana Buddhismvary. If the former "attain the goal but leave others behind them", the latter, in asking, "How can that be an exercise in the fundamental Buddhist virtue of compassion?", choose to "develop the belief that those on the last step of the way turn back to help anyone in the world who is still in ignorance, pain, or suffering. These figures are known as Bodhisattvas, Enlightenment beings who make a vow that they will not enter Nirvana while they know of anyone who needs their help."
Similarly, while some Jeevan Muktas (said to have attained enlightenment and Mukti, or Salvation, while living) choose to leave, others choose to stay behind to help the remaining souls further their evolution. Swami Vivekananda and Bharathi are also said to have taken the latter stand. Even the Siddhas are said to bring our pleas to Lord Brahma and have him change the fate of their devotees. Closer to home, we have seen Agathiyar plead on our behalf to Lord Shiva to change the direction and state of matters at hand. This helped me to understand why I have carried a similar nature to cry and care for the suffering since my bachelor days until now. If, on the one hand, I tend to give up on others and want to go my way, on the other hand, I am held back by the thought of the responsibility of bringing others to the fold or TiruKootam too. I fully understand my role and purpose in coming as a Spiritual Catalyst.
We are living in a sea of knowledge right now, with all the various tributaries, streams, and rivers making their way to it. So too is it with all material, religious, and spiritual teachings. How do we separate what came from where? And so I came to know why Agathiyar asked us to refrain from indulging in the source and origin and the destination and end too. It would suffice to know that we came from the Light and shall return to it, that we came from a source and shall eventually return to it. All else is hidden behind the veil of Maya, or illusion, and delusion and ignorance, the hand at work, which has had a hand in creation, sustenance, eradication, and veiling. What is true is the Grace that is beyond these four veils. That which is not created, sustained, nor eradicated is Grace. It is only through Grace that one sees through these veils. He then arrives to settle in it. This Grace was given numerous names and forms in all the world's great religions by those who encountered it. This Grace was given further names and forms by all the gurus and masters in the sea of spiritual traditions. Now we have a hypermarket out there to choose from. But the Soul knows, and it shall return to its source, if not in this birth, maybe in the future. But even this is an understatement, for the Soul was never disposed. It is forever in existence. What changed was the form and name it took in all the many births that it saw through. These individual souls, or JeevAtma, are the limbs of the parent soul, or ParamAtma, or Param, the source. John Bowker, in his "Beliefs That Changed The World - The History And Ideas Of The Great Religions", published by Quercus Editions Ltd, London, 2007, writes that "seen properly, they are only the Buddha nature appearing in different forms."
What we know is only the tip of the iceberg. One has to dive deep into the waters to find out its bottom. But it is said that it is a bottomless pit down there, with one door leading to another and another. Those who have explored far and beyond bring us the news and the sights and sounds seen and heard. We then sit back in awe and listen to these stories. Only one who has sailed the sea in rough waters knows the experience of fear, apprehension, etc. So too are we apprehensive in taking the big step into the spiritual journey, the path less taken, for many settle for and into the joy and bliss, and the shade and comfort that religion provides.
I too have yet to start my spiritual journey, for all that I saw earlier was tied to rituals and traditions, religion and faith, beliefs and miracles. I wonder what lies ahead in the spiritual realm that Tavayogi is said to be in at this moment and what Yogi Ramsuratkumar describes as a place from which more could be done for mankind.
And so we are called to the Siddhas, for they have been there and back. Similarly, John Bowker writes that "in Mahayana belief it is possible for anyone to become a Bodhisattva or even a Buddha and many do. The world of Mahayana is filled with countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and those seeking enlightenment are encouraged to seek their help in worship, meditation, and prayer."
Just as we are told that "in Mahayana belief all have the potential to become Buddhas, and many realize their potential", so too, in coming through a memo to us, Agathiyar told us that we were all Agathiyan and asked that we realize our potential.
"Who is Agathiyan?
You are. I am. True. We all are Agathiyan. The Jothi, or flame or Light in us, is Agathiyan. He resides as the fire, flame, heat, and warmth in us. He is Esan. He is the Esan who resides within.
Why is it that we do not realize or feel him?
It is because we have not attained the state of preparedness or readiness to realize him. Once our soul attains this state, we shall begin to realize him.
How can we attain this state of preparedness? First, we have to travel this path. We need to travel to the places and abodes of the Siddhas, witness their miracles, enter the states of bliss, and bring back these feelings and work on them, nurturing them. The Siddha shall come down. When we follow their directives, they shall walk with us, holding our hands. This travel then shall not be that of an external but of an internal journey. Yoga is the key to this travel within. From Sariyai arriving at Kriyai, now they shall teach Yogam. The journey within shall begin. You shall witness happenings. You shall see many things. It would be puzzling to you. It would be new to you too. Continuing this internal journey, you shall arrive at each Chakra and eventually see the cosmic dance of Thillai in Sahasrara. A 1000-petaled flower will keep on opening up continuously. Arutjothi will come to reside here. Then its effulgence enters within, and just as the Kundalini, upon awakening, traverses each Chakra, purifying them, this effulgence brings on the shine and luminosity in them. Jothi Darisanam takes place where one sees the light or effulgence. The body takes on the same. Vibrations begin to emit within and around us and are felt by those tuned to receive and feel them around us. They shall follow you. You become a Jeeva Mukta, having attained Mukti while living in the flesh.
Henceforth you are no different from Agathiyan, and Agathiyan is no different from you. You are me, and I am you."
John Bowker sums it up beautifully,
The simple key is to realize that since all sentient beings are dependent on the Buddha nature, this must necessarily include myself. The purpose therefore of my life, if I am wise, is not to strive after some distant goal like heaven or even enlightenment. It is to uncover and find what is already true about myself and everybody else: that I am already the Buddha nature. I do not need to take off into distant space in order to find the Buddha nature. I am already that. (cf. the great sayings of the indians.)
I am beginning to understand why Lord Shiva came in a dream in 1988 and had me pull the brakes on my home puja, temple visits, and all reading and discussion, and, most importantly, brought me instant relief from all the anguish and torment I was going through, seeing the sufferings of all those around me sometimes at the hands of the very deities that they worshipped. I had questioned if God was all kind and loving and compassionate; why do his devotees go through hell or have their lives taken abruptly? After 14 years of self-exile, he brought me to read the Nadi in which Agathiyar and the Siddhas spoke about Karma that was new to me. I understood the reason for their sufferings when he began to reveal my Karma.
Returning to Sariyai after those years of absence, a friend who left to become a monk at Paramahansa Yogananda's Ranchi Ashram in India in 1994 passed me his autobiography. I came to know about gurus and masters. Introduced to Dr. Krishnan in 1996, he spoke about the Siddhas for the very first time when I asked if it was possible that his predictions could not materialize. He accounted that possiblity to curses from past lives and revealed that these were only known to the Siddhas who have transcended time and space. In 2001, as Navarathri was around the corner, I received the Vasudeva Mantra that came by way of my nephew, who was asked to pass it to me by his Parama Guru Gopal Pillai from his samadhi. I soon came to know that it was Agathiyar's calling to read the Nadi the following year. Agathiyar then introduced me to Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai in 2003 and Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar Ashram in 2005. Walking into Kriya that was shown to me by Tavayogi, he later officially initiated me into Yogam too. Agathiyar eventually released the waters and the energies that had pooled at Svadhisthana in 2022, after the Muladhara was opened and Kundalini awakened by those practices.
Then there came another phase of questions. Going by the Puranas, the Gods are known to have gone to war and wiped out the Asuras. By this very act, we are shown the good, bad, and ugly. But saints in later days tell us that all is well and that we are to just watch. So the Big question is whether to act to bring about change or remain passive and let things be. This question is apt, for this is the season we are celebrating the nine nights of Navarathri again for Goddess Shakti, where she does away with evil and darkness, bringing us Light.
Then, in a timely manner, a friend and reader messaged me yesterday.
Shan sir, in your writings, can you let us know the need for creation in the first place? And then Vishnu ji and Brahma ji followed, followed by the Sapta Rishis, and then a movement of mankind from the zenith to the nadir: a systematic degradation of everything around us. Environment, mentality, values, strength, age...Name anything, and there is a degradation. This journey of the soul after the body... that's another huge aspect. Why create all this? What's the need? What's the benefit?
I replied to him that "I have always stayed away from this subject of origin. Appa too says to deal with the present. It is not of any use to prod the origin and the end. I'm not keen to know either."
I had always stayed away from this subject of creation and its end, for Agathiyar had once asked us what use this knowledge was to us. Instead, he asked that we live for the moment with grace, humility, and a divine purpose. And as such, I stayed away too.
Upon his arrival and stepping on our shores, Tavayogi, seeing us steeped in Bhakti, asked when we were going to come to Gnanam. He then taught me Yogam. If I thought Gnanam was something that came about through reading and discussions and was gifted, Agathiyar later pointed out to me that it needed our effort, discipline, and determination. It was the journey of traveling the Chakras after taking up Yogam, which would then bring us to the phase of understanding what Gnanam was. One then has to look within further to know the Atma and Sivam to arrive at the state of a Gnani.
I have been worshipping all my life, until Lord Siva, in an attempt to cool me down, came in a dream and asked me to take a break from my home puja, temple visits, and readings for some 14 years between 1988 and 2002. Then the call to come to the worship of the Siddhas came through the Nadi in 2002. Calling me to the path, Agathiyar laid the slabs, paving the way to walk his path. Continuing the tradition of Sariyai now, after a long lapse, I chanted a long list of names of the Siddhas and sang their praises in addition to the original lists of deities. Agathiyar then listed the benefits of carrying out Siddha puja on Full Moon nights in my Nadi reading.
Many in this world utter my name (Agathiyar), Prayers done truthfully (to Siddhas) shall gain many benefits, Prayers shall bring much joy, Prayers done moderately but splendidly and honestly shall help protect the world, Prayers done with fellow devotees will bring many benefits, Many shall rise in stature and power, Prayers will lead to a state of bliss, Prayers done on full moon days shall strengthen the Jothi within, Prayers will help remove doubts, Through prayers, one shall attain godhead, Strength, grace, and wealth shall be gained, Stay on this path of devotion, and family bonds shall be strengthened, All that is asked for shall be gained, Prayers shall lead to meditation and charitable thoughts, All ills shall be removed, God shall listen to prayers, Idiots shall become geniuses, The benefits attained from prayers are indescribable, for many changes shall take place.
Agathiyar then sent Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar Ashram to Malaysia in 2005 to preach the path of the Siddhas. We meet, and he officially initiates me into the path, nurtures and molds me by breaking me first and fixing me later. By having me carry out rituals such as the lighting of the sacred fire, the Homam, Tavayogi and Agathiyar brought me to Kriya. While Tavayogi told me to do it to appease Mother Earth and Nature and save us from her wrath, Agathiyar came later in the Nadi to convince me that I was not doing it for myself but for the good of all, the Prapanjam. They had connected me to Prapanjam. In later years, Ramalinga Adigal, coming through devotees, was to help us reach out to her. In doing it diligently and consciously, this ritual drew the bridge down for the Siddhas to come down and sit among us. It was only when he had a family come over to my home and sit in on this ritual, recently, that Agathiyar showed me and had me realize that we could burn our karma in its fire, hence wiping out what was fated, and draw up a new destiny. He made me realize why Tavayogi had prepared 108 such ritual pits and had each family follow the ritual on his ashram ground back then, and named the event as Sarva Dosa Nivarana Maha Yagam, the Yagam that was to clear all Dosas and Karma and bring relief.
In 2007, Tavayogi officially introduced me to Yoga by demonstrating several Asanas and Pranayama techniques to several others and me. This practice, in bringing in a surge of Prana, connected me to the Prapanjam. And, unknown to me, it brought immediate transformation to my body and mind. It was only in later years that Agathiyar, in the Nadi, in revealing the reason for the unexplained, intense, and excruciating pain in my lower back that I had to live with, revealed that the practice had opened the Muladhara chakra. In 2022, just as Tavayogi had said that our efforts are only till the Svadishtana, Agathiyar helped release the pent-up energy that had pooled at the Svadhistana, to move swiftly within the next couple of days to reach Sahasrara, where the blooming of the 1000-petalled lotus took place. I touched bliss.
Coming as a bronze statue in 2010, which he asked to commission and be made in Swamimalai, Agathiyar has me do an Abhisegam, or libation, to his statue, as an extension of Kriyai. The day after his arrival, as we gathered family and friends to give life to the otherwise inert statue by chanting his name 100,000 times, as directed in the Nadi, Agathiyar came within me while my soul entered the statue. Years later, in 2013, he opened his eyes in his statue to look at us, and for all to see, showing us that he was pretty much alive in the statue. Bringing youths to my home to watch and participate in our home puja the same year, he expanded the worship, bringing it into the corridors of these temples, where we lit lamps and carried out Abhisegam and Homam. Bringing us to carry out charity in the children's homes, the old folks' homes, the streets, and the homes of the poor and unfortunate, he mellowed us, bringing compassion and love to blossom in our hearts and bosoms, too. Through devotion and service, cooperation, and goodwill, we made great strides, proudly and cheerfully walking the path.
In 2016, not knowing that it was to be the finale, we brought Agathiyar's statue into the homes of devotees who invited the visiting Tavayogi and Mataji. Then, just before ego and pride could get into our heads, Agathiyar had me bring the shutters down, hence bringing a halt to puja and charity in 2019. In initiating the move to do so, he made me let go of my association and attachment with the AVM group that had grown and flourished and was at its peak of activities. While some were confused, others continued with their home puja. As for me, I was asked to go within.
Taking up the Yogic practice beginning in 2007, which Tavayogi showed me, unknown to me, it brought immediate transformation to my body and mind. It was only in later years that Agathiyar, in the Nadi, in revealing the reason for the unexplained, intense, and excruciating pain in my lower back that I had to live with, revealed that the practice had opened the Muladhara chakra. In 2022, just as Tavayogi had said that our efforts are only till the Svadishtana, Agathiyar helped release the pent-up energy that had pooled at the Svadishtana, to move swiftly within the next couple of days to reach Sahasrara, where the blooming of the 1000-petalled lotus took place. I touched bliss.
In 2024, Agathiyar, wanting to test me to see if I was willing to let go of my attachment to his statue, too, asked me to leave my home and had me bring his statue into the homes of several devotees. I did as told, letting go of my association and attachment to his statue. Having tested me, he returned to AVM, bringing LobaMa with him also as a bronze statue that was sponsored and worshiped by a devotee. Subsequently, he held the 60th wedding anniversary for my wife and me to prove the critics, who held the opinion that the Siddhas would break up marriages and move them to become hermits, wrong.
Then Agathiyar had me even let go of him too, asking How else could we and would we be one. He implied that we were one, hence bringing me out of Dvaita or Bhakti or devotion, just as Tavayogi had called for, into Advaita or Oneness.
He then told me to know my Atma or Soul and to know Sivam, the Source.
As I flipped through Yogi SAA Ramaiah's book "Babaji Gita" moments ago, Shuddhananda Bharati, in his preface to the book, sums up this transformation from man to Sivam.
Human birth is rare. It is even more rare for a man to become pure, come to know himself and his creator, move away from suffering, and come to the state of Sat Chit Ananda. This state of Sat Chit Ananda is Sivam indeed.
I have arrived at the destination, or rather, I have come to settle in my home, in the source.
I understand why my first guru, Supramania Swami, in receiving me in Tiruvannamalai, told me that it has all ended for me having stepped into the Holy presence of Lord Arunachala. I understand why Agathiyar, in having me go on my maiden pilgrimage to India in 2003, had me circumambulate the Holy Hill last. Everything that Tavayogi said in passing to me is making sense only now as I arrive there. I see why he had me carry out a Homam, a smaller version of his Yagam that he did on his ashram grounds beginning in 2005, a year after the Tsunami hit the shores of India and many nations. He told me that it was to appease the wrath of Mother Nature. Agathiyar, coming through the Nadi, later told me the same: that I was not doing it for myself but for the betterment of the world at large. I have come to understand, after some 24 years traveling the path, that there was a means to play our role in helping Mother Earth heal. Similarly, at the peak of the pandemic, Lord Siva had Mahindren take notes and pass them to me, asking us to carry out a Homam in our homes to heal her during the lockdown. Later, Prapanjam herself came through another devotee and asked that she relay the message to me to carry out the Homam, fearing another round of the deadly virus sweeping by. If Tavayogi initiated the move to later have families sit around individual fire pits as he attended to the main pit, Agathiyar recently showed me that taking up the ritual of sitting around the fire pit and feeding the flame, besides drawing the bridge down to the world of the Siddhas, and having them come by, helps burn our past Karma; hence having us take responsibility for all our actions and not to depend on others. And so I began to understand why Tavayogi, at the very first visit to my home, thrashed me for looking up to him as a Holy person but pointed me to Agathiyar instead. He had me drop my dependency on the physical guru even before the thought arose in me. He had me drop my dependency on amulets, precious gems, and Rasamani, or mercury bead that I was wearing, and the Rudraksha too, even before the thought came to me. Agathiya,r after having me commission and bring his bronze statue over from Swamimalai, later asked me to leave my home for another, breaking my hold on his form and image. Finally, he had me even let go of him, asking How else could we become one, the Yegan. If he had, through Mahindren, given us a memo in which he explained the Udal or Body, Spirit or Breath, and Atma or Soul to us and delved into the mystery of taking birth much earlier, he then asked me to know the Soul or Atma and know Sivam to arrive there.
Having me take notes, Agathiyar had me share the journey towards Light with the handful gathered at my home during the Guru Purnima puja of 2024, bringing a close to all confusion regarding the journey. In asking us who Agathiyan was, he explained the journey of transformation into becoming him, or the Light within, or rather to rediscover him in us. He poses the questions to us and answers them too.
"Who is Agathiyan?
You are. I am. True. We all are Agathiyan. The Jothi, or flame or Light in us, is Agathiyan. He resides as the fire, flame, heat, and warmth in us. He is Esan. He is the Esan who resides within.
Why is it that we do not realize or feel him?
It is because we have not attained the state of preparedness or readiness to realize him. Once our soul attains this state, we shall begin to realize him.
How can we attain this state of preparedness? First, we have to travel this path. We need to travel to the places and abodes of the Siddhas, witness their miracles, enter the states of bliss, and bring back these feelings and work on them, nurturing them. The Siddha shall come down. When we follow their directives, they shall walk with us, holding our hands. This travel then shall not be that of an external but of an internal journey. Yoga is the key to this travel within. From Sariyai arriving at Kriyai, now they shall teach Yogam. The journey within shall begin. You shall witness happenings. You shall see many things. It would be puzzling to you. It would be new to you too. Continuing this internal journey, you shall arrive at each Chakra and eventually see the cosmic dance of Thillai in Sahasrara. A 1000-petaled flower will keep on opening up continuously. Arutjothi will come to reside here. Then its effulgence enters within, and just as the Kundalini, upon awakening, traverses each Chakra, purifying them, this effulgence brings on the shine and luminosity in them. Jothi Darisanam takes place where one sees the light or effulgence. The body takes on the same. Vibrations begin to emit within and around us and are felt by those tuned to receive and feel them around us. They shall follow you. You become a Jeeva Mukta, having attained Mukti while living in the flesh.
Henceforth you are no different from Agathiyan, and Agathiyan is no different from you. You are me, and I am you."
The journey is simply about accumulating things and later willingly letting them go, after taking in the ambrosia that comes from these experiences that churn the deepest depths of us. Through Maya, or illusion, we are taught and given experiences that bring us out of the darkness and quicksand and into the Light and freedom. The Soul is freed from the chain of Maya, things of its own making, eventually.
In a video, apparently of a doctor from Malaysia who survived to share what he saw in the brief moment he was knocked out by debris and the flowing waters of the Nepal flooding recently, we are told that he saw everything as light: the rocks, boulders, trees, and he saw the souls as blazing lights happily making their way towards a particular direction. Watching this, I asked myself if everything was light indeed. Doing the last cremation rites at the riverbank for my late mother, the man assigned to carry out the entire ceremony said a prayer, bringing our attention to the running waters, the trees, rocks, and soil, telling us that she would be in all of nature from this day forth. Ramalinga Adigal, in departing this world, is said to have brought the attention of the handful gathered that he would be in everything henceforth.
Just as we came from the Light and shall return to it, meanwhile living as beacons, candles and mediums of Light, the soil, earth, waters, air, space, fire and all of nature too are mediums, having a distinct purpose and role here. Each is a spiritual catalyst to another: the parents to their children, the teacher to their students, the gurus to their disciples, nature to mankind, and the Lord to us.
However much I try to write briefly, I end up giving lengthy posts. Please bear with me, for everything has to be said, for it is all connected. Otherwise, there would be missing pieces of the puzzle, and readers would not get a complete picture.
The calling came late in life for me, only in 2001, a year before I came to read the Nadi, as I was then already 43 years old. Agathiyar had Gopal Pillai, who had gone into Samadhi, come through a devotee of his and pass on a message for me through my nephew, who was a devotee of him too. He had my nephew come over to my home to deliver it at 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon on the 6th of October 2001. He had me chant the Vasudeva mantra, hence breaking my self-imposed exile, or rather, the 14 years that I had stepped away from all forms of worship, reading, and discussion, taking heed of the advice from Lord Siva coming in a dream, to shelve all the questions and doubts I had for another day. I was asked to pray to Lord Dhakshanamurthy too, to show me a guru in physical form. Although there was no explanation given for the whole mysterious happening that afternoon, I learned only later from my nephew that the message and mantra were from Agathiyar.
I soon received further answers when I happened to come across this Vasudeva Mantra being mentioned in books and on the net. I came to know about the Granthis, or knots, too. I learned that the Vasudeva Mantra is said to pierce and balance the Vishnu Granthi. I learned later that there are two other knots: Brahma Granthi and Rudra Granthi. We are told that further practice of Pranayama would pierce these too and the six Chakras too.
R. Venu Gopalan, in his book, "The Hidden Mysteries of Kundalini", enlightened me further on the Granthis, stating that the Vishnu Granthi adds obstructions for the Sadhaka, keeping one under the wraps of attachment and bondage. I guess this is what Tavayogi wanted me to avoid, hence telling me on the very onset of our meeting in 2005 that I was caught in Maya, thinking that he was holy. Instead, he showed me to Agathiyar. If he did not kill my excitement that day, I would have worshipped him instead of Agathiyar, hence becoming attached and bonded to him. Many years later, in 2022, Agathiyar, wanting to help me when I stagnated in worldly affairs, admitted that it was very difficult indeed to free oneself from the clutches of these worldly bonds. He said that we need the assistance of the Siddhas.
Then it dawned on me as I penned this post, the meaning of the Mantra that Agathiyar gave me in my Nadi later in 2009 and asked me to share.
Contrary to my thinking that the word Giranta that appears in the mantra was an ancient form of writing and speech that was attributed to Agathiyar as its guardian, I realize now that it refers to these knots, or Granthis. And so it was that Agathiyar was the guardian of these Granthis, or knots, and also their gatekeeper. The key was with him. True enough, only now do I understand why Agathiyar told me in my very first Nadi reading that I had to come to the worship of Lord Ganapathy and chant his Mantra. He was to remove the obstacles and pierce these knots before I started on the journey. In later years, Agathiyar tells me that he is Lord Ganapathy too. If one visits Agathiyar's shrine at Adhi Kumbeshwar temple in Kumbakonam, he will come across Lord Ganapathy at this shrine instead of Agathiyar's statue.
Agathiyar, through his apostles, had me located and had the mantra delivered in preparation to read his Nadi and have me receive him as my Moola Guru too. He came to show me the way to clear these obstacles and move on. I was blessed to have been gifted with the Vasudeva Mantra that brings balance to the Vishnu Granthi. After receiving the Vasudeva Mantra and diligently chanting it, the call to read the Nadi, something that Dr. Krishnan told me in the nineties to look up, to know if I was cursed in a past life, came. Besides carrying out the numerous remedies given by Agathiyar in the Nadi reading, the Vasudeva Mantra helped to dissolve my remaining past Karmic deeds.
In calling me to the worship of the Siddhas in 2002 and revealing himself as my Moola Guru,
and then in sending me to meet my gurus in physical form, in 2003 and 2005,
and in having his statue commissioned and made and brought home in 2010,
and in having strangers knock on my door on the pretext of seeing him,
and in having sent youths to my home after their Nadi readings beginning in 2013,
in having us go full force into rituals at AVM, and homes of these devotees and in the temples and doing charity in children's homes and old folks' homes, the streets and the homes of the poor and unfortunate,
and finally winding up the show and bringing down the shutters in 2019,
Agathiyar showed me a colorful stream of men and women who came and left. In the small span of time sitting with Supramania Swami in Tiruvannamalai in 2003 and 2005, and with Tavayogi at his Kallar Ashram in 2005, 2013 and 2016, and whenever he came to Malaysia, I saw a myriad of people with all kinds of situations stream in and come before him, and I got to see how they handled them. Then, in bringing people over to my home, Agathiyar had me observe and learn how he handled each one of them who stepped into AVM. I saw that people tend to be in many phases of their spiritual growth. They each had different needs and wants, mostly for themselves, most of the time. So many came to Supramania Swami, a family man, to chart their horoscopes, get talismans and amulets, and leave. None asked him what he wanted. Many came to Tavayogi, a mendicant, imagine, asking to sort out the mess they were in, bringing up their financial issues, health issues, and grievances. Tavayogi had to tell them to come to the worship of the Siddhas.
But it was different with Agathiyar, who told me that the strangers who knocked on my door were sent by him and asked that I let them in.
To a disbeliever, Agathiyar might opt to send him back, for he has to live out his Karma and fate first.
Similarly, if one has been to many places, and seen many gurus, learned and seen much, and comes to him to vomit all that was seen, heard and remembered before him, he might send them back, telling them to come again when they are empty and ready to receive.
If one then comes empty, he either gives him or her a method or practice to follow or begins working on him or her subtly.
When one comes butchered and in pain, Agathiyar might ask him or her to look for his Nadi.
As a general rule, if one is asked to surrender, he fears the very thought. Agathiyar pushes him to the point that he has no other choice but to surrender, as and when he has lost everything and has nothing more to lose.
When one genuinely comes up asking for guidance, he might have him come to the worship of Siddhas.
Following the phase of Sariyai that includes pilgrimages to holy spots where, in making the effort and travelling to arrive at these places, we shed a part of our past Karma, and in worship we shed the rest. Then, with the coming of the Guru in physical form, we take up the rituals that bridge both the worlds - the Siddhas and ours. The Siddhas come down and lead us on until we qualify to make it into their fold. In taking up Yoga, it bridges the Soul within (JeevAtma) with the larger Soul (ParamAtma).
The body has to be cleansed (Dega Sutthi) first. There is a need to carry out breathing practices (Vaasi) (Pranayama), starting with cleansing the nerves (Nadi Sutthi). The guru should initiate us into it. I was blessed to have Agathiyar as my Moola guru, initiate me into it through the Nadi and telling me that I would see further advancement through my gurus who would come by for this purpose. I remember vividly this very first yogic practice he gave me, the Nadi Sutthi, which clears the nasal channel and prepares the body to receive further practices. I learned that the Siddhas recommend this practice of alternate nostril breathing to purify the nerves. Once the nerves are purified, then Pranayama can be performed efficiently.
Swami Vivekananda, in his book, "Raja Yoga - Conquering the Internal Nature", Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1998, guides us on Nadi Sutthi or Alternate Breathing.
Stopping the right nostril with the thumb,
through the left nostril, fill in air, according to capacity;
then, without any interval, throw the air out through the right nostril, closing the left one.
Again inhaling through the right nostril, eject through the left;
Practicing this three or five times at four hours of the day, before dawn, during midday, in the evening, and at midnight, in fifteen days or a month, purity of the nerves is attained; then begins pranayama.
He stresses the importance of continuously working on these practices.
Simply listening to explanations and theories will not do. With practice, within a few days a little glimpse will come, enough to give one encouragement and hope. We shall gradually see the reasons for each exercise and what forces in the body are set in motion. All things will come to us, but it requires constant practice. No amount of reasoning which I can give you will be proof to you, until you have demonstrated it for yourselves. As soon as you begin to feel these currents in motion all over you, doubts will vanish, but it requires hard practice every day.
B. K. S. Iyengar, in his "Light on Pranamaya", HarperCollins Publishers, India, 2004, says the same,
The practice of pranayama helps to cleanse the nadis, which are tubular organs of the subtle body through which energy flows. The respiratory system is the gateway to purifying the body, mind, and intellect. The key to this is pranayama.
Swami Rajarshi Muni says that when Prana is regulated and properly directed, it can charge the various parts of the body, purifying and rejuvenating them.
In a footnote in his book "Autobiography of a Yogi", Self Realization Fellowship, 1990, Paramahansa Yogananda mentions that a yogi's body loses its grossness after use of certain pranayama.
With Agathiyar starting me off by initiating the practice of Nadi Sutthi in the Nadi reading, he sent Tavayogi later in 2007 to officially initiate me into various Asanas and Pranayama techniques.
I was blessed to have Supramania Swami, who passed on the merits of his 40 years of Tavam, or austerities, that rocketed my efforts manifold.
After Agathiyar had me spend my days in solitude and my nights sleeping in the prayer room, and had me observe certain regimes and practices, on 5.9.2019, I fell right before him as I got up in the middle of the night to go and ease myself. Picking myself up, I fell again in the living room. I fell and lay in front of my bathroom door again, slithering in pain like a beaten snake. He described the slithering as a sign of Kundalini moving. Agathiyar said the Kundalini had arisen and had turned up the heat and fire within as well. The heat of the austerities, or Tava Kanal, coupled with the awakened Muladhara Chakra, which triggered the arousal of the Kundalini, began to stir and move away from its seat. But still, I was unaware and could not join the dots until Agathiyar revealed. It was both painful and blissful. He acknowledged that it was the bliss of bliss. He mentioned further that the third eye and the crown had opened, and as a result of the three Malas or impurities being eradicated, I was partaking in the ambrosia nonstop within. I was both baffled and had no idea what he was saying.
R. Venu Gopalan, writing about the Kundalini in his book, "The Hidden Mysteries of Kundalini", speaks about Kanda.
The origin of the nadis is called Kanda. All the important nadis emerge from this astral centre and do the major activity of carrying the prana.
Swami Rajarshi Muni, who recommends alternate nostril breathing, as did Swami Vivekananda, speaks about the Kanda too.
Prana travels through the subtle body by means of subtle channels known as Ida and Pingala. These subtle channels, like the gross air passage, have their upper ends at the openings of the left and right nostrils. However, they do not end up in the lungs like the respiratory system of the gross body. Instead, they run down to a bulbous, subtle structure (Kanda) situated about three inches below the navel of the gross body. This is considered a powerful exercise in creating Pranaprabalya, or the strengthening of Prana, as well as the purification of the Nadis. The more Pranayama is done, the more Prana is stored in the Kanda.
I guess my Kanda must have been packed with Prana after all those years of practice, for the latch was opened and it was released over two consecutive days back then in 2022. Agathiyar told me that the reason for the pain and discomfort I went through in my lower back for some 2 1/2 years was that the energies had stagnated at Svadhisthana after the Muladhara had opened and the Kundalini aroused. In July of 2022, Agathiyar told me, "Currently, your Muladhara and Svadhisthana are open. At present, your breath is at the pond (lake). The time of its opening is near. Now is the right time to start your practice. This would open up the Chakra completely." Agathiyar mentioned that my breath shall touch the Suzhimunai and swirl, travel along my Chakras, and awaken them before finally touching the seventh. That day came over two consecutive days on Monday, the 22nd, and Tuesday, the 23rd August 2022.
The energy that had pooled and stagnated in the Svadhishthana as a result of the pull of the external world was released on Monday, 22.8.2022, shortly after I woke up at 6.40am. As I stretched myself in bed, I felt an "explosion of energy" in my belly. It was akin to a pull and a tug of a fine nerve or thread right below the navel. It brought on a swirling sensation followed by a chill all over. My whole body became numb right to the tips of my fingers and toes. Soon I felt nauseous and had the urge to urinate. Rising from bed, I collapsed twice on the way to the toilet, picking myself up each time. Back from the toilet, all was fine. A blissful feeling came over me. I was alone then, while my daughter was in her room asleep, unaware of what was taking place. Narrating this to my daughter later that day, she called up her mother, who returned home shortly from our grandchildren's home.
The next day, Tuesday 23 August 2022, I woke up at 7.20am to go to the loo, but I could not pee. I collapsed again. I picked myself up and climbed onto the bed as my wife watched silently. She had been told by Agathiyar to only watch many years ago. My body became numb from the shoulders down. I lay like a dead log on my bed. Although I could not move even an inch of my torso, from my neck down, I was able to see, hear, and talk, and was fully conscious and aware of what was happening to me. I described what I felt to my wife, who was sitting at the bed's edge. I had no fear or anxiety. I asked myself if this was what a dead body would feel like. Was I given an insight into what death would be? I asked her to bring the peacock feather and brush my body, as did Lord Muruga, coming through a devotee, at the height of another round of back pain in 2018. Soon, the experience went away.
Just as Agathiyar had said earlier on 30.1.2020 that my breath had stagnated at the Svadhisthana, and it was about time it opened up and travelled along the seven Chakras, where the journey shall awaken these Chakras, the awakened energy was practically pulled from its lower regions by a magnetic force to its summit in the crown over the next few days. I guess this is what Agathiyar meant when he said I shall feel a magnetic wave arise. The swirling sensation felt for several weeks in the abdomen just below my navel was regularly felt in the crown of my head, but with a lesser intensity. It seemed more like a flowering of petals now and was blissful. The chillness and swirling that was akin to a flowering went on irrespective of my daily activities these days. It was more intense each time I brought my attention to it. Following the flowering in the crown that went on without my effort, participation, or action, I asked Agathiyar what I should do further. He told me that they shall do their work and that there was nothing that I needed to do further. Just as Tavayogi told me, our efforts are only until we reach Svadhisthana, and the guru led me away from there. All my efforts ended that day.
Agathiyar, speaking about the transformation taking place in old age, consoled and assured me that
"The 'water' that ponded over time has been discharged. Having the chakras activated in this age has its consequences for the body. As the heat of the Tapas increases, the quantity of blood is affected, which shall lead to cramps, which shall then result in problems in the discharge of urine and faeces. Take the necessary medicines. Do not worry. Do not be afraid of death. It is but another door to another journey. One who invites death is a Siddha."
Agathiyar continued on the changes to be expected: "You shall witness many changes taking place within you. Do not fear. Due to the activation of the chakras, your body shall emit a foul smell. You shall have constipation. You shall urinate often. The Agathiyar Kuzhambu you took did help in expelling the three Dosas. But there still is. It shall be expelled in due time." He went on to ask me to prepare a concoction and reminded me that it was not to be shared with others. "Carry out the said practice. Take lots of warm water. "
True to what he had said, for several weeks I had the wind travel in my abdomen, causing pain in my groin and testicles. The urine and motion were smelly. I asked myself if my body was decaying within. Even before this, there were traces of blood in the sputum. I had piles. I had boils appear. I understood it to be the result of excessive heat in me due to my practices. And I understood it to be a cleansing process going on within.
When I asked him for an easier approach, Agathiyar told me that there is no easier way to attain or merge with the breath, the sensation, the vibration, the magnetism, the Prapanjam, and the Jothi. With a little effort from us, the Siddhas shall aid us further. Then the energies will do the rest. Agathiyar surprises me by saying that my gurus should have come to my assistance. But as they are engaged in his work, they had asked Agathiyar to come to our need.
As it worried my wife and me, Agathiyar asked me to go for a Medical checkup. 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.
The doctor gave me a clean sheet. Agathiyar removed the fear in us, though both he and Ramalinga Adigal had told us not to fear on numerous occasions. Though I knew a cleansing process was going on within, I needed assurance that it was not a medical problem or problems that crop up with old age. The Siddhas never abandon us in times of need.
Agathiyar answered my yearning to pull the shutters down on AVM a second time and go into oblivion.
"You need not go into solitude now. You need to share many things with others. I shall tell you when the right time is to do so."
He revealed that
"There is much I need to carry out through you. Enough of my praise. Write about your bodily experiences. Let your writings be about the changes taking place in your body. Let your readers know the changes that take place in the body if they come to worship the light and seek to merge with it. My wisdom shall be your experience. Experience first, and I shall clarify the experiences later. Experience is knowledge to you. Nothing is beyond experience."
To the handful of his devotees who came back after the pandemic, he asked,
"Get those who keep coming over to AVM to sit in meditation, too. When their external thoughts leave them, Gnanam shall dawn on them too, and they shall take up the path of Gnanam."
On 16.12.2024, Agathiyar questioned me on my fears, telling me that death was but another door to another journey. He asked me why I was afraid of death and consoled me, saying that it was yet another door to another journey. "How can a Siddha harbor this fear?" he asked.
He asked me to recall Bhogar's answers to him as to what Bhogar knew. I repeated Bhogar's answers to Agathiyar in the way that he only knew Agathiyar and nothing else. As I recounted the humility of Bhogar, a full-fledged Siddha who mastered many arts and sciences, Agathiyar revealed that I, too, needed to drop the Ego that I had become identified with. He asked me how long I wanted to remain as Shanmugam Avadaiyappa. I needed to drop this identity that was holding me back, causing a separateness between me and others and everything else. He revealed that he was in this Oneness.
He has brought us to Bhagawan Ramana's teachings. Ramana never initiated anyone, as he saw everyone as himself. I guess this is the reason that Agathiyar reversed his initial offer of making me a guru and instead offered to make me a Siddha. To enter this Oneness, I needed to observe Maunam, or Silence. Finally, hugging me, Agathiyar whispered in my ear that he was this Silence. He reminded me of Lord Dhakshanamurthy's last act to uplift his four students to become on par with him. When the Lord chose to remain silent, not taking on and answering any further questions henceforth, all his students became enlightened the very next moment. This brought me to the day in 2001, when I received the Vasudeva Mantra and the call to worship Lord Dhakshanamurthy. Hence, he revealed why he kept silent and never came to us since 22 September. Though he did not appear before us, he was with us, he said. In saying this, he told me to carry out whatever needs to be done, and he shall endorse it, bringing me away from my habit of waiting to be told what to do or securing his approval on all matters.
31.12.2024, I was practically living alone. In those hours of loneliness, I had only my thoughts to accompany me. Memories of the past dropped in, visiting me at times. Then, a sudden, unfounded fear gripped me, and I would begin to pace the floor of my home. This sudden, unknown fear came on so intensely that I could not sleep. I was awake in these hours, facing my own fears. There was no one I could call up and hold a conversation in these wee hours of the night and early mornings. Facing the fear of the unknown is facing death. Just as losing a limb, an eye, or hearing, etc scares the wits out of me, in these moments of silence, I was left only with my Self, breath, thoughts, and memory. I came face-to-face with existence without the superficialities of life and living. Agathiyar took ownership of all the doings, creating events that sparked the perfect scenario and space for me to be alone. I wonder how he chose me to go through this transformation towards losing the body and engaging with the soul, knowing pretty much that I was a scaredy-cat?
Agathiyar came bringing me the joyful news that "Supramania Swami was the guru who led you to the path of worship of the guru. He taught you guru bhakti, or devotion to the guru. You received the merits from his tapas. Tavayogi, too, in his light form, is trying to bring salvation to you. He is traveling with you. You traveled in his way and followed his teachings. You spread his fame and helped him attain the state of Jothi. He who is currently with you shall continue to travel with you."
Telling me that each practice given was something that the Siddhas had done and seen results, Agathiyar set out to give me these experiences too. Agathiyar and the other Siddhas then came through the Nadi, giving me regular updates like Microsoft's Patch Tuesday fixes. They gave me herbal preparations to cleanse my internals first. Then they had me take magic potions (Kaya Kalpam) to strengthen the body and to prepare it for the awakening of the energies. They gave me further herbal preparations to heal the discomforts that arose as a result of these awakenings. If initially the Pranayama techniques made me experience the Prana coming into the nostrils and into the lungs, soon it engulfed and enveloped my whole body. These days every pore in my body breathes. Every mouthful of food is savoured not only by the taste buds but by the internals and every cell. Every drop of water bathes me in joy and bliss. Every sight brings thrills within. Every song brings tears to the eyes. The Siddhas connected me with the world around me.
Agathiyar said that after traversing the Chakras and the Kundalini touches the seventh, I shall know my purpose here. Agathiyar enlightens me further.
"When one starts the journey of going within, the result is Gnanam. But it shall vary among people. Hence, I cannot say exactly what shall take place. All this while, you have gained external knowledge or Ulaga Gnana. Now you shall gain Gnana that is going to serve you. When you realize yourself completely and realize that everything around you is impermanent, you shall stand apart from it all. That is to be motionless in all manner, or Summa Eruppathu. To arrive at that state, increase your Soul Power or gain Atma Balam."
"The soul which has realized God through divine knowledge, Pati Jnanam, after it had renounced the worlds as changing or Asat, is called Jivan Mukta." (Source: "Metaphysics of Saiva Siddhantam - Sivagnana Boodham by Thiruvilankar Canagarayar, 1961)
This is how the Siddhas work to bring us into their fold, or Tiru Kootam. In bringing us into their fold, they have us carry out worship, rituals, and Yoga, then awaken the Kundalini very subtly and have her travel to higher reaches, bringing the unfoldment and flowering of the Chakras that bring bliss, contentment, and peace.
