The thought came on that if we were to disregard the old, then we would be disregarding our parents and ancestors, too. I guess that is the reason we are all steeped in the past traditions. Traditions keep these memories alive. If we were to disregard traditions, we would be empty. There would be no story to tell and pass on. Living in the moment breaks all these bonds. So what are we to do? Stay living in the past or live in the present?
If we erase the past, everything is shed. The memories and lives of our ancestors, the towns and villages they lived in, and the many stories that revolved around them. The deities they worship. The texts and books that they looked at. The many personalities they looked up to. The many deities, gurus, and saints whom they worshipped. The ideologies and thoughts of successful men in all arenas, be it material, religious, or spiritual, that shaped their lives.
Is this where Agathiyar has brought me, too? Is this what dawned on me days ago, that there is no path to follow, but it is we who create one? True, there can never be another Subramania Bharathi, nor Ramalinga Adigal, Agathiyar, Supramania Swami, Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal, Narayanan Avadaiyappa Chettiar, or Annalakshmi @Valliammai Ramasamy. We are only a vague shadow of these mighty souls. We can never fit into their shoes or take up their roles. We would only end up imitating them. It would obviously be a poor imitation.
I have to be myself. I have to define myself. I have to craft myself. How can that come by? The Self in me, or the Atma, that after seeing the process of my being and its creation, which hid itself, has to come out of hiding to take the lead and show the way henceforth. The Atma in us summons an external guru when we are ready to receive the teachings and practices. Similarly, the energy that brought the Breath or Prana of both my parents together and moved to form the zygote, embryo, fetus, and a child that went into hibernation has to be awakened and has to make the journey back onto the road it came along and to its very source. The guru comes to guide us, and this energy. We then return home.