STORIES

A friend and reader from the UK wrote me the following this morning.

Thank you very much for your message. I have taken some time to digest it as a number of things have been happening….the one within, is He the one you would call Agasthiyar….dare I say openly that this is my experience and understanding, that Agasthiyar is the one within!?

Just as WM Paul Young writes in his "Author's Notes" of his bestseller "The Shack", Windblown Media, 2007, that was later made into a film of the same name, that he and his friends never anticipated the success of his book and equated it to a "God thing", I too never imagined that this blog would have a wide readership. 

Readership in the past week

What started initially as a memoir of my travels, which are just a few baby steps on the path, would make big strides when Agathiyar gave his blessing to write, first on the external travels and later on the internal travels that culminated in the fulfillment of what he described as the journey in his own words of discovering him, that he had me take note and read out to the devotees and guests at my 60th wedding initiated and conducted by him during Guru Purnima of 2024. In asking us who Agathiyan is, he explains the journey of transformation into him, or rather, to rediscover him in us. He poses the questions to us and answers them as well. The original was in Tamil. A translation is given below.

"Who is Agathiyan?

You are. I am. True. We all are Agathiyan. The Jothi or flame 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 nor 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 how 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 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."

Just as Agathiyar mentioned, after going through all the aforementioned phases, stages, and transformations, a simple question on the deity Karupanasamy that came from my daughter, who had seen the recent movie on him, "Karuppu", prompted the divine energies to come within me, last Sunday, giving me a sampling of what Agathiyar describes as "Vibrations begin to emit within and around us".

This blog is all about stories, right from myths and legends to real-life experiences and encounters of all those who came into my life, and what I came to know from others, and that of mine, too.

WM Paul Young writes that "Every human being is a story, and when we share the stories of our lives, we are talking about Holy Ground where the dust of creation with fire that refines, the activity of God in the wonder of our humanity." He continues stating his belief that "God is good all the time and involved in the details of our lives, in ways mysterious both gentle and confrontational"..... "often behind the perceived and playing in the nudge, a hunch and idea that pops into our awareness" and that "all human beings hear God for themselves but it is in each persons unique language often so normal to each of us that we discount it." 

We are trying to break down the doors with logic, science, and understanding, but rituals and prayers reach out to the divine and bring them to open these same doors from the inside without any damage.