I have always been a bargain hunter be it books, clothing, groceries, etc. That's how my collection of books grew. Today we received another batch of books purchased from the reason Big Bad Wolf Book Fair that is usually held at a large convention center in my neighborhood, this year had gone online due to the pandemic. These four titles were added to my existing library.
I have had several books that came my way mysteriously. These stand above the others and are treasured most.
"The Autobiography of a Yogi" was one such book. My colleague Segaran who left his job to become a monk at Paramahansa Yogananda's Ranchi Ashram passed me a copy as a parting gift, with a painting of Lord Shiva and some wonderful words of advise in 1994. I read through the book and was amazed to follow the personal account of his journey. I learned about the marvelous saints whom he had met through his writing. Along the way, I thought I had loaned it to someone to read but ended up that she negated it. I felt I had lost a treasure.
Several years later another copy was waiting for me at my office, left behind by who else but the mysterious hand of the divine. A colleague had transferred out of the office. I help him cart his belongings to his car and came back to check his office space if he had left anything behind. Nope. It was all cleared out. Several days later as I walked by his former place I thought I saw a book on his table. There was this book lying alone waiting to catch my glance. I took ownership of the book as I was the last standing bookworm at my office. I literally had read the book till it split into two.
This book drove me to compile the precious moments when a seeker meets up with his master. Hence the born "First Encounters with the Masters" took shape.
Another book that came mysteriously was Swami Saravanananda's English rendition of Ramalinga Adigal's "Arutperunjothi Agaval", published by Ramalinga Mission Chennai. This book too was waiting for me at Sathya Gnana Sabai Vadalur in 2003. I was browsing through the books laid out at this tiny bookstall at the entrance to this temple while waiting for the mid-morning prayers to commence. The elderly man attending to the stall asked if I wanted this and immediately reached for the top of a wooden closet. He picked up this lone book and passed it to me. It was soiled and appeared to be a wet book that was rescued. I flipped through it and immediately was drawn to its contents. When I asked him for its price he left it to me. I gave him a small token. It was a sheer joy reading the rare account of the transformation of Ramalinga Adigal to light. I was very impressed by the transformation in Ramalinga Adigal. But could not visualize or understand then. It's only when you experience things that you can relate to what the saints and elders have told us. When Jnana Jothiamma visited my home in 2013, I wanted to gift her with something that was treasurable. I gave my copy of the book to her. Since then I have asked all who traveled to Chennai to look for it. Never got it. It is out of stock online too. We gain an insight into the mystery of the Siddhas and alchemy, not externally as in making gold but internally in changing one's body into gold. This book inspired me to pick up certain portions of the author's account of ‘Infinite god in finite man’ and the book "Arutperunjhothi Agaval" took shape.
There were many books that inspired me on this journey. P.Karthigayan's well-researched book on the "History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu", Notion Press, 2016 deserves praise for his effort. It was enlightening too.
The sole book that my first Guru wrote by hand and posted to me took the shape of "Gnana Sutiram".
Tavayogi's book "Andamum Pindamum" and "Atma Gnanam" were often referred to us by Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal. We were asked to go through them.
If Carl Sagan enlightens us of the gradual change in the medium of storage of information that was first stored in our genes and later in our brains as it evolved and took on an external space as at the libraries, the internet now has brought this library at our fingertips says Brett Frischmann. From https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/is-smart-technology-making-us-dumb/ we see further questions asked. While Nicholas Carr asks, "Is the internet making us dumb? Is the technology causing us cognitive loss or debilitation?" Brett Frischmann asks "Is smart technology making us dumb?" Brett Frischmann says "We outsource thinking and rely on supposedly smart tech to micromanage our daily lives. Are you and I, and our siblings and children, engaging with the seemingly limitless raw materials in a manner that makes us more capable, more intelligent? Or do we find ourselves outsourcing more and more?" He adds that we are in fact "extending the reach of others into their minds."
I am watching the series "neXt" where a rogue AI (Artificial Intelligence) strikes a deal with a debt-stricken programmer to install a hidden router, hence giving access to the WiFi. It then constantly improves itself and begins to take control and rule, feeding on "the seemingly limitless data" and information available on the internet.
"When you rely on GPS, who’s doing the route planning? Who is gaining what intelligence? As everyone knows by now, many digital tech companies know a lot about each of us" says Brett.
A friend who is in the telecommunications sector reminded me that our whereabouts and the places we visit are known by these digital tech companies. Our preferences and interests too are given away as we browse and search the net for topics of interest. All our activities on the internet generate data that is used to their advantage to sell, promote, suggest, and indirectly run our lives. The internet survives on what we feed it.
Many non-believers of the Nadi have accused the readers of gathering information from us during the question and answer session and framing and building up a story of us and selling it to us as purportedly told by the Siddha. In other words, trapping us into revealing our personal data to them to enable them to conjure events in a convincing way. To those, I have a tale to tell. I saw the Naadi giving my thumbprints for easy location of the Nadi leaves that might carry my story. I was asked the usual questions and told only to answer "Yes" or "No" and nothing beyond. This is how we start by locating the Kaanda Nadi written for us. Once we agree that the brief description given in the Nadi pertains to us, only then is the full Nadi read. Over the years I took both my daughters to have their reading done too. They went through the same process too. Then I thought my wife would like to hear her Nadi revealed by Agathiyar too. So we sought an appointment with the reader. But as a result of some minor confusion regarding the date and time of the appointment my wife and I were turned back. The reader never called us for her reading but instead called me over for my regular Aasi Kaandam reading that was waiting to be read. As he left the room into the adjacent room that stored the library of Nadis he returned with an expression of astonishment. He held in his hands a Nadi that was about to reveal about my wife. I too was astonished. Agathiyar began to address my wife in her absence, without the need for her to give her thumbprint and without the usual trend of question and answer to locating her Nadi. It was all so mysterious. Today I understand that he shelved all the protocol because she had served him untiringly all the years.
We often lament that we have become dumb as a result of our overdependence on the smartphone and the internet. But we are in for a surprise as we are told that we had surrendered/shifted that capability to store information to a certain extent to external storage in the past too. It came in the form of libraries.
"When our genes could not store all the information necessary for our survival we slowly invented brains. But then the time came we needed to know more than could conveniently be stored in brains. So we learned to stockpile enormous quantities of information outside our bodies. We are the only species on the planet as far as we know who has invented .. memory. The warehouse of that memory is called a library."
Just as we use the external hard disk and cloud to store these days, besides procuring all the information online, the library was a warehouse of memories that served to enrich us with knowledge. Carl Sagan adds that libraries in ancient Egypt bore the following words on their walls, "Nourishment for the Soul." How true. So it seems that it's nothing new that we have been shedding a certain portion of our potential to hold and store information over time.
"What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic."
(Carl Sagan, Excerpt from the 11th episode of his legendary 1980s Cosmos series, titled “The Persistence of Memory”)
As Carl Sagan says, in reading a book we walk within the insides and "Walk Thru" the mind of the person who wrote it, during those moments of engagement with the words in a book, we are walking in the shoes of the author.
Similarly, we are told that the Siddhas had documented and stored every native's story in the form of inscriptions on treated palm leaves or the Nadi or Olai Suvadi, thousands of centuries ago. I was one of the lucky ones to come across my Nadi written and preserved carefully by the guardians of these Nadis. Hence I treasure these readings that are unique to the Indian subcontinent. It amazes us that the Siddhas had written and kept the record of strangers from across the seas too and made it available at precisely the right moment. I was allowed access to its contents for a nominal fee. But what was revealed was many times more valuable than the small token that was asked for. The Nadis are a visual and visible representation of the subtle writings kept in a library too. This library is known as the Akashic records. These records besides holding information about people, retain the sciences and discoveries, rituals and agamas, Puranas and the scriptures, medicine and alchemy, and many more.
Vaidyar Arivananthan shared several pages of a Nadi. He told me that he had read through them and discovered many secrets of the Siddhas. I peered into them but could not make anything out of it. One certainly needs the grace of the Siddhas to hold, read, and understand these sacred writings.
Tavayogi came looking for a place called Agathiyar Vanam after completing his travels throughout India and on his last leg of being a mendicant spent some eight years in Sathuragiri hills. He made his way to Kallar. As Carl Sagan says before the advent of paper and print, writings were chiseled onto the stone, scratched onto wax, bark, or leather, or painted on bamboo or silk, Tavayogi was shown an inscription chiseled into granite, கல்வெட்டு that read Agathiyar Vanam. He set up his kudil or shed here made of a thatched roof with the cooperation of the village headman. This soon became the Agathiyar Gnana Peedham. Later in 2016, he moved to the present site some 2 kilometers away.
But to read, visualize, and understand; be it a book, the spoken word, or the Nadi, needs some degree of intelligence. Our experiences, our learning, our thoughts, and opinions then come to the fore to interpret the written or spoken language. We might end up understanding it quite differently from another who has read the same book. We might end up understanding a subject quite differently from another who sits together with us listening on. The only way to discern and understand correctly is to shut our minds and live out the experiences of the author or speaker. Only when we empty ourselves of our previous readings, experiences, learning, and knowledge, can we truly absorb what is written within the pages of a new book or what is heard for the first time. Hence the reason we are told to come empty before a guru too. One comes in search of a guru to learn his way since his way of life has pretty much impressed the seeker. The seeker should then lay down his baggage of thoughts, learning, and knowledge before submitting to listen out to the guru. Only then shall the words of the guru create magic in him, given ample space and allowance to reach within him and bringing a true understanding.
The highest teaching is of course that in silence. Sri Muruganar, one of Bhagavan’s closest devotees, relates the following story that he feard from Bhagawan Ramana.
When the four aged Sanakadi rishis first saw the sixteen-year-old Sri Dakshinamurti sitting under the banyan tree, they were at once attracted by him, understanding him to be the real Sadguru. They approached him, did three pradakshinas around him, prostrated before him, sat at his feet and began to ask very shrewd and pertinent questions about the nature of Reality and the means of attaining it. Because of the great compassion and fatherly love (vātsalya) which he felt for his aged disciples, the young Sri Dakshinamurti was overjoyed to see their earnestness, wisdom and maturity, and hence he gave apt replies to each of their questions. As he answered each consecutive question, further doubts rose in their minds and still they asked further questions. Thus they continued to question Sri Dakshinamurti, for one whole year, and he continued to clear their doubts through his compassionate answers. Finally, however, Sri Dakshinamurti understood that if he gave more answers to their questions more doubts would rise in their minds and hence there would never be an end to their ignorance (ajnana). Therefore, suppressing even the feeling of compassion and fatherly love which was welling up within him, he merged himself into the supreme silence. Because of their great maturity (which had been ripened to perfection through their year-long association with the Sadguru), as soon as Sri Dakshinamurti thus merged himself, they too were automatically merged within, into silence, the state of Self.
True to Sri Muruganar's understanding of Bhagavan Ramana as none other than Sri Dakshinamurti himself, Bhagawan was an exemplary guru who chose to teach in silence too. T.K. Sundaresa Iyer, an ardent devotee who first met Bhagavan in 1908, relates in his moving reminiscences the following.
It was a Sivaratri Day. The evening worships at the Mother’s shrine were over. The devotees had their dinner with Sri Bhagavan, who was now on His seat, the devotees at His feet sitting around Him. At 8 p.m. one of the sadhus stood up, did pranam (offered obeisance), and with folded hands prayed: “Today is the Sivaratri Day; we should be highly blessed by Sri Bhagavan expounding to us the meaning of the Hymn to Dakshinamurti (stotra).”
Says Bhagavan: “Yes, sit down.”
The Sadhu sat, and all eagerly looked at Sri Bhagavan and Sri Bhagavan looked at them. Sri Bhagavan sat and sat in His usual pose, no, poise. No words, no movement, and all was stillness! He sat still, and all sat still, waiting. The clock went on striking, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, one, two and three. Sri Bhagavan sat and they sat. Stillness, calmness, motionlessness – not conscious of the body, of space or time. Thus eight hours were passed in Peace, in Silence, in Being, as It is.
At the stroke of 4 a.m. Sri Bhagavan quietly said: “And now have you known the essence of the Dakshinamurti Hymn.” All the devotees stood and made pranam to the holy Form of the Guru in the ecstasy of their Being. Thus was the Divine Reality taught through the speech of Silence by Bhagavan Sri Ramana - Dakshinamurthy.
The following story portrays hidden messages. Each time I watched it it portrayed a different message. Watch it to see and understand for yourself.
I was passed this Nadi reading by the Siddhas sometime in July 2020. But I had my reservation as in many previous revelations by the Siddhas. Many had questioned the Nadi and why it did not materialize as prophecized. I too had question certain areas including politics and personal relationships of devotees where there were no said results in sight as predicted and as anticipated. With the news of the advent and coming of the vaccine, discovered and tested by scientists and making its way to the countries around the globe, we are relieved to know that mankind has come together to save humanity, crossing borders, nations, language, and race. Just as we prayed hard for a solution to be found, in this case, a vaccine, the Siddhas too tell us that they had prayed that the heart of the divine mellow and save all his creation. I remember back then when Tavayogi was undergoing treatment in a hospital, we had prayed that his life be spared. Agathiyar told me in the Nadi that he had listened to our prayers and that the Siddhas got together and performed a Yagam so that Tavayogi should live. Tavayogi returned to his ashram subsequently. After relieving his responsibilities with regard to the Ashram to Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar, he subdued willingly to his illness. Dhanvantri came to tell us that indeed he had gone into samadhi.
The Siddhas wish for humanity is to uphold the virtues expounded by all religions. This would make way for a peaceful and healthy co-existence among us.
The past few days have brought us good news about the vaccine and how it is going to be made available to people all over the world. We bring our palms together in unison to thank God, be it of any faith, for his grace in seeing through the hard work placed by the scientist in finding a vaccine and a cure. Let's keep our fingers crossed that all goes well with the Lord's grace.
My daughter tells stories to her three-year-old before she goes to sleep. She told her that the sun is visible in the day and the moon only at night and added the age-old myth of the great grand lady and saint Avvai as living on the moon. My granddaughter pondered for a while and after the brief moment of silence asks where is "Tata" or grandfather? Similarly, Mahindran's two-year-old daughter came into AVM's prayer room, and on seeing only AVM Agathiyar there asked her parents, "Where is Paati or grandma?" Children I suppose believe that if there is a grandpa then there should be a grandma too and vice-versa. When I went over my granddaughter asked me "How does the moon shine?" I told her that it appears to shine because it is lighted up by the sun and that it by itself does not shine and went on to show her a video of the light of the sun falling on the moon.
We are told that God is light. Tavayogi brought me to the flame at my altar and told me that we do not worship the flame per se but the red aura that surrounds the flame and fills the room. This would be the Non-Luminous Zone at 1400 °C, a region where "we can observe that there will be a kind of ‘aura’ formed around the candle. (Source: "http://gyanpro.com/blog/different-parts-of-candle-flame-you-probably-did-not-know/). When we "dissect" the light we see that it has several layers, burning at different temperatures within the flame and emitting several colors. But it goes unnoticed most of the time. We are told to light a lamp in the hours before dawn and before nightfall and worship the flame. Looking at the flame for several moments during worship and gazing even longer in intense concentration sadhanas brings us to see these layers clearly. Looking at the flame seems to help with our eyesight too as revealed recently.
Staring into deep red light for three minutes a day helps to maintain vision, British researchers have discovered. They found that the long-wave impulses stimulate the mitochondria in the cells of the retina. (Source: https://www.dw.com/en/deep-red-light-can-recharge-aging-eyes/a-54090927)
Glen Jeffery, professor at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London reports,
"Our study shows that it is possible to significantly improve vision that has declined in aged individuals using simple brief exposures to light wavelengths that recharge the energy system that has declined in the retina cells,"
A similar layered formation of the flame is seen in the sun too as captured by the photographer in the Nat Geo People documentary titled "Escape to Costa Rica." I believe this is the reason our ancestors worshiped the sun for it represented God to them. The sun was the life-giver, sustainer of life, and destroyer. The sun is the source of all energy. Without light, we have no sight; without heat, we would die. My friend sent me the following some time back,
I read your post on Jyothi. Sometime ago, Amma (Krishnaveni Amma of Kalyana Theertam) spoke about Lord Shiva as effulgence itself. That was how He stood at Tiruvannamalai,...A pillar of light. His true nature. But, how could the rest of Creation visualise Him? The light as we know it, is impure. The internal jyothi that the Masters want us to "see",is the same effulgence, and, is pure. Creation comes forth from the Divine Mother, and for any creation to take place, it needs space and time to incubate, mature and be released. Such is the nature of the Divine Mother. She is the heat, of that effulgence. Together, as Lord Arthanareeswara, they incubate and bring forth Creation. All possible forms and sources of light in the cosmos has heat, as an indispensable accompaniment. He,in His pure form , is pure effulgence. Out of His infinite Grace, He brings forth Shakthi, and begins Creation, for our salvation.
I was asked by Agathiyar to worship the sun on Sundays. It surprised us when my 83-year-old father-in-law who worshiped the sun each morning, was asked to begin to do the yoga Asana Surya Namaskar at this prime age by Agathiyar.
The Aditya Hridayam Stotram to the Sun God is said to be given to Lord Rama moments before he went to battle with King Ravana, by Agathiyar.
These sacred verses find a mention in the Yuddha Kanda of Sage Valmiki's Ramayana. And the Stotram was recited by Sage Agastya to Shri Ram just before the war against Ravana. Before the fateful day, Shri Ram had spent sleepless nights and restless days as he was relentlessly searching for his beloved wife Sita, who was abducted by Ravana. Therefore, a need arose to calm him and provide him with the much needed mental and physical strength to face the enemy on the battlefield.
The hymns pay tribute to the Sun God, who showers the Earth with light and heat, both that are essential for sustaining life on the planet. Since both light and heat are inherent characteristics of the Sun God, you can energise yourself mentally and physically by reciting this sacred Stotram. Mainly during testing times, this Stotram acts as an immune and morale booster for the body and the mind, respectively. This Stotram helps a person regain lost confidence, and helps him/her focus on her goal to triumph. We wouldn't be able to sustain on earth without the Sun. Therefore, the recitation of the Aditya Hridayam is a thanksgiving gesture. (Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/spiritual/religion/article/this-sunday-check-out-the-benefits-of-chanting-aditya-hridayam-stotram-dedicated-to-the-sun-god/586140)
Agathiyar once giving me a breathing technique in my Nadi, mentioned that both Lord Vinayagar and Buddha were the exponents and advocates of breath. Osho in his "Book of Secrets" mentions "Tantra is concerned not with any systemization of breath but with using breath just as a technique to turn inwards. Buddha tried particularly to use this method so this method has become a Buddhist method. In Buddhist terminology, it is known as Anapanasati yoga. Buddha's enlightenment was based on this - only this."
Similarly Agathiyar in asking us to go within asked us to use the breath as a tool. He told us to observe the breath. Ramalinga Adigal too came to remind us of that. Osho writes "Buddha said, "Be aware of your breath as it is coming in and going out." Eventually we shall take notice of the gap or interval between two breaths without effort. In bringing us Shivas first of nine techniques concerned with the breath, from the "Vigyan Bhairav Tantra", Osho in his "Book of Secrets" reveals, "If you can feel the gap Shiva says, the beneficence, then nothing else is needed. You are blessed, You have known; the thing has happened."
Initially, we are asked to look for a quiet place to practice conditioning the breath or breath control as in pranayama and specifically nadi suddhi. Later we are asked to just sit and watch it moving in and out. The breath begins to nudge us at the Ajna center. Soon with practice, it begins to nudge us even as we are attending to other chores asking for immediate attention. It can happen any time and you shall be forced to pay attention to it leaving all things aside.
Osho explains that contrary to our belief that the incoming breath and outgoing breath are running parallel as in parallel lines, they actually are one single breath, that in actuality flows in a circle. There is a point where the incoming breath turns and becomes the outgoing. Quoting another stanza of Shiva, we are asked to observe and realize this point of turning and become a realized soul. When the breath is static neither going out nor coming in, at this fusion point we are in our center. Agathiyar calls this center Suzhimunai. Each shall realize his center. It is the place where there arise energy and a feeling or unarvu that comes with it. "Know it to be your Suzhimunai," says Agathiyar. Osho asks us to observe the child breath. He says children are in their center and at their center. The reason being children give themselves up completely in all their doings and at all times. Hence we should learn to follow these children give themselves up in totality and not try to change them to our ways. One who arrives at his center becomes total. Agathiyar calls this the state of Paripuranam.
This blog is about and revolves around the Siddhas. It is not to convert or convince another into the belief or path of the Siddhas. It is solely about an individual's experiences, though those seeking to know something regarding them might by chance find it within these pages.
When I was looking to know about the Siddhas, I was passed or pointed to books and other literature about the Siddhas that were too academic in nature. Furthermore, I could not understand their songs nor comprehend what was described in these books. It needed a guru in the physical form to expose us first to the path and bring us real-time experiences. One could not possibly have them through reading books. Thinking that the books could fill me in further about them, I read all the books on the Siddhas that I could lay my hands on. But I could not comprehend, nor could I visualize or understand then.
I am grateful to Tavayogi for going the extra mile to bring me to the abodes of the Siddhas and places where he had meditated and lived before settling at Kallar.
I am grateful to Tavayogi and Agathiyar to get me started on rituals. We could not possibly visualize its benefits without actually doing these rituals.
I am grateful to Tavayogi and Agathiyar for getting me to do charity. Only after we went to the ground and saw the hungry faces did the compassion in us grow. We would not possibly have felt it reading books.
I am grateful to Tavayogi, Agathiyar, Patanjali, and Ramalinga Adigal for bringing us into Yoga. Only after putting Yoga into practice did we see the immense benefits that it brought onto us. This would not be achievable by merely looking at hours and hours of videos on it.
The Siddhas were very practical people. They hardly engaged in talk but rather wanted us to perform. These actions brought results that brought further understanding. Reading then about these subjects we could easily appreciate what is written, having had the experience.
Today I have come to understand that it's only when we experience things that we can relate to what the saints and elders have told us or written. Only after having the experience that we can correlate with the subject written. Hence the reason Agathiyar, Ramalinga Adigal, and Tavayogi got us to start on doing something without going into the details of it or the results. We shall eventually come to find out. It's then that they come around again to verify and confirm what we saw and realized, felt and experienced. Let us start gaining the experiences first before we seek an understanding.
Give yourself up to the divine. Let the divine work in you. Enjoy the bliss that is encountered. Try to prolong these moments. These were the words I was given on this journey. Today I can link them to Sariyai, Kriyai, Yogam, and Gnanam respectively.
Coming back from India in 2003 I documented my pilgrimage on my now defunct website indianheartbeat and several travel blogs. The reason was to share my fond memories and experiences with those keen to read and follow.
Soon when Agathiyar sent aspirants and seekers of the Siddha way and path to my home, I compiled songs that we would sing for each occasion or religious festivities. This was distributed to them. The reason was to share my joy in singing the praises of the Siddhas with those keen to sing and follow.
Soon we documented these events including the puja at my home that became AVM and at the temples and uploaded them to my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/siddhaheartbeat. The reason was to share our fond memories and experiences with those keen to watch and follow.
I began sharing live the Siddha puja in my home with Jnana Jothiamma who was then residing in the USA upon her requests and yearning in wanting to follow the prayers. Then I migrated from Skype to Ustream to YouTube Live to reach a wider audience as I received requests from more devotees.
It gave us great joy in sharing them. Soon we received feedback from readers of the website that later became the Siddha Heartbeat blog; from seekers searching for the songs and relevant means or methods of conducting puja to the Siddhas, and from viewers who cherished the melodious songs and visuals and interviews uploaded. We came to learn that many made their way to Kallar Ashram after reading and watching these uploads. We came to learn that many took up the worship of Siddhas that was ideal for the family man and simplified and made easy to follow, minus the need to walk away from the family and society in search of the Siddhas. This brought great joy to us as others too could now "walk the path" and gain insights into the lives of Siddhas, within their homes.
As we move with times, I believe the means and the methods to God too change to suit the times. I strongly believe that Agathiyar has simplified them just for our sake so that its simplicity would kindle us to at least try to start the walk.
The years 2001 to this day, some 19 years now, have been years of learning, experimenting, and experiencing the path. We have seen many results too within this span of time. To those who are eager to know of these results please read through the posts on this blog. To those who have the urge to start immediately on this path, you could follow the method outlined below. It worked for us, hence it should work for you too.
I was called to the path by Agathiyar in the Nadi reading. Nadi guru or Nadi Nool Aasan Sentilkumar of Avinashi, Tamilnadu performed the ritual of giving thanks and a small token of appreciation to both the Siddhas who were the authors of the Nadi and the reader who was the medium to read and convey the message. The ritual was termed Nadikku Dhanam and it came as instructed in the Nadi by Agathiyar.
Sentil read out the names of the Siddhas and made offerings to them portrayed in a painting. This was the first step. This ritual served as a note of appreciation to the Siddhas in welcoming us to their path. I was given a painting of Agathiyar and a booklet that carried these names to worship them at home. Soon I searched for more songs to add on during our puja. I used to release a different compilation of these songs appropriate for the occasion. Hence my library of songs expanded till it became a "Compendium of Songs in Praise of the Siddhas".
In 2013, the need for a book for those on the run rises. It was meant for those who had to rush elsewhere and did not have the liberty of allocating time for an elaborate puja session. This saw the realization of the booklet "24 Minutes Siddhar Puja".
With the coming of the guru more elaborate rituals came to be followed. With the coming of Agathiyar in the form of a statue instructed to be commissioned by him in the Nadi, he asked that we perform libation or abhisegam to him in this form. Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar of Kallar Ashram came to assist us in providing the songs that accompany a typical abhisegam. We modified them for our purpose and sang the songs as we poured the 16 items bathing Agathiyar and chilling him.
With the coming of Tavayogi he introduced us to conducting the fire ceremony or Homam a smaller scale of Yagam in our homes. This started me researching the benefits of this age-old tradition that our priestly ancestors conducted. Hence the book "Feeding the Flame" was published and distributed to devotees so that they too shall appreciate and understand what they were doing or witnessing rather than see the ritual as a mere ritual.
As we began to appreciate the coming of the gurus and saw the results in walking the path, more books were published online.
As I stood on the topmost step of the ladder this morning figuring how I am going to reach out and cut the branches of the Melia dubia tree or மலை வேம்பு that had reached out and now rested on the canopy at the porch of my home, there comes by a Rohingya kid who collects scrap metals to sell. He stopped to asks me if I needed some help. He helped me cut a couple of branches and left. I gave him a small token of appreciation. This is how Agathiyar comes to my aid in moments of need.
Having a career in the construction industry I could have renovated my home to my liking. But it never moved me to do so. My house is one of the few that hasn't had a makeup till this day. It is as originally built. But as the wroth iron casement windows were rotting and I had a broken glass pane it was in dire need of replacement. Seeing a worker mix concrete in front of a neighbor's house I stopped to ask if he could replace my windows. He did not seem to know the price and asked for more time. A neighbor who was watching knocked on my door later volunteering to do it. It seemed the worker I spoke to was a specialist in making fish ponds hence his inability to quote a price and reluctance to take up the job. My neighbor came and did a fine job. He suggested I do up my kitchen counter too and threw in a painting job for the kitchen for free. Before he packed and left he surprised me telling me he took up the job because of my deity. I was amazed at how Agathiyar came to my aid in times of need.
True to what he said I had recommended him to a couple of people but he never went over. As he does not do carpentry, he did the kitchen counter minus its doors. Another neighbor then tells me he has called over someone to replace his kitchen counter and asked if I was interested to have the doors to my kitchen counter fitted. The man sent his workers over to fit them. It is now complete and pleasant to look at. This is how Agathiyar comes to my aid in times of need. Agathiyar surprised us further when he came later and told my wife that the kitchen counter was a gift from him for her service in preparing food or annam for him and the devotees who dropped by at AVM.
As I was struggling with the wrench provided by the car manufacturer trying to replace my car tire with a spare my neighbor came with a long iron bar and extended the wrench and loosened the lug nuts. The tire came off easily. This is how Agathiyar comes to our aid in times of need.
But first, we need to connect with him. A mantra serves this purpose. By carrying out rituals, by being an active participant, and not remaining mere spectators watching the ceremony, the bridge to the other kingdom is drawn down. Lighting a lamp serves as a portal for the deities to travel through. With the portal open and the bridge drawn the visitations begin. These are all for starters. Once we get connected and the route is opened, we can drop the rituals for the travels shall continue to take place as we have established contact. We then begin to see the divine in all things. For instance, we are asked to observe the flame of the lamp. The flame is seen as having many layers to it and of various colors. The temperature of the fire produces these colors. The colors vary according to the medium burnt. For instance, the "Flames of candles are different from flames of burners."
The Blue zone at 800°C is indicative of the stage where "there is incomplete burning of carbon dioxide thus resulting in the formation of carbon monoxide. This flame is usually used for heating as the temperature is more in this zone."
The Dark Zone at 1000°C is indicative of "the part of flame occurring around the wick of the candle. It mostly contains all the unburnt wax. So when the candle is lit up the unburnt vapors move away upward from the wick. These vapors are combined to form the Dark zone of the flame. The flame in this zone appears dark yellowish reddish color."
The Luminous Zone at 1200°C is indicative of "a region where the incomplete combustion takes place. And a large amount of heat is generated. All the unvapourised gases and the molten wax will be burnt in this zone. The flame is yellowish in color."
The Non-Luminous Zone at 1400°C is indicative of a region where "we can observe that there will be a kind of ‘aura’ formed around the candle." (Source: "http://gyanpro.com/blog/different-parts-of-candle-flame-you-probably-did-not-know/)
https://pslc.ws/fire/howwhy/flameco.htm
"What can cause so much heat to be given off? - our fuel! Before combustion, the fuel volatilizes, meaning that it becomes a gas, and often decomposes to form smaller molecules, atoms, ions, and/or free radicals. Once the fuel is a gas, the real combustion occurs." (Source: https://pslc.ws/fire/howwhy/flameco.htm)
Although fire burns everything in its way, it falls short of burning water. Water evaporates and does not burn. We are often asked to understand the tattvas that made up our body and the rest of creation by Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal. Much like how Ramalinga Adigal transformed his body constituents through heat or Tava Kanal resulting from his austerities; transformed the Sudha Deham to that of Pranava Deham filled with prana and later became the light body or Oli Deham, and finally disintegrated into molecules and atoms, residing in all of creation, Agathiyar is working hard to transform us, pushing us to perform and achieve this feat too.
An amazing footage has been shot of the sun at Costa Rica in National Geographic's "NatGeo People - Escape to Costa Rica". I never saw the sun appear as a flame although we know that it is a ball of fire. It's almost impossible to look at the sun without proper protection for the eyes. The only time I tried to see a solar eclipse and its reflection in a basin of water almost blinded me. This footage of the sun is seen in the flame of the lamp at AVM and has often been depicted in the paintings representing the jothi that we worship.
Swami Vivekananda wrote, "When I was a boy here, in this city of Calcutta, I used to go from place to place in search of religion, and everywhere I asked the lecturer after hearing very big lectures: "Have you seen God?" The man was taken aback at the idea of seeing God; and the only man, who told me: "I have", was Ramakrishna Paramahansa, and not only so, but he said: "I will put you in the way of seeing Him too". Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa gave the young Narendra @ Swami Vivekananda the experience of God rather than speak about him or describe him.
In answer to Narendra's question, "Sir, have you seen God?" the Master said: "Yes, I have seen God. I have seen Him more tangibly than I see you. I have talked to Him more intimately than I am talking to you." Narendra was amazed. These words he could not doubt. This was the first time he had ever heard a man saying that he had seen God.
During his second visit, about a month later, suddenly, at the touch of the Master, Narendra felt overwhelmed and saw the walls of the room and everything around him whirling and vanishing. He saw his own ego and the whole universe almost swallowed in a nameless void. With a laugh the Master easily restored him. Narendra thought he might have been hypnotized, but he could not understand how a monomaniac could cast a spell over the mind of a strong person like himself.
But during his third visit, Narendra fared no better. This time, at the Master's touch, he lost consciousness entirely.
A few more meetings completely removed from Narendra's mind the last traces of the notion that Sri Ramakrishna might be a monomaniac or wily hypnotist.
Narendra, because of his Brahmo upbringing, considered it wholly blasphemous to look on man as one with his Creator. One day at the temple garden he laughingly said to a friend: "How silly! This jug is God! This cup is God! Whatever we see is God! And we too are God! Nothing could be more absurd." Sri Ramakrishna came out of his room and gently touched him. Spellbound, he immediately perceived that everything in the world was indeed God. A new universe opened around him. Returning home in a dazed state, he found there too that the food, the plate, the eater himself, the people around him, were all God. When he walked in the street, he saw that the cabs, the horses, the streams of people, the buildings, were all Brahman. It took him a number of days to recover his normal self. He had a foretaste of the great experiences yet to come and realized that the words of the Vedanta were true.
(The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Introduction by Swami Nikhilananda)
Although I have had no similar experience, just as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa told Swami Vivekananda, "I will put you in the way of seeing him too", Tavayogi put me in the way of seeing Agathiyar. If Agathiyar called me to his path through a Nadi reading and showed me to Tavayogi who was visiting Malaysia Tavayogi, in turn, called me over to his ashram and showed me Agathiyar. Tavayogi showed me to Agathiyar telling me, "அருள் ஞான ஜோதியே அகத்தின் ஜோதி தனிப்பெருங்கடவுளே அகத்தீசர் ஆவார். Tavayogi did not portray himself as God or messenger of God but instead, his God became my God too. Once there he showed me rituals and worship and introduced me to doing charity. If Agathiyar had indicated that he will see me at Agasthiyampalli once I was there, he surprised me with a bonus miracle when he opened his eyes again at his shrine in the Kutraleswar temple. Pursuing this ride brought Agathiyar into our home as a bronze statue in 2010. Three years on, Agathiyar opened his eyes in this statue just as he did in his granite statue at Agasthiyampalli when Tavayogi took me there in 2005. He opened his eyes back in Malaysia, in a painting of his a day after we had all sat down to conduct a puja for him in the home of some girls. Showing us that he could be brought to manifest in the medium of our worship, be it a painting, granite, or metal, he showed us that he would visit the homes of devotees who called out to him too.
Someone who followed my blog contacted me and wanted to come over to my home but it never happened as he could not make it for various reasons. When he called me over to talk I knew that he wasn't keen on seeing Agathiyar but me. We finally met at a puja in an Agathiyar temple. He showed his respect to Agathiyar and came over to me and asked about the posts and how Agathiyar came. When he suggested that it could be hallucination on my part, I knew he only wanted to investigate the miracles. I was disappointed as I thought he was genuinely interested to hear about these miracles. I told him that I was not going to let him dissect me on the table rather told him to carry out all that I did thus far and experience it himself.
I was always of the opinion that we have had enough of temples and religious institutions many of which are abandoned and in ruins and have disappeared respectively. Those still around are in dire need of financial aid. Prem Kumar V. has done a good job in bringing our attention to some of these establishments that need aid to upkeep the rituals and puja.
In serving Agathiyar we became fond of him and the institution that was slowly growing around Agathiyar at AVM. It was pretty obvious that many were getting pretty attached to the group and possibly me too. This terrified me. Just as Tavayogi showed Agathiyar and stepped back, I too wanted each individual to take up the worship of Agathiyar and the Siddhas in their homes and wanted them to bring charity into the homes of the unfortunate and the homeless. There was no other way about it but to dissolve the groups. As I was happily removing each name from the two groups that we created back then in 2015, one to serve to inform devotees of the puja times and the other to inform volunteers of the charity programs, a sense of joy came about in letting go. As usual, my friend sends in a message as I am working on this post. It truly was beautiful in letting go.
Many years ago I had done the same regarding my writings online. I made the decision to remove all the websites and deactivate social media accounts. This was in response to a comment posted on a friend's social media regarding a photo of my first guru. I was angered by the comment that belittled my guru. Later I told Tavayogi that I had taken down everything. He asked "Why my son? Let it reach the people." I had to start from scratch building the web pages.
Now after disbanding the groups a doubt slowly raised if I had done the right thing destroying the very thing we gave birth to and nurtured for some four years. My farewell message in the group was,
If all this while we have been working on the body that is only a sheath or covering, adorning it with cosmetics, clothing, and ornaments, bathing it, feeding it, and praising the self and each other and inflating the ego, now he wants us to work on the soul. Bringing us to understand our role and true purpose in taking this birth, Agathiyar slowly brought us to understand the soul within and work on it too. We understood the soul to be the bridge that connected the body with the spirit. Agathiyar took time to spell out the ways and means of saving our souls.
Agathiyar surprises us with the message and assurance that all of us shall eventually reach the state of Jeevan Mukti. But we need to come out of Maya first. He wants us to take responsibility for our actions, and change accordingly, only then the soul comes out of Maya. The soul needs to grief over the sufferings of others. Then compassion begins to well in us. It's only when the soul feels the pain of another that it shall come to and remain on the path of the Siddhas. We need to work on this.
He brought us to strengthen the soul or gain Atma Balam by using the body as a tool. If initially we were told to gather merits or points by carrying out acts of dharma and service, leading to an accumulation of good karma that can be used to offset and balance those wrongs done intentionally or otherwise, slowly he brought us to realize that beyond and above collecting Bonus Link points that can be exchanged for gifts, later on, these acts of charity serve the very purpose of dissolving the stone-hearted who never gave a second glance or look at the plight of the poor and hungry. If through worship the soul cried for the grace of the divine, his blessings, or arul and darshan or vision, now by doing charity, his soul now griefs for the pain and sufferings of the small section of society who are exposed to continuous suffering and misery. Then his glance falls on the sufferings and pain of animals too. Ramalinga Adigal went a step ahead and it pained him to see the plants and crops wither. Compassion arises in the hearts. Only when the soul grieves for the sufferings of others shall one come out of Maya says Agathiyar. The day we win over Maya and its grip and hold on us, is the day we could possibly come to the fold of the Siddhas. The day compassion arises in us is the day we gain access to the Siddhas.
Hence the Siddha Margam is not for the masses as seen in Bakti and the temples, says Agathiyar strongly. It is definitely not for window shoppers and spectators. It is not for people who come to fulfill their material desires. I pointed out the need to serve through my blog writings revealing the reasons as told by Agathiyar. I have begged, pleaded, and came out harsh on those who chose to watch rather than help. Yet I could not melt those hearts. I could not trigger the compassion in them. My charm did not work on them. I dropped many from the group for their indifference to the plight of the poor and to my requests. I have failed in trying to bring more people to do service to our fellow mankind. My next course of action would be that of Ramalinga Adigal's too, "Vanthen Kadai Virithen. Vanguvaar Illai. Selgindren. I came with my wares. Sadly there was no buyer. I shall leave." As Ramalinga Adigal locked the doors to Satya Nyana Sabai, I shall bring the shutters down (on the groups). We are moving to Siddhivalagam (where Adigal shut himself up)
I was relieved when Agathiyar came to right my feelings telling me it was his doing. Subsequently, he had me stay home and go within. Soon the lockdown in liew of the pandemic came along. Some friends messaged me later telling me that they understood the reason for the move.
I should thanked you aiya. From your blog, i came to know Agathiar appa. I learned that we dont need middleman between god and us from you aiya. Even though temples was closed due to covid-19, i was happy to pray and do pooja in my home. Yes, indeed when you broke the group i was so upset but now i realize the reason! Thank you for this siddha path and hope to see your spiritual growth aiya.
I have to thank you for coming to the path aiya. You always spoke about the solo journey. You always spoke about going within. I had become tooo dependent on the blog aiya. My journey took a swift turn. I channel what i read these days. I don't deviate. I read what you send my specifically. This is because I have to find my own way. I don't look left or right or anywhere its just him and I. I am sure you know all about it. I am under the radar. I have been in isolation before the virus aiya.
Agathiyar reveals to us that the Siddha path is not akin to that of devotion or bakthi where crowds amass in hundreds and thousands. His path will shrink in numbers leaving only those who can take the heat to carry on his noble teachings. He initiates many things and finally comes to break all forms of attachments towards it.
Agathiyar says there is no right and wrong. We shall come to determine right and wrong based on our experiences. In other words, it's all about perspectives. Our perspective of things and the world around us changes as we become more knowledgeable about them and gain experiences and learn lessons. All his experiences shall "maketh the man". As a child, we hold dear to many things that later as adults, we ask ourselves, "Did we actually throw a tantrum for this?" or "Did we make a fuss over this?", since they become unimportant to us then. Similarly what we comprehend or understand and hold to be true in the spiritual circle too evolves and changes bringing a new understanding of all things spiritual. I have to admit that after 2389 posts on this blog, I too have come to see things from a different perspective hence realizing and understanding them differently. So should I then say that all my previous understanding was wrong? It was right at that particular moment of space-time. I saw it and understood it that way with my limited knowledge and understanding then. With time as we evolve, by meeting new people, by experiencing, and learning more, our evaluation and analysis differ, changing our understanding and acceptance or rejection of concepts, opinions, practices, and lifestyle. What is held close to our hearts is dropped for another with better understanding. What had been held to rigidly and followed will mellow or lose its hold on us with more revelations and new learnings.
I saw the movie Mookuthi Amman and have to acknowledge the sad facts that were shown taking place. A similar Hindi movie PK too brings to light our plight as seekers and devotees, who tend to be easily persuaded, influenced, and manipulated. Agathiyar back then in his "Agathiyar Gnanam" had warned us and stressed the need to be alert and distinguish the right and wrong. This too is very subjective he says. What might be true to one might be false to another depending on many factors and their upbringing, social and religious ethics, tradition and customs, their individual perspectives, their experiences and the lessons gained, their schooling in the field, their research, and learning. Similarly what is right for an era might be wrong during the next. So is it with everything else. In short, we cannot possibly label a thing as right and wrong. It is all in the eyes of the beholder.
Life is full of ups and downs. But to some, it might seem like they are forever plunging deeper and deeper into darkness. We can stomach pain for a day or two, hunger for a day or two too, misery another day or two. But what if it keeps going on for days, weeks, months, and years? What if there doesn't seem to be any sign of a silver lining anywhere to be seen?
The Indian film industry had addressed these questions through its movies and lifted our spirits through numerous songs that brought on hope. We still turn to these songs to bring on some solace to us.
I use to wonder how my parents raised me and my other six siblings in those years before independence and the post-independent period. Money and food were scarce, yet they raised all of us well, giving us all an education, a roof above our heads, and meals too. My late father never shared his story and his ties with his family in India. However, I went in search of his village home in the hope of meeting my relatives on Indian soil during my maiden journey to India in 2003. But for some reason, it did not materialize even as I stood on the street where he played and grew up, even as I stood at the door of his ancestral home in Kilsevalpatti. I came to know from a relative a few doors away that the whole family of my late father were gathered at the home of my cousin who had passed away the previous night. I could have met all of them but as I was on a pilgrimage of temples listed out by Agathiyar and the highlight of it being my circumambulation or girivalam of Annamalaiyaar of Tiruvannamalai the next day, I had to shelve my wish to step into the ancestral home of my father. I just took some photographs of the exterior of his home and the street and left.
I was always proud of my father for his courage to travel far in the years when the only means of travel was by foot, horsecart, bullock cart, and ship. I wonder at times if I could have performed the same feat. When he had traveled far and wide, from his village in Karaikudi to Rangoon in Burma, and sailed to Sri Lanka and later came to Singapore before making Malaya his second home, I never ventured out of my house nor traveled away from home. My maiden travel to India too came by and materialized because Agathiyar gave me a nudge through my Nadi reading.
As mentioned in the site http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2013-12-11_165654.html,
The Chettiars were traditionally merchants and traders in precious stones but later became involved in banking and money lending activities. Their role in finance expanded with the growth of British colonial rule in Southeast Asia. Many Chettiars emigrated from India to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Burma (now Myanmar) and Malaya (now Malaysia) as the British expanded their presence in the region.
My late father, like the others who were money lenders both by clan and profession, took the leap too, seizing the opportunity, as new frontiers opened up. He left his homeland in search of greener pastures. He traveled on foot and cart overland to do business in Rangoon in Burma; sailed to Ceylon and Singapore and finally settled in Malaya. He began his business with his peers in Ipoh and later at Market Street in Taiping. Jaime Koh brings back the fond memories that I have of the "kittangi".
The Chettiars generally conducted their businesses in kittangis (which means “warehouse” in Tamil), which were usually shop houses. The Chettiars would set up their offices on the ground floor of a kittangi. As Chettiars usually operated individually, each had his own safe and wooden cupboards for conducting business. A Chettiar moneylender usually sat on the floor and worked from a small wooden desk. There were also no partitions to separate the various Chettiar money lenders as they had their own designated spots for doing business. The Chettiars worked and lived in the kittangi. While the ground floor of the kittangi served as their offices, the upper floors were used as residences. A caretaker took care of the kittangi while cooks provided the meals.
My parents rented a home away from the kittangi. They had a cook to prepare meals for them and the chain of visitors who came over. My parents were very hospitable and caring even to their employees. My father was a philanthropist in his own little way. Besides entertaining guests (virunth upasarippu) he used to give away money and things, the largest contribution being a car, the Morris Minor that was a favourite and that he owned. The small wooden desk my father owned is with my brother now.
A Chettiar’s financial training would usually start in his childhood, where he would learn the theory of banking and accounting from family members. Boys as young as nine years old were rigorously trained in mental arithmetic and even taught to do mental calculations in fractions. They would go on to serve their apprenticeship at various Chettiar firms once they reached their teens,
As mentioned, we were amazed to see the speed and accuracy with which my father used to calculate, without any external aid, all done mentally and verbally. I wish I could have excelled like him in arithmetics too.
Having purchased properties and assets, life was promising until the war came. When a string of machine gunshots from a Japanese fighter plane missed my father by inches, he realized that moment that all the wealth and money he had could not possibly bring him alive if he had been hit by a stray bullet. We believe that all the merits gained in doing charity must have saved him that day.
Going through the life story of Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar, or A. V. Meiyappan of AVM Productions or Studio, we get to feel the fighting spirit of the man in wanting to see through his desires and accomplish them. He was a philanthropist too with many credits to his name.
Having a successful business going for him, TK Thangaraj who turned Tavayogi too rubbed shoulders with politicians and celebrities. Like A. V. Meiyappan, he tried his luck in movies too, having produced two movies and having a cameo appearance in one of them. Tavayogi downplayed the sufferings and miseries he went through never sharing them with others. Occasionally he would tell me a thing or two. But to whoever comes to him for a solution to their troubles, he would ask them to brush it aside and to leave it to Agathiyar. "விடுங்க மகனே அகத்தியர் பார்த்துப்பார்" was his usual solution to all troubles.
He spoke about the trials and tribulations that the moviemaker "Sandow" Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Devar or Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Devar went through in life and how the divine came to him in a timely manner when he addressed us in Malaysia. Watch from 36.46 minutes onwards.
Joining their ranks my father did venture into running a theatre back then in India. My uncle was a film distributor in Malaysia many years back. I had the ambition to become a film director but I killed that thought. Although I did not make it as one when Tavayogi came along I began to document videos on his ashram and activities. Soon with AVM emerging into the spotlight with its events and activities I documented them too and uploaded the videos to YouTube. Search under my name and you shall get to see them.
In the face of troubles, Agathiyar asks us to be brave. When all hope is lost we look towards some force that can help us. That is the divine. That hope is never lost. Agathiyar comes as the Nadi to many. To others, he asks that they light a lamp and place their worries at the feet of their chosen deity. To several others, he asks for total surrender to the divine. In times of crisis, we all need a shoulder to lean on. The divine knows exactly how much we can shoulder. Even if the troubles are massive be assured that you can come out of it.
"Bring your family along when you come in the evening," said Tavayogi the day I met him for the first time. "It is not enough that you come to the path. You have to bring them too" he added. He initiated me and my wife with several others to the worship Agathiyar that evening.
This personal request of his made sure that the journey would sail smoothly. I engaged my family in puja at home. We would sing songs of praise to Agathiyar and the Siddhas. When Tavayogi asked us to light the sacred fire or Homam, my wife and children would conduct it while I sang songs. When Agathiyar came as a statue my wife and children would perform the ritual of bathing him or abhisegam and I would sing songs. When the family got together to worship, the seed was planted in the children too. Many years later in 2013 as my family and I visited Tavayogi at his Kallar Ashram, my second visit and the first for my family, he was delighted to hear that we performed puja without fail in our homes. He gave us the privilege to sing in front of Agathiyar at Kallar Ashram. We were honored. At the end of the puja that he led, he blessed us. He mentioned that he was contented that the seed he sowed had germinated well.
In 2013 Agathiyar sent several youths over to watch and learn his worship. The group began to grow and we formed a Whatsapp group Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia to share the happenings. We had active online participation from devotees in India, Singapore, and as far as South Africa. Later we started another group Amudha Surabhi that catered specifically to those in Malaysia as this was orientated around serving and carrying out charitable work within Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. The puja continued at my home and by Agathiyar's grace, in temples too. When Tavayogi and Mataji visited us in 2016, we extended invitations to fellow devotees in AVM to host puja in their homes. Both Tavayogi and Mataji attended and witnessed Siddha puja conducted by devotees and their family members. They were overjoyed. With Tavayogi and Mataji around we took the opportunity to conduct Yagam and puja in temples too. Tavayogi expressed his joy and satisfaction again mentioning that the seed he planted did not go to waste. That seed has been carried and planted in the minds and hearts of these devotees and the generations to come. The Siddha path shall flourish in Malaysia. As a token of appreciation, the AVM family was given the privilege to sing during the annual Agathiyar Jayanthi and Guru Puja Vizha at Kallar the same year.
Just as Tavayogi did not want us to remain in Bhakti forever, Agathiyar too had us move on. He surprised all of us when he broke the groups. He nipped the aspiration of devotees to see and achieve bigger things in the bud. He had a different agenda for us. Rather than show patronage to an institution that we were slowly turning into, he wanted us to walk the extra mile to discover the self. I was delighted in seeing his move. I was saved from falling for the lure of position, power, and authority that corrupts hence saved from falling into the trap. The devotees too were saved from being shackled to an organization forever. Rather than tie them with the organization, Agathiyar held them in his grip personally. Henceforth it was a solo journey traveling with him personally.
After dismantling the group, he had us move into Yoga. Hence we took the leap from Sariyai and Kriyai into Yoga. He silenced us and made us stay home. He asked that we go within. He guided us further in the absence of Tavayogi in physical form. He would rope in Ramalinga Adigal and other Siddhas occasionally to teach us further. Although we do not know exactly what is in store for us we abide by their decision. We shall wait and see.
When Tavayogi stepped on our shores in 2005, he told us that we need to come out of Bakthi. But I told him that we are so immersed in temple worship that it would be rather difficult to come out of it. A religious leader in Malaysia once said that we need temples for it has become our identity. Remove the temples, the language, the culture, the tradition, and customs then we lose our identities too. We are very much steeped in all five.
Today after walking the path, engaging in Sariyai, Kriyai, and Yogam we are ready to leave them behind us as Ramalinga Adigal sings "சாதி சமய சலக்கை விட்டேன் அருள் ஜோதியை கண்டேனடி."
Although devotion or bhakti has always been kept under wraps within all of us, it needs the touch of the divine in the form of a guru to trigger it, as Manickavasagar sings, "அவன் அருளாலே அவன் தாள் வணங்கி."
Although we need the labels and forms for a start, what happens is that we become conditioned by them, we stagnate and remain holding onto it and keep doing it for ages. One should learn to pass it on to the younger generation and move on with his journey, which begins to turn inward. This is where the guru comes to break the shackle or release our hold on it. He comes as a spark to ignite and nurture the internal flame henceforth. Tavayogi did just that. He shared and passed on to me his experiences, his practices, and his understanding. Supramania Swami went one step ahead and gifted me his merits attained through 40 years of his tavam.
The day I saw Tavayogi, I mentioned to him that Agathiyar had asked me to come to his path. For one who had relied on the temples, spiritual books and the daily ritual of home puja and an occasional sprinkle of a divine story by the elders, the mention of the word Siddha and their Nadi was new to me, only having known about them when I read the Nadi for the very first time in 2002. Tavayogi told me that I had come to the right place, his local affiliate in Batu Caves and that I shall learn from those who ran the Peedham. He showed me photos of his ashram and the activities conducted. He asked that I bring the family in the evening to listen to his talk at the venue. That evening my wife and I received Diksha together with others. I frequented the place to catch a glimpse of Tavayogi and hear him talk and spend some time in his presence. Hence a bond was slowly cemented between a seeker and an aspirant. Seeing others invite him to their homes, I too extended an invitation not knowing if he would accept it, as I had never had a saint, yogi, spiritual or religious figure step into my home before. I was overjoyed when he accepted. I was floating on cloud nine as he stepped into my home on the appointed day. He conducted a short prayer at the request of my wife. The family and friends gathered ate together with him and listen to a small pep talk from him. As I sent him off with a barrage of words of appreciation he killed my joy instantaneously. He told me that I was living in illusion or Maya and that he was not a saintly person as was made to be. Instead, he told me to follow Agathiyar the divine flame within all of us. I did not understand his words then and as I took it literally, felt sad and hurt. Today I appreciate him for these harsh words that broke my hold on labels and forms. I have never worshipped nor performed rituals to a painting or a photograph of both my gurus after they went into samadhi. The only worship is towards Agathiyar. Agathiyar who asked me to commission his statue giving very specific details and have me perform libation or ahisegam for him all these years came through the Nadi and stated that we were on the right track. He told us just the thought of the guru on Guru Naal or Thursdays would suffice. When it was Vinayagar Chaturthi we decorated Agathiyar's statue and sang the praises of Lord Vinayagar. If it was Sivarathri we performed libation at 6pm, 9pm, 12 midnight, 3am, and again at 6am the next day, dressing him up as Lord Shiva and singing his praises. When it was Navarathri, we saw Agathiyar as Goddess Durga, Laxmi, and Saraswathi, dressing him up like them. Agathiyar came in the Nadi and told us that what we did was the truth and that he would come in the form we wished to see him in, breaking our hold on labels and forms again.
When Tavayogi told me that Agathiyar had come to him the night I arrived at his Kallar Ashram in 2005 for the very first time, I just listened literally in disbelief. Later when he told me Agathiyar came to him while he was spending some quiet moments in the hills behind the Kallar Ashram, I asked him how he came. He replied as light. I came to know that there was another form that Agathiyar took too. After the years of devotion to him and performing the rituals of homa or lighting the sacred fire and abhisegam or libation, a bridge was cemented where the divine began to visit us during these occasions. As Supramania Swami said that he would come into our homes through the light we lit in our homes, soon they created a portal, through the flame, through which they traveled. Agathiyar told me to replace the metal lamps with earthen at home. During the lighting of rows of lamps at our annual event the "108/1008 Nei Deepam Yetrum Vizha" in the temples, Bala Chandran was moved to light an Aganda Deepam or a wide flame too, which Agathiyar approved and directed us to do in subsequent events. As each time Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal came, they asked us to kindle the flames in our homes to burn brighter I started lighting an Aganda Deepam in my home then. I guess that was to literally bring the whole pantheon of Gods and Goddesses and Siddhas, Rishis and Munis, and all the saints whom we usher as we recite their names during the Siddha puja.
What was done externally turned inwards and went within. Ramalinga Adigal brought Arutperunjothi into us and asked us to do the same. He speaks about the veil being drawn and the sight of the heavenly jothi seen within. We understand now this is what is shown externally at our temples where the screen is drawn aside and we are shown the Arathi or flame. The divine is literally trying to make us shine like a beacon, a source of light or inspiration, and to illuminate, never wanting us to remain mere devotees forever. Their wish is to see us transform into light bodies just as we were before, before we took that major leap to this earth, chasing our dreams.
As we stand on the eve of the festival of Light Diwali or Deepavali, let us light a lamp both in our homes and within us, and in others just as a candle is used to light another. Never be the sole and only candle that lights up the place for it shall melt or die a natural death. A candle should light up others before it dies off. Let us nurture the divine flame in us, that takes on the form of love and compassion till it burns with such intensity that it engulfs us and we shine as a star does. A star is thus born. A saint is thus made.
Here's wishing all readers a joyous day of Diwali or Deepavali and many more to come.
Watching and reading about the lives of the saints who sought to know the reason to take birth and attempt to bring them into fruition; following Supramania Swami's and Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal's story and ordeals in reaching the state of samadhi, we can only look towards them with awe and fascination. As Tavayogi said we have been accustomed to a good life, will we sacrifice that to take to the path our saints traveled? If we are willing and ready to do that, where do we find a guru and mentor to follow? Would they accept us into their fold? Will we dare walk the path as they did? If we did could we keep up with them and their expectations?
I have to thank Agathiyar for bringing his teachings to the commoner and simpletons like me without having to be grilled in the fire of austerities as was the usual way. The Siddhas have come down to our level in many ways to bring salvation and save us from indulging further and remaining in this dream world or Maya of ours, that is all our making.
It is told that when the late Hanumathdasan pleaded to Agathiyar to speak in the modern-day language rather than the Tamil used during his times through his Nadi so that the latter could read, understand and convey them in simple terms and translate if a need arises to the seekers as they must grasp the content of his message, Agathiyar initially asked him if he (Hanumathdasan) wanted him to bring down his standards? Eventually, the most compassionate father did speak in the language that we could all understand. There was another instance where as the seeker from Malaysia could not comprehend Tamil, Agathiyar asked Hanumathdasan to hand over the Nadi to the seeker. The words appeared in Bahasa Malaysia where the seeker read and understood for himself.
Having leafed through my Nadi and scanned through me, Agathiyar knew that I could not possibly conform to the rigid qualifications required of me to walk the path. He knew that I could not possibly jump the bar that he had set to qualify to follow him. Nevertheless, the most compassionate Father invited me over. Not knowing anything about the Siddhas and their path, I visited the various associations named after him. I looked around and observed. I picked up whatever information and documents that they had on the Siddhas but never patronized them, opting to begin the worship with these tools in my home. When I took up his calling, he had Tavayogi come by to Malaysia and initiate me officially onto the path. Tavayogi volunteered to take me places and experience for myself tracking into the jungles and staying in caves. He took me to the places he had been during his tenure as a mendicant before finally settling at Kallar.
Agathiyar simplified my life removing the hassle of the search, instead spoon-fed me. He came through the Aasi Nadi and filled me in, giving directions and confirming the results. He had me watch and learn from Tavayogi the rituals that were a cornerstone to devotion or bhakti to the Siddhas. Tavayogi made it so simple for even a commoner and simpleton like me to follow and perform them. He removed the fear in attempting to do rituals while Agathiyar told us he found no fault in our endeavors. As the order that governs us here applies to their realm too, they had me observe them. Agathiyar, Ramalinga Adigal, and Tavayogi made me understand the existence of other forces in play in nature and the other world or subtle plane, besides the divine. I came to understand that it was all-inclusive. If we chose to divide and rule, then the question arises what or who created them, if there was only one God or creator? I was made to understand that it was all a play of energies in various intensities and forms. Having had the right understanding, we made a breakthrough eventually and the portal opened and a bridge was drawn. They came to visit us. They came to prepare us to go over to their plane. But it wasn't going to be an easy task.
We keep churning the pond life after life and never get to see the clear waters. It is so muddied that we cannot see our own reflection, our true self in it. Logic shall tell us that in order to see the self in the waters, it has to be still. Hence we are asked to still the mind and know the self. To bring stillness within they asked us to observe the breath, first actively taking charge of it through pranayama, then passively following it and slowly bringing ourselves to just watch it. The breath then settles.
My friend puts it in another way,
The spring that wells up within, has much impurities, too.... Like the churning of Paarkadal. Since you have completed the external spring cleaning of your home, it is time to clean the home of the soul, with the guidance of Lord Agathiyar, and Lord Shiva will be there to drink up the churned poison, with His Adhomuka. May the Masters be with you. After all, Lord Vishnu gave you His support and mantra, to break the knot of the Heart, as Kurma avatara...கூர்மை means tortoise as well as sharpness...
To aid in settling down, Agathiyar first worked on our physical or gross body. He asked that we understand the tattvas or elements that made us and all of creation. An attempt then is made to change certain attributes and nature that we had carried all these while, to bring a transformation of the gross or Asudha Deham to subtle. The impurities need to be purged and the knowledge accumulated dropped, leaving room for the descent of the Arutperunjothi in the form of light further transforming it into an ideal Suddha Deham. Acceptance to the inner subtle workings of the body and the subtle workings of the divine brings a charge of energies within. The prana that flows in without disruption entails that the body is packed with the goodness of pranic energy. At its end one arrives at the Pranava Deham that shall move into a light body or Oli Deham.
While we struggle to accomplish the first few tiers of this wonderful journey, Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal come by to stay at our side to ensure all is well in our endeavors. Keeping an eye on us and things they have made the journey safe and comfortable giving us the strength, tolerance, and patience to ride through the occasional rapids encountered. I believe that the Siddhas and our lineage of gurus truly want us to succeed in this attempt in this life and join them. All that stands between us and their desire is the willingness on our part to take up the calling, worshipping them with rituals, practicing all the facets of Yoga, and finally requiring a total surrender to their will.
A similar call comes from my friend who messaged me the following.
What a yeoman and a selfless service you are providing. It is like throwing a lifejacket to a person struggling to swim in the vast oceon. If they don't want to make use of it, it is their karma.
It is my fervent wish and prayer that your many readers,and followers of the Path, read these posts, and embark on their sadhana. You have openly shown them the way, but, like the Masters, it is couched in subtle nuances. I guess that is how the Masters want it.
You have made the Path a joyous journey, even for those wanting to wet their feet the first time, allaying all apprehensions.
Your efforts and progress on the Path is a beacon for every true seeker.
How much happy He must be to see us following Him, and making progress,... much like a human father on the achievement of his children.
I have learnt a lot from you... so would have many... Please do continue the good work.
For those keen to follow, maybe these videos during the live streams from AVM might be of some help and guidance.
