THE EVER CHANGING PERSPECTIVES

We are always trying to fit into a mold. First, it's the parents whom we follow and imitate in many aspects. Watch a child and her actions and movements and speech, it shall resemble the parent. I am watching my granddaughters imitate their parents. Then we want to follow our peers, friends, and colleagues to be accepted in their circle. Then we want to be associated with or be a part of a religious following, establishment, or movement for it is an added value and gives us a status of being affiliated with these. Coming to a guru we very much want to worship him and dress like him, rather than follow his teachings and put them into practice and try to attain his state of achievements. 

I had never had a dream nor an ambition. I was happy with my career and life.  In the eighties and nineties, I read a lot. I was not one to read novels or biographies though I read much about art, drawing, and painting as I was an artist. Then for no reason, I began to read more on customs and traditions, and religion. Soon I picked up home puja and Yoga from the books. All that was brought to a stop by Lord Shiva in a dream in 1988. After a period of hibernation, I was back on the path by the timely intervention of the divine in 2001. I reestablished with the divine. I was on talking terms with them willing to receive their instructions. As we progress with our home puja our perspective and understanding of the divine changes. It is only after we start puja on our own that we can gain ownership of the divine. I had written earlier of a lady who was told that the Siddhas were waiting outside her home waiting to be invited in. She had asked me how to go about their worship. I gave her a copy of my compilation of songs on the Siddhas. It is only after we start welcoming the divine and his missionaries into the home that the divine comes to have a conversation with us. Otherwise, it would remain a monologue with him as in the temples. Soon even this perspective changes. You can safely drop the rituals for the visits and conversation go on as the bridge is laid. 

Then we have the stories of the saints who interact with  God. Just as Karaikal Ammaiyaar in response to the temple priests who had apprehended and scolded an old lady for pointing her feet towards the inner chamber of the temple where she had laid her burdensome torso down to rest her aching legs, Ammaiyaar who after journeying places spreading and preaching the word of God, coincidently was witness to this harassment, asks the temple priest to show her a place where God did not exists so that she could place her feet in that direction, I too am inclined to ask the same question to a viewer of my YouTube Channel who after watching a clip of Siddha puja asked me, "Sir, tell me about siddhar placement in pooja room. thank you." But Ramalinga Adigal did spell out the directions where one has to face in worship and meditation according to his purpose and needs in doing so.

All the rules and requirements are good till we connect with them. Once we make contact nothing holds us further. We drop all our hold on practices, beliefs, Karma, the planetary influences, SOP's, traditions and customs, etc. We drop all the specific forms of the divine that we had held on too.

The 41-year-old seeker in the following videos decided to become a turavi. From staying alone in a house he wants to move to the jungle. He wants to move on. This is the evolution of the body, soul, and spirit.  He has nailed it right too. Some of his talks resonate with what is written and said in the numerous posts in this blog too. But several other things said might not apply to others and the general public for the spiritual path is one that is carefully customized to each individual's state and means of achievement. For instance, the need to go for turavaram or become a mendicant might not be for all. Agathiyar told us to stay in the family and society and carry on turavaram or abstinence from things not conducive to the soul's growth. There is no common formula to emulate or follow. Hence the reason, in the past, the teachings were one to one, between guru and the sole disciple, specific for the soul to evolve further. Later gurukulams sprang up. Now we have institutions dishing out certificates upon completion of their courses.

As he says, unless and until one embarks on the journey truthfully upholding the regimes and practices with discipline and commitment, what is said might not register in others. It's only when you arrive there that you understand what was said of the place, event, or happening. It's only with personally going through the experiences that we can vouch for its authenticity and truth. If we haven't tried it it's best not to comment or say things out of assumption. Just like a caterpillar munches happily on a variety of plant leaves or the silkworm is attracted to the mulberry leaves, in my days of reading where I had a ferocious appetite to know and discover almost about everything, I was surprised to read someone claim that a priestly clan used to eat behind closed doors because they consumed beef secretly. I refused to believe that claim. These days I too shut all the doors and windows when I am about to eat for before you know it and before we dip our hands into the food, Mr. Fly flys by and comes by to sit on it. Can someone coming by or passing through assume that I am taking beef with my meal? Making assumptions is pretty dangerous. A similar story is told of an old lady who earned the wrath of Lord Shiva and had huge karma added to her list. A King had hosted a feast for his subjects. But many died after consuming the food. On another occasion, as several traveling sadhus new to the kingdom asks the way to the feast from the old lady, she cautioned them that if they go ahead to consume the food they shall die as the King had killed many before. That is when Lord Shiva instructs the keeper of records Chitraguptha to write the karma that was in waiting after the previous tragedy on this lady. Shiva explained to Chitragupta who wanted to write it on the King that the King was innocent. What could he do if a snake that was in the clutches of an eagle that had caught it was to spit its venom in mid-air and it should drop into the broth that was boiling? But the old lady had without investigating assumed that the King had killed his subjects.

 

This seeker reminds me of my former colleague Sekaran who after falling in love with the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda stepped into the Yogoda Satsanga Sakha Math, Ranchi. Subsequently after five visits and stay there he decided in 1994 to leave his career, family, and friends to join them becoming a monk. He left me as a parting gift a beautiful painting of Lord Shiva and Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of A Yogi" and some words of wisdom. I take this moment to thank him for the painting that I worshipped, the book that introduced me, a temple-going lad, to the existence of gurus in physical form, and his advice that I picked up that had taught me self taught to blog and maintain a YouTube Channel.

REACHING OUT TO THE PRAPANJAM

Yesterday just as I was taking my first mouthful of food during lunchtime, a surge of pranic energy passed throughout the body, what I believe resulted from the food that was packed with it. My wife is a good cook and those who had been to AVM shall vouch for her. Though the food was simple and an everyday meal dished out by my wife but it tasted extremely delicious compared to other days. The energy brought much joy that I called over my wife and daughter and fed my two granddaughters too. Though this surprised me I could figure out what was taking place. Similarly, as I brush past and through the branches of the pinwheel flower tree in my garden, picking out the flowers for puja, surges of pranic energy like minute electricity pass from the tree to me. When I stand outdoors or in front of an open window the breeze and air that brushes by invigorates and brings tremendous bliss. It is as though the pores of the skin are open and breathing directly too beside the nostrils and nasal passages. Bathing too is invigorating and refreshing these days, that I have them often. When abhisegam or libation or bathing the Murthy of Agathiyar or his bronze statue, my body and internals are simultaneously cooled down too. These I suppose are prana in action. I remember my first surge of prana enter my body in abundance when I took up and began to practice diligently the pranayama and asana exercises that Tavayogi taught us back then in 2008. If back then it came after much effort, these days it just comes on. Any act for the matter is enjoyed these days bringing immense joy within. I realized my senses were enhanced beginning some years back as my vision improved tremendously, my taste buds were able to pick up and identify the ingredients that go into food, my hearing was enhanced so much so that every noise and sound was amplified manifold, and my breathing cleared. It was as if my being was rejuvenated, the whole body brought alive and connected with the surroundings. 

Before I had the calling through the Nadi, I had already switched to a vegetarian meal on my own accord for no particular reason be it religious, spiritual, or medical reasons. It just happened one day in 1998 that I decided to stop taking non-veg. I never looked back since then. When Agathiyar had other Siddhas address me in the Nadi too, Patanjali asked that I adopt a diet substituting or replacing Rajasic and Tamasic food with Satvic food to bring the body into top form to conform to the demanding needs of Yoga. I then had to cut down my already limited choices of food refraining from what was processed and none-natural. 

I had been practicing yoga by reading books since the eighties. When I was shown to Tavayogi he taught us officially initiating us into the dynamic practice of Asanas and Pranayama in 2008. In 2011, when I succumbed to extreme back pain the doctors and Siddha physicians cleared me of any medical issues like kidney problems, stones, or slip disks. Though I was given a clean sheet the pain never went away. I requested physiotherapy for my back pain as it brought relief at least during these moments of treatment. Agathiyar in the Nadi revealed the reason for my suffering after almost three years. He told me that my yogic practices had resulted in dormant energies arise within. These energies cleared the "house" of blockages besides correcting the three dosas hence resulting in the dosas going haywire. Agathiyar had me stop all my practice totally and immediately. He recommended herbs to consume that would bring back balance to my body and its internals. One fine day after bearing the pain for close to three years, my physiotherapist asked me to perform the five exercises she had given. As I moved into the first pose, something snapped in my lower back and I had immediate relief. It was as if a knot had given way, as if a dam had burst open. I was in ecstasy. I had recovered. Five years later the pain raised its hood again in 2016. I wasn't sure if it came with age, or if I had any ailment and needed treatment. But it went off just as it had come on. Then I suffered the pain again in 2018, this time just as intense as the first. If the first time around it came on as a result of me clearing my throat and spitting out the phlegm that was a morning ritual while taking a bath where this act had tugged on a nerve in my buttocks right down to my right toe, this time around a sneeze pulled on the same nerve again. Agathiyar gave another set of herbs to consume. Finally, his guru Lord Murugan came to heal me with his touch and the brush of peacock feathers, accompanied by the chanting of the Arutperunjothi mantra by those gathered around. I am grateful that the divine, the Siddhas, my gurus, family, and fellow friends in this journey did not desert me in my time of need. 

Then Agathiyar began preparing my body to receive and accommodate the energies of a different kind, their brief presence within. He had to purge my body of toxins accumulated over the years. Agathiyar while recommending a herbal concoction to a couple, made it available to me too. He directed us to Siddha physician Thiru Arivan Aiya. Agathiyar told me later that his Agathiyar Kuzhambu besides being a purgative, strengthens the body too.

Agathiyar Kuzhambu is said to be one among the 32 Siddha medicines taken internally listed in the "Gunapadam Siddha" text literature, which covers a vast area of indications. It contains 11 ingredients which are mentioned in the Siddha formulary of India - part -1, that when combined act as a purgative. Besides being a purgative it is said to cure many diseases too. (Source: Muralidass SD and Shree-Devi MS: “Agathiyar kuzhambu”- not only a purgative- an overview. Int J Pharm Sci & Res 2019; 10(5): 2156-63. doi: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.10(5).2156-63. and http://ijpsr.com/bft-article/agathiyar-kuzhambu-not-only-a-purgative-an-overview/?view=fulltext)

If Agathiyar Kuzhambu was to be taken six months once, Agathiyar set me on another regime of preparing another concoction from a recipe given by him, taking it daily. I took it for some time. Soon the three dosas were expelled without the need to consume these preparations. Kapha was expelled in the morning hours, Vata during the day, and Pitha as I retired for bed. Then its frequency doubled to two cycles of each a day at particular hours. These days the body expels them as and when they begin to accumulate. The body aches at times before it resides just as it comes on. As Agathiyar forewarned me, my body has begun to stink. I guess this is the reason the Saints went into hiding for a brief period in their lives where these drastic changes and transformations took place. Now I understand what Jnana Jothiamma went through in the many emails she wrote to me on her experiences and sufferings. I guess there is a price you pay for transforming the Asudha deham to that of Suddha deham and later to Pranava deham and finally the Gnana deham. Hence I have come to figure out why he shut down AVM and asked that I stay indoors. 

Agathiyar set me to continue from where I had left the Yogic practices given by Tavayogi telling me that I shall know which to do (so that the back pain doesn't recur). I am careful with carrying on the practices these days. Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal came often to fine-tune the breathing techniques as taught by the Siddhas in the Nadi and personally by Tavayogi. Agathiyar taught us the right way to take a shower without jolting the body that prevents slag in the nerves in old age. He asks that we sprinkle water thrice over the top of the head and then go on to wet our feet. Then we pour water over our limbs beginning with the legs, moving to the torso and abdomen till the shoulder. Then wash the face thrice and only then pour water over the head. If we are dipping in the stream, river, or ocean we do accordingly too. Elsewhere, we are told to retain water in our mouths too while bathing and taught to take water in sips rather than in large gulps by those adopting the Siddha way. Finally, Bhogar asks us to appreciate and acknowledge nature and learn to love all of nature and live with it. This is the first step in linking with the prapanjam.

STORIES TO PONDER ON 3

It is said that Ramalinga Adigal summoned his followers during the last moments of his disappearance and reminded them to worship the light that he had worshipped in his room in Sidhivalagam Thirumaligai some time back and gave them some instructions and some words of advice. Marshall Govindan in his book, "Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition", 1991, Kriya Yoga Publications, Canada, reproduced with permission via e-mail writes,

Towards the end of 1873, he placed outside the door of his room the oil lamp that Ramalinga had been using inside. He asked his disciples to worship it and keep it burning forever. He asked them to imagine the supreme grace light manifested in it and to pray to him for grace. He issued instructions to his disciples that except for the burning of camphor, no ritual be performed. Devotees should pray silently, filled with love of God. And enter into ecstasy.

When the time came for him to move on, he released a statement. 

On the auspicious day of January 30th, 1874 at the age of 50, Ramalinga wrote and released to his devotees the following statement: “My beloved ones! I have to be out of your sight for a time. Do not worry. Keep the light of the lamp (Gnana deepam) burning forever. Imagine that God is there and worship the light. You will be amply rewarded. I am in the body now and after a while; I shall enter into all the bodies of his creation. Close the door and lock it from outside. The room, if ordered to be opened, will only be void.”

When locals reported to the officials they came over and opened the door to find him missing. Many assumptions were made but no one knew for sure what transpired after he went into his room and had his followers lock the door from outside. All his followers had to go by and reported were his words, "I shall enter into all the bodies of his creation. Close the door and lock it from outside. The room, if ordered to be opened, will only be void." Just as Lord Murugan and Agathiyar only reveal the truth of what had taken place many years on, the mystery of Ramalinga Adigal's disappearance was revealed through Mother Mira Alfassa who was an aid of Sri Aurobindo of Pondicherry some 104 years on in 14-1-1978. An article in the website http://www.ramalinga.com states that Mother Mira had seen the happenings that took place on that Friday night when Ramalinga Adigal attained the Jothi in Sidhivalagam Thirumaligai during her meditation. This is indeed a rare account of the mystery behind Ramalinga Adigal’s disappearance. I reproduce below the said article "A Vision of Dematerialization of Ramalinga's Living Body" by Gangadharan, a disciple of Mother Mira Alfassa.

“On the first day of the Tamil month of Thai (14-1-1978) I had a continuous vision in my usual meditation in the night: the vision of de-materialization of the physical body of Swami Ramalinga into and as the truth-light of supreme grace which contains or possesses in itself supreme compassion and bliss of grace. Though I have had occasions to ascend into and remain for some time in the truth-world of grace-light where from I could see the earth as part of the universe, the said vision came to me when my consciousness was on the earth itself.”

“To begin with, I sensed an ineffable silence and peace prevailing everywhere and I heard continuously Paranada, the mysterious divine sound. Then the vision broke out.”

“A small village was seen in its simple and beautiful surroundings. There was the concrete presence of the supreme and universal divine with the beautiful truth-light of grace and fragrance, which enriched the place all the more and enraptured my heart with ever-increasing aspiration for grace. At the center of the village was seen a small house. Sweet fragrance of grace radiated everywhere from the house.”

“Vallalar was seen entering the house. His face was calm and peaceful. His whole body was radiating the light of grace. Besides, his body was of silken or light golden shining color. He stepped into his room, closed the doors, and bolted inside. At that time there was the concrete presence of the supreme and universal divine in the room. The presence could be sensed even physically and even by the born-blind. There was also silence, peace, fragrance, and the light of grace due to the presence.”

“Vallalar sat on a white cloth spread on a low wooden plank and began to concentrate. In that poise, he was seen as a mountain of truth-knowledge with the truth-light of grace and peace and fire of tapas. He was verily a supreme form of the divine. Flood of light was radiating from his pure and luminous body into all the directions.”

“Supreme grace, supreme compassion, and the light of grace are expressive of the secret truth that they hold the key for transformation of physical body into the deathless physical body of grace in its eternal youthfulness. One has to live in the depth of the ocean of blissful grace-light for being transformed into the divine nature and as the divine body. The intensity of the flood of light that radiated from his whole body was very powerful and one shall have the strength and capacity to bear and receive it. My whole body vibrated with a joy and pleasantness because of the vision of light of his body.”

“After sometime of concentration, he rose up and saw the physical sky. Full moon was shedding its blissful cool rays over the earth. A little distance away from the moon was seen a very bright dazzling star of light. Vallalar poured his concentrated gaze at it for some time. He became enraptured with blissful joy in the heart, which radiated on his face. A little time thereafter, he again sat on the white seat of the plank and entered into deep concentration.”

“Though Vallalar was inside the closed and bolted room, he could see clearly the whole universe with its tiers of many worlds of mind, life and the physical including the physical earth and sky with its moon, stars and clouds.”

“When he was thus absorbed in deep concentration, an effulgent truth-light of grace broke out from his heart and with its unique heat began to burn his radiant physical body very slowly, as at a snail's speed, and that in an upward direction, from the heart towards the head. The burning of the body may be somewhat likened to that of an incense-stick which however burns downwards by its inner heat of fire, forming ash covering but without the falling down of the ash-form. When the upper part of his radiant body was burnt completely from heart to head, there was left in its place a form of pure white substance, which also radiated its light of consciousness. The burnt part, however, showed all its features intact and clearly and even the burnt hair of his head was seen distinctly as luminous white hair. Then the heat of the pure light of grace descended to burn the lower part.”

“After the whole body was thus burnt, Vallalar was seen as a bodily form of pure white substance from head to foot, radiating its light. The white form kept intact all the different kinds of cells of his body and all the distinctive features and formations of his interior and exterior body. His bodily form did not shrink in size after the burning. I saw no visible flame nor sensed its heat during the burning of his living body, nor smoke, nor any bad smell as of burnt tissues, nor heard any cracking noise as of burnt bones. Instead, there was a sweet fragrance since the time his body began to burn and it spread everywhere. I sensed in my heart an ineffable calmness and silence, which gave me in turn a state of bliss.”

“Now a second stage of burning began. The unique heat of grace-light began to burn slowly Valalalar's luminous form of white substance from head to foot downwards. When his white substance-form full of its radiating light, was thus burnt completely, the white substance became very fine sub-atomic conscious particles, which permeated and pervaded the entire universe and the farther pure worlds of consciousness beyond. The fine, white and conscious particles with its radiating light also entered into and got distributed everywhere in the earth and even in matter. After the universal pervasive distribution of the particles, they could be seen no more and disappeared from my sight. Now there pervaded everywhere the sweet, soft and fine fragrance of camphor which gave my body a blissful sensation and enraptured my heart as well.”

“Then I had the rare vision of Vallalar's universal luminous golden form. In fact, the immensity of his golden form contained in it the whole universe. This form too disappeared from my view and was replaced by another vision in which I saw the golden light of truth-knowledge and grace entering into all the directions more speedily than the lightning. It permeated and pervaded the whole universe and the farther pure worlds of consciousness. It entered into our earth and all its crores of the physical forms of beings and objects and in the apparently insensible matter and even in the very dark realm of the vast in conscience. All the forms that were permeated by the golden light of truth changed into golden forms of beings and objects. The golden light entered into my whole Adhara including the physical body. My body felt in all the cells vibrations of ease and pleasantness.”

“Then I heard some words of grace. However, they were indistinctly heard and could not be deciphered, as I was absorbed in a rapture of bliss due to the sublime vision and experiences. Thus, the vision lasted an hour of time and ended.”

We are blessed to come across this wonderful revelation that brings to light the process that is much talked about becoming light. Hearing Ramalinga Adigal becoming light and later when Tavayogi told us that Ramalinga Adigal's devotee Jeganatha Swamigal's body emitted light as he was laid in Samadhi in 1959 at Tapah, Perak, Malaysia, I told Tavayogi that I wanted to see him perform the same feat. He replied that he had missed the boat as the transformation has to happen before the age of 60. Tavayogi was 69 when I met him in Malaysia. However, he told me his end would be in the form of Sahaja Samadhi. 

Sahaj samadhi is a type of samadhi, or "deep spiritual bliss," which yogis believe to be their natural state. Many consider sahaj samadhi to be the highest, or the most complete level of samadhi. It is said to be unconditioned, non-dualistic and uncontrived; and, as a state, it is always accessible to the wise and those who have burned their past karma. (Source: https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/6224/sahaj-samadhi)

Then when Jnana Jothiamma came along I was eagerly waiting for her to achieve that state. But Agathiyar took her with him abruptly putting an end to all the plans laid for her. I believe her love for him overshadowed all the gifts and treasures that awaited her, all the adoration and respect that was due to come her way and all the power and authority that came with it.  

But I am consoled by Supramania Swami who told me that he had seen the light or Jhothi days before he passed on, on 7 February 2007. Agathiyar came in the Nadi that weekend and told me that it was true that Supramania Swami had gone into Samadhi. Dhavantri came after Tavayogi's demise and told us that Tavayogi would guide us further in the light form. I was overjoyed that he did attain that state after all. Later Dhanvantri told us that our tapas helped to bring him to the state which proved Supramania Swami right when he used to remind me to carry out my tapas diligently so that he shall rise in stature. I guess we help each other achieve his/her objectives. We are glad that we had unknowingly contributed to the well-being of our gurus. 

STORIES TO PONDER ON 2

The first moment I came to know about Ramalinga Adigal was when a chief clerk at my place of work passed me several audio cassettes of the songs of Adigal. I was so drawn by the songs that I looked for the complete collection of his songs on cassette. I managed to find them at a local music outlet. I purchased all that they carried on their shelves. I was so impressed by these songs that I looked for the printed version of his "Arutpa". I managed to find the two-volume edition compiled by Ooran Adigal for the Samarasa Sanmarga Aaraichi Nilaiyam in Vadalur. I treasured them often going through the songs while playing the audio. It was sheer bliss listening to Adigal's songs set to music. I searched the net, bookstores, and frequented ashrams and peedhams wanting to know more about the saint. I was 'hungry' for information on Ramalinga Adigal. In 2003, I bought a scanned copy of his "Agaval" handwritten by him on the grounds of his Satya Gnana Sabai at Vadalur. This was another work of his to be treasured. I picked up several gems among the many, compiled and made them available at https://www.scribd.com/doc/234939257/Anandha-Kalipu

Ramalinga Adigal's songs were pleasant to the ear and I used to listen to them for hours but they did not make much sense then. This was in the early nineties. Although I had listened and read his Thiruarutpa several times before, as we walk his path and gain numerous experiences, we saw a resemblance and similarity in the experiences. He brings us on the same journey. For instance, in his plea to the Lord to open "The Door" and draw aside the curtains or veil and show himself, and take him into his arms and grant the merger, he came to beg of the divine to open the door for us. He comes to ask us to bring the effulgence within us, singing the Maha Mantra Arutperunjothi aloud. 

Ramalinga Adigal's final achievement was a milestone in the history of man's achievement in evolution back to the source and origin. And to think that he was neither an avatar nor fell from the sky or heavens. He was just like us born to parents and raised by them with another four siblings. 

Jnana Jyothiamma was blessed to set foot into Ramalinga Adigal's family home in Chennai on 2.8.2014. She had shared her experience at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2014/08/jnana-jyothi-amma-at-ramalinga-adigals.html

Dear Shan,

It was a beautiful experience at Vallalar's place. It is very old house. The street is so narrow and dingy, with just enough space to walk. Harimanigandan told me that this was Old Madras. The current/present owner of that place is Mr Sripathy ..... I spent around five hours with this gentleman and it was unbelievable ..... I couldn't believe that I was sitting in the same room .... rather the same space/spot .... where Ramalinga Adigal had meditated for months on end, wherein Murugan finally Graced and Blessed him with HIS Dharshan.

How did he do it? Why are those who came later to follow his way and teachings not able or were never close to achieving his state? I guess he had done much of the work and placed the effort in his many previous births and finally achieved it some 147 years back. 

On my very first meeting with Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal in 2005, I fell at his feet as I was about to leave. He stepped back and told me I should only fall at the feet of Agathiyar and no one else. I asked him to pardon me for my ignorance (Ariyaamai) to which he replied, “Ignorance has left you. Arul deham has replaced your Marul deham”. Tavayogi did not add anything further. Neither did I ask for an explanation. These were new words to be added to my vocabulary. I came to realized later that Tavayogi is a man of few words unless he takes the stage to address the public, where he can go on for hours. When Tavayogi mentioned those bodies, I went back to my collections of books for more information as to what he meant. I knew Ramalinga Adigal had sung on the various bodies and the changes that take place in them but his Arutpa songs were incomprehensible. I looked towards translations of them. I learned that Arul deham meant the Body of Grace and Marul deham meant the Delusive body.

Marshall Govindan in his book "Babaji and the 18 Siddhars Kriya Yoga Tradition", 1991, Kriya Yoga Publications, Quebec, Canada, (reproduced with permission via e-mail), describes the transformation from the obvious to the subtle.  

Ramalinga described several successive transformations: The transformation of the mortal human body into the perfect body (Suddha deham), achieved by universal spiritual communion and devotion to god;

In many verse [in the Thiru Arutpa] Ramalinga sings of how his ‘impure body’ of ‘impure elements’ was transformed into a pure body of pure elements, called a golden body of immeasurable carats (Swarna deham). He sings that one has to think incessantly, until he feels and melts with love for God. In such a melting mood one bursts into tears and sings praise of god and soothing warmth is produced in the aspirant. When this universal love and sacred warmth develops, the body as well as the soul became prepared for the descent of the grace, in the form of light.

Rao Saheb K. Kothandapani Pillai BA in the foreword to Dr. C Srinivasan's " An Introduction to the Philosophy of Saint Ramalingam", writes,

These transformations occur in the body of the aspirant according to the intensity of spiritual warmth produced in him. The body is deprived of all its dross or impurities and made pure, fit for divine absorption (Suddha deham). 

The above is the transition from the path of Sariyai moving into Kriyai. Next is,

The transformation of perfect body (Suddha deham) into the body of grace and light (Pranava deham);

The above is the transition to attain the Pranava deham through Yoga. 

Rao Saheb K. Kothandapani Pillai wrote,

Conquest of death by imbibing supreme grace is the quintessence of his philosophy. The more he ascended in his holy pursuit the more was the descent of divinity in him.

If in all the above stages of progressive spiritual evolution we worked our way by adopting numerous methods and were required to place a concerted effort, that was driven by a burning desire to achieve the goal, which needed to be kept alive by strict adherence to the regimes and kept in check by self-discipline, the following stage is possible and attainable only by divine grace coming within this vessel and working its way in us.

In addition, the transformation into the body of wisdom (Gnana deham) and into the body of God supreme...The ultimate and greatest transformation in human evolution: a transmutation into the Godhead, which he referred to as merging with the body of supreme wisdom - the body of God supreme (Gnana deham).

We do not know how the Siddhas reached the above states as their documentation of similar experiences in the form of songs in the Tamil language of their era is difficult to comprehend and is heavily coded in Paribasai, we are told. A single word and a song could have several meanings according to the subject studying it. It could be interpreted in many ways. It would not be possible to decode or decipher them correctly unless the Siddhas themselves come to reveal what they wrote. But Ramalinga Adigal chose to document his religious and spiritual experiences in his Arutpa in a language that is comprehensible to the commoner too. He wanted everyone to come to have the divine experiences as he did. He did not hide it behind words that were incomprehensible, for of what use would that be to the layman who would then be deprived of an equal opportunity to reach the state of God.

Ramalinga Adigal in my eyes evolved to the state of God. He walked in our midst encouraging us to reach his state too. He proved that it was possible for anyone to achieve it. But why were his followers not able to follow in his footsteps and achieve the said state? By all means, they should have reached Godhead in droves? Were they not committed enough to the saint's cause? In the past two centuries after he dispersed his mortal frame back to its elements we have yet to see another perform a similar feat. Let us forget about the others, can you and I do it? As Pon. Govindasamy reveals the Divine's plan, in his book "Vallalaarum Brahma Gnana Sangamum", Bharath Book Bureau, Chennai, that the mission of the Divine is to save the souls that are riddled, locked, and chained by Aanavam, Kanmam, and Maayai and bring them back to his state of purity, the only obstacle then is the Self that is chained to these three impurities or Malam. The Siddhas have come as a savior to release us from this bond. We are here to transform this body to its basic elemental state that is beyond the meat and flesh of the physical body and its internal organs that have tagged along with our baggage of karma in all our years of living. The greatest challenge yet for us is to transform this body into light particles.

As he spoke his last words, on January 30th, 1874 at the age of 50, "I am in the body now and after a while; I shall enter into all the bodies of his creation. Close the door and lock it from outside. The room, if ordered to be opened, will only be void",  that was true Samadhi indeed, merging with the source.

S. Shivajayakumar in an article on the net describes this dematerialization of Ramalinga Adigal within the four walls of Sidhi Valakam.

Therefore, Vallalar on his own has considered it necessary to disintegrate the divine constitution and disperse the sparks in every soul as seeds are sown in the fields.... His dematerialization of the physical body is not for re-materialization but to disintegrate his whole being permanently like the virtual particles which fill the cosmos.”

 

SURRENDER

STORIES TO PONDER ON 1

As I and my granddaughter were making up stories, I asked her to check out what was the sound at the door. She immediately told me she should not go for what if it was a stranger. Then we agreed it was a wolf at the door trying to blow the house down as in the "Three Little Pigs". We tried to figure out a way of driving the wolf away. We both sat down and thought of an idea. I then told her lets set a trap for the wolf. Then she asked what a trap was. I told her it was a device to capture an animal as we both saw in the Disney movie "The Fox and the Hound" just a day before. As I set to find a rope to lay the trap, my granddaughter suddenly surprised me. She told me lets not trap the wolf for the wolf has a cub. I froze because here she had just educated me in compassion and love. We both had seen the movie "Bambi" earlier where a hunter kills Bambi's mother and he is all alone till the jungle animals befriend him. I was amazed by how she could link these stories to arrive at a decision.

This is how I am taught these days. I do not follow talks be it on YouTube Channels or from visiting holy men. I only read these days to look for references to authenticate what is made known to me as Tavayogi always told me to give references. 

Just as I was returning from having my vaccine and was approaching a cemetery that I was told housed the remains of a prominent figure and guru in the Siddha path, it suddenly dawned on me that the Samadhi burial that we all know of and that was a craze these days, was not the ultimate. Instead one should strive for Samadhi without leaving any trace of the body. That is Samadhi or merging with the source in the true sense. Samadhi is a combination of two words according to Tavayogi - Samam + Adhi (Merging + Source). Tracing the source then, the closest we can arrive at is the elements that maketh us and everything around us. It then dawned on me that Ramalinga Adigal's achievement is indeed true Samadhi in all sense as he had dispersed his body into all the elements hence merging back into the Prapanjam, living in everything then and forever. Hence we are taught to leave without leaving anything behind. Now I understand why Supramania Swami told me one had to even leave behind the merits gained from his tapas or tavam or austerities. He left his 40 years of tavam with me. I am grateful to him forever. I believe that is why my journey has been smooth and easy compared to the hardship many a saint goes through in reaching their state of realization and enlightenment. Tavayogi told me that Agathiyar came easily to us while he had to go searching for him enduring much hardship. Coming under his wings he showed me to Agathiyar. I am grateful to him too.

Following this train of thought, another crept in. If human birth is considered a rare commodity by saints like Sankara and others, then why do the saints asked to put a stop to it? Should not we ask to be born again and again? Why are we asked to break the chain of birth and death by these same saints? I shall leave you now to ponder over it. 

BRINGING AWARENESS TO THE TASK ON HAND

Just as one who has been on a world tour spurs another to go on one too; just like my friend who retired earlier spoke about his hiking ventures and spurred me to opt for an early retirement too; just as my daughter's lecturer who studied abroad ignited the idea of and fueled the desire in her to at least enroll and take up a student exchange program that gives one exposure to the world beyond the limitations of the walls of his/her world; just as attending a class in Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP made me think out of the box and see things in a different light and perspective; just as the couple the Sri Krishna's brought us to see the plight of the homeless for the first time and began us on a feeding program, something that they took to their hearts to do too; many a saint too has called us to their path after they saw the results of their venture in adventure. As with the saints, it is not that they found a new path but they had rediscovered what was in existence and brought it to our attention with the intention that we too should take it up.

If these people love to share their experience, their wisdom and knowledge or food, there are some who are the reverse. They tend to grab more or all of both wealth and knowledge for themselves but never give back. Shunning this group, giving up on them and the hope that they would ever change, one sets his eyes on the path of virtue and on doing charity. He then begins to explore God. For another, thinking that the religious path would be a balm for the beaten soul of one who is a nerve wreck he shifts his sight to the divine. But here too he sees the grab for power, position, and authority, etc. He then moves within shunning them all. Seeking solace and peace he looks towards the spiritual path, looking for a guru who could show him or her the path or way to attain it. Some turn back disappointed having felt cheated and their trust wounded or killed by their masters and fellow followers of these establishments. On the brink of giving up on life and hope the divine shows a way, for he has exhausted all the means available and known to him. New roots and new shoots grow. He is made to understand that he needed all the past bitter experiences to grow spiritually. Instead of taking his life, now he takes his life into our own hands. Similarly we are reminded that we need to accept all the experiences, either good and bad. Only then are we ready for the journey to the final frontier that of knowing ourselves. If all this while we were seeking others to tell us who we are and what to do with our lives, now we come to find out these answers for ourselves as we go within. This is true realization. A good master would ignite the fire and the seeking and search in us. That is all he does. A good master would not spoon-feed us but have us discover for ourselves the path and the way. He shall then step aside. The good master would not have us under his shadows forever but set us free to discover our true Self. He would not settle to have clones of himself walking around and vomiting whatever he had said but instead want his disciple to ingest and understand his teachings, garnish it with his own experiences and understanding and place them on a plate for the generation on hand and yet to come to taste, digest, assimilate and follow.

A devotee of Goddess Ma used to exchange notes with me as her husband attended to my car at his workshop in the past. I would speak and laud about Agathiyar and Tavayogi and his Kallar Ashram to her, while she spoke about her guru and her role and participation in expanding her guru's preachings and teachings and his mission. She served her guru becoming the apple of his eye. She organized and managed his events in her locality often traveling to another state to see him to get his blessings. Her hold on her guru was so strong that she told me that she never locks her home and car believing strongly that her guru shall care for her property too. As her popularity grew so did her enemies grow in numbers. Sadly those in the inner circle envied her as they saw her rub shoulders with their guru. They became jealous of the attention she got from the guru and the responsibilities given to her. They envied her rapid progress in the establishment. She began to face objections and negative vibes and coincidently came down with ailments. She began to stay away initially partly prompted by her family to do so for her safety and health. Soon she stopped her patronage towards her guru and the mission. Years passed by. Business was bad and her health deteriorated further. It was hit further by the pandemic. As seeking treatment the modern way saw no results, she sought the traditional way. Many religious figures turned up to conduct puja in her home promising a reversal of both health and wealth. A year back one such person told her to conduct a Yagam in her home and expand and deepen the worship of her favorite deity. She went back to worship Goddess Ma. Another master of a different faith told her to install and worship Lord Ganapathy too. Surprisingly while the former told her of a mysterious figure waiting outside her house waiting to be invited and allowed in, coincidently the latter told her to take up the worship of the Siddhas. At the same time she began to have dreams of these mysterious personalities who resembled and were in the image of the Siddhas we know. 

A couple of days ago, she gave me a call and asked if I was still aligned with the Kallar Ashram. She told me all the recent happenings in her life seem to show her to the worship of the Siddhas. She wanted to know how to go about it. I shared a digital copy of my humble and small compilation of songs in praise of the Siddhas telling her to sing these songs. I told the hurt soul that this would suffice and not to seek further lest she be hurt again and confused and perturbed by the many interpretations of people though in the Siddha path too. I told her I was glad that Goddess Ma had brought her to Father. I ran through the story of how Ma had stood at the door of the final leg of Ramalinga Adigal's holy pilgrimage and showed him to Lord Nadarajah and his dance at Ambalam. I shared with her how Goddess Ma previously had brought two great souls to Father too. Jnana Jothiamma who went by her maiden name Molly Menon prior to coming to knock on the door of Kallar Ashram in 2011, was a staunch devotee of Goddess Ma and the deity Karupanasamy. Her love for them was so great and deep that Ma used to be with her wherever she goes and talks with her. So was it with Karupanasamy. In April of 2011, she flew to Chennai from the USA to inaugurate the 7-foot statue of Karupanasamy that she had sponsored. Returning back, she chanced to see my earlier website indianheartbeat while searching for Agathiyar. She emailed me asking about Tavayogi and his Kallar Ashram. The calling came for her to step into Kallar Ashram in November the same year. Just before her arrival Ma told her that she would have to leave her and added that she was in good hands referring to Agathiyar. Karupanasamy who stood by her was asked to stay out as Agathiyar initiated her through Tavayogi. She soon held fast to Agathiyar. She soon traveled Tamilnadu seeking the abodes of the Siddhas. She made two trips to AVM too in 2013 and 2014. Agathiyar chose to open his eyes during libation or abhisegam to his statue at AVM in her presence giving us the rare sight of seeing both his eyes open in his bronze statue. Agathiyar's desire that she should preach the Siddha path both locally and abroad, having her start in the USA, and continue in Malaysia before settling in India, for some reason did not see the light of the day. He took her back with him abruptly. He has not revealed the reason for doing so. I guess he submitted to her burning desire and yearning to reach his feet rather than for want of all the fame and glamour, power, and position that might have come her way if she had held back and stayed around to travel and preach.

Another devotee of Goddess Ma was given permission to read the Nadi. He arrived at AVM after the reading. He participated in all the puja and charitable activities taking the lead. With the lockdown in place, he continues his prayers in the confines of his home with his family. Agathiyar brought him to Yoga and Jnana eventually. Goddess Ma had shown Mahindren to Father too.

If the guru is known to show God, vice versa, God shows the guru to him too. Goddess Ma showed me to Agathiyar. Agathiyar showed me to Tavayogi. Tavayogi in turn showed me to Agathiyar. Agathiyar in turn showed us to Goddess Ma. We have come a full cycle indeed. We are grateful. A reader after reading the post on the need to be grateful sent me this piece.

Such a beautiful post aiyya ... It's such a beautiful post that my eyes get welled up - I thought that I'm grateful. But time taught me that, it's not at all true.

She wrote further about Matha Amritanandamayi and how she defines gratefulness through a simple story.

Here, Matha Amritanandamayi (amma_ hugging saint as she's known abroad) tell about it like this - "When some groups go to nearby houses to collect money to organize the temple festival, if the householder give them money not up to to their expectation, the collector become dissatisfied and much irritated. But at the same time when a beggar go to houses and if nobody give him anything he doesnt feel bad. He never complaints. And If somebody give him a glass of water or some food or money, he become so grateful that he bless the whole family itself. This is the difference.

Amma says that, the beggar was unaffected because he knew that nobody is entitled to give him anything . He know that he deserves nothing. He has no rights. So he's grateful to each and every penny or any contribution from anyone. All of us should be like these beggars " - is what Amma advises.

I think from that total humbled position only, one has the purest gratitude. 

True. Yogi Ramsuratkumar addresses himself as "This Beggar" too. As Matha Amritanandamayi says, all our experiences and learning are meant to bring humbleness to us. We have to acknowledge that our perspective and understanding shall change with time and experience. He is humbled by the course of time and the experiences it brings with it. He is humbled by the tide and waves of experiences that washes his shore. Taking numerous births, and gaining a myriad of experiences, and learning from them is all meant to enhance the soul or build soul power or Atma Balam. Very few come to know the soul though. We might have a desire but to achieve it, there must be a burning desire. For the fire to burn continuously in us, it has to be fed continuously too. This needs dedication and discipline. To add to it he has to be focused on his objective and not deviate, lose sight of it, or be distracted. Persistence shall pay off we are often told. If after all these ingredients are in place and the result is not seen we can accept that at least we tried. If we had a calling from the divine initially it is now the moment to call out to the divine to work his magic in us. Just as all the ingredients that go into making the stew lose their original form, after placing the effort we need is to step aside and watch the change take place. Only after we step aside having placed a concerted effort does the magic take place. The magic portion begins to work its magic both in the pot and in us. The body and soul see a rapid transformation. 

Speaking about stew Agathiyar wants us not to waste even a grain of rice asking us to pick those that had fallen off our plate. He brings us to be attentive while eating too. My mother told me that her father expected absolute silence while she as a child and her siblings sat to dine together. 

Children are the ones who are living in the present moment. Give a toddler an ice cream and watch him or she savor the desert. He/she grabs it, looks at it, feels it with their fingers, squashing it, messing it up, takes it to their lips, tastes it with the tip of their tongue, and only then begins to eat it. Of course, what we end up with is a mess that we end having to clean up too. 

Watch an adult on the other hand. We would immediately take large bites of it, and shove the food down our throat, without properly masticating them in their mouths. We fail to savor the uniqueness or the distinct taste and texture of the food. We hurriedly eat our food while engaged in talk. Otherwise, we are distracted by other thoughts or fear of the future or sulk over the past while eating. Sadly we seem to have become a nation of couch potatoes too, munching while watching television without even knowing what goes into our mouth. Sadly the smartphones too have taken control of our lives. The first thing we do is reach out for the tv remote or our smartphone before sitting to eat. Reunion or family dinners are as silent as the grave not that the family members have adopted silence in respect of the food served before them, but each member draws out their smartphones and engages in messaging a distant one while ignoring the loved one's right next to him or her. Puja and worship too are marred by devotees absorbed on the phone. There are then those blatant fools who do not use earphones but blast the audio and watch videos on their smartphones in public places. 

A thought brings us to action. The action is only rewarding and sees fruition or the fulfillment of purpose only if the thought is sustained with it till its fulfillment. It is only when the thought follows the action that it becomes conscious. The act is then done consciously. Otherwise, it is an act of automation or unconscious. In Buddhism, every single act is a form of meditation and is done consciously. So too is the act of eating and drinking considered as meditation. For instance, an elaborate method of awareness is given in a simple and daily regime of eating raisins. Lama Surya Das in his "Awakening the Buddha Within - Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World, Bantam Books, 1997, teaches us the chewing meditation. "Eating meditation is a marvelous way of putting ourselves in touch with now-ness. It can really slow us down and make us more aware of compulsive behavior", he writes. This meditation does try one's patience to the limit he says. For instance, he says we who are accustomed to eating raisins by the handful are taught take in one at a time. Before we put the raisin into our mouth we feel it and we smell it. We look at it as if we have never seen it before. We are asked to examine it thoroughly. Only then do we begin to chew it slowly, as if tasting it for the very first time. We are asked to chew it till it becomes juice. Our stomach would very much appreciate the juice rather than chunks of food swallowed hurriedly. We are taught to direct our total attention to the raisin, which otherwise we hardly do. Agathiyar says the same too regarding eating. 

Eating meditation is exactly what my older granddaughter does. She has a hundred and one question asked before she puts any food into her mouth. It is the same question over and over again, asking as if that was the very first time she saw the food. She would want to look at it first as if seeing it for the very first time. She holds it, takes a teeny weeny bite first, tastes it, if it agrees to her palate only then does she go one to chew it till it becomes pulp. But the sad thing is as parents we hurry them up because we have other chores to attend to. We ask them to eat fast and teach them to swallow whole. I am glad both my wife and daughter sit through this daily regime patiently answering her questions while feeding her. Agathiyar had come strongly asking us not to change children into becoming us. He asked us not to corrupt these young souls with our ways. He asks to let them be.

Nature too is beautiful. It understands man well. It knows that man is stubborn and does not give up his old habits easily especially his addiction to his tongue. Hence it takes charge dictating what he is to eat in his later years. In old age, there is a reason for the teeth to fall, for it would force us to substitute solid foods for liquids. This is apt and timely as our internal digestive system and its co-partners have sort of resigned to a quiet life then. Taking this into consideration, we should not shove in more than these internal organs can handle. This is substantiated by medical findings at https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/digestive-health-aging#1

One of the most common things we see, certainly as people are getting into their 60s and 70s, may be a change in bowel habits, predominantly more constipation," says Ira Hanan, MD. "Your digestive system moves food through your body by a series of muscle contractions. Just like squeezing a toothpaste tube, these contractions push food along your digestive tract", Hanan says. "As we age, this process sometimes slows down, and this can cause food to move more slowly through the colon. When things slow down, more water gets absorbed from food waste, which can cause constipation. And as we age, we start to have more health problems that require medications. Several common medications can cause constipation. Then you have the aging colon and all the problems related to it," says, Hanan. "Like the colon, the esophagus can also slow down with age, moving food through more slowly. This can cause problems swallowing food or fluids."

"People often become less active as they age", says Ellen Stein, MD, "and being inactive can make you constipated. Some people may avoid drinking too many fluids so they don't have to run to the bathroom all day long. Between urinating more and drinking less, you can become dehydrated."

So should not we rethink and retrain ourselves to eat right, beginning right now, to safeguard ourselves from future ailments? But as I watch adults and the elderly who have lost their teeth shove in chunks of meat, swallowing them, it saddens me. Besides dumping carcasses into their stomach, it is going to stay for a while in them before it gets digested by their already sluggish digestive system and expelled. 

I for one do not sympathize with those who do not take care of their own health and body. When we can show all the care and importance to things around us and beyond, how is it that we have missed something that is so crucial to our survival, something that is required as a vehicle for both the spirit and soul to dwell in? Pleading ignorance of care for the health and body is not permissible in my book of terms. The greatest gift after the gift of birth is that of mobility where one is granted to go about doing his thing without the need for assistance from others or become dependant on them. I know because I had battled the pain in my lower back for more than 2 1/2 years as a result of engaging in Yoga that in bringing a balance to my three dosas, in the process first did upset my body system so that it could be corrected. This was followed by a surge of dormant, locked, and pent-up energies that arose and were gradually released. They tore down the doors that were obstructing its flow, and in making their way up to higher regions cleared the blockages on their way, and finally settling still as in a stagnated pond. Occasionally it goes haywire again only to subside again. Of course, I have come to accept and understand that any form of correction is always painful, be it being reprimanded by the discipline master and asked to stand in a corner or outside the classroom; to be remanded and come under the custody of the law; or come under the watchful eyes of the guru and having to carry out daily regimes that are back-breaking or as in this case when the silent transformation begins to take place within. Ramalinga Adigal spoke about his 12 years of having to endure untold suffering as his body went through extreme and radical changes. Jnana Jhotiamma too shared with me her pain and agony in seeing through these bodily transformations take place. But eventually, the end product is blissful and rewarding. We tend to change and become a different person in the process. We evolve into a greater being. That is the very purpose of coming here.

BOOSTING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Acharya Gurudasan shared a wonderful compendium/manual on safeguarding oneself from the onslaught of the dreaded virus in the air currently. Besides the rich info and recipes to boost one's immune system what attracted both of us was the use of a photo of Agathiyar at AVM in the 14-page booklet.

Besides the intake of these herbs, I believe the practice of pranayama shall go a long way in aiding us to breathe well in these times of the pandemic as I had seen its benefit in improving our general breathing capacity even in ordinary times. The “Bhramari Pranayama” is said to be an effective aid. https://shrutipathak.wordpress.com/2021/05/01/how-effective-is-bhramari-pranayama-on-covid-19-and-other-respiratory-diseases/ Acharya Gurudasan had taught us this technique in person and later through Zoom.

From https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04413747 we learn of a "breathing medical Yoga protocol" developed and initiated to test its efficacy but no study results were posted.  

The rationale of use of deep yoga breathing as adjuvant treatment to COVID-19 disease , is linked to the mechanical action to stimulate the vagus nerve through scalene and sternocleidomastoid muscles..... On the basis of all these reasoning we plan to introduce a medical based-yoga deep breathing for activation of vagus nerve by scalene and sternocleidomastoid muscles function during breathing, as an adjuvant of care of the 1-2 and 4 stages of the COVID-19 disease to counteract the cumulative incidence of mortality and better outcome. 

Elsewhere at  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/can-pranayama-help-us-in-fighting-covid-we-asked-experts/articleshow/79643955.cms, the doctors tell us that we are to practice them with caution especially if we already have medical problems.

Agathiyar told us that performing the ritual of Homam or Yagam in our homes shall safeguard us too. Lord Shiva earlier had asked to continue doing the Homam once a week, besides reciting the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra and Dhanvantri Mantra. The former drives away fear in us and the latter becomes a shield to protect us. 

Of course, we should get vaccinated too. I got my second shot of AZ today. Hopefully, we shall survive this ordeal for we can never know who is the next victim of this "invisible" killer.

SIVAMAE

LOOKING BACK

The past week saw me spending quality time with my grandchildren. Reading a storybook that my granddaughter brought to me, taught me lessons too. It was titled "ABC of Kindness" by Patricia Hegarty" and published by Caterpillar Books. The author lists the ABCs of Kindness as follows: A is all of us. B is believing. C is caring. D is dear ones. E is everyone. F is forgiveness. G is gratefulness. H is hope. K is kindness. L is love. M is making time for others. N is nobody misses the fun. O is others. P is patience. Q is quiet times. R is remembering. S is sharing. T is trying. U is understanding. V is voices heard. W is worries kept at bay. X for kisses. Y for "Yes I can". Z is sleeping peacefully.

I could not wait for Microsoft to roll out the official version of Windows 11 so I enrolled in their insider program and got to upgrade my existing Windows 10 operating system to that of 11 or build 22000.120 co_release on my Acer Aspire laptop without any glitch. I am thankful to them for being part of my journey too, providing the software and hardware respectively. I am thankful to Google to provide this platform too where I remain in touch with all readers of Siddha Heartbeat. When I landed in India for the very first time in 2003 I thanked the pilots and the stewardess of Malaysian Airline System (MAS) and later in 2013, Air Asia who were bidding us farewell at the exit door, for bringing us to lift off and cruise the airways to our destination and bringing us back safely on the ground. I still keep in touch with Deventhiran who chauffeured me in 2003 and again me and my family in 2013 to all the destinations that Agathiyar had planned for us. 

So many people have come together to make our lives easy and pleasurable. But we never acknowledge their roles. Instead, we have slowly become a society that always keeps complaining. As I sat to have my lunch in a restaurant a year back, a man asked if he could join me. He sat to eat. Then he opened up that times were bad and that he was without work the past four months as Malaysia imposed lockdown too following in the footsteps of other countries. I asked him if he had shared the good times he had back then with others. During good and thriving times, they don't tell us how much they make and how lavishly they spent or they lived. But when times are bad they share to total strangers like me over a quick meal that they are making losses. Similarly, people do not share their happiness with others but tell them of their grievances when things turn bad and sour and life goes downhill. Traveling the journey further Agathiyar taught me to be grateful for all that was given and not to ask for more. I am thankful to him for as I look around, many lack this attitude of gratefulness and instead begin to hoard things for themselves. Some go beyond to grab what is rightfully others. 

Just as we need to be grateful, we need to learn to forgive too. Mahin shared a clip that he recorded as he viewed an animation movie on Tv. "Letting go shall give inner peace", he wrote. Po teaches us to forgive in the "Kungfu Panda 2" movie.

It is time we stepped back and took a look at ourselves first. If we are not perfect so how can we expect others to be? Anyway, we are here to make mistakes and learn from them. Making mistakes is acceptable says Agathiyar. Imagine this coming from the Mahamuni whom we consider as God. He could have lifted his hand and banished us to slowly perish in the darkest dungeons for our sins. He could have made us sulk and regret for eternity our doings in the darkest corner of his kingdom. He did neither. Instead, he chose to have us make a comeback to correct our mistakes. He gave us another chance to perform better as the Sarpatta Parambarai requests for a rematch in the movie of the same title. The most compassionate Agathiyar went a step further and above to pardon me for my past mistakes in my second Nadi reading some three years after the first. Why did he not pardon me on the onset of reading the first in 2002? He wanted to test to see if I heeded his words in the Kaanda Nadi that I picked up through a series of questions and answers. When I did heed his words, he came around in the Aasi Nadi to pardon me telling me that he had staged those events and that I needed those experiences too. But before pardoning me he asked that I forgive myself first. Today I have learned to forgive myself and others. I pray that they forgive me too. I pray that Agathiyar forgives all of us too.

As I traveled the path, I came across many or rather many crossed my path from whom I began to learn many a thing. It was as if everything was orchestrated for us to learn. At times it did hurt and at other times I rejoiced. Once scarred we are careful the next time around. The experience is in fact beneficial to us as it gives us an awakening. It awakens us from our deep slumber. But somehow we tend to go back doing what we did and land ourselves in further trouble. These are a result of our past vasanas that come to the fore to take shape however we may try to ignore, suppress, or defeat them. A reader shared Bhagawan Ramana's conversation with a devotee.

Devotee: I am inclined to give up my job and remain always with Sri Bhagavan.

Bhagavan: Bhagavan is always with you, in you. The Self in you is Bhagavan. It is that you should realize.

Devotee: But I feel the urge to give up all attachments and renounce the world as a sannyasin.

Bhagavan: Renunciation does not mean outward divestment of clothes and so on or abandonment of home. True renunciation is the renunciation of desires, passions and attachments.

Devotee: But single-minded devotion to God may not be possible unless one leaves the world.

Bhagavan: No; one who truly renounces actually merges in the world and expands his love to embrace the whole world. It would be more correct to describe the attitude of the devotee as universal love than as abandoning home to don the ochre robe.

Excerpt from "Sri Ramana Maharshi And the Path of Self-knowledge", Arthur Osborne

She wrote,

"Even if we hear or listen to this truth 100 times, people tend to forget the next moment.  Must be  coz it's the hardest  lesson we ve to face. Renunciation of desires  , passions , and attachments... Aiyya, I really want to know one thing _ doesnt action lead to habit and habits lead to vasanas? Then, wont it help to renunciate attachments and desires by abandoning a materialistic life?"

Here is where we are asked to sit in on bhajans and puja to divert us but only a handful actively engages in singing the praise of the Siddhas and God. One person asked why do we need to praise God too. Chanting their names is said to clear our path and bring us to a blissful state, if not an illumined state. Here too is where Agathiyar diverts our attention having us do the homa or yagam telling us that doing it, it shall burn our karma. In times of conducting rituals, we are fully focused on the task on hand. It is a form of meditation staying in the present moment. It is said that one can clear his baggage of karma through meditation. Sadly except for the few who directly engage in these rituals the rest of the participants remain, mere spectators. 

Then here is where we are sent on pilgrimages to clear our minds and seek inner peace. Sadly pilgrimages too have become hectic and chaotic these days. In rushing between temples, never is there a moment to sit in meditation, or to wind up and reflect on our lives. The focus is on placing our never-ending wishes before God. The focus is to carry out the remedies and parikaram that are given to rid one's karma. I too was given a set of parikaram to carry out first like all others. But amazingly Agathiyar created those cherished moments of separateness from the world. This I saw as I entered Lord Nadarajah's sannadhi at Ekambareswar temple. This I saw as I began my climb to Palani. Then it became a common occurrence even as I returned back to my shores. 

On my second trip to India Agathiyar brings me to wind up and reflect on spending some quality time at Tavayogi's ashram and in his caves in the jungles. Amazingly the coast was clear for both the seeker and the object of his seeking to come together face to face. These rare moments were possible by the grace of the gurus.

The source of all man's problems is with him, the decisions he makes, and the actions he puts into place. Sadly anger, jealousy, greed, etc veil his sight and clarity of thought and action and he fails to see the options available. Then he blames everything and everyone else for his failures. Clear thinking will help him check his moves. As this is man's nature the saints of the past have dished out many dos and don'ts for mankind. All these made him a good human being. The journey ended there. All the saints and their sacred texts showed us and brought us to become good men in society. What they did was to describe to us the unknown frontiers and the sounds and sights beyond the world of man. No one showed the journey beyond. None could lead us there. The path and method were sadly trapped in bountiful words and kept hidden within the deep reaches of the pages of these sacred texts. Even after multiple readings one could not deduce, comprehend, decode the message. It was indeed frustrating to even try. Even if he was to decode them he was not assured of the journey and its results. He turns to become a mere pandit or learned, preaching the messages to the masses. It is only one who has tracked the path who could clearly define it. Otherwise, the knowledge has to be revealed rather than learned. If learning brings about knowledge and experience brings about learning, here the knowledge is received. Finally giving up on even the urge to try, it all begins to fall into place. It is not that one becomes a walking encyclopedia but the answers dawn as and when required. 

But all our upholding of great values and virtues never brought us to close in on God or Self realization. However good a person might be it doesn't break the chain of birth and rebirth. If we have done bad deeds we are reborn to pay for them. Similarly, if we have done good deeds we are reborn to reap its benefits. So how do we end this vicious circle and cycle? When others gave us a rundown of the method, Ramalinga Adigal found the way and achieved it. He was not selfish but opened the invitation for others to follow his path just like Agathiyar made the calling for us to come to the path. In telling us that we are not new to him and that he knew us from the many births we took, it makes me asked what when wrong in all these births? Why could not we achieve the means to enlightenment? And here we are again starting with the basics of A, B, C, and Do, Re, Mi. I guess we lack the discipline to pursue the goaĺ. If only we could emulate the athlete and the businessmen who show keenness in their respective fields and thrive for victory, we too should have succeeded in the spiritual path. But the distractions are many and we fall for them postponing the journey till later. But that day never comes around because we become trapped in the pleasures of life and its beauty. For some tragedy brings them out of this daze. For others, a sudden turn of events and deep suffering wakes them up from their slumber. Very seldom do we see a man seeking God out of earnestness to know him. Man in wanting to turn over comes to the spiritual path. But he brings along all the baggage too. He tarnishes that sacred space too. I stood witness to many such grieving moments where the seekers, the aspirant, the devotee, the followers, the disciple too brought grieve and hurt to the masters and gurus through their actions, deeds, and words. Hence I understand why Tavayogi told us that we shall have to wait 12 years before being accepted as a disciple. Hence I understand now why it takes several thousand births to become enlightened even after having lived and breathed the air of spiritualism. As Supramania Swami says we shall polish our ware and as Tavayogi without any fuss tells us it is alright we shall come back to continue from where we left, but till when? When will the end come into view? When shall we see the light at the end of the tunnel literally too? Hence we understand Ramalinga Adigal having sleepless nights crying his heart out, yearning to be wedded to the divine in body, soul, and spirit through his song "இன்று வருமோ நாளைக்கே வருமோ, மற்றென்று வருமோ அறியேனே என் கோவே, துன்று மலவெம்மாயை அற்று வெளிக்குள் வெளி கடந்து சும்மா இருக்கும் சுகம்."

We always thought we had all the answers to all the happenings going around us, in us, in the immediate family, relatives, and expanding to the community, society, and nation. What has taken place the past year and a half has affected the world at large chiefly the human species. Lost for answers we looked up towards Agathiyar, our savior, guru, and God. He too is tight-lipped. He asks that we plead to Lord Shiva himself. Lord Shiva too did not give a promising answer instead chose to tell us that it shall take a long time to subside. We are told we brought it on ourselves. We have to undo the harm. Are we paying for our actions? The Siddhas are known to make a statement and move on, remaining quiet after that. At times they give the reason but much later. Similarly, questions are answered after years. I guess they want us to put on our thinking caps meanwhile. Usually, they come around later to acknowledge our understanding of whatever was said earlier. Hence we realize that the answers dwell within us too. Why has a world that was gifted to us to grow up in and that nourished us with clean water and air, abundant food, fruits, and grains has suddenly turned alien and hostile? It is as if it is getting back at us and that the Gods are just watching silently. Well, the divine laws that are in place are indeed seen to be working efficiently. Sadly everything respects it except for us humans. Man in his arrogance breaks all the rules both divine and manmade. We have chosen to be pretty careful although we know Agathiyar shall care for us. Yes, he shall care for us only if we take the steps to keep danger and harm at bay. If we wreck our body and home and turn to him to repair them that is utter stupidity. If we had the courage to go against these laws we must have the courage to face its consequences too. It is in moments where we slack and let go of our guard that danger strikes. The danger that is forever lurking around chooses the moment when we let down our guards to strike. Animals and plants don't have a choice. The plants are grounded forever and can never move while animals can run away from the danger that they sense. It is the man who has the choice to make wise or foolish decisions, to run or stay, to chose the company of folks or stay away, etc. Whatever he chooses shall determine his future that immediately becomes his present and later his past too. What is time then? What is space for that matter? Space is the coming together of people, things, and events that are executed in and with time. Both are impermanent and ever-changing and moving respectively. Where do we stand then in this ever-fluid state of the world around us and its beings and events? These days he has me sit alone and recap on my life. Here is where I find those precious moments of communicating with the divine, conversing with him, asking for forgiveness, stating my gratefulness, and seeking his grace.

LEARN TO TREASURE THE GIFT OF A GURU

I watched the Tamil film "Sarpatta Parambarai" last night after Suren recommended that I watch it. It was the story of a lad held back by his mother from taking up his dream to become a boxer like his father. Yet he is trained by a master and takes the ring to fight his opponents. I loved it. It was yet another movie about the guru-disciple relationship. Previously we saw a similar movie bringing a youth who wanted to play a musical instrument under the tutorship of a master or Vidvan in "Sarvam Thaala Mayam."

The guru-sisya Parambarai is as old as time itself. The father taught his son to hunt. The mother teaches her daughter to cook and care for the home. The father passes on his trade skills to his children who learn and pick them up. Hence the reason we saw sons and daughters taking up the profession of their parents in the past. Some were sent to others to be coached in a specific field that was beyond the knowledge of the parents. Hence "schooling" under a guru called Gurukulam and monasteries took shape. When governments took over schooling they included a comprehensive syllabus and curriculum covering the current needs. Teaching is not limited to space and time as we were to find out later. The divine powers "educated" selected individuals and directed them in mystical ways. These were the saint poets and founder gurus of the many sects of religion and spirituality we see. Arunagiri, Raghavendra, Ramalinga Adigal, Mahakavi Kalidas had initiation from the divine themselves. Hence they are remembered till this day.

From Wikipedia, we learn that "the term "Upanishad" derives from the Sanskrit words "upa" (near), "ni" (down) and "ṣad" (to sit) — so it means "sitting down near" a spiritual teacher to receive instruction." We learn that the guru's powers are varied though from the same Parambarai. 

In paramapara, not only is the immediate guru revered, the three preceding gurus are also worshipped or revered. Guru – the immediate guru; Parama-guru – the guru of the Parampara or specific tradition; Paratpara-guru – the guru who is the source of knowledge for many traditions; and Paramesthi-guru – the highest guru, who has the power to bestow moksa.

It is assuring to know that the guru is there for us 24/7 watching over us. When we earn his respect he gives us responsibilities. His task is for the good of the masses. When Tavayogi left his family to become a traveling mendicant, Agathiyar consoled his young daughter asking her if she wanted her father to be only a father to her or to all? From a self-centered person, the guru brings us to serve and care for others. He brings us to contribute towards humanity and giving back to nature. Here is where Peedhams and ashrams began to evolve in the interests of others. 

I was blessed to have three gurus. Goddess Ma came to mention the same, "Tavayogi (Kallar Ashram), Supramaniar (of Tiruvannamalai), and Agathiyar". Supramania Swami asked me to continuously keep the flame (light from a lamp) alive as he did, as he would watch over me through the flame. True to his words, Supramnia Swami made contact with us after several days of going into samadhi. When Dhanvantri came he told us that Tavayogi would continue to guide us in the Jhoti or light form. True to his words too, Tavayogi who went into samadhi has made contact with us too. Ma assured me that they are here to guide us further. Both Bhagawan Nithyananda of Ganeshpuri and Yogi Ramsuratkumar of Thiruvannamalai consoled their followers promising to continue to guide them before they went into samadhi. They told them that they could do a better job in the subtle form compared to the limitations of the physical form.  

Agathiyar says this relationship between a Siddha guru and the disciple does not come about all of a sudden but is brought across from the past births. When a devotee of Agathiyar who had some medical issues saw the Jeeva Nadi in possession of Tavayogi who was in Malaysia then, Agathiyar mentioned that her guru of a past birth was pleading with Agathiyar to help her recover. How compassionate of him to still worry about his disciple, even after the latter took another birth. 

Then there is another story about Muniandy Swamy who had failed to listen and carry out his obligations to his guru in the past. Muniandy Swamy had to finish his obligations towards his guru. He had to take birth again after a long lapse of 2,000 years to serve his guru again. Since both their karmas were interconnected the guru waited patiently for his disciple to join him. The guru saved his disciple from the cycle of birth. This story was shared by Velayudham Karthikeyan Aiya of the blog "Siththan Arul." 

I am blessed that Agathiyar showed me to Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai and Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar Ashram. Supramania Swami introduced me to his five gurus namely his own father Jayaram Pillai, Kollimalai Swami, Poondi Mahan, Santhanatha Swami, and finally Yogi Ramsuratkumar, all having left their mortal bodies. Tavayogi introduced me to his lineage of gurus namely his immediate guru Chitramuthu Adigal, Paramaguru Jeganatha Swamigal, and Ramalinga Adigal and Agathiyar before him, all having attained light. 

Of the five gurus he had, Supramania Swami connected me with the Yogi. When I was with Supramania Swami on my second visit to India in 2005, I was blessed to witness a miracle in his kudil in Tiruvannamalai the day I landed in India. After all the formalities, later that night at 7.30pm, Swami led me on prayer. His wife and son had gone back to their village home some 8 kilometers away at Nachaananthal. Swami started chanting his guru, Yogi Ramsuratkumar’s name. It went, "Yogi Ramsuratkumara, Yogi Ramsuratkumara, Yogi Ramsuratkumara, Jaya Gururaya." As it was a simple mantra, I followed suit and chanted along. That was the very first time I came to know this name. After about a few minutes into the recitation, I heard a third voice - that of a deep male voice chanting with us. I started to pay attention to the voice. I could hear Swami’s voice. I could hear mine too. I could hear distinctly another voice. Who else was there chanting with us? Though this question arose I never opened my eyes to investigate. I told myself I shall know once the chanting was over. The mysterious voice continued chanting with us. Eventually, after about twenty minutes, Swami ended the chant. I stopped reciting too. So did the third voice. Silence prevailed. I opened my eyes to see Swami leave his prayer room for the living room. I got up and followed him. I was supposed to ask him about this third voice but completely forgot about it. I was only reminded about this incident when I returned to Swami's kudil from my pilgrimage with Tavayogi to the caves and jungles over the next few days. Upon alighting from the car Supramania Swami suddenly asked me, “Did you hear the voice?” triggering my memory back to the first day at his kudil. I recalled the third voice that accompanied us in the chanting of the Yogi's name. I ask Swami who it was. He gave a loud laugh and answered, “That was Visiri Matai” referring to his guru Visiri Swami (Yogi Ramsuratkumar) and turned around to walk into his kudil. Although Supramania Swami had five gurus, Swami chooses to invoke the Yogi at prayer. Such was the extend of devotion towards his guru that he could call upon the Yogi to come out of his samadhi and join us. Swami tells me the Yogi had appeared one late night, after having attained samadhi, at Swami’s home in the village of Nachanananthal. The Yogi presented a painting of himself to Swami before disappearing. Such was the grace of the Yogi that he chose to appear before his disciple after having gone into samadhi on 20 February 2001.

Following in his gurus footsteps, Supramania Swami came to our home after his samadhi too. We had the aroma of tobacco in the air followed by a miss call from his number. There was another call from his number a few days later. What surprised us was that the number was surrendered back to the Telco upon his passing away.

Leaving the responsibilities of attending to the Dharmasalai to Kalpattu Aiya, Subburaaya Paradesi, and Kattamuthupalaiyam Narayanar, 25 years later after merging with the light Ramalinga Adigal chose to appear before his disciple Kalpattu Aiya. 

On the 8th of February, 1902 Kalpattu Aiya passed on his duties to his student Subburaaya Paradesi and waited to merge with Ramalinga Adigal, an act that baffled those around him. They ridiculed Kalpattu Aiya asking him how he was going to merge with Ramalinga Adigal who had left them some 25 years ago. Kalpattu Aiya openly announced that Ramalinga Adigal will come forth to take him with him just as he had stepped into his village home in Kalpattu and later went looking for Kalpattu Aiya again then in Chidambaram and brought him to Dharmasalai at Vadalur. That said miracle took place exactly after 48 days of his open decree, as ordained. It was the 26th of April 1902. Ramalinga Adigal appeared in front of Kalpattu Aiya. Immediately Kalpattu Aiya left his mortal frame. His lifelong wish was granted that day. Ramalinga Adigal carried out Kalpattu Aiya's last rites too.

Our life transforms the moment the guru comes in. When the light comes in darkness vanishes. We gain physical and mental strength. The spirit is elevated and the soul rejoices. There is total transformation. We become the image of the guru. The guru if departed continues to live in us. Contrary to the common belief that this relationship between the guru and disciple is one way and that only the student receives or gains, the strength of the disciple is the guru and the strength of the guru is the disciple. All the prayers, tavam, tapas, or austerities done by the disciple contributes towards the evolvement of the guru too. It stregthens the parambarai or lineage. Supramania Swami constantly reminded me to do tavam for only then can he reach higher states he said. Velayudham Karthikeyan Aiya shared a beautiful message when he told me that when the late Sri Hanumathdasan Aiya passed away, his soul was placed in the Pothigai hills and that he was engaged in tavam. It was amazing to know that the soul that is used to performing an act or practice while in the physical form, as in tavam, upon leaving the mortal body, continues the practice. We are often told that the Siddhas continue to sit in tavam. Agathiyar is supposed to be in tavam praying for our wellbeing in this period of the pandemic.

That is the magnitude of the guru and his hold on the disciple, crossing over several births. The compassion of the Guru is boundless. As Sankara says of the human birth: first among the three rarest gifts obtained through God's grace are the human birth; followed by the longing for liberation; and finally discipleship to an illumined teacher, the guru is a gift to us. Treasure him.

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During storytime today with my grandaughter over WhatApp video call, I read her a story that popped up in my search on YouTube. As I began to read it to her, I realized that the story was indeed for me. I was having a tough time trying to put my act together in going within as recently my neighborhood has not been conducive with all the din, smells, and activities going around 24/7. At night I used to pick up my pillow and blanket and look around for a quiet spot to doze. This story taught me that the grass is seldom greener elsewhere. 

Those who aspire to become full warrior monks shall be put to test. It needs years of dedication to mastering the martial art at times as many as 10 to 11 years. 

If in an earlier post in comparison to life within the monastery walls and beyond that, I have to retract my earlier opinion after seeing these monks put in the years of practice. I realized that life is equally hard within the walls and beyond it. I realized the grass is never greener beyond the walls too. When the warrior monks spent years training both in Kung Fu and learning the Buddhist scriptures to qualify to become a Shaolin master, elsewhere on the globe we see people by just adorning attires and dashing their bodies with ash, become overnight Sadhus and monks. Even an astrologer who sits at the pavements looking at our palms and looking into our stars has to educate himself and train to read the lines on the palms and the corresponding stars in the skies. I know how difficult it is having learned to draw up astrological charts from scratch. The much bigger challenge is to correctly predict the happenings when explaining the Gochara Palan as the planets move. The granny who sits under the hot sun selling her wares or homegrown vegetables or cookies deserves more respect than those who adorn the garb of the mendicant and reach out to passerby for donations. But what we do is bargain with the granny who is trying to make a small income to survive, telling her that her goods are costly. On the other hand, we extend our debit and credit cards proudly at posh outlets without muttering a word neither asking for a discount or complaining about how much they charge. 

Similarly, if an avatar achieves emancipation it is no big deal. Or for a Siddhar who turns up mysteriously possibly originating by assembling the elements together in taking a form to walk the face of the earth, is not a big deal. But for Ramalingam, a commoner who was born to a couple and grew up with siblings like us to place a concerted and determined effort in reaching God and achieve that state proving to us that it was possible for any man to become divine and later turn into the very divinity is indeed the greatest achievement. Can we attain a similar feat?

We have been blinded to the extent that we do not recognize the genuine from the fake. We think that the grass is greener on the other side of the bank. We think peace and tranquility are to be achieved out there and over there. But Ramalinga Adigal brought peace and tranquility within him. If one stepping into Bhagawan Ramana's samadhi temple senses a serene and peaceful environment and feeling imagine how it would have been walking into the place when the saint was around in the physical form. While we go on searching out there, these saints turned their very place of residence into energy vortexes and pull others to it.

We are all a pack of spiritual tourists. Yes, we tour spiritual spots year in and year out. The din and bustle in the bus or car continue even after we step out of the vehicle upon arrival at these sacred spots. The conversation continues as we enter and make our way into the sacred caves or go within the inner walls of the temples. With man putting up more and more statues in these places it has become a museum rather than a place to sit and meditate, taking in the vibes and energy. All things are done these days to bring visual delight to us. The temples are brightly light and the divine flames are lost in these artificial lightings. To view the stars in the night skies we need to look at it from a place far away from the city lights. Only then shall the stars be seen. Most of these ancient temples relied on natural lighting to light up the place. The inner sanctum is always dark. The only moment we get a glimpse of the deity is when the camphor is lit and the flame showed. Devotees in never wanting to miss that fraction of a second are alert waiting in advance and anticipating for that moment. Things have changed now with the quality of devotees where rather than raising their hands into the air and bringing their palms together over their head in prayer in this rare moments of communion with ones God, they hold their smartphones taking pictures and videos.

Man has become disconnect from the divine. Yes, he is seen at these holy spots in large numbers but he fails to connect with the energies prevailing there. It is only in silence and in the darkness that the sound of silence is heard and the divine light is seen. With the advent of technology that we cannot live without these days, we could be selective in allowing them and not using them at least in places of worship. Self-discipline and understanding is a key factor here rather than to lay rules. But if man has lost his common sense and cannot think he then deserves to be treated like animals that are herded away. Rules are for those who do not have self-discipline. Neither does one who observes self-discipline need the cane. 

Life is like a fleeting dream. There is not much time left. Let us bring the much-desired change. Let us adopt certain practices when we travel to places of pilgrimage and abodes of the Siddhas, enter the sacred caves and the jungles. Let us respect the place. Let us drop all prior conversations. Let us absorb the prana and energies prevalent and in abundance in these places. It is always existing 24/7. How is it that many miss it then? It shall be made known to us only if we bring awareness to that moment. We need to bring awareness to it and get connected. Just as we are not aware of the mechanics that goes on beyond the touch of our finger on a touch screen or smart phone or the click of a mouse on an icon on the desktop, man has become fully automated. He is always in auto pilot mode. It is time we brought awareness to each moment. The divine only shows itself at these moments when man's senses are withdrawn from his surroundings and his inner thoughts. Or in exceptional cases, the divine itself comes to draw the curtain over the world around us leading us to have a spectacular experience that is out of this world deep within us.