Friday, 13 October 2023

WHEN THE MASTER COMES BY

When we are told that the "individual human minds are merely brief reflections within a cosmic one" at https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/25/movies-embraced-hinduism, it reminds me of the Rishis who supposedly have discovered many things in their realm that are projected to men - the spiritual and the scientist - who are receptive to it on earth. 

Agathiyar leaves us to learn from the experiences we gather in our practices, ideals, faith, beliefs, and relationships, coming to correct the wrong perspectives we carry and confirm the right. There is no hearsay or blind faith here. Rather the Siddhas want us to see and realize for ourselves. I have yet to draw the image or picture of Agathiyar for I had told him unless he gives me a darshan I shall only be reproducing the many previous images of his that have come down to us. As he has not come before me I have not attempted to draw him. Rather than come before me in flesh and blood and add to the numerous existing paintings and statues of his, he comes within me instead and has me realize him in my flesh and blood, bringing on an intense vibration within from without till it shakes the very cells. What else would one want?

If he were to appear before me and I were to draw him I would end up worshipping that image too. I believe he would rather have me see him within and worship the Self or Atma in me that is him. Housing him in me I shall have to always remind myself that he was living in me. Hence my previous ways and qualities have to be dropped to reflect that of Agathiyar's ways and qualities. I guess this is what he meant when he asked that I walk tall back then. Tavayogi always carried himself well often having us wonder if Agathiyar was walking the face of the earth through him. 

But sadly we remain "we" and look at the divine as "them". The only moment we communicate is when we visit the temples and pray before them at our home altars. Sadly there is a large divide between the creator and his creation as a result of the work of Maya veiling the Atma. Going by the many written and spoken words of seekers who made it to the state of gurus hailing their gurus, we realize that indeed a genuine guru has to come to draw the curtain and reinstate our relationship with the divine. Blessed are those who have had a guru. I am blessed to have had Supramania Swami and Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal and their lineage come to my aid, not forgetting the entire company of the Siddhas led by Lord Murugan and Agathiyar and the entire pantheon of Gods and Goddesses led by Shiva and Parvathy and Narayana and Laksmi. 

Srinath Raghavan posted the following on fb.

We all live in a personal bubble of our own,
A bubble which is highly colorful but opaque,
So nothing outside it's purview is ever seen by us,
We live and die our life, inside this fantastic bubble,
Thinking and believing whatever in it is the only truth,
Nothing outside can ever exist and it should not too,
We can very well break it's brittle wall from inside,
But we choose not to, for the fear of being exposed to uncertainty,
When with the touch of the Master from outside, the bubble breaks,
That's when we will finally realize, how foolish and limited we were,
To have accepted the truth that's known to us, as the Final Truth...
~ Freedom is breaking the bubble and seeing and feeling the reality beyond your own.

Indeed, the guru comes to break the bubble that we have created around us. With the touch of the Master from outside, or rather the Atma within, the bubble breaks, and reality dawns. If Bhagawan Ramana says, "... the spiritual energy of a master transforms the consciousness of men", Swami Muktananda mentions in his book ‘SECRET OF THE SIDDHAS’, Siddha Yoga Publication, 1980, that his master gave him one word that completely transformed him. Swami Muktananda says his joy arises from the one word - Guru Om; from the churning of the love between the guru and the disciple. He echoes Ramalinga Adigal's words adding that, "Only the guru can know that delight and taste the elixir that arises in every pore of the body."

ஆணிப்பொன் னம்பலத் தேகண்ட காட்சிகள்
          அற்புதக் காட்சிய டி - அம்மா
          அற்புதக் காட்சிய டி.

சந்நிதி யில்சென்று நான்பெற்ற பேறது
          சாமி அறிவார டி - அம்மா
          சாமி அறிவார டி.

(Source: https://www.tamilvu.org/)

Bhagawan Nithyananda, who always traveled barefoot, to everyone’s surprise, once wore sandals only to pass them on to Swami Muktananda, telling him, “Take these sandals, put them on.” At that very moment, Muktananda saw a ray of light coming from Bhagawan Nithyananda’s eyes and it went straight into him. He could feel it too. Margaret Simpson writes, "It was searing red hot and so bright that it dazzled his eyes. Every hair on Baba’s (Muktananda) body rose in awe. He kept repeating, “Guru Om, Guru Om, ” He lost all sense of himself. He only came out of it when Nithyananda made a sound. As he set off for home that day carrying Bhagawan’s sandals on his head Muktananda was filled with wonder and gratitude. Muktananda says, "That word (Guru Om), which I received after so many years, spread through my body from head to toe like wildfire carried by the wind. It produced in me both inner heat and the coolness of joy. Before meeting my guru I had practiced many different kinds of yoga, but it was I who had practiced them. However, that word activated a spontaneous yoga within me. I was filled with amazement." He says everything - postures, Mudras, and breathing processes - all happened on its own. He became ecstatic.

Just as Swami Muktananda saw a ray of light coming from Bhagawan Nithyananda’s eyes and it went straight into him, I too had a similar moment with a stranger Sadhu who was at the prayer/meditation hall of a local Swamiji in the north, going around the Navagrahas as I entered the hall with my nephew and brother-in-law. He walked up to us and my nephew who knew him from an earlier encounter began a conversation with him. I was stunned by his penetrating look that went through me and beyond. 

Muktananda continues, "After the awakening of the Shakti, this process of yogic movements began to take place within my entire body. The pulsation of his ecstasy pervades my entire body like the movement of the wind. The Kriyas were his, the yoga was his, and meditation took place because of him. The final message that I received was from him. The power of his word permeates each of my blood cells; the fluids of my entire body are his. That is why I am joyful. Gurudev entered me and replaced all my bodily fluids with his. He evicted me and took up residence in me. He annihilated my ego. By making my individuality his, he became me. This is the guru’s compassion. Only when I lost myself in the ecstasy of Bhagawan Nithyananda did I realize who he was."

Swami Muktananda mentions in his book SECRET OF THE SIDDHAS, Siddha Yoga Publication, 1980,

“Forgetfulness of one’s true nature is the moss of ignorance that muddies the experience of the self. The Guru is the means of removing it. Just as the wind disperses the clouds but does not create another blazing sun, so the grace of a Siddha simply removes the veil of ignorance so that one realizes that one is already perfect. For this reason, all scriptures and Sadhana are simply means of washing away the filth of ignorance. They have no ability of their own to reveal the wisdom of the self because that principle is self-existent, perfect, and always manifest.” 

Paul Zweig in the introduction to Swami Muktananda’s ‘THE PERFECT RELATIONSHIP’, SYDA Foundation, 1985, writes that "in a flash of self-understanding Muktananda knew that he had found his other half; that now he was whole again."

Tavayogi who came for me lives in me as there is never a moment he is not in my thoughts and never a day where we do not talk about him. So why would I hang a photo of him and pray to him? Agathiyar surprised us by saying that just as we are forever talking about them, they too are constantly talking about us. Imagine Agathiyar who can summon all the Siddhas by a clap of his hands as the Rajahs and kings did in days bygone, comes to us amidst us and listens to all our nonsensical talk. He even went to the extent of asking me to pick certain garden herbs and kitchen spices and went on grinding them with a granite pestal in a granite mortar and placed a poultice on a devotee's injured knee. He even arrives from Pothigai to sit in on the Annual General Meeting of our charity organization Persatuan Teman Setia (PTS) and runs the meet. 

Agathiyar ran through briefly the inherent and dormant energies within us and what they could do if initiated. We are ignorant of these inherent energies he says. When these energies are released the body shall go through many transformations. The body should be able to withstand its onslaught though, he cautioned us. Only the Siddha knows if we are ready and if the body is prepared. The Siddha shall reveal them to us according to our readiness to receive, preparedness, the age factor, and our existing stock of karma. As it would not be the same for all do not compare with others for each shall have his own journey to travel. This is not a race to compete in and win, he adds. 

பல சக்திகள் நம்மில் உறைந்து கொண்டு இருக்கிறது. அதை உணராமல் இருக்கின்றோம். இச்சக்திகள் வெளிப்படுவதால் உடலில் பெரும் மாற்றங்கள் ஏற்படும். அது உங்கள் உடம்பு தாங்கிக் கொள்ளுனும். சித்தன் அதைப் படி படியாக உணர்த்துவான். உங்கள் பக்குவத்திற்கு ஏற்ப வயதிற்கு ஏற்ப  பாவ புண்ணியத்திற்கு ஏற்ப சித்தன் கைபிடித்து அழைத்துச் செல்வான். அது அனைவருக்கும் ஒரே மாதிரி ஆக அமையாது. அது வெவ்வேறு பயணமாக அமையும். அந்தக் கணக்கு சித்தனுக்கு மட்டும் தான் தெரியும். யாரையும் ஒப்பிடாதீர்கள். இது போட்டி அல்ல முந்தி அடித்துக் கொண்டு செல்வதற்கு. 

For Swami Vishnudevananda, meeting his guru entirely changed his perspective of things and his outlook on life, as he narrates in his book ‘MY YEARS WITH THE MASTER’ available at http://www.sivanandaonline.org.

"As if by chance, I had found a piece of paper that intrigued me. One night when I was working late and was searching for a misplaced paper, I found a small pamphlet in the trash basket. It was called ‘SADHANA TATTVA’ and was by Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. As soon as I read it, my body began to shake."

"It began with ‘An ounce of practice is worth tons of theory.’ 

"Here was a teacher who was down-to-earth and practical. There was nothing mysterious about his teachings; I felt that I had to meet him for myself. I got a few days leave from the army. I was an arrogant boy on leave from the army. It meant that I had to travel a day and a night from my army base in Jullunder. I would have only a few hours at the Ashram - just to see the Master and then go right back."

"The first time I saw Swami Sivananda he was sitting with about 30 or 40 people around him. He looked like an ordinary man among them. The look on his face and manner of speech were simple and straightforward. Each word came from his heart. There was no kind of religious hypocrisy, no sitting on a tiger skin with ashes smeared all over his body. He had an extraordinary spiritual glow."

"The second time, I saw him Swami Sivananda was coming up the stairs in my direction. I didn't want to bow my head to him. I was young and arrogant and never wanted to bow my head to anybody - Swami, God - realized soul or whoever, I didn't care. But it is the tradition in India that you should bow your head to a holy man. To avoid the situation I just moved out of his path."

"The Master saw me and headed in my direction. He asked me who I was and where I was coming from. Then he bowed down and touched my feet!! My whole body began to shake violently. With all my heart, with all my life and love, I learned to bow without any type of reservation. He touched my heart not with miracles or shows of holiness, but with his perfect ego-less nature. He didn't consider that I was just a stupid boy standing there, though I was just that. He touched my heart and broke my ego."

"That was my first lesson, and if I could attain one-millionth of the state of egolessness of the Master, it is His Grace."

"Before leaving, I went down the Ganga where it was the custom of the Ashram to do Aarati (waving of lights) every evening. All the devotees and inmates of the Ashram assembled by the banks of the Ganga to watch Master perform this evening worship. I was skeptical. I was of a scientific temperament and knew that a river is only water, H2O - imagine worshiping H20!! But as I stood there and watched Master waving the lights, I saw the river become a mass of flowing lights. At that instant, the river assumed a divine flow, a manifestation of the Grace of the Lord. Master turned and looked at me and in my mind, I heard his message, “God pervades everything; this too is His Special Form.”

"This entirely changed my outlook on life."

THE JOURNEY

If we saw the ongoing transformation within the body by the grace of the divine in the last post, we need to look back at what brought us to gain his grace. Calling me to his path in the Nadi in 2002 and besides regularly guiding me in the Nadi, Agathiyar sent Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal over to guide us beginning in 2005. This was akin to an online course as Tavayogi and I used to communicate through snail mail first and email later and through telephone calls. Tavayogi would come regularly to Malaysia and refine the practices that he had us start. When the day of graduation came in 2013, my family and I arrived at Tavayogi's Kallar ashram and carried out the Siddha puja. This was a big acknowledgment for us that boosted our spirits further. Then in December of 2016, traveling with the AVM family we were given the privilege to sing during the Yagam which was the highlight of the two-day annual event carried out on the grounds of the Kallar Ashram. Prior to this in June Tavayogi and Mataji had accompanied us on our rounds of conducting Siddhar puja in the homes of some ten devotees. We also carried out Yagam under the supervision of Tavayogi at the Eco City temple in Kuala Lumpur, the Jeganathar temple in Tapah, and the Waterfalls temple in Taiping. We knew that we had graduated cum laude when Tavayogi passed on a laurel of appreciation, gratitude, and praises at a small gathering of the AVM family at the devotee's home where he and Mataji pitched during their stay. These and the rest are best seen through videos as pictures are worth a thousand words.


































In listening and following and practicing all that was said, shown, and given we arrived at the place where we then began to look within. BKS Iyengar in revealing Patanjali's "Yoga Sutras", says that sage Patanjali listed ways to attain Yoga or union, beginning with the control and mastery of external issues and finally bringing one within.  

The eight aspects or limbs of Yoga of which the first five namely, Yama or restraints and ethics of behavior; Niyama or observances; Asana or physical postures; Praṇayama or control of the prana (breath); and Pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses, are known as a forward journey, says Iyengar. Then Patanjali takes us on a reverse path, or a return journey now moving inwards, from the body towards the soul, that is termed as the true renunciation, contrary to the common belief and understanding of renouncing the world, says Iyengar. Knowing the seed of consciousness and having realized it Patanjali shows the way to Dharaṇa or concentration; Dhyana or meditation; and Samadhi or absorption.

Similarly is it with temple worship. We lay our sights on the beauty of the deities before us. We take in the sounds of the temple bells ringing and the chanting of the mantras. We take in the myriad of aromas and scents prevailing on the temple grounds. Those who are receptive to subtle energies might sense the pull and power of these deities. Of course not forgetting the delicious yet simple prasad and dishes served here. These feed our senses and we return home delighted and happy. In coming to carry out home puja we engage in singing songs, reciting names of the Siddhas, and chanting mantras. If in the former we were witness to rituals carried out at temples, now we bring the rituals within the four walls of our homes and sit in prayer engaging the whole family. With the coming of the guru, we pick up Yoga and engage the body in a systematic manner that brings renewed energy. Eventually, we withdraw from all things external and go within, on a return journey moving inwards, from the body towards the soul, as Iyengar puts it. We become renunciates. 

Thursday, 12 October 2023

THE ONGOING TRANSFORMATION

During one of the many visits Tavayogi made to Malaysia beginning in 2004, I asked him to see him turn to Jothi or Light as many including Ramalinga Adigal and Jeganathar are said to have achieved. The Siddhas are all said to be in this state too. But Tavayogi told me that he had missed the boat as he was reported to be 69 when I met him for the first time in 2005. Three things are deemed to be necessary before one can attain this state. One has to do it before he reaches 60 according to Tavayogi and 58 according to Agathiyar. Next is that one has to start being a vegetarian early as the longer we wait the more trash, toxins and impurities we have to discard from our bodies. This can be rather painful and intolerable. One finally needs the grace of Arutperunjothi to come within and enter him and bring on the transformations required turning the gross body into finer and subtle bodies namely from the Asudha Degam or impure to the pure Suddha Degam and later filling it with Prana and the Prapanjam lifting it to that of the Pranava Degam and with the arrival of the divine within lifting one from the crowd that needs to experience life, to attain the Gnana Degam that simply knows without the need to experience as before, and finally acquiring the Jothi Degam, attaining and returning to the state of light or Jothi from whence we all came from. 

So when Jnana Jothiamma had a calling to go to Tavayogi's Kallar ashram in 2011, where Agathiyar initiated her through Tavayogi, and Agathiyar himself guided her through numerous Nadi readings that were to follow till her last days, I was overjoyed that here was someone whom I could look up to as a role model in attaining the state of Jothi. Agathiyar had her go on pilgrimages to acquaint herself with nature and the abodes of the Siddhas. They showed her numerous miracles and used her to propagate the faith and belief in all those whom she came in contact with. Soon he had her stay indoors having her stay away from people and social media. Only the Nadi reader, her driver, maid, house owner, and I were privileged to remain in contact back then. She shared her transformation and changes taking place within and in her body with me until the last few days before she passed away. She had to go through much pain. For instance, she would vomit some 32 times, purging her body of all the years of meat intake that she took so that her very cells could be purified and transformed to light. Her skin would have to shed some seven layers too. Siddhas would appear as common folk and knock on her door handing our herbal preparations and Siddha medicines to hasten the process, strengthen, and rejuvenate. But unfortunately for us, she requested that Agathiyar take her away with him and Agathiyar had to comply with the soul's wish. She passed away at a government hospital in Chennai on 4 April 2017. We missed seeing the action and she turn into Jothi.

After calling me to his path through a Nadi reading in 2002, Agathiyar brought Tavayogi to our shores in 2005 and had me initiated into the path officially. After 10 years of home worship with my family, Agathiyar led many youths to our private home puja hence opening the doors of my home that became Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) to the public. He introduced us to doing charity besides the regular puja. He then came to us speaking through devotees instead of the Nadi revelations all those years. He had us observe the breath and reach for the Prapanjam. He gave us short samples and instances of bliss that came with his arrival as vibrations in all our activities. After another 10 years, he closed the door to AVM and had me go within. He has now asked that I observe a day of Mounam or silence, once a week on Thursdays, for a start. Seeing him at his abodes and temples as granite statues and paintings and later in the bronze statue that he commissioned and placed at my home that became his home Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM), seeing him in the rituals and later in the hungry and poor whom we fed, today leaving for another home of a devotee, he stands as the Prapanjam that is felt as a strong vibration in his room. But it was a long journey before we arrived to savor or feel or become aware of these energies and vibrations. 

I had no inkling that it had arisen in me as early as 2007 after putting into practice the Vaasi and Asana practices given by Tavayogi earlier that year. Agathiyar casually mentioned that they were amazed to see it rise in me in my Nadi reading on 13.10.2007.

உண்டாகும் குண்டலினி சக்தி உனக்கு உயர்வதைக் கண்டு நாங்கள் வியந்தோம் அப்பா. 

After picking up Yoga from Tavayogi officially, Patanjali came on 18.5.2008 in the Nadi reading. He said: "The many practices taught and shown and put into practice shall bring on excessive heat within he said. ஒப்பிலா உடல் சூடும் தியானத்தால் உனக்குச் சோர்வு வந்திடும் இக்கணம் தன்னில். 

Hence there was the need to take sattvic food that cools the body." தான் நீயும் குளிர்ச்சி தரும் பண்டம் தவறாது ஏற்றிட வேண்டும் அப்பா. 

He lists what to do. நிலைத்துத் தான் அங்கத் திடம் ஓங்கச் சிறப்பாக வாரம் ஓர் நாள் மட்டும் செயற்கை உணவு மட்டும் ஏற்கா. மட்டிலா செய், கரி, குரு நாள் தன்னில் மகத்தான மருத்துவத்தின் உணவும் ஏற்பாய் கட்டளைதான் உப்பு, புலி, காரம், இனிப்பும் கண்டிப்பாய் ஆகாது ஏற்க வேண்டாம். 

This is the second instance the Kundalini is mentioned. He says that the colors of the aura will accentuate further as a result of the awakening. பதஞ்சலியின் யோக சூட்சம இதுதான் மைந்தா. வளமிருக்கும் வர்ணமும், ஆதாரமும் சித்தி கொண்டதோர் குண்டலினி ஓங்கும் பாரு. 

But I never saw any internal changes or differences in myself. Neither did others around me notice or point it out.

30.9.2008 Agathiyar surprised me by saying that the light from the third eye had emerged in me. நேர்மையான தவத்தாலே நெற்றிக் கண் ஒளியும், ஒளி அதுவும் உனக்குமே வெளிப்பட்டது இப்போ. 

I did not notice anything extraordinary or any difference in me though.

8.12.2008 Agathiyar throws in another surprise saying that due to my Vaasi practice or Pranayama, the Suzhimunai and the crown at the top of my head had opened. வாசி பயிற்சியாலே சுழி திறந்து உச்சியும் திறக்கக் கண்டாய். 

He assures me that he shall draw all the seven veils aside and have me see the Jothi. ஏழுதிரை தன்னை நீக்கி வழுவாது சோதிதனை கான வைப்போம். 

He said that he shall pave the way to reach the state of fulfillment and completeness that comes with the state of Soruba Nilai. வையகத்தில் பூர்த்தி நிலை அடையச் செய்வோம். சொரூப நிலை யாவும் பெற வழியும் செய்வோம். 

No, I did not sense any sensation on the top of my head. 

27.8.2009 he gives further practice known as Tava Sukmam. வெற்றி நிலை மிகுந்து காணத் தவ சூச்சமம் தான் விவரிப்பேன். He spelled out the practice. இரு மண்டலம் செய்வாய் நன்றாய். பக்குவமாய் பயிற்சியும் செய்து  வரப் பலப்படும் ஞான நிலை பலவாறாக. பலவாறு தெளிவு திடம், சிந்தை கீர்த்தி, பிரபஞ்சம் வசிய நிலை திண்ணம். 

Agathiyar mentions that they were sharing the practices that the Siddhas did. உலகினிலே நாங்கள் செய்த பயிற்சிதான் உவந்து சொன்னோம் உனக்குமே சூச்சம். 

26.12.2009 Agathiyar tells me that Gnanam has dawned on me. Again he says that the crown of my head has opened. He says that the third eye shall shine. ஞானத்தின் திறவுகோல் திறந்த பிள்ளை. உச்சியும்  திறந்த பிள்ளை. முக்கண்ணும் பிரகாசிக்கும். 

He says that he wanted to gift me treasures and adds that Tavayogi shall grant me the rest. தர வேண்டும் போக்கிடங்கள் என்று நினைத்தோம். தவறாது யோகி வழி உனக்குக் கிட்டும். 

I could not comprehend what he was implying. 

12.7.2010 he says I saw Sadashiva. தரணியிலே சதா சிவதை கண்டவன் நீ. 

Believe me, I sincerely did not know, sense, or understand what was been said or taking place. Searching the net I came to know that it was the highest manifestation of Shiva. 

The changes became obvious though only much later as I pursued on the road. Agathiyar in the Nadi reading on 9.8.2010 says the heat of my tapas was at its height. உண்டான ஞான கனல் மிகுந்த காலம் உயர்வான காலம் அப்பா இது. 

I saw it affect my mobility practically crippling me. An excruciating pain struck my lower back and crippled me momentarily while taking the morning shower. After the doctors gave me a clean bill of health I consulted the Nadi. Agathiyar on 17.10.2010 gives me the good news and consoles me on the bad too. What is generally achieved through Hatha yoga is now possible through Tapas and Puja he said. But he pointed out that my health was declining. He asked to see a physician who could bring it back to its former state. With His grace, I shall recover well he added. 

அடையோகம் தன்னில் கிட்டும் சித்தி அவையனைத்தும் தவமொடு வழிபாட்டில் பெறுவாய். ஆனதொரு ஆரோக்கியம் மட்டும் சோடை. ஒளடதமும் பிடகனை அறிந்து ஏற்க்கவே மாற்றங்கள் ஏற்றம் கிட்டும். என் அருளால் பூரணமாய் பரிசுத்தம் காண்பாய். 

On 16.1.2011 Agathiyar who continued to monitor my situation assured me that all shall be fine. He asked me to continue taking the prescription for another half a mandalam. 

வாகடன்கள் தேகத்திற்கு மட்டும் வளத்துடனே அரை மண்டலாம் எடுத்துக் கொள்ள தேகமத்தில் குறை வாரா. 

On 9.8.2011 he acknowledged the blissful state I was in. The graceful light of Arutjothi had increased in its immensity he said. 

ஆனந்த நிலை இப்போ அடைந்திருக்கிறாய். அருள் ஜோதி நிலை பெருகி உள்ளத்தப்பா. 

By taking the Siddha path, that reaches Siddhantam one gains higher states, he added. விளம்பலாம் சித்தாந்தம் மார்க்கம் தொட்டு சுத்தமுடன் சித்தர் வழி சமயம்பற்றி வின்னமில்லா நிலை பலதும் அடைந்துவிட்டாய். 

On 26.11. 2011. Agathiyar revealed that the Muladhara chakra had gained intense heat hence shutting my systems down. To add to it my three dosas were off balance or rather not in the ratio that sustains good health. He classified my agony as Paareesa Peedai or உடலின் ஒரு பக்கம் that was external and "superficial, existing or occurring at or on the surface and  appearing to be true or real only until examined more closely." தரணிதன்னில் எங்கள் வழி மார்க்கத்தில் தப்பாது பூசையும் தவமும் செய்து தான் உயர்வு அடைந்திட்ட பாலகன் உனக்குத் தரணியே உயிர் பிணி ஏது சொல்வோம் உடல் பிணி ஏதுதான் அச்சம்கொள்ள. பாரிச பீடைகளும் வந்து நிற்கும். உற்றதொரு மூலாதார சக்கரமும் உயர் விதமாய் உட்டனங்கள் அடைந்ததனாலே உரைக்க வரும் சோர்வும் தேகம் தன்னில். 

He gave me the solution in the form of several Siddha herbs and prayers. He asked that I stop all forms of tapas and yoga practices for the time being and that I carry out the Sun salutation and worship Lord Murugan to bring relief. உரைக்கலாம் முக்கூற்று திருப்பும் இப்போ முறையாகச் சம நிலையில் இல்லாதிருக்க சோதனைகள் வந்து நிற்க்கும் அச்சம் மிதந்து. சிறப்பு தரும் வாகடமும் செப்பலாம். செப்பலாம் தவம் தன்னை நிறுத்திவைக்க.  சிறப்பு இருக்கு வழிபாடும் முறையே மாறாது சூரிய வழிபாடும் செய்ய வழிபாடும் வேலவர்க்கும் முறையே செய்யப் பங்கம் ஏதும் வந்திடாது கலக்கம் கொள்ளா. 

On 15. 2. 2013 Agathiyar reiterated that my crown was open and I had gained Mukthi. He asks to stop the search. He shall come for me, he said. உச்சி திறந்த மைந்தன் நீ அறிவாய் இன்றோ. சுழி திறந்து முக்தி கண்டாய். தேடிய நாடிய காலமெல்லாம் போதும். தேடி வந்து அருள் செய்வோம் இனித்தான் உனக்கு. 

21.9.2014 Agathiyar speaks about the chakras functioning perfectly. The Suzhimunai was opened he repeated again. ஆதாரம் முறையாய் விளங்கி நிற்கும். முனை திறந்து இருக்கிறாய் இப்போ. 

He asked that I write about the Siddha Marga. He shall induce me to write he said. தக்கதொரு எழுதிடுவாய் சித்த மார்க்கம் பற்றி. எழுத வைப்போம் சிந்தையிலே கலந்து நாங்கள். 

28.3.2015 Agathiyar tells me I had gained his Jothi and had opened the crown chakra. நீ உலகில் என் ஜோதியைப் பெற்று விட்டாய். திறந்தோமே உட்சியும் உனக்கும் மைந்தா. 

He thanks me for bringing others into the path through my writings. உண்மையான மார்க்கத்தை உலகிற்கு ஓதி உயர் நிலையைப் பலர் அடைய வைத்தவன். 

He says my home that was his Vanam has transited into Gnanakottam. Those arriving at my home shall attain the state of Gnanam he adds. He shall grant his grace here. They shall receive his Arul, Tavam and Aasi. He says again that he has opened the crown in me. இல்லமதும் ஞான கோட்டமாகி இறை ஞான நிலை அடைவார் வருவோர் எல்லாம். அருள் புரிந்தோம் ஞான கோட்டம் தன்னில். அருள் தவம் ஆசி பெற வழிவகுத்தோம். 

On 28.8.2015 he says my writings have reached many. கருணையுடன் கருத்துகளை உலகிற்குப் பரப்பிக் கருணையான நிலை தன்னை பலர் அடையச் செய்தாய். 

He sees the changes that have taken place within me. His jothi has expanded in me he adds. Hence the reason for the changes in my body including the opening of Suzhimunai. தேகத்தில் மாற்றங்கள் பெற்று இருக்காய். அகத்துக்குள் அகத்தின் ஜோதி பெருகி தேகத்தில் பல மாற்றம் பல சக்தி கிட்டி முனை திரண்டு இருப்பாயே. 

On 18.11. 2017 Agathiyar in the Nadi says I was instrumental in some way towards the change others went through. He wants me to maintain a low profile and remain out of the limelight. அருள் நிலைகள் பெற்றிருக்கின்றார் பல மாந்தரும். மாற்றங்கள் பலர் அடையக் காரணமாய் இருந்தாய். குவலயத்தில் ஒன்றுமே தெரியாதவன் போல் அமர்ந்திருப்பாய். 

The pain came back in the same intensity as originally when I sneezed as I was crossing a street. On 7.10.2018 Agathiyar in the Nadi said that my breath was "twisted" and "crippled". It happened in my sleep, he added. உனக்குத்தான் நித்திரை தவ வாசி காலம் வாசியும் சீர் பிசகி முடங்கித் தான் இருக்கு. 

On 8.10.2018 Lord Murugan in the Nadi praises me for keeping a low profile yet spreading the wisdom of Agathiyar. இந்தத் தேசத்தில் சத்தமின்றி அகத்தியரைப் பலருக்கு நீ காட்டினாய் அப்பா. உன் தொண்டை மெச்சுகின்றேன். 

He brings me the bad news though. He tells me my body is crumbling. My spine and hips are currently tense. The gel at these joints has dried up. This is the reason for the acute pain I was having. With some treatment done earlier, a quarter of the issue was overcome. நின் தேகம் தளருகிறது அப்பா. தேகத்திற்கு முதுமை அது வந்துவிட்டாலும் தெளிந்த ஒரு ஆத்மவுள் இருப்பது யானே. இந்தக் காலம் உன்னுடைய முதுகு எலும்பும் இடுப்பும் தானே ஒரு வித இறுக்கமாய் இருக்குதப்பா. அப்பா அங்கே இருக்கின்ற தைலம் தானே தைலமது உலர்ந்து  போச்சு. இதுதான் உண்மை ஆதலால் சேரும் எலும்பு சந்திப்பெல்லாம் அறிவித்தால் ஒருவித இறுக்கம் அச்சு. ஆச்சப்பா மின்னல் போன்ற வலி தோன்றும். அங்கே அப்போது துடி துடித்து நிற்பான் மைந்தன். மைந்தனுக்கு மருத்துவம் சில செய்ததாலே மாற்றங்கள் கால் பங்கு குணமாகக் கண்டேன். 

He tells me why I had to go through the suffering. It was to have me sit in one place and do tapas. But neither he nor Agathiyar abandoned me. They have come to heal me through a devotee and a Nadi reading simultaneously. சாற்றநல்  இது எதற்கென்று கேள். அகத்தில் நீ அமர்ந்து தவம் தியானம் செய்ய. தெளிவிக்க அகத்தியரும் புறப்பட்டு விட்டார். திறம்படவே நீ நடமாட வேண்டும் அப்பா. தீர்க்கமாய் அதற்குத் தான் நூல் உரைக்க வந்தேன். ஆறுமுகன் சொல்லுகின்றேன் ஷண்முகத்திற்குக் கூறுகின்றேன் உன்னால் எழுந்து நடமாட முடியும். குமரனும் இன்று இரவே அற்புதம் செய்வேன். 

On a different note, he says that Agathiyar Vanam can take on a new name Agathiyar Tapovanam. மெள்ள அகத்தியர் வனம் அகத்தியர் தபோவனம் ஆகும். தவம் செய்யும் வனம் அப்பா தபோவனம் ஆகும். 

9.10.2018 The next day Lord Murugan comes in a Nadi reading for another devotee and explains how he healed me the night before. "I did treat him yesterday. I have removed his pain. I came as his Jeeva and as the Jeeva Nool or Nadi and treated him. I spoke (through the Nadi) and came (through the devotee) at the same time. I removed his pain by stroking his body with the peacock feathers. He shall gain by sitting in meditation." செய்தித்தேன் மருத்துவம் யான் கூட நேற்று. மெய்யாக அவன் வலியைப் போக்கினேன். ஜீவ நூலாய் ஜீவனாய் இறங்கி பங்காக அவன் உடலைச் சார்ந்திருந்தது அவனுக்குச் சிகிச்சை செய்தோம். ஆறுமுகன் பேசினேன் இறங்கினேன் ஒரு கணத்தில். நன்றாய் மயில் இராகு கொண்டு சண்முகத்தின் தேகத்தை தடவிய அவன் வலியைப் போக்கினேன். மைந்தனவன் தியான வழி சிந்தைகொள்ள அவன் தனக்கு சக்தி பெருகும். 

Agathiyar had me stop all external activities and go within in September of 2019. He brought an end to the puja held at my home Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) and the charity programs we carried out under our charity arm Amudha Surabhi (AS). This was followed by the pandemic that forced us indoors in 2020. 

The changes turned out to be pretty obvious in the days to come. Having me sleep in his puja room, I got up to go to the loo in the middle of the night. I fell down on the fall upon getting up. I picked myself up and walked into the living room where I collapsed again. I picked myself up and walked the flight of stairs and collapsed on the landing just outside the bathroom. While I was slithering in pain, I was laughing away too as it was blissful as Agathiyar pointed out. On 5.9. 2019 Agathiyar came to reveal the reason I fell and lay in front of my bathroom door, crawling or slithering in pain like a snake. 

The three Malas or impurities were rid he said. He mentioned further that the third eye and the crown had opened, and I was partaking in the ambrosia within. மும்மலங்கள் அற்றதொரு தேகம் என்பதாலே, முக்கணும் முறை திறந்து உட்சியும் திறந்து, குண்டலினி உயர்ந்து தான் கனல் எழும்பி, அமிர்தத்தை இடை விடாது உண்டு கொண்டு இருக்கிறாய். 

Describing the slithering as a sign of Kundalini moving, Agathiyar said the Kundalini had arisen and had churned up the heat and fire within. He acknowledged that it was the bliss of bliss. குண்டலினி சக்தி எல்லாம் எழும்புவது எல்லாம் குவளையத்தில் பாம்பின் போன்று நெளிய நேரும். ஆனால் ஆனந்தம் ஆனந்தம் அதுதான் என்போம்.

All these were beyond my comprehension and understanding. 

Ramalinga Adigal came on 29.11.2019 and hugged those gathered, inviting us to invite the light within. "Arutperunjothi has taken possession of you. Open up your Atma. Open up your heart to receive him. The Jothi shall come within and embed in you. We are slaves to this Jothi. I am a slave too." அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி ... வாரும் ஐயா …  அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி ஆட்கொண்டானப்ப ... மற்றவர்களும் வாரும் ... உங்களையும் ஆட்கொண்டானப்ப … உங்கள் ஆத்மவை திறந்து வையுங்கள் ... உங்கள் இதயத்தைத் திறந்து வையுங்கள்... ஜோதியினை உன்னுள் பதிந்தது. ஜோதியினை நீ இணைந்து விடு.  ஜோதியினை பிரகாசிக்கச்செய். ஆழ்ந்து போ. அனைவரும் ஜோதிக்கு அடிமை. அடியேனும் அடிமை. 

On 24.12.2019 Agathiyar in this final Nadi reading for me reveals what Gnanam is. The art of transforming the Asudha Degam into a Sudha Degam and later into the Pranava Degam and finally into the Oli Degam is indeed Gnanam. Gnanam then is in knowing this art and making the transformation happen. அசுத்த தேகம் சுத்த தேகமாகி பிரணவ தேகமாகி ஒளி தேகமாகும் வித்தையே ஞானம். 

For this to take place observe the breath he says. I needed to know the Tattvas too he adds.அதற்குத் தியானத்தில் வாசியைக் கவனி. உடல் குறு தத்துவங்களை அறிய வேண்டும். 

On 30.1. 2020 Agathiyar said I had stagnated in worldly affairs. He continued, "You cannot possibly break the shackle alone. Hence follow the practices that I am to give you." He told me that I shall come to know what is right and what went wrong. Both shall be lessons I learn. Whatever is initiated immediately and promptly shall bring on success. He says, "All this while you saw to your needs in this world. Now you shall undertake an internal journey. This will reveal your purpose in taking birth. I shall relate what needs to be done to realize your purpose in coming here." நீ உலக வாழ்க்கையில் நீர்தேங்கிறாய். இவ்கடிவாளத்தால் உம்மால் மீண்டு வர இயலாது. ஆகையால் யாம் சொல்லும் வழிமுறைகளைச் செய்து வா. நீ செய்தவையில் எது சரி தவறு என்று நீ கண்டறிவாய். அனைத்தும் உனக்குப் பாடம். குறித்த காலத்தில் நீ செய்த அனைத்தும் உமக்கு நன்மை தந்தது. இது நாள்வரை நீ கடந்து வந்தது இவ்வுலக வாழ்க்கையின் பயணம். இனி நீ கடக்க போவது உமது உள்பயணம். அதாவது நீ பிறந்ததின் நோக்கம் அறிவதற்கு நீ செய்யக்கூடிய வழிமுறைகள் யாம் கூற இருக்கிறோம். இதன் மூலம் உமது பிறவி பலனை அதன் நோக்கம் நீ அறிவாய். 

He surprised me by asking me to restart the Vaasi practice learned from Tavayogi that he had asked to discontinue at the peak of my back pain in 2010, telling me that it was the right time to begin as the breath was in Manipuraka, which I mistook and misunderstood that the energy had stagnated and ponded at the Svadhishthana as it was the nature of the water element. Manipuraka shall open completely. இத்தருணம் மான் மூச்சு குளத்தில் இருக்கிறது. அவை திறக்கும் தருணம் வந்தது. இப்பொழுதுதான் நீ உமது பயிற்சியினை தொடங்க வேண்டும். இந்நிலையில் அச்சக்கரம் முற்றும் திறந்து விடும். 

He said further, "Reduce your involvement in outside activities. Sit before me and meditate. During this moment carry out the cleansing breath as taught by your guru. Just the important ones. You shall sense a coolness within. Remain silent in these moments. Focus on your breath. Your breath shall touch the Suzhimunai and swirl. Travel along your seven chakras. That journey shall awaken your chakras. After traversing these chakras when it touches the seventh you shall know your purpose here. This is the right time to start this practice." வெளி உலக பயணம் சற்று குறைத்துக் கொள். தினமும் காலையில் குளித்து வெறும் வேஷ்டி அணிந்து என் முன் அமர்ந்து தியானம் செய்து வா. தியான முறையின் பொது உமது குரு கூறிய சுவாச சுத்திகரிப்பு பயிற்சியினை செய்து வா. அனைத்தும் வேண்டாம். மூல பயிற்சி மட்டும் போதும். அதை நீ செய்து வர உனக்குள் ஒரு தனி குளிர்ச்சி ஏற்படும். அந்நிலையில் நீ அமைதி கோல். உனது மூச்சில் கவனம் கோல். உமது மூச்சு உமது சுழிமுனை தோட்டு சூழும். உமது ஏழு சக்கரங்களில் பயணம் செய். அப்பயணம் உமது சக்கரங்கள் ஒவ்வொன்றாய் பூர்த்தி செய்யும். மூலாதாரம், ஸ்வாதிஷ்டானம், மணிபூரகம், அனாகதம், விசுத்தி, ஆக்கினையென ஏழாவது சக்கரம் தொடும் நிலையில் நீ உனது பிறவிக்கான பலனை அறிவாய். 

Tavayogi had told me back then that he knew his purpose in the hours of meditation though Agathiyar had guided him through Nadi readings in the beginning too.

Ramalinga Adigal came on 14.5.2020 and revealed more about the Suzhimunai that was spoken about. "When you reach my state, energy will come within you without your knowledge. That is Suzhimunai." "எனது நிலையை நீ தொடும்போது உன்னை அறியாது உன்னை நோக்கி ஒரு சக்தி உன்னுள் இறங்கும். அதுவே சுழிமுனை."

Agathiyar allayed my fear telling me "You shall witness many changes taking place within you. Do not fear. Due to the activation of the chakras your body shall emit a foul smell. You shall have constipation. You shall urinate often. Take lots of warm water.  The Agathiyar Kuzhambu you took (on 27 June 2022) did help in expelling the three dosas. But there is still more filth that shall be expelled in due time. Carry out the said practice." He gave me further practice. "உடலில் பல மாற்றங்கள் கண்டறிவாய். பயம் கொள்ள வேண்டாம். இச்சக்கரங்கள் புணர்ச்சியால் உன் உடலில் ஏற்படும் மாற்றங்கள், துர்நாற்றம் வீசும், மல சிக்கல் ஏற்படும், கழிவு ஆகும், சிறுநீர் அதிகம் வெளியேறும். வெந்நீர் அதிகம் அருந்து. அன்று நீ உண்ட குழம்பினாள் உன் உடலிலிருந்து வாத, பித்த, கபம் சற்றே அகன்றது. இன்னும் இருக்கிறது. அவை அகலும். இப்பயிற்சியினை மேற்கோள்."

The blessed day that Agathiyar spoke about earlier on 30.1.2020, came on Monday, 22 August 2022. I felt an "explosion of energy" in my belly as I woke up at 6:40 a.m. and stretched myself in bed. I felt a pull of a nerve and a tug right below the navel. It brought on a swirling sensation followed by a chillness. My whole body became numb right to the tips of my fingers and toes. I felt nauseous and had the urge to pee and urine. Rising from bed, I collapsed twice on the way to the toilet picking myself up each time. I was alone then while my daughter was in her room asleep. Back from the toilet, all was fine. A blissful feeling that came over me. Narrating this to my daughter the next day she called for her mother who arrived from our grandchildren's home to accompany me. The next day, Tuesday 23 August 2022, I woke up at 7.20 a.m. to go to the loo but I could not pee. I fell again. I picked myself up and climbed onto the bed as my wife watched without any inkling of what was going on. Agathiyar had told her in the past to just observe and watch. My body became numb from the shoulders down. I lay like a deadlog on my bed. Although I could not move even an inch of my torso I was able to see, hear, and talk and was aware of what was happening to me. I had no fear or anxiety. I asked myself if this was what "to be dead" was? Soon the experience went away. 

Seeking answers to what had taken place, Agathiyar cleared the air later. He told me not to worry and said that "the stagnated water" was released. கவலை கொள்ள ஒன்றுமில்லை. தேங்கி இருந்த நீர் வெளி கொண்டது. 

Nevertheless, he gives a warning to all of us. When the chakras are activated late in life it would have some adverse results on our bodies. When the heat of tapas increases in our body, blood flow will be less bringing on numbness. This would result in urinary and excretion problems. He asked that I seek English medicine. ஆனபோதும் முதிர்ந்த நிலையில் சக்கரங்கள் திறப்பதனால் உதிர வாட்டம் கொண்டுள்ளது. முதிர்ச்சியில் சக்கரங்கள் திறக்கும்போது அவ்வுடல் சில பாதிப்பினை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளும். உனது உடலில் உஷ்ணம் ஏற ஏற உதிரம் குறையும். உதிரம் குறைந்தால் உடல் மறுத்துப் போகும். உடல் மறுத்துப் போனால் சிறுநீர் கோளாறு கழிவில் கோளாறு. ஆகையால் எண்கள் மேரு பெறும். ஆகையால் மருத்துவம் உனக்குத் தேவை. ஆங்கில மருத்துவம் கொண்டு அதனைச் சுத்தம் செய்து கோல். 

Later Agathiyar comes to give me strength and courage besides asking that I share my experiences with readers. He says, "Do not be afraid of death. It is but another door to another journey. One who invites death is a Siddha. There is much I need to carry out through you. Enough of my praise. Write about your bodily experiences. Let your writings be about the changes taking place in your body. Let your readers know the changes that take place in the body if they come to worship the light and seek to merge with it. My wisdom shall be your experience. Experience first and I shall clarify the experiences later. Experience is knowledge to you. Nothing is beyond experience." மரணபயம் வேண்டாம்.  மரணம் ஒன்றும் அல்ல. மற்றொரு பயணத்தின் கதவு.  எவன் ஒருவன் மரணத்தை அன்போடு வரவேற்கின்றானோ அவன் சித்தன் ஆகின்றான். உன்னில் இருந்து நான் காரியங்கள் செய்வதற்கு இன்னும் நிறைய இருக்கிறது. எனது பெருமை போதும். இனி உன் எழுத்துக்கள் உடல் மாற்றங்கள் உடல் அனுபவம் பற்றியதாக இருக்கட்டும். ஜோதியினை வழிபட்டால் அதில் இணைய வேண்டும் என்றால் உடலில் எவ்வித மாற்றங்கள் ஏற்படும் என்று உன் வாசகர்களுக்குத் தெரிய படுத்து. உனது அனுபவம் எனது அறிவு. அனுபவமே உனக்கு அறிவு. அனுபவத்தைத் தாண்டி ஒன்றுமே இல்லை. நீ அனுபவம் கொண்டுவா, பின்னர் உரைக்கிறேன். 

The swirling sensation felt for several weeks in the abdomen just below my navel was regularly felt in the crown of my head but with a lesser intensity in the days to come. I guess this is what Agathiyar meant when he said I shall feel a magnetic wave arise. A couple of days later, it seemed more like a flowering of petals and was blissful. A chillness and swirling that is akin to a flowering went on irrespective of my daily activities these days. It was more intense each time I brought my attention to it. Following the flowering in the crown that went on without my effort, participation, or action, I asked Agathiyar what I should do further. His reply was to do nothing and that it shall do its work. 

Since Agathiyar said the energies will do the rest, we have basically become a dynamo. The breath that is akin to the river turns the turbine machine in our case the chakras to produce electricity and energy.  A clear nostril is a highway for these energies to hitch on the breath and make their way swiftly to the depo at the top of the head. The body is now a magnet that is attracting the effulgence from beyond. We understand that while we see lightning appear in the skies and strike things on the ground, there is a small amount of electricity that reaches out to it from the earth. Similarly, the small amount of electricity in us meets the larger expanse that is God.  

In Supramaniar Gnaanam 200 we learn that,

"Receiving the Vel from Valabai in return for her worship, and attaining a body of light akin to the moonlight, the Vel brought on a swirling within which brought me to witness the flowering of the 1008 petals. I remained in samadhi. The music within was heard (as Agathiyar too told me to listen to). The Manam was chained. I melted in the Karumunai or His abode. (If the journey within starts with the swirling of the Suzhimunai it ends in the Karumunai.) I was tied forever to the Peroli or Light that knew no bounds and boundaries."

Ramalinga Adigal tells me "Use your breath to fan the Jothi. It shall travel through Sushumna and touch Ajna. Then the Jothi is seen. Carry out Nadi Sudhi to raise the Prana. Now it does not move in both nostrils. When it travels in both nostrils, you shall then rest in completeness or Sudha Paripuranam. Dhyana will be yours then. You are one with the Prana. Pay attention to it. The changes in you are but discharges. It shall leave your body. Do not worry. What you are doing is tavam. Agathiyan has accepted and received it. We shall continue working on your insides and from within." பிரணவத்தை கொண்டு ஜோதியை சுடர் விடச்செய். சுஷும்னா வழி சென்று ஆக்கினை தொடும். பின்னர் ஜோதி தெரியும். நாடி சுத்தி செய்து பிரணவத்தை உயர்த்தவும். இப்போது இரு நாசியில் செல்ல வில்லை. இரு நாசியில் செல்லும் கால் பிரணவம் இடகலை பிங்கலையில் சீராகச் செல்லும் தருணம் சுத்த பரிபூரணத்தில் நீ ஆழ்ந்து இருப்பாய். தியானம் என்பது உனது பரிபூரணம் ஆகும். உனது பிராணவத்தில் கலந்திருக்கிறாய். பிரணவத்தில் கவனம் செலுத்து. உன்னுள் ஏற்படும் மாற்றங்கள் யாவும் கழிவுகள். அகன்று போகும். கவலை வேண்டாம். நீ செய்தது யாவும் தவம். முயற்சி யாவும் அகத்தியன் பெற்று விட்டான். உள்ளிருந்து யாவும் நடத்துவோம்.

On 19.10.2022 as I lay on my sofa in the living room with my eyes closed, my finger that was touching the crown of my head could feel a pulse. This is usually observed in small children. Modern science brushes this off as "feeling a pulse in the fingertip. It refutes that "there is no way that our fingers would be able to detect any blood flow given the condition that between the finger and the scalp and the arteries of our brain is the skull." It was there for some time.

Agathiyar told me that the energy had become stuck, lodged, and subsequently ponded after the Muladhara was awakened in 2007, and he had the bunds broken and I saw the swirling of the energy just below my navel which subtly made its way to the Sahasrara in just days, swirling in the crown of my head. Jnana Jothiamma had referred to this in her email earlier. She wrote, "Manipura Chakra...is the most important chakra for a human...anybody for that matter...coz it is there many great yogis saints get stuck...Once anyone is able to get past that......enlightenment is gained."

R Venugopal writes in his "Soul Searchers - The Art of Breathing", Health Harmony, New Delhi, 2000, "The Svadishtana is regarded as a blockage to the awakening of the kundalini. He says the actual awakening starts from the Manipura chakra only. Till the time Manipura chakra does not get purified and awakened the kundalini cannot rise fully."

Agathiyar replies to our doubts as to the word kulam which is often related to a water body, leading hence to my understanding that I had ponded at the Svadhishthana. I came to know that the Kulam or pond or lake is to be understood as each chakra and not only that which is related to the water element.

“மூலமாம் குளத்திலே முளைத்தெழுந்த கோரையை
காலமே எழுந்திருந்து நாலுகட்ட றுப்பிரேல்
பாலனாகி வாழலாம் பரப்பிரமம் ஆகலாம்
ஆலமுண்ட கண்டர்பாதம் அம்மைபாதம் உண்மையே.”

Its translation goes as follows: Due to man's inappropriate lifestyle, the Muladhara chakra has been dammed and prevented from flowing. With continuous practice of breathing techniques over time, the chakras gain power or energy or Shakti. By continuing this one can become light and continue living as light, can become Brahmam in the Paraveli and reach the Holy Feet of Sivan who drank the poison. மனிதனின் முறை அற்ற வாழ்வியல் முறையால் முடக்க பட்டுக் கிடக்கும் மூலாதார சக்ரம் (இங்குக் குளம் என்பது சக்கரத்தைக் குறிப்பதாகும்) காலத்தினால் மேட்கொள்ளும் மூச்சி பயிற்சியினால் சக்கரம் சக்திகொள்ளும். அப்படி செய்து வரவே ஒளியாகி வாழலாம், பரவெளியில் பிரமம் ஆகலாம், விஷம் குடித்த அந்தச் சிவனின் பாதம் அடையலாம்.

Agathiyar clarified further that the Muladhara and Svadhishthana chakras were open. At present, it has stagnated at the Manipuraka. Hence the need to carry out the given breathing practices to open the chakra completely and set the energies free. இத்தருணம் உமக்கு மூலாதாரம் திறந்தது, ஸ்வாதிஸ்டானம் திறந்தது. இப்பொது மான் மூச்சி குளத்தில் இருக்கிறது. அவை திறக்கும் தருணம் வந்தது. இப்போதுதான் நீ உமது பயிற்சியினை தொடங்க வேண்டும். இந்த நிலையில் அச்சக்கரம் முற்றும் திறந்துவிடும். 

As Agathiyar forewarned, the pain similar to that which I had endured in the years between 2010 and 2012 in my lower back originally over time moved to the groin, at times the left and other times the right, and the testes, and later to the chest and then the left of my neck and the back of my head. It resulted in pain in the left ear too. The pain and discomfort after holding base at those places mentioned would leave after several days on its own accord for the next campsite. Excessive wind would be expelled from the body during these times. 

On 7.5.2023, after a long break, Agathiyar had me throw up bile (pittam) and phlegm (kapam) and expel wind (vaatam) all at a go. It was as if a dam had been opened. It was painful, bitter, and distasteful. The dinner I took came with it. Though disgusting to air and read I have to relate the phases as Agathiyar had told me that my readers should be made aware of the changes that come with the asking for Siddhahood. While I threw up, I was laughing away though as it was blissful as Agathiyar had pointed out some years back when I writhed in pain as the body spontaneously slithered like a snake. The body pains that came on during the day vanished after throwing up. The swirling in the crown of the head comes on as it pleases without my effort. It drenches my brain to say. It cools my head. As of now the whole body aches, and pain is felt in the left testes. The numbness that Agathiyar spoke about is felt in the fingers while the drying out of gel in the knees occasionally becomes obvious with sudden movements. Sexual urges are in overdrive. I guess I understand now why big names in this industry have flaws and faults. As old age and deteriorating health could contribute to these signs and symptoms I went for a medical checkup and was given a clean slate. I guess these are the workings of the mysterious energies that once lay dormant and asleep, working their way up and beyond as Agathiyar mentioned. The house is in a mess as these renovations are taking place within. It is the price we pay for eternal bliss that comes with the coarser vibrations and the frequencies in the gross matter reaching subtler nature and finer levels of tuning, materialization, and existence.  

Demian Lichtenstein and Shajen Joy Aziz in "Discover the Gift - It's Why we're Here" published by Crown Publishing, 2011 speak of vibration as,

"Quantum physicists know this vibrational paradigm as "string theory", a way of describing the nature of the universe as made up of infinitesimally tiny multidimensional vibrating strings. The frequency they vibrate gives them form." 

Annie Besant in her talks on "The Laws of the Higher Life", the Theosophical Publishing House, 1903, draws two distinct divisions to people and their brains. The coarser vibrations of the lower world and those adapted to it are one. The others are those who are in the front of evolution and of a subtler nature.

"The brain has to be changed, refined, and improved, and its connecting links fashioned and manufactured for the purposes of the expression of the higher consciousness. The self gathers around it upadhi upon upadhi, vehicle after vehicle, gradually shaping its own instruments. Here we see a consciousness that shapes bodies according to their needs, gradually refining them and bringing them under the control of the higher. Here he works because the divine outwelling finds its channel in his life, and he needs no outer compulsion because of the perfection of the inner law." 

They tell us that a shift in thought and action by being open and aware is required to break free from the conditioned life that we live in. Tavayogi too told me that no one can string the soul or cage it up. It has to be left free to explore. 

Agathiyar says of Gnanam, "The truth shall dawn when we go within. When the veil is drawn aside the truth is revealed. When the truth is known the veil is shed. That is the moment of Gnanam. It is not hokus pokus. It is beyond that too." நீங்கள் உள் பயணிக்கும் போது எல்லாம் தெரிய வரும். எல்லாம் தெரிய வந்ததால் திரை விலகியதற்கு அர்த்தம் தானே? எல்லாம் தெளிவாகத் தெரியும் சமயம் திரை விலகியதற்கு அர்த்தம். அதுதான் ஞானம். இது மந்திர ஜாலம் அல்ல. அதற்கும் அப்பால் பட்டது.

"Gnanam is not gifted but has to be earned and experienced. When one goes within, as the journey brings upon subtle experiences these shall translate into and become Gnanam. It defers to each person. As such I cannot possibly define it." நீ என்னிடம் கேட்டது ஞானம். ஞானம் என்பது நான் தருவதல்ல. நீ கற்பது. ஒருவன் தனக்குள் உள்வாங்கி அவனுள் பயணம் துவங்கும் நேரம் அப்பயணம் தரும் பாதிப்பே ஞானம். அவை ஒவ்வொருவருக்கும் மாற்றம் பெரும். ஆகையால் அவை நான் இதுதான் என்று சொல்ல இயலாது.

"All the worlds are seen. All creation, its sustenance, its destruction, the veiling, and the showering of grace shall be known. Eventually, it will be seen and known that it is all a play of ours." எல்லா லோகமும் தெரிய வரும். ஐந்தொழில் தெரிய வரும். அனைத்து தத்துவங்களும் தெரிய வரும். எல்லாம் எங்களின் விளையாட்டு என்று தெரிய வரும்.

Ramalinga Adigal sings that he did not seek the pleasures that others sought and went after. Neither did he sought to see heaven but instead yearned for the divine's play or lila, which results in Gnanam.

பொய்யுடையார் விழைகின்ற புணர்ச்சிவிழைந் தேனோ
பூணவிழைந் தேனோவான் காணவிழைந் தேனோ
மெய்யுடையாய் என்னொடு நீ விளையாட விழைந்தேன்
விளையாட்டென் பதுஞானம் விளையும்விளை யாட்டே
பையுடைப்பாம் பனையரொடும் ஆடுகின்றோய் எனது
பண்பறிந்தே நண்புவைத்த பண்புடையோய் இன்னே
செய்யுடைஎன் னொடுகூடி ஆடஎழுந் தருள்வாய்
சித்தசிகா மணியேஎன் திருநடநா யகனே.

Agathiyar reveals "All this while you have gained external knowledge or Ulaga Gnanam. Now you shall gain Gnanam that is going to serve you." நீ இதுவரையில் கண்ட ஞானம் உலக வாழ்க்கை ஞானம். இனி காணப்போவது உனக்கான ஞானம்."

Agathiyar asked that I share my knowledge of the Atma with those keen to learn. I was tasked to bring those lagging behind to the forefront. இனி இங்கு ஆத்ம ஞானம் மட்டுமே நடக்கும். பின்னனிருப்போர் உந்தி தள்ளிக் கொண்டுவா. மாதத்திற்கு ஒரு முறை எமது பக்தர்களுக்கு அழைப்பிடு. ஆன்மஞானத்தை அறிய விரும்புவோருக்குக் கற்பித்து வா. எனது முழு ஆசியினை பெற்ற சீடனப்பா நீ. இல்வாழ்க்கையில் இருப்பதினாலே உன்னை யாம் தனித்து குருவாக்க விரும்பவில்லை. உன்னில் இருக்கும் ஆன்மாவின் தேடலை மற்றவர்களுக்கும் வரச்செய். அவர் அவர் எண்ணம்போல் உமது போதனை அவர்களை அடையும். போதிப்பது மட்டுமே உனது கடமை. பலன் அவர்களுடையது. 

He adds, "Gnanam does not come easy. It's a long journey. It does not come to all. The mind has to settle for Gnanam to dawn." ஞானம் அவ்வளவு எளிதல்ல. அது நீண்ட பயணம். எல்லோருக்கும் கிட்டாது. மனம் அடங்கினால் ஞானம் சித்திக்கும். 

Tavayogi defines Gnanam as follows. Holding onto the source of birth brings one to know the end. This is Gnanam. Knowing the source is Gnanam. Gnanam is akin to becoming enlightened. Knowing creation is Gnanam. Knowing the truth of life is Gnanam. Knowing the Atma is Gnanam. Gnanam is God.

பிறப்பின் தொடக்கத்தைப் பிடித்து முடிவையும் அறிவதே ஞானம். ஆதி அந்தக் குறி தெரிவதுதான் ஞானம். ஞானம் அடைதல் என்றால் அறிவின் தெளிந்த நிலை. ஞாலத்தை அறிதல் ஞானம். உயிரானது பெரும் உண்மைத் தெளிவுதான் அறிவு அல்லது ஞானம். ஆத்ம அறிவின் தெளிவே ஞானம். ஞானமே கடவுள்.

Introducing Agathiyar as God first Tavayogi told us that the breath or Vaasi was God. He equated Agathiyar with Siva later. Today we accept the state of Gnanam as God. 

Agathiyar says "You served me in Sariyai. I accepted you as my children in Kriyai. I accepted you as my friend in Yogam. In Gnanam we shall merge together." சரியையில் எனக்குச் சேவை செய்தீர். கிரியையில் எனது குழந்தைகளாய் ஏற்றேன். யோகத்தில் என் நண்பனாய் ஏற்றேன். ஞானத்தில் நான் நீயாக நீங்கள் நானாகச் சேர்வோம். 

I guess we have fulfilled Tavayogi's wish that we come out of Bakthi and into the phase of Gnanam. What remains of his wish is to see each home turn into Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia. Will you make the move?

GOING WAYBACK IN TIME 4

http://www.indianheartbeat.20m.com/LifesMission.html

Life's Mission

THE HUMAN BEING is considered the highest among all beings. In Sankarar’s words, he says, “Only through god's grace may we obtain the three rarest gifts: human birth, the longing for liberation, and discipleship to an illumined teacher”.

The Human Birth

One needs to understand the reason for his or her birth as a human being. He needs to know the mission that he has to accomplish in this world. He needs to prepare this body so that god is received into this body. God then resides in this body, in every cell and atom, and brings changes to this body. The changes take place internally which slowly influences one’s outer appearances, thoughts, and the way one sees things.

Swami Muktananda in his book ‘WHERE ARE YOU GOING? - A GUIDE TO THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY’ says,

“For so many years, you have been living in the awareness  ‘I am an individual,’ and for this reason, it is very difficult for you to immediately accept the awareness ‘I am god’. You have been filling your mind with negative thoughts and feelings about other people and about yourself, thinking that you are small, that you are weak, that you are sinful. You have spent your life trapped in limited identification. This is ego, the sense of limited individuality, which has trapped you for innumerable lifetimes.”

The Swami in ‘THE PERFECT RELATIONSHIP’, quotes Poet Saint Kabir:

Kabir wrote, “As long as I was looking for you, I did not see you. I went from door to door knocking, yet none of the doors was yours. I looked for you on so many paths, yet none of them led to your court. But when I received Ramananda’s grace, when guru Ramananda erased me and I became completely pure, I saw that you were behind me like my shadow. Wherever I went, you were there before me.”

Similarly, Sankara prays:

“Forgive me Siva, my three great sins.
I came on a pilgrimage to Kashmir forgetting that you are omnipresent;
in thinking about you I forget that you are beyond thought;
in praying to you I forget that you are beyond words”.

In 'Quiet Mind, Fearless Heart - The Taoist Path Through Stress & Spirituality' by Brian Luke Seaward, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2005, Teilhard de Chardin is quoted, 

“We are not humans having a spiritual experience. Instead, we are spirits having a human experience. …..earthly existence is enshrouded in many veils of illusion. It is a brave soul on a noble adventure who attempts to lift these veils. .... If you recognize that you are indeed a spirit on a human path, then every situation that you encounter will be a learning experience. This is how consciousness evolves. The drive that inspires the human journey is a desire to have this view of life - a clearer understanding of life’s mystery and role or purpose in it”.

In ‘GEMS FROM BHAGAVAN’,  Bhagavan Ramana says to a devotee who was praying that she should have more frequent visions of Siva,

“Surrender to Him and abide by His Will, whether He appears or disappears; await His pleasure. If you ask Him to do as you like, it is not surrender but command to God. You cannot have Him obey you and yet think you have surrendered. He knows what is best and when and how to do it. His is the burden. You have no longer any cares. All your cares are His. Such is surrender. That is bhakti.”

The Longing For Liberation

The body is needed to realize god. There is the common belief that the soul/ atma/ jivatma unites with god or Paramatma after the death of this body. But Saint Ramalingam says otherwise; there is no union with god after death. The union has to happen right now in this body, in this very birth. The sidhas having experimented on themselves and with the blessing and guidance of god have proved that this body of ours need not drop dead at the end of its lifespan. Sidhas are believed to be living until this day. Now how did they do it?

This yearning for liberation which leads eventually to the yearning for god realization appears when one starts to consider all that is being seen, sensed, heard, touched, and felt is not permanent. One then looks for THAT which is permanent. He then discovers from one, already on the path to god realization, that what he is searching for, that which is permanent, is the bliss that is derived through devotion to god and eventually realization of god.

So can we know the very existence of god or of his nature at least?

In the ‘Reincarnation: The Soul’s Secret Journey – from ATMA – The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, The International Society for Krishna Consciousness’, is written:

"At the time of death, the soul is considered to enter a new body either immediately or after a lapse of time. Hindu texts mention that there are 8,400,00 species of life forms beginning with the aquatics and culminating in the human".

"All species are manifested in the early stages of cosmic creation when the living entities (souls) are impregnated within material nature. These indestructible and eternal souls gradually evolve through the different species or types of material bodies, beginning with microbes and amoebas, rising through the fish, plants, insects, reptiles, birds, and animals to the human and superhuman (demigods) species. So the evolution process is really an evolution of consciousness.”

"The different categories of material bodies (species) exist because there are millions of categories of material desires. These different life forms are nothing more than machines designed by the material energy to fulfill different material desires.”

"One has to remember and ponder over the blessedness that the human being has gained for it is the human who is offered the chance to become free from the cycle of birth and death and no other organism or living form. We should not fail to make use of this human birth or human form to find ways to break this cycle of birth and death and to achieve liberation."

"We have to appreciate this very birth and take steps to be liberated in this very birth for we might not get another chance to be born as a human for years to come. One could descend into the lower species”.

"Our entanglement in the material sphere is the result of an unending chain of actions and reactions developed in this and previous human lives. This is known in Sanskrit as karma, a law of nature analogous to the modern scientific principle of action and reaction.”

"Only the human species, however, is subject to the subtle but exact law, for only in the human form does one have advanced intelligence and freedom of choice. In lower-than-human life forms the soul is covered by much grosser forms of mind and body; therefore the living beings within such bodies are totally under the control of nature. Because beasts, microbes, insects, and plants do nothing more than automatically serve their instincts, they are not held responsible for their activities. They do not incur karmic reactions.”

"In one human life, we can create sufficient karma to keep ourselves entangled in the cycle of birth and death for thousands of lives. As human beings, we also have the rare opportunity to become spiritually enlightened with transcendental knowledge and the chance to break the endless cycle of reincarnation. The term reincarnation means that I am a spirit soul who has entered a body. But there will be suffering. These sufferings include birth, death, old age, and disease. It can take many lives, or you can do it in one lifetime.”

In the 'The Ultimate Antimaterial Particle' - from ATMA – The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, is written:

"The soul, known in Sanskrit as atma, being far more subtle than matter, endures the death experience without being harmed or injured. Nor is it subject to the laws of birth, growth, and deterioration.”

"One personal form of god is the Supersoul dwelling within the hearts of all living beings; witnessing every thought and action awarding the living beings the result of their karma, arranging for them to accept an appropriate physical body lifetime after lifetime.”

One needs to recognize the true path. The path of the sidhas is where one cares for this body so as to realize this mission of receiving god in him or her and eventually merging with god. Therefore for one who dies a mortal death, he has not accomplished this mission successfully i.e. He has failed in his mission. It is a sad day then. We should shed tears for him for not fulfilling God's wish. God wishes every one of his children to realize the truth that this body is immortal and take steps to prepare it so as to unite with him while still alive in this body. For one who has achieved this union, we can rejoice at his or her achievement.

Saint Ramalingam, a recent sidha, goes away from the normal explanation given where the soul unites with god upon death. It is usually thought that this union takes place eventually, with or without effort, the time taken depending on the amount of effort directed towards it. But Saint Ramalingam says we have to bring god into us. That means preparing this body to receive god and eventually place him permanently in the various organs. That is the only way to remain alive and overcome death. If you don’t drop death you won’t be born again. Saint Ramalingam proved it by dematerializing and merging with god.

Saint Ramalingam had achieved this feat. He had prepared himself. He had purified his thoughts and body. He had performed deeds that drove away ignorance and brought him merits. He had yearned for god with utmost passion and god had to submit to him finally. God came unto him; into his body; into every cell and atom. Then changes started to take place in his body.

Eventually, he dematerialized into LIGHT and merged with god. It is amazing to know that he made it happen right here and as recently as in 1874.

Let us recall the message of the world’s great Upanishadic sages, retold by Swami Satprakashananda in his book ‘Meditation- Its Process, Practice, and Culmination’:

'Death is not your final end.
Do not give way to despair.
You are not destined to be subject to this play of dualities forever.
There is the Supreme Being,
The very perfection of existence,
Which you can reach in this very mortal life and where you can find life beyond death and complete fulfillment of your ideal.
Therein is the culmination of your knowledge,
therein is the consummation of your love,
therein is complete rest and therein dwells unruffled peace.
There shines the light that never fails,
and there abides joy unbounded.
How can man reach that?
Through this very life,
By regulating this mortal life he can reach the immortal'.

Discipleship To An Illumined Teacher

In a biography of Yogi Ramsuratkumar from the net recently, the author writes,

"The master (Swami Ramdas) knew the Truth and the Way and knew as well that there was nothing he could say to provide a shortcut for the disciple (Yogi Ramsuratkumar). By the law of occult causation, all progress on the path must be won by the individual through personal effort. Thus one who knows the way cannot speak; understanding that the aspirant constructs the path much like the spider spins its web out of its own being. In the relationship established between Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Ramdas, there was little philosophical thought or practical guidance given. The rapport between the master and the disciple was on much subtler levels involving not so much principles of truth as the use of higher forces in bringing about actual transformation."

Another paragraph in the same biography describes:

"After lifetimes of seeking out worldly experiences and understanding, a man turns him back to the phenomenal worlds and begins to search his inmost being in an effort to realize the source of spirit from whence he sprang and to which he must return. Gradually through the constant impact of dull and unadventurous lives, he becomes insensitive to the vibrations of the outer physical worlds, within which he is a functioning entity. He becomes aware of the interior spiritual vibrations and proceeds to journey inward to the kingdom of the soul. The outer world loses its desirability whereas the formless spirit nature assumes paramount importance. The individual reoriented himself to the higher mind and thus begins to touch upon greater awareness. Yet with his sensitivity still in but an embryonic state, spiritual struggle, hardships, and merciless trials of endurance assail him. The waters of purification crash down upon him and threaten to carry him deep beneath the surface of the waves. But with the advent of soul consciousness, he stabilizes himself in spiritual life wherein he is responsive to the vibration of the subtler realms and directed by the purposes of the soul."

The rapport between guru and disciple is on a much subtler level indeed, as mentioned by the author of the biography on the Yogi Ramsuratkumar, involving not so much principles of truth, but the use of higher forces in this case the workings of the sidhas, in bringing about actual transformation.

"Ramsuratkumar once explained that some days all was clear to him, and he felt as if he was standing in the highest heaven, and he knew he was a son of god. While at other times he was dragged down from pure ecstasy into the depths of abysmal gloom"

Swami Nithyananda too says,

"No communication will happen here - only a deep communion between you and me".

The saints in Nithyananda’s words:

"Speak about something which cannot be spoken about".

He adds, "Spiritual knowledge is knowledge that is neither of the mind nor of the heart, but of your Being! It is just a deep understanding beyond logic, which can neither be taught nor picked. It can simply happen out of a deep communion at the Being level."

On the subject of subtle forces, it was said that: Bhagawan Nithyananda of Ganeshpuri made a similar statement towards the end of his life. It appears that there were many signs of his impending passing but his devotees were mostly unaware of them. One woman devotee properly interpreted some of the signs and was distraught to learn of his plans to depart. He said to her, "Why are you crying? Don't cry. More is possible on the subtle than on the gross."

From the book, ‘Divine Grace Through Total Self-Surrender’ by D.C. Desai, Bhagavan Ramana read out the following quotations by Paul Brunton:

"Divine Grace is a manifestation of the cosmic free will in operation. It can alter the course of events in a mysterious manner through its own unknown laws, which are superior to all natural laws and can modify the latter by interaction. It is the most powerful force in the universe. It descends and acts only when it is invoked by total self-surrender. It acts from within because god resides in the Heart of all beings. Its whisper can be heard only in a mind purified by self-surrender and prayer. It is a descent of god into the soul’s zone of awareness. It is a visitation of force unexpected and unpredictable. It is a voice spoken out of cosmic silence - It is ‘Cosmic Will which can perform authentic miracles under its own laws".

"In truth, god and the guru are not different. Just as the prey that has fallen into the jaws of a tiger has no escape, so those who have come within the ambit of the guru’s gracious look will be saved by the guru and will not get lost; yet, each one should by his own effort pursue the path shown by god or guru and gain release. Each seeker after god should be allowed to go his own way, the way for which he alone may be built (meant). It will not do to convert him to another path by violence. The guru will go with the disciple in his own path and then gradually turn him onto the Supreme path at the ripe moment."

Swami Muktananda in ‘THE PERFECT RELATIONSHIP’, says:

“You will never hear the guru criticize you. Instead, when you are in his company, you will experience your own divinity. You will never be found guilty in the guru’s eyes. You will find in them only the praise of your hidden inner god.”

Be Grateful
 
G.Valmikanathan in his book ‘Makers of Indian Literature-Ramalingam’, published by Sahitya Akademi (e-book at http://www.vallalar.org) traces Saint Ramalingam’s journey on the pathway to god dividing it into three portions: journey on the purgative way, journey on the illuminative way, journey on the unitive way. 
 
He explains further,

“The purgative way is that part of the long path which, one tread towards the godhead and in which one purge oneself of all desires and attachments, of all imperfections, of all acts of commission and omission of shortcomings in renunciation, of shortcomings in the total love of god in the passion for the apprehension of the godhead”.
 
“The illuminative way is that part of the path, which comes after the purgative way, and in which one gains illumination, knowledge, and gnosis”.
 
“The unitive way is that part of the pathway in which the pilgrim marches on with buoyant and joyous steps, filled with hope and freed from doubt or misconception. The journey is characterized by a sense of urgency. The pilgrim, in this part of his journey, begins to walk fast, then breaks into a loping trot, and finally, gallops on with increasing tempo towards the beckoning smile and the outstretched arms, and is soon locked in an eternal embrace with the beloved, the eternal being, the godhead, the ground of all being. The journey on the unitive way is composed of several factors of experience. Recollection and quiet, contemplation, ecstasy and rapture, dark night of the soul, and unitive life”.
 
“Of these three sections of the pathway, the first is painful and dolorous, the second a strange mixture of sorrow and joy, the joy increasing in intensity as ignorance is slowly replaced by illumination, and the last section of sheer delight, of mounting bliss”.
 
In ‘Quiet Mind, Fearless Heart- The Taoist Path Through Stress & Spirituality’ by Brian Luke Seaward, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2005, Teilhard de Chardin says,

“The path of human experience would be mighty crowded if everyone embarked at the same time. Therefore, it stands to reason that not only are there numerous paths, but we each move at a pace that’s conducive to our own soul growth process. Brian describes what he calls ‘seasons of the soul’ as follows:”
 
“We begin the centering process (autumn), where we leave the known of the external world and enter the unknown depths of the mind.”
 
“Next comes the emptying process (winter), a time of clearing and a cleansing of thoughts and feelings that no longer serve us: this may involve some grieving.”
 
“As spring follows winter, so the grounding process follows the emptying process, a period in which new insights are gained to improve our quality of life.”
 
“The fourth season is the connecting process (summer), where we come back home to share the wisdom we have learned and to celebrate the sacred connectedness of life.”
 
Saint Ramalingam started worshipping Lord Murugan at the Kandasamy (Kandakottam) temple in Chennai and Tirutani, Lord Siva in Otriyore, and Lord Nadaraja in Chidambaram. Later he started the following establishments; the Sanmarga Sangam, the Sathya Dharma Salai where he fed the poor, envisioned and built the Sathya Gnana Sabai where he worshipped god in the form of LIGHT and called it Arutperunjhoti. He finally settled in Sidhi Valagam where he dematerialised.

All his songs have been compiled as the Thiru Arutpa. When one reads these songs one would realize the amount of gratitude the Saint had poured forth.

Be Grateful

GOING WAYBACK IN TIME 3

http://tavayogi.webs.com

September 19, 2009

The role of women in Hindu spiritualism

In the book on Kavyakantha Vasistha Ganapati Muni entitled Nayana, a Biography of Kavyakantha VasisthaGanapati Muni by Dr. G Krishna from the original Telugu texts by Gunturu Lakshmikantam, the author says Ganapati Muni had described his wife as a tapa sakhi meaning comrade in tapas just as Arundhati was the tapa sakhi of Vasista and so were the wives of many of the rishis.

"They never considered their wives as hindrances to tapas."

Ganapati Muni advised that women should not be barred from any spiritual or religious chores when it was prevalent at that time that women were not considered fit to worship agni, study the Vedas and recite vedic mantras and were denied the benefits of upanayana.

Ganapati Muni himself used to initiate women into mantra japa. Many were the women who were initiated into Gayatri Vidya which was considered to be exclusive to men. Visalakshi, wife of Ganapati Muni took to the worship of agni whenever Ganapati Muni was out of town.

"Visalakshi paid equal attention to housekeeping and mantra upasana."

"Ganapati did not share the belief that a woman was the source of sin and maya. The study of scriptures had convinced him that the ancient rishis had practiced austerity and attained self-realization without giving up family life and responsibilities."

"Women were not treated as objects of pleasure by our ancient rishis. They were as qualified as men to discharge spiritual responsibilities. The ancient rishis by their exemplary behavior became spiritual preceptors to their wives and helped to establish a well-ordered society."

A reader posted a comment as follows back then,

Dear Sir, I can't thank you enough for the valuable information on your website. I went through the indianheartbeat.com. It is very inspiring for a woman like me, who was sitting on the fence till I read about your experiences with the Nadi and the great Siddhars. I am like a blind horse running everywhere in confusion without a proper guide and path. Your website has encouraged me to go forward with what I need to do in my life. The article above is very comforting, as I came across many who discourage women from doing spiritual practices like mantras or sadhanas. According to some, mantras are sacred and so rules and restrictions have to be followed which deters women from doing the sadhanas. I always wondered why is it so, because it is god who created both man and woman. God will surely not be biased on spiritual advice when it comes to different genders. I still don't understand why even Vedas restrict women from doing some sadhanas. This is what I was told by a person who knows about Vedas and all. Oh yes. I am ignorant. Obviously, I won't understand many things. But I hope with all my heart that god forgives me and gives me a chance to walk on his path from now on. Please keep up this good deed. It surely is an eye-opener for many.

http://www.indianheartbeat.20m.com/SupramaniaSwami.html

Supramania Swami of Tiruvanamalai

Supramania Swami's grandfather, Thuraisamy Pillai was born in Ladhavaram near Tiruvanamalai. He worked as an Accountant at the Arunachaleswarar Temple. Swami's father, Jayaram was a teacher in Reddi Kuppam, Anaikoyil. Swami was born on Monday, 17th July 1943, at Tirutani Murugan Temple grounds.

Swami lost his memory as a teenager and roamed the streets curing the public of their illness, with 'vibhuti', 'panjamirtham', and 'kunkumam' that Swami produced out of sand. Swami indicated the site where a 'vel' was buried. That 'vel' was kept by Swami. Finally, a lady gave Swami milk and rice which eventually brought Swami to his senses.

Swami sold flowers to devotees at Tiruchendur to earn money to support his mother. For seven years he pulled the chariot of Lord Murugan at Tiruchendur wearing spiked sandals and hooks on his back. Swami had adorned the costume of Lord Murugan and acted out in dance dramas too. Once when chopping down a 'kalli' tree, the milk from the tree hit his eyes and blinded him. The politician MU. Karunanidhi who was undergoing treatment in Madras at that time sponsored the cost (Rs 950,000) of the operation on Swami's eyes. Swami who was good in astrology predicted the future for those who came in search. He was married at the age of 31.

Supramania Swami went into samadhi on 7th February 2007 at Tiruvanamalai. He leaves behind a wife and four children. Swami's samadhi is at the foothills of Tiruvanamalai adjacent to Bhagawan Sri Ramana's Ashram.

Supramania Swami Sees The Light

I could not get through to Supramania Swami for some time now. This evening there was someone trying to call me on my phone numerous times. But each time we answered the like went dead or disengaged. I then thought if it could be Swami. When I called he answered. Finally, I managed to get in touch with him after a long absence. “I have not forgotten you,” he said. “How can I forget you; you have given me a place to stay, referring to the kudil that we had built for him. You have been my son in the past birth” he said. He asks that I meditate. He blessed me. Then he said, “I am seeing the jhoti. At times it stays on for half an hour. My time is nearing. Ask Ramesh - referring to the Nadi reader - to see when my day will come so that I can send you word and you can be present”. I cried like a child.

He told me he wanted to start a fast where he would not speak to anyone and survive on fruits and milk beginning 31 January 2007 for a forty-eight-day period. The day he chose to start the fast would be the eve of the day that Saint Ramalingam vanished into light.

I called Swami on the 3rd of February 2007. He was already observing the fast. But he spoke to me. When I apologized for calling him and making him break his fast, he replied, “No harm done. I shall talk to you”. He told me he had started the fast on wheat porridge, chapati, and milk since the last Pornami day, 1st February 2007, and would end his fast on Pangguni Uttiram day – a fast that would last 60 days. He did not speak to anyone, only writing out on paper if required.

He told me I was letting loose of my senses. He asks me to meditate and be focused. He asked that I gather some funds from Thayalan and his father so that he could feed a thousand devotees when his fasts ended on 1st April 2007.

Supramania Swami Attains Samadhi

On 8th February 2007 Mages called me in the office at 3.40 pm to inform me she had received a call from Tiruvanamalai. Supramania Swami’s wife was crying over the phone saying, “I have to tell Swami’s wish that was not fulfilled". Mages asked me whether Swami had gone into Samadhi?

I called Tiruvanamalai. Swami’s wife broke down and cried. I consoled her that we should be happy Swami had seen the Jhoti. Swami passed away at 10.20 am, 7th February 2007. On complaining of chest pain, he was taken to the clinic and later referred to the general hospital. They found nothing wrong with him and sent him home. Back at the kudil he went into samadhi and passed away. His son, Ramajayam who was a driver to another Swami in Tiruvanamalai informed his employer who arrived to assist. Twenty sadhus came forward to conduct Swami’s last rites. No one cried. Only songs of praise to God were heard. The sadhus took his body to the vicinity of Ramana Maharishi’s ashram and Easanya lingam where he was laid to rest the same day.

When I was with him in his kudil, he mentioned to me he would like to be laid to rest in the spot where he had his altar in the kudil. So when I was informed by Ramajayam that he was laid in another spot and not in the kudil that he longed for, I was disappointed.

That weekend Ramesh called me over to have the nadi read. To my surprise, Sage Agathiyar revealed that the spot chosen for Supramania Swami's burial was indeed a very auspicious spot. The Sage confirms that it was true Supramania Swami had indeed gone into samadhi. He shall gain fame. “Devotees will gain by visiting his samadhi, including you too”, the Sage tells me. The sage adds further, “You have chosen a true guru. This was the right moment for him to go into samadhi”. The Sage instructs me, “When the opportunity comes for you to travel to India, place a garland of flowers on his samadhi. Do prayers, and meditate and feed the poor too”.

Swami’s wish was to have a small temple erected above his samadhi. Ramajayam wanted to put up a lingam and build a small shrine but was advised against it by some sadhus.

Swami being an astrologer told me when I visited him last that he would pass away when he was 65 years of age and that coincided with 2007. Ramajayam tells me later that they come across Swami’s diary where he had written down the date and time of his demise. This entry was done on the 23rd of May 2005. Swami also mentioned in the diary that he wanted his body to be buried within eight hours of passing away. He had also written down how to attend to his body.

GOING WAYBACK IN TIME 2

http://tavayogi.webs.com/

12 Oct 2010

About Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal.

He was the owner of a factory making singlets, a successful businessman, and had a wife and three children, but at 50 he gave it all up and began a new life as a thuravi, a wandering monk.

He traveled throughout India, gaining experiences on the way, and seeking the path of the Sidhas. Today he stays at Kallaru, at the 9th kilometre of Ooty Methupalayam Road, in a hermitage known as the Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham Thirukovil.

He preaches the path of the Sidhas and sings the glory of the Sidhas and his gurus, Saint Ramalingam, Saint Jeganathar, Chitramuthu Adigal, and of course Sage Agathiyar and Supramaniar.

He runs the hermitage at AgathiyaR Vanam in Kallaru, feeding the poor, conducting yoga classes, and preaching the Sidha way to God realization.

He has many Peedhams to his credit now both in India and abroad as in Malaysia.

He is the author of several books, the first being ANDAMUM PINDAMUM which came out in print. ATMA THARISANAM, ATMA THATUVAM and ATMA GNANAM are available as e-books. ATMA GNANAM now is available in print too.

He has made several visits to Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand to visit devotees of Sage Agathiyar and the Sidhas.

Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal can be contacted via Skype, search for his e-mail address agathia_adigal@yahoo.com.

He can also be contacted by phone, 98420 27383 or 98425 50987. His address, Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham Thirukovil, 2/464E, Agathiyar Vanam, Agathiyar Nagar, Thuripaalam, Kallaru - 641 305, Methupalaiyam, Coimbatore District, S. India. 

Tavayogi's Mission
The Cittar Balance

by A. KATHIRASEN 

They are the Cittars, who gave the world Siddha medicine, and their teachings revolve around the mind, the breath and ethical living.

A. KATHIRASEN catches up with Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal, a follower of the Cittar philosophy.  

He was the owner of a factory making singlets and a successful businessman, but at the age of 50, he gave it all up, including his wife and three children, and began a new life as a thuravi, a wandering monk.

Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Tamil Nadu, India, wanted to stay far away from people and work on his spiritual growth. So he selected a hill deep in the jungle in Kallaru and built a hut for his home and meditation.

Having studied the works of the scientist-mystics known as the Cittars from his early years, he decided to follow their ways. He practiced the techniques taught by the Cittars and meditated.

Adigal renounced family life and all worldly attachments at the age of 50 and became a ‘thuravi’.

The Cittars (also pronounced Siddhas) are realized souls who lived simple lives. They believed that man was essentially immortal. Apart from teaching the art of living a balanced life, the Cittars devised methods to stimulate cell regeneration so that one could remain young.

The traditional Siddha medicinal system, now gaining in popularity in Malaysia, was evolved by the Cittars who had written treatises about diseases and their cures long before the advent of modern medicine.

Many of the poems and songs of the Cittars are shrouded in secret codes that only initiates can comprehend.

Although there have been many Cittars, 18 are particularly revered and Agathiar is the most famous of them. He was the foremost disciple of the first Cittar, Subramaniar.

“Historians give various dates as to when the Cittars lived,” Adigal says, seated in front of large pictures of Subramaniar, Agathiar and Ramalinga Swamigal at the Sri Agathiar Gyana Peedam in Batu Caves.

Adigal, 78, was making his second visit to Malaysia, this time to launch the Sri Agathiar Gyana Peedam, a center dedicated to the service of mankind, in Batu Caves.

Agathiar, also spelt Agastya, is one of India’s most famous Cittars. There are accounts of him having traveled to Southeast Asia in the hoary past.

“Some of the very old stories mention the Cittars. Agathiar, for instance, is found in both the Mahabharata and the Ramayana."

“But don’t assume that the Cittars are dead and gone."

“They are very much present. I have had many amazing experiences that I can’t talk about, but believe me, they live. But not necessarily in bodily form.”

Legends abound about Cittars who evaporated into thin air or travelled to places such as China and the Middle East, where they taught the locals there.

The Cittars teach how man can become a divine being. They set out certain techniques, the most basic and effective of which is Astanga Yoga, which is often associated with the Cittar Patanjali.
 
Astanga Yoga, or eight-limbed yoga, teaches man how to live life, starting from body and ethical discipline to tuning and sharpening the mind to harmonizing body and mind to seeing the sacred in everything.

“The Cittars say through yoga we can live well. The secret is in learning to live in balance.

“We must sharpen the mind so that the mind will help us rather than hinder us,” he says as he brushes his gray mustache with the back of his right hand.

Born in Tiruppur, Adigal prepared his wife and children for his new life. He left only after providing for their needs. His family members visit him now and then.

“A few become thuravi like me, but the Cittars say you can lead a good life with the family."

“The secret is to live in the world, enjoying things without becoming attached to them. Like the lotus, which is not made wet by the water."

Astanga Yoga, he says, helps achieve this.

“Yogasana, makes the body strong and supple and pranayama (yogic breathing) helps keep the internal organs clean and healthy.

“Other aspects of Astanga Yoga help purify the mind and sharpen the intellect.”

Adigal says in the old days kings and governments gave priority to emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development. Today, everyone is concerned with material development, about economic figures and forecasts.

“In the past, they used histories, poems, and stories such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Harichandra Puraanam to teach: men were to live like Rama while women were to emulate Sita.”

Everyone was to uphold honesty and integrity like Harichandra. This went deep into the people’s minds, and a society of disciplined and virtuous people developed.

“A man’s word was his bond. They learned not to be slaves to their desires. They learned contentment."

“Today, things have changed."

“Governments stress the economy. Have we got a growing economy? How many millionaires have we created? Did we send satellites into space? Will people praise us?"

“There is no effort to develop the mind, to sharpen the intellect. No effort to teach the art of thinking, the art of life.”

The world will be a better place if emphasis is also given to strengthening the mind, Adigal adds.

So why or how did Adigal, a hermit who has no money or property, first come to Malaysia 18 months ago.

Some inner stirring prompted him to ask a friend who was going to Malaysia to get him a ticket too. Some of his friends came up with the airfare and money for the trip.

“I don’t know what made me do it,” says Adigal, who holds a Masters degree in Tamil Literature from the Annamalai University, with a twinkle in his eyes.

“I just felt an urge to come here, and I came.”

It was a brief visit, and he did not expect to return. But recently, several Malaysian devotees of the sage Agathiar sought out Adigal on the hill in the jungle and persuaded him to make a second visit to launch the center in Batu Caves.

“Now, I have so many children here. Malaysians are so caring. Everywhere I go they give me food."

“In fact, they give me too much food. I am afraid that I might get used to the food and comfort here,” he laughs.

The sprightly Adigal is used to living on leaves and fruits he gathers from the jungle, and sometimes the rice and food that devotees bring to him.

He says: “You don’t know how lucky you are. There are many where I come from who are in desperate need of food.”

Despite his life of solitude on the hill, Adigal is involved with a group of hill tribe people who later settled in the area.

He could not remain aloof, looking at the plight of the hill tribe people.

Assisted by two disciples, he helps provide food and gives the children school uniforms and books, with money provided by devotees.

“I never intended to get involved in society. That was why I went to stay in the jungle,” he says with a pensive look.

“But my guru Agathiar has other plans for me. And that is also why, I think, I was made to come to Malaysia.”
 
The above interview was published in THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA.