KNOW THY PURPOSE

I saw the speck of light a second time and it stayed longer. But I do not want to even assume what it could be. I shall let Agathiyar clarify it. Agathiyar has said so many things in my Nadi readings about the developments taking place in me. But all that sounded alien and neither could I understand what was said then. So I never played it up. It was only when I experienced them that I could relate to what he in the Nadi and Tavayogi in passing had said. It was only after Agathiyar asked that I share it with readers of this blog, that I had the guts to write on these experiences here and share the Nadi readings on my YouTube channel. 

When Agathiyar came in the form of the bronze statue he told me that my soul shall reside in the statue and he shall pace the floor in me. When he sent strangers over to my home and began to listen and heal some while he cracked the tough nuts among them, he pacified us saying that he was only using me and my home to see them and help them and that in no way shall he intrude nor interfere in our lives. Then Lord Muruga wanted to play his game or lila too. He asked that I give way to him. When I stepped aside the heavens practically came down and literally toppled many. It was pretty clear that the divine was using me and my venue to carry out certain things that though were beyond our comprehension in the beginning, it became apparent that he was untying the knots and opening up the hearts of selected individuals. Now I am beginning to believe that the Siddhas never let go of those who had had come under their scrutiny earlier, in the past or in past births. I believe that death and birth are basically leaving a standard or form in school to the next standard or form to learn more complex subjects and eventually finish schooling and graduate. The soul too in coming within a physical body takes on different genders and different roles to accomplish the learning. It could take on other births too besides a human. I guess once we begin to think about life and enquire about the purpose we are here, we have reached the goal area. But how many ponder on their purpose here? Generally, we all fall for the standard that is growing up, school, and more schooling and landing a job. Accumulating wealth and marrying and procreating. Then we begin to watch the cycle repeat with our children and they see their children repeat it. Is this our purpose in coming here? 

Agathiyar had given mankind the 5 tenets to follow. The first is knowing the purpose we are here. He says that man must first understand his purpose in taking birth. The Nadi comes to a layman, seeker, or aspirant to reveal his purpose. The Guru comes to the disciple to reveal his purpose. The Sadhaka in going within learns his true purpose in taking birth. Those who by some means leave their body momentarily come to know their purpose too. These are the means man comes to realize the cause of his birth and his mission or purpose here. To a layman, he is told he took birth because of his past karma or to fulfill unfulfilled past desires or settle some scores. To a seeker, aspirant, Sadhaka, or disciple, he is told that he has come to continue from where he had left in a previous birth to know himself. A Gnani comes to herd us all to the pen. 

Another way of knowing our purpose here is through "Soul Contract Reading". I read mine yesterday from Haary Roshaahn Yograj and I find it fascinating since we get to know our purpose here and how far we have lived it out or worked on it. I have indulged in astrology and numerology but this is simply superb. Agathiyar has given mankind 5 tenets to follow. The first is knowing the purpose. Reading the 5th purpose, Haary wrote in, "Wow uncle number 5 is the same as what I explained, " Once u worked thru it all, you begin to manifest your soul purpose by helping and giving back to humanity". How appropriate that Haary came along bringing this up. It will be truly helpful to lost souls. He too believes the same.

"Yes, uncle, the main purpose I studied this is because I think this is the best way to help humanity. Because my main aim is to not make money. If I wanted to make money, I would not study this, AS THIS DOES NOT CATER TO THE masses out THERE, only to those who really want to walk to path or seek, sadly not many are seeking, all are still sleeping. That is why I thought this was amazing compared to learning astrology."

I asked him to write on it for Siddha Heartbeat and he obliged.

Name of the system - SOUL CONTRACT READING. Founder - Frank Alper. Frank channeled through this system in the 1980s over a period of nine months from the soul of Moses. This is then referred to as a "TOOL FOR ACCESSION" for mankind. 

It strikes me that Agathiyar too had given humanity the 5 tenets as tools for accession.

"My Interpretation of SOUL CONTRACT READING.

Every soul before being born on earth, they have chosen their name prehand, and this is then telepathically channeled to its parents. Intuitively the parents feel to name their child a specific name. This is not a coincidence, this is because THE SOUL HAS CHOSEN ITS JOURNEY AND ITS NAME PREHAND.

A Soul Contract Reading (also known as the Spiritual Numerology of Moses) is an accurate channeled system of spiritual interpretations of your birth name. From your birth name, we decode the Spiritual Map of Your Life, so you can align with it and manifest your soul purpose.

Soul contract reading gives you a deeper understanding from the spiritual perspective of what you are here to experience in this lifetime, what are your challenges, and what possible lessons that you might need to learn and face. With that, you also have certain strengths or gifts within yourself. And lastly, we are able to decode what you are here to archive in this lifetime. And once you have worked through all this, you then become the positive aspect of all the numbers and you begin to manifest your soul purpose by helping and giving back to humanity by using your talent." 

A LASTING BOND

Tavayogi, recalling his past that he came to know through his meditation, told me that he was an old soul who had returned in these times. He was herding cows and goats when Agathiyar came by. He learned a trick or two from the Mahamuni. But Agathiyar had cautioned him about using these powers. The ever-curious lad wanted to see if it did work and turned a horse to ashes. Agathiyar took away his sight for his disobedience. Just as though I had repented for my actions as a Namboothiri priest in a past birth, but the curses followed into this birth, Tavayogi lost his sight as a youth in this birth too. On the verge of taking his life after a year of going blind, he was stopped by a voice that he heard call out to him to halt his action and have faith in Agathiyar.

A couple from the AVM family were said to have served Agathiyar in a past life while in Kuttralam. Another devotee was said to have ferried Mataji in a parisal across the Kaveri river to witness the inauguration of the Sivalingam that Agathiyar had made from the river sand that is now housed in the Nattatreswaran temple in Erode.

Is all this possible? I and my family had a pleasant surprise when an AVM family member revealed his past to us when he dropped by my home to learn how to light the Homam and practice Yoga. His past was revealed by his guru in Bangalore. He tells me the story of Idaikadar who is well-known for switching and manipulating the nine planets and tells us a lesser-known story about how he had served Idaikadar back in the past. The story of Idaikadar that we have read and verified by this devotee goes as follows. Upon looking into the bleak future, Idaikadar saw a draught and famine approaching. As he was grazing cattle and goats, he fed them the weed, Erukku, or Calotropis. At the same time, he also mixed Samai or Little Millet in the wet soil and plastered them onto the walls of his mud house. When the draught came as foreseen, while the other animals wasted away, his cattle and goats could still eat the weed as they had adapted to eating it. When the cattle and goats began to scratch their bodies against the wall of his dwelling, the Little Millet that was packed tight in the soil fell to the ground. Idaikadar collected it. The ruling deities of the nine planets curious to know how Idaikadar and his livestock were surviving the drought, came down to investigate and uncover the mystery. Idaikadar entertained them serving the Little Millet. As they became drowsy eating it, they took a nap after the feast. Idaikadar who was waiting for that moment, began to move the planets to a more favorable position. As the planets favored the people and animals now, it began to rain and the water bodies filled up. The drought ended. That was the might of Idaikadar. Where does this devotee come into the picture or rather the story of Idaikadar? When Idaikadar came by grazing his cattle and goats, this devotee had pitched a shed for Idaikadar to stay in. He befriended the Siddha who was also great in sculpting statues. Seeing a statue of Mother Durga, he asked that he be given it. As his parents were Vaishnavites, he was not permitted to bring the statue into their family home. The lad worshipped Durga in Idaikadar's shed. He served Idaikadar. When the drought came he was witness to Idaikadar's carrying out the miracle. Having fulfilled his purpose Idaikadar left with his livestock.

Just as Agathiyar (who had not earned that name as yet) in his former birth had helped pitch a shed for Supramaniar (who came to be known as Lord Murugan) who came by, this devotee had done the same for Idaikadar. The statue of Durga had found its way into his home in this birth. A similar story reached our ears back then. A relative who saw her Nadi in India was told that she had donated statues to temples in her past life and that one of the statues had found its way into her home and is being worshipped in this birth. How do we explain these? 

His guru of past birth Idaikadar came to initiate the Homam and heal the devotee yesterday. After carrying out the Homam and Yoga, the devotee shared his knowledge of analyzing one's purpose in life from reading his or her name. He took it as his purpose to bring awareness to the purpose of others coming here. His reading for me, my wife, and my daughter was exact. It was some 8 hours of sheer amazement sitting in his company yesterday and coming to know if we have arrived at fulfilling our purpose here.

AVM also had a surprise visit from Thavathiru Kumaran Swamigal from the Agathiyar Ashram and Thirukovil at the foothill of the Anuvavi Murugan Temple in Coimbatore the day before. We recollected the many memorable moments and pleasant memories of his participation in several pujas that we had organized and held at AVM and temples in the past years. It looks like Agathiyar has revived AVM bringing back his devotees, this time to carry out Yoga, and is bringing in sadhus and gurus just as in the glorious years of AVM before he shut it down in the wake of the pandemic.

I wonder who you could all be. Maybe all of us have a similar bond with Appa as with the devotee, hence the reason he is not giving up on us and chasing us to do Yoga and keep fit.

FOLLOWING THE SIDDHAS

Agathiyar who stopped the Pornami puja and charity at my home Agathiyar Vanam in 2019 has reinstated the puja. He has called back a handful of his children to attend the puja with their children. He started them on Yoga after a break of some 5 years just like he had me halt my home puja, Yoga, and reading for some 14 years back then in 1988. One wonders what is the reason. The Siddhas are indeed a mysterious lot. But we have come to understand that they have their reasons as they can look into the past, present, and future. Agathiyar told some of us that he would watch us just as they could watch the stars, predict, and tell us our lives. 

I guess I am tasked to open my home to others again. If Agathiyar had me open my home to the youths back then in 2013 to watch the Pornami Puja and participate and use my home as a station to gather and carry out charity, this time around it is to have them come together and practice what was taught under his watchful eyes. It is apt that my home has become Agathiyar Tapovanam now a name that Lord Murugan foresaw and gave back then in 2018. It is also apt that Agathiyar tagged it as Gnana Kottam for since then he has come to dispense divine and spiritual knowledge.

Dr. Amir Farid Isahak wrote a piece on the Siddhas and their Nadi titled, "THE AKASHIC ENERGY" in the English daily, THE STAR, back then on September 9, 2007.

"It was explained to me that from the time of creation, everything already had its energy imprint and that the Siddhas had knowledge of this imprint and were able to know almost everything about every individual ever born and to be born into this world.... There have been over 10 billion humans since the first man (Adam for some of us), and the Siddhas have written for all those who will go to have their readings done, until the end of time."

"Akasha actually means the inner mind or super conscious realm that merges with the cosmic realm that contains all the information about the past, present, and future. The Siddhas could access this information by their faith and practices. The Nadi leaves referred to here are the channels of information to the entire human race. If they take the good advice, they can live in peace and harmony. Therefore, the Nadi leaves are important for the health of humanity, since they carry advice and remedies for our physical, emotional, and spiritual problems."

"Muslims are not allowed to go to fortunetellers because we are to do our best, pray for divine assistance, and then accept that whatever happens is predetermined, and good in the eyes of GOD. To go to fortunetellers may cause the person to believe in what is being predicted, at the risk of losing sight of the fact that it is GOD who determines everything, including our future. The subject of fate and destiny is something very complex and confusing to most. While everything is already written down, not everything is revealed by GOD, even to the Prophets, Saints, and Siddhas. With his permission, these chosen people get accurate information about the future, and the information can be in detail. That is why all Prophets made prophecies, as part of the signs of prophethood, and as guidance and warnings to their followers and all humanity."

"As a Muslim, this is not foreign to me, as GOD had told the Prophet (peace be upon him): “When my servants are close to me, then my ears become their ears, and my eyes become their eyes.” (From Hadis Qudsi, meaning that those who are close to GOD will have access to knowledge that is not available to others.)

After two years on Sunday, October 4, 2009, he wrote another piece on the Siddhas, THE WANDERING MASTERS.

"I find many similarities between the Siddhas and the Sufis, who are also people on the spiritual path of love, wisdom, and enlightenment. ..... However, the Siddhas preceded the Sufis by several thousand years.... Siddhas are often described as wanderers on the path of love. However, their physical journeys are nothing compared to their journeys into the secret chambers of their hearts, where the lover and the beloved (GOD) meet. The Sufis also walk the same path, of finding the beloved, and yearning to be one with him (in purpose, not in form)... The outward journey and the physical forms are necessary training and often illusions to the truth of our existence, and our purpose in life.... From the Sufi and Siddha teachings, let me share with you that the inner journey is the greater path, for it is here that realities are experienced and understood. It is a difficult journey wrought with challenges of the ego, pride, anger, envy, greed, lust, and many more weaknesses that are human. When these are subdued, then finally, the wanderer who only wanders outwardly, for once, has found the beloved in his heart, and he stays “home” there."

My brother who was with the New Straits Times Malaysia, hearing me speak about my experiences in seeing the Nadi, thought of covering the Nadi in the English daily. He assigned Suganthi Suparmaniam to write on it. Suganthi contacted me and together with her photographer, we approached T. Ramesh whom Dr. Amir Farid Isahak was only too familiar with, for an interview. 

Leafing Through Your Life

KUALA LUMPUR: A. Shanmugam sat transfixed. The nadi astrologer had just read out his name and those of his parents and siblings.

“I was astonished. Reading the nadi olai (dried Palmyra leaves), he could even tell that my mother had two names," said the technician.

Recalling the first time he had gone to see a nadi astrologer in 2002, Shanmugam said the astrologer took his thumbprint and checked it against several bundles of olai.

“I was told to say only yes or no as he read from the olai. He asked if my name started with ‘Pa’ or ‘Re’ or ‘Mu’. When he said ‘Sha’, I said yes. He asked if my name was Shanmugam.”

“He then asked if my parents were named so and so and if I had this number of siblings and if I worked as a technician.”

“However, when he came to the name of my wife, he said it was Manogari. My wife’s name is Maheshwari. He then said this was not my olai and asked me to come again in two weeks.”

“This time, all the information about me fell into place. Nevertheless, I am amazed that such information about me could be contained in the olai said to have been written by Siddhas ages ago.

“I am also amazed that there could be another man with my name and whose parents and siblings have similar names but who has a wife called Manogari.”

“Since then I have seen the nadi astrologer 17 times. I find there is truth in what is said in the olai, at least for me,” he added.

Shanmugam is just one of the many people who are consulting nadi astrologers to find out their past, present, and future.

Hence my journey walking the path of the Siddhas began with this Nadi reading. Today I have come to live a purposeful life I believe by sharing whatever little experiences I have gained on the path. 

THE FLIGHT

What has Agathiyar taught us this far? For a start, he spoke about karma that no one spoke before. He had it all written in the Nadi purportedly said to be written way back in time. He saw the fault in the stars and extended a hand in giving me a list of what I should do to align the stars in my favor or rather align myself to the stars laid out by him. He gave me his picture to remember him by and his names to call out to him. I repeated the names and carried out worship as I had done to the deities, Gods, and Goddesses all those years. I took on the journey visiting places of energy vortexes in the hope that I could shed the baggage I carried and get myself aligned to receive the goodness that was waiting in these places. I saw miracles take place for the very first time in my life. The travels and the remedies done must have done some good for they drove away doubts and questions, and strengthen my faith and belief. I came home turning my humble home into a fortress, housing him. Seeing my faith and effort, he came as a guru taking up a physical form. He had a name tagged to the form. It was Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal. Tavayogi introduced me officially to the path and showed me to Agathiyar, endorsing the worship, and adding several rituals to it. Agathiyar who initially only came to stay a while as a bronze statue finally moved in with us for good, at least till recently. I and my family had someone to look up to, to speak to, to hold on to, and to weep over his shoulders. His golden hue shone during those golden years. He decided to present himself to the world. He had youths turn up at my home which had become his home Agathiyar Vanam. He had us go out to help the unfortunate and see him in them. Compassion arose from within our hearts. Now it was time to surrender the self to the bigger Self so that he could come to reside in our hearts and work on us and do his work through us. He took possession of us and all our belongings. He claimed ownership of it all. We lost our identity except for official purposes where we were known by our names, the rest of the time we served in his name. Then it was time to call it a day and put the tools done. If the earlier tools, puja, and charity brought transformation in others, he now gave us another tool that would bring on an internal transformation and had us go within. We came out a different person and with a different perspective and window to the world. There was no going back now. There was no option but to go ahead. Though we very much wanted to stay aloft to stay dry, life had to go on and we were forcibly grounded at times. But whenever the breeze and the wind blew we spread the wings and flew in joy. This is what is currently happening now. Agathiyar has brought us this far. He reminds us not to sabotage his efforts. He did it out of love and compassion for us. What did we do to gain his attention, and receive his teachings? I wonder. 

JOURNEY OF HOPE

Watching the movie "Time Changer" on time travel, a question is posed if "morality was good enough on its own" to keep society under check. It is if everyone respects the others' right of place and freedom. There are so many checks in place so that we do not deviate. It starts at home with our parents. When I was in the Parent Teachers Association at my daughter's school, parents wanted teachers to discipline their children who rode the bike to school, a role that the parents should have taken into their own hands. For instance, how can a motorcycle that the parent owns go unnoticed or missing right under their own nose without the parent's consent and approval or knowledge? I told them that discipline is a matter that the parents should handle. The teachers are there to teach. As it was teachers were struggling with their workload and did not need excess responsibility. 

When I was a kid I was seen and reported to be sitting up close to the screen at the cinemas for that was what I could afford then, by an aunty who was a neighbor. I got a scolding when I reached home. Back then in the old days, we had aunts and uncles keep an eye on other children. This brotherhood and sisterhood in the neighborhood is missing these days with neighbors hardly wanting to give much less keep eye contact. It is seen in walking through the streets too. One shall look us up from afar and the moment we pass each other will look the other way. That is society these days. When we practice good virtues, and manners, and show compassion and kindness to another it is seen and observed as weird. I guess Agathiyar is equally shocked too as is Professor Russell Carlisle in the movie for he once lamented that no one was following the Siddhar Vazhkai Neri or living the way of the Siddhas. 

If we are to dish out advice to another, it would seem like we are moral policing. In seeing one suffer and as we know that their karma is at work, as that is what we have been made to understand after coming to the Siddhas, can we tell that to their face when we are also carrying a hefty amount of karma? And so Agathiyar zipped me up asking me to just watch and not speak when he spoke to his children recently. A Siddha can address our wrongs for he knows pretty well where it shall take us. But these children are respectful and never did any harm. Why was Agathiyar harsh towards them? Did he see something out of their future? All he asked was to take care of their health and allocate some time for the practice, which they have neglected for way too long he says. Is that too much to ask, he questions us? 

Agathiyar has come down to us from God to Guru to being a Father, Mother, Companion, Friend, and Comrade according to each of our dispositions. God has customized and packaged himself for our sake so that he can redeem us. One wonders why should he show so much love and be moved by our actions? Why is he moved to act now having left us to play the whole day in the sun? He fears we shall be (sun)burnt. He has come to call out to his children to return home before dark. Are his children hearing him or are they engrossed in play? 

I am no saint too. But each time Agathiyar hauls me up to his side and has me listen to what he has to say to others or to the assembly, I learn a thing or too. And I learn not to make the same mistake. I guess he wants me to share them with readers too so that we can travel together on this journey of hope. 

It has been an exciting journey traveling with Agathiyar. If Tavayogi kept his distance walking way up ahead and expected us to follow, rarely turning back to see if we were coming, often having us rush behind him to keep pace with him, Agathiyar these days walks alongside us, hands over our shoulders and whispering into our ears. It is wonderful to come up close and walk with him.  

THE TOOLS

I never believed in the evil eye. I never believed someone could curse us until I came to read the Nadi in 2002. Agathiyar confirmed what astrologer and Siddha medicine practitioner Dr.Krishnan told me back in the nineties as possible reasons my predictions did not materialize. Agathiyar told me that the curse plus my karma stood in the way of me gaining the benefits of all my temple visits, home puja, yoga practice, and readings. He showed me the way to arrest them. He showed me the path of the Siddhas. Later in 2005, he showed me Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal who made me work towards the results of all these practices. Agathiyar began to guide me further, coming in subsequent Aasi Nadi readings while Tavayogi would arrive on our shores over the years to look in on me and others. I am seeing the results of my commitment to their cause, heeding their words and carrying out all that they tasked me. Should not I show the way to others too now? As I am camera shy Agathiyar had me reach out to others by writing this blog. It is his brainchild. The subject, sentences, and words are his. In the event it needs a correction he comes to us and points it out. 

Though I did not believe in the evil eye and curses initially brushing them off as superstition, I sort of was attracted to know the science behind astrology when my brother-in-law used to consult the horoscope and the stars. I had mine drawn too then from an astrologer in Tanjung Malim. I had in my hands - me in the form of a chart and in a book. I did not know that I could be condensed and packed into a chart until then. What is the best way to know this science but to learn to draw the chart from scratch? I began to buy books on astrology and the past almanacs that are the basis of these charts and read up on them. I drew my own chart and compared it with what I was given. I tallied. I had passed my own test. Then my interest went on to the gems and precious stones that are given as remedies in astrology. I read about them and had them made and worn them on me too. Befriending Dr.Krishnan I was given a copper itching or Yantra and the Rasamani bead. I came to know about the Siddhas and their Nadi through him too. I went for a reading some six years later. I had arrived home. Agathiyar took me into his arms and groomed me. If Tavayogi had me drop my hold on the nine-gem studded gold ring I wore on my finger and the mercury bead or Rasamani I wore around my hip the very day I arrived at his Kallar ashram in 2005, Agathiyar in having me commission his bronze statue in Swamimalai and conduct libation and puja in my home in 2010, had me let him go too eventually. Today he is in the home of another devotee on whom he is working the same. 

Agathiyar and Lord Muruga changed my fate the day I arrived at their door to read the Nadi. They drew up a new destiny for me the day I met Tavayogi. I was destined to come to the path and take Tavayogi as my physical guru. My life changed. It is all in these Nadi readings. I soon came to know that my life could also be condensed and packed into a single piece of dried palm leaf.

RELEASE THE BEAUTY IN YOU

When I set out to read about world religions, carried out home puja, and practiced Yoga that I picked up from these books and visited temples in the vicinity, as a bachelor back in the 80s, I had no inkling that I was not gaining any benefits from my efforts until Agathiyar pointed it out in my first Nadi reading some 12 years later in 2002. He pointed out the reason too. My past karma and curses stood in my way of reaping the benefits of my efforts. He sent me on a pilgrimage to temples and had me carry out charity to make good the wrong I had done. With karma out of the way, I took up worship to the Siddhas, doing charity, and practiced Yoga that was taught by my guru and Agathiyar in the Nadi, I began to see the fruition of my efforts henceforth.

But I was saddened to see others after coming to read the Nadi, carrying out the given remedies, and taking up the worship of the Siddhas, are still held back from seeing through the veil of illusion and Maya. They cannot even see the goodness that is within their reach and waiting for them. If they attempted to reach out to it they too shall gain the grace of Agathiyar. But sadly they settle for only his blessings asking that he satisfy their never-ending petty wants and needs. I guess it is pretty difficult for many to leave the web that they have spun around them and got themselves entangled in. Here is where they lack the will to bring the change in their lives. They do not want to be the outstanding student but settle to be among the rest. How can one help them if they do not help themselves? When some are given a second chance to continue from where they left off, what is stopping them? If it is karma that is preventing them from making the move, it has been taken care of through carrying out remedies and pujas. What then is still holding them back? Having read and seen the fruits of this journey in others' lives, what are they yet waiting for? Are they afraid that they will lose their foothold by reaching out for the rope that Agathiyar has let down to them? Or is it the lack of determination or Vairagya? 

The events of the past week have made me ponder and think deeply. I am hungry for answers. I want to know what goes on in their minds? What are they thinking? Where are their priorities? I guess as Agathiyar in closing the AVM home in 2019 told me one has to now travel alone and cannot wait for others to catch up for they shall delay another's journey, and as Ramalinga Adigal set up, in Agathiyar's words, the Jothimayam only to have no takers, no amount of miracles, preaching, and scolding can bring another to change unless the beast in them is rid for good and the beauty in them is released. Gnanam has to arise from within to draw aside the veil of ignorance. Even God cannot help them further. 

CARING FOR THE BODY

Taking a step into spiritualism these days is akin to stepping out of the frying pan into the fire. If we thought that the material world is one of illusion or Maya the spiritual too has become such thanks to man. He has polluted both worlds. I guess the safest place is those realms beyond the reaches of man. To have access to that realm we need to get in touch with the Siddhas directly without middlemen for they could derail the truth. One has to go back to the times of Shruti or "‘what is heard’ from God himself", I guess, as "they are unquestionable and authoritative." (https://unacademy.com/)

It is becoming more difficult for us to sieve the truth from the false these days. Jnana Jothiamma once after reading a piece I wrote warned me to be careful from whom or where I quoted. Tavayogi always told me to have authentic references to authenticate what we say or write. Agathiyar asked us to read the original text and not to rely on translations. The Siddhas, he said will come to clarify, explain, and enlighten us. 

But just when we think we know something there is something else related to it that has to be clarified. There is just no end to learning and discovery. Much of what the Siddhas predicted for the world through their messengers too have not seen the light of the day or have been postponed to a later time for reasons only known to them. But then of what use is the knowledge of what vitamins are inside the grain to a hungry man? That is the reason Swami Vivekananda said you cannot impart knowledge to a hungry man. We need to fill his stomach first.    

"Don't go and preach religion to a hungry man. Feed him first. His religion, for the time being, is food."

For one who has the yearning and thirst to know all things spiritual, God has to come by him as a guru to impart the knowledge and quench his thirst. On the other hand, God who comes as a saint only saw half-filled halls. What is worse is when God is in our midst and we choose to turn a deaf ear. Agathiyar tells us that Ramalinga Adigal had a Jothimayam going but closed it as no one was listening to him or failed to recognize a saint as Baba Nanak's father laments, "In my courtyard, in my very arms, God's own form played, and I remained unaware. It is my biggest regret son that due to my ignorance, I could not understand you and instead wasted time in checking your pulse and fever." Agathiyar in brandishing his sword towards his devotees recently could not accept the reasons given that they had no time for practice and gave lame excuses, of having to look after their children, hiding behind them. Agathiyar told them that their duty ends with providing food, education, and teaching their children personal hygiene. He told us not to take possession of our children and even him. He asked that we take possession of our bodies and care for our health instead. He asked that we be not overprotective of our children and that the Prapanjam shall care for them. 

Though we have much to learn from our children we assume that they are not knowledgeable and drive our old ways onto them making them clones. Agathiyar asked us if we wanted to end up just like our sick and aged parents. He asked us to buck up and come to a realization that the body is to be cared for and told us he had to come strong on us as he resides in it. He says that as he lives in us he just cannot possibly let us go scott-free. We have to mend our ways before it is too late. The body is the tool for enlightenment. 

Agathiyar lamented to me many years ago that no one was following the Siddhar Vazhkai Neri or the way of the Siddhas. Now he has to come and hold class on the need to look after our health just as he held a one-hour session on anger management for me in my Nadi reading many years back.

THE SIDDHA PATH

Though I practically grew up running around the grounds of a Buddhist temple next to our rented family home in Taiping, sitting in the weekly classes listening to stories from Buddha's life and having food for thought at the young age and food for the stomach too, and though I attended Thevaram classes where the teacher of Sri Lankan origin taught us the songs and filled us in on the stories from the lives of the Nayanmars, and though I had come to learn about Christ and read the Bible through mail correspondence from a church in Singapore in my teens, and though I came to know about Islam from a college gardener of Pakistani roots traveling on the same bus to college, I never read about Guru Nanak although I had Punjabi friends. I came across his story portrayed in the film "Nanak Shah Fakir" which I am watching now. We learn something beautiful "This arrogance, this lust for wealth and power are all temporary, like tenants will come and go." 

On another note, there was so much hype about Ramalinga Adigal coming on 30 January 2024. The day has come to pass and everything is quiet out there. Even as Ramalinga Adigal came and told me to announce his arrival through my writings, I shuddered to even think of posting the news for we are only too familiar with all sorts of claims on the net. I remained silent as he raised the matter again. But Agathiyar stepped in and told him it was not necessary. Yet Ramalinga Adigal who declared openly his state in all his songs persisted in wanting to guide the world again. Agathiyar told him he could do it in the confines of this home. Later Agathiyar tells us that Lord Shiva had held him back at least for another year. Where has he gone to make a comeback like Arnold Schwarzenegger says "I'll be back" in "Terminator"? His last words were that he was in all of creation and in all the cells. He is very much in us and among us. All the saints never left us but are living with us and in us. Agathiyar in asking a devotee to drop rituals after having satisfied the need, asked him if he wanted to live with him or live in him? All the saints and masters are in the subtle, living with us and in us, as the breath, as the soul, and in the gross too. They are living in the teachings. As Carl Sagan says, "What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic." (Carl Sagan, Excerpt from the 11th episode of his legendary 1980s Cosmos series, titled “The Persistence of Memory”), Agathiyar tells us to read the original texts and the Siddhas will come to fill in its meanings and essence.

They are living in the practices. No amount of speaking and talking and Satsang shall bring us to the realization of the Self. Only practice pays off. In worship, we chose to see them in the gross world as in temples, statues, yantras, and paintings. In coming to perform rituals, we bring to memory the names of the Siddhas and their mantras, that emanate vibrations and touch subtle frequencies, and recite them, hence bridging both worlds. In Yoga, we come to know and unite with their subtle form as breaths and energies that traverse through us and beyond. In all of these, practice brings on perfection and completeness. If only we took them up, we would realize them. We are but a faint reminder of them before their enlightenment. Rather than waiting for them to reappear in physical form, should not we take up their teaching and become them in all manner of speaking? We are always looking up to another or looking towards worshipping another. It ends there. We never attempt to become a Siddha, another Agathiyar, or Ramalinga Adigal?

Hence the reason Agathiyar has asked that we practice. In sending seekers over to watch our Pornami Puja he wanted them to bring it back into their homes so that the path and the way would reach a wider expanse of seekers. In giving them the techniques and practice of Yoga, it was to have them learn and put it into practice and upon gaining its benefits to introduce it to others. In encouraging one on her path to marry another from another path he wanted the path to expand further to others. Except for a few who kept it alive, it never happened with others. Then again the Siddha path has become a cult kept closely guarded by some with selfish intentions. The Siddha way is a way of life that encompasses every facet and factor of living a healthy life keeping in tandem with nature and nature's laws. It is living by simple means. It is about allocating an equal share of time and resources to building relationships with others and with oneself or the Atma. It is about allocating an equal share of time and resources to learning and practice. The path and its practice are for all irrespective of gender, race, religion, belief, and faith. 

YOGA

After years of tutelage under Agathiyar, I told him that I could not accept him if he was God and guru to only a select few. God has to take every single being into his arms and similarly, the Guru has to take every single being under his wings. Otherwise, it would be another God and Guru affiliated with a path, abode, or temple at the end of the path and a faith professed and passed on to those who reach the particular God or Guru abiding in the temple.

He showed me to Prapanjam. The Prapanjam takes every single being within its arms and envelops it with warmth from the sun, and the coolness of the moon, provides the life-sustaining Prana that hitches a ride with the breath we take in, in the waters that flow and provides for our daily needs, provides the ground for us to stand and lie down and the food that has us grow. He stood aside leaving his form and figure, name, tag, and label, and showed himself as the Prapanjam that is God to all. Earth, water, fire, air, and ether belong to no particular faith. Similarly, crops, water, heat, breath, blood, and space belong to no particular faith. If Prapanjam was God, who are we then? He shows us that we are the breath that is of the Prapanjam. 

Even as we are divided through the blood groups, we stand united through the breath. Even if man chooses to divide himself through race and color, creed, faith, and belief, he stands united through the breath. Man who initially was one with nature became divided. He now has to reach out to nature to realize his oneness with it. If faith and belief divide man Yoga unites. When many shy from following rituals and worship of other faiths, they come together in Yoga. Yoga is the tool that unites man irrespective of where he is and what faith he professes. 

Acharya Gurudasan in writing a piece for Siddha Heartbeat at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2015/12/kriya-yoga-lessons.html says,

"Essentially, all the different forms of yoga available must, by definition, help one to come out of delusion to realize the divinity within. When this mistaken identity with the mind-body personality ends, one will realize that along with that ends all suffering and the person remains in a truly blissful state of joy. This clearly shows that Yoga is much more than mere stretching exercises done in a hot room with tight clothes. Its purpose is to ultimately drive the practitioner towards the ultimate goal of Self-Realization (i.e. to shake off the limited identity of body-mind consciousness and merge with the infinite, all-blissful cosmic consciousness)."

"Yoga had one single motive: to eliminate ego-consciousness and to allow divine consciousness to descend. It leads us to the same Truth and meets at the point of Gnana where the seeker loses his ego-self and identifies with the universal Brahman." 

Acharya Gurudasan writes of Swami Vivekananda,

"Although he could have easily renounced and become a hermit, he chose to carry his Master’s message to every corner of the world. He dedicated his entire life to this purpose. And nothing signifies this better than his statement “I shall take 1000 rebirths to help a single man educated/enlightened.” This clearly shows that his own enlightenment was secondary to him." This is Karma Yoga.

Writing of Bhaktas or devotees, "It can be noted that most Bhaktas may not even have the desire to get enlightened and all they need is to be one with their object of devotion. At the pinnacle, they no longer have a sense of themselves, and their mind becomes completely absorbed in the divine, leading them to experience complete bliss and realize that their deity and their ‘Self’ are one and the same." This is Bhakti Yoga.

In Raja Yoga, "The sadhaka attempts to eliminate ego-consciousness by directly controlling that entity which gives rise to it – The Mind. The sadhaka performs several activities such as Pranayama, Asana, meditation, etc. and directly studies the nature of the mind, its roots, the 5 senses and their impact on the mind, and how to stop their activity consciously (the cessation of the fluctuations arising within the sub-conscious). Hence, all the practices of Raja Yoga are aimed at the goal of disciplining the mind, quietening it, and completely stopping its activities consciously to be absorbed completely in the Self. Such a state is called Samadhi which is the goal of Raja Yoga. In Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the sadhaka is in a state of complete cognitive absorption where he has totally lost the sense of personal ‘I’ and the body and is completely merged with the superconscious. This is the highest level of Samadhi where the sadhaka transcends the time-space dimension and identifies completely with the para-brahman or the universal self or the super consciousness."

Bhagawan Ramana says “Control of mind by the control of breath is Yoga, control of breath by the control of the mind is Gnana.”

If the former needs a concerted effort on our part and years of practice, the latter which comes through the grace of the divine subdues the breath effortlessly. By surrendering to the divine first, the divine takes control and hold of our minds.  By submitting to its energies, the breath settles easily. I guess this is what Agathiyar meant in asking me to let go, telling me that henceforth the energies shall do their work. But it only came after we initiated the efforts following their teaching and practice. Today the breath settles on its own, what seemed like a tussle with it earlier on. 

Acharya Gurudasan writes, "When the mind is focused upon its own source, it gets absorbed and what remains is pure existence, pure awareness. That is when one becomes aware of being aware and the difference between the object known, the act of knowing, and the knower ceases to exist. The practitioner remains as Sat-chit-ananda, in a state of pure bliss transcending subject-object relationship. In other words, the practitioner remains as the Universal self or Para-brahman."

When Agathiyar trashed the others for not taking up the Yoga practices given, I received the splash/splashes/spills/splatter/spatter too. Initially upset, later I consoled myself that he was only scolding himself. I could move on. 

Acharya Gurudasn writes, "Sri Ramana Maharshi says, the path a person takes to realize the self may vary according to his maturity and fitness of mind, but one has to come to Atma-Vichara as the final step."

He writes on Babaji’s Kriya Yoga, as "a special form of Raja Yoga. It also includes aspects of other forms of yoga such as devotion as in bhakti, discipline of action as in Karma Yoga, and focus on being with the Self/pure awareness as in Gnana. It is a scientific art of perfect God -Truth union and self-realization. In the late 19th century, Mahavatar Babaji revived it as a synthesis of Patanjali`s yoga sutras and the practice of Kundalini yoga by the yoga Siddhars."

NOW OR NEVER

My head is drenched in I don't know what these days. A current that sweeps occasionally through my body is felt more at regular intervals these days too. It is blissful sitting and trying to meditate. I cannot seem to bring myself out of it. I just want to sit and continue. I saw a silver spot as I sat with my eyes closed this morning for a brief moment and I am not sure what it is. 

Agathiyar in revealing my past so that I could correct the present and chart my own future, has given me an opportunity to break the cycle of Karma and birth. Then he offered to show me the way to enlightenment just as they stood enlightened by having me begin worshiping the Siddhas and the deities in my home. The bridge was drawn between both worlds. Since then we have had visitations from them. Then he gave me the tools to refine this gross body into the finer subtle body that they had transformed into.

It was not enough that we gathered once a week on Thursdays and other auspicious days to worship the Siddhas; it was not enough to go on pilgrimages and visit their abodes; it was not enough to do charity; it was not enough to go for regular Nadi readings nor bring others to read theirs; it was not enough sitting in on Satsangs or holding and hosting Satsangs. We had to take hold of our breath. We had to practice yoga to center our minds and journey within traveling through these chakras. We have to attain the state the Siddhas are in as this is their wish for us. Hence we saw Agathiyar come over the past week and grill the devotees who took a lackadaisical attitude and never practiced the Asanas and Pranayama techniques and practices given some 5 years back. It was pretty obvious that he was not giving up on them as he had me put him through on video call to all those who gave excuses to stay away that day. When the message could not get through to them he had me record it and forward it to them. He wants to see each one of them once a month to assess their progress. Agathiyar means business. The honeymoon years are over. It seems like it is now or never. 

THE TRANSFORMATIVE YEARS

Looking back on this marvelous journey walking with the Siddhas, we see how they revealed our past so that we could correct the present and chart our own future, provided we wanted to, allowing us to break the cycle of Karma and birth.

Then they offered to show us the way to enlightenment just as they stood enlightened provided we wanted to, by having us begin worship in our homes to the Siddhas and the deities. The bridge was drawn between both worlds. 

Then they gave us the tools to refine this gross body into the finer subtle body that they had transformed into, provided we wanted to.

Having worked on us all these years, Agathiyar asked that I pave the way for him to come over to our shores and grace the Sri Raghavendra Mritiga Brindavanam where he wants to bless his children. I set upon carrying out his wish and desire. While waiting for the start and completion of the said temple complex he wished to stay in my home in transit. 

Agathiyar spoke about his awaited arrival at my home. 

WATCHING THE BREATH

When Tavayogi told me to speak about the Siddhas at an opening of an affiliate of his in Banting many years back, I shuddered as I was new to the path and only knew Tavayogi that too very minimal. Today though Tavayogi and Agathiyar have educated me yet I stand bare and naked before them. I still get trashed for not being able to answer Agathiyar at times. But seeing the amount of information dispersed on the net at times I feel some take upon themselves as custodians of God, deities, Siddhas, and gurus and promising many things. 

I am in no way a custodian of God, deities, Siddhas, and my gurus. They are available for all. They come before us in many forms and names to suit each devotee and his desires for one God, deity, Siddha or guru cannot possibly fit all the myriad of temperaments and souls. Yes God, deity, Siddha, or guru might seem to be customized to our needs too. Beyond all these forms and names, stands one sole entity that is present in all of us and governs us. To know that is the purpose of life. This is what Agathiyar meant when he asked each of us why we came to the Siddha path. He has the answer too, that it was to know the breath. It was to know that the breath is Sivam. In his memo to us, he said that breath was Uyir that sustains us, the body or Udal and the soul or Atma. Then we are told that the breath was Vaalai. Tavayogi once told me that the breath was Sivam. Bhogar had us chant "Adhi Sivam, Jothi Sivam, Moola Sivam". Agathiyar too days before told us the same, that the breath was Sivam. Name it anything but the core matter was to have us focus on our breath now. When many sit and practice meditation by visualizing, Agathiyar tells us to become aware of the breath and follow it. The breath that we thought we inhaled and exhaled shall one day go about without our asking. To sense it and know its place, one has to journey into it. Merge in it. That moment is Dhyanam. 

நீயாய் சுவாசித்த பிராணவாயு இனி உன்னை கேட்காமல் உன்னுள் ஊடுருவும். எப்பொழுதெல்லாம்  அது ஊடுருவதை நீ உணறுகிறாயோ இருக்கும் இடம் அறிந்து அதனுள் பயணம் செய். கலந்து போ. அதனோடு நீ கலக்கும் தருணமே தியானம்.

Ramalinga Adigal guides us from there. Use the breath to go within. Place the effort. Fan the Jothi within using the breath. Merge in the Jothi. "I shall be with you as long as the Jothi burns. I shall be with those who immerse in the Jothi", he says.

உமது பிரணவத்தை கொண்டு செல்லு. முயற்சி செய். ஜோதி அதனைச் சுடர்விட செய்யுங்கள். ஜோதியோடு கலப்பாய். உன்னுள் ஜோதி எரியும்வரை நான் உன்னோடு வருவேன். ஆழ்ந்து இருப்போருடன் நான் சேர்ந்து இருக்கிறேன்.

It is akin to taking a ride back home hitching on the breath that giveth us life. Tavayogi wrote in his "Andamum Pindamum" that in the beginning, there was a light that enveloped all. That was Jothi. That was Sivan. From the passive Sivan came forth the dynamic Sivam. Sivam breathed life or Uyir into all his creation. 

To get to know this Jothi we have to go through a process and transformation both in the external and the internal. One has to be prepared to bear the pain as Ramalinga Adigal reveals only God knows what he went through. Agathiyar says Jnana Jothiamma who was an embodiment of Gnana, was being prepared to receive the Darshan of the Jothi. But as she could not take the cleansing that Agathiyar had her go through she asked to be taken. 

ஞானத்திற்கு ஜோதியாய் இருந்தவளை ஜோதியின் தரிசனம் காண்பித்தற்கு ஆயத்தம் செய்த நிலையில் நான் செய்த சுத்திகரிப்பு அவளின் உள்ளம் ஏற்கவில்லை எம்மோடு இணைந்து கொள்ள அவள் விருப்பம் கொண்டால்

We understand now why Agathiyar told my daughter that it was not easy.

Tavayogi in referring to Agathiyar's "Sowmiya Saagaram" states our purpose here is to understand the origin and end of Param or Para Sorupam or Siva or Siva Rupaa Rupam or Vettavezhi, the void that shines as Jothi. One who has realized the secrets of the Vettavezhi Prapancham, the Prapanjam within the void, will transform their physical and gross form into a subtle form, and settle in the Jothi or Sivan that is the source and cause of the subtle.

வெட்டவெளி பிரபஞ்ச ரகசியம் உணர்ந்தவர்கள் தன்னுடைய தூல உடலைச் சூட்சுமமாகி அந்தச் சூட்சும உடலுக்கு ஆதாரமாக மற்றும் காரணமாக இருக்கின்ற முதலும் முடிவுமாக இருக்கின்ற ஜோதியில் ஜோதியாக இருப்பார்கள்.

Though names and tags we give might confuse us, the reality is that there is only the breath that is real. Lose it and everything else collapses. Our whole world collapses. Our outlook and perspective of the world collapses. Relationships collapse. Nothing remains. It is sheer void. Only existence. Everything hangs on a tiny tread that is the breath. No wonder Agathiyar has asked us to take notice of it and follow it. It shall take us home. 

Konganar who had seen 18 wars waged on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, reveals the count and number of wives the Siddhas took. Tavayogi told me to bring my wife and family into the path when I told him the day I met him that Agathiyar had wanted me to come to the path of the Siddhas in my Nadi reading. Agathiyar in coming to us during his Vizha on Thursday and again yesterday, spoke about the importance of husband and wife relationships and wanted everyone to compromise and live a good life. Agathiyar told a devotee who was ready to settle down in a married life to get to know whoever comes along, irrespective if he worships the Siddhas or not and irrespective if he is a vegetarian, after matching their horoscopes. He told her that it is of utmost importance that both should like each other initially and eventually come to love each other. This is the importance that the Siddhas give to family life. 

In gathering us and having us practice the Asanas and Pranayama that Tavayogi taught us before him, he did not exclude women and children. He had the womenfolk and a 10-year-old show him what they had learned thus far. 

In the book on Kavyakantha Vasistha Ganapati Muni entitled NAYANA, A BIOGRAPHY OF KAVYAKANTHA VASISTHA GANAPATI MUNI (from the original Telugu texts by Gunturu Lakshmikantam), Dr G Krishna says "Ganapati Muni had described his wife as a Tapa Sakhi, meaning comrade in Tapas just as Arundhati was the Tapa Sakhi of Vasistha. Visalakshi, wife of Ganapati Muni took to the worship of Agni whenever Ganapati Muni was out of station. 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 Mantra and were denied the benefits of Upayana. Ganapati Muni himself used to initiate women into Mantra Japa. Many were the women who were initiated into Gayathri Vidhya, which was considered exclusive to men."

"The study of scriptures had convinced Ganapati 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. They never considered their wives as hindrances to Tapas.” True enough when my wife questioned Agathiyar back then if she was in my way a hindrance to me seeking the liberation of the soul, Agathiyar replied that no one was a hindrance to the other. 

M. Govindan in BABAJI AND THE 18 SIDDHA KRIYAYOGA TRADITION, Kriya Yoga Publications, Quebec, Canada, 1991, (M.Govindan, 1991)says,

“The Siddhas never called for seclusion of oneself. On the contrary, Siddhas have asked us not to neglect our families and responsibilities but to attend to both worlds, the material and spiritual. They challenge us not to turn our backs on the world in our quests for spiritual enlightenment.”

THE CHANGING OF GUARD

When Agathiyar asked me to come to the worship of the Siddhas in my first Nadi reading in 2002 I went looking for someone or a movement that did it but found none. While one was engrossed and fully committed to doing charity another had moved on to the worship of Arutperunjothi which was even more alien to me then. Armed with Agathiyar's painting and a booklet of a compilation of the names of Siddhas that I was given at the end of my Nadi reading, I began on my own. Besides reciting these names I sang the many other songs of praises to the Siddhas that I had compiled along the way. Agathiyar sent me Tavayogi who brought me to places and temples associated with the Siddhas in 2005. Tavayogi introduced me to doing charity at his Ashram. On one of his subsequent visits in 2007, he showed me and several others Yoga Asanas and Pranayama that I began to practice. Tavayogi who initiated me into lighting the Homam, came personally to fine-tune it in 2010. Agathiyar too came as a bronze statue that he had me commission and made in Swamimalai. Mataji passed me several appropriate songs to accompany each item that was used in the libation or Abhisegam. In having me open the doors to my home to a group of youths from Thondu Seivom in 2013, Agathiyar had me share the worship of the Siddhas and associated rituals that I carried out at home with my family. My home became Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM). The same year I and my family visited Kallar ashram. Agathiyar introduced us to giving alms and doing charity at children's and old folks' homes and later sent Sri Krishna of Pothihai Tharma Chakram (PTC) to bring us to street feeding. In 2016 the AVM family visited Kallar ashram. All went well until Agathiyar foresaw that we would stagnate in rituals and charity which were the first two phases of Sariyai and Kriyai terminated them by bringing the shutters on AVM promptly as the dreaded virus emerged in 2019. He had me go within and watch my breath while he armed the rest with the techniques and practice of Yoga and waited eagerly for each of their homes to turn into AVM too. As if to identify them to me, after the pandemic cleared, Agathiyar made several visits to the homes of his devotees who invited him over. Years went by and except for this handful, nothing moved in the rest of the circle. What moved was the energies within me that began to take hold of me after their awakening as a result of the Asanas and Pranayama practices I had diligently carried out beginning in 2007. The Muladhara was awakened a year later in 2008 and made its way without my knowledge until it took stock of my life crippling me from carrying out even the basic daily routines between 2010 and 2012. I had to live with it not knowing when it would surface again as it did in 2016 and later in 2018 though it was blissful and painful at the same time. The years beginning in 2019 when the virus took the upper hand and froze all our movements and freedom, I spent my time in solitude and in continuing to write this blog. In 2022 Agathiyar felt it was time I was given a hand and released the energies that had ponded in Manipuraka. It brought great relief and bliss. This bliss is felt even as I pen these worlds as Ramalinga Adigal's Agaval plays in the background and the breeze caresses me coming in through the open window where I am sitting at my desk. My home took on rightfully the name Gnana Kottam as given by Agathiyar back then where the Gods, Agathiyar, and the other Siddhas began to address devotees both in person and virtually. 

Just as Agathiyar had me open my home to others to participate and partake in the nectar of bliss that came on with worship, this time around he had me gather the kids that have come into the AVM family and enjoy these moments in the company of these children. AVM Kids took shape.  If Goddess Vaalai is depicted as a child, she is also the breath that traverses through us. As such Agathiyar has forcefully come down on the devotees who had been honeymooning and postponing the agenda of reaching the Siddha state to carry out the Yoga practices given in 2019. Though it was delayed, my home now has truly taken on the name Agathiyar Tapovanam Malaysia (ATM) that Lord Muruga had conferred in a Nadi reading in 2018. I guess just as Ramalinga Adigal came too soon and too early for his time, Gnana Kottam and ATM were established when devotees were not ready to listen and practice. 

If in these mere 22 years of traveling and following the Siddha path I have seen many seekers, aspirants, and sadhakas, imagine how many Agathiyar must have seen and seen again and again as we came, again and again, standing before him in each birth? He must lament, "Oh! not you again? I had taught you all there was to it. You never listened and followed nor practiced and achieved." Imagine if he were to say, "Now what are you standing before me for? What I will give you now will go down the drain too. Leave. There is no salvation for you!" Where would we turn to? He is our only solution, way, and path. He is the way and the path. Walking with him, carrying out the worship, rituals, and practice, and sitting with him is living the Siddha path. When many seek him outside, in form, name, and figure, he is also the rocks, plants, animals, and fellow humans. He is very much living in us as our breath, the warmth, the water content, the salts, and minerals, and the electricity, in the body. 

In school, we are left alone and unsupervised but when the critical years arrive where they determine our course of life, we burn the midnight oil. Similarly, Agathiyar left us alone to immerse in the pleasures of life only to wake us up from our dream and rush us to leave the danger zone and reach out to safety. The safety net is now Yoga. If Sariyai rids us of our past baggage of Karma and balances the merits of good and bad deeds, Kriyai draws the bridge down for the divine to come to visit us, and love and compassion to blossom and bloom within, Yoga will have the divine effulgence come to stay within us and prolong extent and keep us alive for as long as we choose. 

If in Sariyai we were dependant on our parents, in Kriyai on our gurus, in coming to Yogam we take charge of both our body and life that resides within. Eventually, Yogam will bring us to know our Soul or Atma. Knowing the Atma is Gnanam where if in Yogam the ambrosia oozes, in Gnanam spiritual and divine knowledge dawns.

Hence the emphasis has shifted to Yogam now at Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM). We can justify taking on the name Agathiyar Tapovanam Malaysia (ATM) now. Vaalai shall bring us to merge in Sivam. This is where he is bringing us to. 

LIFE LESSONS

Agathiyar is taking drastic moves to bring a paradigm shift and move his devotees who had become complacent in just worshipping the Siddhas as it was earlier with temple worship. His ideal is to make each one a Siddha too. By bringing the shutters down at AVM in 2019, he brought an end to the regular congregation. He stopped all forms of worship, only to be taken up henceforth for any particular cause or as the need arises. Ending charity too, as my wife said it had begun to make us "high", and sending everyone off, armed with Asana and Pranayama practice, he made me go within. He is doing the same too, now with others and PTS. The bronze statue of Agathiyar that was at AVM and later moved to PTS shall leave for another home once the new hosts are ready. Relieving the adults of their duties, the children at PTS will carry out the rituals while awaiting the next move. Generally, there won't be puja and charity that is Sariyai and Kriyai but only Yogam and Gnanam dispensed as Agathiyar has come personally to monitor, supervise, and run the Yoga sessions and is dispensing Gnanam. 

When my daughter found a life partner, I approached the temple priest to find out the good times to carry out the many ceremonies that come with it. His words appeared as Agathiyar's words to me. He too looked like Agathiyar. When I told him that I was not there to match their horoscopes as they had loved each other, he told me that that was the most important criterion, Mana Porutham. He then told me that fate had brought them together. We have seen how Karma dictates the choice of a life partner in an earlier post. Finally, he told me to leave it to the divine. Yesterday he advised the relative of a girl seeking to marry. Agathiyar told them not to search for a life partner according to their terms and conditions as their search was limited to only those who professed to be in the path of Siddha Margam and limited to only those who were strict vegetarians like them. He asked them how the path to flourish and expand its reach if they married someone on the same path. He asked to look into their horoscopes. He told them as the priests told me it was important that he loved her. Hence he asked that she get to know him first. 

Seeking Agathiyar's blessings in approving their wants on the need to purchase properties, he asked them to think hard if they could truly afford to pay for it. He reminded us that it was not fair to leave our debts to be settled by our children. Instead, he told them to seek their grace rather than their blessings. We always stand before them carrying our desires seeking their blessings for fulfilment of our desires and an obstacle-free ride. Of course, the ever-compassionate and loving Siddhas would bless us. But it is still our wants and needs. So if trouble brews it is only of our own making. With each monstrous desire comes a hefty cost that has to be paid whereas with grace, all our needs are provided at minimum cost or at no cost. I never sought to look for a home or a vehicle but they fell into my lap. It was a small home and a small car that I could afford with my pay, back then. Agathiyar sends someone over to do the repairs to the aged home too at a reasonable cost. So is it with my old car. He comes personally to look into this aged body of mine too whenever trouble brews. As my debts are all settled I can focus on what I came to do now - his work. I guess he has given me a new task now. If my home was host to the Pornami puja where he sent many to watch and participate beginning in 2013, now he wants me to host the Yoga sessions while he sends Sadhakas over. I shall abide by his wishes. This is all due to his unfaltering grace. 

A DAY OF ASCENDING THE STAGE

Agathiyar told us sometime back that in the absence of Tavayogi in the physical form, he would come to guide us. He did just that today. By midday, he had seen several of his devotees perform the Asanas and Pranayama practice that Tavayogi had taught us in 2008. He sat through the whole session observing, fine-tuning, and correcting them. He also imparted knowledge telling us that the preliminary benefit of these techniques was that it would widen the blood vessels, hence increasing the blood flow to the head and other parts of the body, cleansing and purifying it.  

He also spoke about the difference between blessings and grace. In the former, the Siddhas shall bless the wants and needs of the devotees irrespective if it was what the Siddhas wanted. But in the latter, when grace is bestowed on us, Prapanjam itself shall shower its riches. So choose wisely he told us. 

Several more devotees are supposed to turn up and place before him what they have learned and practiced. We shall await their participation too. 

Later in the evening several more devotees came around and did the practice as directed by Agathiyar. I guess he should be pleased. 

THE GURU COMES TO SAVE US

Today is a day that deems whether we would continue to be in the shadows and protection of the Siddhas, who are only too eager to take us on a journey within, or continue to succumb to the pull, tug, and lure of the external world. It was a decision left to us. Those who sought to stay around and have him mold them will turn up today to practice Asanas and Pranayama before him. As our parents let us roam the neighborhood, only to call us out as dusk approaches, so too Agathiyar came to claim his students last Thursday. This reminds us of the stories of the gurus' ever-watchful eyes watching over their disciples. We are blessed for we are the cow that jumped into the pond to save ourselves from the ferocious tiger. Balachander Aiya shared with me this story in August 2018.

Once upon a time, a cow went out to graze in the jungle. Suddenly, she noticed a tiger racing towards her. She turned and fled, fearing that at any moment the tiger would sink his claws into her. The cow desperately looked for someplace to escape and at last, saw a shallow pond. Barely evading the tiger’s reach, she jumped into the pond, and in the heat of the chase, the tiger blindly leaped after her. To the surprise of them both, the pond was extremely shallow yet filled with deep recesses of mud. After toppling over each other, the cow and the tiger found themselves a short distance apart, stuck in the mud up to their necks. Both had their heads above water but were unable to free themselves no matter how much they writhed. The tiger repeatedly snarled at the cow and roared, “I am going to enjoy the sound of crunching your bones between my teeth!” He thrashed about in a fury but soon became fretful as he found no prospect of escape. The cow thoughtfully laughed as the tiger struggled to free himself and asked him, "Do you have a master?”

The tiger disdainfully replied, “I am the king of the jungle. Why do you ask me if I have a master? I am the master!”

The cow said, "You may be the king of the jungle, but here all your power has failed to save your life.”

“And what about you?”, retorted the tiger. “You are going to die here in this mud too!”

The cow smiled mildly and said, “No, I am not.”

“If even I, the king of the jungle cannot free myself from this mud”, snapped the tiger, “Then how can you, an ordinary cow?”

The cow gently replied, “I cannot free myself from this mud, but my master can. When the sun sets and he finds me absent at home, he will come looking for me. Once he finds me, he will raise me up and escort me home to my sweet home.”

The tiger fell silent and coldly glared at the cow. Soon enough, the sun set, and the cow’s master arrived. He immediately recognized the plight she was in and lifted her to safety. As they walked home, the cow and the master both felt renewed gratitude for one another and pitied the tiger they both would have been happy to save if only the tiger had allowed them.

The Purport of the story:  The Cow represents a Surrendered Heart, the Tiger represents an Egoistic Mind, and the Master represents the Guru. The Mud represents the World, and the Chase represents the Struggle for Existence therein.

No matter how many troubles appear to be created by the egoistic minds of the world, who are themselves as stuck as the surrendered heart, ..the surrendered heart has faith that the Guru is always going to come at the right time to save her and take her back “home” - the inner happiness in us is pure and true home. So when totally stuck and helpless, when one has already done all one can and has no more means left, when every other effort fails, the surrendered heart still does not give up hope. She will just wait patiently until sundown.

On Tuesday 30 July 2019, I carried a post, "SAYONARA".

As I have written in my last post Agathiyar has revealed the way and showed us the escape route from the cycle of birth and death. The truth has been revealed. The theory is over. He is asking us to move on to practice what he has preached all these while, now. Or you can take it the other way too, after putting into practice all his tiny bits of advice, he has revealed the theory behind it. For those yet to come on board it is now up to them to place the effort and comply with the 5 facets of life. For the others, I pray that we can all continue with the task. Now he is moving us to another platform from the physical to that of the soul that takes place within. He shall guide further from within each one of us, individually, customized, and just made for each.  So it is time to say Sayonara for this group ATM too. Let us meet up sometime in the future and exchange notes on how we are faring in our spiritual journey. Thank you very much for being with us all this while.

It seemed this blog had bonded our souls forever as many readers were taken aback and wrote in then wanting to know the reason. Unknown to all of us the pandemic was to rear its ugly head in several months. Hence the message came on time.

We have read many stories of seekers coming to gurus and their monasteries to learn how to liberate the soul but instead were told to carry out chores and tasks. These seekers after some time would rebel and confront the master only to be told that doing the tasks at hand had elevated them unknowingly. A Zen Koan is often used to explain this experience.

A Master who lived as a hermit on a mountain was asked by a monk, “What is the Way?”

“What a fine mountain this is,” the master said in reply.

“I am not asking you about the mountain, but about the Way.”

“So long as you cannot go beyond the mountain, my son, you cannot reach the Way,” replied the master.

(Source: https://mindmastery.wordpress.com/2007/02/22/zen-koan-the-way-and-the-mountain/)

Similarly, rather than show us the overpowering mountain that was to be tackled, which at the onset would put us off believing that it was beyond our reach, he led us by the hand bringing us along on his walk, talking to us as we traveled, allowing us to stop to view the surrounding, permitting us to stop to take a rest, continue the walk and keeping us engrossed in the present. Eventually, without us realizing he had brought us to our destination where we stood atop the very mountain enjoying the magnificent view. We did not realize that we had come a long distance and had arrived atop the mountain peak! It is individual moments that come together to make time. We were brought to observe the 5 facets of wholesome living as desired by the divine for every man taking birth. These were not merely tools but a purpose in itself. Just as we were taken aback to realize that we had already reached the summit, the purpose of taking human birth was only made known to us after completing the journey. 

I and many others at AVM had a calling many years back. Agathiyar asked us to come to his path and follow his way. We took up the invitation. He gave us many tasks and chores to do as we traveled with him, never elaborating further or describing the benefits or results that one gains from doing it, until later, after we had put in hours of work and effort. He was not one to hang a carrot in front of the carriage to lure us on. He would direct and leave the option to us, whether we wanted to carry out his dictates. We did as he asked without questioning him. After years of apprenticeship with him finally, he reveals to us that all the tasks he gave us, were indeed the way and was indeed the journey. 

If coming to Agathiyar the seeking stopped, coming to Tavayogi the true journey began. When one comes to the end of his seeking for a path, among the many available out there, only then is his true path revealed. His true journey begins from where he has arrived and stands. Tutorship under a guru, learning compassion, doing charity, conducting puja, reciting the Siddha's names, performing the fire ritual or Homam and Yagam, and performing the bathing ritual or Abhisegam on the idols, all these were components of the first phase of our journey that we were asked to carry out. A massive task was made easy when he broke it up into tiny fragments and assignments. The first phase ended in September of 2019 when he brought the shutters down on AVM and had us go within to explore the soul. Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) saw a transition into Agathiyar Tapovanam Malaysia (ATM), a name given much earlier by Lord Muruga in 2018 in preparing us to embark on phase 2. The sayonara was to bid farewell to the first phase. We moved into the second phase. 

In the second phase of our journey, we began working on the soul and its journey back home. Lord Muruga came to do us justice in opening the heart chakra in us, bidding us to only surrender. Lord Muruga and Agathiyar saw through our souls' yearning to be released and become realized, though the "I" in us saw it not. Lord Muruga repeatedly asked us if we were ready to receive his initiation and if we had surrendered totally. To those who came with a confused state of mind and unsettled problems, he deferred the initiation to another time, saying it would do no good if given now.

Richard Schiffman in his "Sri Ramakrishna – A Prophet for the New Age", Paragon House, 1989, writes about how Ramakrishna handled his disciples. He loved them and was patient with them as they were all young, and forgiving. He saw in them youthful dedication and energy, earnestness, and sincerity, the very qualities that had fueled his own journey to God.

"He wished to nurture and bring to fruition these divine qualities within them. Ramakrishna through the purity of his vision saw through the thin veneer of personality and perceived directly the divine spark yearning for expression deep within these spiritual aspirants. Once he had seen that spark nothing that happened could convince him that it wasn't there. Once he had welcomed someone, he could never let them go, whatever came to pass. The contradictions, the shortcomings, the stumblings along the way, the thousand weaknesses that flesh is heir to, didn't matter. Only God mattered - God struggling fitfully within, yearning to be free of the bonds of the flesh."

"Each soul was an open book for him, and he knew all of its dark secrets and all of its bright possibilities. Ramakrishna did not measure a man by the same yardstick that the world uses. He saw how the best of men are rifled through with hidden failings, and how even the worst have the bright seed of redemption within them. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Ramakrishna had peered behind the curtain of the puppet theatre and observed the mother at work pulling all the strings that man in his ignorance imagines he holds himself. It was a vision that burnt to ashes any temptation to lay blame to judge or to condemn. The very act of seeing all was the act of forgiving all. Even to speak of forgiveness is too harsh; for in a world where God alone acts, what is there to forgive, and who is there to be forgiven?"

S. Parthasarathy wrote in his book, BIOGRAPHY OF YOGI RAMSURATKUMAR - THE GODCHILD OF TIRUVANNAMALAI (AMARAKAVIYAM),

‘In later years Yogi Ramsuratkumar said “Nobody can love this beggar like my Father Swami Ramdas and nobody can torture this beggar like my Father Swami Ramdas. My Father killed this beggar because He loved this beggar. This beggar died at the holy lotus feet of my father Swami Ramdas in the year 1952. After that my Father alone exists and not this beggar. This name Yogi Ramsuratkumar is not this beggar’s name; it is the name of my Father. Father would always shower his grace on the people who remember this name.’

“The King Bee would bring any potential worm to its nest and would sting all the time till it becomes another King Bee. Likewise, a Guru also works on his disciples till the disciples get the state of the Guru. The process is painful but there is no escape.” 

So did he come to remind us not to topple over after we have reached the summit for it would be a wasted effort making the climb. Seeing that his students were still honeymooning, Agathiyar came as the headmaster with a cane to have us buck up and see through the schooling successfully, for the very institution's name and pride lay at stake with those who professed and took up the path of the Siddhas. Deep within it was love that moved him to move us and bring us from the mud and save us from the tiger. 

WORKING ON THE TRANSFORMATION

When Agathiyar, raising his voice, went around asking each one of us why we came to the Siddha Margam or path last Thursday, he was, in fact, schooling us. My wife asked me the same question too today. I shrugged my shoulders and replied I didn't know. She too replied that she did not know. Though some might have had the curiosity to know or circumstances might have brought them before the Siddhas, she was asked to come to the worship of the Siddhas by Tavayogi in 2005 after I took up the call in the Nadi reading in 2002. I did not know what was in store for me and where I was headed for the first two years. However, I took the initiative to learn by visiting movements associated with Agathiyar and from much reading. It was after my second Nadi reading in 2005 that the Siddhas regularly updated me and kept track of me and the practices that they gave in subsequent Nadi readings. Though he had painted a wonderful picture of the future, in the numerous Aasi Nadi readings, I carried on with what was told, never a moment stopping to fantasize about the future. When Agathiyar asked that we commission his bronze statue in Swamimalai and have it brought over to the Sri Raghavendra Mritiga Brindavanam under construction then, we followed as told. But he later changed his mind and stayed put at my home. He then sent Bala Chandran over to witness and participate in our Pornami Puja after his Nadi reading in 2013. Bala in turn brought his schoolmates and colleagues from his group Thondu Seivom. Hence Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) was born. We all followed his directives as told. We never laid sight of what was in store for us ahead or sought to know what was to come. We were dedicated to the cause and task on hand that was given by Agathiyar and nothing more. So it surprised us all when Agathiyar asked the whole lot why we came to his path? 

I realized that he intended to know how much we had learned in coming to the path, as there was not much learning per se since it was becoming rather a mechanical routine and a duty or task that they performed. My wife told me that we were even getting high on doing puja and charity. Considering the above reasons, and fearing it would become another center to congregate,  Agathiyar made the painful move to dissolve the group hoping that they would be moved to make their home an Agathiyar Vanam too. But sadly it did not happen with some, though others carried on the tradition. They thought it was enough to pray and he would take care of them. That is purely Bakthi Marga. He wanted each of us to become a Siddha.  A Siddha has to do rituals and Yoga practice.

If Tavayogi asked us to come out of Bakthi, Agathiyar too, moving us to take up the Vaasi practice seriously, said the same, to the extent of asking us to let go of the hold we have on him. One might then ask just as my wife did, why bring us from temple worship as in Sariyai to Siddha worship and rituals as in Kriyai only to ask us to leave that too. Why did not they show us Yogam in the very first place? My wife asked me why he did not bring us to Yogam in the very first place instead of having us engage in temple worship, home worship, and rituals to the Siddhas only to ask us to drop them now. 

Though our perspective of the world around us is straightforward, innocent, and simple, it is rather complex on the subtle and unseen level for we each carry our baggage of Karma on this journey that has to be laid down first. So the Siddha has us go on pilgrimages and carry out remedies. As they say, no pain no gain, the effort placed relieves the burden to a certain extent. With the coming of the guru, he further unloads our baggage by having us carry out rituals personally. We take Karma into our own hands and work it out through further rituals that we conduct till it loses its potential and becomes inert. As Agathiyar told me as long as there was Karma and curses, one cannot reap the benefits of puja and Yogam, they have us go through Sariyai and Kriyai first. Only then can we take up Yogam and see its benefits. With the influences of the past Karma out of the way, he has us engage in Yogam that brings a total transformation within and without. This is their ideal in having us come this far. 

So when Agathiyar had me teach Mahindren and later instructed Mahindren to teach the rest just before he broke up AVM and the pandemic set in, his intention was to have us continue puja and the practice at home. I guess although some did it, others were not moved to carry them out. They gathered and carried out puja at AVM but were not moved to bring the puja into their homes. They never made the move to turn their individual homes into Agathiyar Vanam too as I had done and opened my doors to others. This was Tavayogi and Agathiyar's wish too. But it did not materialize. Hence the outburst on the part of Agathiyar a couple of days ago. Agathiyar told them that they had wasted some 2 1/2 years. I believe he was mad that besides not practicing they never listened to his advice and never executed his directives too. To those who carried on puja though, they became very much attached to the form and name that Agathiyar wished we would come out of and grow. They had to drop these attachments and move on to Yogam too. So Agathiyar had to come personally and school us into becoming obedient students and disciples, a criterion that is much needed on the Siddha path. 

SIVAM & VAALAI

Agathiyar has debunked the purpose of coming to the Siddha Margam or path or way. It is to know Sivam which is the breath. All other definitions, meanings, and purposes are secondary products derived from the inner transformation, its process, and chemical reactions. The breath is also known as Vaalai, that man, as usual, has given numerous names, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, limbs, and form, and began to worship says Agathiyar. The worship of Vaalai and Sivam is in truth worshipping our own breath. Hence we come to worship ourselves. We end temple worship, home worship, worshipping the gurus, worshipping the Siddhas, worshiping Vaalai and Prapanjam in the external world but instead take her hand and move within the body as the entire cosmos is within it too, says Tavayogi "Andathil Ullathu, Pindathil Ullathu".

Phew! What a wonderful and enlightening journey it has been for us. Agathiyar has revealed all things, clarified the grey areas, and corrected the wrong perspective. 

Agathiyar is saddened when he sees quarrels in families and broken families. He wants us to mend all ties and live a beautiful life besides setting the target and not deviating from reaching Sivam eventually. Indeed, our normal respiratory rate of 12 to 18 breaths per minute, and pulse rate of 60 to 100 beats per minute changes when we react to external conditions be it as at peace with ourselves and nature, agitated and angry, or in anxiety or worry or in pain and misery. He wants us to remain the same in all situations to safeguard our hearts and keep ourselves safe. I immediately reached out to the machines that monitor the oxygen level, pulse, and heartbeat. I was overjoyed to see all was fine, with the first standing at 95, the next at 90, and the last at 121/81. 

Agathiyar explained that the idea of getting married was to satisfy certain bodily changes that have to take place. In the event one wants to forego marriage, he or she has to submit to doing God's work which he added was not going to come easy too.

He wants us to give some time to our practice besides making a livelihood, bringing bread and water to the table, and taking a rest. It is because he loves us that he is going that extra mile and taking that extra trouble to see us through this journey of brief moments of happiness and sadness, pain and suffering, and bring us to a state of peace and calm, and joy and bliss that is lasting forever. 

Agathiyar had placed numerous markers in our path and journey. In asking us each and every time why he or she came to the Siddha path he did not mean that we were unwelcomed but questioned what we did after coming to it. Did we discover for ourselves the path or adopt the path, method, way, and practice given by them? If neither it was then a wasted journey of mere talk and gatherings without any evolvement on the level of the soul. 

Charting the journey he brings us to dump the past karma by carrying out remedies as in going on holy pilgrimages, where walking the first mile itself would tend to exhaust us and help shed the baggage we brought with us. Next, he has us shed the rest by walking with the guru in physical form. By learning and taking up rituals we bring enhancement to the self and the environment. In carrying out charity we become compassionate to other beings and creatures. Learning and practicing Yoga we start the internal journey that activates the chakras and brings us to know the self and settle in the breath. With this state comes the Siddhis that are thrown in which brings the ability to access information and heal others, and many others that are secondary and not important to a true seeker, aspirant, and sadhaka whose goal is as Agathiyar revealed last evening to become one with his breath that is Sivam and Vaalai.

THE PRACTICE

When we purchase a thing off the shelf we look for the expiry date. What is the expiry date stamped on each of us then? Even our parents who manufactured us do not know when this product would expire. What keeps us alive and moving? The breath. It is said in Siddha texts that we come with a certain number of breaths that once exhausted leave us as a corpse. Take away the breath we are just like any other commodity that has expired. The breath is what makes it unique differentiating between the dead and alive. So we are asked to breathe. But as it is we are breathing each moment, right? So why is Agathiyar pushing the young and middle-aged to practice Pranayama as if time was running out for them too? What has he foreseen but was not revealing? As it is he says they have wasted some precious 2 1/2 years. There is a lot of catching up to do. Just as both Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal often asked us to look into the pages of Tavayogi's book "Andamum Pindamum" for answers and an understanding of the tatwas, they point us to the techniques that Tavayogi showed us when he was in Malaysia in 2008. I personally did not anticipate the power of these practices that could release the dormant powers within one till I saw for myself with practice and after Agathiyar revealed the transformation in later years. Neither did Tavayogi beat the drum when handing us this treasure for Agathiyar in the Nadi told me that what I had received was indeed a treasure house and true riches. 

When I began practicing these Asanas and Pranayama I saw an immediate influx of breath coming within that felt like a balloon about to burst. It was rejuvenating traveling right to the tips of the limbs. What I did not know was that the blow of breaths awakened the sleeping fire in the Muladhara. It traveled to Manipuraka where it stagnated after some two years. It was only after another 10 years that it was released by the grace of the divine to travel to the summit and settle there. But Agathiyar warns that we have to constantly keep watch of our actions lest they fall back into the lower chakras and it would be a wasted effort. What after this? I do not have any idea nor do I want to speculate. The one who giveth this could also snatch it away. One wrong move and we lose it. He is watching each and every move of us. When Jnana Jothiamma asks Goddess Ma why a holy man who had deviated was still gaining attention and respect, she answers that people do not know that his powers have left him. So has the divine left him to fend for himself. The divine shall leave us the moment we default. He thrives on the earlier publicity and popularity earned. 

So as Tavayogi did, Agathiyar had me transfer the baton, having me teach Mahindren and instruct him to teach the rest. Arming them with this life-changing tool, he sent them off to practice pre pandemic. But it is pretty obvious that none did it looking at the thrashing they got from Agathiyar last Thursday. Agathiyar had Mahindren show them again. They are to report to Agathiyar every first Sunday after the Full moon and stage before him what they have practiced.