The Siddha path is one of practical living. It encompasses the art of taking care of the body (udal), breath (uyir), and soul (atma). It draws ways to keep the body intact without deteriorating and prolonging the breath that sustains life in us. It enlightens us of the atma that dwells in us. This is passed on by way of mouth as in the guru disciple lineage or guru sishya parambara. We are blessed if we come under the tutelage of a Siddha guru preferably directly under the mystical 18 Siddhas. I was blessed to have Tavayogi come in the physical form and guide and lead me and others on. Then after his demise, the Siddhas graced my home personally. For instance, Agathiyar speaking through a devotee to a couple, after having given them much guidance in their family life, called out to Tirumular to come. He pointed to his left and asked the Siddha to join him. After that, he called out to Bhogar and asked him to take his place on his right. Seeing these Siddhas take their place in my small prayer room, I backed up towards the door standing some distance. But the most compassionate father invited me into the circle and honored this sinner too.
The AVM family were regular followers of the Nadi. But as if he knew the coming of the pandemic in a timely manner in late 2019 Agathiyar began to switch his mode of communication replacing the Nadi readings by coming directly through his devotees. Since then the message came through his messengers minus the instrument of the Nadi and its readers. Such messages come through other means too. For instance, watching the movie "The Gospel of John" I could see similarities in the lives and the messages of Jesus and Ramalinga Adigal. For instance in the "Gospel of John" (https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/john/2/)
"13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken",
when Jesus tells them to bring down the temple and that he shall raise it in 3 days he is asked how could he perform the feat in 3 days when they took 46 years to build the temple. But we are told that what Jesus meant was his body and his resurrection that was to come. The Siddhas too have spoken of the body as being the temple. Ramalinga Adigal has sung that the dead shall arise. Gnanabharathi in his well-researched book "Tamil Mannin Thanthai" writes that Ramalinga Adigal came in his form some 28 years later in 1902 after he "merged" with Arutperunjothi Aandavar in 1874 specifically to give darshan to his faithful disciple Kalpattu Aiya and to place him in samadhi. He fulfilled his promise to his followers that he shall come again. When Ramalinga Adigal materialized on 26.4.1902 (http://www.vallalarspace.com/Space/list/653), Kalpathu Aiya was overjoyed in seeing Ramalinga Adigal appear before he dropped his mortal form. Ramalinga Adigal is said to have seen to his disciple's samadhi rites and stayed for 3 days in the physical form before de-materializing again. Jesus knew the role his disciples had to play in his life. One of them had to betray him. Another chose to believe only when he saw the 5 marks on Jesus and only then was he convinced. Similarly, Ramalinga Adigal was disappointed at his followers too except for three namely Kalpattu Aiya, Subburaaya Paradesi, and Kattamuthupalaiyam Narayanar. Others went against his directives and wishes opening up the Satya Gnana Sabai although he had locked the doors to it earlier.
A great revelation came further by way of Vashisht Vaid's blog. Reading some portions of this immense volume, we could understand and relate to how we were trained to conduct ourselves in the matters of the world without the least knowledge that what we did was covered in the sacred sermon that Agathiyar gave to the assembly of sages on man's role and purpose. The common man who lives in this world of Sariyai farms the lands and cares for the herds etc, while the rich adorns jewels and gems and the priestly serves God. In coming to Kriyai the former brings his harvest and offers it to God while the latter sponsors and conducts the rituals respectively. In coming to Yogam they transcend race and religion and irrespective of creed and status, they learn to bring their body, mind, and breath under their control, mastering them. This is exactly in tandem with what Agathiyar spoke at the assembly of the sages in the past. Man of the world shall adorn silk and jewels so that he raises them to a higher level of evolution through their association in covering and adorning them. This explains why we dress our deities in silk, garland them with flowers and adorn them in jewelry too. The very association with the idol of the deity raises the stature of these offerings. It also explains why animals are closely associated with the deities and are prime in our worship. Even the dead branch is given a new lease of life as it is thrown into the fire pit of the yagam and homam and is raised to another level. Then Agathiyar calls on man to assist fellow humans too. Man begins to engage in Karma yoga. Man shall go out to help strangers who do not have any blood relationship hence uplifting their lives too, raising their standard of living, and seeing to it that they have at least a decent meal and a roof over their heads. Man shall remember his ancestors and worship them and those raised to a divine state as in the village deities, ancestral deities, etc. And for those in the way of the guru shall worship the whole lineage of gurus and observe the auspicious days and their Jayanthi. Man shall then come to believe and worship God, the almighty and come to know his purpose in coming here and his role in the divine play. These are the 5 tenets that Agathiyar drew up for mankind.
We have read of the famous koan that goes "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is."
"During the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese Ch’an [Zen in Japanese] master Qingyuan Weixin famously wrote: “Before I had studied Ch’an for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. But now that I have got its very substance, I am at rest. For it’s just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and rivers once again as rivers.” (Source: https://tricycle.org/magazine/first-there-mountain-then-there-no-mountain/)
In the beginning, we are skeptical, asking ourselves how can God be in a piece of wood, stone, or metal. But we go with the flow as idol worship was introduced by our parents and their parents before them. In engaging in Kriyai later we realize that it is indeed possible to energize everything around us by way of chanting mantras, reciting hymns, worshipping copper yantras, doing libation to stone and metal deities, conducting yagam and homams, etc. Moving into yoga we begin to experience this energy within. Finally, in attaining the state of gnanam we begin to see this energy of God in everything. We shall see him in the stone and metal again but this time we know it to be true. That is gaining Gnanam. The mountain is a mountain again. This is the state of the gnanis. For a gnani or man of divine wisdom, he sees and feels the energy and vibration and God's presence in every cell and atom acknowledging the age-old saying "Tunilum irupaan, turumbilum iruppaan" (தூணிலும் இருப்பான் துரும்பிலும் இருப்பான்).
My masters were very liberal with me. While some seekers had asked me after reading my earlier websites on the Kallar ashram if it had lodging facilities and if they had to make payments, as Agathiyar in the Nadi had asked me to spend some days at Kallar ashram to experience the ashramite life first hand I threw caution to the wind as I knew I was in safehands and opted to forego the comfort that I already had back home in the city for the awaited ashram experience. When I arrived at Kallar in 2005 Tavayogi gave me the option whether I wanted to bath in the bathroom erected at the ashram, especially for Malaysians he said who are used to the comforts in life or take a bath in the mineral-rich waters of the river that cruised and flowed nearby that had had its source in the upper fringes of Ooty. I opted for the latter. We washed our soiled clothes too in the river. When deciding where to take me Tavayogi asked me if I wanted to go visit some living Swamiji's in Ooty or to the caves. I picked the latter. We stayed overnight in the caves in the jungles. Similarly, when I was in Supramania Swami's village home at Nachaananthal some 8 km away from Tiruvannamalai town center, Swami had obtained permission for me to stay in an adjacent bungalow that they took care of for the owner who resided in the city. I opted to stay with Swami in his humble home instead. I took my bath outdoors just like the others in a makeshift bathroom with thatched leaves that served as walls that provided minimum privacy. I had to walk some distance to ease myself for the call of nature, bringing a vessel of water along to wash up later.
When we see heads of missions or movements who seem to know every answer to every question put to them which at times makes us question its logic, my gurus Supramania Swami and Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal surprised me when they told me that they did not have any knowledge of certain matters that I raised and honorably admitted that they did not have the answers too. Supramania Swami admitted that he did not know Agathiyar and the Nadi. He listened with intent as I shared the contents of my Nadi reading during my second visit to him in 2005. He asked if he could have his Nadi read. This surprised me for being a gnani who could see the future why did he ask to see the Nadi? He had spoken about my future (that was revealed earlier by Agathiyar in my Nadi) the very first time I met him in 2003 without me mentioning it. As he was an astrologer too, neither did he ask for my birth details and chart my horoscope to predict the future. He did not read my palm either. He just sat there and spilled the beans and spun my life story before me. As for Tavayogi he told me he did know the answer to my question as to what Ramalinga Adigal meant when he told his followers and devotees that the dead shall arise again. This shows the humbleness in my gurus in admitting that there is much to learn as the old lady saint Avvai told us. We are indeed blessed to come under the care of the Siddhas and their watchful eyes. They shall not have us err.
