Dedication and discipline shall bring us far on this journey. Not seeking to gain personal benefits is a dash of flavor. The rests is garnishing that makes it presentable. Underlying all this is faith in his words and belief that he shall guide us through. The Siddha path has been made simple for us. Understanding the age we live in Agathiyar has formulated simple means to attain Siddhahood. Siddhis are things of the past. They are no more relevant in this age of technology and easy access to all things with a touch of the keys. We are reminded of someone showing off his ability to walk on water. A spectator defuses the excitement by taking a boat across the river. As live has been made more simpler and much work is covered in a jiffy, we can allocate more time to the thought of the divine. Our ancestors had to toil the ground all day long and come home to retire hardly able to allocate time for god. Yet they managed to include god in all their doings. We seem to have distanced god these days. God has become alien to us. Sariyai, Kriyai, and Yogam became the means to bring us back in touch with him.
Just as chicken, sheep and cattle is brought back into its pen at the end of the days grazing, man who is at liberty to seek and fulfil his desires and pleasures is shown his true abode upon attaining Gnanam. He settles in for the night knowing that he shall have a busy day ahead in another birth.
Sariyai brings us to the abode of God. Kriyai brings us to invite God into our homes. If the former is shown by our parents and ancestors, the latter is shown by the guru and his lineage. With Yogam, the body is made fit and turned into his abode. With his coming within Gnanam arises from within.
We go in search of a master or mentor once we have a yearning to know or learn something. On the otherhand, it is said that when the time is right the guru comes searching and looking us up. If the former quenches our thirst for bookish knowledge be it academic, religious, or spiritual, the latter brings us into unknown mystical realms. He draws the veil to show us our true self and our Atma. He draws us back into time both the past and the future.
Lahiri Mahasaya narrates how he was called over to his master's abode through a mysterious turn of events.
My first meeting with Babaji took place in my thirty-third year. In the autumn of 1861 I was stationed in Danapur as a government accountant in the Military Engineering Department.
One morning the office manager summoned me.
"Lahiri," he said, "a telegram has just come from our main office. You are to be transferred to Ranikhet, where an army post is now being established."
With one servant, I set out on the 500-mile trip. Traveling by horse and buggy, we arrived in thirty days at the Himalayan site of Ranikhet.
My office duties were not onerous; I was able to spend many hours roaming in the magnificent hills. A rumor reached me that great saints blessed the region with their presence; I felt a strong desire to see them.
During a ramble one early afternoon, I was astounded to hear a distant voice calling my name. I continued my vigorous upward climb on Drongiri Mountain. A slight uneasiness beset me at the thought that I might not be able to retrace my steps before darkness had descended over the jungle.
I finally reached a small clearing whose sides were dotted with caves. On one of the rocky ledges stood a smiling young man, extending his hand in welcome. I noticed with astonishment that, except for his copper-colored hair, he bore a remarkable resemblance to myself.
"Lahiri, you have come!", the saint addressed me affectionately in Hindi. "Rest here in this cave. It was I who called you."
I entered a neat little grotto which contained several woolen blankets and a few kamandulus (begging bowls).
"Lahiri, do you remember that seat?" The yogi pointed to a folded blanket in one corner.
"No, sir." Somewhat dazed at the strangeness of my adventure, I added, "I must leave now, before nightfall. I have business in the morning at my office."
The mysterious saint replied in English, "The office was brought for you, and not you for the office."
I was dumbfounded that this forest ascetic should not only speak English but also paraphrase the words of Christ.
"I see my telegram took effect." The yogi’s remark was incomprehensible to me; I inquired his meaning.
"I refer to the telegram that summoned you to these isolated parts. It was I who silently suggested to the mind of your superior officer that you be transferred to Ranikhet. When one feels his unity with mankind, all minds become transmitting stations through which he can work at will." He added gently, "Lahiri, surely this cave seems familiar to you?"
As I maintained a bewildered silence, the saint approached and struck me gently on the forehead. At his magnetic touch, a wondrous current swept through my brain, releasing the sweet seed-memories of my previous life.
"I remember!" My voice was half-choked with joyous sobs. "You are my guru Babaji, who has belonged to me always! Scenes of the past arise vividly in my mind; here in this cave I spent many years of my last incarnation!" As ineffable recollections overwhelmed me, I tearfully embraced my master’s feet.
(Source: http://www.crystalclarity.com/yogananda/chapter-34/)
Never did I expect to be summoned to the Siddhas cave and be jolted into a rare experience back in 2016. I have to thank Nathan for sharing the contents of his Nadi reading. Tavayogi and Mataji were in town then and they had made a visit to the southern tip of Malaysia and crossed over to Singapore to meet some devotees of Agathiyar. Nathan had a Jeeva Nadi reading then. In it he was asked to visit a Siddhas cave in Sungai Siput on a full moon day. When he relayed the matter to me both my wife and I were surprised as my wife was from this town and we hardly knew of the existance of the cave. Enquiring from her father he introduced us to the temple chairman who volunteered to bring us there. He drove us through an estate that was a private property and we emerged into a clearing after a long ride over bare terrain passing by oil palm trees. He stopped at the entrance to a cave. We were introduced to the priest and caretaker. The priest after a small ritual at the temple sited inside the cave volunteered to bring us into the deep chambers of the caves.
The rests is on video. My daughter as usual helped me to document our visits but least did we expect the divine to take charge of the show and put on a mystical show.
We came to know from the priest that Chitramuthu Adigal spent many years meditating in the cave. Chitramuthu Adigal was both Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal and Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar's guru. Agathiyar in Nathan's Nadi reading says Siddhas are still meditating here. The priests added that there is mention about this cave and Chitramuthu Adigal in the Nadi leaves at Kumbakonam. He pointed us to sea shells and corals on the floor of the cave, remnants of a sea bed from the past. I guess the water levels went down in the past to expose these caves now.
Subsequently we brought other devotees here too when we organized a spiritual tour later.
