I was living in my own world. The divine kept me well. I had a secure job, family, and a roof over our heads. I appreciated it and was grateful. Then he brought his devotees to my home after their Nadi readings. Some came of their own accord after they learned about my home puja. They brought their problems with them. Only then did I begin to see how complicated the lives of others are. They thought Agathiyar would listen to me convey their problems and bring them out of their misery. Others thought my puja and prayers could save the lives of those close and dear to them. Then both Tavayogi and Agathiyar set us on doing dharma or charity. This opened our eyes to the immediate surroundings further. If I had walked past a dying man or one living on the streets, I soon became aware of poverty and its grip on many. I shed tears silently as I fed the hungry and starving. And they were living in our midst, not on a distant planet. Then they brought out the compassion in us that extended borders and countries as did the pandemic expand its wings throughout the entire world. Relatives and friends became victims of this dreaded virus. I gave an ear though I knew that I was helpless except to pray that they recover. Lord Shiva out of mercy gave us the Mrityunjaya and Dhanvantri mantra to be recited as we perform the Homam. He did not say that the virus shall go away but told us that it shall keep us safe.
War, poverty, and suffering have been in existence, just that we were not aware of them in the past as in the times of yore we did not know what was beyond the hills and mountains and did not have access to media. With the coming of satellites beaming in images and drones showing us a bigger view, and the internet bringing these images into our living rooms, we are shown the extent of suffering that mankind goes through.
Seeking answers, Agathiyar tells us that they had brought down on them the unfavorable actions from their previous lives. As to why others were having a jolly good time, he tells us that they had earned it, again from their past actions. But they were crooks down to the core and they are living well someone lamented. He hushes us up telling us that we would not understand the long link and chain of actions and reactions that form the web of karma. We were asked not to question the blueprint on the socioeconomic status of humankind either. Tavayogi too told us that life was not a math problem to be solved but one that had to be lived and seen through. We had come for these experiences too writes Neale Donald Walsch in his series of books titled "Conversation with God." Though we were not to question the reasons for a man's fate, Agathiyar through his 5 tenets to mankind asked that we help another be it man, animal, plant, or mineral to rise in the chain of evolution. We could make a difference. But then how much do we involve to change the fate and destiny of another?
If we are told that it is rare to have a human birth that even the gods are yearning for, what went wrong with those who had a chance to come back? Have we forgotten our purpose here and become distracted by the lure of Maya?
But Maya or illusion is so real. It is so real that we fall for it. It brings us to act. Every action then starts a reaction. Though it never ends once we reach the spot we come to know that it was merely a mirage. When seen from afar its lure pulls us to it. But arriving there we realized that it does not exist. It was a deception. I believe no effort on our part can break the hold of our former actions but only with the grace of the divine. But before that, we are called to surrender to him all our present actions. Before we can bring ourselves to truly surrender to the divine we need to know him first. Hence the reason we are asked to believe first and have faith in him. With belief and faith, we shall seek to find ways to engage and communicate with him. Devotion begins to grow then. Devotion opens up compassion within. With compassion comes love. With love comes his grace. With his grace, we can battle on or rather the obstacles are cleared and the veil disappears. Maya loses its hold or grip on us. We see the truth.
I think all the world's problems will not end overnight. The only way to escape is to opt out of this world. We each have to leave or escape from its clutches. Even the saints could not find solutions or an end to man's troubles. The saints found salvation for themselves. Having failed in convincing man of coming out of the ways they left to seek solace and peace at the feet of the divine. Even Ramalinga Adigal could go as much as built the Satya Dharma Salai and feed the hunger and speak about compassion. He realized that he could not move the people around him. Disappointed he shut his door and left. How many of his followers managed to keep up with him in his dream and eventual journey of realization? They were keener on taking over his establishments and writings. We can never turn around the world. We can only turn around ourselves and look for the escape route. This is what the saints did too. When others refused to toe the line, they left them behind. Agathiyar too at one juncture told us to move on and not wait for others to catch up for then our journey shall be delayed he said.
I guess the hold of Maya is so great on us that we cannot come out of it on our own. We need his grace to break the chain that keeps us chained. His grace comes with the yearning to be with him and do his work. I guess we need the divine to put all of us to sleep instantaneously and concurrently and find ourselves awaken to a new world. This was what was predicted would happen in 2012 and postponed to 2018. But it did not take place. Who can decipher the workings of the divine? Who can fathom his lila or play?
Indeed it is all a play. For want of answers to our sufferings, we are told that we had brought it on ourselves. Then we are shown means and ways to shed the hold of our past actions that brings us places and meet more people. We start to add on good actions that bring on good merits. The scale is then balanced. What next we ask? Does that end the cycle we ask? But it appeases only one of our past births we are told. What about the actions of the numerous other births? Then we are told about our actions that span Yugas. It is mind-boggling. No wonder Tavayogi says not to approach life as a math question. No wonder the Siddhas say never enquire the beginning and the end. Indeed no one knows when shall all these end too. For one who has answers to all these shall have left the face of the earth.
Agathiyar in his Agathiyar Gnanam sings that it is all Lord Shiva's play. Just as from confusion arises clarity we are expected to come out of it clean just like the budding lotus. So does Sivavakiyar attempts to bring us out of state. But it is still so vague to us. I guess we need their grace to fully understand these songs of the Siddhas.
What did Ramalinga Adigal mean when he mentions the verse the dead shall arise or "செத்தார் எழுவார்" numerous times in his songs. "செத்தார் எழுவார்" is not adorning a robe and taking on a new name but bringing on a change in the very molecular level in us. There comes a stage where our body undergoes a transformation and changes within the body, nay within the very cells where decoding or "perception or interpretation of messages" takes place first and some of the earlier data is erased and encoding or "creation of new text with specific messages" that replace them and finally recoding or "appropriation and application of these messages" take place. If previously the vibrations and the prana from the chants and the pranayama practices respectively cleansed the external and internals including the mind, a cleansing of the molecular level takes place at this stage. The body oozes out bodily fluids creating a stench. It resembles the stench of a dead body left exposed for days. Certain alterations to the body become visible and become a subject of conversation among the ignorant. I guess this is the reason the saints went into hiding, often some 12 years long until it all subsides. They then appear in public again. So one dies and arises again while living - not literally dead and buried and coming back to life, but undergoes this process of decay and springing back to life.
