WE ARE MORE THAN THE EYE CAN SEE

When Agathiyar brushed aside my pain telling me that it was "paarisa peedhai" I realized that whatever pain and discomfort I have had as a result of my practices was not in the physical body but the energy body. But the places it appeared in made me worry if there was a medical problem. In fact, I had asked Suren who frequented India then to ask if Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar of Kallar Ashram could look into her Jeeva Nadi and identify if my problems were because of a medical issue, due to old age, or in fact the movement of energies. But though it was not answered then, Agathiyar, Dhanvantri, and Lord Murugan came and clarified that tattvas and energies could create havoc. Then we are told in the documentary film "Samadhi - The Pathless Path" that Carl Jung said, "To touch heaven one's roots must reach into hell",  out of the furnace of Babylon comes transformation, transfiguration, and new human potential. The Eastern traditions say that the lotus of awakening grows out of the mud of samskara, out of suffering.  What you see around you right now may seem like darkness, it may seem like madness. Actually, this is what awakening looks like on planet earth. What we are witnessing is a release of the old paradigm. You are witnessing the dismantling of old patterns. The collective samskaras or conditioned pattern creates the conditions of Maya. Many people are disillusioned with the current political, social, economic, and religious systems. This dispelling of illusion is a necessary part of seeing the truth."

And in a timely manner, Agathiyar just hours ago through Mahindren in explaining Sivavakiyar's song says the same. Due to man's inappropriate lifestyle, the Muladhara chakra or Kulam (pond or lake) has been dammed and prevented from flowing, with continuous practice of breathing techniques over time the chakras gain power or energy or Shakti. By continuing this one can become light and continue living as light, can become Brahmam in the Paraveli and reach the Holy Feet of Sivan who drank the poison.

மனிதனின் முறை அற்ற வாழ்வியல் முறையால் முடக்க பட்டுக் கிடக்கும் மூலாதார சக்ரம் (இங்குக் குளம் என்பது சக்கரத்தைக் குறிப்பதாகும்)
காலத்தினால் மேட்கொள்ளும் மூச்சி பயிற்சியினால் சக்கரம் சக்திகொள்ளும்
அப்படி செய்து வரவே ஒளியாகி வாழலாம் பரவெளியில் பிரமம் ஆகலாம் விஷம் குடித்த அந்தச் சிவனின் பாதம் அடையலாம்.

Agathiyar had some time back lamented that nobody is following the Siddha way or சித்தர் வாழ்கை நெறி முறைகள். We have shoved the Siddhas into the pages of history and into the large volumes of books that fill the shelves. Theirs remains a mere story to this day.  Michael Wood in speaking on Confucius in the "The Story of China", in the episode on "Ancestors" on BBC Earth, says of him, "Confucious is a living teacher in an unbroken tradition." Then sadly Michael moves on to say that "No ruler bought into Confucious's manifesto for change." Ramalinga Adigal too tried hard to bring change but left disappointed telling his followers that they had failed to listen and that the west shall catch up and pick up his teachings. 

Swami Muktananda in his "Kundalini - The Secret of Life", a Siddha Yoga Publication, published by the SYDA foundation, 1994, wrote the same.

"As Kundalini moves up through Sushumna, she transforms the body and makes it fit for spiritual sadhana; it is only after the body has been purified that the shakti can work with full force. The basis of all disease and pain is the impurities that block the flow of prana in the nadis. These blockages are caused by imbalances and disorders in the three bodily humors - wind, bile, and phlegm - due to undisciplined habits of eating and immoderate living. In order to purify the nadis, kundalini inspires the various Hatha yogic movements or kriyas, which take place in the physical body."

Indeed the breath has had total control of me, coming on and spontaneously moving my insides. There were times in the past when my limbs moved on their own accord or rather these energies moved my limbs. It took place at the Sri Jeganathar Alayam in Tapah several times. It happened at Lord Muruga's abode at Thannirmalai, Penang. And at the caves in Sungai Siput where I was caught off-guard and landed in a dark pit, missing some boulders by inches. The spot used to be where our Paramaguru and Tavayogi's guru Chitramuthu Adigal had meditated. It happened at temples in India too.

The Siddhas brought us to the realization that we are not solely the Annamaya Kosa. You need the energy to move a thing. The prana and Pranamaya Kosa are the energy body that moves the physical. So what is this "I" then? Is it the physical body or the Pranayama Kosa? We cannot possibly be the body or the energy alone for we have a mind that thinks and drives the energy to move the body. So are we then the Manomaya Kosa? But wait a minute! We realize that there is someone driving our thoughts, driving us to think, analyze, judge, and opine. So are we the Vignanamaya Kosa then? 

This body is lifeless without the energy derived from prana in food, water, and sunlight. This body is lifeless without the energy of the Pranayama Kosa. This body is lifeless without the Manomaya Kosa too. We turn into idiots without the Vignanamaya Kosa. All the experience gained through this composite body of 4 Kosas leads us to joy when it connects with the pleasures derived from the sense organs and bliss when it connects with the divine experiences. When we become drenched in the bliss that sheath of bliss is Anandamaya Kosa. 

We are told that we are by nature a buddha or divine. We are the Atma, pure in nature. The Atma is only seen to be separate from the Paramatma when it leaves the home to stay with the Annamaya Kosa and Pranamaya Kosa momentarily just as a teen is eager to move out of his parent's home to gain his own experiences and supposedly be free. As Tavayogi says we need the body to know the breath, and we check the breath to ascertain if there is life in the body, both Annamaya and Pranayama Kosas are essential to exist and for survival. This is the state of plants and animals. Man has an added faculty that of the Manomaya Kosa to think. He is then gifted with the Arivu or intelligence that is the Vignanamaya Kosa so that he makes wise decisions. The wisdom in him leads him to know his Atma that is forever in a state of bliss in the Anandamaya Kosa.