Tirumoolar is one of the earliest among the 63 nayanmars. By western references he is considered to have lived in AD but many tamil historians date him to BC. We say that Saivam was flourishing during more than 2000 years but its is languishing now. Why? The principles and the base of Saivam is in Tirumoolar’s Tirumandiram. The principle tenet is Siva in The One and The Ultimate and this brings clarity to us. This is based purely on science and given with scientific evidence unlike other faiths which consider science as separate and do not have answers to even basic scientific questions and facts. But we do not know the existence of neither this text nor realize that the everyday traditions and culture which are based on Saivam.
Siva as Vaitheeswaran, The Healer
Vaishnavam which has 25 tatuvams is encompassed inside the 36 tatuvams of Saivam. Vaishnavam is not separate from Saivam but a part of it. The maya is above the 25 purusha tatuvams of Vaishnavam. Saivam goes beyond both 25 Vaishnava tatuvams and maya as well. Buddhism and Vaishnavism say suffering is overcome when maya is removed. One of the most important distinction between Saivam and all other faiths is that Saivam mentions ignorance as the root cause whereas others mention desire. That is why Siva is called Vaitheeswaran meaning The Healer.
For a snake bite, the blood flow is stopped to prevent the poison from spreading to the other parts of the body.
Similarly, Maya is a malaise given by God to prevent a bigger malaise from spreading all over.
This is to make us realize the root cause and understand how to attain liberation. This is from the Tirukural by Thiruvalluvar Deva Nayannar and his words espouse the Saivam principles.
Actions and underlying purpose
Tirumoolar had transmuted into a body of a cowherd who had died due to snake bite. But the question arises whether he died because of the snake bite or that he had exhausted his karma hence left the world? There is a purpose to everything that happens in the world. The action is visible to the naked eye, but the purpose is invisible. The action was the snake bite, and the purpose was the exhaustion of his karma. The worldly people are attached to the visible actions whereas Saiva Siddhanthis are attached to the invisible purpose. When Tirumoolar transmutes into the cowherd’s body, the poison is removed simply by the force of his penance. All the accumulated karmas over births can be removed simply by feeding once, an original Saivaite saint. But the problem is not only in finding one these days but also be blessed to have such an opportunity.
Possessions and experiences
He explains the experience he got from Siva and only those can be given as divine instructions.
Everything is given to us by Siva Peruman, but we claim proprietorship over everything. We simply forget that we came empty handed and we leave empty handed. If we help someone and they talk bad behind our backs, then we will stop helping that person. Whereas if that person is our child, we continue to help them because of our love. Similarly, Siva Peruman does the same but with infinite compassion. As our compassion for Siva increases, our sufferings decrease. One of the best gifts is to remember Siva in every moment. Even these divine instructions were received from Siva by tirumoolar.
Siva Peruman and Internal Worship
The bridge between the Padamukthi and Paramukthi is His Holy feet.
The experience of Siva called as Siva Anandam or Siva Anubhavam and is experienced in 2 ways by saints. One is via the physical senses, the beauty of this world and realize Siva in them called Padamukthi. The second is being apart from all this and experiencing in the astral plane called Paramukthi. Once a saint and his nephew were on a pilgrimage by foot. On the way the saint realized that he had forgotten his worship items. His nephew was more than willing to go all the way back and get the items. So, the saint was waiting under a tree and the local villagers who were passing by, started to gather around him. They asked if he needed anything to eat. Look at the way people are treating elders and saints. This was in the 17th century and not long back. The saint said that he does not eat without doing worship to God. The villagers were sad and insisted that he at least drink some milk. He then started to do worship by singing to God called as worship at the soul level. He sings that he went to the orchard to pick flowers but saw Siva in them instead. Hence, he did not have the heart to pluck the flowers and hurt Siva. Siva will come wherever you think He is, if done with complete devotion and a pure heart. The only question is that are we ready to surrender with complete devotion and a pure heart.
Holy River Ganges and its meaning
The original Ganges is Siva ’s bliss which flows like the river. The River Ganges water that is bought in a small jar after a pilgrimage, is His holy feet. The water at home which is transformed into river Ganges using mantras is The worldly truth. Tirumoolar says that for saints like him, Siva has shown them His Holy Abode (Siva logam) on earth itself.
Siddhars and Saivam
The Siva Siddhars do good to the world using the powers they have obtained from The Grace of Siva.
Siddhars are those who have gained one of the 8 possible powers by virtue of their penance and worship to Siva. Saivam asks questioningly if all Siddhars are on the path to Siva since some of them stop once they get these supernatural powers. They are focused on doing transmutations and alchemy for the either material or other gains. They are called Avasiddhars. Also, not all Siddhars share or have shared their secrets with the world for various reasons.
Compassion and Siva Peruman
Instead of getting something from Sivam, one should get Sivam from Sivam itself.
Saint Arunagirinathar sings that the people who are running behind materialistic things, when will they seek for Siva ’s grace. The reason why the Saivaite Saints compassion is huge because they have mixed with the infinite compassion of Siva. Oil and water do not mix, similarly only when we have compassion, will we mix with Siva ’s grace. Without compassion, there is no possibility to attain His holy feet. The stars twinkle in the night, but we do not see the starlight when the sun rises because it mixes with the sun light. This means that the starlight still exists but has mixed with the sunlight. Similarly, our compassion is like starlight when alone but becomes part of sun light when it mixes with Siva ’s grace. Siva cannot be understood using the five senses but only experience and realized.