Tag: divine instructions in thirumanthiram

Divine Instructions #9

Post author By MangaiyarkArasi
Post date July 3, 2021

Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash - A lighted lamp of the Goddess Devi, an important staple in every hindu home

we spoke about siddhars and siva siddhars in our previous post. They are capable of extraordinary feats which are beyond the realm of the physical body. But they are here neither to showcase those feats nor are they interested in them. They know that they have to stay in this world to burn off the last of their remaining karmas. Wherever they are, they remain in the state of Sivam. Thirumoolar impresses highly upon this. Whereas we consider rain, sunshine, wind, growth and decay as nature, Gnanis consider them as acts of Siva. They are in awe, adoration & complete devotion to each and every act of Siva.

In a state of God Consciousness, the Gnanis see God everywhere.

When you ask someone coming out of a temple about what they did, they will say that they prayed to God. The next logical question that is asked is, is God only in temple and not anywhere else? Does it actually mean that God is only in temple and not anywhere else? If He is everywhere then why does He stay in the temple? What then is the point of us going to the temple in the search of God? The subtle but simple difference is the state of consciousness that one is.

Choosing one’s Life

An old man narrates a story about his son and daughter in law. The old man’s wife had passed away and he lived alone in a city. His son and daughter-in-law lived in another city far away due to their work. They both pestered him to come over and stay with them since the old man was living alone. The old man was hesitant that he would no more be able to go to temples if he moved in with his son and his wife. But he made up his mind to go live with them since he was living alone. The first week was very pleasant with his son and daughter-in-law taking good care of him. So, the old man was happy and thought to himself that he will pass the end of his days with them. After some time, the problems started and there was a lot of tension in the house. When the old man highlighted this to his son, the son astonished the old man with his reply. He said that his father should adjust to the situation. After a month, the old man felt like he was lying on a bed of thorns. His daughter-in-law gave him lots of household chores and he felt like a slave. But he felt that he was doing this for this son and hence endured. Every day he went to a nearby ground and started chanting the mantras of his favourite temple deity in his home town. Soon enough he received a letter and a call asking him to come to attend a wedding in his hometown. His son was hesitant but finally agreed and bought round-trip tickets for his father. He insisted that his father come back soon after the wedding. The old man attended the wedding but do you think he went back to live with his son and his wife?

Greatness of Saints

We think that we can decide where to live and settle down. Saint Sundaramoorthy Nayanar thought that he would settle down in Thillai but we all know what followed. Saint Sundaramoorthy Nayanar did not enter Sirkazhi town simply because Saint Tirugnanasambandar was born there. It was out of utter devotion and respect that he did not want to desecrate the place with his presence. Saint Sundaramoorthy Nayanar was the one who lived alongside Siva Perumanin mount Kailash and His greatness is immeasurable. But his level of consciousness was such that He saw Saint Tirugnanasambarperuman as an embodiment of Siva himself and hence did not even enter the town.

The Past and the Present

A child will happily run, climb over and kick his/her parents but when grown up, will the same child do the same? That is level of maturity the child obtains on growing up. Similarly, Siva Siddhars are at such level of consciousness that they see Siva everywhere and not just in temples.

This world has been given to all living beings to live. But humans think other lives are not worth and hence kill without remorse. If we are expecting God to be compassionate with us, it is only logical that we show the same compassion to other living beings? Generally, we assume that we know the past and the present and can’t see into the future. Gnanis see everything as acts of Siva and hence see beyond the present. We think we know everything about the past and the present. We can’t even know why someone stopped speaking to us so how can we claim to know the past? We don’t know everything that is happening around us at present, so how can we claim to know the present? The only thing we know is that we think we know everything. But the reality is, we know neither the past nor the present and will not know the future. We will fool others, be fooled and fool ourselves with our ignorance.

The Gnanis transcend time and will not know even the difference between night and day. The Gnanis who have transcended time and mortals who haven’t find it impossible to communicate with each other. They peer into time and can see what karma each Atma will have to live through but will not say it. Man can never overcome nature and Thiru Gnana Sambandar Peruman even says that Sivam will not manifest in those who go against nature.

It’s only in harmony with nature will Sivam manifest in oneself.

There are so many temples whose agricultural lands have been usurped or unscrupulously taken over. It was customary in the days of our forefathers to offer the first harvest to the local temple. This ensured the well-being of the land and its people and water flowed in rivers. When these things stopped, nature’s bounty dwindled naturally as well and rivers run dry now. There are so many temples in which resources for performing a single puja is extremely hard to come by. This is the case for even the temples in which the nayanmars have sung songs about. Note that there are 6 pujas that need to be done at regular intervals every day.

The feeling of our tradition and culture should manifest in our hearts as temples are the cornerstone of our entire existence. When we disrespect the temples and the deities, we should be aware of the effects of it. Gnanis can see clearly how the one’s karma will come to roost and they also provide solutions to lesser or remove it. They have the authority to do so. But it has been converted into business by swindlers and ridiculed by others who have no understanding of the karmic principles.

The Panchakshara

Markendeya transcended death at 16 years of age by placing himself at the Feet of Siva. People ask how come Markendeya bowed at the Holy Feet when Siva Lingam supposedly does not seem to have one. Thiru Gnana Sambandar Peruman sings a wonderful verse in which he explains the five letter Panchakshara itself is the Holy Feet of Siva. Lord Siva kicked Yama with His feet while Markendaya was chanting “Om Nama Sivaya”. This is the meaning of the Holy Feet and there is no other greater companion than the five syllable Panchakshara in one’s life.

For them, He mentions that even though you don’t want to attain the Grace of Siva, chant at least the five syllabled “Panchakshara” mantra.

St. Thiru Gnana Sambandar sings in His last song that even though one might not know the entire vedas, all one needs to chant is “Nama Sivaya”. He invites the visitors and other bystanders at His wedding to attain the Holy Feet of Siva with Him. Even though many attained the grace of Siva due to Him, other still hesitated due to fear.

The True Bhakthi

Only when one leaves all bonds including oneself, does one attain the Holy feet of Siva. Only by losing oneself in Siva does one obtain the Grace of Siva. It’s much easier to let of things that we think as ours but it’s very difficult to let go of ourselves (the “I”). Bliss is only when one leaves everything and not when one has everything. We want to go to different places to enjoy ourselves and visit temples in the same vein meaning we want everything. There are then others who come to temples and jostle with others in the queue or think of all other worldly affairs while praying. They completely forget the purpose of coming to temples.

True bhakthi is when one forgets everything while entering temples.

A hunter must focus only on the target and not on things other than the target. St. Manickavasagar sings that only when He lost everything, He realised that none was of His own making. He realised that all was Siva’s making and that all acts are of and for Siva and never for oneself. That is why Gnanis never do anything for themselves. But this does not mean that they sit and do nothing rather they ask Siva for things that benefit the larger mankind and other living beings. Whereas we ask Siva to satisfy only our own self-interests and desires.

The entire idea is that one gives the best possible effort for each and every activity without expectations. If one’s actions does not bring in change, then one simply becomes a witness to the world.

Tags divine instructions in thirumanthiram, upadesam en

Tandiram 1 En Upadesam En

Divine Instructions #8

Post author By Meykandar
Post date May 2, 2021

Photo by Sachin Singh on Unsplash - A devotee offering morning prayers in the holy Ganga river at the triveni ghat, Rishikesh

We spend our entire lives without understanding why we have come into this world. A lot of questions and doubts arise at the twilight years for most of us. Whatever doubts, questions and fear that did not arise during the formative and youthful years, come home to roost in the twilight years. Did we live correctly ? Did we do the important things in life ? do we have any regrets ? all these doubts and fears arise during the twilight years. But Gnanis have a different view as they know that once they leave this physical body, they will be united with Siva. So, they associate with all Siva related activities during their stay in this world. Who is a Siva Siddhar and how do they look ? what are the differences between the Siddhars and the Siva Siddhars ? what is meant by Siddhars ? All these topics are dealt in depth in Thirumanthiram.

Goals in Life

There is a difference between Saiva Siddhantham and Siddhantha Saivam at the root. Siddhantha Saivam is a Samayam (note that this is different from Religion and has no word in the English lexicon) Whereas Saiva Siddhantham is a Tatuvam (Principle).Siddhantha Saivam is the destination and Saiva Siddhantham is the path. Hence Siva is not the destination but also the path. What would be a person’s response when you ask them their goal in life ? The generic response would be to buy a house, get married and settle down with kids. Some others will say that they would want to be independent till the end. Each one would have different goals in life. Saint Thirunavukkarasu sings that He had different goals at different stages in life. A youth studying in a university feels that getting a degree is her goal. A person who has a degree feels that getting a job is his goal. A person with a job feels that marriage is the next goal. A married person’s goal is to find a way to send his parents to a retirement home (sarcasm). As we can see, the goalposts keep on changing at different ages in life. Saint Appar sings that all these are not actual goals.

Understanding life and why we came here and focusing on attaining it, is the actual goal.

Are we really awake ?

There are so many life forms come into this world and depart from it. Is our life similar to other life forms ? Human beings are blessed with a 6^th Sense whereas other life forms have 5 senses. To shape our life to understand life itself and the reason for our birth, is the actual goal. Some people realize this at a young age, some during their teenage years but others not even in old age. What is Saivam ? this was asked to Thirumular. Some people think Saivam means people who are vegetarian. They mistakenly assume that it is an eating habit like vegan. Tirumoolar says that Saivam means becoming one with Siva. We all think we are clear headed when awake but we are actually sleep walking. If you ask someone if God is present, the person will reply doubtfully. When pressed, they will say that God is yet to give that person all that he has asked, so God may not be present. We all ask for so many things, but we never ask why we are here and what we are doing here in this world ? Saint Tirugnanasambandar asks these questions to Siva.

The meaning of Saint Tirugnanasambandar’s name is making the Atmas to become one with Siva in Gnanam.

Becoming one with Siva

Once we become one with Siva, we are freed from all suffering instantaneously. The first step is becoming one with Siva with relation to this physical body. In this state, we apply the holy ash (thiruneer), wear the Rudraksha, do prayer, do temple cleansing and related activities. All these are body related activities. The next step is becoming one with Siva in thoughts. This includes thinking about Siva, listening to Siva related songs, discourses etc., mixing with other Siva devotees. The third step is becoming one with Siva at the life level. The closer one is to Siva at this level, the atma has lesser bonds that bind it to suffering. The more we are suffering means we are farther from Siva. The more we think about Siva, the farther from suffering we are.

Whenever there is suffering, one should go to any of the thirumurais to associate oneself with Siva.

Traversing the tatuvams

Once we are accepted Siva as The One, then one should not accept any other god as the one. This does not mean one should insult or disrespect other gods. Siva is The Supreme and the realization that He is the beginning and the end of all and everything in between. We highlight that we are slaves to Siva the moment we apply the holy ash.

Once one starts in this path of Siva, compassion and love grows and wherever compassion and love are present, bliss manifests.

Veersaivars always wear the Siva lingam around their neck. They do not even allow others to watch while they are doing puja. They do not look at any other God other than Siva. We are all Saivaites, and we go to other temples. We even wait for a couple of days to get darshan at certain temples. But veera Saivaites are so devoted that they do not even think of other gods. Saint Tirugnanasambandar only thinks of the Holy feet of Siva. Traversing the tatuvams is not simple. Even overcoming the simple tatuvam related to the tongue is exceedingly difficult and we have 31 tatuvams to overcome. When one is soaked in devotion to Siva, then what one considers as an obstacle becomes a step to the Divine. When one devotes oneself to Siva at each and every level, stay close to Him at each and every opportunity then each tatuvam becomes a stepping stone. Siva Siddhars are those who have done so and reached the Holy Feet of Siva. One has to consider the tatuvams as steps in a ladder and climb over them, one by one.

Realisation of the CIT

When one says to overcome the tatuvam of the tongue, it does not mean one should stop eating or speak. It means that one understands and realizes what the tongue actually is and becomes stoic with it. The eye turns our gaze to even things that are far away. But the actual realization is that the eyes were given to gaze at Siva and Sivan Adiyargal. So, one should take care and keep it healthy to be able to perform such actions soaked in Siva(ness). What we require ultimately is to obtain Bliss. That bliss sprouts only in Siddhi (Cit). But this Cit is obscured by ignorance. When this ignorance is removed, bliss occurs naturally. Only in Saiva Neri, God is considered to be Cit. Other beliefs do not consider their gods as cit.

The ignorance that covers our Atma and prevents it from the realization of the Cit can only be removed by compassion (Anbu).

A rich and powerful man used to have lots of people working for him. He once went into a dark room and asked his goons to beat up and remove the darkness from the room. Will it work ? He then asked them to give money to darkness and remove it. Will it work ? he asked his goons to serve lots of food to darkness and remove it. Will it again work ? But when one brings a small lighted lamp into the room, it dispels the darkness. This shows that darkness can only be removed by Light. Hence the ignorance engulfing our Atma cannot be removed by education, knowledge, wealth, power etc., but only by compassion. Lots of people think that knowledge can remove or dispel ignorance. But we can see that people with lots of degrees or education are not the happiest people. When ignorance is removed, happiness should occur and shine through by default. That is why Brahma, the lord of knowledge could not find the head of Siva and Vishnu the lord of wealth, could not find the holy feet of Siva. When Brahma and Vishnu themselves could not see Siva with all their knowledge and wealth, what hope do we have ? It shows that these are useful only to show off in this material world and not more than that but will not take us to the Holy Feet of Siva.

“What’s the point of education and wealth if it does not lead one to the Holy Feet of God.”
Saint Thiruvalluvar Deva Nayannar

A child cries when a mother leaves for some errand. No matter how one tries to entertain the child with toys and sweets, the child still yearns for his/her mother. When the mother returns, the child becomes a bundle of happiness. Similarly, the Adiyars are like children who are always in state of Siva consciousness in every breath. They have no interest in the worldly affairs or material things but yearn only for Siva.

Adoration with compassion

Many people think that the statue in the temple is Sivam and its sufficient to just pray to the statue. But the actual meaning is far from it. What it is, is actually an embodiment of compassion. It waits day and nights and over eons hoping that someday, instead of looking outside we look inside ourselves. Siva means bliss. Siva devotion is Bliss. Lighting a lamp, offering a flower etc., is not meant to be just an action but an act of adoration with compassion. When one does such Siva devotion with compassion, all the suffering and desire wash away, and bliss starts sprouting. This bliss sprouts from time to time when one listens to Thevaram, does Siva pujai, thinks and talks about Siva and His Adiyars. The very fact that you are reading this is due to His Bliss and not because you decided to read this.

Without His Grace, one cannot even hope to know about Him.

The Siva Siddhars hence ask for nothing but that everything should lead to the Holy Feet of Siva. Whereas we consider each tatuvam to be an obstacle, the Siva Siddhars consider them as tools to obtain the Bliss of Siva. So, when they traverse each and every Tatuvam, they get a nectar of bliss. The Bliss is such that no words or emotions are enough to explain or express it. One can notice that energy simply in the company of Siva Siddhars.

Thinnanar was hunting a wild boar for a long time. After some time, the boar got tired and slowed down. Using this opportunity Thinnanar hunted down the wild boar. Once done, he remembered that he was both thirsty and hungry but had forgotten about it while hunting the boar. Similarly, we are running behind material things in life and forget about God while in pursuit. Soon, Thinnanar’s friends nanan and kanan arrived after some time. Kanan started preparing a fire to cook the boar and nanan went with Thinnanar to get some water. Thinnanar and nanan see a grove at a distance and walk at a good pace to get to the river beside the grove. While nearing the grove, they see a hill and nanan points out that it was the mount Kaalathi. Nanan then adds that Kudimi Devar resides in the same hilltop. Thinnanar’s eyes glow when he hears the name of Kudimi Devar, and he gets a burning desire to go see him. So nanan and Thinnanar cross the chest deep waters of the river. While crossing the river, nanan reminds Thinnanar that he should drink some water as he was thirsty. But Thinnanar was totally immersed with the thought of seeing Kudimi Devar that he forgot that he was thirsty. Thinnanar crossed the entire river without even drinking a drop of water. Soon Nanan started climbing and Thinnanar followed. Saint Sekkizhar writes eloquently that even though Thinnanar was following, his compassion was in front along with Nanan. Saint Sekkizhar highlights that the very act of climbing the steps was the act of traversing and overcoming the 36 tatuvams.

Only two things accompany one at the end of one’s life. Good and bad deeds. Nanan and Kanan are nothing but the good and bad karma.

Only by the virtue of Nanan, Thinnanar hears about Kudimi Devar and hence nanan here becomes the guru as well, by showing the path to Kudimi Devar.

Manifesting Bliss

Patinathar sings with melancholy that Thinnanar reached The Holy Feet of God in 6 days and wonders whether he has such level of devotion like Thinnanar. This does not mean one has to renounce everything and become a godly person. But one has to use these senses at every opportunity to pay obeisance to God at every step. The senses are just a medium and not the end in themselves. One obtains bliss while using the senses to pay obeisance to Siva without even expecting it. The tatuvams in a pure state gives bliss and tatuvams which are in an impure state give suffering.

The tatuvams move from an impure to pure state by one’s concerted action of adoration and devotion to Siva and hence bliss manifests.

Tags divine instructions in thirumanthiram, tirumoolar

Tandiram 1 En Upadesam En

Divine Instructions #7

Post author By Meykandar
Post date March 19, 2021

Photo by Avi Theret on Unsplash - A policeman stands guard at the entrance of Badrinath temple, Uttarkhand

Agamas and Tirumandiram

The canonical scripture which removes the 3 impurities of Anava, Kanman and Maya is called as Agamas. The liberation of the souls from the suffering and bestowing eternal bliss is called agama. One should not be sad that only 9 of the 28 agamas have been retrieved. Because it is not 28 different chapters but rather the same principles explained in different ways in the 28 agamas. Hence, the message of the 28 agamas is present in the 9 agamas and Tirumoolar has condensed them into Tirumandiram for our benefit.

The thread with 3000 fibers

Mandiram is called a thread because just as multiple fibers are weaved to form a thread, 3000 mandirams are weaved together to form Tirumandiram. Why should one read this? will they give us any benefit in life or free us from our sufferings? All things that we do in life are towards a purpose. Anything thought or word or action done without a purpose is considered useless as per our saints. We spend most of the time at least thinking of harm to others or other useless things. We think that no harm befalls from thinking harm to others. But we must remember that “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” and this applies to thoughts as well. This has been told by our saints long before Newton, but we prefer to hear it from foreigners who have just scratched the surface of science.

When one spends time in learning, listening, and thinking about canonical scriptures like Tirumandiram, one’s conscience and actions are being cleansed.

Tirumandiram as the 10^th scripture

Tirumandiram is the 10^th of the 12 Tirumurais. We all know the history of Tirumoolar. For him to transmute into the body of the cowherd, the cowherd must have had certain qualities. We take care of our own homes but care less about other’s homes. The cowherd was taking care of not only his cows but also other’s cows. Even more, he took care of them with love and compassion even though they were animals incapable of expressing themselves. That alone was qualification enough for Tirumoolar to transmute into moolan’s body. Tirumandiram was spoken by the soul and not the cowherd’s body. Like a speaker speaking through a microphone, the body is just a tool for the soul. Ya in Nama Sivaya is the representation of the soul. As per tamil lexical ordering, Ya is the 10^th alphabet hence Tirumandiram was placed as the 10^th scripture to show that the soul was the responsible for Tirumandiram.

Yogam in Tirumandiram

For many people, messages must be told on the run since most of us are hard pressed for time. Tirumoolar explains clearly who Siddhars are and explains the difference between the Avasiddhars and Sivasiddhars. Without Tirumandiram, it would have been impossible to understand the Yogam state. There are many scriptures that explain Sariyai and kriyai, but the qualifications of yogam, what it is, what is the end state of yogam, what are the yogam done these days etc. are clearly explained only in Tirumandiram. Even souls in mixed state with God, sometimes must stay in their physical body until their tasks are completed.

The 3000-year penance

How did Tirumoolar write these 3000 verses? Did he write it down himself or did his disciples write it down as he spoke? St. Sekkizhar says that Tirumoolar sang one verse per year. That gives us 3000 years for 3000 verses, meaning he lived for 3000 years. Now our question is that when so many life forms were to benefit from these, he should have done it faster than 3000 years for it to be useful? The person who saw the first verse would not have even seen the 100^th verse, forget the 3000^th verse.

One year is 365 days. 1 day is one morning and one night. Tirumoolar says he lived for hundreds of thousands of years. He also says that he lived in a place where there was no day and night. Then what calculation can be used to fathom that he wrote 1 song every year? We already have spoken about how Tirumoolar transmutes into the body of dead cowherd and guides the grieving cows to their homes. We also spoke about how he returns to find his original body missing and takes it as the act of thiruvarul of Siva and goes to the Thiruavaduthurai temple and prays to the temple deity. He then goes to the Arasu (Sthala vriksha) tree and sits in the specific yogic pose which roughly translates to sitting like a monkey on its coiled tail. The actual meaning of this pose means sitting in yoga. But there would have been no songs if Tirumoolar has sat in yoga for eternity, So Siva Peruman moves him from his meditative state to the worldly state once a year, at the end of which a song comes out. In the yogic state, time ceases to exist as the Atma transcends time and the body remains in a state of suspended animation. The kundalini rises through the base chakra to the chakra between the eyebrows. When it reaches this chakra, a drop of nectar of bliss drips onto the atma and the realization of truth occurs. The verses in Tirumandiram are such drops of blissful nectar.

Understanding the significance of this act

A saint is not involved in the worldly affairs in his meditative or yogic state. Only when he returns to the worldly state, does the world profit from his experiences. Saint Manickavasagar did not give us the Thiruvasagam when he was in a state of bliss with Siva, but sang the heart moving verses of Thiruvasagam when released intermittently from the state of bliss by Siva Peruman Himself. Saint Manickavasagar himself sings that the verses of Thiruvasagam were like water that one drinks to subside the hiccups of separation from Siva Peruman.

A siddhar is one who gets the dharisanam(bliss) of Siva Logam wherever he is, without actually going anywhere.

Similarly, Tirumoolar also wrote his verses only when Siva Peruman released him intermittently from his yogic state into the worldly affairs. We are joyous and profit only when a saint involves himself in the worldly affairs just as dark clouds bring the life-giving rain. If the dark clouds keep on moving without stopping to give us rain, only drought will ensue.

Karma and body

A person living in the plains should build houses suited for the plains just as a person living in the mountains builds houses suited for that environment. Similarly, the body is given depending on the different planes or dimensions of existence. Let us look at the concept of heaven and hell. Let us say a person accumulates lots of karma in the current birth such that there is so much karmic backlog. When there is a lot of negative karma, all the karmic cases are dealt in one go and hence the concept of hell to clean up the backlog and vice versa for good karma. Else there is no way that the backlog will ever be dealt for the benefit of the person to attain the Holy feet of the Lord. We keep on accumulating new karma in every birth and as long as there’s karmic balance in one’s account, the cycle of birth and death occurs like clockwork. Whether one believes in karma or not, is immaterial to karma itself. The sun does not stop shining because one believes that the earth is the center of the universe. Cause and effect are universal and is beyond the capabilities of understanding using the physical body and senses. But how does karma attach itself to the correct atma as karma is itself not an intelligent or sentient being ? does the entire karmic balance attach itself in one go or in multiple births ? these questions have been touched upon in the previous essays and will be revisited in the upcoming posts based on the topics.

One who detaches oneself from a worldly thought or thing, also removes oneself from the suffering that accompanies it.

Guru matters

Until the atma matures, the mantra is Nama Sivaya. Once the atma matures, it becomes Sivaya Nama. What then about Sivaya Siva? That mantra is said at the astral body level and is beyond the physical realm. Lord Dakshinamurthy seems to be sitting with eyes closed but when one sits down and looks up at Him, one can clearly notice that His eyes are looking down to us. He transmitted the divine wisdom of the Vedas and agamas to the 7 saints without even uttering a single word. A disciple gets good wisdom based on his guru. A goat teaches its kid to chew small leaves whereas an elephant teaches its kid to break down the entire stems. Similarly, Tirumoolar is like an elephant teaching us the divine wisdom of the agamas through Tirumandiram.

Even when one performs penance like a mountain, if one cannot overcome the sense of taste then that penance is like tamarind paste in a fast-flowing river.
Vallalar Adigal

Putting one’s faith in the Lord.

Why do we need magic or sorcery? All we need is liberation from the cycle of life and death and hence from suffering. If only really desires everlasting bliss, then find the one that can not only liberate from this cycle of life and death but also give everlasting bliss. The Lord is bliss personified for those who suffer. He will come if you talk to Him. There is no need to be suspicious because He is everywhere, and He listens to those who talk to Him. We are ready to trust our lives to drivers or pilots etc. but ask a thousand questions to trust our lives to The Lord Himself. This hypocrisy is glaring and beggars belief for those with even an iota of common sense and can be simply be attributed to ignorance.

We have taken a million births and still cannot overcome even one tatuvam. And we have a million more.

Character, action, and judgement

We judge people by their actions. Those who do good actions are good people and those who do bad actions are bad people. The other way is to judge the action by the person doing it. Vaali the monkey king, keeps asking a thousand questions to Lord Rama while his brother Lakshmanan was standing beside him. Vaali was the one who coveted the wife of his brother and hence a war ensued between the vanara clans. After a lot of discussion, vaali finally concedes to the fact that since it was Lord Rama who came to solve the issue, the action is dharmic. The action of Lord Rama here is judged to be dharmic simply because Lord Rama himself is dharmic. Similarly, when St. Manickavasagar sings that Lord Siva will come to listen to us, then the words of St. Manickavasagar is true simply because St. Manickavasagar himself is truth.

The daily practice

Our senses are made from maya. Only when one transcends the maya, karma and anavam can be removed. But once we transcend the Maya, Siva Himself helps us to overcome the Karma and anavam. Why does one need to practice every day to sublimate the senses? It is like rifle training. One practices every day to shoot at target practice. The real purpose of the target practice is to fight against adversaries and protect the borders. Similarly, the target is maya and we practice hitting it and sublimate the senses, daily. But the real adversary is anavam for which we prepare every day. The overcoming of the 36 tatuvams is like climbing a ladder which has 36 steps and leads to mukthi.

Mukthi is only when one transcends the 36 Tatuvams.

Tags divine instructions in thirumanthiram, tirumoolar

Tandiram 1 En Upadesam En

Divine Instructions #6

Post author By Meykandar
Post date October 21, 2020

Photo by Julien Mussard on Unsplash - Beautiful Hindu temple at Reunion Islands

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 17^th 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.

Tags divine instructions in thirumanthiram, essays on Thirumanthiram

Tandiram 1 En Upadesam En

Divine Instructions #5

Post author By Meykandar
Post date September 20, 2020

Photo by thekliks photos on Unsplash - The gopuram at Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple, Srirangam, Tamil Nadu

Agamas is said to be in 3 levels. In the form of Tandirams or mantras or divine instructions. Tandiram is a wide field in which mantras are encompassed. And finally, divine instructions are encompassed within the mantras. The soul’s conscience is the reason why Sivam encompasses the soul within Himself. If the soul was inanimate, then there would be no need to do the same.

Our understanding of God

In our daily life, we have so many problems. And many of them continue for days altogether without any respite in sight. Amidst all this, the soul subconsciously searches for The Ultimate for realization. There is a fundamental difference between how we have understood God and how the canonical scriptures explain the understanding of God.

When Saints talk about the body, they are talking about the astral body and not the physical body.

When someone saves us from trouble, we tell that god came in the form of that person and saved us. Hence our definition is that God is someone who saves us from our troubles. All our troubles manifest in the form of physical or mental harm. God gives us this body and then He says that realization is only if we let go of the same. This is confusing. How many hues or shades of a color, the eye can distinguish. That much finesse has been given to us through these physical senses. But why did He give all this if He meant us to give up this body? The physical body is a shirt that one changes often and is given by our parents.

Physical and astral body

How often do we even know what we have seen? how often do we often realize whether we have seen anything at all? Even though two persons see a tree, one does not remember whereas the other does. Why? Because one saw only with the physical body whereas the other saw with the astral body. The astral body is where the Manas resides and hence the second person registers the same at the Manas level. This means that the physical body and the underlying body must be in sync for the experience to register. The astral body is the one given by God whereas the physical body is the one given by parents. We discard and wear new shirts on every death and rebirth.

When Saints talk about discarding the body, they are talking about the astral body.

Those who commit suicide are only removing their physical body, but their astral body remains. That is a far worse scenario because our desires can be satisfied only with the physical body. Hence, they roam around without being able to satisfy their desires.

Traversing from the world, to Siva

We are doing yogam when we are with this physical body. Yogam means union. This type of yogam is called avayogam meaning union with worldly or transient pleasures. The other is Sivayogam which is union with Siva. When we are in avayogam, we are blind to Siva and we are blind to the world when in Sivayogam. One cannot directly jump from avayogam to Sivayogam because the gap is vast. It is difficult and the one that bridges the gap is called tavayogam. So, one goes from avayogam to Sivayogam via the bridge called tavayogam. Tavayogam consists of Sariyai, Kriyai and yogam.

Sariyai is doing temple worship, cleaning, lighting lamps, doing service to followers of Siva and other related activities. The simple truth is that doing service to Saints or followers of Siva bridges the gap much more easily. The yogam we get in Sariyai and Kriyai is different from the Sivayogam. It is not mandatory that the heart should be in sync with actions in Sariyai. Sariyai is worship at the external(puram) level.

In kriyai, worship is at the (agam)internal and (puram)external level and should unite in every activity. Worship in the form of reciting mantras, reciting the names of the lord etc.

The next is Yogam in which there are 8 different steps called Ashtanga yoga. Yogam is doing worship only internally.

Just as a mother will check the taste of the food before feeding her child but will not think about it for herself, the compassion increases when one rises through the steps.

But in simpler terms, Sariyai, kriyai and yogam are just indicators for the percentage of Love/compassion for God at each step. The higher one goes; the compassion increases exponentially.

Why the physical body?

He has given us this physical body to the astral body so that we can walk around this earth and satisfy our desires and then at least realize the transient nature of things.

Once the soul understands the compassion of the Lord, then the soul cannot be separated from God. We still think of Sivam like a supermarket where we can go and buy what we want. When we are linked with the body, we are haughty and all our lifestyles. When we fall unconsciously, we do not even remember or feel anything. Do we ask for a comfortable bed when unconscious? If we think deeply, all our experiences come from using this physical body. This is the gift of compassion that He has given us.

What is correct age for Temple worship?

One should go at the earliest when all the senses are fully functional and in good health.

Nearing death, the senses start failing one by one. Those who surrender to Siva wholeheartedly, will neither be afraid of death nor the suffering of death. We must warn Him that He bought us here and He must take us back without any suffering. Most people think that one should go to temples only when 2 or 3 of the 5 senses start malfunctioning. They think that old age is the ripe age to go to temples and do the yogams.

Having and experiencing are two different things

One can obtain everything from Siva at the physical level and that Is called Bhogam. But only when one experiences it with astral body that realization occurs and is called Yogam. Most people ask for wealth and other worldly pleasures. Even though they might get it, there is no guarantee that they will experience those pleasures. A person would have saved a lot of wealth but would not be able to experience it due to various circumstances. Do your duty with respect to family and society but always have Siva in the back of the mind.

A ship can be in the sea, but the sea should not be in the ship. Similarly, we can be in the world, but the world should not be in us.

A child going to the fair will look wide eyed at all the attractions but never let goes of her mother’s hand even for an instant. Similarly look at the world but never let go of Siva.

Opening one’s eyes

Just as we do not see a child growing everyday until he becomes an adult, listen to Tirumandiram so that the soul’s consciousness grows without us realizing it.

When people say that someone opened their eyes, what does it mean? It certainly does not mean the physical eyes but rather the realization which was until then not known to us even though it was in plain sight. This is because the soul cannot function by itself without the help of Siva. He dances in us so that we dance in this world. Due to ego, we can neither see nor realize the same. This ego can be removed only with the experiences in this world and hence, He has given us this body for the same.

Tags divine instructions in thirumanthiram, essays on Thirumanthiram

Tandiram 1 En Upadesam En

Divine Instructions #4

Post author By Meykandar
Post date September 12, 2020

Photo by Vineeth Vinod on Unsplash - Artists preparing for Theyyam dance for Kali, in Kerala

The metaphysical life and the physical body

There is the body and there is life, say some.

Tirumoolar asks them, “what is meant by dying?”

To which they reply, “the separation of the life from the body.”

Tirumoolar – “So you agree there is life inside the body?”

Them – “Yes.”

Tirumoolar – “so what happens to the body after death?”

Them – “the body breaks down into each of the 5 elements.”

“So the body which is made up of these 5 elements breaks down into them. But what happens to the life that was in the body?”
Tirumoolar

They looked stumped without a response.

Tirumoolar then explains – “Just as an inanimate object like the body mixes only with the 5 inanimate elements, the animate life will mix only with an animate Entity. That Animate Entity is Sivam and the life stays there temporarily until the next rebirth.”

The soul goes through the cycle of rebirth until it realizes the consciousness of Siva. Once it realizes Siva, it merges with Him in a state of bliss but still being separate from Him at the same time.

The attachment to the 5 senses makes the life/ soul desire the worldly pleasures. Just as someone who gets stuck in deep water because he does not know how to swim, the soul gets attached to the pleasures of the 5 senses. The soul wastes away its entire life drowning in these pleasures.

So, the question arises, “Where did the 5 senses originate from? Did the soul go looking for it?”

If I say, “God only gave those 5 senses” then the response will be “why did God give us the senses so that we drown in pleasures and then He comes and saves us via a guru?”

“The souls are the same and The God is One!”
Tirumoolar

But who gave us the 5 senses? That is the important question. People get different physical bodies depending on what they must live through because of their karma. Even though we might be different physically, the soul is the same. That is why Holy saints look only at the soul and not at the physical body.

Darkness hides the realization but reveals itself whereas ego hides both the realization and itself.

The souls are here to remove the ego to which they have attached themselves. Siva helps to remove the ego through His immeasurable compassion.

We all refuse to accept that we have egos in our day to day lives, even for simple things. That is why it is so difficult to remove oneself from ego. That is why Siva gently removes the ego through His Grace.

The important point to note here is that Siva’s capability is never in question but are we willing to realize our own ego and subsequently our own ignorance?

Some will ask, “Why does He not remove it all in one go? It would be easier for everyone. Isn’t He capable of doing it?”

Ego and free will

How can you help someone who needs help but does not want to be helped? There is this story of a pious man taking a boat to cross the river. The boatman asks if everyone on the boat knows swimming. All nod their heads except the pious man who replies God will save him if anything happens. Unfortunately, the boat capsizes in the middle of the river and others start swimming to save themselves. The boatman tries to save the pious man, but he pushes him away saying God will come to save him. Another person tries the same but to no avail. One more person tries but the pious man pushes him away as well. Finally, the pious man drowns and reaches another dimension where he asks God why He did not save him?

God replies, “You fool, I sent help thrice, but you rejected it all.”

God helps those who help themselves.

Siva is ready to offer Grace, but the soul must not only be ready to be able to receive it but also should do it of its own accord. This is the concept of free will.

Appar sings beautifully about this with a reference to farming.

First the land must be tilled with the truth.

Secondly, the seeds of intent and will must be sowed.

Thirdly, the land must be de-weeded from corrupt thoughts and actions.

Fourth, the land must be watered with patience.

Finally, a fence of steadfastness and discipline must be put to protect the crop.

Those who do this, obtain Siva’s Grace.

The worldly experiences and the ego

Siva gives you what your soul desires because He knows there is no point in giving anything else which is not useful for the soul to reach maturity. It is like giving a gold-plated pen to a small child who does not need it. People are afraid that Siva will bestow His Grace. When those doing penance do not easily receive it, what is the point of giving it to those who do not even asking for it? The soul first reaches out to Siva to remove sufferings and satisfy desires in this worldly existence. Siva will definitely give what you ask, you just have to talk to Him. Only that His response might not always be in the form that you can comprehend. We must raise our level of awareness and consciousness to be able to perceive His response. The soul which keeps asking for solutions to worldly problems finally understands the worldly existence itself is the problem. Just as every month one pays dues for the house or car or other things, the soul keeps on paying its dues. The burden is released only when the entire loan is repaid. Similarly, the solution to worldly problems ends only when the karmic dues are paid. This is difficult to understand at first, so He lets us experience the world and continue paying the monthly installments. There is no other God with whom one can talk, like with Sivam. Just as we need to speak with each native speaker in their own language, the language of Sivam is Compassion.

The important thing is that the soul asks for release by its own free will, else the guru does not appear.

So, to help the soul extricate itself from the clutches of the ego, He gives a practical learning by giving the senses and the body to the soul. When the soul suffers from these experiences, He comes in the form of a guru and teaches the way to elevate oneself not only from suffering but also from the ego.

Definition of success

A man was walking in the jungle when he notices a tiger. He runs like a madman out of fear and stumbles on to a well. He descends into the well and holds onto a branch on the side of the well. He then notices that two rats are gnawing at the branch, the tiger is hungrily looking at him from the top and there are poisonous snakes at the bottom of the well. Suddenly a drop of honey falls on his lips from a tree above and for a moment, he forgets everything except the taste of sweet honey. Our life is also like this. The tiger chasing us is the ego, the snakes are our karma, the branch is our body created from maya and the two rats gnawing at it are day and night. Amidst all this, the superficial pleasures are the drops of honey which we assume to be life.

As soon as one realizes that all successes and failures are due to Him, only success occurs to them.

Why are we here? Have we done or doing anything worthy? These are questions to ask oneself, but does anyone really do it? Once we retire, others ask at what we have saved for retirement. If you say that you have saved Siva’s grace, you will be looked upon as an idiot. Only worldly success is considered as success and spiritual success is not even considered. It is indeed difficult to not only live in this society but also live apart from it. Society does not considered devotion as success. We should learn to place our successes and defeats at the Holy feet of Siva.

The forgotten treasure

This body is a treasure that needs to be used properly for spiritual success.

Once a king in disguise was riding through the forest and saw an old man cutting wood. The old man was carrying the wood with much difficulty. The king asked him about his sons to which the old man replied that his sons had gone afar for different reasons. So, he had to cut wood and sell the charcoal to support his wife. The king then went away and instructed his minister to give 100 sandalwood trees so that the old man can live his life in comfort. After a few years, the king met the old man and was surprised to see that he was still living in poverty. He asked the old man what he did with the 100 trees that he received. The old man said that, he had cut them down as usual to make charcoal and sell it for a living. The king was aghast and told the old man that the trees were sandalwood trees and that each one was worth a fortune. Fortunately, there was one tree left and the king advised the old man to sell it and take care of himself. Similarly, Siva has been giving us our bodies in each birth, but we just burn it in the cremation grounds. Hence, we should take care of this body and attain Siva using the same instead of burning it away in the cremation grounds.

Taming the heart

Siva has wrung out these beautiful verses from the nayanmars and the saints for our benefit, but we do not have time to listen to them.

The greatest impediment to this is our heart. If one can overcome the heart’s desires, then one can attain the successes of the spiritual plane. The heart is never always at the same place as the physical body. Only when the heart is at the same place as the body is, one will reap the benefits of one’s spiritual actions. That is why reading, listening, and singing the Tirumurais tempers the heart and brings it under control else the heart is always going behind the 5 senses. That is why even though saints and holy men live in our world with their 5 senses, the senses and their heart is under their control. Once the heart is under control, then bliss ensures. Also, when the saints see, drink, eat, smell, feel and experience they think of Sivam in all that. It is not mandatory for everyone to go the forest and dwell in caves, one can live anywhere with the control of the senses and the heart. Just as a corpse does not have any likes or dislikes, the saints live in that state.

Tags divine instructions in thirumanthiram, essays on Thirumanthiram

Tandiram 1 En Upadesam En

Divine Instructions #3

Post author By Meykandar
Post date July 13, 2020

Photo by Vikram Pataskar on Unsplash - Beautiful Statues disfigured by mughal invaders at Bhuleshwar temple, Maharashtra

The 9 Tandirams are a condensation of the 9 agamas out of the 28 agamas. The 28 agamas are complete in themselves and each Agamas holds the knowledge of the remaining 27 agamas. The important aspect of the Tandiram is the arrival of the Guru. The guru is the one who helps the disciple burns away the ignorance that surrounds him.

Worldly desires and suffering

We ask for pleasure and contentment in these binds but never ask for release from the same binds and reach His holy feet.

Whatever one says or efforts one takes, the soul will suffer until it reaches Siva. We will say that we will be happy if we have something we wanted or when we reach a certain goal. When we attain that, more problems come up. This will continue and this will not release one from suffering. We have seen this since an age of understanding, but we are not ready to believe it. We want Siva but also at the same time hanging on to worldly desires. Siva just laughs and watches how far the soul will go before it realizes the futility of its efforts to attain desires and solve its problems. Siva never utters that He is the ultimate that needs to be realized. Talk about humility. The more the soul desires, the more it goes deeper into suffering. Starts with one’s spouse, then increases to include children, grandchildren etc., we’ll say that once we reach a goal, then we’ll pray to God but that moment never arrives because life has its own way of throwing curve balls.

Compassion, impurities, and Grace

Hence, a guru comes over to clean the impurities so that the soul is ready to receive Siva.

Siva arrives once we are mature. No one needs to recommend it; He knows it by Himself. As human beings we have choices to ask from Him. What you ask for is based on your level of maturity. If one needs Siva’s grace, then one must have compassion. Sivaprakasar asks Manickavasagar to share some of the compassion that he has received from Siva and not to hoard it. Instead of asking for grace, they ask for compassion which paves the path for Grace itself. What a brilliant idea! Siva does not offer His Grace directly because the soul needs to be clean of its impurities to be able to receive His grace. That is where He comes in the form of a guru to remove those impurities. When an elder guest is coming over, we keep our house clean. imagine what should one do when we need to welcome Siva Himself?

The five actions of Siva

Whichever soul reaches that level of maturity, is liberated from the need for those 5 actions.

Creation, preservation, dissolution, concealment and revealing grace are the five actions of Siva. Why does Siva do this? Just as a cloth is washed to remove the impurities, then dried to remove the wetness and finally ironed to remove the creases, so does Siva perform these actions to remove the impurities and iron out the creases through feeding the experiences. These experiences are given in a measured way depending on the maturity of the soul. Lord Nataraja symbolizes these five actions through His dance. Tirumoolar says in one of his verses that Siva decided to stop the five actions, for him.

Daily living and cycle of life

Once the soul has been cleared of its impurities and reaches a level of maturity, Siva then bestows the revealing grace via Sakthi and removes the soul from this cycle.

Let us take the example of our daily lives. We wake up in the morning. Then we go around doing work and other things essential things for living. Then we go to sleep in the night. Like a prototype, our daily lives have been created to mimic the entire cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution. Though, most of the bad things are done by us during our waking hours when we are supposedly conscious and clear headed and hence suffer. Only during our sleeping hours, where are unconscious, do we escape from this suffering. As per siddhantham, morning means all states of consciousness and night, the state of sleep or unconsciousness. It is not related to day and night cycles literally.

What happens between sleep and the next day until one wakes up? This is the power of concealment where one does not remember much of what happens. Every day one goes through these 4 states of creation, preservation, dissolution, and concealment. One’s entire life is played out in this way, daily. We simply do not realize it.

Material possessions and realization

At the core, renunciation is a matter of the heart and thoughts, not just physical attire, and outwardly actions.

We will be attached to material possessions until we believe that they bring We will be attached to material possessions until we believe that they bring happiness. When we realize that they only give us suffering, will we keep them? That is why ‘Gynanam’ comes only through realization and never through knowledge. We all know that we will carry nothing when we die, that is knowing. Realizing this on the other hand, cannot be explained as it implies it is beyond words. Two renunciates were once travelling and they came across a river where a woman was drowning. One of them jumped into the water, carried the woman to safety and resuscitated her. The woman then thanked him and went on her way. The two renunciates then continued their journey when one of them said that it was improper of the other to have touched a woman since they were renunciates. To which, the other replied that he had already left that woman at the river bank whereas the other was still carrying her.

Nadham and Vindhu – Primeval Sound and light

Sound is special because sound comes from Nadham. Whereas sound can be heard, Nadham cannot be heard. Same applies for light. Light can be seen by eyes whereas Vindhu cannot be seen by eyes. These two forms the basis for the 36 characteristics or thatuvams. Earth is the basic and one who stays there is said to be primitive. Starting from earth, one must ascend through the steps and reach the 36^th step. Most of us go back and forth between the first 26 steps or simply stay in one of them.

One should be like a cow especially when listening to discourses. The cow takes in as much as possible only to regurgitate and chew on it later. There is no point to trying to analyze while listening to discourses. One will miss the details if one does so and will have nothing to chew on later. Many of us hear through one ear and simultaneously let it go through the other ear. Doubts also will arise later while thinking of the discourses. It is important since it means that one is intelligent. The problem is when one has no doubts. There is no guarantee that one will understand the divine instructions coded in the discourses, immediately. Even Saints took their time to understand and realize the message in the discourses they received from the Gods.

The dance of Nataraja

Its a treasure to Saivam that Siva has manifested in the form of Nataraja.

Have we seen any other God dancing like Nataraja? In the whole world, the only God who dances is Nataraja. This is why other civilizations are in awe of this masterpiece and are paying enormous sums to either buy it or even steal it. The beauty of the cosmic dance has different meanings and captures the macro and the micro at the same time. The Lord dispenses the 5 actions as He dances. Just as rice separates milk and water, Lord Nataraja comes in the form of a Guru and releases us from this cycle. The Guru cleanses all the senses and hence releases us from accumulating karma by the action of those senses. So the karmic account does not change anymore and whatever is left, is burned under the guidance of a guru in the form of prayer and worship.

Tags divine instructions in thirumanthiram, essays on Thirumanthiram

Tandiram 1 En Upadesam En

Divine Instructions #2

Post author By Meykandar
Post date June 12, 2020

Photo by Sanjay Ajayan on Unsplash - A devotee lights a lamp in a temple in Thrissur, Kerala

One of the important things that one must understand from TIRUMANDIRAM is that all living beings in this world from lives from its birth to its death without utterly understanding the purpose of its worldly life. Forgot realizing the purpose, most of us do not even know that there is a purpose to life. The cycle of birth and death occurs until the purpose of life is understood. As soon as the purpose is understood, Siva then start helping us.

Tirumoolar generally calls Siva as Nandi whereas others use it to refer to Siva’s mount, Nandi the bull. Here he talks about Siva’s third eye which bestows grace. He is the only God who can release one from the cycle of birth and death. The other gods bestow a lot of boons and materialistic gifts, but they cannot cut the cord of the birth-death cycle. Why? because even they must go through this cycle.

Whoever has a status, or a position of power has ego. That is why the 4 revered nayanmars shunned all positions and asked only for the blessing to pay obeisance to Siva and attain His grace. Siva is the only one without ego because He Himself does not know His position or status.

We become one with Him when we experience Him.

Words without experience are just that, words. They will not have the soul in them. Only those words which have the weight of experience behind them make the heart melt in compassion. That is why Siva can only be experienced and not understood. We stand apart from God when we say we pray and perform poojas whereas we are with Siva when we experience Him.

Siva, His actions, and impurities

What happens to Siva when He performs the actions? Does He get tainted by the action or the impurities? A doctor and the nurses are well protected before operating on a patient not only to not infect the patient but also to prevent from infecting themselves. These days a doctor sitting in one end of the world can operate on a patient on the other end of the world. Like a laser or ultra-violet rays which are used to disinfect surgical tools as well as operate on patients, He burns the impurities using His third eye.

The point is that the soul gets tainted by what it comes into contact. Until now, the soul was bounded by Binds and was in darkness. When Tirumoolar’s soul realized Siva, the soul was unbounded from Binds and Grace bestowed.

The third realizes even without explanation or experience and it is Siva (Pati).

The basic concepts of Saiva Siddantam fit into the 3 things and differs from Vedanta. Pati (Siva), Pasu (Soul) and Binds (inanimate objects). The difference between Soul (animate) and Binds (inanimate objects) is that the Soul realizes when explained to or when it experiences whereas Binds (inanimate objects) cannot realize even when explained to or by experience.

Ignorance and realization

What ignorance or darkness does is, it hides the realization and shows itself. For example, if one goes into a dark room, the darkness hides the objects in the room but shows itself. But the ego hides the realization as well as itself. That is why most people do not even realize it because it hides itself in every thought, word, and action.

Ego is not only being hot headed but also includes worrying. When someone close or known to us is in trouble, we worry about them as if only we care about them and can solve their problems and take care of them. The point is who was caring about them before they were born? Were we doing it? Do even know where they were before they were born or where they go after their demise?

We feel sad when we are separated from someone. Again, the same question applies, you would have known that person either for a few months or for a few decades at the max. Did you feel sad before you met the person, or did you stay sad after being separated from that person? This is an identity of the ego.

Ego is not just being hot-headed or bossy or that one I can accomplish it, it has almost 7 facets. The point is Siva is ready to bestow Grace and Soul is ready to receive it, but the binds acts as a curtain preventing this transfer. The question is if God is Supreme why can’t He remove this veil and bestow grace? Yes, Siva can, but the soul is still desirous of the bonds and remains so.

Advice, Instructions and Guru.

If a normal person shares some helpful information, it is called as advice whereas when a guru shares an information with a disciple, then it is called instructions. These 30 are divine instructions that Saint Tirumoolar shares with the Saiva followers. Generally, instructions are short and hence Saint Tirumoolar has condensed the gist of the 3000 verses into these 30 verses. In life we can accept anyone as guru but depending on our maturity, Siva reveals the appropriate guru to us. In short, we should consider that Saint Tirumoolar himself is instructing us when we read these 30 divine instructions based on his experiences.

Generally, the guru shares his wisdom in short and concise words. It is our responsibility to dig deeper and find the meaning through experiences and questioning. Of course, there is indeed effort involved. If it were so easy everyone would have done it.

So, the question arises as to why one needs 3000 verses when Saint Tirumoolar as condensed it into 30 verses. The word to note here is ‘condensed’. In our day to day lives, not all have the opportunity to read 3000 verses due to various reasons. Some factors that can be changed and those that cannot be. Hence this 30 is for those who are limited by external factors outside their control and still be able to profit from this immense wisdom.

Detachment and daily life

Generally, bondage does not allow the soul to reach Siva. So, if we can cut loose from the bondage then it means we can realize Siva. There are different types of bonds that keeps us chained to this world and as we break those bonds one by one, we start nearing Siva. breaking free from the bonds does not mean physically cutting the ropes of bondage simply because bonds are more about the mental and the astral plane. Neither does it mean physically distancing oneself from those objects or people to whom one is attached. it simply means being right next to it but without any emotional attachments to it.

Each and everything that one detaches from, means one detaches from the pain and pleasure associated with those things. As said earlier, detachment does not mean physical detachment rather detachment at the emotional level. if you found a briefcase full of money, you would be happy. No imagine someone working at a bank as a teller, would he be attached to all the money that he handles daily? He will not be attached to it simply because he knows it is not his. Similarly, when one realizes that nothing in this world belongs to oneself, the attachment to those things starts to disappear.

Now this raises the question about love for one’s wife, kids etc., One has to understand in the right context that everything in this life needs to be done with love and compassion but with understanding that everything is of transient nature and never forgetting the ultimate that is Siva.

One must be detached mainly at the emotional level and not at the physical level. Detachment at the physical level means one is abandoning his responsibilities. This explains our responsibilities towards our families, friends, Society etc., as one’s duty all the while understanding that being emotionally detached.

Between Siva, the soul and bondage, Siva and soul are animate while bondage is inanimate. The inanimate will never go attach itself to an animate entity. Only the animated soul has attached itself due to various reasons to the inanimate that is bondage. Once the soul starts realizing this truth and starts approaching Siva, the soul’s attachment with the inanimate that is bondage, starts to wear away.

Understanding Siva, soul, and bonds

We all have heard the oft repeated phrase that the body is a temple, mostly from a bodybuilding perspective. There is a deeper meaning that the physical body is being driven by the soul. But the paradox is that the soul itself is incapable of driving anything. If the soul did indeed have the capacity to drive this body, it should have had the same even before coming into the body. The soul under the influence of ego is not capable of driving the body by itself. If the body is driven by the soul and the soul is incapable of driving the body by itself, who then drives the soul itself? We will take a simple analogy of a car, a chauffeur, and the car owner. even though the car is driven by the chauffeur, the chauffeur himself follows the instructions given by the car owner. That owner is Siva.

This analogy explains the concept of Pati, Pasu and bondage. Pati being Siva, Pasu being the soul and bonds, the external things which bind the soul. The soul is looking at the external bonds and not internally at Siva. Once the soul starts looking inwards at Siva, the external bonds start breaking away.

Now the question arises that if Siva is driving the soul, then why are people good and bad things? simply because each soul depending on its intrinsic characteristics accumulated through its karma do good and bad deeds. Let us take the analogy of different light bulbs. Even though the same electric current passes through the light bulbs, depending on their intrinsic characteristics, they each emit a different color. Similarly, Siva when infuses the soul with Sakthi, the soul does different actions depending on its intrinsic karma. The important thing to note is that Siva does all this without any strings attached. It is intrinsic human nature that does all the good and bad deeds.

Cycle of birth and temperament

When two different seeds are planted in the same ground and watered with the same rain, they grow up to be different trees. Similarly, Siva’s Grace and action is common for all, but the growth is depending on each individual soul’s desires and wants. Simply put, the cycle of birth continues as long as the soul has wants and desires. Hence there is no need to ask someone if one has rebirth or not including astrologers. When one stands as a stoic without any desire or hatred, then one can conclude that one is free from the cycle of birth.

Imagine if another child ate the chocolate that you lovingly bought for your own child, what would your feeling be ? for most of us it would be a feeling of anger because we distinguish between the two children as our child and another one’s child. Once we can get over this distinction and be stoic with the fact that other child has eaten the chocolate, then one can safely assume that one is on the path to Siva. This is just a specific example and can be generalized to almost everything in life. This temperament is something that one gains when one reads, listens, and performs actions related to Siva.

Temple worship and temperament

The temperament is akin to the fire that resides intrinsically in the firewood or the sound that resides in the bamboo. As one gains more temperament, The Siva within manifests and burns away the firewood.

Do souls in different levels of temperament go to temples? Yes. Even though certain souls are enlightened, they go to the temples to prevent themselves being pulled back into the vortex that is this world. It is like a vaccination against the bonds of this life. They realize this and hence go to the temples to vaccinate themselves since even they must live through the allocated time in this physical body. When enlightened souls themselves go to temples, we find extraordinary excuses to not go. Souls in all levels of temperament must go to temples and offer their obeisance in different variations. Those in Sariyai pray to the image of Siva. Those in Kriyai pray to the mantra aspect of Siva. Those in Yogam pray to the Siva that is within and those in Gnanam pray to Siva who is everywhere.

Mother and Siva

Such is the unfathomable depth of His compassion.

Just as a mother takes care of the toilet of her child until the child matures and can do it on his/her own, Siva takes care of the soul until the soul matures. While the mother does it only for her child, Siva removes the three impurities for all the souls over countless number of births. Even mother’s milk dries up after a few months, but Siva’s compassion is ever present. The mother while feeding, thinks of what her child will do for her when he/she grows up. But Siva does it purely out of compassion. The 63 nayanmars and many others have sung with utmost devotion and gained Siva’s compassion. But does that mean that His compassion has dried up? No. His compassion is ever present and omnipresent as He is. If it was finite, then no one other than the select few would have gained His holy feet.

Tags divine instructions in thirumanthiram, essays on Thirumanthiram

Tandiram 1 En Upadesam En

Divine Instructions #1

Post author By Meykandar
Post date May 11, 2020

Photo by Steve Rybka on Unsplash - Old women weaving flowers for offering to God

EnFrEs

What is Upadesam or divine instructions?

Generally, in terms of scriptures or essays, one can classify into broadly two types. The first type comes from a mix of reading, learning, listening and is expressed as knowledge or understanding. the second type includes the ones mentioned in the first type but mainly is based on one’s own experience. Experience of having lived through certain moments in life and then reading/learning about it in the scriptures or learning/reading about certain moments and then experiencing it in real life. Either way, experience forms the base of the second type and everything else is just an expression of that experience and either the written or the spoken form.

TIRUMOOLAR says that Lord Nandi explained the wisdom true the nine TANDIRAMS which he then wrote down and shared with us as TIRUMANDIRAM. Having said that, these 30 divine instructions were TIRUMOOLAR’s own experience of Siva.

It is as different as writing about traveling without traveling and actually traveling and writing about it. while the 9 TANDIRAM’s talk about what Siva gives us, the divine instructions talks about what Siva gave him. So, the divine instructions talk about what he had experienced, he felt going through those moments and realizing Siva was in each one of them.

Almost all of us go through the motions in various domains of our life, be it work, be it eating, be it prayer etc., Whatever we learn, do, read etc., we do not fully realize it until we experience it ourselves. It is as different ask learning or listening to someone talk about the comfort of warm fireplace on a cold winter evening and sitting by it yourself.

Language of Lord Nandi’s wisdom

TIRUMOOLAR says that the AGAMAS were expounded by him in Tamizh. In which language were the AGAMAS expounded to him? We must remember where words form. Below are the 4 steps through which words or speech come out of the mouth.

Sukumai or the base chakra where the birth of sound occurs

Paisanti or the solar plexus chakra

Mat-imai or the heart chakra where its take emotion (pure and impure emotions)

Vaigiri is where the sound takes form as words

Depending on one’s level of maturity or consciousness, the wisdom is expounded at different levels. For the TIRUMOOLAR and saints like him, the wisdom is expounded directly at the base level (SUKUMAI). Also, wisdom is expounded by the guru based on the disciple’s level of awareness or the disciple receives wisdom based on the guru’s level of awareness. This is an important distinction to understand. If you want to play professional level sports, you will need a professional level coach. A high school coach can only take you to a certain level.

Based on this, TIRUMOOLAR cannot expound the wisdom the same way he received it from lord NANDI. Hence in tamizh, so that we all can benefit from the Lord Nandi’s wisdom.

He descends down to earth

This talks about Siva descending down to earth. Why does He descend in the first place? This is because of His compassion. Like the example of the house owner on the 4^th floor and the beggar, we can understand and be helped only if He comes down to our level. When your father taught you to the ride the bicycle as a kid, you did not straightaway start with the adult bicycle. Forgot about riding it you would not even have the strength to hold it. This does not mean that your dad does not know to ride the bicycle rather he has to come down to your level to teach you.

The different forms and formless states

When He comes down to our level, He assumes three states. Formless, formless-form and form state. Depending on the devotee’s level of maturity, they can understand and realise Him in any one of the three states. Beyond all this, the final level is the perceptive level (GNANAM) which is the real or truth level of Siva. This is called the SWAROOPAM level. What we see with our eyes is the ROOPAM (FORM) and what we see with experience is SWAROOPAM.

This is fundamentally different from the other religions which either have idol worship or against idolatry. What they fail to understand is that religion is for us humans and not for GOD. People who have addictions cannot be treated in the same way as those who do not have them. Some can adapt and evolve to abrupt changes, others perish. One cannot prescribe the same type of treatment to all irrespective of their base symptoms.

Ego and the soul

When the soul aspires for materialistic and physical wants, it gets registered in the Maya. Adisakthi then conceals (TIRODANAM Sakti) Siva and reveals to the soul all the materialistic things until the soul realizes the futility and matures.

There are two tragedies in life. One is to not get what you want. The other is to get it.

Bruce Springsteen

What TIRODANAM does is that it gives what you ask or want but hides the impact of it. We all want beautiful wives or husbands and most of us get it, but almost all of us know what happens after the initial honeymoon phase gets over and reality strikes. The person who coined the phrase – beauty lies within’ knew what he was talking about. This looks very stupid and nerdy while explaining, but only those who have experienced it, can relate to it. Funnily enough, only few realise the futility of this exercise, but most do not and keep going back for that high. This explains a lot of pleasure-seeking behaviours we exhibit in our day to day lives. Stuck in an endless loop of instant gratification.

The reason for the experiences is to understand the ego and polish the soul just as one sands wood to create a smooth finish. Once the soul matures to a certain level and without ego, TIRODANAM starts to become TIRU-ARUL. Sakti which concealed SIVA and revealed the world now starts to conceal the world and reveal SIVA.

Qu’est-ce que Upadesam ou instructions divines ?

En général, en termes d’Écritures ou d’essais, on peut classer en deux types. Le premier type provient d’un mélange de lecture, d’apprentissage, d’écoute et s’exprime comme connaissance ou compréhension. le deuxième type comprend ceux mentionnés dans le premier type, mais est principalement basé sur sa propre expérience. Expérience d’avoir vécu certains moments dans la vie, puis de lire / apprendre à ce sujet dans les Écritures ou d’apprendre / lire sur certains moments, puis l’expérimenter dans la vie réelle. Quoi qu’il en soit, l’expérience constitue la base du deuxième type et tout le reste n’est qu’une expression de cette expérience et soit de la forme écrite ou parlée.

TIRUMOOLAR dit que Lord Nandi a expliqué la sagesse vraie des neuf TANDIRAMS qu’il a ensuite écrit et partagé avec nous comme TIRUMANDIRAM. Cela dit, ces 30 instructions divines étaient la propre expérience de TIRUMOOLAR de Siva.

Il est aussi différent que d’écrire sur les voyages sans voyager et réellement voyager et écrire à ce sujet. tandis que les 9 TANDIRAM parlent de ce que Siva nous donne, les instructions divines parlent de ce que Siva lui a donné. Ainsi, les instructions divines parlent de ce qu’il avait vécu, il se sentait passer par ces moments et se rendre compte siva était dans chacun d’eux.

Presque tous nous passons par les mouvements dans divers domaines de notre vie, que ce soit le travail, que ce soit manger, que ce soit la prière, etc, Quoi que nous apprenions, fassions, lisons etc., nous ne nous en rendons pas pleinement compte jusqu’à ce que nous l’expérimentions nous-mêmes. C’est aussi différent demander d’apprendre ou d’écouter quelqu’un parler du confort de la cheminée chaude par une froide soirée d’hiver et assis par elle vous-même.

Langue de la sagesse de Lord Nandi

TIRUMOOLAR dit que l’AGAMAS a été exposé par lui à Tamizh. Dans quelle langue l’AGAMAS lui a-t-elle été exposée ? Nous devons nous rappeler où les mots se forment. Voici les 4 étapes par lesquelles les mots ou la parole sortent de la bouche.

SUKUMAI ou le chakra de base où la naissance du son se produit
PAISANTI ou le chakra solaire de plexus
MAT-IMAI ou le chakra cardiaque où son émotion prendre (émotions pures et impures)
VAIGARI est l’endroit où le son prend forme comme des mots

Selon son niveau de maturité ou de conscience, la sagesse est exposée à différents niveaux. Pour le TIRUMOOLAR et les saints comme lui, la sagesse est exposée directement au niveau de base (SUKUMAI). En outre, la sagesse est expliquée par le gourou basé sur le niveau de conscience du disciple ou le disciple reçoit la sagesse basée sur le niveau de conscience du gourou. Il s’agit d’une distinction importante à comprendre. Si vous voulez pratiquer des sports de niveau professionnel, vous aurez besoin d’un entraîneur de niveau professionnel. Un entraîneur de lycée ne peut vous emmener qu’à un certain niveau.

Sur cette base, TIRUMOOLAR ne peut pas exposer la sagesse de la même façon qu’il l’a reçue de lord NANDI. D’où le tamizh, afin que nous puissions tous bénéficier de la sagesse du Seigneur Nandi.

Il descend sur terre

Cela parle de Siva descendant sur terre. Pourquoi descend-il en premier lieu ? C’est à cause de sa compassion. Comme l’exemple du propriétaire de la maison au^4ème étage et le mendiant, nous pouvons comprendre et être aidés seulement s’il descend à notre niveau. Quand votre père vous a appris à faire du vélo quand vous étiez enfant, vous n’avez pas commencé tout de suite avec le vélo pour adultes. Oublié de le monter, vous n’auriez même pas la force de le tenir. Cela ne signifie pas que votre père ne sait pas à faire du vélo plutôt qu’il doit descendre à votre niveau pour vous apprendre.

Les différentes formes et états informes

Quand il descend à notre niveau, il assume trois états. État informe, de forme et de forme. Selon le niveau de maturité du dévot, ils peuvent le comprendre et le réaliser dans l’un des trois États. Au-delà de tout cela, le niveau final est le niveau perspicace (GNANAM) qui est le niveau réel ou de vérité de Siva. C’est ce qu’on appelle le niveau SWAROOPAM. Ce que nous voyons avec nos yeux est le ROOPAM (FORM) et ce que nous voyons avec l’expérience est SWAROOPAM.

C’est fondamentalement différent des autres religions qui ont soit l’adoration des idoles ou contre l’idolâtrie. Ce qu’ils ne comprennent pas, c’est que la religion est pour nous les humains et non pour DIEU. Les personnes qui ont des dépendances ne peuvent pas être traitées de la même façon que celles qui ne les ont pas. Certains peuvent s’adapter et évoluer vers des changements brusques, d’autres périssent. On ne peut pas prescrire le même type de traitement à tous, quels que soient leurs symptômes de base.

Ego et l’âme

Lorsque l’âme aspire à des désirs matérialistes et physiques, elle s’inscrit dans les Mayas. Adisakthi cache alors (TIRODANAM Sakti) Siva et révèle à l’âme toutes les choses matérialistes jusqu’à ce que l’âme réalise la futilité et mûrit.

Il y a deux tragédies dans la vie. La première est de ne pas obtenir ce que vous voulez. L’autre est de l’obtenir.
Bruce Springsteen

Ce que TIRODANAM fait, c’est qu’il donne ce que vous demandez ou voulez, mais cache l’impact de celui-ci. Nous voulons tous de belles épouses ou maris et la plupart d’entre nous l’obtiennent, mais presque tous d’entre nous savent ce qui se passe après la phase de lune de miel initiale se terminée et la réalité frappe. La personne qui a inventé la phrase – la beauté se trouve à l’intérieur savait de quoi il parlait. Cela semble très stupide et ringard tout en expliquant, mais seuls ceux qui l’ont vécu, peut s’y rapporter. Curieusement, seuls quelques-uns se rendent compte de la futilité de cet exercice, mais la plupart ne le font pas et continuent à revenirpour cette haute. Cela explique beaucoup de comportements de recherche de plaisir que nous présentons dans notre vie quotidienne. Coincé dans une boucle sans fin de la satisfaction instantanée.

La raison de ces expériences est de comprendre l’ego et de polir l’âme comme un bois de sable pour créer une finition lisse. Une fois que l’âme mûrit à un certain niveau et sans ego, TIRODANAM commence à devenir TIRU-ARUL. Sakti qui a caché SIVA et révélé le monde commence maintenant à dissimuler le monde et à révéler SIVA.

¿Qué es Upadesam o instrucciones divinas?

Por lo general, en términos de escrituras o ensayos, uno puede clasificarse en general dos tipos. El primer tipo proviene de una mezcla de lectura, aprendizaje, escucha y se expresa como conocimiento o comprensión. el segundo tipo incluye los mencionados en el primer tipo, pero se basa principalmente en la propia experiencia. Experiencia de haber vivido ciertos momentos en la vida y luego leer/aprender sobre ella en las Escrituras o aprender/leer acerca de ciertos momentos y luego experimentarlo en la vida real. De cualquier manera, la experiencia forma la base del segundo tipo y todo lo demás es sólo una expresión de esa experiencia y la forma escrita o la forma hablada.

TIRUMOOLAR dice que Lord Nandi explicó la sabiduría verdadera las nueve TANDIRAMS que luego escribió y compartió con nosotros como TIRUMANDIRAM. Dicho esto, estas 30 instrucciones divinas fueron la propia experiencia de Siva de TIRUMOOLAR.

Es tan diferente como escribir sobre viajar sin viajar y realmente viajar y escribir sobre él. mientras que el 9 TANDIRAM habla de lo que Siva nos da, las instrucciones divinas hablan de lo que Siva le dio. Entonces, las instrucciones divinas hablan de lo que había experimentado, sintió pasar por esos momentos y dándose cuenta de que Siva estaba en cada uno de ellos.

Casi todos pasamos por los movimientos en varios ámbitos de nuestra vida, ya sea que funcione, ya sea comiendo, ya sea orando, etc., Lo que aprendamos, hagamos, leamos, etc., no lo realizamos plenamente hasta que lo experimentamos nosotros mismos. Es como diferente pedir aprender o escuchar a alguien hablar sobre la comodidad de la chimenea caliente en una fría noche de invierno y sentarse junto a ella usted mismo.

Lenguaje de la sabiduría del Señor Nandi

TIRUMOOLAR dice que los AGAMAS fueron expuestos por él en Tamizh. ¿En qué idioma se le expuso el AGAMAS? Debemos recordar dónde se forman las palabras. A continuación, se muestran los 4 pasos a través de los cuales las palabras o el habla salen de la boca.

SUKUMAI o el chakra base donde se produce el nacimiento del sonido
PAISANTI o el chakra del plexo solar
MAT-IMAI o el chakra del corazón donde su tomar emoción (emociones puras e impuras)
VAIGARI es donde el sonido toma forma como palabras

Dependiendo del nivel de madurez o conciencia, la sabiduría se expone en diferentes niveles. Para el TIRUMOOLAR y santos como él, la sabiduría se expone directamente en el nivel base (SUKUMAI). Además, la sabiduría es expuesta por el gurú basada en el nivel de conciencia del discípulo o el discípulo recibe sabiduría basada en el nivel de conciencia del gurú. Esta es una distinción importante para entender. Si quieres practicar deportes de nivel profesional, necesitarás un entrenador de nivel profesional. Un entrenador de secundaria sólo puede llevarlo a un cierto nivel.

Basándose en esto, TIRUMOOLAR no puede exponer la sabiduría de la misma manera que la recibió del señor NANDI. Por lo tanto, en tamizh, para que todos podamos beneficiarnos de la sabiduría del Señor Nandi.

Desciende a la tierra

Esto habla de que Siva desciende a la tierra. ¿Por qué desciende en primer lugar? Esto es debido a Su compasión. Al igual que el ejemplo del dueño de la casa en el piso⁴ y el mendigo, podemos entender y ser ayudados sólo si baja a nuestro nivel. Cuando tu padre te enseñó a andar en bicicleta cuando eras niño, no empezaste con la bicicleta adulta. Olvidé montarlo ni siquiera tendrías la fuerza para sostenerlo. Esto no significa que su padre no sabe montar en bicicleta más bien tiene que bajar a su nivel para enseñarle.

Las diferentes formas y estados sin forma

Cuando baja a nuestro nivel, asume tres estados. Sin forma, sin forma y estado de formulario. Dependiendo del nivel de madurez del devoto, pueden entenderlo y darse cuenta en cualquiera de los tres estados. Más allá de todo esto, el nivel final es el nivel perceptivo (GNANAM) que es el nivel real o de verdad de Siva. Esto se denomina nivel SWAROOPAM. Lo que vemos con nuestros ojos es el ROOPAM (FORM) y lo que vemos con experiencia es SWAROOPAM.

Esto es fundamentalmente diferente de las otras religiones que tienen adoración de ídolos o contra la idolatría. Lo que no entienden es que la religión es para nosotros los seres humanos y no para DIOS. Las personas que tienen adicciones no pueden ser tratadas de la misma manera que las que no las tienen. Algunos pueden adaptarse y evolucionar a cambios abruptos, otros perecen. Uno no puede prescribir el mismo tipo de tratamiento a todos independientemente de sus síntomas base.

Ego y el alma

Cuando el alma aspira a deseos materialistas y físicos, se registra en los mayas. Adisakthi entonces oculta (TIRODANAM Sakti) Siva y revela al alma todas las cosas materialistas hasta que el alma se da cuenta de la inutilidad y madura.

Hay dos tragedias en la vida. Una es no conseguir lo que quieres. La otra es conseguirlo.
Bruce Springsteen

Lo que hace TIRODANAM es que da lo que pides o quieres, pero oculta el impacto de esta. Todos queremos hermosas esposas o esposos y la mayoría de nosotros lo conseguimos, pero casi todos sabemos lo que sucede después de la fase inicial de luna de miel y la realidad golpea. La persona que acuñó la frase – la belleza está dentro’ sabía de lo que estaba hablando. Esto se ve muy estúpido y nerd mientras explica, pero sólo aquellos que lo han experimentado, pueden relacionarse con él. Curiosamente, sólo unos pocos se dan cuenta de la inutilidad de este ejercicio, pero la mayoría no lo hacen y siguen retrocediendoing para ese alto. Esto explica una gran cantidad de comportamientos de búsqueda de placer que exhibimos en nuestra vida cotidiana. Atascado en un bucle sin fin de gratificación instantánea.

La razón de las experiencias es entender el ego y pulir el alma como una arena de madera para crear un acabado suave. Una vez que el alma madura a cierto nivel y sin ego, TIRODANAM comienza a convertirse en TIRU-ARUL. Sakti que ocultó SIVA y reveló el mundo ahora comienza a ocultar el mundo y revelar SIVA.