Chapter 3: The Complete Surrender
Water flow, high to low...
Translation
Didn’t immaculately venerate the
sadguru who transformed you
The Guru gives, lunatics,
will they swim across with that?
Lunatics helped by the Guru and
the disciples who surrender to him
Face the sufferings of the cotton
in making, all twelve experienced the same.
—Siddhar Sivavakkiyar Song (314)
A rabbit was nibbling on half the carrot held tightly in Adhavan’s right hand. Tired of the nibbling, it tried to pull out the remnant of it. Macham, deliberately ignored the rabbit allowing it to continue its play, hoping that will somehow wake up Adhavan. That did wake him up. He chased away the rabbit and found to his surprise that it was half past noon. He had gone without food for almost twenty four hours. Finally, he took some time to eat his part of the carrot, handed over by Macham during the morning hours. He was squatting near him with his palms closed before his face and staring emptily into the space. Adhavan was not sure if he could approach him. He was engrossed with something that Adhavan was not able to comprehend, hence waited in patience, for him to pay his attention.
In the mean time, Adhavan went through the arguments he had with Macham
and the way his thought patterns were paralyzed by his venomous spits. He found
to his dismay that he was stripped of his thoughts and was left naked. The
nakedness he meant here is not the state where the mind goes blank, it is
something more than that which he was not able to express in words. Especially,
the light he saw and the ringing he heard, how could he explain them? What
would he call them? Why did it happen to him at the moment Macham blew on his
forehead? Why should it not happen when he shocked him with his presence, when
he we peeping into the rift? What would be the logical answer to the incident?
He turned back and saw Macham watching him. He knew he must have read his
thoughts. Quietly he went and sat near Macham.
Macham, was in deep thoughts, he was not sure if it is the right
time to take Adhavan directly, to meet Athri. He looked at Adhavan. He is still
a child. He was not aware of his previous births and he has not come into terms
with his vocation yet. Moreover, he has not realized his potential, only today
he has been drawn into the stillness. He looked
at Adhavan and uttered,
“The state you
were in is stillness. It is not blankness. The latter is momentary and thoughts
rush in vehemently after that momentary blank out, like water rushing into a
flush. Whereas stillness pervades and remains as long as you want it to be, it
may only elude you if you don’t watch it.”
Macham then took a twig, made a square in the center, at each end of the
square he drew a circle and named them one, two, three and four respectively. Inside
the square he marked the edges with the directions north, east, south and west that
aligned with the circles, one to four. Then from each circle he drew two more
circles at equal angles, he created eight new circles, named them five, six and
on till twelve. Circle five started immediately below four. He repeated it systematically
and created a third circle with sixteen circles in it and a fourth circle with
thirty two circles in it. Thus he created a set of sixty circles held by four different
circles symmetrically.
As Macham was drawing these circles in silence, Adhavan’s mind was
racing in all directions. What could these circles be? Are there so many
circles that he needs to see like the one he saw today? Is it something in
one’s body that needs to be tweaked to attain the human excellence he talked
about a few minutes before? Is it important nadis in one’s body that needs to
be attuned to master oneself? Macham raised his index finger, smiled
sarcastically and said, “Hush!” Adhavan felt insulted and seriously wondered if
his thoughts are being read like an open book. Macham might be stupendous in
other things, but he thought himself to be better at ‘thinking’. That could
supposedly be one of the reasons why he is being looked down by Macham. He felt
embarrassed at his own thoughts and the pattern it evolves into.
In the South East direction,
Macham pointed a circle in the second concentric circle and said, “Athri’s
reside here”. In the North West direction in the fourth concentric circle he
pointed a spot and said, “Mine reside here”. Just below that circle he pointed
a place and said, “We are here right now”.
Each circle is a
representation of a hillock, the whole range is a distinct cluster of these,
tailored by the divine hands into a beautiful paradise. Squaring of the range
in the equi-center is the peculiar notable natural formation that magically pulled people with deep down spiritual inclination from all
parts of the world.
After a momentary pause,
Macham, looked into the space and continued to recite,
“One expends energy on every
single thought one makes. Not only does the energy is wasted, but the time lost
cannot be regained. Thinking incessantly is an uncontrollable weakness and an inexorable
addiction it needs to be disciplined and structured so that it can be lashed
out effectively under any circumstances. If one has mastered oneself, one will think
at their will, else they will always be a puppet of thoughts.”
Then Macham looked at Adhavan and said,
“You might have the best of thoughts,
but you have a very poor reign over it and they flood you turbulently and terminate
the divine connection impulsively—the one you had today morning with the yourself
and the light. Don’t you remember the bright cord of light you saw in your
forehead today, through which you connected yourself beyond the realms of your petty,
frigid, timid mind?”
“Yes, I can read your mind
and can do much more than you can even imagine of, Athri walking on the waters
is one such. Your arrogance is blinding you. The pride about thinking is taking
you away from the stillness and the light. You need to be honest and sincere to
yourself so by, you will turn out to be genuinely humble. Water flows from high
to low. And for a very raw natural phenomena such as this, it suits the subject of
discussion indeed well. Water flow, high to low...”
“Now I am very sure, you are
not at all ready to meet Athri. You
will stay with us and be trained by my wife, Sarutha”.
It was very difficult for Adhavan to digest all that was talked
about. Whenever Macham recites he takes a different tone; words flow out of him,
uninhibitedly; echo from a deep well and they keep resonating in his head. They
create a mild slumber and instill thoughts. He felt hallucinated. He half
heartedly nodded and muttered “yes”.
Macham knew that Adhavan has started feeling uncomfortable with
him because of his overpowering nature that he has not come into terms with. Obviously
back home, he must have easily won all the endeavors he had faced so far. He has
started to compare himself with Macham and found himself nowhere near him. This
has hurt him and he has to find some way to prove himself better, at the least in
few occasions. This really worried Macham, if it is about learning an art or even
a science, it doesn't really matter, whereas mastering oneself is all about
letting the inherent fluidity flow enchantingly without inhibitions. The
measurable objectives may actually hamper him from achieving the stillness the most
essential for any further development. This is neither about winning nor about
losing and this is not a game being played with a set of predefined goals. This
is about stillness. A mind ravaged with competitive spirit and gusto can’t let
thoughts drift away, rather they will be glued to solidarity and will be focussed
on winning. Adhavan has to understand this and should be concerned about
himself rather than troubling himself with questions such as How good Macham
is? Is he better than Macham? Will he ever beat Macham? Etc. Though Macham understood
Adhavan’s turmoil perfectly he decided to seek Athri’s help in this regard.
Macham walked a few paces away, leaned on a nearby boulder; his
eyes closed; face lifted upwards; his right hand index finger stroking the
crown of his head. The stroking stopped and he stood like a statue in all its
majesty and elegance. In less than a few minutes, he walked slowly towards Adhavan
took him softly by his hands and led him to nearby Bamboo shrubs. He made an
eight foot slender staff, an inch wide. He gave that to Adhavan and asked him to show off his skills. He grasped the staff forcefully, it was much smaller than what he had before and started whirling it around with all his might. Each
stroke was a hit back and he vented all his emotions through the staff. He
played with it for almost half an hour. Drained of energy, he collapsed face
down on the ground. This quietened Adhavan but to his dismay, there wasn't even
a mild flicker of awe in Macham’s face that he most expected that could have easily
surpassed the day’s pang. Annoyed, he passed the staff back in such a way it
demanded Macham to present his skills. He threw back the staff to Adhavan, took
a twig, the size of his little finger flipped it up to see its suppleness and fall. It floated in the air, it
moved wherever Macham pointed his right arm index finger. He guided it with a single
hand. The left arm was folded behind his back. The twig steamed outwards; dangled
in the mid air; swayed back and forth. Then he whirled the twig
without touching it just by rotating his index finger in circular movements, allowing
it to gain momentum and torque. Suddenly, in a flash of a moment, he shot it straight
into the Bamboo staff with a slight usher of force, in no matter of time and it has ripped open both the sides of the staff. Adhavan
smelt charring of fresh wood, to his astonishment the twig has burnt the edges
of the staff where it has penetrated it. He then touched the spot and found it red
hot. It almost burnt his finger. His thoughts disappeared along with the raw
indistinguishable faint smoke—an exemplary expression of Macham's. This all
happened so fast. The movements were in complete harmony with the nature.
Macham, was one with the twig and he danced intimately with the twig. The fluid
embrace with which he carried the twig along with him, the oneness with which
he bound himself to the twig was a splendid affair the divinity presented through Macham. Adhavan
found a flicker of awe in his face. Macham smiled softly, approached Adhavan
and whispered in his ears,
“With a few more twigs in a
stretch I could have easily smattered you and your staff. Remember, I will not
say this again, The Guru you are seeking, Athri, is literally a thousand times
better than me. Behold the news in your heart. He is willing to see you, only when
you are ready for him.”
Now, Adhavan knew he had a long, long way to go. Finally, he
accepted with all his heart that he needs extensive physical drill and red
wrought forging of mind. Right there Adhavan fell to his feet, prostrated himself
before Macham and kissed his feet. He felt light and happy. He knew he had done
the right thing. Macham took him by his shoulders and started talking almost in
whispers,
“One prostrates before his
god in devotion; before his forefathers in gratitude and respect. Why me? Who
am I to you? Why should you prostrate before me? Is it because I posses some
extraordinary skill? Is it a skill? If it is a skill, I could teach you the
basics in a day’s time. What about mastering oneself and the universe? Which is
neither a subject nor a skill? How could it be taught?”
“In Siddhar’s
tradition, Guru penetrates into the disciples psyche spiritually; takes him
along with him; governs him and entitles him with whatever he has been forborne
with and whatever he has mastered and whatever his Guru has given him with. In such
a state they are one they are not two different entities anymore. They make
love spiritually they are soldered smoothly even the fine thread of guru
disciple distinction starts vanishing. Guru takes the lead, breaks all barriers
and sees beyond the realms of the human mind, thus the disciple entangled, gets
a glimpse of the divinity within himself.”
“There are
other schools of disciplines here too, that teaches rasavatham, kuligai,
adimurai, yogamurai, vaithiyam, katidakalai, nadi jothidam, varmam, vanasasthiram, isai, natiyam, kanitham,
porkalai, ilakkanam, illakkiyam, vasiyam etc. where we have well learnt, highly knowledgeable
professional teachers, who till date teach and share their indisputable knowledge, but they are not Gurus. This I am telling you so that you can clearly differentiate
between a Guru and a teacher. A Guru can be a teacher in any of the native
discipline he is basically from but for a teacher to be a Guru he should have
taken up the vocation and must have forged himself to be a good well acclaimed
disciple. All disciples need not be Gurus.”
“Prostrating
before a Guru is the sign of complete surrender, physically, it is not a mandatory
practice, but the state is a must essential for the disciple. Only when you
completely surrender yourself, you will be able to partake in their spiritual
journey and master the most revered human excellence—ashtama siddhis.”
“Remember me
and the twig, that is how Guru and disciple act together in harmony and
accomplish together what they have set forth. The gates open, only when, one
completely surrenders oneself. That doesn't mean one surrenders oneself
completely, if one prostrates before the Guru—it is just a physical
representation of the self. Rather, it is in ‘you’. The ‘you’ should surrender
so that there aren't any more ‘you’. That is the ideal relationship between the
Guru and the disciple. Surrendering happens naturally with prostrating oneself that is the reason why the disciples prostrate
before their Gurus. This should neither be confused with prostration before
their gods in devotion nor the prostration before their parents and elders as
an expression of reverence and gratitude.”
“This level of clarity is
required for you so that you don’t need to think about it anymore, to be honest,
I am not your Guru rather I am your friend which you will understand as the
days roll by. The one you came looking for, is your Guru and he has requested
me to take care of you; feed your spiritual quest; and get yourself ready for the
final journey.”
After a momentary pause, Macham explained the route they are going
to take to reach his place—The Laughing Hills. It would take a day’s journey. But
for the nights rest, they may take one more day. Macham softly murmured, “Your
training with Sarutha will start the day after tomorrow.”
They went back to the rift in the Peepul tree. Macham took his
hunting knife from the safe hood and tied it around his dhoti. He found his
staff, picked it up from the soft grasses and geared up for the
journey. Adhavan picked up the twig-drilled Bamboo staff; wrapped the
additional dhoti around the head and was ready for the journey with the
beautiful self-made turban resting on his head. They looked at each other, then
simultaneously looked up to the heavens. Macham stared into the direction they
need to go and commanded, “Let’s go.”
(To be continued...)
Written on Dates: 02/13/2015; 02/14/2015; 02/16/2015; 02/17/2015.
About Adhavan,Chapter 1,Chapter 2
No comments:
Post a Comment