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Thursday, April 23, 2015

Adhavan (15): The Final Samadhi

Chapter 14: The Final Samadhi

When you decide not to enter your body again.


Translation


Apt scriptures are within you, experience them over and again, sing them,
Didn't reach the supreme self, by severing the entanglements, standing over it,
If you can remove the inner sheathing, the arrogant mind, be keen on it,
Inner lamp will always burn within you, amidst the surrounding worldly life
—Siddhar Sivavakkiyar Song (056)

The death of the mind starts with the cessation of the external quest, when the spirit of the inquiry stops, it leads to a very natural, impromptu death, thus the unchained mind, effortlessly finds its root inside the physical body, suckles on it, like a newborn, infant, biting hard on a mother’s breast, even after that immense satisfaction, unaware, it remains on it, till mother severs the connection, sometimes, it takes a thousand years for the mind to become alive again, sometimes it takes less than a second, it is the dearest sight to hold, that when the mind rests on prana, encompassed by the ultimate, unshakable stillness, along with the sound of the universe, the one which we call as samadhi, the very basis of it is the natural termination of the thought process, however fruitful the pattern is, all impending quests have to stop, irrespective of it being good or bad, including the intriguing discussions, tall talks, exemplary arguments, purified rationalization, irresistible mental addictions, pleasure driven physical cravings, heart throbbing devotions, troubling day-to-day chores, any little, mean thing, that can hold your mind from dying naturally, voluntarily. The higher version of it is letting the mind soar along with the prana, allowing it to mix with the supreme eternal light, the definitive cut off from the body, both, the mind and the soul, the complete resolute death, the most elite, self-inflicted one. Thus samadhis in itself could be classified into various streams, whatever the case might be, if a mind leaves along with the prana in the path of the light, then that wholesome death, can very well be, unquestionably classified as samadhi of the enlightened one.

Sarutha looked at Adhavan deeply, it took some time for her to come out of her deep thoughts, slowly she started talking to him, the girls flocked around her and Adhavan, boys formed a neat semi-circle behind them, all interested in listening to Sarutha’s sing-song voice, which added additional color to the golden hue, emanating from the outer lamp and the dark bluish shade, shed by the moonlit night, their dispersion together warmed up the truth of the matter in her sing song narration.

“It has been in practice that we bury the enlightened ones with three different layers of vibuthi, turmeric powder and sandal powder, along with the fresh, clean, moist neem leaves, if there were any specific personal items they were attached to, during their earthly days, that too was buried with them. Siddhar Macham got an explicit, direct message from her, whence he was in a Samadhi at the cave in Vasimuni Hills, it was around midnight, immediately, he rushed towards Thavamedu, looking for her, at the spot she pointed out in trance, there he found her in padmasana, palms closed, resting loosely over her inner thighs, very close to the lower abdomen, her thumbs straight, tips touching one another, pointing her nostrils, she was a ball of light, it was difficult to see her features clearly, amidst the shining embodiment of the divine light. 9 tigers guarded her, he wasn’t sure if that was the right time to approach her, so he squatted beside one of the tigers, waited patiently. After an hour, she called out, “come near” so he stepped into the zone of immaculate light, that brimmed out like spring water, uninterrupted, freely from her, she spoke very softly, ‘My time has come, I have told everyone that I needed to tell, have received their blessings. My friend, please bury me at the same spot, where I am resting now. At the first rays of the sun, I would leave my final breath, I will never enter this mortal body again, kindly bury me as I have requested.’ She looked at the pack of tigers lying around her and said, ‘Don’t rush up events, let it fall into place as it would, even if you’re late, my friends here will guard my body, my spirit will be guiding them all along, they will leave this place only after seeing you here, so please proceed with things in their normal, natural pace.’ She paused for a moment and then said in a deep resonating voice that stirred Macham’s soul, ‘Inscribe my last words, “Ekam Parabrahmam”, the gist of all 1500 years of my divine life, keep it with you until the time comes, I will tell you, to whom you should hand over the inscription to, my teaching to this world, is all there in those two words.’”

“Macham nodded softly, contemplating the meaning behind it, bowed his head in reverence, she looked at him with solemn grace, her aura touched the crown of his head, he felt warm, strong, vibrations, enter his body through the crown of his head, he stood still for a moment, then took a downhill stride to the laughing hills, briefed the tribal leaders, requested them to help him in the burial ceremony, unexpectedly, the whole tribe was on their feet, no one was specifically invited, but all joined their hands as though it was their own family function. Macham started giving sharp instructions, he selected few ladies, gave them clear orders, he asked them to collect fourteen barrels of fresh water, from a warm spring, he asked them to keep nine barrels aside, using two barrels of water, he asked them to prepare separate barrels of diluted, semi-liquid, sandalwood paste, proportionately well mixed panchamirtam, undiluted ghee, undiluted milk and undiluted honey, he then sent the young maidens to collect as many fragrant flowers, as possible, segregate them into separate baskets, requested all of them to be brought to Thavamedu, sharp two hours after sunrise, he then asked their daughters to prepare food, with the remaining three barrels of fresh spring water, that would be sufficient enough to fill the bellies of laughing hills, requested the same to be brought before sunset, to be feasted upon in her name, well, after the sun-set. Womenfolk, immediately rushed to work, then he called out for some men, sent some young boys to assist women, some to clear pathway to Thavamedu, so that women and children can walk without hindrances, asked the local shamans to bring their artifacts, especially conch shells, brass pipes and tabors, then he personally went along with the a handful of tribal men, leaving back a few, to assist women and carry the load uphill. In the deep forest, he studied the sandalwood trees carefully, hand-picked a few dried ones and large blown out branches, requested the accompanying tribal men to neatly axe them, ordered them to make two cart full of ashes out of it, he strictly told them that it should be pure, should not be adulterated, should be readily available well before sunset, he then chose two men, walked out to Thavamedu, waited there pensively for the first rays of sun to hit them hard.”

“He kept looking at her light emanating body, suffused and soaked by the divine light, it was a grand display of the light in a living form, that one could hardly take their eyes off. Sharp at the first stroke of Sun rays, her head dropped down, her body swayed a bit towards the left, a chill wind whirled around Macham continuously, there was an immense silence, the whole environment cooled down a bit, the smell of the soil was overwhelming, there was a heavy downpour for the next two hours, all those nine tigers packed themselves, closed around her, they along with Macham and the tribal men got drenched by the heavy soul refreshing rain, then it all subsided, but the chillness remained all along till the burial ceremony was over. Macham felt a strong current around him, a sense of chillness, comfort and peace filled his contented heart, she was with him, all over him, he found harmony in everything that was happening there, from the dipping waters, soft breeze caressing his body, warm infiltrating rays of the Sun, the glistening droplets of the water hanging onto the washed leaves, the sound of the forest heard all around, the heart beat of the fellow men, everything mixed as though they were all from single entity, but acting from various different sources. The tigers slowly came around him, sniffed him heavily, circled him thrice, then those majestic beasts, walked away slowly, gracefully, into the deep forest, leaving Macham and the pack of awe-struck tribal men, along with the dead body of Vipuruthi Ammal. Macham went to the spot, touched her body, it was not warm, but it had that strong inherent vibration in it, he felt the ultimate freedom she was experiencing, the unbound joy, the immaculate divinity, the sheer bliss, the feeling of oneness with everything, including the cosmos. Her body was still soft and yielding, so he did not worry about placing her inside the pit, he looked at her again, the body had lost its luminosity, understandably her, divine power has accompanied her soul, leaving the body ready for burial, water kept dripping from her thick dark hair, not even a single strand had grayed, he looked at his hand, it was wet, he laughed to himself, after all the heavy work in the morning, the first abhisekaham was undeniably done by the divinity, on its own, right at that time, ironically, the group of ladies came along with, men and boys, carrying, 1 barrel of sandalwood paste, 1 barrel of panchamirtam, 1 barrel of undiluted ghee, 1 barrel of undiluted milk and 1 barrel of undiluted honey, nine barrels of fresh water, 8 baskets of white lotus, 8 baskets of blue lotus, 8 baskets of red lotus, 21 baskets of jasmine, 23 baskets of roses, 14 screw pine flowers, 2 baskets of marjorams, 15 baskets of ylan ylang vines, 14 baskets of white lilies, 14 baskets of blue lilies, 7 baskets of tuberoses and 7 baskets of shoe flowers. Macham laughed from his heart, along with him Vipuruthi Ammal laughed inside him. He parted her wet hair, exposing well, her delicate, round, moon face, he then prepared a simple pedestal made of sandalwood planks, right before, a few feet from the burial spot, he with the help of two other men, who came with him, erected her over the pedestal in the same padmasana position, he then chose two young women, asked them to hold her body and her head straight, then, he requested the elderly women to give her a bath and dress her up in plain cottons, they then sent the boys to fetch fresh cotton dress materials, they can get their hands on, slowly the team set to work in harmony.”

“Few women bathed her in the fresh water, few of them cleaned the spot around, making it ready for the whole tribe, to spend the evening together at the ceremony. Men started digging her grave, 6 foot deep and 4 feet wide on all sides, then, they cleaned the pit and the surrounding. By that time, she was rubbed and washed clean, wiped with fragrant clothes, dressed in white, woven from pure cotton, she was ready for her final abhisekaham. Macham sent out for the men in the forest, busy making sandalwood ash, there they were burning woods at 18 different locations, they have plans to collect the first lot by mid-noon, bring at the least one cart by sunset, he looked at both these girls, who were holding her with such an intense care and concern, as though they were beholding the most precious item in the world, that might break if they turn their eyes off her, it might be tiring for them to hold her for such a long time, he was not sure, if they realized how gifted they were to hold her body, be so near to it, how much of her intrinsic power would have infused into them by now, anyhow that could not be an answer for such a physically tiring service they were asked to provide, so he sent two more girls for their assistance, waited patiently till mid-noon, exactly at that time, four eagles circled the gathering, he picked a mug, took fresh water from one of the barrels, looked up to the skies and the circling eagles, remained silent for a moment, anointed her with the first mug of water, he looked up at the skies, the circling eagles have now disappeared, elderly women have used almost one barrel of water in bathing her, so he was left with 8 barrels of fresh water, he asked the men to place all the abhisekaham items, before her, he then taught the tribe to chant, ‘Ayya Harakara, Siva, Siva, Sivasankara’ and ‘Sivahyaa Namahaa, Sivahyaa Namahaa, Om Namah Sivahyaa’, they started repeating the mantras again and again, in tune with Macham’s voice, they just plainly repeated whatever he said, with the same vigor and intensity he chanted with. One after another, each of the tribal men, women and children of age, came forward, he gave them each a mug of fresh water, they anointed her body slowly, rhythmically, religiously with the given fresh water, chanting the mantra he taught them, he asked each one of them to repeat the act thrice, each and every mug, poured on her body was unquestionably accepted by Vipuruthi Ammal, almost a barrel was done, whatever was left, was poured all over her by Macham, thus the whole tribe took part in the auspicious burial ceremony. Then one after another, in the similar way, among incessant chanting, other abhisekahams were done in the following order; undiluted milk, undiluted honey, pure ghee, panchamirtam and finally sandalwood paste, between each abhisekaham Macham cleaned her with mugs of fresh water. As all these abhisekahams were being done meticulously, the time had just speared ahead, the sun was setting magnanimously, the cantillations were growing louder and louder, pulling all the present there, by a fine unseen cord, weaving all their voices into a beautiful pattern of pleasant hymns, with the setting sun, the first load of sandalwood ash came in, it was unloaded right before the burial spot. Macham later sent a few men to bring Frankincense, burn them at each corner of the pit, as well as at the outer edges of the gathering, so that the pleasant smoke engulfed the surrounding, making it a heavenly, divine abode, he then resumed to chanting, kept aside, 8 baskets of white lotus, 8 baskets of blue lotus, 8 baskets of red lotus, 14 screw pine flowers, 14 baskets of white lilies and 14 baskets of blue lilies for the purpose of decoration, with the remaining baskets, he continued with flowers abhisekaham, known as pushpanjali, this went much slower than the others, a sense of sacredness grew intense with brass pipes and conch smells blown to their fullest, tabor played delicately, mixed intricately well, with the cantillations, people kept coming and showering flowers all over her, they were all at the verge of spiritual ecstasy, some started swaying back and forth, left to right in harmony with the music. The moon shone brightly on her face, it was a full moon day, he felt a warm hand, over his right shoulder, he turned around to see Siddhar tiger paw, he was in a human form, when Siddhar Macham was about to fall to his feet, he caught hold of him and said, ‘don’t disclose our identity, you please continue with your work,’ he looked behind him, 6 more were there with him, all of them were in their human form, completely hiding their divine nature behind their simple, peasant outlook, they all smiled at him, he was enthralled very much, he became very nervous in leading the ceremony, in the presence of the great four, slowly, they started assisting him and the tribe, in whatever veneration they were doing. The pushpanjali was done to the best, owing to its inherent nature, their hearts were mellowed down to the softness of the morning dews on rose petals in a full blossom, by the time, food has come from the Laughing Hills, was stored in a remote place, around the corner. He was expecting the second lot of ash, in the meantime, he asked the masons to get ready with the mortar, for covering the burial. He again asked the elderly women to clean her and wrap her up with fresh cotton robes, which they did humbly as per his sincere request.”

“The chanting continued, she was ready in her fresh, clean, cotton robes, ready to be buried in the pit, second lot of ash came in, was unloaded before the burial spot, they brought the remaining extinguished sandalwoods, burnt it, in the corners, along with the frankincense, the fragrant smoke permeated the divine space, the whole place smelled like heavens, its aroma filled the hearts of the gathering, it even extended its fragrance across, with the divine touch, to those in the plains, even the ones beyond the plains felt its reverberations, such was the boundless, sacred situation Macham and 7 siddhars were thrown into. When the time came, Macham looked at all 7 siddhars, they nodded understandingly, shortest of them walked in the front, followed by the tallest of the seven, siddhar tiger paw, slim, athletically built fourth, siddhar white elephant, and the other two, one of them was very dark and lean, his hair was wound in cords over his head, creating a flat kumbham, that stretched a foot long, above his head, the last one, the seventh, was heavily built, he looked twice broader than the broadest men Macham had ever seen, they all smiled at him as they crossed and moved towards the pit, in a well organized manner, sat around it, leaving enough space in the center for people to come and shove ash into the pit. Macham looked at the shamans, they started blowing the brass pipes, conch shells, continuously, played tabors ruthlessly, he looked at his people, their chanting grew so loud, it pierced the high skies, showered back with the heavy lightning, he then went into the pit, created a layer of ash, signalled both the men, whom he brought with him that morning, they lifted her carefully along with the sandalwood pedestal, they erected for her, they helped in settling her in the pit, stood by her, on her sides, holding her softly, in the same posture she left her final breath, Macham then asked for a blue lotus, he placed it over her closed palms, then he earnestly looked at the shortest of all, seated to her left, he nodded softly, took a handful of ash, gave it to Macham, he then placed it over her feet, others followed the short one, all of them gave Macham a handful of ash, which was used to cover her feet, then he signalled his people, they fell into two neat rows, one for men and one for women and children, the short one gave a handful of ash to men and the tallest one, seated to her right, gave handful of ash to women and children, chanting loudly, they shoved ash onto the ground, along with, petty ornaments, meager gold and silver coins, rare gems, whatever precious things they had, they gave it all to her, prayfully, prostrated before her, before leaving way to the next one, this continued for another four hours, no one shoved ash on her face they all showered it humbly on the grounds, it was Macham’s job to level the shoving, with each increasing layers of ash, he placed fresh, neem leaves around the pit. Almost the first load of ash had gone into the pit, they have filled ash to her chin, they started with the second lot, since people have already filled in their share, 7 Siddhars and Macham filled the remaining, before covering her round moon face, he signalled the tribe, all of them rushed in to see her for the last time. Amidst high pitched chanting, incessantly blowing conch shells, soul writhing heavy strikes on tabor, full blown brass pipes, Macham covered her face and head with handful of ash, he obtained from the great 7. Finally, when it was all done, all the 7 came forward, hugged Macham one after another, then, they slowly, stealthily, disappeared into the gathering, Macham knew, not to ask them, where they were all heading to. Macham looked out for the mason, asked them to cover the burial with the mortar and create a substantial mound with the remaining of sandalwood ash, he requested few of the young girls there, to decorate thus erected mound with white lotuses and white lilies in the center, blue lotuses and blue lilies strewn around them, the outer third circle with bright red lotuses, finally encircle all these three circles with screwpine flowers and other remaining ones, then he ordered, the food to be served, he went out looking for the seven, but then, they have all disappeared into the thickness of the dark woods, similar to the way they came in, they left uninformed. He knew well, not to look out for them, but it was one of the happiest days in his life, a special gift by Vipuruthi Ammal, on the day of her final Samadhi. He looked up at the skies, he expected, continuous heavy downpour, for next one week, he then fed his people heartily, had some food after a very long gap, walked along with his people to the laughing hills, when the crowd were well sheltered, he looked up at the skies again, said aloud, “Now you can pacify!”, Immediately, thunders roared heavily, it rained continuously for the next seven days, Macham sheltered himself, in a cattle barn, along with the herd, during all that 7 days of heavy incessant, voluminous downpour, afterwards, it took three months for him to get back to his deep samadhis, he was overlaid with so much of joy and happiness, that it took so much of time to get rid of even those uncontrollable, spontaneous flow of, heart fulfilling joy, that was showered on him by Vipuruthi Ammal, the great seven and the divine self, even joy born out of pure innocence, could be a hindrance in attaining the state of samadhi, so one needs to be extremely serious in approaching the divinity abode in each one of us, carefully, meticulously. Happiness is better than being sad, but it is not good enough to reach God, the attention you need to devote for attaining the desired state, is exceptionally an intense one, very keen observation of one's one mind, where even mild happiness can drift you away from the inner quest.”

Each one’s face was lit by the inner glow, that you see during the deep samadhis, the air was filled with sandalwood fragrance, Vipuruthi Ammal was all along there, listening to Sarutha’s beautiful narration of her sacred burial ceremony, she had given them the exact feel and sanctitude that filled the day of her burial, each one of them was filled with the same immense satisfaction, that the gathering felt on that propitious day. Sarutha looked at their faces, an hour as gone by, they must have all been in a deep sleep by now, it has been a strict practice in the Laughing hills, that people go to bed early, so that they are up on their feet, well before the sunrise, ready for the day’s toil. Her heart ached to see her kids still awake, listening to her narration keenly, she fondled each one of them, sent them to the bed with comforting love. Girls went to the separate partition they had for themselves, boys were not supposed to even enter into their partition, unless they were called for help, apparently, Kathirnindravalavan and Koperunkilli, slept in the hall opposite to the wall, Sarutha was resting her back, she had stretched her legs freely, let it rest one over another at ease, comfortably. Rathinamozhian didn’t seem to have the heart to leave his mother, he lay down next to her, his head rested on her right lap, she fondled him lovingly, caressed his shoulders fondly, patted him gently, that lulled him into a deep, peaceful sleep. Adhavan was surprised to see, such a big married man, sleeping like a child on his mother’s lap, it said something very nice about the family, that was bonded and glued with kinship, love and affection. Adhavan didn’t have the heart to sleep, he was not satisfied with the narration, he wanted more, he asked her politely, “Was she still in this forest from that day on?” Sarutha smiled at him and said, “Yes, she had never left Thavamedu, it his her abode, the circular mount is her resting place, many a times people have seen her walking these places, she has healed the diseased, she has visited some in our dreams, have forewarned us in our imminent dangers, she has guarded this land, as it is her own, she still walks this part of the forest and the Laughing Hills, as an uncrowned queen and the most revered deity, she has looked over our farms and cattle, she has guarded our kids, we have always paid our reverence to her, whenever we go by that side, especially on the full moon days, when we group there and Siddhar Macham attends to many kinds of peoples and their many kinds of complex, woe bidden lives.” Adhavan softly asked, “Have you seen her by yourself?” Sarutha rested her head back, on the wall, uttered very slowly in whispers, “Yes, of all the 51 years of my life here, that day, on your first visit, when you accompanied us to the Vasimuni Hills, she was walking beside you silently, heads down, a few paces behind you, on your left, I got the chance to see her subtle form, because of you.” She involuntarily closed her eyes, tears rolled down her cheeks, she started thinking about Killivalavan, tomorrow night, they have to bring down Macham, from the caves at Vasimuni Hills, for his monthly public appearance at Thavamedu, on the full moon day, where the whole tribe will flock around him, even people far from the plains, pay their homage, express their heart touching love and gratitude they have for him, many prostrate before him, adorn him with gold, silver and rare precious gems, whatever they wanted to have him, Killi mostly makes himself available during those rush hours, managing the crowd, making sure they are all well-fed, properly taken care of, sincerely attended to, he has been the most vigilant, shrewd one, in guarding Macham from the trouble brewers, politicians, religious fanatics, crowd gatherers and evil conspirators, he has to be there, so everything goes on fine and smooth, on seeing him, boisterous people calm down, wicked and cunning fear him, great men respect and honor him, poor and needy gather around him, he has to be there, she ached for him, she started chanting her mantras, repeatedly, soundly in her heart, dedicated all that for his victory and safe return.

Adhavan didn’t feel like going out and sleeping in the Veranda, he sat there alone, without anything to think about, then, like Rathinamozhian, he rested down on Sarutha’s left lap, slept off the same moment he closed his eyes, during that night, all along, he had many dreams, it was pitch dark, Killivalavan was fighting, heavily against a ferocious, roaring, huge Black Lion, it was a very tough, long, arduous fight, among the equals, the Black Lion was gigantic, straight and powerful, it stood majestically unbeaten, Adhavan was watching them both keenly, his soul was sedating both of them, trying to create a softness and warmth between them, then the Black Lion suddenly turned towards Adhavan, gave him one of its best, big smile. His soul, then drifted to some other part of the world, he was in a big cave, that had more than million bats, hanging onto the roof, upside down, he heard the repeated chanting of “Om”, his soul travelled further along, this time he was in the land of the red soil, all the people there were dark skinned, they spoke the same language, but had a different style to it, they were paying homage to a statue of a Siddhar, it resembled Siddhar Agastiyar, yes, they prostrated before that statue, but in their hearts they were actually prostrating before his living form, that was the unshakable faith they had on him, which is more important than the high pitched, highly logical, mind trapping arguments on the need for the form based devotions wherein it is the nature and intensity of the devotion, that is more important than the type of devotion.

Sarutha was in a deep sleep, her hand involuntarily rested on Adhavan's shoulder, it was as cold as ice, she felt a rush in her back, she woke up immediately, attended to Adhavan diligently, his heart had stopped beating, his soul had left his body, was wandering the worlds of the night, something in her told him not to panic about it, as she knew for sure that he will be back in the morning, damn tired, fatigue ridden, looking for rest, so it can be expected, that he will doze off the whole morning, next day, relentlessly.
To be continued...
Written on Dates: 04/20;04/21;04/22;04/23/2015
About Adhavan
Chapter 01 The Realization of the Vocation
Chapter 02 The First Glimpse of the Third Eye
Chapter 03 The Complete Surrender
Chapter 04 The Sacredness of the Divine Incarnation
Chapter 05 The Veneration of a Guru
Chapter 06 The Immortality
Chapter 07 The Art of Dying
Chapter 08 The Good Cause
Chapter 09 The First Dissemination
Chapter 10 The One behind the Spiritual Transformation
Chapter 11 The Smothering of the Class Distinctions
Chapter 12 The Insight of the Divine Lamp
Chapter 13 The Great Four

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