Information and technology are at our fingertips these days. We can keep count on almost anything. Blogger keeps count of my blog's readership views. I can keep count of the distance I walk and the number of steps I take using an app. Sadly AI is used in warfare too to target people too. Man has achieved much in a short time. If all these resources are targeted at the masses, those who decide to step out of the mainstream and venture into knowing the Self are few and apart. Just as there is a need for genuine and true masters as we have had in the past, there is a need for genuine and true disciples too.
Whether I succeed in returning home with this form or leave it behind or come back to take another form and live the cycle again is anybody's guess. Though the journey has been simplified in present times it is so long that it is not possible to complete it in one lifetime. We have to stop and assess ourselves as to where we stand each time. But what is the yardstick to compare with? The saints and gurus before us who had traveled the path and spoken about it are our only source of reference. We are fortunate if we have a personal guru who tags along on our journey. I was blessed to have had two wonderful gurus who helped me start and helped shape me. The Siddhas did the rest. I am grateful to them.
As Agathiyar says eventually the guru can only come that far, and we have to go on alone, but fear not for he shall wait for us at the finish line or rather he was there all the while for us but we never saw him as we were stunned by the stage lights, sights and sounds the world has to offer and followed our senses. But if we could use them for a bigger purpose that is to know the Self, they shall abide in the Self eventually.
Separation is seen in Sariyai when we stand apart from the deities and worship them. Separation is seen in Kriya where we stand apart from one another and think that we are serving them or carrying out charity. Separation is seen in Yogam until we realize this union with God, Others, and the Self. He calls this separation as Viyoga and a delusion. The method of removing this delusion is Yoga. Once we realize the Self we have attained Gnanam. We can safely drop all of the former Sadhanas. Bhagawan Ramana1 says they are all Sadhanas or means and will not be necessary after Gnanam is attained. I now understand that Agathiyar in asking me to drop my attachment on him was in fact asking me to end the separation thinking that we were separate. When I replied asking him how was I to end my attachment, he replied asking me "Aren't we one?" Starting us take off from Sariyai where our parents had brought us to, Agathiyar through the guru showed us to Kriyai where we did rituals and charity. The guru and Agathiyar then introduced us to Yogic practices that brought us to Gnanam, to finally know and realize that the Self and He were one.
1. "Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi" published by Sri Ramanashramam, 2006.