ILLUMINATION, ENLIGHTENMENT..

ENERGY ENHANCEMENT DHARMA MEGA SAMADHI REMOVES THE ENERGY BLOCKAGES OF THE SELFISH COMPETITIVE PSYCHOPATHIC EGO ONE BY ONE, KNOT BY KNOT UNTIL, "THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE" ONLY ONE SOUL INFUSED PERSONALITY REMAINS.

Thanks! I want to update you. I underwent a profound change in my energy last night after my main ego blockage submitted.

However today I noticed with more light in my system, that there are more, smaller ego blockages which are there and which talk to me. I look forward to resolving them. I'll now paste what I wrote last night.

Now I write here what I experienced between my last comment and reading her reply, written just below:

I had to lay down to do some meditation just now, and I felt like there were ‘two me’s, the first me was this little black smudge of an ego, the ‘I’, the selfish ego, or the part which basically functions for it’s own agenda. This guy basically pleasure-seeks and avoids pain/responsibility and is good at justifying it’s reasons and making excuses.

The second ‘me’, was this overwhelmingly peaceful, white light. It was so powerful it was literally drowning my little dark ego. So my ego had this light just drowning it from all directions. Imagine a war scene where the dark side is just a little blob of dark and there is hundreds or thousands of times as much light surrounding it from all angles.

Then also during this process, I had to see through the ‘light’s eyes to take a look at me…and I saw all these faults. I saw this creeping little dark ego who was so unaware of everything, it just kept making excuses for it’s actions ‘but’ this, and ‘but’ that. It just kept wanting pleasurable things and to run away from responsibility. I had to take a long good look at this guy, this type of me.

So my little dark ego, the ‘I’, just …well, just gave up. He just said ‘Okay!! Okay…I give up! I give up! Surrender!’ So then I started to feel like I was going to cry. All this light just smothered me, my ego and gave it a lot of love and peace. Then I felt this vortex of white light form in my heart – it felt quite small, maybe an inch or so big.

Then I felt all this peaceful energy throughout my whole body – it felt like cosmic/space/universe energy. Something like a peaceful energy from space (as if I had a whole entire universe inside my chest and body with the heart at the center). After that happened, I was getting light flood my body and I just felt like crying and surrendering. I suddenly felt this rush of what felt like crystalline white light flood into my body and fill my arms and legs and whole body. So I had a new ‘layer’ of energy body or something like this.

I think it’s a point of no-return now! I can only surrender now. What seems to be filling my body is this type of energy which is peace and light, it only seems to want what’s right for everyone. I hope it remains. I don’t know how much of my ego I let go off…I wish all of it will go now.

I honestly don’t believe I will go back to being how I used to, because too much of my consciousness or awareness feels grounded into ‘light’, so if I can keep seeing from the light’s viewpoint, I can quickly pick out faults which I might otherwise do.

Phew, what an intense evening. But I feel so peaceful! I seem quite satisfied to just drown myself in this light.

I want to give an update on this today. I’m pleased to say that the energy of soft love and peace which flooded my body last night, has remained with me today. I feel like a completely different person. There has been a loss of desire, an increase in peace.

I threw out some supplements and felt like that type of thing has now become redundant.

Today I noticed that small ego blockages were in my aura. They are much weaker than the one which submitted to the light last night, they are more deeply buried.

I hope to continue to resolve and integrate these fragments of ego energy blockages in future.

Peace,

Starlight

TAMIL SIDDHARS : YOGIS FROM TAMIL REGION

SIDDHAS - PSYCHIC POWERS WHICH OCCUR IN MEDITATION PRACTISE

A '''Siddha''' in Sanskrit means "One who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who have transcended the Ahamkara (Ego or I-maker), have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies composed mainly of dense Rajo-tama Gunas into a different kind of bodies dominated by Satva. This is usually accomplished only by persistent meditation over many lifetimes.

A Siddha has also been defined to refer to one who has attained a Siddhi. The Siddhis as paranormal abilities are considered emergent abilities of an individual that is on the path to Siddhahood, and do not define a Siddha, who is established in the Pranav - the Aum, which is the spiritual substrate of creation. The Siddhi in its pure form means "the attainment of flawless identity with Reality (Brahman); perfection of Spirit."

The concept of Siddhas is a prime notion in Jainism.
 

==Siddha-loka==
In Hindu cosmology Siddhaloka is a subtle world (lokam) where perfected beings (Siddhas) take birth. They are endowed with the Eight Primary Siddhis at birth.

In South India, a Siddha refers to a being who has achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual perfection or enlightenment. The ultimate demonstration of this is that Siddhas allegedly attained physical immortality. Thus Siddha, like Siddhar or Cittar (indigenisation of Sanskrit terms in Tamil Nadu) refers to a person who has realised the goal of a type of Sadhana and become a perfected being. In Tamil Nadu, South India, where the Siddha tradition is still practiced, special individuals are recognized as and called Siddhas, or Siddhars or Cittars, who are on the path to that assumed perfection after they have taken special secret Rasayanas to perfect their bodies, in order to be able to sustain prolonged meditation along with a form of Pranayama which reduces the number of breaths taken by them considerably.

Siddha medicine is a form of medical treatment of diseases using substances of all possible origins in a way that balances the possible harmful effect of each substance. This form of medicine was professed and practised by Siddhars who wrote their recipes on for the use of future generations. Siddha medicine was developed by outstanding Dravidians (ancient Tamils), locally called Cittars.

Preparations are made mainly out of the parts of the plants and trees such as leaves, bark, stem, root etc, but include also mineral and some animal substances. This form of medicine is still today well known in South India, and is a form of Ayurveda. The use of metals like gold, silver and iron powders (Sanskrit bhasma) in some preparations is a special feature of Siddha medicine, which claims it can detoxify metals to enable them to be used for stubborn diseases. This claim is especially relevant in the case of mercury which is relatively often used in the system; that means medicine containing should only be received from a highly qualified practitioner of the art.

ALCHEMY DEGENERATED

However this Alchemy which was created by Tamil Siddar Bhogar and then as Lao Tzu in his Chinese incarnation as Taoist Alchemy and then via the Egyptians as Hermes Trismegistus and the Sufi Alchemists such as Dun Nun the Egyptian whereby it entered into Europe as medieval Alchemy. This Alchemy has been degenerated - the same as the Middle Ages Alchemists saying that they could create the Metal Gold from the Metal lead - Jung deciphered Alchemy -

Jung proved that in the real Alchemy the items Gold, Lead, Sulphur, Mercury referred to spiritual energies..

LEAD being the Earth, Mercury being the Holy Spirit which travels between Earth and the center of the Universe and Sulphur being the Sun or the Central Spiritual Sun. These three comprise the Holy Trinity and are talked about in the Guided meditation described in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus. This Guided meditation is the same as the Kundalili Kriyas and the Taoist Meditational Orbits both Microcosmic and Macrocosmic.

As with Gurdjieff and his Reciprocal maintenance the movement of the Energies from Heaven to Earth between the Father and the Son, between the central Spiritual Sun and the Earth has the efect of transmuting Energy Blockages which always are trying to stop this flow of energy.

These Alchemical meditations are in order to Transmute Base metal, lead, the Energy Blockages in the Earth and in Human Beings into Spiritual Gold, The Earth being transmuted into a Sacred Planet and the Human Being, filled with evil blockages, into An Enlightened Being and Ascended master, Like Tamil Siddar, Bhogar.

Thus Physical Gold, Lead and Mercury are sidetracks meant to poison and distract people away from the true Alchemy which has been known for thousands of years.

Energy Enhancement teaches the Real Spiritual Alchemy Gaining Spiritual Energy and purifying the body from its Energy Blockages.

Satchidanand

Siddhars are altruistic and teach through truth. Black Magicians are self-centered liars.

Not only do people run away after committing acts of sin, but the spirits too.

The quintessence of Sri Pambatti Siddhar's Grantha Sastra is proper regulation of breath. When breath is regulated in various ways, different spirits get controlled.
 

Spirituality is the stage of preparing man for the vision of God; Gnana is the result of God realisation.
'Winning over God' means mastery of three levels.
1. Winning over God,
2. Changing ones Karma ones fate and
3. Controlling life principles in one's own self.
Pranava is an interminable, resplendent glow of fire.
Sufferings occur effortlessly; Prosperity is earned hard.
Good deeds are immeasurable; Debt and Karma is precisely calculable.

All forms of energy have two states, genuine and false. In the case of a Gnani, one merges into the other.

Man's witness lasts till his lifetime; divine witness is eternal.
One of the six abodes of Lord Muruga remains embedded in the Indian Ocean.

Who is a siddha ?
A siddha is one who has attained siddhi, i.e. "power, prowess, strength, ability", then a special kind of psychic and supernatural, miraculous, occult power. There are eight kinds of super natural powers called as "Ashtama Siddhis":

Anima (shrinking) - Power of becoming the size of an atom and entering the smallest beings.
Mahima (illimitability) - Power of becoming mighty and co-extensive with the universe. The power of increasing one's size without limit.
Lagima (lightness) - Capacity to be quite light though big in size.
Garima (weight) - Capacity to weigh heavy, though seemingly small size.
Prapthi (fulfillment of desires) - Capacity to enter all the worlds from Brahma Loga to the neither world. It is the power of attaining everything desired.
Prakasysm (irresistable will) - Power of disembodying and entering into other bodies (metempsychosis) and going to heaven and enjoying what everyone aspires for, simply from where he stays.
Isithavam (supremacy) - Have the creative power of God and control over the Sun, the moon and the elements and
Vasithavam (dominion over the elements) - Power of control over King and Gods. The power of changing the course of nature and assuming any form.

According to the book "Valmiki Suthira Gyanam" authored by Siddhar Valmiki, "By purifying the mind and attaining perfection one becomes a siddha (Tamil Chittan); He is indeed fit to be called SIVA". A classical definition of siddhas is given by Siddhar Thirumoolar: "Those who live in yoga and see the divine light and power through yoga are the siddhars (Tamil Chittar)".

Patanjali was a Tamil Siddar, thus the second sutra of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is, "Yogas Citta Vritti Nirodha". The Citta is the Mind, Vrittis are Energy Blockage impurities, and Nirodha means the Removal of the Energy Blockages.. Only then we have Yoga or Union with the Higher Energies, Illumination, Enlightenment. Satchidanand.

There are some features which are typical for all or almost all siddhars as a body of thinkers.
First, in sharp opposition to the bhakti tradition, they refuse to allow themselves be carried away by idol worship in particular temples.
Second, in contrast to bhakti which emphasizes passionate devotion to God, the siddhar emphasize knowledge, yoga practice, and character, moral behavior, right conduct. Anger, lust and egoism are the worst sins.
Third, almost all siddhar's raise a protest against caste and casteism.
The whole atmosphere of siddha thinking is empirical and experimental. Their writings are not in the nature of clear cut formalized statements of any well defined doctrine. Hence, it is difficult to extricate a philosophical system out of their writings, at least at the present state of our knowledge of their works. However, it is possible to point out a few essential features, and one day, when their writings are better known, it should be possible to state their philosophy more explicitly.
 

The 18 Siddhars
There are 18 siddhars in the tamil siddha tradition. Each of the siddhars had lived in varied places under different names. The following are most common names of the 18 siddhars. They are listed in the order of their time period.

Sri Pathanjali Siddhar
Sri Agasthiar Siddhar
Sri Kamalamuni Siddhar
Sri Thirumoolar Siddhar
Sri Kuthambai Siddhar
Sri Korakkar Siddhar
Sri Thanvandri Siddhar
Sri Sundaranandar Siddhar
Sri Konganar Siddhar
Sri Sattamuni Siddhar
Sri Vanmeegar Siddhar
Sri Ramadevar Siddhar
Sri Nandeeswarar Siddhar
Sri Edaikkadar Siddhar
Sri Machamuni Siddhar
Sri Karuvoorar Siddhar
Sri Bogar Siddhar
Sri Pambatti Siddhar
Table of 18 Siddharsālangi Nāthar

Table of 18 Siddhars

The traditional Siddhas, right from Siddha Nandidevar to Saint Ramalingam of the 19th century, were well known Siddha-World rulers and great benefactors of mankind, who, either by their own insistence or by the gratitude of their subjects had been transferred to the ranks of Heaven of Life. Ancient mysticism termed as Mythology today, was already well developed in those earliest times. At that early date, Lord Vaduka, Karuppasamy, Goddess Varahi, Goddess Indrani, all have been mentioned as medicinal deities.

When the medicinal procedures of the ancient Siddhas expressed remarkable effect in that profoundly religious age, they were deified! Epidemics that exposed entire nations to the threat of annihilation posed particularly dangerous. Rulership depended on the ability to thwart off the ravage of disease. These are the kinds of examples recorded in original works of the Siddhas explaining how the Siddha system helped the people at particular periods. Such incidents were considered miracles. The Siddhas came to be worshipped as deities with divine honours. The reality that these compassionate 'benefactors' had a special and direct contact with the supernatural and as a result were themselves accorded divine attributes could not have been casually ruled out.

Though much of the rationality, compassion and spiritual insights of ancient civilizations are disregarded under the banner of Myths and many records have been lost or dismissed, one fact has emerged clearly - in every available palm script of Siddha works, the origin of metallurgy and its various uses; the archetypal healing Gods and deities; the mysterious mystical power spots; and meetings of the ancient Siddhas till date clearly traces back to the Mountains and Forests of Siddhas.

As people formed colonies and migrated from their magico-religious outlook of life and its darker face of illness and mundane abnormalities, the distinctive healing power spots of ancient Siddhas were the only available and sought out aid and remedy for later periods. Dark forces that brought disease, collective death and inert psychic blocks were propitiated by mystical ceremonies that involved visiting the caves of the ancient Siddhas, reciting incantations (mantra) or supplications and expiations.

Many of their manuscripts traveled all over Tamil Nadu, across different periods of time and spread. Many lay hidden with people who kept them without really knowing their true significance. The remaining manuscripts have been significantly guarded in mountain caves under the mystical supervision of ferocious guarding deities appointed by the Siddhas themselves. These manuscripts are the foremost treasures of the ancient Siddha tradition. The valuable yogic insights that emerged from the mystery of the life-giving and life-taking rhythm of Nature have been recorded in these manuscripts and are known to give endless possibilities for healing human problems. They have even described the identifying features and the locations of certain healing Herbs meant for increasing longevity and some that can even bring a dying person back to life.

The next treasure trove of the ancient Siddhas are the ancient medicinal preparations of the Siddhas that lay buried under certain caves and rocks. These healing materials are in the form of Kalangu (tuber), Kalpa Basma (Elixir preparations) and are also governed by mysterious forces as protection from bad-tempered persons.

'Malai vala sastra' is a Sastra exclusively describing many mysteries of these mountains. The Siddhas, Gorakkar, Bogar, Agasthiyar and Karuvoorar have all written works on these subjects giving ample information of these treasures and other occult and spiritual mysteries secreted in the Siddha mountains, forests and caves throughout the Indian region. Some of the texts even mention caves that are not visible to the common eye. These mystical regions and power spots are the spiritual rejuvenative places and some are still known to be places of revelation and meeting places of the ancient Siddhas. In present day Tamil Nadu, Chaturagiri, the Pothikai hills, the Kolli hills, the Kancha hills, the Mahendragiri mountain ranges etc are all named as ancient Siddha mountains. The Agasthiyar hill in Kerala and the Srisailam mountain of Andhra Pradesh, the Girnar mountain of Gujarat are also amongst those revered as Their ancient power spots.

A strong conviction even present day followers of the Siddha path treasure is that an individual of true quest who is a recipient of the Siddhas grace can gain access to these kinds of places. There are many more accurate details of different places and its significant relationship with the Siddhas but it is impossible to share all of it in this small homepage.
 

In the hungered New Age frenzy where the practice and principles of Ayurveda, traditional Hindu medicine, have become so well known, the West still remains largely ignorant of the South Indian Tamil Siddhar tradition. It represents a wonderful parallel to that of the Rosicrucian Alchemists. Just as the Rosicrucians claim lineage to the high culture of Ancient Egypt, itself only an artifact of "Atlantis", so too do Tamil Siddhars trace their original heritage to an advanced civilization destroyed by a great flood about 10,000 years ago. The lost continent supporting this heritage purportedly stretched from Madagascar to Australia with Sri Lanka constituting its central surviving land mass.

Ancient Egyptian High Culture appears suddenly, even from the earliest times at a very advanced level. Examples of its elegance include high yield strains of grain, a precise calendrical system, refined medicine even featuring neurosurgery, but above all its complete system of hieroglyphic language which seems to serve a higher state of consciousness. These advances emerge suddenly from Neolithic chaos. So too, from earliest recorded history Tamil language appears as one of the most sophisticated literary systems on the face of this planet. This lack of developmental period suggests that both Tamil and Egyptian cultures were surviving artifacts, preserved by the greatest sages of highly advanced civilizations destroyed by geological cataclysm.

The contemporary scholar, Kamil Zvelebil, in THE SMILE OF MURUGAN, explains the necessity of understanding the siddhars, the primordial Tamil sages, before any deeper appreciation of South Indian civilization becomes possible. These spiritual giants composed the foundations of literary and scientific development. Yet because they wrote in obscure style so reminiscent of western alchemy and often ridiculed the orthodox caste system with its over-emphasis on ritual worship, the Siddhars have always moved on the outer perimeter of social acceptability. Their chief artifacts aside from a complete medical system include a vast body of esoteric literature as well as ever popular rustic poems and bardic songs.

Zvelebil outlines the common features of siddhar poetry: "a protest, sometimes expressed in very strong terms, against the formalities of life and religion; rough handling of priests and Brahmins in general ; denial of the religious practices and beliefs of Brahmanism, and not only that: an opposition against the generally accepted pan Indian social doctrine and religious practice; protest against the abuses of temple rule; emphasis on the purity of character; claims made by the authors of these poems that they have achieved certain psychokinetic powers and other capabilities which belong to the sphere of parapsychological phenomena; use of imaginative and ambiguous language, rather puzzling though strongly colloquial; no systemic doctrinal exposition. Finally, all these poems are ascribed to a body of sages known as the siddhars (1)."

Does this description recall the mood of the Rosicrucian manifestoes and the Alchemical literature of 17th century Europe during the age of Reformation against the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church?

The Siddhars present themselves as the greatest masters of yoga, medicine and alchemy. Unlike their western counterparts who emphasized the transmutation of base metal into gold, the Tamil sages stressed the accomplishment of physical immortality or at least extended longevity as the ultimate token of self-realization Parallels exist in the western concept of the "glorified body". Just as in the west, these sages left a vast number of inscrutable texts accessible only to initiates. Their Hermetic emphasis on knowing reality directly by reading "the signatures of Nature", developing contemplative "seeing" as Castanada uses the term or cultivating, "the intelligence of the heart", as described by Schwaller de Lubicz, goes far beyond conventional understandings of Eastern meditation techniques. Such vision in ancient times served as the basis of a sacred science with bountiful practical applications.

Patanjali, one of the greatest Tamil siddhars who accomplished himself at Rameswaram, explicated the essentials of mystic discipline, in his well known YOGA SUTRAS.

Although postures, breath and contemplative techniques play a major role this tradition also includes the practical science of Nature; Cosmology, Astrology, Herbalism, Chemistry Alchemy and Medicine. While Ayurvedic medicine concerns itself generally with herbs and organic treatments the siddhars add strong emphasis on use of inorganic salts, metals and mineral poisons.

Like the romantic notion of the Rosicrucians the siddhars are bound by an oath of secrecy. They wander anonymously practicing their yogic disciplines, doing service to their fellow men especially as dispensers of potent medicines. In the west sages such as Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus and Basil Valantine acquired legendary status as alchemists. So too a rich tradition venerates the exploits of these Tamil mystics. Eighteen of the siddhars are venerated above others for accomplishing themselves to the highest level of perfection. The historic locations in India where they performed their penance today comprise spiritually charged centers of pilgrimage.

The first and foremost of the siddhars, Agastyar, fits the image of his western counterpart, Thoth-Hermes. Considered the founder of Tamil language and grammar, he presided over the first two sangams, ancient literary academies located on the now submerged continent south of Sri Lanka. He also appears as the primordial giver of arts and sciences. Innumerable classic works ascribe themselves to his authorship. Contemporary Tamil scholars assert that at least 26 classic authors wrote under this name. Who were they all aspiring to imitate? Folk tales abound in accounts of Agastyar's constant battles with local demons. He pops into the story line of classic epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, to bestow blessing and guidance. Tradition has it that Agastyar still lives in the Pothigai Hills below the Western Ghats, occasionally appearing to the sincere aspirant (2).

Thirumoolar, - a favourite of Swami Satchidananda who quoted from him many times - another of the most renowned Tamil masters, accomplished his magnum opus of yogic reintegration at Chidambaram, the sacred spot where Shiva performs his cosmic dance. The chief contribution of Thirmoolar, the THIRMANDIRAM, an esoteric masterpiece of 3000 verses explains man's yogic path to immortal divinity, referring metaphorically to the philosopher's stone that transmutes base metal into gold. Here is the essential classic text of siddhar wisdom. Only in the recent past has this work been made available to the English reading public.

Karuvoorar, an architect as well as a yogin-alchemist, played a major role in the design and construction of the Brihadeshwara Temple at Thanjavur. The feats involved in this task recall not only the emergence of the Gothic cathedrals which occurred at about the same time but also the construction of the pyramids. A popular tour guide describes this as one of India's greatest temples:

"This superb and fascinating monument is one of only a handful in India with World Heritage listing and is worth a couple of visits. On top of the apex of the 63 meter high temple, a dome encloses an enormous Shiva Lingam. Constructed from a single piece of granite weighing an estimated 81 tonnes, the dome was hauled into place along a six-km earth work ramp in a manner similar to that used for the Egyptian Pyramids (3)."

 

From a western perspective Bogar might be the most intriguing of the siddhars. Born into a family of gold smiths in central South-India, Bogar received initiation from the illustrious Natha Yogi, Kalangi. Contemplative insight allegedly guided Bogar to construct a primitive form of aircraft that he used in a journey to China. He is also credited with inventing a sea-going craft using a stream engine, preparing an indestructible statue of the god, Muruga, using nine poisonous herbs and minerals and making a major contribution to the siddhar medicine system which boasts possession of fabulous remedies that heal presently incurable diseases and make possible an extreme longevity. Bogar achieved the ultimate state of perfection at the hill top shrine of Palani where the statue he fabricated is still in use. Elaborate temple murals here chronicle his wondrous exploits.

These claims seem somewhat reminiscent of the achievements of the contemporary western Hermetic master Schwaller de Lubicz, who in an attempt to free France from imported energy invented an engine fueled by vegetable oil. He designed following principles of number and harmonic proportion imbibed from contemplative vision a ship which possessed innovative properties of speed and balance in the roughest waters. He developed an airplane motor still used in France today. He also prepared Homeopathic medicines from plants and rediscovered the medieval alchemical procedure for producing the brilliant red and blue stained glass found in the windows of the Gothic Cathedrals. Evidence suggests that Scwaller was the original genius behind the Fulcanelli material, perhaps the most significant alchemical literature of the century. (see GNOSIS No. 7)

A popular legend describes how Bogar made several missionary excursions into China. A master of astral projection and soul transmigration, Bogar entered the body of a recently deceased Chinese youth, revived it and grew to become the Chinese sage, Lao Tzu, author of the TAO TE CHING and founder of Taoism. Taoism has a rich alchemical faction devoted to physical longevity that lends credit to this bizarre tale. The TAO TE CHING embodies the same esoteric style that haunts the obscure language of the Tamil siddhars and echoes ideas from western alchemy. Any student of Taoist Yoga is shocked by the similarity of its techniques to those of the Tamil siddhars.

Initially I could not accept the possibility that Bogar was Lao Tzu. During an extensive pilgrimage to the shrines of the siddhars in 1989 I encountered well educated residents of Palani who took it for granted that Bogar was indeed Tao Tzu. Finally, I found a pilgrimage guide book written in English, a rare commodity indeed in this off-the-beaten-track location. It described Palani's Hill temple to Lord Muruga and contained a brief monograph on Bogar identifying him as the Chinese sage, Lao Tzu.

Bogar's monumental work of 7000 verses has recently been edited in Tamil by one of the great living apostles of this tradition, Yogi S.A. Ramaiah of Madras. Since 1954, Yogi Ramaiah has traveled the world, giving lectures, initiating students and building temples. An American center at Yuma, Arizona features a temple containing eighteen granite images dedicated to the greatest siddhars. He does not offer the customary guru-disciple relationship but rather teaches postures, breathing and contemplative techniques geared to give access to what Anthony Rooley described so wonderfully in the third issue of ALEXANDRIA as "The Invisible College", a higher inspired state of mind. Jean Dubuis, the contemporary French alchemist describes a vaguely similar practice as "night school". These concepts might be related to the medieval notion of "the communion of saints" not as blind faith but as actual guiding contemplative experience. Although mantras do play a role the actual advanced techniques taught by Yogi Ramaiah seem more in tune with the methods of western alchemy.

Yogi Ramaiah has so far avoided becoming a personality cult by shifting attention to his own guru, "Babaji", the immortal Yogin made famous in Yogananda's AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI . This shadowy character remains a premier figure among that semi-mythical category of perfected immortal saints which include personages like Harikhan Baba and Bagwan Lakulisa. These beings allegedly inhabit remote regions of the Himalayas, emerging on rare occasion to reveal the more esoteric levels of yogic attainment.

In recent times "Babaji" has become a New Age band wagon that everyone delights to jump on, from Sondra Ray and Leonard Orr, the father of the rebirthing movement to Nina Hagen, the German Rock singer. Babaji's picture even appears on the album jacket of the Beatles, SERGENT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND. In the vast realm of human imagination, what myth could possibly be more attractive to the ego than that of physical immortality?

Yogi Ramaiah offers the world a unique biography of this immortal saint. Babaji was born in 203 A.D. near the sanctuary of Chidambaram. At an early age he was kidnapped, sold into slavery and then purchased by a wealthy man who freed him. Babaji was thus absolved from the responsibilities of caste and family. He soon fell in with a group of advanced wandering sages who trained him in contemplative methods of self-realization. In his wanderings Babaji studied with Bogar at Katirgama in Sri Lanka and at Courtrallam with Agastyar. He finally achieved the highest yogic realization at Badrinath near the Himalayan boarder. Is there an echo here of the story of Christian Rosenkreutz who sets off as an orphaned youth on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and falls into the company of mysterious adepts who train him in ultimate wisdom?

A most intriguing enigma might arise from consideration of Babaji's yantra, a geometric device used along with mantra for invoking the master's grace and guidance. This yantra consists of a triangle situated in a square in turn circumscribed by a circle. It calls to mind a number of 17th century western alchemical diagrams. Notable examples include the final engraving from Heinrich Khunrath's AMPHITHEATRUM SAPIENTIAE AETERNAE (4), the seventh key of Basil Valantine's TWELVE KEYS and the Rosicrucian seal on the diploma presented to Dr. Bacstrom by a mysterious adept in 1794, published in Manly Hall's, ORDERS OF THE GREAT WORK-ALCHEMY(5). Stanislas Klassowski de Rolla explicates the meaning of Khunrath's emblem:

"Syzygy or conjunction of the macrocosmic Unity with the microcosmic triunity. The entire process of the elaboration of the Philosopher's Stone is symbolized here ...(4)."

 

The history of the Tamil siddhars has yet to be written. Their writings remain scattered waiting for the scholarly treatment they deserve. The task of separating the complex mythic and actual historic biographies of these sages recalls the difficulty associated with penetrating the wisdom of the western alchemical tradition. Scholars can argue even against the historical Jesus but in the end a good dream is more powerful than any historical reality. The perennial wisdom at the root of Rosicrucian alchemy or the Tamil siddhar tradition transcends time and space. It is an ever present guide leading any sincere aspirant into the immortal realm of imagination and its central diadem of self-luminous Gnosis. In the light of Gnosis all sages from every continent throughout history are forever united.

1. Kamil Zvelebil, "The Cittar: An Enigma", chapter 14 of THE SMILE OF MURUGAN on TAMIL LITERATURE OF SOUTH INDIA (Leiden, Brill, 1973) p. 218
2. Thiru N Kandaswamy Pillai, HISTORY OF SIDDHAR MEDICINE, (Madras, Manorama Press, Gov. of Tamil Nadu, 1979), p 254
3. Hugh Finlay, editor INDIA, A TRAVEL SURVIVAL KIT (5th edition, Hong Kong, Lonely Planet, 1993), p. 1011
4. Stanislas Klassowski de Rolla, THE GOLDEN GAME: ALCHEMICAL ENGRAVINGS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, (New York, Braziller, 1988), p. 41
5. Manly P. Hall, ORDERS OF THE GREAT WORK- ALCHEMY (Los Angeles, P.R.S., 1940) p. 34.

I'm a strong believer that personal development is the best investment you could ever make. The reason is really simple. Improving yourself proactively, working on your awareness, improving your skills and knowledge about how you can get to the edge of your potential, all of that is an investment into the greatest asset you'll always have: Yourself.

I know from my own experience that this is true. And I know it from the fact that almost every Spiritually successful person started out low and became high!!

HOTEI POINTING AT THE MOON