The beginning!

     It all started with a phone call!  As the phone was picked up i heard, “Aum namah Sivaya Divine Brother! Let us start preparing for our Sivaratri pilgrimage!” Instantly, i knew it was Nandhiji on the other line! However, before beginning this story, it is best to tell a little about Nandhiji and how i came to know of this amazing, divine soul. 

Nandhiji was born and raised in South India. His journey into the spiritual realms began when he was 4 years old. His journey started as a little boy, sitting on the shoulders of his father while on a pilgrimage to Swami Ayyappa (a shrine in South India). It was in this pilgrimage that he witnessed a divine event that would forever guide him through his life.

The pilgrims had to walk through 40 kilometers of forest to reach the shrine and it was night time. They got lost, having taken the wrong path. While under the dark canopy of trees in the forest, there seemed doubt in being able to get back to the main pathway. Just then a tiger that was nearby roared. Everyone of the pilgrims were scared and they all kept chanting the Swamy Ayyappa mantras. The chants of the sacred mantras became louder and louder. It was then that Nandhi saw a radiant being, as though luminescent, walking out of the darkness.

Nandhi immediately alerted his father and soon, all the pilgrims felt a wave of comforting and protective energy, There was no more fear. There a quiet and the pilgrims stood around this radiant being who was smiling. He said, "So you all seems lost! Let me show you the way!". The radiant being pointed out the directions to the pilgrims and while the pilgrims were talking to each other,
Nandhi saw the radiant being gradually disappear. All the pilgrims, including his father, realized that the person who came out of the darkness to guide them was a divine being. For Nandhi, this radiant being was an ancient friend, waiting forever to connect. Nadhiji's initiation into the siddha lineage occurred when he was 24.
The following interview given by Adrienne Papp tells his story. 

“After his schooling and studies in England, Nandhi started a granite business in India, and in less than four years the company became one of the largest in that industry, with hundreds of employees. But despite his financial success, Nandhi still felt something was lacking, that business was not his real purpose in life. At the age of 24, as he was praying he heard a voice saying, “I have come to take you.” He began to feel death approach him.

A young saint, whom Nandhi had never met or even seen before, knocked on his door. Later, Nandhiji learned that this young saint was known by the name of Bhairava Sekar Swami.  He told Nandhi that Nandhi’s karmic death had come and he had been sent to take Nandhi through the process. Without any hesitation, Nandhi followed him into the forest, actually in joy knowing that soon he would connect back to his ancient past. The saint initiated Nandhi into the Siddhar path (where all the branches of ancient wisdom – medicine, prayer rituals and meditation, hatha yoga and Vedic studies come together) after taking Nandhi through a death-like process. From this moment on, Nandhi knew that he was awakened and his true purpose of having been born in India revealed itself.

With this experience, Nandhi became a different man. He changed his habits and committed himself to a life of primal joys, seeking to live in a state of ecstasy, plunging himself into the spiritual wilderness of India in search of the meditative wholeness in temples, caves and shrines as he was guided by his Gurus.

“I had arrived at a place where I felt free,” Nandhi says. “I had arrived into a place of light, where everything revolves around you, not you having to revolve around everything else. At that point, my business became unimportant to me, and it began to decline.”

The experiences and visions Nandhi experienced resulted in an increased awareness of God, the Source of all things, and Nandhi had an intense desire to see God again as he had as a child in the forest. His wish was granted when he opened his eyes from a meditation and saw the entire Arunachala mountain in front of him radiating with the spirit of Source, a vision of God, a vortex of enlightenment manifest in front of him It was something so compelling that he was to capture the vision later in a painting. That painting has not only become famous, but also saved the life of a relative who otherwise was condemned to death clinically.”

According to Nandhiji, “In the vast lands of India, each Sage specializes in a particular dimension of wisdom- some in Siddha medicines, some in prayer rituals and meditation, some in hatha yoga, and some in Vedic studies. For Nandhi, it was on connecting to the Siddhar Sage Ayya that at once, all the branches of the ancient wisdom came together. 

The Siddhars do not like popularity and crowd. In fact, some Siddhars even throw stones at people around them so to discourage all but the determined seeker! For many months, Nandhi would climb up Arunachala, the sacred mountain of Shiva in Thiruvannamalai, to be near Ayya, each time hoping that Ayya would call him in. Ayya would often test Nandhi’s resolve in many ways. Finally, after 4 years, Ayya initiated Nandhi.

After being initiated by Ayya, Nandhi felt the secret doors to the ancient wisdom open up to him. He felt Ayya’s presence in his daily yoga practice. Ayya’s loud silent teachings guided Nandhi, as though it was only a remembrance of earlier teachings. It was in Rishikesh, the foothills of the Himalayas, when Nandhi was taught by Ayya, the art of being able to take the body to a state where it is not affected by extreme cold or heat. Soon, Nandhi learnt the ability to take the body beyond hunger. With Ayya’s guidance, Nandhi could now understand and experience the state of higher consciousness, called by the Siddhar Sages, the state of sleepless sleep that in ancient Tamil and Sanskrit is mentioned as “Turiya”. Each day was a pilgrimage as a journey into the ancient knowing. Nandhi lived with many enlightened Sages, learning and practicing their yoga over the years while being connected to Ayya, which like a spiritual umbilical cord nourished Nandhi in the wisdom of the ancient lineage.”

The most empowered gift Nandhi received from the inner journey into wholeness was- to wake up to the childhood dream he had- the vision that is now becoming a reality as the Ariven Community.  After knowing himself as the Spirit having the human experience, the most profound realization was to know, "What am I here on Planet Earth for!?"  This inspiring vision now unfolds- where giant sanctuaries are created to save the lives of thousands of retired cows and oxen- sustaining large organic farms that allocate 50% or more of the vegetarian food produce to feed the hungry. More info of it- www.ariven.org and www.nandhi.com
 
i first came across Nandhiji’s website a few years back. After going through the immense wisdom and teachings found throughout the site, i could instantly feel the ancient presence of the siddha’s.  My whole being suddenly felt completely alive with a deep resonance………a resonance that instantaneously awoke me to an ancient past and purpose. Many “clicks” started happening within and i could feel a deep calling to re-connect to this ancient lineage with Nandhiji as my guide. …………………