ROADS TO RIGHTEOUS LIFE The beauty of saivasiddhantham is, it preaches a life style which is righteous. A life that does not impinge upon the happiness of others. It gives very clear guidelines to a way of daily routines that is physically, mentally and socially healthy. It is a complete guide to one's day to day life style.
They are not to be meant as the popular yoga that is portrayed in the western media and by the corporate gurus. They are about a holistic life which is for the society at large. They are not just some postures, some concentration exercises, a few bhajans or a brand cult following. It is a prescription for a perfect living. A social philosophy that helps humanity as a whole to live at peace with its surroundings. If these have been practiced all along there would not have been slavery, world wars, global warming or famines. The yoga life style is for the whole world. They aim at a simple small harmless human society. Sometimes it may be questioned whether it is correct to follow such a social or personal norm in the era of Darwinian model of world and survival oriented economy. It is difficult to answer that. Whenever mankind goes into complete madness it is only these prescriptions that comes to rescue! The SARIYA, KIRIYA & ATTANGA-YOGA (eight life style steps) deals with these issues. They are,
Sariyai: duties to the temple Kiriyai: duties to the lingam yogam(eight steps) 1. iayamai: avoidance of bad habits 2. niyamai: following the rules of etics as in the scriptures 3. asanam : care of body through exercises 4. pranayamam: care of the breathing 5. prathyaharam: thinking about duties 6. dharanai: concentrating the mind 7. dhyanam: thinking of god 8. Samadhi: union with god within the mind These ten steps are described in detail in the saiva texts. They are also called as SADHANA(EFFORTS). The efforts we take in this direction leads us to the fruit of our birth. The saiva schools from this outset is a social theory. It emphasizes a temple based society. The temple is central to the saiva schools were everything revolves around it. The saiva philosophy is well embedded in south india especially the Cauvery delta. Here we can see the temples forming the central part of the towns. The entire social. political, commercial, administrative, economic , cultural and civic life is closely associated with the temples. The life begins here for every citizen in these places. This temple culture continues even today in Cauvery delta in this 21st century. That is the power of saiva schools in this region. The temples have the entire saiva philosophy sculpted in stone. Every part and nook or corner of the saiva temples are arranged in a grammatical precision that follows the saiva doctrines. The nandhi,pali peedam, the flag post, the shrines of lingam and the sakthi, the navagraha complex, the gopuram, the pond and every small detail has a meaning which is rooted in the agama phase of the saivism. Thus it is a continuing tradition which has its beginnings in Sumeria or Indus or Ganges but that continues in its glorius form in the land of Cauveri(ponni). Every citizen here is truly a PONNIYIN SELVAN.