Mystic Men of the Siddha tradition
Man is a microcosm. The Siddha path, through any of its multiple dimensions, fundamentally lead man to his natural self– the deathless state. Living the Siddha way is about embodying the cosmic spirit – the absolute – in the human form, which makes him a living cosmos. A Siddha is not confined by the laws of Nature, and as typically described – ‘plays’ with Her. Their rebellion is directed toward the ignorance that man is bound by limitations and like anything in Nature, will eventually die. For a Siddha the limited way of living is worthy of scorn and ridicule and they made no qualms about that in their cryptic songs. Their reverence and humility is directed toward the deathless Absolute, not as a distant dream but a manifested reality in the now. He can bring rain, he can turn tides, he can create and manifest objects and life, and can destroy it if he so wishes which often earned them the label of being magicians in the past.
On the other hand they were worshipped for their anatomical and healing prowess. They have been sought for their astronomical wisdom, their astrological knowledge and have been almost persecuted for their alchemical astuteness. The Siddhas have often been the least understood by society. The recent ages have shown a steady increase in interest and curiosity toward what this ancient tradition has to offer, especially from the West. Several decades of misconceptions are being lifted. The true face of this tradition has found a larger audience and is being welcomed into different corners of the world.
The word Siddha is pronounced as Chittar in Tamil. The root word being chit, means consciousness, which means, Siddhas are beings who realised Consciousness at its Absolute level as well as at its embodied state and are living established in it. These ancient beings living in this ‘state’ of natural consciousness began sharing their profound knowledge and wisdom by the Guru Disciple mode, or the Oral lineage. Much later, They recorded scores of manuscripts divulging the bare essentials as well as the pinnacles of every facet of life and livingness. They wrote of medicines and poisons, they wrote of death and immortality. They wrote, of spiritual-wealth and powers, as well as its dark pitfalls and more. Thus came to be the many dimensions of the Siddha Tradition – Medicine, Healing, martial art, Yoga, Tantra, Occult, Alchemy, Astronomy,Astrology, etc. to name a few.
Palpandian, from his experience says, “learning from many sources is like accumulating data, but learning from a single Master is a way of transforming oneself and acts as a ground from which we can understand everything in and around it.” The many potentials of the Siddhas can be read in his book, Siddhas-Masters of Nature Products and in the book written by his student Stephen Grissom, Rivulets of the Absolute.