There is another type of seeking. Understanding that He knows and grants whatever is essential for us. He knows what we need and He takes absolute care of us. So what we seek from Him eternally would be opportunities to render service to Him. Seeking ways to express our love through service. If we seek material benefits, that becomes bhogam. What we seek for the society, the service we wish to do, becomes Yogam. When this love surges from within us, it leads way to ‘Pongal’, surging of Love, surging of Grace.

Vallalar prayed, ‘O Lord! Please grant me this that I can love everyone impartially’. If you can follow suit, you too can become Ayyappa. If your stance towards the Lord is, ‘I will continuously ask Your Grace for solving the problems people face and You must immediately grant Refuge to them’,
then you can become Ayyappa.

When King RajasekaraPandian asked for the milk of the tigress for curing the queen, did not the child Ayyappa do that immediately? He could have retorted afterward, ‘I have done what you asked of me. What father are you that sends his son to the forest to carry out the bidding of your second wife? See my prowess. Give me the throne’.

Instead, having revealed the powers of His Penance to everyone, the 12 year old child sought the solitude of the dense forests to immerse Himself in penance for the good of the world. That is why He is venerated as Ayyappa today. The world has seen many kings, too many to fill the pages of its history! If Ayyappa were a mere ruler, the world would not know him, as it knows Him today. He sought Eternity that is beyond births and deaths. Letting go of all the princely pleasures that would have been his for the asking, He engaged Himself in the fire of His Penance, and, that is why so many millions throng for His Darshan at Sabarimala. You too can become Ayyappa if you follow the example He has set. The reason I state this so firmly is because I have become Ayyappa. I imbibed the message of His life in mine, and I have become Him. If I can, so can you. That Ayyappa sought the seclusion of the forests for fuelling the fire of penance; I am doing so in the jungle that the world is!

Always remember that

is not a ‘person’ stationed at Chennai.

He is within you and watching your every action.

He is evaluating you every minute.