Recently I visited the Jeeva Samadhi temple of Sadhu Chidambaram Swami, who is also known as "Valla Naattaar". A Jeeva Samadhi is when a saint or siddha is burried in samadhi while still living. Such locations are spiritually very powerful, as the saint continues to interact with devotees through his samadhi. I would like to narrate a few stories of this little known saint of South India, who entered Jeeva Samadhi in recent times.

In Salem I became an ardent devotee of Karttikeya, a deity quite popular among Tamils. He appeals to the mystical as well as material impulses of the common man, and that suited me just fine. Moreover, I'd never forgotten the childhood vision I'd had at his shrine. Occult 'self-worship' (ahamgrahopasana) is very prominent among Karttikeya's devotees. During Thaipusam, a festival held each year in early spring, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who flock to his temples in Tamil Nadu, Ceylon, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius - wherever South Indians have put down roots - are taken possession by the god and the horde of ghosts who serve him. In the trance of Karttikeya, some even thrust spears through their tongues or cheeks. Yet they feel no pain, nor do they even bleed; they prophesize and perform minor miracles, 'becoming' the god for a while.

When we met again, the tantra master was much more forthcoming. I was greeted with a warm embrace and invited to relax under the banyan tree. I sensed that I now belonged. In an awed voice I asked him, "What was it that I saw?" He chuckled at my neophyte's excitement. "So, you were impressed?" I nodded. "You saw Mohini, a demoness from the underworld."

In that little town under the foothills of the western ghat in Kerala, there was just one real building which was a small temple with a tile roofing. The temple was surrounded by huts and shanties. When I arrived, there was a competition going on in the market place between two tantrics who had selected an onlooker from the crowd to be their medium. They had him standing stiff as a bamboo in trance. One tantric pointed a stick at him and said “lay down” he fell flat! The other pointed and said “get up” he rose up straight without bending a limb.

Part one of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part two of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part three of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part four of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part five of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part six of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part seven of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part eight of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part nine of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part ten of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part eleven of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part twelve of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part thirteen of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part fourteen of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part fifteen of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.

Part sixteen of a twenty-eight part lecture series given by Atmatattva Das, on the topic of the Bhagavad Gita. Recorded in Los Angeles, 1993.