AGHORA :AT THE LEFT HAND OF GOD Paperback, ISBN ‏ : ‎ 978-8171673421 (FREE SHIP WORLDWIDE)

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Aghora, An Introduction

This is the story of the Aghori Vimalananda. An Aghori is a practitioner of the spiritual discipline known as Aghora. The word aghora can be interpreted as ‘deeper than deep’, or as ‘gentle’, or ‘filled with light, illumined’. Aghora is the apotheosis of Tantra, the Indian religion whose Supreme Deity is the Mother Goddess.

Tantra has thus far been glimpsed in the West only in its most vulgar and debased forms, promulgated by unscrupulous scoundrels who equate sex with superconsciousness. Sex is indeed central to Tantra, the cosmic sexual union of universal dualities. The aim of Tantra is Laya, return of the seeker to the state of undifferentiated existence. Actually Tantra cannot be termed a religion, because it is bereft of tenets and dogma. It consists only of methods for achieving this Laya, or union of the individual with the infinite. .

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This union is described with a sexual metaphor: the union of the personal ego (which is female) with the absolute (male). Under special circumstances sexual rituals are employed in Tantra to hasten spiritual progress, but the concept of licentiousness is totally foreign to the Tantric tradition

Tantra has been divided into Right-Hand and Left-Hand Paths. The Right-Hand Path involves a search for the Unlimited Reality via the road of external imposition of purity. While its practises may seem strange to some, its emphasis on personal purity will be familiar to those in the West who know of Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Raja Yoga, all of which conform more or less to orthodox ideals of religious discipline.

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The Left-Hand Path has attracted attention to itself by the actions of those unwise souls who seek quick and easy spiritual development without any preliminary renunciation of sensory gratification. The result of such rashness is invariably indulgence of the worst and most blatant sort, which has damaged the Left-Hand Path’s reputation. The Left-Hand Path relies on its practitioners’ absolute internal purity to protect them while they practise rituals which may involve necromancy, intoxicants, sex, or other ‘forbidden’ practises. Most serious aspirants automatically shun the Left-Hand Path because of its potential for misuse, which is indeed great. It is truly treacherous for the unwary: one text observes that ‘walking on swords or riding a tiger is child’s play by comparison’. Ironically, those undisciplined individuals who cannot succeed at the Left-Hand

There are a few, though, who do dare and who successfully complete the rigorous Left-Hand training of Tantra and Aghora. Strict renunciation is the prerequisite, extreme enough to purify the aspirant through and through. Only when purity is perfected is the aspirant assigned rituals which to the untutored observer might seem hedonistic or ‘sinful’. Aghora is not indulgence; it is the forcible transformation of darkness into light, of the opacity of the limited individual personality into the luminescence of the Absolute.

Renunciation disappears once you arrive at the Absolute because then nothing remains to renounce. An Aghori goes so deeply into darkness, into all things undreamable to ordinary mortals, that he comes out into light. Sects in India are often distinguished by colour of turban or drape of robe. Popularly, Aghoris have been stereotyped as ash-swathed ascetics with long matted hair who walk through life wild-eyed, skulking about in charnel grounds, wrestling with jackals for carcasses. The title Aghori is claimed by some groups who even assert an exclusive right to it.

Vimalananda had his own definition of Aghori which was independent of any doctrine or dogma. Indeed, his usage of terms like Vedic and Tantric may also be devoid of detectable textual support, for he never cared for texts. He believed—and it is a noble Indian tradition to do so—that a lineage’s practises prevail over textual injunctions. Whatever you believe yourself to be you are, if you are sincere and honest enough. You are responsible for yourself, and your opinion of yourself is authoritative. This attitude often irritates those who have invested heavily in the infallibility of any one text or group of texts, but then Vimalananda had no use for organized religion anyway. As you read his story, remember that what he called Vedic might not necessarily be Vedic to a temple priest, but that both opinions might be equally valid, according to context.