#aghora

“Everything you see is in the process of falling to pieces … and Kali is standing there as the manifestation of what will happen to everything and everyone. There will be total destruction and reversion of everything into something new.”

"Every morning when I wake up I do three things.

First, I remember that I'm going to die. This gives urgency to the way I will live that day.

Second, I spend five minutes in thanksgiving to Nature for being permitted to live, to have this chance to experience, to learn, and to achieve.

And third, I resolve not to cheat my consciousness during the day. As long as I don't cheat my consciousness nothing I do during the day can stain me, [...]

And there is a practice which I follow every night before going to sleep. It is very simple, but it has helped me immensely and it can help anyone who uses it. It involves only three questions:

Have I lived? Have I loved? Have I laughed?

Have I lived? - Have I made the best use of the time provided me during that day to grow, to learn, to develop?

Have I loved? - Have I reached out to everyone I met and made them aware of the love in my heart and eased their burdens of self-mistrust and self-doubt?

Have I laughed? - Have I seen the humorous side of even the most painful incident?

If the answer to any one of these questions is no, then it is a matter for remorse. One more day has passed and I am another day closer to my death, and I have not exerted myself to my fullest potential. This is enough to make me work harder the next day and try to make amends, before Mahakala comes and catches me unawares. It is this intense desperation to live life to the fullest which is the hallmark, the stamp, of a true Aghori."

- Robert E. Svoboda: Aghora. At the Left Hand of God.

Krishna Das recommended to his listeners who wanted to read the most relevant book about Karma to only read Aghora III. He specifically said to NOT read the first two books because "they will mess with your head and give you nightmares.

Well, that was motivation enough for me to get started with the first one. And I didn't regret it.

My interest in Tantra (more specifically, vedic tantra and left-hand tantrism) had increased recently (especially since my vedic astrologer read in my chart that I must have dabbled in tantra and kundalini practice in past lives and seem to have 'unfinished business' there) and together with me leaving the self-righteous brotherhood of the "Golden Dawn" and its right-wing acolytes behind during the dawn of the covid19 crisis, I started to open my eyes to the forbidden paths - that is, forbidden for those who self-identify as "white magicians" and condemn the likes of Aleister Crowley to the deepest pits of hellfire.

Going back to Asian traditions was warranted - monotheistically indoctrinated Westerners are too "black and white".

A Brahmin would never condemn an ascetic, half-naked Sadhu - he would recognise the same seeker, the same Atman in him and bow before a brother of a different path.

Blaming and finger-pointing is the way of the west, it is not conductive to spiritual advancement.

But I disgress. Robert Svoboda was the personal disciple of an Aghori - a particularly wild specimen of a tantric holy man. Aghoris worship the female divine, often in its ferocious forms. "Ma", the great mother, may come in the form of Bhairavi, Kali or Durga - the names and the particular forms are secondary. Behind them all is the play of the divine male (Shiva) and female (Shakti) in all its forms.

Aghoris are extreme Sadhus - they go to great length, often practicing for years in the smashan, the cremation fields, living among corpses and human bones, searching for that inner light beyond the forms of our physical existance.

Thursday, November 12: Aghora, “Transfiguration”

Persons who constantly direct their lust, anger, fear, protective affection, feeling of impersonal oneness or friendship toward Lord Hari are sure to become absorbed in thought of Him. You should not be so astonished by Kṛṣṇa, the unborn master of all masters of mystic power, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. After all, it is the Lord who liberates this world.

Transcription:

First shocking incident in swamiji's life

I tell you, once this happened in my life, when I was in the college, studying, everyday morning around 4 O'clock, I used to sit in padmasana and just silent meditation, around 8 - 8:30 I get up from the meditation and go to college. After 1-2 month, all the roommate start to shivering, slowly I saw one by one each fellow is running to sleep in some other room. They are afraid even to sit in the room where I am sitting and mediating.

Early morning 4 O' clock, I will sit and start y meditation, around 2 O'clock 3 O'clock one by one just run away. Slowly they started spreading news all around the college, "this fellow is a yogi, don't go near him, if he curses that's all, you are gone" so when I heard about it, I called my roommate and said "why do you guys say about me I am a big yogi, I am not doing any miracle or I am not showing any power?", they said " No No, how are you able to sit without moving the body, from 4 O'clock to 8 O'clock four hours", that was the biggest shock in my life. I could not understand, when they said how are you able to sit for 4 hours without moving. I casually looked at them and said, "Hey my body, my mind, I want to sit, who will stop me", then all the 4 fellows sitting in front of me and arguing, they were shivering and saying we can't make you understand and all, and they ran away.

Only later on when I started contemplating, I realized - even just sitting is a difficult task.

Original source Title: Aghoris - An Introduction

Original Source link: https://youtu.be/PXxXy4MQ9QQ