A very ambiguous sect, these Sadhus have always been infamous for the notorious acts they perform, as a part of their ritual. Known as the followers of Lord Shiva, these are the Aghori Sadhus. The activities they carry out often do not fit into the paradigm of what one may call as a 'normal society'.
Out of the various sects of Hindu priests, Aghoris are the most dreadful and feared due to the very extreme occult practices they undertake. They give everything up, their families, any and all earthly possessions in order to become an Aghori. They give up all forms of comfort and do not wear any sort of clothing as they see clothing as a luxury. It is believed that any feeling of belongingness may hinder one's path to devotion, hence they cut off all ties with family and do not even visit their hometown.
These Aghoris live in what others may consider as dreadful, the Hindu cremation ground. They are always on the move, spending all their lives in different cremation grounds. Most of these Sadhus wear a hat made out of the human skull and use a skull as a bowl. They do practices which are considered extremely disgusting and repugnant by others, such as feeding on animal faeces and rotten food, covering their bodies with cremation ash. Aghoris are associated with cannibalism, feeding on rotten human flesh and necrophilia, indulging in sexual intercourse with the corpse of a young girl. Alcohol and Marijuana are considered to be essential elements in their meditation as these substances help in 'cutting themselves off from the externality'.
The ultimate motive behind all these utterly repugnant practices is to attain liberation. One idea behind liberation is to break the eternal cycle of death and rebirth, essentially breaking the cycle of pain and suffering, others may understand liberation as a degree when one gets rid of any emotion that causes suffering to mankind such as fear, anger, any adversarial emotion and becomes a Stitha Prajna, a completely stable mind irrespective of what happens outside.
According to the words of Robert E. Svoboda, author of the book 'Aghora-At The Left Hand Of God'
there are 2 paths to liberation, one is the safer path which is essentially yoga, spirituality and meditation. The shorter one, the 'darker' one is the Aghora. The latter may go tremendously wrong and may even lead to fatality. Aghoris are perceived to have the 8 siddhis or superpowers, some of which include reducing the body to the size of an atom, expanding the body to an infinitely large size, becoming almost weightless or extremely heavy, etc.
These Sadhus hold the idea that blurring the line between good and bad is the path to liberation. Eliminating the notion of good, bad, ugly, beautiful is the ultimate path to displacement from human suffering. Hence, they perform rites that are seemingly repulsive and sickening to the normal society.
Aghora should not be confused with Black Magic, as Aghora is an actual path to enlightenment and in no way is practised with the intention of harming any soul for monetary gains or otherwise.
Out of the various sects of Hindu priests, Aghoris are the most dreadful and feared due to the very extreme occult practices they undertake. They give everything up, their families, any and all earthly possessions in order to become an Aghori. They give up all forms of comfort and do not wear any sort of clothing as they see clothing as a luxury. It is believed that any feeling of belongingness may hinder one's path to devotion, hence they cut off all ties with family and do not even visit their hometown.
These Aghoris live in what others may consider as dreadful, the Hindu cremation ground. They are always on the move, spending all their lives in different cremation grounds. Most of these Sadhus wear a hat made out of the human skull and use a skull as a bowl. They do practices which are considered extremely disgusting and repugnant by others, such as feeding on animal faeces and rotten food, covering their bodies with cremation ash. Aghoris are associated with cannibalism, feeding on rotten human flesh and necrophilia, indulging in sexual intercourse with the corpse of a young girl. Alcohol and Marijuana are considered to be essential elements in their meditation as these substances help in 'cutting themselves off from the externality'.
The ultimate motive behind all these utterly repugnant practices is to attain liberation. One idea behind liberation is to break the eternal cycle of death and rebirth, essentially breaking the cycle of pain and suffering, others may understand liberation as a degree when one gets rid of any emotion that causes suffering to mankind such as fear, anger, any adversarial emotion and becomes a Stitha Prajna, a completely stable mind irrespective of what happens outside.
According to the words of Robert E. Svoboda, author of the book 'Aghora-At The Left Hand Of God'
there are 2 paths to liberation, one is the safer path which is essentially yoga, spirituality and meditation. The shorter one, the 'darker' one is the Aghora. The latter may go tremendously wrong and may even lead to fatality. Aghoris are perceived to have the 8 siddhis or superpowers, some of which include reducing the body to the size of an atom, expanding the body to an infinitely large size, becoming almost weightless or extremely heavy, etc.
These Sadhus hold the idea that blurring the line between good and bad is the path to liberation. Eliminating the notion of good, bad, ugly, beautiful is the ultimate path to displacement from human suffering. Hence, they perform rites that are seemingly repulsive and sickening to the normal society.
Aghora should not be confused with Black Magic, as Aghora is an actual path to enlightenment and in no way is practised with the intention of harming any soul for monetary gains or otherwise.
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