Aghori

The Aghori or Aghora (Sanskrit; Devanagari: अघोर) are a Hindu sect held to have split off from the Kapalika order (which dates from 1000 AD) in the fourteenth century AD. Most other Hindus condemn them as non-Hindu because of their cannibalistic rituals. Aghoris or Aughads command extreme reverence from rural populations as they are supposed to possess powers to heal and relieve pain gained due to their intense practices. Aghori are denizens of the charnel ground.

Doctrines

Aghori ascetics, while being devotees of the Hindu God Shiva in Shiva's form as Lord Bhairava, are monists who adhere to the common Hindu belief in liberation (moksha) from the cycle of reincarnation (samsara). This liberation is a realization of the self's identity with the absolute. Because of this monistic doctrine, the Aghoris maintain that all opposites are ultimately illusory. The purpose of embracing pollution through various practices is the realization of non-duality through transcending social taboos, and seeing the illusory nature of all conventional categories. The Aghoris are not to be confused with the shivnetras, who are also ardent devotees of Shiva but do not indulge in extreme ritual worship practices known to some extent as Tamasic (rituals involving some or all of the following: meat eating, alcohol drinking, consumption of beverages and foods with opiates, hallucinogens and cannabis products as key ingredients, cannibalism, residing in cremation grounds, and Tantric sexual rituals). Although they enjoy close ties with the shivnetras, netras are a complete opposite of the aghoris and are purely Sattvic in nature and worship.

In essence, Aghoris base their beliefs on two principles. First, that Shiva is perfect. Second, that Shiva is responsible for everything; every rock, tree, animal, and even every thought. Due to this, everything that exists must be perfect, and to deny the perfection of anything would be to deny the sacredness of all life in its full manifestation, as well as deny God/Goddess and the demigods perfection. Aghoris eat any form of food and intoxicants, engage in a variety of sexual practices, ritually and otherwise, and also meditate on dead bodies for some rituals as prescribed in Hindu Tantric holy scriptures.

History

Although akin to the Kapalika ascetics of medieval Kashmir, as well as the Kalamukhas, with whom there may be a historical connection, the Aghoris trace their origin to Kina Ram, an ascetic who is said to have lived 150 years, dying during the second half of the eighteenth century. Kina Ram was held to be an incarnation of Shiva, as have been each of his successors. In addition, Aghoris also hold sacred as a predecessor to the Aghori Tantric tradition the Hindu deity Dattatreya. Dattatreya was believed to be an incarnation of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as united in the same singular physical body. Dattatreya is revered in all schools of Tantrism, which is the philosophy followed by the Aghora tradition, and He is oftentimes depicted in Hindu artwork and its holy scriptures of folk narratives, the Puranas, indulging in Aghori "left-hand" Tantric worship as His prime practice.

Aghoris go in search of the powers and they gain it by all means and they again go in search for the next bigger power than the gained one. So they believe that by gaining more and more powers they can avoid the punarjanma(rebirth) in this life.. An aghori believes in getting into total darkness by all means and then getting into light or self realizing.It is a different approach but they believe it to be effective.They also are known for their rituals like shava samskara (ritual worship incorporating the use of a corpse as the altar) to invoke the mother goddess in her form as Smashan Tara (Tara of the Cremation Grounds). In Hindu iconography, Tara, like Kali, is one of the ten Mahavidays and once invoked can bless the Aghori with supernatural powers. A little known fact is that the most popular of the ten Mahavidyas who are worshiped by Aghoris are Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, and Bhairavi. The male Hindu deities primarily worshiped by Aghoris for supernatural powers are epithets of Shiva. These forms of Shiva that are worshiped by aghoris include Mahakala, Bhairava, Virabhadra, Avadhooti, and more.

Symbols

The Aghori ascetic is himself a symbol of the God Shiva in Shiva's form as Bhairava. His main symbol that makes him distinct from other sadhus is the skull cup he uses as a begging bowl. He goes naked or wears the shroud of a corpse, he covers himself in the ashes of the cremation ground and always has his hair disheveled or in matted dreadlocks. If an aghori uses a corpse as part of his ritual worship, the corpse upon which he meditates, it is a symbol of his own body and the corpse devouring ritual is a symbol of the transcendence of his lower self and a realization of the greater, all pervading Self that is universal consciousness. Another symbol of the aghori, which ties him to the affiliation of Bhairava and links aghoris together with other Saiva and Sakta traditions, is the trident. The three pronged trident staff in Tantric Hinduism, of which aghoris follow, is a symbol representing the three constituents of which Shiva and/or Shakti first creates the universe: iccha shakti (power of will/desire/intention), jnana shakti (power of knowledge - the preconceived architectural design of the universe), and kriya shakti (the power of action). The staff part of a trident in Hinduism represents the human spinal chord, of which the sushumna nadi runs along. The sushumna nadi is the main nerve current, or meridian, in the human body which is the track that the kundalini energy rises up, bringing the aghori or yogi, or meditation practitioner into full spiritual enlightenment, nirvana, or more precisely nirvikalpa samadhi.

Adherents

Though Aghoris are prevalent in cremation grounds across India, Nepal, and even sparsely across cremation grounds in South East Asia, the secrecy of this religious sect leaves no desire for practitioners to aspire for social recognition and notoriety. Therefore no official figures are available.

Headquarters

The main akhada of Aghoris is Kina Ram's hermitage or ashram in Varanasi. Here Kina Ram is buried in a tomb or samādhi which is a centre of pilgrimage for Aghoris and Aghori devotees. Another centre is Aghor Sodh Sansthan, Ravindrapuri, Varanasi. Apart from this, any cremation ground would be a holy place for an Aghori ascetic. The cremation grounds near the yoni pithas, 51 holy centers for worship of the Hindu Mother Goddess scattered across South Asia and the Himalayan terrain, are key locations preferred for performing sadhana by the Aghoris. They are also known to meditate and perform sadhana in haunted houses.

Cannibalism

The Aghoris distinguish themselves from other Hindu sects and priests by their alcoholic and cannibalistic rituals (see necro-cannibalism). The corpses, which may be either pulled from a river [including Ganges] or obtained from cremation grounds, are consumed both raw and cooked on open flame, as the Aghoris believe that what others consider a "dead man" is, in fact, nothing but a natural matter devoid of the life force it once contained. Therefore while for ordinary folks cannibalism may be seen as primitive, barbaric as well as unclean, for aghoris it is being both resourceful and subverting the common stereotypes placed on such taboos into a spiritual ascertainment that indeed nothing is profane nor separate from God, who is hailed to be all and in all. In fact, the Aghoris see it as a scientific approach in trying to discover how matter converts from one form to another.

In popular culture

• In Tad Williams' Otherland series, the main member of the resistance group the Circle, Nandi Paradivash, spent several years as an Aghori ascetic while preparing for the final confrontation with the Brotherhood.
• In 2006 a Greek documentary by the name of "Shiva's Flesh" shows a Varanasi Aghori by name Black Boom Boom Baba and the existing faith around Aghoris in Varanasi.
• The television program Wildboyz starring Steve-O and Chris Pontius featured a segment in which the duo learned about the Aghori culture firsthand. Chris and Steve-O were given the ritualistic alcohol from a skull and were covered in remains of a corpse in the form of ashes. One Aghori also demonstrated the traditional drinking of urine.
• Director Jeff Tremaine, responsible for the Wild Boyz, Jackass, etc. felt the bit on the Wild Boyz was so successful he wanted to re-shoot it for Jackass 2. This time they sent in Dave England, Chris Pontius, and Steve-O. When an Aghori started mutilating his own leg, and jumped at Dave England with the blood everyone decided it was far more than they had planned on, and wanted out. This 'bit' ended up in Jackass 2.5, as Johnny Knoxville foreshadows in the taping of the 'bit'.
• On the Dirty Sanchez TV show, in a season called "Sanchez Get High," Welshmen Matthew Pritchard and Lee Dainton meet up with an Aghori ascetic, and shows Pritchard drinking alcohol from a skull.
• In the Tamil film Naan Kadavul by Bala, Arya essays the role of an Aghori.
• In the block-buster Telugu film Arundhati, Sonu Sood, the antagonist is a converted Aghora.
• A popular novel in Kannada Aghorigala naduve (Life with Agoris) was published in 1980. In that novel one of the popular sites for Aghoris in south India is near Chamundi Hills at Mysore, Karnataka state.

References

• Dhallapiccola, Anna (2002). Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0500510881.
• McDermott, Rachel F. (2003). Encountering Kālī: in the margins, at the center, in the West. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520232396. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• McEvilley, Thomas (2002). The Shape of Ancient Thought: comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. Allworth Communications, Inc. ISBN 9781581152036.
• Parry, Jonathan P. (1994). Death in Banaras. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521466253.
• Svoboda, Robert (1986). Aghora: At the Left Hand of God. Brotherhood of Life. ISBN 0-914732-21-8.
• Svoboda, Robert (1993). Aghora II: Kundalini. Brotherhood of Life. ISBN 0914732315.

External links

• Division of Religion and Philosophy St. Martin's College: Aghoris
• Asiatick Researches, 1832
• The Asiatic Journal, 1837
• The Kinarami Aghoris' website