CRIMINOGÉNICA: AGHORI

 Aghori

 

 "Aghori"

                                                                 Photographer: CoSurvivor
                                                                 Date taken: 2012-09-21T14:10:38Z
                                                                 Date posted: 2012-11-28T00:00:00Z
                                                                 Camera Make: Nikon
                                                                 Camera Model: NIKON D7000
                                                                 Shutter speed: 1/30
                                                                 Aperture: f/5.6 

    The Aghori are a Shaivite Hindu sect mostly composed of ascetic sadhus. The Aghori ascetic is himself a symbol of the God Shiva in Shiva's form as Bhairava. The main symbol which 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, 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, 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, which aghoris follow, is a symbol representing the three constituents with which Shiva and Shakti first created 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 cord, 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.

      Aghoris base their beliefs on two principles common to broader Shaivite dogma: that Shiva is perfect (omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, etc.) and that Shiva is responsible for everything that occurs – all conditions, causes and effects – in the phenomenal universe. Consequently, 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 to deny the supreme being and the demigods' perfections. 

       An Aghor aspirant performs a “ghor tapasya” (very severe penance or self-mortification). During this period, he lives a shelter less and means less life in total isolation, completely detached from the worldly affairs. He does not care at all about his own physical conditions. His only mission during this period is to experience and realize that divine power, the “Shakti”. This kind of severe “Tapasya” is known only in Aghor tradition. This is how an Aughar attains a spiritual elevation. Aughar is actually a high stage in seekers life when all rules are finished. It is the highest discipline, without any worldly discipline. Contrary to accepted practice for religious sects, Aughars have no rules for eating, sleeping, cleanliness or wearing particular robes. For them there is no difference between the water in the gutter and the sacred water from the Ganges river. For them there is no difference between a diet of pure fruit and vegetables and the decayed flesh of dead animals. They are above good and bad. 

Source:  http://www.piebaldo.com/?filter=tags_s_mv:shiva