* This was one of the article that i presented to my college magazine and it got published a year ago,well just thought of sharing this piece of information with you all *
All Opposites Are Identical
yes all opposite are identical if one has to go by what an Aghori says;The Aghora subsect of shaivites represents one of the most extreme and demanding paths among sadhus.
The Aghora subsect was founded by Brahmagiri,a disciple of Gorakhnath and are strict followers of Lord Shiva.These ascetics remain naked and often wear a rosary made of bones around their neck and carry a human skull in their left hand and a bell in the right hand.
Aghora is another name for God Shiva and literally means "Not Terrible".Found largely in the holy city of Varanasi ,India.This extremely secretive community is known to live in graveyards,wear ash from the pyre and use human bones from graveyards for rituals.
*An Aghori sadhu who has had his right hand raised from almost 20 years,vowing never to lower them as a devotion to the Lord.*
The Aghoris maintain that all opposites are identical and that the conventional distinctions between purity and impurity 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 wisdom.
In essence Aghoris base their beliefs on two principles.First ,that the gods perfect .Second that the gods are 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 gods.
By challenging all sense of dark and light,good and bad,proper and improper,aghori sadhus believe the inherent Divine nature of the universe will be revealed.
Therefore these sadhus put themselves through many tests;spend most of their time around cremation grounds,drink and eat from a human skull,demonstrate their transcendence of pain and non attachment by consuming decomposed human flesh and their own excrement.
knowledge of the ultimate reality of Death has taken the Aghori beyond the eight snares of existence viz.Lust,Anger,Greed and Delusion,Envy,Shame,Disgust and fear which binds all beings.
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