Aghor Yoga

Aghor Yoga also referred to as Aghor is a spiritual tradition that originated in Northern India around the 11th Century C.E. The word Aghor literally means "that which is not difficult or terrible"; according to its adherents, Aghor is a simple and natural state of consciousness, in which there is no experience of fear, hatred, disgust or discrimination.^[1] Accordingly, believers contend that any time that humans experience a state of discrimination, we limit our wholeness and fall prey to disruptive emotions such as anger, fear, jealousy, greed, and lust.^[2] The practices of Aghor Yoga today reflect reforms made in the 1960s, shifting the focus of Aghor to seeking a balanced life of selfless service and personal practice.^[3] Baba Bhagwan Ramji encouraged the practitioners of Aghor to follow the vamachara ("left-hand path") by embracing socially stigmatized and neglected people, such as street children and people with leprosy and other "untouchable" diseases. Today, the followers of Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ramji have established a large network of schools, orphanages, medical clinics, or other social service projects.^[4]

The modern teachings and practices of Aghor are known as Aghor Yoga. Aghor Yoga can be practiced by anyone without regard to religious or ethnic background and irrespective of whether s/he adopts traditional Aghori dietary practices. The essence of Aghor Yoga is that fundamentally humans are each an individual whole, at one with divine consciousness. Aghor Yoga believes that by learning to identify with one's wholeness, one becomes free from a limited way of being. As a result, the energy that was previously invested in limitation becomes accessible for being directed towards the greater good.^[5]

The teachings and practices of Aghor defy easy categorization. Some adherents classify Aghor as a non-dualistic (advaita) Hindu philosophy. Classic nondualism explains that only the one eternal Self – alternately referred to as God, Brahman, or Atman – is real. Accordingly, Aghor believes that all of humanity is a part of this higher Self. Beyond this, everything else in the universe is mere illusion (maya).^[6]

The teachings of Aghor are meant to be universal, transcending all particularities of Hinduism or Indian culture. The contemporary Aghor lineage of Baba Kinaram includes people from many religious faiths and countries of origin, including the United States and Europe. The lineage also recognizes great spiritual beings of all religions (such as Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed) as abiding in the realized state of Aghor – that is existing in wholeness and at one with the Divine.

Aghor focuses on the idea of jivanmukta, or reaching liberation from material issues in this lifetime. Thus, one does not have to die before reaching a state of Aghor.^[5]

Any disciplined effort that one makes to connect with one's wholeness is called sadhana (spiritual practice). A consistent effort that is in tune with human nature, simple to comprehend, and easy to practice bears fruit. Such a spiritual practice is thought to connect one with fullness, and when one is full, that fullness overflows into the outward action of seva. Seva is the selfless service one contributes to the community and world. Sadhana and seva form the two foundational aspects of the Aghor Yoga Path.^[5]

Students of the Aghor Yoga tradition seek to attain Aghor, a state of consciousness in which one does not experience fear, hatred, disgust, discrimination, or hunger.^[1] One who achieves Aghor does not view the world in dualistic terms such as "dead" and "alive" or "edible" and "inedible", and so does not cast judgment upon themselves or others. A person who conscientiously practices these virtues is called an Aughar.^[9]

With constant practice, when one is established unwaveringly in the state of Aghor consciousness, a person becomes an Avadhut – a spiritually realized human being. Anyone from any religious, spiritual or ethnic background who has come to abide in the state of Aghor consciousness, regardless of the path that led to this state, is an Avadhut.^[10]

The term "Aghor" has ancient origins which likely precede written history. One of the five faces of Shiva was known as Aghor. In the Shiva Purana, one of India's oldest legends, there is a hymn to the glory of Shiva by Pushpadanta, head of the Gandharva clan, called the Shiva Mahimnah Stotram. One of its Sanskrit verses reads:

Aghoranna paro mantro

Nasti tatvam Guro param.

The translation is: The very name of Aghor (Shiva, or the one who has attained the state of Aghor) is a mantra that is above all other mantras. There is nothing higher to be known than the real nature of the Guru (spiritual teacher).^[1] Thus, the hagiographic roots of the Aghor tradition are traced to Lord Dattatreya, an avatar of Shiva.

Aghor tradition believes that Jagadguru Dattatreya propounded the tradition of Aghor later followed in the sixteenth century by the great saint Baba Kinaram.^[11] The life story of Baba Kinaram tells of his wandering for years until he attained complete knowledge upon encountering Bhagwan Dattatreya, who appeared to him in the Girnar Mountains, a holy place in Gujarat state in northwest India.^[12]

Later in his life, Baba Kinaram settled in the holy city of Varanasi and wrote a book called Viveksar, recognized now as the most authentic treatise on the principles of Aghor.^[12] He claimed that the contents of Viveksar were revealed to him by Lord Dattatreya. Through this revelation, he saw that the whole world, the whole universe, is situated in each human body, a vast world perfect in all respects. Baba Kinaram later established an ashram in Varanasi, called Krim Kund.^[13] He initiated many social reforms during the tumultuous times of the Moghul invasion when the Indian people were being persecuted.^[14] The early devotees of Aghor comprised a diffuse network of wandering ascetics who passed down their beliefs and practices through oral teaching in many different lineages.

In the 1960s, the then-guru of the Baba Kina Ram lineage, Baba Bhagwan Ramji (1937-1992), instituted reforms of the Aghor tradition, banning taboo substances such as alcohol, marijuana, and ashes. Baba Bhagwan Ramji "challenged his devotees to embrace polluted people instead of polluted substances."^[15] Aghor instead became focused on social reform, maintaining a vamachara tradition of spirituality by helping people who have been shunned from mainstream society, such as lepers and orphans.^[5]

When Baba Bhagwan Ramji attained Aghor in this lineage, he was compared to Baba Kinaram because he had a strong sense of social responsibility, identifying himself with suffering humanity. Numerous accounts describe how he helped struggling people to battle social injustices.^[16]

The Aghor tradition, which originated as confined and reclusive, has transformed since Baba Bhagwan Ramji's reforms to Aghor Yoga practices. By changing practices that have traditionally been shunned by conventional norms, Aghor Yoga now has entered mainstream society. Today, Aghor Yoga focuses upon forming a balanced personal practice, placing importance on both sadhana (one's own spiritual practice) as well as seva (selfless service).^[1]

• Aghori - a related Śaiva denomination