When Maharishi Mahesh Yogi traveled in the
Unites States, an aspiring young spiritual traveler saw him standing with a
number of disciples at the airport. She mustered all her courage and went up to
him and introduced herself. They talked for a short while and at the end she
asked him if he had any advice for her. He smiled and replied "As a matter of
fact, I do". He took a piece of paper and wrote one word on it. Enjoy! She
immediately understood what it meant. When she returned home she tabled her holy
mission and started embracing life instead.
If your heart is attracted to
activities that our society or spirituality looks at suspiciously, what will you
do? You struggle to stay away, but it seems that there is an invisible force
that is driven you towards it. Don’t be afraid if this is happening to you.
Follow your heart and engage in these activities with an open mind. What
choice do you have anyway. Just let go of the notions of good and bad and do
what is right for you and your spiritual path.
An Aghori master - this is
the discipline of studying the not so holy activities - once gave three pieces
of advice for embracing the darker aspects of life: Never hurt anyone, don't
keep any secrets, and never regret.The reason behind it is pretty
straightforward. If you engage with the not so holy activities you in fact do
what your ego tells you to do. But the capricious fellow will soon beat you up
for following his advice. However, if you follow these three rules your ego will
have no ammunition. After all, you don't hurt anyone's feelings and he can also
not accuse you of keeping secrets. Of course he will tell you that you
jeopardized your spiritual path forever, but if you felt that you were following
Her cues, just ignore the chatter in your head.
Trust in the good
intention of Tao; She must have some plans for you if you try your best and
still can't shake these temptations. Follow your heart and Her cues; let
yourself experience them with courage and consciousness. You might get on a
rocky path but that may just mean that the ego wants to sent her on a guilt trip
just as it has sent you on this dark alley in the first place. Whatever you do,
just get done what you have to. If you follow Her path, you will always be
offered an outcome that leads to liberation, wholeness and love. At this
moment, you will be amazed by the Tao’s wisdom and foresight.
A spiritual
path is a journey designed to discover that you are so much more than who you
currently think you are. These so-called dark experiments are there to open your
eyes and understand that you are not your desires. Where is the harm in that?
Moreover, if you accept that you are driven like everyone else by subconscious
forces beyond your control, it will be so much easier to tolerate the journeys
of your soul siblings. "Been there, done that" is a holy mantra for all of us.
Break free from your self-imposed limitations and patterns. Understand that
there is a good seed in every bad thing just as there is a seed of destruction
in every success and you will be whole.
By Christian and Su Zhen
Showing posts with label aghori. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aghori. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Dark Matter
Aghori is the Indian yoga path of embracing what our religions consider taboo activities. Since everyone has a personal shadow, a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the question is how to deal with it. Do you acknowledge the dark side in you, but ignore it, or do you embrace it and let Dr. Jekyll study the implications when Mr. Hyde is up and about? I don't have an answer for you, only you can decide what is helpful along your spiritual path. Either way, I would argue that our aghori folks have a point that you can learn a lot about your true nature by studying your shadow as well.
Becoming whole is a journey towards an equilibrium, a path towards peace. Along the way you are bombarded with countless decisions and your mind can help you only so much with them, in the end it is a feeling that lets you know what the right choices are. Becoming whole means that you can feel your way, recognize what is truly you and what is just a psychological mask. Don't beat yourself up over supposedly wrong choices along the way. As long as you can feel or realize that this persona wasn't really you, it must have been a worthwhile insight nevertheless.
I am more mind than feelings driven, so recognizing that Mr. Hyde is not my true self while he is out of hiding never really worked for me. What I have learned though, is that the activities Mr. Hyde feels exited about launch you on a path to nowhere and with every step you take the glue is getting thicker and stronger. Freedom is the opposite. When you are truly yourself then every step you take is voluntary. The Tao invites you to dance, and as you dance you completely merge with the moment and you are still free the moment after. When you enjoy aghori moments, you are less free to choose afterwards and Mr. Hyde who got you on the trip in the first place beats you up in the process. Addictions are just the end-game of all aghori activities, but you can feel the subtle psychological process already forming early in the process.
On my path I aim to cut out interferences as best I can. If I engaged in aghori activities, I would always be confronted with a voice that reminds me afterwards that I shouldn't have done so and that because of it I undermined my power supply. This may or may not be true, in fact, the voice is probably nothing but my super ego, that is, ideas that our society and religions have put into my head rather than my true self. Either way, a lot of manic stuff going on in your head which you can simply cut out by keeping Mr. Hyde at bay. As I said, this happens to be my choice, but there are many other paths as well. I am convinced that aghori masters have great insights into the workings of our super-ego and I am sure that they will find that no matter what you have done in the past, you will always have full access to the Tao in the now. As always, many paths lead home, so happy wandering along your Way.
Becoming whole is a journey towards an equilibrium, a path towards peace. Along the way you are bombarded with countless decisions and your mind can help you only so much with them, in the end it is a feeling that lets you know what the right choices are. Becoming whole means that you can feel your way, recognize what is truly you and what is just a psychological mask. Don't beat yourself up over supposedly wrong choices along the way. As long as you can feel or realize that this persona wasn't really you, it must have been a worthwhile insight nevertheless.
I am more mind than feelings driven, so recognizing that Mr. Hyde is not my true self while he is out of hiding never really worked for me. What I have learned though, is that the activities Mr. Hyde feels exited about launch you on a path to nowhere and with every step you take the glue is getting thicker and stronger. Freedom is the opposite. When you are truly yourself then every step you take is voluntary. The Tao invites you to dance, and as you dance you completely merge with the moment and you are still free the moment after. When you enjoy aghori moments, you are less free to choose afterwards and Mr. Hyde who got you on the trip in the first place beats you up in the process. Addictions are just the end-game of all aghori activities, but you can feel the subtle psychological process already forming early in the process.
On my path I aim to cut out interferences as best I can. If I engaged in aghori activities, I would always be confronted with a voice that reminds me afterwards that I shouldn't have done so and that because of it I undermined my power supply. This may or may not be true, in fact, the voice is probably nothing but my super ego, that is, ideas that our society and religions have put into my head rather than my true self. Either way, a lot of manic stuff going on in your head which you can simply cut out by keeping Mr. Hyde at bay. As I said, this happens to be my choice, but there are many other paths as well. I am convinced that aghori masters have great insights into the workings of our super-ego and I am sure that they will find that no matter what you have done in the past, you will always have full access to the Tao in the now. As always, many paths lead home, so happy wandering along your Way.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Aghori
If you are a borderline alcoholic you can feel the urge to go to the liquor cabinet after work, but you know that after the first glass a second one is coming and many more afterwards. As you see the bottle, you can already feel that pleasant surge of blood to your brain, and you know that at this moment the auto-pilot will take over. And you know that on days when your wife travels, a lot of dark stuff will happen at night. And you also know that you will hit the children the next morning. The slightest irritation from their side and they will be slapped hard. And then in the evening you will be at church again, weeping, praying, confessing and promising the holy Mary for the thousandth time that you will never, never do it again.
Does this addiction theme resonate with you. Have you ever felt hooked in your life? Perhaps it is sex, other substance abuse, perhaps work, video games or dependency in relationships? Believe it or not, there is actually something very simple about the path towards addiction, you know where is ends and you know that if you take the first step, all the others will follow like a chain reaction.
If you follow a spiritual path, your shadow will follow. The more extreme your desire to step into the light, the larger the shadow will be. Aghori is the spiritual discipline to embrace your not-so-holy desires. An Aghori master once offered three pieces of advice: do not be embarrassed about your desires, do not fear and do not doubt. The trick is to understand that the same desire that drives you towards nirvana also drives you towards vice. We have to understand both urges, and we have to understand that neither will lead us anywhere except of course to repeat the endless back and forth between our notions of light and darkness.
So don't be embarrassed by your urges, experiment with them and you will find a sustainable way to express yourself. And if your desire leads you straight to addiction, well, then you will understand the futility of going down this path. There is actually so much power behind this insight. Do not be embarrassed of who you think you are, do not fear and always be honest with yourself.
Just one note of caution at the end, I am not advocating that you follow your urges all the time, I am just saying that experimenting with them and trying to express them in your idiosyncratic fashion might be part of your path. If you say that Jesus managed to beat his power temptation when he was in the desert and the Buddha managed to overcome lust and you have to be like them, I would say to you that we already had them, but now we need you to show up and do it your way. No matter which way you go, no matter what you do, life will always present you a perfect opportunity to wake up here and now.
Does this addiction theme resonate with you. Have you ever felt hooked in your life? Perhaps it is sex, other substance abuse, perhaps work, video games or dependency in relationships? Believe it or not, there is actually something very simple about the path towards addiction, you know where is ends and you know that if you take the first step, all the others will follow like a chain reaction.
If you follow a spiritual path, your shadow will follow. The more extreme your desire to step into the light, the larger the shadow will be. Aghori is the spiritual discipline to embrace your not-so-holy desires. An Aghori master once offered three pieces of advice: do not be embarrassed about your desires, do not fear and do not doubt. The trick is to understand that the same desire that drives you towards nirvana also drives you towards vice. We have to understand both urges, and we have to understand that neither will lead us anywhere except of course to repeat the endless back and forth between our notions of light and darkness.
So don't be embarrassed by your urges, experiment with them and you will find a sustainable way to express yourself. And if your desire leads you straight to addiction, well, then you will understand the futility of going down this path. There is actually so much power behind this insight. Do not be embarrassed of who you think you are, do not fear and always be honest with yourself.
Just one note of caution at the end, I am not advocating that you follow your urges all the time, I am just saying that experimenting with them and trying to express them in your idiosyncratic fashion might be part of your path. If you say that Jesus managed to beat his power temptation when he was in the desert and the Buddha managed to overcome lust and you have to be like them, I would say to you that we already had them, but now we need you to show up and do it your way. No matter which way you go, no matter what you do, life will always present you a perfect opportunity to wake up here and now.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Three Do Nots
An Aghori (a spiritual path that embraces not-so-holy activities) master gave the following advice: Don't be embarrassed about your vasanas (desires), do not fear and do not doubt!
When it comes to your passions, you have a decision to make. You can embrace them and burn them off, or you can choose to ignore your urges in the name of spirituality or self-development. Pursuing your vasanas often has karma attached since where your desires are, the ego is lurking around the corner. But ignoring them also has a hefty spiritual price tag attached as many monks and some married folks will be able to attest. The choice is up to you. Just ask yourself what side effects your passions are likely to have. If you think you can handle the 'bad karma' just go for it and burn your vasanas off once and for all.
If you go for it, don't be embarrassed about your urges. They tell you where you come from and what unfinished business is still left in your spiritual evolution. Don't fear, there is no good and evil as God states in Neal Walsh's Conversations with God. There is only useful and not useful for your spiritual evolution. Do not doubt: if you have already travelled so far you might as well get it done with. There is no turning back now; the sooner you say 'Been there, done that', the better. Just do it!
When it comes to your passions, you have a decision to make. You can embrace them and burn them off, or you can choose to ignore your urges in the name of spirituality or self-development. Pursuing your vasanas often has karma attached since where your desires are, the ego is lurking around the corner. But ignoring them also has a hefty spiritual price tag attached as many monks and some married folks will be able to attest. The choice is up to you. Just ask yourself what side effects your passions are likely to have. If you think you can handle the 'bad karma' just go for it and burn your vasanas off once and for all.
If you go for it, don't be embarrassed about your urges. They tell you where you come from and what unfinished business is still left in your spiritual evolution. Don't fear, there is no good and evil as God states in Neal Walsh's Conversations with God. There is only useful and not useful for your spiritual evolution. Do not doubt: if you have already travelled so far you might as well get it done with. There is no turning back now; the sooner you say 'Been there, done that', the better. Just do it!
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