Aghora is a path of great speed and great transformation for nothing is allowed to become an obstacle to spiritual ascension, not even that which is considered to be sacred. For the Aghori if there is consideration for what is sacred then there must also continue to be fear for what is profane. One creates the other and therefore both must be gotten rid off. It is only then that the gap between the two will be discovered. That gap, that silence, that empty space between the sacred and the profane is what the Aghori thirsts for and to become it, is the aim of the Aghori.

I have been fortunate enough to have both men and women Aghoris as Masters. Coming from a background where divinity was perceived to be masculine it was the genderlessness of the Aghori which first struck me. For as I was to later discover, the Aghori contained the masculine and the feminine within him/her. Whether man or woman, she/he was the perfect yin and the perfect yang all rolled into one. Could this really be? Could gender really take back seat in the spiritual? My heart said yes, but I had experiences which had convinced me otherwise.

I was introduced to Aghora by a female Aghori. She appeared suddenly and mysteriously in my life. I met her in the most improbable of places and of course did not recognize her. How could I, for nothing in my mind of ideas and concepts could have prepared me for a vision of her. They say it is the Master who finds his disciples and never the other way around. My eternal gratitude to the vision that chose me for a journey of ‘truths’ beyond the veil of my mind.

My understanding of Hinduism at this time was pathetic to say the least. Growing up Muslim meant that almost by default you looked down upon idol worship and all I knew about Hinduism at that time was that it indulged in just that. The mind is quick to form ideas and opinions even though they are based on complete ignorance or half-baked notions. I was guilty of the same and simply believed (without any inquiry) that Hinduism was a religion caught in a barbaric/illiterate time zone. I mean what kind of a people would worship stones??? Hinduism thus was something I would not even let myself consider to be a part of the list of spiritual paths I could explore in my increasing discontent with Islam and what I perceived it to be.

Aghora is the most controversial spiritual school within Hinduism. The Aghori is stereo typically thought of to be a crazed man/woman, who drinks urine and blood and eats human flesh. Cremation grounds are their preferred residence and they are infamous for apparently stealing corpses from the Ganga for rituals that involve the use of a human corpse. Metaphorically speaking the Aghori is/does all of the above but in ways and for reasons which are incomprehensible to most. That suits the Aghori well, for he/she is a solitary seeker and a reluctant Master. Infamy is good if one wants to be left alone.

Luckily for me I had no such stereotype in my mind, however I had enough baggage of my own (especially around anything related to Hinduism) to offer up all kinds of resistance to the Aghori.

When I was first introduced to her, I was most struck by her intense, haunting eyes. There was something about her which seemed to act like a magnet between us and yet made me extremely uncomfortable. She had dark, intense eyes which seared me with their ‘truth’ and made me feel naked and vulnerable, as if every part of my being had suddenly been put under a spotlight. Confused and bewildered by this brief encounter I decided it was safest to keep away from her. But fate had something else in store for me.

No matter where I went, I could feel her eyes burning into my back, yet every time I would turn to look at her I would find her happily occupied with something/someone else.

As the evening approached my restlessness grew, only to be accompanied by an increasing sense of suffocation. Like someone was slowly choking me. I wanted to run but where? I knew there was no escaping this and yet I had no idea what 'this' was. All I knew was that there was something this mysterious being was evoking in me which was creating immense fear and yet a strange kind of excitement. Something told me that if I didn’t find out what it was I would be a damned fool............(To Be Contd.)