The Aghor Tradition

Interview with a guru
Aghor ashram, Varanasi

The aghor devotees are followers of a 15th century guru who held to the belief that all things are good to eat. Part of aghor ritual includes those who eat the flesh of human beings. In this particular ashram, we met a large guru clad in a loin cloth who was gracious to grant us an interview. He sat in a large, open-air room with the story of the founding guru painted on the wall encircling the room. The guru had a bowl full of cow dung ash near him. He gave some to us to mark our foreheads. Women and men brought small children before the guru. They all received some of the ash. Women rubbed their children’s faces and stomachs with the ash. Some would even place ashes in their children’s mouths. In the ashram are burial sites for deceased saints. It is believed that where a saint is buried, there is a spirit that dwells there, making it a sacred site. There is also a pool on the property that is full of algae-green water. In the pool is a statue of the founding guru. It is believed that those who bathe in the pool on Sundays or Tuesdays, auspicious days for bathing, will be healed of all diseases. A number of people were bathing at the time of the interview.

We have over 105 ashrams in India. There are also some in America, Italy and Nepal. There is no particular dwelling place for the inmates of this ashram. They can sleep and stay anywhere they want. There are all kinds of places here. So they sleep where they want, and that’s where they get a feeling of joy. If you come here and sleep here, then you will get your joy right here itself. You don’t need to go anywhere else. At this site in the morning, we have arti after which we bathe. People who live here spend the day laboring in the fields, doing agricultural work to meet expenses. In the evening we have arti, and then a message from the Baba, which is read [from the writings of Baba Kina Ram].

The point of having the tombs of the mahants and sadhus here, is that they are a kind of symbol or sign for the people, and by means of them, people’s shraddha will be increased. This is a very ancient place. All the mahants and mudiya sadhus are buried here. The last entombment that occurred here was the twelfth one. These mudiya sadhus were the disciples of the mahants. Baba Kina Ram Ji is buried here, as well as Baba Kalu Ram Ji, and Baba Biya Ram Ji. They are all buried here.

In this tradition, on Sundays and Tuesdays, in accordance with their own wishes, people come and bathe here. They bring a little bit of rice and dal as an offering. Then they apply vivhut. By this, they achieve their own good fortune. From all places, those who have gone through great difficulties and are in deep discouragement, come to this place and have their fortunes reversed by the merciful favor of the malik. These people have shraddha in them.

The point about vivhut is that this material is aishvarya, and by applying it, a person is assured good fortune. So people come here, bathe first, then apply the vivhut. After that, they have a darshan of the deity, and perform three parikramas. Then they leave. The dust of holy spirits is in this place. Therefore, when people come here, if a particle of this dust falls on them, then their bodies of flesh and blood, damaged by alcohol and broken down by abuse, can experience healing and salvation.

Concerning the ashes which are worn here on the forehead, even by children, the story behind this is as follows: during the Baba’s time, a mother took her only son and came here with him to this spot. She had only the one child and she was in great difficulty, because he was dying. When she brought him to this kund and bathed him here, he was cured. It was during that time that she received a blessing. So at this spot, this kund — a pool for ritual bathing — was established by Baba Kina Ram Ji. He consecrated it by the recitation of a mantra. He spoke a blessing over this spot which was that as long as the Ganges flows through here, people will continue to bathe at this spot, and thus their good fortune will be assured.

When people come in to give honor and respect to the guru — in this case, myself — they themselves will end up receiving the same respect and honor. He blesses them and says, “Be happy.” When they do this kind of honor and respect, from the body of the guru good things will emanate, and for sure, the devotee’s life will be blessed with good fortune. If the devotee remembers his guru and avoids bad attitudes, then there will be great joy and blessing.

We worship Devi or Shakti. We worship Durga. We meditate on and care for, and worship them in order to gain four things: wisdom, religion, sensual pleasures, and moksha. By worshipping Vishnu, Shiv, and other deities, we only gain one step of progress upwards. You may get sensual pleasure or moksha, or any one of these things. They can give you only one step forward. The worship of Devi is the only way in which you can achieve a close and timely position. The other gods are there, in all of it. The worshipper of Devi becomes one who finds all four of the things that we desire. From the time of the creation of the human race, human kind has faced adversity and sufferings. Human beings fell from a position of comfort. Without the support of Shakti, no person’s salvation can be achieved. When one goes to Shakti, he develops a sort of mind which enables him to understand subtle and serious things. Bhagauti, or Bhagvati Bhovani Shri Shakti — other names for Durga — we need her spirit in our conduct, our thinking and in our rituals. She dwells in that body and in the heart of that man who calls on her with a pure and undefiled soul. If he calls to her even just once, she will come to him a hundred times. If he takes one step, the goddess helps him take more, and she takes care of him. Anyone who doesn’t want to do anything at all, and he only simply has wishful thinking, hoping that these benefits will be granted to him, that man’s thinking is wrong.

The trident is an object before which puja is definitely performed. The trident belongs to Shiva and by doing puja to it, people receive good fortune. This is a very old symbol which the saints and mahatmas of old had with them. They didn’t have much else. It is an object of shraddha and people do the manauti of it. It helps fulfill human aspirations. I’m not saying everybody does this with the trident. It is only those who have gone to some particular mahatma or guru, and have received specific instructions, that do the manauti of the trident.

[The Guru quotes from a journal entry. The words are those of the disembodied sadhus.] “I am present in hope and in hopelessness, in darkness and in light. I am formless and also manifested in form. I am the one who walks both in the past and in the future. I am known and unknown. And no matter which friend you take with you and roam, I am that friend. I will come to you in that form. No matter which form or attribute you will assume, I will come to you in that very form or attribute. Truth, truth, truth. I am present in the rays of the sun, in the beams of the moon, and in every drop of water. I am existent in the living beings of the earth — in animals, in plants and in vines. I am in the earth and in the sky.”

A disciple went to his guru who was lying dead on his bed. The disciple was trembling and distraught, because his guru was not going to be around any longer. Someone asked this disciple, “Has your love been directed toward your guru in his physical presence or has it been directed toward his spiritual self?” The disciple replied, “I have loved him in his bodily existence.” The man said, “That is wrong. If you had loved him apart from his physical presence, then whether he would be with you physically or not, his presence would be there in all that you do.” Even if one is a guru, if he assumes bodily existence, such an existence will not permit him to cross to ultimate release.

When we put ourselves under the protection of the superhuman powers which exist, and they look at our worthiness, then they take note of us. By making contact with them or receiving a command concerning them, then those who are open to being tested by them and want to be sheltered by them, will receive diksha. And they begin to do their sadhna in alignment with those powers. Gurus are the only ones who can give initiations. This depends on the guru’s personal inclination. Only those who have been given the right to give dikshas to others can do so. This is the guru’s prerogative. I have never given diksha to anybody. Our Sambhav Ram Ji and a couple of others, are authorized to give diksha, but they haven’t started yet at this time. Sambhav Ram Ji has given diksha to hundreds of people.

Worthiness for initiation is gauged by whether you have within you the desire and inquisitiveness to learn. In this way, when you begin to make contact with the guru who has the authority to give diksha, then the mahapurush is able to discern that worthiness is there. He then takes the worthy person into a close relationship with himself, and it is through the guru and the instructions that he gives, that the seeker is cultivated in his spiritual life. The seeker grows in understanding and his guru is able to feel more confident of his worthiness. It is not that gurus don’t give respect to many people — they do. But still, it is only a few that are chosen and initiated. And these initiates do sadhana in line with the instructions of the guru. Going into the wise knowledge of such a great man, where darkness is removed far away and light is received — only by coming under the protection of such a great man are all these things to be achieved. The initiate is able to move forward in this way. Concerning gurus, it has been said that the body is full of poison and the guru is the source of the nectar of life. So even if you lose this body, get a guru.

In terms of a goal, the main thing is this. If your guru gives you any instruction or guidance, then you should pay attention, listen to what he is saying, and meditate upon it. Then you put forth effort to apply those instructions and that guidance to your life. Then you will be able to receive all kinds of delight. And you will owe it all to the guru’s guidance. After all, it is because of the guru that you get to be where you are. And without the guru’s gracious favor, no man is able to reach a high state, even for a moment. One must not go according to one’s own desires if one cares about one’s own welfare and good fortune. It is much, much better to follow what the guru says.

My guru is Baba Bhagvan Ram, who is not physically alive anymore. Even though my guru is not physically here, his spirit is present in every place at every time. If I have any doubts or questions, then he is able to give me a message by dreams or through circumstances and events, saying that this is the correct way to go, or this is the wrong way to go, or this ought not to be.

To go from being a disciple to being a guru is a matter for which the initiative is with the guru, not the disciple. The process continues forward once one has become a disciple, and eventually a time is reached when the disciple becomes a guru. The work of a guru is not to make somebody a disciple, but rather to make him into a guru. The right to be the sort of guru who has his own disciples and is able to initiate others is something that is controlled by the organization or by the path which the guru has chosen as his own. It’s a matter of time. The time comes when the guru is ready to disciple others, it is not a matter of somebody telling him. His worthiness is completed at a certain point in time, but this is not something that he needs to hear from others. There is no such thing as some kind of age limit.

There are some who have no need of doing sadhana. From the point of rebirth itself, such people are qualified. They have an inborn power, and the necessary power has been deposited within them. This is the world, and because of the mind, there is lust, covetousness, anger, geed, and arrogance. These things are not weak powers. In one way or another, they are able to cause us to fall. So, to save one’s self from these things, until we receive the loving favor of God, it is extremely difficult to overcome these things. But on the other hand, when one does overcome these things, then one is a guru or a mahatma, or whatever you want to call him — he is all of those things. These evil desires — it is very difficult to eliminate them completely. The ideal is that we should eliminate them. Such a state would be a great thing for a guru, but it is very difficult. I have not personally received freedom from all these desires. It cannot be. I am a person, am I not? I am a human being — so it is not possible.

[The Guru quotes from Baba Bhagvan Ram.] “Whatever you may think about God, he is whatever you think he is not. A man who wants to attain ultimate bliss, peace and tranquility of mind, he should keep away from anger, desires and other things, and don’t talk ill about others. He must get rid of those things and he will have peace of mind. In him there are no desires. In us there are desires which accumulate night and day. No man’s desires are ever fully satisfied. We end up roaming night and day trying to fulfill those desires. In order to gain peace we have to get rid of these things. If we exercise our wishes by following these desires, then we will see what this life really is and we will achieve the capacity for real knowledge and understanding. If such realization is not happening, then we are, in our ignorance, giving birth to evil thoughts within us, allowing them to linger within us. Then we become slaves of those thoughts. Those thoughts take us wherever they want to. They turn us in whatever direction they want and give birth within us to many, many kinds of evil.

“It is through these ashrams that we are able to obtain knowledge and receive understanding of these dangerous things. If we have even a little strength to understand and to learn, even that is enough. Then we will be able to understand all these matters. Otherwise, these matters will not be understood. Who would not like peace? One who practices silence in a desolate place, he is able to have a long life. That man becomes free of lust, anger and hatred. That individual becomes comparable to a god. Devtas also honor him.” These words are from Baba Bhagvan Ram, the 11th guru of this ashram.

Do something. Sit down. Steady yourself. Only then will you be able to understand anything. If you want to ask questions, even as you are walking along the path, then things will be very difficult. You have to commit yourself to the way if you want to have any understanding. So that vision for which we pray and think and meditate, that is not only for speaking, but also for doing. Only after you do something will you be able to understand what this is all about. If you only simply listen, and you’re hoping that you will receive these things, then it will be very difficult for you. It is difficult to explain simply by talking. One has to experience it to really understand how Shakti comes to dwell in a devotee.