[Advaita-l] Aghori

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003, Shambhu Shastry wrote:

> Does not "aGhOra" mean "na GhOra = not terrible"? Is it not another
> "name" for the pleasing Shiva - aGhOrEBhyO ThaGhOrEBhyO ........?

I was wondering about that myself.  How for instance can omkar be
considered terrible?  Or for that matter not terrible?  But the source I
consulted was quite clear that the name of the Aghoris is derived from
there scandalous practices.  Perhaps it is purposely the reverse meaning.
Like other extremist Tantrics, they believe that immorality is the true
morality so perhaps what is terrible is "not terrible" in their way of
thinking.

Btw that source is "The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval
India" by D. G. White, University of Chicago Press, 1999.  It is a
fascinating study of the phenomenon of Siddhas of whom the Aghora panth is
one of the most recent manifestations.


-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/