Hari Aum.
There are many spiritual paths in the world, both within the world of yoga (Sanathana dharma or Hinduism) and other religions. Externally, they may look quite different. The techniques used may appear different. Some paths may emphasise physical exercises and breathing exercises (yoga asanas and pranayana), others may place greater importance on contemplation of spiritual truths (jnana yoga), while yet others may extol the greatness of developing devotion through meditation on God (bhakti yoga).
Freedom is given to every spiritual seeker to discover which path (or blend of paths) suits them best. The type of path one chooses depends upon one's own temperament, practices one may have already performed in previous lifetimes, family and social environment and so on. All of these paths, when practiced sincerely, can lead one Godward. So say the yoga masters of the past and present.
However, the masters tells us, that all of these paths are rooted, they grow in the soil, of yogic ethics. There is no compromise here. An absolute commitment is demanded from every spiritual seeker. The discipline of ethics is needed for the development of the spiritual heart, the spiritual mind. Without this development, all paths will lead only to failure. Ethics provide the firm and strong foundation of the building of yoga. Without this foundation, the building will crumble and turn to dust.
There can therefore be freedom in the selection and performance of spiritual practices. But no freedom is granted when it comes to the practice of the core yogic ethics. These are an absolute must on the spiritual path. They have to be practiced. There is no compromise. This is because ethics lead one Godward, while a lack of ethics leads one downwards, away from God.
The yoga masters, including my Guru Sivananda, have talked about two broad approaches in terms of yogic techniques. Both require an absolute commitment to yogic ethics (the most important of these being ahimsa/non-violence/compassion, satya/truthfulness and brahmacharya/self-control).
The 'right hand' path (known as the 'Dakshina marga' in Sanskrit) refers to the most commonly practiced, mainstream paths of yoga (as described above). It involves worship of the impersonal and personal aspects of God. It includes worship of God as Father and as Mother.
God as Mother, in all Her aspects including as Kali, is worshipped among practitioners of the 'right hand' path of yoga. Traditional methods including mantra japa, puja, homam and so on are performed here while following yogic ethics.
There is another much less well-known, and much less commonly practiced, spiritual path known as the 'left hand' path (or 'Vama marga' in Sanskrit). This includes the path of 'Tantra'. This is a genuine path but unfortunately, very few genuine Gurus exist in this tradition. This path tends to be viewed as one which is filled with 'secretive' practices, regarded as 'forbidden' in society. It is said to involve practices which can appear sensual and even degraded (such as 'tantrik sex' which seems to have created much interest in the West today. The version taught in the West is not really 'tantrik' at all, and has nothing to do with genuine spirituality or even real Tantra. It is an invention by some people, that is all).
As the yogis say, we currently live in the age of materialism, an age in which human consciousness and character are already significantly degraded compared to that of people in previous 'yugas' (long periods of time).
The degraded human consciousness with many flaws in character (including the tendency towards sensual indulgences, anger, greed, jealousy, pride and delusion) is already at risk of spiritual downfall. Such a consciousness can be repaired by a firm commitment to practicing yogic ethics while engaging in 'clean' spiritual practices such as meditation, mantras, selfless service, study of spiritual books and the like.
If the degraded human consciousness is exposed to degraded actions, involving sensual indulgences and unclean practices, it is at very serious risk of becoming even more degraded. The 'left hand path' is said to aim to use that which is forbidden or regarded as 'unclean' to reach God, by learning to see and experience God through such methods (as God is of course everywhere).
This includes using materials traditionally regarded as impure for the purpose of worship e.g. blood. Also worshipping in unclean places such as cremation grounds. There is no doubt that meditation in a cremation ground may produce a feeling of 'vairagya' or detachment from the world; but type of 'exotic' practice is not essential for that. One can contemplate death and develop detachment perfectly well even while living a regular life. Some practitioners of the left hand path also attempt to invoke and control negative energies or spirits with the aim of material gains. All this is spiritually unhelpful.
As the saints say, yes God is everywhere, yet we cannot eat mud, we can only eat food. God exists in mud as well as in rice, but we cannot eat both-- only the latter. Common sense is needed.
If human beings had an extremely pure, spotless consciousness and were filled with virtues, then both the right and left hand paths of spirituality could be used. However, the majority of us do not possess a spotless clean character. We all have two sides-- the light and the dark. These are ever in battle within us. The whole purpose of spiritual life is to strengthen the inner light and remove the inner darkness.
The 'right hand' path provides sure, tried-and-tested, traditional ways of strengthening the inner light and removing this inner darkness.
The 'left hand' path involves attempting to embrace the inner darkness, and trying to reach the light by going through the darkness. Unfortunately, this path is completely unsuitable for the majority of us as we simply do not have the character required to safely walk this path.
This is the reason why the majority of Gurus, including Sivananda, Vivekananda and others, practiced only spiritual methods related to the 'right hand' path. And the reason why they taught only this, and strongly advised their students to avoid the 'left hand' path completely.
It may seem cool and brave to try and embrace the inner darkness, but as we know, it is easy to get lost in the dark. One needs a true Guru to show the light. And true Gurus are rarely found on the 'left hand' path. Therefore, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of false 'gurus' teaching false practices that lead one spiritually downwards, deeper and deeper into darkness, until the inner light is virtually unseen.
This is the 'spiritual underworld' we may say. Just as the 'underworld' in regular society in inhabited by people of dubious character who are willing to commit various crimes including robbery, rape and murder, the 'spiritual underworld' also has these.
The 'spiritual underworld' consists of shady characters and shady practices. Things that invariably involve self-gratification of desires for wealth, pleasure and power. Seeking after wealth and pleasure, rather than self-realisation or spiritual liberation, these people perform various practices in secret that completely deviate from yogic ethics or any form of ethics. They perform the most degraded practices and encourage gullible members of society to do the same.
And unfortunately, many of the false 'left hand' path practitioners, have an obsession with the Divine Mother. They target Her as the object of their worship, their degraded practices. They seek to win from Her things such as name and fame, pleasure and power and even spiritual powers (called 'siddhis'). They dream of being rich and famous and of having the power to control people around them for their own benefit. True devotion is completely absent in them.
In constrast, the theme in their worship is the ego-- it is all about onself, one's material needs, fulfilling selfish personal desires, even at the expense of the welfare of others. This worship of the ego that dominates the majority of people practicing the 'left hand' path techniques masquerades as worship of the Divine Mother.
They tarnish the fair name of the Divine Mother by claiming that She is propitiated by their undivine, unethical practices. She never will be though. Because ethics form the heart of God, the heart of dharma/righteousness which is the heart of God according to true yogis and saints everywhere.
Some of these people, who are present all over India, call themselves 'tantriks'. True 'Tantra' is a genuine spiritual path, as I've already said, true 'tantriks' (or Gurus of the Tantra) are extraordinarily rare. Therefore, the majority of self-styled 'tantriks' are not tantriks at all, but people of dubious character who deludedly indulge in degraded practices causing their own downfall and that of the foolish people who follow them.
This brings me to the subject of Mother Kali. As the scriptures (such as the Devi Bhagavatam, the book of the Goddess) describe, Kali is the Goddess of Justice, of Divine anger against evil. She is produced from the Being of Mother Durga to fight demons, and symbolises our Higher Self which daily does battle against our lower nature.
As the external appearance of Kali is ferocious, many false 'tantriks' seeking to propitiate Her for their own lowly ends, perform violent and even murderous acts, foolishly thinking that this is the best way to please Her. As I mentioned in my previous post, killing birds and animals to seek Her favour is the norm for them. Even worse, even more nighmarish, vile and diabolical, is the tendency of a few of them to arrange for kidnap and murder in the name of 'human sacrifice'.
A tiny minority of self-proclaimed 'tantriks', who are basically criminals disguised as holy men, tell gullible villagers and others in various parts of Asia, that if they steal and murder a child or adult and 'offer' this to the Mother, they will acquire spiritual powers, become millionaires, obtain whatever they like and so on. Every now and again, the Indian papers write about some sad instance where so-called 'tantriks' instigate people with criminal tendencies to commit unspeakable crimes in the name of religion, particularly Kali worship. This is a tragedy.
As Sivananda said, as all Gurus and the scriptures say, Kali is the Mother who destroys evil, She is the Mother as the giver of Justice. Her punishment of people who engage in committting crimes such as the slaughter of innocent living beings in Her name will be terrible indeed. It will, however, be well-deserved. As the yogis say, those who show no mercy or compassion to others on Earth, will find that they do not receive any either when they ask for this from the Divine.
The wise opinion of Sivananda and other Gurus is for all spiritual seekers to stick firmly to the tried-and-tested, highly effective 'right hand' path of spiritual development. To stick to yogic ethics at all costs. Being truthful with oneself and others is essential, being non-violent and compassionate is vital, attempting to have some form of self-control is important. Being good and doing good as much as possible is the key.
These Gurus advise us to completely avoid the 'left hand' path of attempting to embrace darkness. They also advise completely staying away from self-proclaimed 'tantriks' and their shady, unethical practices.
Glory to the 'right hand' path, the tried-and-tested path that has been followed by yogis and saints all over the world.
May the Divine Mother Kali bless the world and clear it of Her false, self-styled 'tantrik' worshippers who deludedly perform vile, degraded, cruel and unethical practices in Her holy name.
May She grant all spiritual seekers sincerity and the strength of character to practice yogic ethics, to develop spiritually and to attain liberation in this lifetime itself.
Om Sri Durgayai Namah.
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
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