Say it science or say it philosophy but spiritualism is a tunnel consisting some of the the deep concepts of our existence. It is the behavior of human mind to find out the right answer of each and every spiritualistic terminology. Topyaps is exploring the ten most significant spiritualistic questions with their appropriate answers.

10. What is the objective of life?

In short, the aim of life is death. If you want to know something about life, you should first know what death is. The aim of life is to know and understand yourself. “What are you? Who are you? Why have you come here and what are your duties?” To know yourself means, to know God, if you believe in God. If you don’t believe in God and believe in yourself, i.e. in your own power, in your own energy, then life means that you must know yourself. If you do not know yourself, you are dead.

9. Is it possible that nothing external will happen and just the people will improve in such a way that all the existing things will start to appear nice?

It is well known that goods and evils are in every living being. Nobody is totally good or totally bad. It is a matter of degree. Even an evil person does more good than bad on the average. Everyone likes to curse an evil person. Nobody wants to sit and converse with him. And that is exactly what is required for social improvement. If we change ourselves in such a way that we can sit together with those whom we call bad, the problem will be solved. It is true that the person who does bad, understands it very well. He may be doing it only due to the circumstances. So, the need is to sit together with him and try to understand him. This will make him confess and that in turn will bring humility in him. And humility is the key step towards improvement. That is how the society can be improved. It would neither happen through long speeches, nor government can do it through tougher laws.

8. What is soul?

The so called supreme power, the cosmic energy or you may say God, is omnipresent. This cosmic energy enters every shape that is produced naturally and then it is called soul. In other words, soul is the manifestation of the Almighty; it is not limited to human being only, as you believe. It dwells inside every living being. When body ceases to exist, the soul departs and merges back into the sane cosmic energy.

7. What is life?

Those who did spend time to find the answers, have demonstrated that life and body are two separate entities. They can control the life in their own ways. However, since body ages and becomes weaker and incapable, it can’t sustain life beyond a certain period of time. Therefore the life must exit it. Those who have experienced this truth say, “Life is energy, it is spirit. Forms are produced by the combination of the five cosmic elements (earth, water, air, heat and ether). Energy enters the form after it is produced. Elements can produce form but they can’t provide it with the capacity to conduct itself. And the very capacity which enables the form to conduct itself, is called divine power. Just the way electrical energy energizes a tool whether it is a cutting knife, a hot iron, a cooler fan, or a light bulb, the role of the life energy is to make the body function, it does not control the attributes of the body. The attributes come from the conditions in which the conception and birth take place, for instance, parent blood type, mental status, diet, habits, environment, etc.”

6. It is difficult to keep the mind in control. It remains quiet for a little while and then it starts to wander around again. What should one do?

It will improve gradually. Keep on practicing and after a while, whatever way you steer it, it will comply. Mind will become inactive and will start to obey you. It will loose its importance in life and then there will be no disturbance. You will notice then that there is n difference between mind and soul. This is very peculiar issue. Soul, when it is absorbed in worldly affairs, becomes mind. And when it gets separated from these things, then it becomes soul again. But both are indeed one and the same thing, same energy. When mind’s domination over you is eliminated, the soul takes over and that is when you get enlightened. You will hear good things from your soul, you will do good things that will affect others. As a matter of fact, soul always tells you good things, but your life is so overwhelmed by worldly affairs that your mind never lets the soul rise up.

5. It is said: do the wise work and you will be blessed with the right fruits. However, the definition of the right fruit is different for different person. How can one understand wise work if he has no idea of what actually the right fruit means?

There is no documented record anywhere, in any religion, that describes good and bad works. Whatever, action does not create any internal conflict is a good work. And there is no reason to be concerned about the fruits. If your action does not create any doubts inside you, then you will have peace of mind. As far as fruit is concerned, you don’t know what is good for you in your life. You think of one thing but actually something else is good for you. To find this out, you should make it a routine to take a moment when you can sit quietly and evaluate yourself. And gradually everything will become alright. You won’t have to think about what is good and what is bad. Your actions will automatically get centered around good behavior only. Your mind will slowly reach such a state that you won’t even think about wrong things. So, just think of yourself. Don’t worry about the society, country or the world. That is not your responsibility. And this is where the beginning is. You just improve yourself, you don’t even have to worry about your own family members; they will change automatically.

4. It is generally believed that soul never dies. However, many species have been becoming extinct and also the population on the earth has been going up at an alarming rate. How should one correlate these events?

Soul is an energy, it is power. It has neither shape nor boundaries. Just like electric current enters a bulb and lit it, similarly the eternal power enters a shape whenever it is produced. It does not make the shape or form. Forms are produced by mixing the appropriate elements. Depending upon which element is in abundance, the forms are produced accordingly. For instance, if water element is abundance then water life is created and reproduction system evolves accordingly. Energy enters the shape only after it is formed. Elements (earth, water, heat, air and ether) can form shape but they can not provide it with the capacity to conduct itself. And that very capacity which makes the shape to conduct, is called God, Energy or power. Human beings were bestowed upon with intellectual power which they have used to protect themselves. Other living beings, which became extinct, did not have that capacity. So, when conditions became unfavorable, they disappeared. Man always tried a way to find a way to cope up with those conditions. And that is why the human population started to increase. They have the capacity to build and destroy. They can affect nature. That is why only human is said to have soul. Animals are said to have life but not soul. But indeed, all these have the same energy. Since only humans have the capacity to protect themselves against natural calamities, their population has been increasing. But natural disasters do happen that are beyond man’s power to cope up with. That will reduce human population.

3. What is death?

Death is a reveler, a guide, a torch-bearer. Death is process of life, not the end of life. It is a habit of body and not of the soul. Death does not mean complete annihilation, it merely means a physical change. Death is a comma but not a full stop. It is capable of destroying the flowers but is unable to harm the seed. Death is a solemn experience, a change from which no one can escape. One who does not prepare for it is a fool. Death, in its true sense, liberates one from the real miseries of life. The moment you arrive in this world, you are immediately assigned a spot in the queue of departed. You keep on moving closer to that ultimate (death) every moment, yet it never occurs to you to pause for a moment and ask yourself: “What did I really come here for? And by the way, who am I?” This much awareness can totally transform your perspective of life. It can instigate you to find the realities of life. It can indeed change your life.

2. What is religion and how and when was it announced by man?

Religion is a product of man’s wisdom. It is a product of man, by man, and for man. It includes the surroundings, circumstances and time. Religion commands the individual, the society, the administration, the justice and all in this materialistic world. Religion was first obeyed as a mutual understanding. Gradually it became the law of the people. Disobedience became a crime and resulted into punishment. The human population increased and as a result, social laws were enforced. Social laws also included certain religious commands but refused to include human feelings. By then religious commands had taken the shape of customs. People were allowed to obey the religious commands freely as long as it didn’t intervene with the social laws.

1. What is God?

Nobody could explain it. Nobody could find its origin. Nobody could fix its age. Still he is there. Since you don’t know, you say: “He is not like that.” There are many things beside you, within you, and beyond you about which you know nothing. It doesn’t mean that they are not there. There are things about which you have different feelings and ideas. You can’t deny that there is a life inside you for which you can do anything. It is said: “Except nothing there is nothing.” Nothing is also God but nothing is not God. Anything and everything might come within the radius of God’s definition, but not God. That is why everybody has his own definition of God and he is correct. However, nobody could convince others about his own God. They are so convinced and firm about their own God that they can’t budge an inch. There might be differences in naming and wording, but certainly there are no differences in character and feeling. There “He” is spirit, energy and all that a man can realize.

The literal meaning of Aghor (=A + ghor; A meaning not and ghor meaning terrible) is non-terrible, i.e., one which is simple. What is alludes to is that spirituality is very straightforward indeed. It does not require any special knowledge, faith, worship or ritual. All it requires is inspiration, determination, perseverance and patience. Contrary to the widespread belief among religious scholars and philosophers, Aghor is not a ‘tantric’ tradition. Aghor ‘sadhna’ does not depend on tantric activities. In fact, Aghor is a state of “Shivattva” and an “Aughar” is an embodiment of “Shiva” who himself is the originator of ‘tantra’. In other words, an Aughar could be a source of tantra but he does not depend on it. Topyaps is highlighting the top ten key characteristics of the Aghor tradition.

10. Aghor tradition believes in the highest state of spiritual austerity:

An Aghor aspirant performs a “ghor tapasya” (very severe penance or self-mortification). During this period, he lives a shelter less and means less life in total isolation, completely detached from the worldly affairs. He does care at all about his own physical conditions. His only mission during this period is to experience and realize that divine power, the “Shakti”. This kind of severe “Tapasya” is known only in Aghor tradition. This is how an Aughar attains a spiritual elevation. Aughar is actually a high stage in seekers life when all rules are finished. It is the highest discipline, without any worldly discipline. Contrary to accepted practice for religious sects, Aughars have no rules for eating, sleeping, cleanliness or wearing particular robes. For them there is no difference between the water in the gutter and the sacred water from the Ganges river. For them there is no difference between a diet of pure fruit and vegetables and the decayed flesh of dead animals. They are above good and bad.

9. They don’t want to depend on society for anything:

Aughars have traditionally lived in isolation, in mountain caves, jungles and on cremation grounds. They visited households only occasionally. They neither had a need nor desire to live within the society and hence they stayed away from it. That is why they adopted a living style that distracted general public. To avoid people, they behaved as though they were imbalanced. For instance, some of them threw pebbles on people when approached, called names, etc. Some consumed filthy stuff like, dead bodies, human waste etc. When interrogating an Aughar who lived in a Himalayan cave in Kashmir, “Why do you live like this, eating the flesh of dead bodies?” The Aughar replied, “Why do you call it a dead body? It’s no longer human. It’s just matter that is not being used. You are associating it with human beings. No one else will use that body, so I will. I am a scientist doing experiments, trying to discover the underlying principles of matter and energy. I am changing one form of matter to another form. My teacher is Mother Nature; She makes many forms and I am only following her law to change the forms around.”

8. Threat to the livelihood of Brahmins and Vaishnava leaders:

Although Aughars stayed away from society, people started visited them to seek their blessings and to benefit from their spiritual power. This became a threat to the livelihood of Brahmins and Vaishnava leaders, whose job was to keep people entangled in superstitions and complex rituals in order to maintain their own domination on people’s lives. And therefore they launched an organized campaign against the Aghor tradition to portray it as an unruly, erratic and undesirable cult. The result was that people started to dread and boycott Aghor and Aghoris. Even today most people have the same misconception about this tradition. But Aughars don’t want publicity and popularity for themselves. Fame and wealth make them very uncomfortable. That is why an Aughar does not publicize his healing activities. He heels up in such a way that even his own people are unable to figure it out. On the other hand, when he notices some virtue in a fellow being, he tries to promote it as much as possible.

7. Aughars don’t want to interfere with nature:

They are totally against performing miracles. They want mantra and tantra to become a convention in society. They are concerned that people would not understand the subtle things and would start to talk about or do things that will not be good for the society. And therefore, Aughars deal with or attend to everything is such a simple and natural way that people can understand. For instance, Aughar recognize that Medical Science too is the great gift of the Divine Mother. One should make full use of it. Aughars themselves practice it. They believe in the fusion of science and spiritual discipline. An Aughar teaches his people two things: conform to the social provisions and at the same time, develop mental stability. An Aughar is not interested in spreading the name or expanding the influence of his tradition. His interest is to serve the humanity and to bring harmony in society, nation and the world. He is against the polarization of the humanity caused by faith, religion, race, culture or geography.

6. Aughars are totally against organized religions:

They encourage complete freedom in spiritual practice. Man is born free and should remain free. They believe that spiritual capacity should indeed be used to provide relief to the worldly people. However, it should be done in confidence, not with a great pomp and show. There primary goal is the upliftment of the common humanity and in particular, support and care for the neglected and destitute people. Aughars themselves don’t want to be in the limelight. Aughars believe in complete freedom: freedom from cant, freedom from hypocrisy, freedom from hatred, envy and pettiness, freedom from desire, freedom from ego, freedom even from scriptures. They prefer character to brilliance, action to inaction, justice to mercy. They have no patience for saffron-clad sadhus sitting in sham contemplation.

5. An Aughar never utters his Guru’s name in his conversations:

He believes that is behavior and conduct, not his talk, should represent his Guru. For this, he draws an analogy with the culture of an Indian wife who never utters her beloved husband’s name. He encourages everyone to avoid using Guru’s or Master’s name in general conversations. This is vital for bringing harmony in the spiritual world. An Aughar has two forms of behavior: one is external or social that people can see but can’t understand. And other one is his personal treatment which is very sweet. He has no such thing like hatred for anything or anybody. He is at such a mental stage that he is capable of giving equal treatment to everyone.

4. Aghor is just a state of mind that can happen to anyone:

Aghor is not a philosophy, cult or a religion. In words of renowned “Aughar Bhagwan Ram”(founder of Sri Sarveshwari Samooh), “Aghor is an intuition that has been emanating within every human heart ever since the life dawned”. It is a spiritual trail that takes a sincere follower away from the feelings of scarcity and abundance, poverty and opulence. It is a practice that leads one to noble deeds, spiritual thoughts and mental peace. It is a Sadhna whose goal is self-realization and service to all. It takes the aspirant beyond the illusion of the world and desire for liberation both. Irrespective of nationality and faith, when a person is mentally elevated to a point such that hatred, greed, jealousy and attachment disappear from his heart, then he attains the Aghor or “Awadhoot” state. It is an absolutely carefree state. In this state, the aspirant gets totally detached from the external world. He doesn’t need, desire or demand anything. He doesn’t care for or complain about anything. He has no worries, no constraints, no bondage and no obligations whatsoever.

3. Aghor is a Guru-based tradition:

The details of an Aghor Sadhna are known only to the Guru (an Aughar) who transfers his knowledge to is disciple(s) if and when he chooses to do so. It is not open to everyone. The external activities of an Aughar are no clues at all for what goes on within. And that is why this chain is survived since ancient times despite numerous upheavals and turmoil in society and in the country. After becoming an Aughar, aspirant’s heart becomes very pure and no evil can touch him. His mind resides in vacuum (a state of mind with no thoughts) all the time. He attains a state of indifference; for him, all living beings are Godly creatures and therefore they are equal. Actually, there are people in this state of mind all over the world, however, they may not be known as Awadhoots, Aghoris or Aughars.

2. An Aughar acquire spiritual power within himself:

Unlike other traditions, where people become disciples to live in a monastery or an “Ashram” and live a traditional life of devotee, Aghor tradition really believes in active Sadhna and Tapasya (penance, self-mortification). An Aughar wants to acquire spiritual power within himself and in order to do so he goes through a very difficult period of “Tapasya”. During this period, he lives a shelter less, meal less, cloth less and mean less life; he does not care whatever happens to his own body; the only motivation that drives him is his desire to see or feel the power, the Almighty. The primary difference between Aghor and other traditions is that in other traditions, in general a devotee makes a complete surrender to God and follows a path of devotion which brings him mental peace. An Aughar on the other hand goes a step beyond that. He not only makes a complete surrender to God, he actually goes out to search for him and in so doing he achieves some spiritual powers, he gains some additional capabilities to be able to do something. And that is the difference.

1. Aghor is a composition of Shiva and Kali:

It is generally believed that an Aghor aspirant is the worshiper of Lord Shiva because that is what reflects from an Aughar’s attire: ashes on body, trishool in hand, beard on face and garland around the neck. Although, his attire is starting to disappear, the name Aughar instantly creates that picture in mind because that is the mode Aughars have lived in since ancient times. However, in reality, the word Aghor has a broader meaning which covers not only “Shaiva” but also includes “Shakta”. Many of the Indian epics provide description of Kali or “Chandee” as the one who roams at cremation grounds. Since Aughars spend a lot of time at cremation grounds, that identifies an Aughar as the one who has the attire of Shiva and activities of Kali (power). Thus Aghor Sadhna, Aghor behavior and Aghor brain represent a blend of “Shaivism” and “Shaktism”.

How many of us have ever thought about what life is? Despite the fact that we are living life in our own way, seldom has it occurred to us to ponder over what this life is. We should set aside some time to think seriously about it. Unless we know what our present life is and how it should be lived, we can’t transform it on desired lines. There can be several views on human life as different persons will view it according to their education, understanding and their own experiences. Here, Topyaps is elaborating ten laws of life for the foundation of a positive mindset.

10. Decision making:

There are certain occasions in life when it becomes very difficult to take the right decision. This may be because we are not in possession of all the time information necessary to arrive at a correct decision. Another reason could be that we are not careful while dealing with that situation or problem. Yet another factor leading to a wrong decision may be that we are impatient and so we take a hasty decision. At the same time, we have to analyze as objectively as possible the reasons responsible for our failures. An objective analysis of this type will help us in our subsequent effort. We should ensure that mistake committed earlier is not repeated. Our past experiences should pave the way for our forthcoming success. With greater enthusiasm and interest make mistakes as the stepping stones for the ultimate success.

9. The art of giving:

Wherever we are living, we find that there are some people who are extremely poor and unable to have basic necessities of life. Some of them do not have even two meals a day. They live in dilapidated house. They do not have adequate clothes to wear as a result in the winter season their life becomes very pitiable. Their children in shattered clothes are seen roaming in the neighborhood and are deprived of formals school education. When you have attained a certain level of living that gives you reasonable comforts, then think of those downtrodden people who struggle hard to earn money for their survival. In all such cases, one should provide necessary help in cash or kind. Scholarships can be offered to deserving students coming from very poor families. Help can also be given for the treatment and hospitalization of poor patients. In the winter seasons, poor people shiver on account of severe cold as they do not have enough clothes. Some of them have no shelter and are compelled to sleep in the open. In short, one can find ways and means to help really needy people. It should be done without any publicity. Those who are well to do must spare a part of their earnings in such activities.

8. Hope and faith:

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. Man is architect of his own destiny. Faith or destiny is nothing more than the shadow of action and exertion.  Suppose we know certain events that are going to take place in our life in the coming years, what will be our reaction? Most of us would think: we know our fate, why should we work? Whether we are engaged in some task or not, the result will be the same. If you carry the fatalistic attitude all the time, there can be no progress in the world. No new products, no new discoveries will ever take place. There will be complete stagnation all-around. Fate makes a man inactive and as such retards his growth. We should not depend on fate. We must understand the importance of honest and hard work. As the saying goes: Work is worship. Hard work done with intelligence and genuine interest is bound to bring success in any field.