Advice for my Hindu / LHP path

Vinayaka said:

I have nothing to teach anyone, but would be curious as to what this does for you.

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Strange. I've got this playing in the background now, and I keep smelling temple incense(there's none burning anywhere).

JustGeorge said:

Strange. I've got this playing in the background now, and I keep smelling temple incense(there's none burning anywhere).

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Yeah, I get that too. Not sure it's like Pavlov's dog, or an actual mystical experience. Either way, I like it. Smells trigger me more than sounds. Certain incenses will put me back to the place where they burn it.

KAT-KAT said:

In a way, a lot of religious people who are highly spiritual, look toward the light, even if metaphorically so. They want hope, selflessness, etc. Some might think that religion will help them on that path.

Left Hand Path is like an inverted path to me. You reflect on the twilight rather than on the light. You may also learn it's okay to be things like carnal, worldly, and passionate. The idea is that there are two paths to enlightenment in some faiths, through the light, or through the darkness. Most choose the light. A second idea is that it's not really aiming for the light that makes you moral, as a lot of human morality comes from within.

Some will argue that one can lose themselves in the darkness. And it's possible. But it's also possible to lose yourself in the light, doing things like giving up all your worldly possessions and living an isolated hermit life in pursuit of truth.

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There is a bit of tradition among Japanese Haiku poets and Zen masters, of the holy fool, the enlightened drunkard, etc.

The 17th Century monk Daigu Sochiku chose the name Daigu for himself. It means "Great Fool". He was known to be a drunkard and sexually profligate, but people from all ranks of society sought him out for advice and wisdom.

That is not a path I would want to follow myself. But perhaps it is best not to judge the road others choose to walk, and just accept that we all have our own journey.

KAT-KAT said:

Posting wisdom you have learned is fine. Questions are fine. But my question was, what advice can you give me, if anything, that you think will help my spiritual path?

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One piece of advice that I would like to give you is this: read the Kaṭha Upaniṣad. If you like darkness, you might like that particular Upaniṣad because it begins with someone's entrance to the world of Yama, that is, Death. Also, as one of the 10 principal Upaniṣads, it is a Vedic scripture, and as you likely know by now, the Vedas are the foundational scriptures of Sanātana Dharma, better known as Hinduism. As a foundational scripture, the Kaṭha Upaniṣad should inform your understanding of the spiritual path. It has certainly informed my understanding.

JustGeorge said:

Strange. I've got this playing in the background now, and I keep smelling temple incense(there's none burning anywhere).

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Vinayaka said:

Yeah, I get that too. Not sure it's like Pavlov's dog, or an actual mystical experience. Either way, I like it. Smells trigger me more than sounds. Certain incenses will put me back to the place where they burn it.

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I've done the same before I think, although not while listening to this song.

KAT-KAT said:

I'm a Hindu worshipper of Shiva, whose philosophies are Left Hand Path. I reject being under the up/down field of thought of the Abrahamic faiths, so any "The Abrahamic God thinks you're going to hell for being Left Hand Path." posts will be ignored. I try to devote 2 hours a day to worship of Shiva when I can. Sometimes I dance as a form of worship. Occasionally I pray. Sometimes I talk to Shiva. Often I meditate.

I find myself becoming more religious. The only issue some might have is when one says "more religious", they might think of fundamentalism, when I'm following a path that may have a few resemblances, but is mostly the opposite of that. Another thing I do besides worship, is listen to YouTube songs. Some of the songs and music videos I listen to can just about be classified as fictional horror, though I honestly think describing them as "dark fantasy" is more accurate, as they're more about sorcery than werewolves, generally.

I do consider listening to this music to help my spiritual path. Just that it doesn't replace actual worship and meditation. I think the nature of Shiva allows me to listen to positive, lighthearted songs too. Sometimes I do to understand the nature of Shiva through music, if you will. A sort of Yin/Yang, if you will.

I don't have a deep knowledge of Hindu scriptures yet, but I'm trying to grasp things as best I can for someone who has considered themselves Hindu for about 1.7 years.

So here's what I'm asking...

If you have anything you can teach me about Hinduism or even the Left Hand Path, and it's within forum rules, and not trying to proselytize a different religion, I'd be interesting in hearing what you have to say. Encouragement is fine. Reasoned skepticism is fine too as far as I'm concerned, just if you tell me I'm going to hell, I won't find it useful and will close my ears and move onto another post. Inspirational quotes are fine. Blessings are fine. Posting wisdom you have learned is fine. Questions are fine. But my question was, what advice can you give me, if anything, that you think will help my spiritual path?

Bonus question for the Hindu members: Do you enjoy having someone unusual in beliefs like me as part of your group / peers?

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Interesting. I am a Muslim, so if you don't like what I say you can dismiss it. Hinduism is so vast and so deep that I dont know if anyone could claim to be expert or even well read, but I have certain things to respond with.

Vamachara means vama or left, and chara means "to behave". Like in Nisachara, who behave or are "active" in the night, the Vamachara are "active" on the left. Thus it definitely means exactly what you have kind of explained above in your post. Its your path you take and it is the left hand path. The lotus anciency if there is such a word or the Padma purana, is the go to scripture for you. There are parallels in the Chinese traditions too that relates to the great blue sarasvati, or mahaneela sarasvathi. In fact, many argue that the Vamachara is the older tradition, while dhakshina chara is the new one. I dont understand why a lot of people seem to think Vamachara is like some kind of new karmic theology like the new Levi church.

Now think about it. Vama or left in your theology is pronounced vaama with the dragged "are" sound. But the second syllable "ma" is not dragged in pronunciation. Just "ma", single a. But, the argument that its actually Vaamaa originally seems to be very profound since the dakshina or the right did not exist. Without a right, there is no left. This Vaamaa means "woman". Think about it, in Vamachara, or Tantra which is almost synonymous to Vamachara, the woman is elevated as manifestation of shakthi. It is the women who, if addressed with purity and devotion etc, raise men to the level of God. The women in this case are highly respected. Thus, why not consider the older tradition and think that this is not really a left, as in an opposition to the right, but is actually the path of the woman? Vamachara.

Anyway, I dont want to go on a tirade on this. Its just for you to consider.

I would like to say one thing at the end, you may not like it. You said that the Abrahamic religions send people to hell for being left. Its like this. Some Abrahamic religions if not all do consider some of the more newer teachings of the left as sins. Like the Kaama that you portrayed as one of your principles. yes, it is shown as a sin in Abrahamic religions, and I will say Islam since I am Muslim. But there is no statement that says this would send you to hell. Even the newer Vamachara does not tell you to be sinful as in murder and kill innocents in the name of God etc. Thus, even those who consider sexual promiscuity or acts out of wedlock as sin, it is still not deemed as something that would send you to hell. Also the debate exists since time immemorial where this act called Zina is to be considered "sex out of the sanctity of marriage" which could also mean you have to be married for it to be considered such a sin, unless of course one is a sex worker, as in selling sex for money. I just think that your perception is not correct in that particular matter.

Anyway, it was an interesting post. Fascinating discussion. I look forward to seeing more informative posts in this thread.

Peace.

KAT-KAT said:

I'm a Hindu worshipper of Shiva, whose philosophies are Left Hand Path. I reject being under the up/down field of thought of the Abrahamic faiths, so any "The Abrahamic God thinks you're going to hell for being Left Hand Path." posts will be ignored. I try to devote 2 hours a day to worship of Shiva when I can. Sometimes I dance as a form of worship. Occasionally I pray. Sometimes I talk to Shiva. Often I meditate.

I find myself becoming more religious. The only issue some might have is when one says "more religious", they might think of fundamentalism, when I'm following a path that may have a few resemblances, but is mostly the opposite of that. Another thing I do besides worship, is listen to YouTube songs. Some of the songs and music videos I listen to can just about be classified as fictional horror, though I honestly think describing them as "dark fantasy" is more accurate, as they're more about sorcery than werewolves, generally.

I do consider listening to this music to help my spiritual path. Just that it doesn't replace actual worship and meditation. I think the nature of Shiva allows me to listen to positive, lighthearted songs too. Sometimes I do to understand the nature of Shiva through music, if you will. A sort of Yin/Yang, if you will.

I don't have a deep knowledge of Hindu scriptures yet, but I'm trying to grasp things as best I can for someone who has considered themselves Hindu for about 1.7 years.

So here's what I'm asking...

If you have anything you can teach me about Hinduism or even the Left Hand Path, and it's within forum rules, and not trying to proselytize a different religion, I'd be interesting in hearing what you have to say. Encouragement is fine. Reasoned skepticism is fine too as far as I'm concerned, just if you tell me I'm going to hell, I won't find it useful and will close my ears and move onto another post. Inspirational quotes are fine. Blessings are fine. Posting wisdom you have learned is fine. Questions are fine. But my question was, what advice can you give me, if anything, that you think will help my spiritual path?

Bonus question for the Hindu members: Do you enjoy having someone unusual in beliefs like me as part of your group / peers?

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Unusual beliefs? I am a Hindu but I find great pleasure in some...wierd spiritual paths like Cthulhuism (or whatever it's called), theistic Satanism and reconstruction of old polytheistic religions in the most historically accurate way possible (I'm a student of history and historical accuracy matters to me).
So I'm fine with you or anyone else being Hindu and having unusual beliefs.

Ashurbanipal said:

Unusual beliefs? I am a Hindu but I find great pleasure in some...wierd spiritual paths like Cthulhuism (or whatever it's called), theistic Satanism and reconstruction of old polytheistic religions in the most historically accurate way possible (I'm a student of history and historical accuracy matters to me).
So I'm fine with you or anyone else being Hindu and having unusual beliefs.

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That's cool. Welcome to the forums. It's good to have you here.

KAT-KAT said:

I'm a Hindu worshipper of Shiva, whose philosophies are Left Hand Path. I reject being under the up/down field of thought of the Abrahamic faiths, so any "The Abrahamic God thinks you're going to hell for being Left Hand Path." posts will be ignored. I try to devote 2 hours a day to worship of Shiva when I can. Sometimes I dance as a form of worship. Occasionally I pray. Sometimes I talk to Shiva. Often I meditate.

I find myself becoming more religious. The only issue some might have is when one says "more religious", they might think of fundamentalism, when I'm following a path that may have a few resemblances, but is mostly the opposite of that. Another thing I do besides worship, is listen to YouTube songs. Some of the songs and music videos I listen to can just about be classified as fictional horror, though I honestly think describing them as "dark fantasy" is more accurate, as they're more about sorcery than werewolves, generally.

I do consider listening to this music to help my spiritual path. Just that it doesn't replace actual worship and meditation. I think the nature of Shiva allows me to listen to positive, lighthearted songs too. Sometimes I do to understand the nature of Shiva through music, if you will. A sort of Yin/Yang, if you will.

I don't have a deep knowledge of Hindu scriptures yet, but I'm trying to grasp things as best I can for someone who has considered themselves Hindu for about 1.7 years.

So here's what I'm asking...

If you have anything you can teach me about Hinduism or even the Left Hand Path, and it's within forum rules, and not trying to proselytize a different religion, I'd be interesting in hearing what you have to say. Encouragement is fine. Reasoned skepticism is fine too as far as I'm concerned, just if you tell me I'm going to hell, I won't find it useful and will close my ears and move onto another post. Inspirational quotes are fine. Blessings are fine. Posting wisdom you have learned is fine. Questions are fine. But my question was, what advice can you give me, if anything, that you think will help my spiritual path?

Bonus question for the Hindu members: Do you enjoy having someone unusual in beliefs like me as part of your group / peers?

Click to expand...

I don't know much about lhp. An interesting path but I think not a path I would choose (especially any extreme practices). Nevertheless I admire your religious devoution and wish you all good on your path.