There’s a teacher by the name of Dr. Robert Svoboda, who has spent his life studying spiritual work and practicing it himself. He talks about Aghora—he has a trilogy of books based on the Aghori teachings. Aghora is a Sanskrit word which means “not terrible,” “not dreadful,” or “not dread-inspiring.”
The Aghoris—the true Aghoris—are people who have given up any standard way through life and spend time in cremation grounds and cemeteries. They cover themselves with the ashes of the dead. Their cooking fires are made from logs taken from the cremation grounds. They eat food, rice, cooked in a human skull and wear only clothing taken from a corpse.
It sounds awful. It sounds dreadful. But the point of living this kind of a lifestyle—if it can be called a lifestyle—the point of practicing this sadhana or spiritual work, is to be exposed to these dreadful experiences but not be in a state of dread. To be surrounded by the terrible, but not take it terribly. To, as they say in 12-step programs, wear life like a loose garment. Not ignoring what’s going on, nor having our faces pressed up against it.
There are things in the world right now that I wish were different. Personally, I’ve just stopped listening to the news, watching the news, reading the news—just for the moment, just for today—because I don’t want to have to work through my emotional reaction to the news. I don’t want to be horrified every time I look at it. I don’t want to have to calm myself down every time I’m activated by something.
I want to do the work that I want to do—I want to make my world a better place. I want to make it a better place from this center outward. I want to know how to be in this world and not be at the mercy of someone else’s bad behavior, or someone else’s idea of right and wrong. I want to be at the effect of—and in the expression of—the truth I know in here, that I’ve discovered in here. Not the one I’ve been taught, not the one someone else has told me, not the one I’ve had to argue for, but the one that lives inside of me.
When there’s so much going on out here, I can’t hear this. So I keep bringing my attention back to here. Again, I’m not ignoring anything. I’m being here.
Dr. Svoboda puts it this way: According to Aghora, you must burn down all concepts so that you can perceive reality in as unobstructed, unfiltered a way as possible.
What is reality? The reality we can all agree on is: I’m here. And one step further along than “I’m here” is: What am I here for? Based on the way it resonates for me, I’m here to learn how to love. I’m here to learn how to be grounded in the deepest experience of what I am, and then to offer my attention, myself, my heart, my love, outward from here. And to, as much as possible and as often as possible, recognize in everyone and everything around me that same truth out here that lives within here, within me.
To find myself as that flow of energy and life from center to center. And when we do that, we start to build an experience of the world that is so much more powerful than the experience of hatred, and the experience of despair, and the experience of “we’re all going to die.”
Yep, we’re all going to die. I’m not going to suffer about dying until I have to go through it.
So, I want to get busy living today.
Let go of the concept of how it should be, how it shouldn’t be, how you should be, how I should be, and discover what love feels like from this place, in this moment, today. And to clear my mind of all the reasons that love is not available so I can find—not whether love is available, but how love is available.
That’s a great question to ask. Thanks for listening. Hope you have a beautiful day.
Jeff Kober is an accomplished actor, photographer and vedic meditation teacher. He has had regular roles in notable series like The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, and NCIS: Los Angeles, and has appeared in numerous films including Sully and Beauty Mark. Kober is also a writer and artist, and has previously penned screenplays and authored the book Embracing Bliss.
This was an unexpected find today, and I'm really glad I read it.
This is beautiful. I’m deeply moved. Thank you ✨🙏💫