The Dark Aspects of Existence

by Thomas LeRoy

We know, in the deeper recesses of our minds, that each morning when we awaken we are one day closer to death, a death that will be, more likely than not, painful. But before that final curtain drops, we will endure heartache, loss, pain and suffering; a suffering that will sometimes seem insurmountable. And for many of us, if we are so lucky, the last thing we hear over the beep of a heart-monitor will be the lamentations of our loved ones.

Life is a bitch and then you die!

But what can we learn from this stark realization? Of facing our fears? Of facing death? What riches can we extract from these very dark aspects of existence?

“To those human beings who are of any concern to me I wish suffering, desolation, sickness, ill-treatment, indignities — I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, the wretchedness of the vanquished: I have no pity for them, because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not — that one endures.”

–Friedrich Nietzsche

No matter how hard it may seem, the dark aspects of existence should not be seen as problematic. Instead, what’s really problematic is one’s attitude toward them. We must have optimism in the face of fear and suffering, for true psychological health involves affirming Life’s darker side.

“Aghora is not indulgence, it is the forcible transformation of Darkness into Light, of the opacity of the limited individual personality into the luminescence of the Absolute. Renunciation disappears once you arrive at the Absolute because then nothing remains to renounce. An Aghori goes so deeply into Darkness, into all things undreamable to ordinary mortals, that he comes out into Light.”

–Dr. Robert Svoboda

Aghora (which literally means “the Non-Fearful”), is a 1000-year old heterodox Hindu philosophy that follows an unconventional, radical path to spiritual fulfillment. Shiva the Destroyer, the embodiment of death, is their god and spiritual teacher, while the cremation grounds is their home. They believe that Shiva induced the best and worst of the world and nothing is profane, everything is sacred. They eliminate thoughts of duality between pure and impure, good and bad; denying perfection of anything would be like disrespecting the sacredness of life in its full manifestation. Hence, what other Hindu sects regard as unacceptable or taboo, these practitioners of the left-hand path embrace; they embrace the darker aspects of existence to help lead them to a higher level of consciousness. In the darkness they find gems of tranquil beauty. But how can we, too, find these jewels if we can see nothing in the inky depths of the dark?

By utilizing the Black Flame!

We, on the left-hand path, have a tool. It is a rare thing, this pilot-light of the soul/psyche. Not everyone has it, and only a few who do, know how to use it. It must be used to ignite a greater light, your personal fire! But for those on the right-hand path, they have received their light from another source, not from the personal. They have dipped their torches in a communal fire and use that flame to hurry through the darkness instead of studying it, learning from it.

The truth is the darker aspects of existence should be welcomed by those seeking spiritual fulfillment, for it is then, and only then, that true self-overcoming can be reached. So much more can be learned from pain than comfort. The most fulfilling human projects are inseparable from at least some degree of torment. In the end, we must stare into the abyss and find peace in its depths before we can truly laugh in the face of Death.