Dust and Ashes

Here you see a naked Sadhu performing a painful and difficult act of penance according to the Hindu tantric tradition.

The Western religious teacher, and in particular the 'Christian' onlooker may express dismay, shock, and may even feel disgusted at this 'vulgar' display of the naked body. Some may even call this 'satanism' and 'devil worship'.

The Christian, [and maybe the Jew] has always been so obsessed with 'covering up'. The Christian religious rituals [and jew and Mohamedan] have vestments that are elaborate and cover up one's nakedness. And yet, According to Christian tradition, we aere all created 'in God's Image'.

St. Francis of Assissi was known to have thrown off all his clothes at the defining moment of spiritual revelation. He stood stark naked in front of a whole crowd of the elite and the commoners and renounced his father's wealth. He stood there, sky clad, in all his created glory and said "Now I can truly say, Our Father in Heaven". The Bishop covered him with his cloak. But a few minutes later, he gave away that cloak to a poor beggar, walking away naked. he later wore clothes of coarse sackcloth.

Why are Christians so ashamed of their god-given bodies?

In Hindu tradition, the priest actually strips down to the very basics to worship. To belong to nature. To stand humbled before the Power.

Renunciation in the East has been achieved through the shedding of clothes. Many great Teachers and saints were sky-clad. Mahavir and the other founders of the Jain religion did not wear clothes, but they did cover their mouths so as not to harm tiny insects. Even today, there are many Gurus in the Indian tradition who have renounced clothes.

To be unclad is not to be indecent. One can go around as naked as the day he was born, with a clear mind, devoid of attachment. One can wear the longest cloak and protest his modesty, and yet be indecent and lecherous in his mind.

[series to continue]