LHP overview

[Orias]

Is there anything that the LHP is really about?

Fellowship

 

[Infinitum]

If I wrote an overview of LHP I'd start with a piece of history and then move on to describe the largest groups with a couple of words. And then obviously make sure the reader gets a sense of how undogmatic and dispersed the group is. The history needs a mention to the original term (Vamachara) and at its very least a note on how the Satanic Bible made it popular in the 60's. The groups are (at least) LaVeyan Satanists (generally atheistic), Theistic Satanists (theistic), Setians, Luciferians, Demonolators, Dark Pagans, Eastern LHPs and Independents.

Practices distinctive to LHP are among other things: individualism, challenging taboos and pre-existing ideas, veneration of "sin" (carnality, demons, other taboos), self-examination and the practice of magic(k). The majority of LHP agree on moral relativism and oppose dogmatism, believing the individual has to find his/her own way, i.e. be their own god.

Did I forget something?

 

[Iti oj]

At work will add content latter. Spam post

 

[Thrice Great]

Is there anything that the LHP is really about? If so, what is it called if you wish to not conform to even that?

I did already sum up what the LHP is all about . . . it is about Liberation from the objective universe and the deification of self to Self.

 

[Adramelek]

The Left-Hand Path is the path of individually-determined freedom, the freedom of mind and will from stifling moral codes. It is the path of nurturing and developing the liberated intellect. It is the path of most resistance because it is much harder to be the independent wolf than it is to be just another sheep in a herd of sheeple. However, one lone wolf is far more intelligent, resourceful, and dangerous than a herd of a hundred sheep. On the LHP we stand proudly and walk confidently, but prudently through the realms of the unknown, instead of bending our knees to the altar of fraudulent sanctimonious absolutism.

Xeper.
/Adramelek\

 

[Iti oj]

I was hesitant to think this was a good idea. But I find the suggestions are very well worded to include everyone here. Which surprised me. Or perhaps my own self and understanding has grown.

 

[Krill The Unwashed]

The Order of Nine Angles explains the Left Hand Path this way to its initiates:

"The amoral and individualistic Way of Sinister Sorcery. In the LHP there are no rules: there is nothing that is not permitted; nothing that is forbidden or restricted. That is, the LHP means the individual takes sole responsibility for their actions and their quest, and does not abide by the ethics of mundanes. In addition, the LHP is where the individual learns from the practical deeds and practical challenges that are an integral to it." -- ONA, Glossary of Terms, v.3

And:

"The LHP in its methods is non-structured. In the genuine LHP there is nothing that is not permitted – nothing that is forbidden or restricted. That is, the LHP means the individual takes sole responsibility for their actions and their quest." -- The LHP – An Analysis. ONA MS dated c. 1991 CE

 

[Thrice Great]

The Order of Nine Angles explains the Left Hand Path this way to its initiates:

And:

This is because the LHP is the path of the subjective universe, this reality does not exist within the limitations of the objective universe (Quantum Physics), it is indeed without rules or restrictions where anything and everything is permitted. Solitary in that it is a study of our isolate intelligence and individuation.

 

[Krill The Unwashed]

This is because the LHP is the path [...] is indeed without rules or restrictions where anything and everything is permitted.

In THEORY, yes, this does sound great. In practice, it is another thing altogether. Here are some rhetorical examples to think about:

1. A Left Hand Pather devotes 10 years to being a devout Muslim and prays to Mecca 5 times a day for 10 years: would you still consider and accept him as a LHPer?

2. A LHPer becomes a serial killer: would you still accept him or recognize him as a fellow LHPer?

3. A LHPer chooses to be a rapist and forcefully defiles women, which is a crime: is he still a LHPer.

Most so called LHP groups such as the Church of Satan or Temple of Set disallow certain activities, especially criminality.

 

[ScottySatan]

Is there anything that the LHP is really about? If so, what is it called if you wish to not conform to even that?

I first read about the distinction when reading about hinduism, but they didn't call it rhp and lhp. What I read is that you can choose to consider hreligion to have two flavors.

In one type, you achieve an ultimate goal of becoming one with the universe or god. You suppress your carnal desires. You sacrifice your personal needs for the greater good. That's RHP. If you were a house, you would be a Frank Lloyd Wright house: made of local materials, and becoming a part of your landscape.

In the other type, you do the opposite, and separate yourself from nature. Your goal is to become a distant, stoic god, independent of the universe around you. You are an individualist. Perfect self awareness. If you were a house, you would be a Corbusier: stark, white, floating above ground, in extreme contrast to the landscape.

It's the individualism and embrace of ego that all LHP has in common. Most religions are RHP, but there are varying degrees of incompatibility with the LHP. I believe there can be LHP hinduism, but not buddhism.

 

[Krill The Unwashed]

I believe there can be LHP hinduism, but not buddhism.

There are "left hand path" schools of Buddhism:

Vāmācāra[pronunciation?] is a Sanskrit term meaning "left-handed attainment" and is synonymous with "Left-Hand Path" or "Left-path" (Sanskrit: Vāmamārga).[1][2][3] It is used to describe a particular mode of worship or sadhana (spiritual practice) that is not only "heterodox" (Sanskrit: nāstika) to standard Vedic injunction, but extreme in comparison to the status quo.


These practices are often generally considered to be Tantric in orientation. The converse term is dakṣiṇācāra "Right-Hand Path", which is used to refer not only to "orthodox" (Āstika) sects but to modes of spirituality that engage in spiritual practices that not only accord with Vedic injunction but are generally agreeable to the status quo.


Left-handed and right-handed modes of practice may be evident in both orthodox and heterodox schools of Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism and is a matter of taste, culture, proclivity, initiation, sadhana and dharmic "lineage" (parampara). --Wikipedia on Vamachara.

The Drukpa lineage is a school of Buddhism that uses the LHP:

The historian Dave Evans studied self-professed followers of the Left-Hand Path in the early 21st century, making several observations about their practices:

• They often reject societal convention and the status quo, which some suggest is in a search for spiritual freedom. As a part of this, LHP followers embrace magical techniques that would traditionally be viewed as taboo, for instance using sex magic or embracing Satanic imagery.[6] As Mogg Morgan wrote, the "breaking of taboos makes magick more potent and can lead to reintegration and liberation, [for example] the eating of meat in a vegetarian community can have the same liberating effect as anal intercourse in a sexually inhibited straight society."[7]
• They often question religious or moral dogma, instead adhering to forms of personal anarchism.[8]
• They often embrace sexuality and incorporate it into magical ritual.[9]

Under these definitions, various esoteric groups, often with widely differing beliefs, could be considered to be followers of the LHP. These include various forms of Satanism, such as LaVeyan Satanism as well as Theistic Satanism. Other Western LHP philosophies include Setianism, the Typhonian Order, Luciferianism, many beliefs of the New Age movement, Chaos Magic, Feri, magicians involved with demonology, as well as groups like the Dragon Rouge and the Order of Nine Angles. The Petwo cult of Haitian Vodou reflects the LHP ethos. Several eastern philosophies could also be viewed as adhering to the LHP including forms of Taoism, forms of Hinduism such as Aghoris and Vamachara, forms of Buddhism like the Drukpa Lineage and Bön. -- source: Left-hand path and right-hand path - The Satanic Wiki

 

[ScottySatan]

Nope, not buying it based on that, because it doesn't address that one core value that I mentioned.

 

[crossfire]

In one type, [rhp] you achieve an ultimate goal of becoming one with the universe or god.

<...>

In the other type, [lhp] you do the opposite, and separate yourself from nature. I believe there can be LHP hinduism, but not buddhism.

Oh, so when a Buddhist contemplates: "This (objective thing) is not my Self, that (objective thing) is not my Self," they really aren't separating their Self from nature/the objective universe?

 

[ScottySatan]

Oh, so when a Buddhist contemplates: "This (objective thing) is not my Self, that (objective thing) is not my Self," they really aren't separating their Self from nature/the objective universe?

Sorry, is this an argument?

 

[crossfire]

Sorry, is this an argument?

It's a question.

 

[1137]

Sorry, is this an argument?

Well that escalated quickly.

 

[ScottySatan]

It's a question.

No, he's not. He's distancing himself from his worldly desires.

 

[crossfire]

No, he's not. He's distancing himself from his worldly desires.

The unskillful ones, at least.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

No, he's not. He's distancing himself from his worldly desires.

I think it's interesting that you seem to reject the original meaning of the Left Hand Path. Originally, it was an Indian concept denoting those who make use of socially and religiously proscribed practices to reach whatever spiritual goal they had. A think a lot of what we think are Left Hand Path beliefs and practices are really quite new and I'd like to know who it was that made up all these new rules for it.

Apparently, you can't worship anything other than yourself. ("Worship" is a dirty word amongst many in the modern Western LHP and that's one of the reasons why I call myself a Devil worshiper.) Some would say that you can't believe in God(s) outside of yourself. You can't seek union with a cosmic Source or God. You must be elitist and detest the weak. Etc.

All of these are rules, and who made up these rules? According to the original definition of LHP practices, a big part of it is breaking taboos. But when you make a rule, you've created a taboo.

 

[1137]

I think it's interesting that you seem to reject the original meaning of the Left Hand Path. Originally, it was an Indian concept denoting those who make use of socially and religiously proscribed practices to reach whatever spiritual goal they had. A think a lot of what we think are Left Hand Path beliefs and practices are really quite new and I'd like to know who it was that made up all these new rules for it.

Apparently, you can't worship anything other than yourself. ("Worship" is a dirty word amongst many in the modern Western LHP and that's one of the reasons why I call myself a Devil worshiper.) Some would say that you can't believe in God(s) outside of yourself. You can't seek union with a cosmic Source or God. You must be elitist and detest the weak. Etc.

All of these are rules, and who made up these rules? According to the original definition of LHP practices, a big part of it is breaking taboos. But when you make a rule, you've created a taboo.

I don't really see those rules cropping up much. The problem with worship is people think it implies dogma. I can see ways it can be LHP. It's a dirty word FOR ME personally and others simply because a main aspsect of the LHP for us is not relying on outside forces.

Even so I think there is clearly a distiction between Eastern amd Western LHP.