Sadhus belong to many different sects or orders.

Upon joining a sect, an apprentice-sadhu must undergo an initiation-rite, which is regarded as a symbolic death -- and a rebirth. He dies from his former, earthly life and is reborn into the divine life. The visible symbol of this rebirth is the shaven head of the novice.
After initiation, any talk or thought about the former life is discouraged; the past is irrelevant now and age is reckoned from the new birthday. The bond with the guru is now all important. He is the 'dispeller of darkness', the guide for piercing the Veil of Illusion. The guru is father, mother and teacher -- and the disciple worships his guru as god incarnate. Most sects are rather moderate in their practices, but some can be quite extreme.

Some of the more well known sects are: the Naga babas, the Gorakhnathis or Yogis, the Udasin, the Aghoris, and the Ramanandis, The Naga sadhus or 'warrior-ascetics' Naga sadhus are a large and a prominent Shaiva sect, who have existed since the prehistoric past. The Naga sect is subdivided into Akharas, i.e. 'regiments', like an army. Their display of weaponry -- sticks, spears, swords and especially the trident -- have a mostly symbolic function. Among the Nagas are many sadhus who walk about naked. High up in the icy Himalayas, but naked all the same, Bhola Giri Nagababa blows the serpentine horn, called nagphani, or 'cobra-hood', producing one piercing note. This instrument is related to the cobra (naga), the intimate companion of Lord Shiva, always coiled around his neck. In their nakedness they do not emanate sexuality. On the contrary, they control, inhibit the sexual 'vibrations', retaining its energy so it can be mystically transformed into psychic and spiritual power. The chilam, a clay pipe smoked by many sadhus through cupped hands, is filled with tobacco and hashish. Abb Dubois, a French missionary who lived in India from 1792 to 1823, observed in his Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies: "they attach to their generative organs a heavy weight which they drag about until the power of muscles and nerves is

completely destroyed." These asanas are still practised today. Although in outlook very similar to the sannyasis, the Jogis do not follow the Vedantic teachings of Shankara, but adhere to the Tantric way taught by their Guru-founder Gorakhnath. Still, they are devotees of Shiva, albeit in his manifestation as Bhairava, and they worship Hanuman and Dattatreya. Gorakhnath, being an incarnation of Shiva, is worshipped as a deity by the Jogis, and has a number of temples dedicated to him. The Jogis are therefore often designated as 'Gorakhnathis', or more simply 'Nath-Babas'. The Udasin Vital Das, an Udasin baba, his body covered with ash.The major sect of Udasin ascetics was originally not Shaiva -- nor even Hindu -- but belonged to the Sikh religion. It was founded in the sixteenth century by a son of Guru Nanak -- himself the founder of Sikhism -- called Shrichandra. The Udasin are therefore also known as Nanakputras, the 'sons of Nanak', and they revere the Grantha Saheb, the sacred book of the Sikhs. They were excommunicated by the successor of Guru Nanak and gradually turned to Hinduism. The Udasin worship panchayatana, a combination of five deities, namely Shiva, Vishnu, the Sun, goddess Durga, and Ganesh; moreover they worship their founder-Guru Shrichandra. Their philosophy is basically the monistic Vedanta as set forth by Shankara, and in other respects as well they closely resemble the Shaiva sannyasis. Like all Shaiva sannyasis, the Udasin usually wear red or black cloth, apply ashes, have long hair in jata, and so on, but differ in details such as their woollen knitted caps and a small silver crescent ring in the right ear. Furthermore, whenever they had to choose sides in fights with rivalling sects, they were on the side of the Shaivas. The Aghoris The Aghoris are a small sect. Their favourite haunt is the cremation-grounds; they bathe in cremation-ashes; and willingly transgress all ascetic (and Hindu) taboos, convinced as they are that by 'reversing all values' they will speed up enlightenment. While all sadhus are supposed to be vegetarian and teetotallers (like most Hindus for that matter), Aghoris eat meat and

drink alcohol. Aghoris preferably live on cremation grounds and surround themselves with artifacts of death, like human skulls out of which they drink and with which they perform magical rituals. Nonetheless, the Aghoris represent a tradition that is thousands of years old, but their numbers have dwindled. In the beginning of the fourteenth century, a very successful ascetic sect was founded by Ramananda: the Ramananda Sampradaya, more popularly known as the Ramanandis. Nowadays, because of its dominant position, it is regarded as a separate organization, but officially it is still part of the Shri Sampradaya, for Ramananda started his ascetic career as a member of this sect. He remained loyal to the philosophy of its founder Ramanuja, but he chose Rama and Sita as personal gods, and made devotion to them the central feature of the sect's religious practices. The epic Ramayana, with its many exemplary adventures of Rama, is the primary source of inspiration for shaping the attitude of exclusive, one-pointed devotion to Rama which is the hallmark of a Rama devotee. Rama plays an important part in contemporary Hinduism. He lives in the hearts of the common people. He rules the lives of sadhus devoted to him. For many sadhus, memorizing, analyzing, and absorbing the Ramayana is a life-time pursuit, and some become professional exegetes, reciting and interpreting the texts to the public. It is believed that just hearing the sacred words of the Ramayana is in itself liberating and will confer the grace of Rama. And in an even simpler way, continuous recitation of the name of Rama from the heart will enlighten the soul. In fact, in this Dark Age, Rama's devotees regard it as the only way to reach the Absolute. Celibacy is no doubt the most important austerity practised by sadhus. According to Yoga-metaphysics, sexual energy, the fire of passion, is the main potential source of spiritual energy. But as an aid to mental control of sexuality, physical restraint must sometimes be employed and one method is the continuous wearing of 'chastity belts'. This

austerity, like most, is usually undertaken for a minimum of twelve years. A dhoti usually, modestly, covers this wooden underwear