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The Aghoris are one of the principal Indian traditions and the most extreme and fascinating form of the Tantra. Dattatreya, a divinity that includes the Trimurti Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, are considered to be the founder of this school.

The sanscrit term Aghora is the combination among two words and has various meanings: A is a negation; Ghora is the obscurity of the ignorance, but it also means intense, deep; Aghora therefore means Light, absence of obscurity, awareness, but it also symbolizes a style of life where a person of the Aghori tradition doesn't have intense or deep feelings, it doesn't make difference among the various feelings, seems to be indifferent to the various stories of the life.

Aghora is also a path (Sadhana) within Tantrism.

I would say that we could simply define an aghori as the one who follows the path of the Aghora. A path of evolution and spiritual realization that starts from the most animalistic, grossest aspects of the human being and stage after stage evolves into what can be called a liberated soul. From Pashu (Animal) to Vīra (Hero), to Dīvya (Divine), to Bāla (Child), Unmatta (Crazy), Pīshacha (spirit) and Avadhut synonymous with Ascetic, Renunciate, of one who has gone beyond one's feelings and worldly obligations, which went beyond all that is pure or impure, beyond all duality and differentiation. The Avadhut is the One who sees the One in everything.

The procedures of these Sadhanas are secret (Gupta) and personal, handed down only from Guru to disciple, without the loving guidance of the Guru they can become very dangerous for one's mental health. In Vamachara tantra we walk a razor's edge, it is a direct and straight path, but a small mistake can prove to be fatal.