question

[Dragohad]

would the left hand path spiritual belief system be better opposed to the right hand path spiritual concept?

*below is a excert taken from wikipedia, and all copyrights are given to them*
The Right-Hand Path

The Right-Hand Path is commonly thought to refer to magical or religious groups which adhere to a certain set of characteristics:

    * They adhere to social conventions and avoid taboos.
    * They divide the concepts of mind, body and spirit into three separate, albeit interrelated entities.[3]
    * They adhere to a specific moral code and a belief in some form of judgement, such as karma or the Threefold Law.[4]

Esoteric groups that could be considered to be RHP include Theosophy, the New Age movement as well as various Neopagan religions such as Druidry, the Church of All Worlds and certain traditions of Wicca. Some esotericists also consider the non-magical Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Islam to be RHP, although the terms are rarely used outside of magical groups.
[edit] The Left-Hand Path

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 homosexual sex magic or embracing Satanic imagery.[5] 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."[6]
    * They often question religious or moral dogma, instead adhering to forms of personal anarchism.[7]
    * They often embrace sexuality and incorporate it into magical ritual.[8]

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 (which is organised through both the Church of Satan and the rival First Satanic Church) as well as Theistic Satanism. Other Western LHP philosophies include Luciferianism, Setianism, Thelema, Chaos Magic, Feri, and magicians who deal in demonology, as well as groups like the Dragon Rouge and the Order of Nine Angles. Several eastern philosophies could also be viewed as adhering to the LHP, including forms of Hinduism such as Aghoris and Vamachara and forms of Buddhism like Dugpas.

[Tiny]

Dear Dragohad,

I would tell you that the path of darkness eventually leads to only one end - one's own destruction.


kind regards,

Paul

[personalreality]

Whatever path feels right is the one you ought to take.  I've studied the left-hand path, maybe not as much as the right-hand, but I'm still familiar with it. 

Think of it like this....

There is no such thing as a left vs right hand path.  Nothing is that clear cut.  All paths fall on an infinite continuum of experience.  Whatever way gets you to self-knowledge is the way you should go.  As unfortunate as it may be, many of us in the world today have been indoctrinated with a system of moral beliefs.  Morality is a human creation.  It's about energy exchange, not right and wrong.  An "evil" being that say manipulates other beings in order to consume it's energy isn't evil, it is surviving in the way it knows.  From it's reality we may be the equivalent of corn.  Now, it should be considered that as humans our biggest limiting factor seems to be the ego and countering the ego seems to require selflessness.  That would be a "right-hand" path practice.  Doesn't mean the left-hand path doesn't provide something similar.  There is a difference between indulging and being selfish. 

Also, magick is practiced by both sides.  Magick is an advanced understanding of the manipulation of energies that we don't experience with full awareness in our limited existence as humans (not to say that can't change).  What left hand path people are doing is trying to battle Memes, mind viruses.  We are plagued by them.  By acting in an "unpredictable" way they are short circuiting their own programs (from Memes) to provide more and more moments of present experience.  Much like a zen buddhist if you ask me.......

[Xanth]

Whatever path feels right is the one you ought to take.  I've studied the left-hand path, maybe not as much as the right-hand, but I'm still familiar with it. 

Basically, that.
I had no idea there were "labels" for these particular things.
I've always just taken what I've read and mixed it liberally with what I've experienced... and voila, I have my path.  LoL

[personalreality]

The idea of following "a path" is just silly.  It's literally impossible for any person to follow a path put forth by any other person.  You will never experience that path in the way that the original seeker did and so their experience is basically useless.  No matter what you ever do or what path you follow you will ALWAYS make it your own.  That's the only possible way you could exist. 

[Xanth]

The idea of following "a path" is just silly.  It's literally impossible for any person to follow a path put forth by any other person.  You will never experience that path in the way that the original seeker did and so their experience is basically useless.  No matter what you ever do or what path you follow you will ALWAYS make it your own.  That's the only possible way you could exist. 

You are 100% right.  I use the term "path" because it's just easier for people to understand.
More of a subjective collection of "similar directions". 

[personalreality]

Agreed.  Sometimes that's the hardest part about sharing personal philosophical beliefs.  You are forced to use words that don't really express what you feel in order to articulate incomprehensible ideas in a way that others might follow.  Kind of makes me doubt the use of verbal communication sometimes.  It's just so impractical and ambiguous.