Thursday 15 November 2012

The Mark of Shiva


Many statues of Shiva show him in human form. Some of them show Shiva's right side as male, and left side as female. This is to male the point visually that God and Goddess are absolutely equivalent, and that male and female are equal. The Supreme Being has both masculine and feminine aspects, whether you see them as pure consciousness and its power, or spirit and matter, or justice and mercy.



Everywhere you travel in India you will also see Shiva worshipped in the form of a linga,a conical or egg-shaped stone, resting in a base called a yoni. Linga means "the mark of Shiva". While almost all Hindu murtis are shaped into some form, such as a male or a female deity, the linga alone remains unsculpted. This is because it stands for God beyond form, pure consciousness itself.

In one famous story from the Puranas, Brahma and Vishnu stumbled upon a pillar of blazing light. Brahma flew upward to try to find the top of the light. Vishnu dug downward, looking for its base. Though they traveled for ages, neither could find the beginning or end of the linga of light. The light of pure awareness is infinite, the Purana is saying. Hinduism's yogis take the great meditator Shiva as their ideal and devote their lives to merging in His light.

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