_________________________________ Misinterpretation of Shiv…

the Spiritual practices of the people of the india in the last few centuries.
Unfortunately, in the sanskrit dictionary, one of the meaning given for the word 'shivalingam' is 'phallus, the male organ of shiva'.
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When these first researchers, who were not well versed in sanskrit,its history or grammar, came to explain and record their thesis on shivalingam, they just took the dictionary and came to the conclusion that it refers to phallus worship.
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In their wake,other research scholars have made the same mistake repeatedly. They even thought that perhaps there was some primitive tribal rite of the Hindus where all females worshipped the male organ. This is how a very unclassical and under-developed brain works.
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According to sanskrit grammar and the philosophy connected with it, the term lingam means a state which is invisible, which is unseen , but which is in existence. Many thinkers and most artists and poets can understand this concept very well.
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You cannot see emotions, frustrations,or joys. If they are in you, you can feel them. If they are not in you, you cannot feel them although they exist in the other person. This means that ordinary human emotion should have a form , although it is invisible.
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Similarly, consciousness is formless and abstract. Here consciousness does not mean human consciousness. It means the total cosmic consciousness. Any word can be used to indicate that consciousness-i.e. brahman, bhagwan etc .. The consciousness is invisible, abstract & infinite.

It cannot be comprehended by the finite mind . The ultimate reality is incomprehensible to anyone, even to a saint or a yogi, or to a paramhansa. If you want to comprehend that ultimate reality there is only one way. You have to become that and not otherwise.
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Therefore, that consciousness which cannot be comprehended by just any means or anyone should be comprehended by its symbol. That symbol is known as lingam in sanskrit. It is not a phallic symbol, but it is called shivlinga.
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Shiva means absolute, ultimate, total, cosmic or universal consciousness. These are all just names, shiva-lingam is the representative or symbol of that cosmic one.
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Today in india ,shivalingam is worshipped, venerated and meditated upon by a majority of Hindu but not by any other religion.
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However if you go back into history to the civilization which flourished in the middle ages and even in the primitive ages in the europe, you can find substantial evidence that the worship of the shivalingam was once prevalent throughout the world.
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In the ancient pre-columbian civilization, in the cultural philosophy of the Aztecs,Incas and Native Indian tribal families and even in Mexico, the worship of Shiva was prevalent.
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Last century and early this century, when some of the churches in England were excavated after damage, the shivalingam was found underneath. This shows that worship of the lingam was not confined only to Hindu religion. However, it is the Hindus who have preserved it.
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