Saturday 23 February 2013

Lingam and Yoni: Sacred Symbols of Cosmic Unity


In Shiva temples throughout India, which is the place where Tantra developed many thousands of years ago, we find beautifully sculpted images of the male phallus sitting within the female vagina. The male phallus is called lingam, meaning ‘wand of light’ and the female genitalia is referred to as yoni, meaning, ‘sacred place’.

The ancient sages from pre-Aryan history discovered a great secret: God is to be found in the harmonious union of our male and female genitals. ‘Universal energy, the substance of the world, is represented by the Yoni which grasps the Lingam. It is only when the phallus, the giver of semen, is surrounded by the yoni that God can manifest and the universe appear.’ (from Karpatri, a Sanskrit scripture, translated by Alain Danielou)

Some people may find this shocking, since as a culture we still carry a hangover from Catholic and Victorian anti-sexual morality in our mental and physical conditioning. But just imagine for a moment a whole society which envisions sex as bringing us into oneness with God. Such a society would naturally regard all of life as sacred. Rape of people or the environment would be impossible for such people.

Ma Ananda Sarita




No comments:

Post a Comment