Avadhoot Dandekar

Shivalinga is a symbolic oneness of an individual. In reality an individual is indivisible. The whole has always been One. In the beginning there was nothing. And this nothingness was a formless Ekalinga. This formless Ekalinga has manifested into a Quantum Principle of two complementing energies - Shiva and Shakti.

The cosmic creation is nothing but an interplay of these two energies. When these two energies interact actively it results into creation. And when they interact passively it results into transformation. These two energies complement each other.

These two energies churn the Objective Universe to move it into a Subjective Universe. The human being is a subjective universe. Every human being is made of these two energies - Shiva and Shakti. Again these two energies interplay to transform the human psyche. When these two energies fight, it results into destruction. And when these two energies cooperate, it results into creation. And ultimately when these two energies meet, merge, and become one, the human mind witnesses the formless Ekalinga which was there before the cosmic creation.

Yoga and Tantra are the methods of transforming these two energies to unite and become one. These two energies have always been one. It is only the perception of the mind that gives rise to the duality. Yoga is a method to move with the mind, and Tantra is a method to move with the heart. The result of both the methods is the experience of the union of Shiva and Shakti.

Shiva is a great Yogi (Shambhu) and Shakti is a great Yogini (Shambhavi). The existential experience of this union is the realization of the formless Ekalinga. Shiva says Shakti is Agama (a method to know), and Shakti says Shiva is a Nigama (a goal to know). Yoga and Tantra are Agama Shastras. And Vedas and Upanishads are Nigama Shastras. Agamas are methods and means to reach the goal. Vedas and Upanishads are Nigama Shastras because they create knowledge and understanding. And eventually, the understanding is that the method and the goal are the same. The means and the goal are the one. Shiva and Shakti are not two, they are one and the same. God divides the reality into duality for our understanding. The ultimate knowledge and understanding is the formless Ekalinga, the oneness of everything.

Brahma represents pure creation. He represents the beginning of creation and the beginning of everything in the creation. He is a symbol for the love of life. He is the God of creation. Vishnu is the sustenance of life at all levels of the living and the non-living. He is the sustenance of the creation. He represents a life of love. He is the God of sustenance. Shiva is the end goal of everything. He is the culmination. He represents the transformation. He is the crux of the creation and the sustenance. He represents the celebration of death. He is a symbol for the love of death. We might know how to celebrate life. We are taught this. But we do not know how to celebrate death. We are not taught this. Shiva is the summation of the whole of the journey of life. He is the God of death. Everything has emanated from that One. And everything again culminates into that One. The existential experience of that oneness is the experience of that Shivalinga or Ekalinga. This is the end goal of everything.