Shivalinga is just a subjective reality, says OSHO
Mythology deals with symbols. It is not history; it is not concerned with objective reality, it is concerned with subjective reality. These gods, these mythological symbols, do not exist outside you but they have a psychological existence and that can be helpful, and can be used. So the first thing to be understood is that they are not real persons in the world but they are real symbols in the psyche of man.
For example, Carl G Jung came very near to discovering the secret of these symbols. He was working on mentally disturbed persons. He would tell his patients to go on painting things, whatsoever came to their minds. A person who is schizophrenic, divided, split, will paint certain things and the painting will show a particular pattern. And when they get over their illness, they will start painting different things and that will happen to every patient. It is an indicator of his mental state.
Making Mandalas
Jung became aware that whenever a person who has been suffering with a divided personality again becomes one, undivided, he starts painting something like a mandala — a circle. That circle, thatmandala, shows somehow a deep relationship with his own inner circle that has been regained. Now, inside, he has become a circle, joined together. He has become one. Then, in his paintings, suddenly circles will erupt.
So Jung came to conclude that your inner mind can express certain things in a certain state. If the state of your mind changes, your visions will change, your expressions will change.
Hindu mythological gods are certain visions of a certain state of mind. When you come into that state of mind, visions start happening to you. They will have a similarity.
Shiva’s linga has many meanings. It is the very source of life energy — a sex symbol. But that is only one meaning. The shivalinga is white and egg-shaped. It happens in a particular state of meditation that this appears before you: a white egg-shaped thing filled with light. Light rays are coming out of it.
The Cooling Effect
Deep down, whenever you become cool, silent, and the whole being loses heat, this symbol appears. That is why, the mythological story is that Shiva lives in the Himalayas, the coolest place in the world, where everything is cool. Just look at a marble Shivalinga. Just by looking at it, you will feel a certain coolness entering you. That is why above a shivalinga, a pot is held, and from that pot, drops of water keep dropping on the shivalinga. It is just to make it cool. These are symbols just to give you a feeling of coolness.
In Kashmir, there is a natural shivalinga, which arises automatically when snow falls. It is a snowshivalinga in Amarnath. Just by dropping of snow in a cave, a shivalinga is formed. That shivalinga is the best one for meditation because it is so cool all around that it gives a glimpse of the inner happening — when the shivalinga appears within your consciousness, when it becomes a picture, a symbol, a vision.
These symbols have been found through centuries of work and effort. They indicate a certain state of mind. To me, all mythological gods are meaningful subjectively. Objectively they are nowhere to be found. And if you start trying to find them somewhere objectively, then you will become a victim of your own imagination — it is because you can project them so strongly that you can find them. Human imagination has a tremendous force within that if you imagine something continuously, it will become an objective thing.
So it is dangerous to play with imagination because then you can be hypnotised by your own imagination. This is creating a private fantasy; this is a sort of madness. You can see Krishna, you can see Christ, and Buddha, but this whole effort is wasted because you are moving in dreams and not in reality.
Hence, always remember that mythological figures are symbolic. They are meaningful, they are poetic, they are a certain language. They say and imply something, but they are not objective personalities. Use them beautifully.
The Supreme Doctrine, www.osho.com
great...thanks :)
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