article on shiva

abraxus

an excellent 2 page article on shiva
http://shiva.exoticindiaart.com/
clicking on the art images gives a wealth ov info too.

the last 2 paragraphs
"Although both Shiva and his goddess Shakti are creator deities, the true scope of their union is not procreation, but pleasure and voluptuousness (ananda). A whole world of legend and myth narrates their love. The two opposites, the positive and the negative pole, acquire reality only in their relations with each other. They exist solely in what unites them, in the spark of pleasure that jumps from one to the other. In other words, the immanent cause of the universe, substance, and creation, is voluptuous desire.


The spermatozoid substance placed in the female has a fecundating action, but the same substance, when reabsorbed through sexual abstinence, nourishes the cerebral matter. Rising, according to yogic formula, through the subtle channels flanking the backbone, it renders the intellectual faculties more acute. The Yogi perceives sexual energy as though it were coiled up at the base of the spine, which is why it is called kundalini (coiled) and likened to a sleeping snake. When, by means of mental concentration, it awakens and unwinds its coils, it rises like a column of fire toward the zenith, toward the top of the skull - the image of the heavenly vault - and pierces it to reach the transcendent worlds inhabited by Shiva. Shiva's liberated phallus represents this illuminating power rising heavenward beyond the material world. Thus is the linga likened to a pillar of light, guiding us to true knowledge."

this is my first post in a few years.
i've spent abit ov time in europe since, but my knowledge ov travel conditions in India is now 5 years out ov date.
i have no definate plans to return, buying a home is the current prority; though my wife & i's love ov india will hopefully cause us to revisit one day.
i plan to be abit more ov a regular visitor here, but i'll try & confine my posts to this section---i mean apart from the drugs , it's the spiritual side that drags soo many souls eastwards.