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Happy Maha Shivratri 2015
- Thread starter ShivaFan
- Start date
Poeticus
| abhyAvartin |
Hey, Philomath! Welcome back, homie. I hope you have been doing well. Nice to see you again.
Philomath
Sadhaka
I am hoping everyone has a wonderful Shivaratri. This will be the first time it is held inside our completed temple, which can easily cater to several hundred people. As in the past I will be staying for the whole vigil; someone must bathe Shiva when the others sleep!
निताइ dasa
Nitai's servant's servant
Jaya Jaya Shiv Shankara. I hope everyone has a festive Shiva Ratri. May Patal Shiva bless you all on your spiritual path, for he is so so merciful 
.
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Once everyone left and it was just myself and the other two usual attendants one of them said something. As we were performing abhishekam for the lingam he said that, as an unmarried woman I was not allowed to touch the lingam and only the yoni was appropriate for me to touch. For the next puja I just touched the yoni to keep him comfortable (I believe he said this last year as well!). He went to sleep before the final puja so... I did what I normally do and fully participated after asking the other regular if he did not mind; he is such a supreme bhakta of Mahesvara that he did not care.
So I looked up the reason some folks believe women should not touch the lingam and... well, I'm not surprised and also a little disgusted. Lingam, in sanskrit (as far as I know), means 'sign' and originally anyone could worship the lingam of Lord Shiva as it is a representation of the formless absolute but over time it has come to mean 'phallus'... of course women shouldn't touch that if that's what you're thinking it is! But by that same token then men should not be allowed to touch the yoni!
So I looked up the reason some folks believe women should not touch the lingam and... well, I'm not surprised and also a little disgusted. Lingam, in sanskrit (as far as I know), means 'sign' and originally anyone could worship the lingam of Lord Shiva as it is a representation of the formless absolute but over time it has come to mean 'phallus'... of course women shouldn't touch that if that's what you're thinking it is! But by that same token then men should not be allowed to touch the yoni!
Lingam in sanskrit is just an inference/mark/ sign, so the obscene meaning of Lingam is WRONG, generally in my opinion, men/women both should not touch the lingam other than the pujari because it is considered something sacred and divine. Why do you want to touch it ? if it can grant whatever you want with just having the sight of it from a distance?
Northern Shaivism and Southern Shaivism differ here. In northern temple traditions anyone can offer worship to the lingam without needing a priest to act as intermediary; in Southern temple tradition the priest does it for you. It's just a difference in the temple traditions. Even so there are many stories about devotees offering direct service to the Lingam and Shiva is always pleased when it is done out of loving devotion. There is also the fact that Shivaratri is all about offering loving service to the Lingam. I find it is just not the same when I cannot offer my devotion directly.
RebornHindu
Om Namah Shivaya
I am late saying this, but Happy Maha Shivratri!
