So why do you worship the “lingam?” I find that very disgusting and barbaric.
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity, to fulfil the
contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing. Verse 177 : Surah Al-Baqarah ]
hindus dont worship male organs. "lingum" is sanskrit for "emblem/symbol". "shiv lingum" means "the sacred mark of shiva". of course, tantrics did give a sexual twist to this.
When I asked hindus what "lingam" was etc, they stated it was the male organ of "shiva."
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity, to fulfil the
contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing. Verse 177 : Surah Al-Baqarah ]
what can one do without it? it is god's gift
to procreate. symbol of fertilty no one can do without it. islam also respects it
and want to protect it by way of circumcision?
[This message has been edited by rvikz (edited March 28, 2002).]
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Originally posted by rvikz:
*what can one do without it? it is god's gift
to procreate. *
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So that makes it okay to worship? That's disgusting!
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity, to fulfil the
contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing. Verse 177 : Surah Al-Baqarah ]
it is ok to pay respect to life giving
fertile lands rivers and all the good things
that god given us. may mulsims pay respect to one god responsible for that hindus do
much more personally. idea is same means may be different.
[quote]
Originally posted by rvikz:
*it is ok to pay respect to life giving
fertile lands rivers and all the good things
that god given us. may mulsims pay respect to one god responsible for that hindus do
much more personally. idea is same means may be different. *
[/quote]
I still don't get it. Why worship something that God created when you can worship THE ONE CREATOR?
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity, to fulfil the
contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing. Verse 177 : Surah Al-Baqarah ]
[quote]
Originally posted by Andhra:
**>>So that makes it okay to worship? That's disgusting!<<
Well, we find marrying 9 year old girls totally disgusting too, though Hindus have done it in the past!!!!
To each his taste!!
**
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You still have not answered my question.
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity, to fulfil the
contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing. Verse 177 : Surah Al-Baqarah ]
The concept of lingam is derived from the fact that it is the in the form of a lingam. The full word runs as "Jyothirlingam" means the Lingam in the form of jyothi, i.e. the flame. If you see any candle burning, the flame gets an oval-cylyndrical shape and Shiva the creator of the world could not be given any face and the people started making the shape of the "jyothi" or the light. Over the years, invaders and non-Hindus converted the same and used it for their advantage and also many Hindus are to blame for this, as they have failed effectively in countering this propaganda.
[quote]
Originally posted by Tube Runner:
** I still don't get it. Why worship something that God created when you can worship THE ONE CREATOR?
**
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yeaha , i wonder the same thing...why worship an idole made by another human being, or why worship a cow who is far inferior than me, since i am a human being...
Read what Victory has to say about this.
'Lingam' doesn't just mean the male organ.
What it represents is the power of creation.
I would say, it has it's origins in the beginnings of Religion itslf, when humans saw reproductive organs as divine because they can create life, which is miraculous if you think about it!!
You gotta remember HInduism has no beginning point or a Prophet or a fixed theology.
You really can't say 'Hindus' referring to them as a community. You can do that more appropriately with Muslims or Christians.
Though different scets among them have their differences, they do agree upon certain things, which is kinda abasent in Hinduism.
So the REligion adopts and evolves.
For example the 'Purdah' followed by some high caste Hindus has it's origin in Islamic practices probably.
Or the various Hindu organizations translating scriptures, documenting etc.,
It definitely was a reaction when MUslims and Christians came and asked 'So What IS your Religion?'
Left to themselves HIndus wouldn't have bothered writing anything down!!!
AS a HIndu I have no objection to the REligion changing so long as the change is for the better.
Ofcourse if you see what's happenning in India nowadays, you will conclude Hindus are getting Islamised and Muslims are getting Talibanized, which though sad, explains why the sub-continent sucks.
[quote]
Originally posted by Arshia84:
**Excuse me, where the heck did hinduism and male organs got to do with this thread???
Okay for next puzzle to christianity is this whole business of new and old testement......
why is there a new testment, was it written after jesus?
Also is their any proof to show that the bible hasn't changed since its revelation, is there an original copy of the bible anywhere in da world, in which ever language it was written in?**
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obviously an attempt to judge the validate christianity from a comparison with islam. if christianity were exactly the way islam was, it wouldnt be called christianity. bible is a book that evolved over years. it has no one author. and was probably written by people who spoke different languages.
Andhra what do you call sick, do you mean marring ur bro/sisters daughters sick also? Man thats SICK big time. This religion of yours is really dumb and doesnt seem to make any sense whatsoever. Thank God all the freinds that I have had were ahul al-kitab.
[quote]
Originally posted by Bluebell: Andhra what do you call sick, do you mean marring ur bro/sisters daughters sick also? Man thats SICK big time. This religion of yours is really dumb and doesnt seem to make any sense whatsoever. Thank God all the freinds that I have had were ahul al-kitab.
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and a religion whose prophet married a 9 yr old when he was 60+ is not sick by your standards? thank god i never had racist b@stards as friends.
[quote]
Originally posted by Bluebell: Andhra what do you call sick, do you mean marring ur bro/sisters daughters sick also? Man thats SICK big time. This religion of yours is really dumb and doesnt seem to make any sense whatsoever. Thank God all the freinds that I have had were ahul al-kitab.
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blue bell; you should not use such harsh words..... haven't you heard that
"treat others as you want to be treated".
[This message has been edited by secret_obsession (edited March 28, 2002).]
[quote]
Originally posted by queer:
** and a religion whose prophet married a 9 yr old when he was 60+ is not sick by your standards? thank god i never had racist b@stards as friends.**
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in our culture age difference does not matter, prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)' s first wife was 15 year older than him and Ayesha was a lot younger than him,which is just fine
nothing wrong in it...according to our culture.
and u need to broaden your vision, so than you will stop judging by just your standards.
Friends,
As you are keen to know more about the lingam, I would obviously clarify it for all of you.
The practise of worshipping a supernatural is age old and since mankind evolved. India was the home for a lot of religious thinking. The Supreme Diety Shakti, which is considered to be the awesome power, doesnt have any shape and any face or any sex is the creator, destroyer and guardian of this universe.
Many great people explained the divine experience of God and the most prominent was the Advaita proposed by "Sankara Bhagavatpada". Commentaries on Divine Supreme were also given by many enlightened scholars who were blessed to have the vision of God. One of the concept that came out by every person, who interacted with God was the Face of God. No one was able to tell the face of God or the shape he had. The most prominent way it was described was by means of Jyothi and Atma.
Jyothi is the flame tip or the light, where as aatma is the soul. So, the supreme diety called as the SHIVA was ascribed the Shape of Jyothi or Aatma.
Hence if you go to the holy places of "Chidambaram", "Srikalahasthi", "Ujjain",Rameswaram","Kedareshwaram".... you will find that they are called as the "Jyothirlingam". They are in no way the human reproductive organ.
In Gokarnam, on the west coast of India, you will find the "Aatma Lingam", this is slightly different in shape, as it represents the Aatma or the soul.
There are numerous places of Shiva worship like Mahanandi, Yaganti, Srikalahasti, Brihadreeswara and in kanchi, etc where you will find the Lingam being worshipped, which is infact the representation of the Divine. The stone is not divine, but one of the basis of Hinduism is that Creator is omnipresent. So, people over the generations, believe in the concept of praying for the idols, and they are expressing their devotion to the God that is present in that form and not to the material stone.
If you still need more clarifications, please ask me. I will be able to throw more light on it.