The problem is that Wikipedia has a Western bias, in that references from Western scholars are seen as more valid than others. This means that whereas all Hindus might know that something is incorrect, if a Western scholar has said it then the article will reflect the Western scholar rather than common belief. A lot of the referenced articles are from the anti-Hindu Wendy Doniger. She uses the “technique” of not writing about what the scriptures say but “psychoanalysing” them and writing her own sexual interpretations (or fantasies). A good article exposing her dishonesty is “Oh, But You Do Get It Wrong!”, in Outlook India. It is interesting to note that in 1977 a magazine in the UK was convicted of blasphemy for publishing a poem by Pofessor James Kirkup which gave a sexual interpretation of the Christian New Testament, though this law was repealed in 2008. She has not subjected the bible or the Qur’an to the same “psychoanalytical” study. I think that the best you could say about Doniger is that she was cursed by being born with a very strong animal emotional mind and a powerful intellect, but little spiritual insight. At worst this could be seen as a deliberate attack to discredit Hinduism.

Anyway, though it would be better to show that the other explanation is really minor, I don’t think it will be possible to do that unless a well-renowned scholar publishes something to that effect. If you know any references then I will try to remove the section or add a refutation.

I would be very interested if you write an article on the left hand path, as this is seen as something to be avoided by most Hindus.

From my scholarly studies my understanding is that Tantra see itself as the path for the these times, for the Kali Yuga. It is a path that sees enjoyment of existence and embodiment as a good thing, that by turning taboos on their heads we realize how those taboos are just as much of an illusion as the harsher sects claim our physical enjoyments are. (Hm, awkward sentence.) Alcohol, sex, meat, etc are usually only consumed in ritual settings. There are also right-hand Tantrics, not all of Tantra is left-handed. Perhaps I ought to write a post on the left-hand path, since I seem to be on it.

Thank you for your definite answer!
In the meantime, I found a version (English translation) of the Shiva Puran, and I’d like to refer to one of its chapter that’s related to the topic of this post. That chapter also supports what Chris and You have written.

Here is the link:
http://www.godandguru.com/shiv-puran/chapter-2.html

Erzsebet

2.) Yes,Lord Shiva’s image or murti can be worshiped(if u want to worship that way)
One can perform Dhyana and imagine and concentrate on Lord in mind

3.)No connection. Tantrics in their ignorance worship Him thinking they will get boons.
But also remember that Lord sees the bhakthi of an individual to shower His blessings.
Karma should be Good to get blessings

4.)Yes Lord Vishu=Lord Shiva=ParaBrahmana=we ourselves!

Lord’s energy is within us too.It is equal in quality but not in quantity.
Like a drop of water is same as Ocean, but ocean is vast while drop is minuscule!
Meditation,Yoga,Bhakthi are ways to improve and channelize our energy towards Lord.

I have some questions, related to this topic, to which I would like to get clear answers if possible.

1) Is the Shivalingam in fact not a phallus, only not well-read people in the West associate / identify the Shivalingam with that?

2) Is there some other form of Shiva different from that of Shivalingam, in which He can be worshipped?

3) What is (if there is) the connection between the practice of Shiva-faith and that of Tantraism?

4) Is Shiva and Vishu the different facets of the One God?
(As the RigVeda says, ‘God is One, only the sages call him by different names’)

I would be happy to get right answers to these questions.

Thanks in advance.
Erzsebet

I appreciate your curiosity in Hinduism and your efforts in understanding it. It’s a shameful truth that even Hindus themselves won’t have in-depth knowledge about their religion and can’t say anything authoritatively on any of the practices. Hinduism is too mythical and a bottomless abyss, the result of it is a religion that is too obscure.
There isn’t a single authoritative source about the religion and there are multiple interpretations of the holy texts.
But the one who digs deep as yourself will sure emerge with valuables.

There are several texts in hinduism written by great sages that even experts find difficult to interpret to a language that layman can understand, “Thirumanthiram” by sage Thirumoolar is one such important text on shaivism. This work is considered as a basic text on shaiva aghama(rules
by which the statues and temples are built). It contains descriptions on yanthras(something like shatkona you described), but couldn’t be properly interpreted as the text is in poetry form.

Coming to Linga, it’s very easy to conclude that it’s a phallus image but it’s a grave mistake. Some say the linga represents the “chitta” or soul and others say linga represents the unification of soul with God.

As a hindu, the following is the source of hindu thoughts which I consider the most authentic – http://www.sssbpt.info/english/sss.htm . Due to the absence of such authoritative interpretations, even the most interested/well-read are susceptible to misinterpret the teachings of hinduism. I hope you’ll find them useful.

All the best.