Kundalini and the Siva Lingam

The muladhara chakra at the base of the spine is the place of the Siva Lingam, specifically of the Siva Lingam called "Svyhambhu." "Svyhambhu" means self-subsistent, "that which arises without a cause." This refers to a physical reality. But how can it? The lingam is the phallus, the penis erect with desire. It’s a symbol of the male principal, a male principal that is present in women as much as in men. There seems to be a contradiction. How can the phallus be self-subsistent? How can the erect penis arise "without a cause," when the erect penis is the most conditioned of objects, evoked, aroused, brought into being, by touch, visual impression, smell, sound, taste, and, above all, by the presence of another person? And yet the traditional wisdom insists that it’s this very self-subsistent phallic presence at the base of the spine which awakens Kundalini.

In our squeamish, politically correct age, there’s a tendency to sweep this issue under the carpet by saying that the Lingam isn’t phallic, and that it can just as readily be symbolized by a hill or an egg standing on its bottom, or by any upright thing. But this is surely a cop-out, just as it’s a cop-out to say that the yoni, or female genital presence at the base of the spine, can just as readily be symbolized by a bowl or a valley or by any indented thing. Sometime in the future, researchers will prove the physical existence of both the Siva Lingam and the Sakti Yoni at the base of the spine, not as previously undetected bits of nerve tissue, but as quantum states, conscious particle forces, male and female, confined to the midpoint of the body. This can already be intuited in meditation, and seen at certain moments during sexual intercourse, when all the things that cause arousal— touch, sight, smell, taste, even the awareness of the other person — drop away as they are consumed by Kundalini, and all that remains is ‘that which is self-subsistent. When this happens during sex, the precarious clinging-to-self that causes climax is also consumed.

The Lingam is also found, in a different form, in the heart chakra, and in the forehead chakra. In the heart chakra it’s called the Bana Lingam. The Bana Lingam is the self-subsistent state at the moment when what drops away and is consumed by Kundalini is not just the touch, sight, smell, taste and awareness of the outer world (and other people), but the touch, sight, smell, taste and awareness of the inner world and of one’s own body (and of one’s self.) This comes with a sense of expansion and light.
 

Crossing Over

The Lingam in the forehead chakra is called the Itara Lingam. "Itara" means "to cross over" or "to go beyond." The Itara Lingam is the self-subsistent state at the moment when it goes outside the body and mind into the cosmos.

Henry Miller said “You can’t argue with a stiff prick,” and got torn to pieces by feminists. If his “you” refers to a man overpowering a woman, then he deserved to be torn to pieces. If, however, his “you” refers to a man or a woman, confronted with this spontaneous arousal at the root of their being, then perhaps he was onto something.