8 Dec 2011 - QA 3

What is the meaning of ‘Shiva linga’?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: ‘Linga’ means symbol or identification.
You identify whether a child is male or female by one symbol. The reproductive organ is also called ‘linga’ because by that you identify the gender of the child when it is born.
So ‘Linga’ is a symbol that is the representation of the cosmos and the creator of the cosmos as one.
It is the ‘Shiva’ and the ‘Shakti’, the two principles in the creation. The silent unmanifest and the dynamic manifestation together are represented as ‘Shiva linga’.
Shiva linga is not just ‘Shiva’ but the completion; the total Parabrahma.