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Originally Posted by Shivani Devi
let me try something here.... Last ditch attempt before I say "okay, whatever you say, I will believe anything you say to make you feel less insecure".
From where do we get the story of the 12 Jyotirlingams?
Do we get it from the Vedas? From Sruti?
Of course not!
The story of the 12 Jyotirlingams comes primarily from the Linga and Skanda Puranas.
The Puranas are not Sruti, they are Smriti.
You have discounted the Puranas as not being true or accurate because only the Vedas is the true source of all knowledge.
You said that the Puranas are wrong because they describe the being you call *Shankar" as being Lord Shiva himself.
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Even in the Puranas too, you can see the Shivalingam being a cosmic pillar of light, especially Shivapuranas, supporting the vedic interpretation as put by Vivekananda.
Later interpolations came up in the Puranas distorting this given fact.
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Originally Posted by Shivani Devi
Do you even know the stories behind all the 12 Jyotir Lingams as I do?
Who is to say that any mortal human can get to pick and choose between all the Puranic narratives going "this one is true, but that one is a load of bull?
From where is that authority obtained?
Aum Namah Shivaya
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The Jyotirlinga stories in the Puranas are metaphorical stories created to impart wisdom to the masses who lacked the intellectual depth required to realise the deep philosophy within. That is all.
Jyoti means light and Linga means mark, thereby the term means mark of light.
The Shivalingam is a personalised aspect of Brahman,namely Saguna Brahman.
As per Hinduism, Brahman is of the nature of pure consciousness.
Prajñānam brahma - Brahman is pure consciousness (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda)
And enlightened sages like Ramakrishna and Ramana had pointed out the nature of Brahman in these sayings....
'It has been revealed to me that there exists an Ocean of Consciousness without limit. From It come all things of the relative plane, and in It they merge again. These waves arising from the Great Ocean merge again in the Great Ocean. I have clearly perceived all these things.' - Ramakrishna
“The Self (pure consciousness) is self-luminous without darkness and light, and is the reality which is self-manifest." - Ramana Maharshi
There the sun does not shine, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor does the lightning flash, what to speak of fire! Because of Thy Light all is illumined. With His shining everything shines. - Mundaka Upanishad
Brahman is the Light of lights.
He is Self-luminous.
He is Supreme Light.
He is ultimate light.
He is an embodiment of Light.
By His Light all else shines. ~ Brahmarahasya Upanishad
The self-luminous nature of God is also described in other religious scriptures as well, as mentioned in this thread of mine...
http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...d.php?t=127748