I am starting a series of poetry that emulates my version of the Lingayats in southern India. They were, back in the day, a group that was each a high priest unto himself. The are devotees of Shiva, bhakti yogis, and each one of them has a unique form that they worship him in. Lingayats were known for wearing a shiva lingam around their neck, but also having a symbol sacred to themselves which symbolized Shiva to them. In their devotional poetry they each had their own name for Shiva, referring to him as they preferred to think of him. Much moved and compelled by their esoteric, loving, zen, and profound poetry I adopted their style as a form of personal expression. These people rejected external structures of authority especially religious ones letting nobody come between themselves and their god. They rejected the judgments of others, one female Lingayat even refused to where clothes and covered herself with her uncut hair. I see in the revolutionary poetry of Shri Aurobindo a lingayat soul, and Dante with his first experience of god upon seeing the form of Beatrice for the first time it was as if she was his Shiva lingam.
Thought Uncommon 