Purusha is the seer, the witness, the real
you or me. Prakriti is the seen, the experienced, the form, even down to the
most subtle of mental events. Any ideas or feelings, even those about Purusha,
are composed of the impermanent, interconnecting braids of a mutable, timeless
energy, or Prakriti. Since Prakriti is the content of all experience, Purusha
cannot be “experienced” as such, but is realized by the full releasing of
Prakriti.
Technically we cannot even say there is a relationship between Purusha and Prakriti, since Purusha is completely unthinkable. Any relationships are actually between various complementary and opposite functions within the unified field of Prakriti. Philosophically the relationship between these two metaphysical absolutes comes to a halt in a knot of self reference paradox. This is not actually a problem. It happens eventually in all systems and is a beautiful and essential disappearance of the mentally constructed thinker. Purusha and Prakriti are brilliant metaphors, which aid in the actual yoga practice and the experience of observing all phenomena as impermanent construction.For example, we can say that the process of realization in yoga can be likened to the simultaneous unfolding of millions of flowers (Prakriti) to face the light and glory of the rising sun (Purusha). The Kamakalavilasa Tantra also says, “The awakened flower energy, as Mulaprakrti or primordial Sakti is supreme; being in the nature un-originated and undisturbed joy, eternal, utterly incomparable, the seed of all, the spotless mirror in which is revealed the radiant form of Siva. Ardhanareeshvara is a combination of three words “Ardha,” “Nari,” and “Ishwara” means “half,” “woman,” and “lord,” respectively, which when combined means the lord whose half is a woman. It is believed that the God is Lord Shiva and the woman part is his consort Goddess Parvati or Shakti. The Ardhanareeshvara represents a constructive and generative power. Ardhanareeshvara symbolizes male and female principles cannot be separated. It conveys the unity of opposites in the universe. The male half stands for Purusha and female half is Prakriti. Ardhanareeshvara harmonizes the two conflicting ways of life: The spiritual way of the ascetic as represented by Shiva, and the materialistic way of the householder symbolized by Parvati. It conveys that Shiva and Shakti are one and the same. A human being is not a pure unisexual organism. Each human organism bears the potentiality of both male and female sex. Neurohormonal mechanisms have been found to be greatly influencing the sexual behavior. The modern world has come to understand the concept of “Ardhanareeshwara” as it aspires to resolve the paradox of opposites into a unity, not by negation, but through positive experiences of life. The matching of opposites produces the true rhythm of life.
