An intriguing aspect of Hindu and Buddhist art is the existence of both one God and thousands of gods. Even the cosmic gods like Shiva have numerous manifestations, or like Vishnu, numerous avataras. There is an often confusing number of different deities, yet all may be thought of simply as aspects of a single divine reality. The Cambodian figure of the Bodhisattva Lokeshvara (Fig. 20) has his body covered with hundreds of images of seated and meditating Buddhas. The Bodhisattva is literally radiating the Buddha in all directions, an indication of the Bodhisattva's and Buddha's cosmic presence. The single Bodhisattva contains an infinite number of Buddhas.

Likewise, the Hindu god Shiva, can be seen as a simple undifferentiated form, the linga, which is often nothing but a rounded stone. Yet inherent in the form is the infinite number of manifestations Shiva can take, suggesting the lingua's nature as a procreative organ. The ninth-century linga from Eastern India (Fig. 21) clearly symbolizes the phallus. Yet from this formless object, Shiva can manifest himself in his human form, usually, as seen here, with four faces. Shiva is represented by four of his faces, each slightly different from the other. The four faces look in the cardinal directions, symbolizing, just like the radiating Buddha images on the Cambodian Bodhisattva (Fig. 20), the deity's presence throughout all of space. In addition, one face represents Shiva's female nature and thus creative fertility, and another represents Shiva's destructive power. Again: male and female, creation and destruction, opposites whose boundaries are transformed in the imagery of the Hindu god.