the dance of bliss
Ananda Tandava (“The Dance of Bliss”)
We can use the image of Shiva Nataraja as a way to place ourselves in the dynamic nature of the Universe. This is the image of Shiva Nataraja as Dancer and Yogi, often seen in
southern India. While Shiva is
typically thought of as the steadfast meditator, he is enlivened by the dynamism of Shakti, which becomes apparent in this depiction.
You’ll notice that we cannot take in the whole image at once. Instead our eyes shift from one part of the image to another - a hand holding a flame, a foot upturned, a leg half bent. The nature of Universal Consciousness is that not all is revealed to us at one time. We are meant to have Consciousness revealed in small, progressive moments.
In this image, Shiva Nataraja is dancing the Ananda Tandava - “the Dance of Bliss.” In this Dance, five acts of Creation are represented: Creation, Maintenance, Dissolution, Concealment and Revelation. This dance is a cycle and a process unfolding. It manifests within us and around us. We not only engage in the dance, but we are the dance. Sally Kempton writes in Awakening Shakti: The Transformative Power of the Goddesses of Yoga, “These activities take place on a cosmic level and also physically within cells, bodies and also within the human mind.”(pg. 34)
“The Ananda Tandava tells us that the yogi wants wildness without savagery, fury without anger, and urgency without anxiety. But if you happen to experience savagery, anger, and
anxiety, then that’s Tandava too.” - Todd Norian
Shrishti (Creation or Manifestation): Bringing worlds, ideas, life forms into being within the field of Shakti.
The two sided drum in Shiva’s upper right hand signifies the pulsation of the Universe. The creative constant heartbeat of an ever expanding Universe making more of itself at the physical, intellectual, and cosmic levels of existence.
What pulsation is beating your heart into a space of creation?
What throb of longing and desire is being asked to come forward?
What’s the call that’s asking you to show up?
What do you wish to create? What is your vision for your life, practice and day to day existence?
Stithi (Sustenance/Maintenance): Consciousness maintains the forms that it has manifested. Shiva’s bent left leg implies movement and motion. This is Shakti. The leg appears to have energy and is ready for anything. We can’t resist the constant dynamic changes that are occurring all around us, so we make ourselves ready to take action when we are asked to.
Shiva’s lower right hand is in Abhaya Mudra, which means fearlessness. It’s his ability to say “not this, but this.” To take a stance for our ourselves and others.
- What helps to sustain your endeavors? - What’s holding you back?
- What do you need to maintain your own practice and well-being?
Samhara (Dissolution): All forms dissolve. Everything changes, nothing is permanent. The fire in Shiva’s left hand represents destruction. Fire has the potential to transform and initiate a change to the landscape of our consciousness.
- What do you need to dissolve to reclaim an identity?
- What needs to be thrown into the fire?
- What do you need to do in your practice to settle the body + mind?
Tirodhana (Concealment): The Universe conceals much more than it reveals. During a storm, waves rise up out of the vastness of the ocean only to settle once the storm passes. During meditation, the thoughts may be stirred up only to then dissolve back into the material of our minds.
Shiva’s left arm crosses over his heart in a gesture that represents this idea. We aren’t meant to experience life all at once. Some parts of ourselves will remain hidden or concealed until the time is right. Perhaps a latent gift or propensity for a particular skill comes through when the circumstances of your life have been altered or shifted in some way. We are asked to be patient in the process unfolding. There is always more to uncover and discover.
- What aspects of your teaching/practice/life do you need to nurture?
- What new skills or talents might be lying dormant underneath the layer of forgetfulness or lack of awareness?
Anugraha (Revelation or Grace): Grace is the underlying tendency of Consciousness to heal, to love and to show us our innate goodness. The Sanskrit root graha, means to grab. Grace is something that grabs holds of us by no effort of our own.
Shiva’s raised and upturned foot represents the idea of Consciousness as Grace. It requires us to surrender, to trust and open yourself to Grace - the moment when you experience a spontaneous feeling of wonderment and awe.
- What have you uncovered about yourself recently?
- What are you ready to share with the world?
Shiva dances in the Tillai forest. The significance of the forest is that it is dappled in light and shadow. We often go to the woods to enter into a place of deep reflection and use the quietude as a potent elixir to welcome a moment of integration. This also represents another way that concealment or shadow is integrated into the dance.