June 8, 2020

Act Four of Shiva’s dance is tirodhana which means “occlusion” (blocked or closed off) or “concealment.” It is, perhaps, the hardest stage of the dance to understand. Succinctly, this represents the recognition that an inherent part of embodiment is to be closed off from our essence nature. Using our ocean-wave metaphor, as the wave rises up out of the ocean, it automatically forgets its ocean-nature as it forms into a seemingly separate entity. In the Nataraja image, concealment is symbolized by Shiva’s left arm which is crossed over his body, covering and blocking access to his heart.

As humans, we learn very early on, that embodiment comes with a vast array of dangers and potential hurts. The stark, strange world into which we arrive at birth is an inhospitable place and survival is questionable. Hurts are inevitable and from our first wounds, we learn ways to shelter our tenderness from the rigours of the world around us. We hide our vulnerabilities and block off connection to the fragile bridge linking us to our ocean-nature. D.W. Winnicott, a British psychoanalyst said, “It is a joy to be hidden and disaster not to be found.” In the “joy to be hidden” part, he is referencing this inherent tendency to secret ourselves away and the natural protection that it provides. This stage of the dance shelters us from exposure. And it can be useful. It may allow us to build our strength in way similar to the caterpillar who retreats to the safety of the cocoon before initiating the destruction necessary to become a butterfly. Just like the caterpillar, once fortified by our concealment, we break through the imposed constraints, bringing forth our essence with courage and freedom.

Of course, this alienation from our source is not completely useful. It intensifies our sense of isolation and separation and we are confronted by the loneliness that the layers of covering create. If stuck there, we risk a lifetime of disconnection and the fear and depression that may result.

Act four of Shiva’s dance also references the limitation that is an inevitable consequence of choice. As soon as we take shape as an individual entity, we limit all the other possibilities previously available. The Divine has infinite capacity to make up combinations of forms and each time She chooses one, She closes off the other options. We experience this each time we make a decision. If we take route A, we are concealing the experience of route B. This is a natural result of our selection at any given time.

Ultimately, what is being concealed is the truth of who and what we are. This truth, the Tantrik tradition says, is held in our heart and Shiva veils this verity with the arm across his body closing off connection to his centre. As a result, all we see is our limited self and the separate shapes around us. We look with the eyes of the mind which divide the world into the individual waves skating across the surface of the ocean. We ignore the eyes of the heart which are practiced at probing the depths of the ocean-ness linking all shapes. We conceal the power and immensity of the ocean in favour of the diversity at the surface. The Marianne Williamson quote, writing in response to her completion of A Course in Miracles, sums up this aspect of Act Four of the dance: “Our deepest

fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.” We screen our capacity to see our light in all its power and glory.

Concealment is a natural consequence of embodiment and sooner or later we come to understand this. We tire of the isolation of separation and tune into the whispers of wisdom that say life doesn’t have to be limited in this way. We become compelled to search out practices and views that deepen our capacity to see the truth of who we essentially are. This sets the stage for the final portion of the dance.