Nature has its way of providing balance in Creation. For every aspect, there exists one that is equal and opposite. Darkness is nothing but the absence of light. Similarly, silence is the absence of sound. It is only duality in nature, the coexistence of the positive and the negative, that lends meaning to the whole of existence. If at any given time, there exists the entire gamut of the positive and the negative, the two will balance each other out completely, the net result being shunya or zero. There would be everything, yet nothing. The only thing that could fit such a description is the formless, the Nirakaar or Para Brahmn. This is the swaroop or essence of Shiva. In the words of Shankaracharya: "N a punyam na paapam na saukhyam na dukham, chidananda rupa Shivoham Shivoham" ^ Neither good nor bad, there is no joy or sorrow, only the Universal Presence. What then do we make of Nataraja, the dancing male form, or the half-man half-woman Ardhanareeswara, or the sadhu...