Shiva Nataraja and Postmodern Psychoanalysis: The Eternal Dance of I and You

Vladimir Nemet 

“Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence — and are nothing in themselves.”

Nāgārjuna (2nd–3rd century CE)

Introduction: Dance Through Time and Consciousness

The cosmic dance of Shiva, known as Shiva Nataraja, reflects the eternal rhythm of creation, preservation, and destruction. Every movement and gesture of Shiva’s body symbolizes the dynamics of the psyche – a cycle in which the universe emerges, endures, and vanishes, while the psyche simultaneously creates and destroys itself.

This cycle, intuitively recognized in Hinduism millennia ago (Rigveda; Upanishads), resonates surprisingly with modern psychological insights: the psyche continuously transforms through its relation to the world. The world appears in one moment, only to be destroyed in the next. Ancient Indians encapsulated this dynamic in the word and symbol Om (Vedas, 1500–500 BCE).

The sound and symbol Om, pronounced A–U–M, reflects the same structure: A creates, U sustains, M destroys. Beyond this, the symbol bindu denotes the transcendent space of consciousness – the meeting place of I and the World, from which a third emerges: awareness and the entire universe. Bindu is not merely a point; it is a space of potential, a living and elusive dimension from which Otherness arises. Here, the self or ego draws its visibility, yet simultaneously confronts the inevitable destruction of all that is other in order to persist.

Bindu can also be interpreted as the so-called transitional space of British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott (1971), where subject and object meet in a space of possibility, or as the Real of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1973), where the unsymbolized, ungraspable, and intimate emerges. In this space, the psyche continuously creates and destroys the world, thereby endlessly shaping itself.

Thus, Om is not merely a sound or sign; it is rhythm, body, breath, movement – the phenomenological experience of the psyche’s cycle. This article seeks to connect the ancient symbol Om and the cosmic dance of Shiva Nataraja with postmodern psychoanalysis and the theory of parallel identities, which regards consciousness as a space of the eternal dance of I and You.

Shiva Nataraja: The Dance of Consciousness and the World

Shiva Nataraja is not merely a mythological figure; he is the body, rhythm, and breath of the psyche. The cosmic dance of Shiva reveals a cycle in which consciousness and the world exist in inseparable interdependence – one arises through the other, and one continuously disintegrates so the other may live. Every movement of Shiva carries psychological truth: consciousness constantly transforms through creation and destruction, through encounters with the self and the other, through flows of emergence and disappearance.

The space of the dance is not a mere location; it is a living rhythm. Consciousness is mirrored in the world, and the world reflects back in consciousness. The symbol bindu signifies precisely this space of possibility, where the inner and outer come into contact, where what does not yet exist is shaped, and what exists is continuously transformed. Here, parallel insights of Winnicott (1971) and Lacan (1973) are recognized: transitional space, the Real, dimensions in which meaning is born and disappears, a space in which consciousness can be aware of its connectedness yet also its elusiveness.

Heidegger’s notion of being-in-the-world (Dasein) further deepens this picture (Heidegger, 1927/1962). Consciousness is not an isolated entity; it has always already been anchored in the world. Through the world it breathes, moves, shapes it, and simultaneously shapes itself. The world is not a stage but a partner in the dance – continuous creation, preservation, and destruction, a constant exchange that generates the experience of existence.

The symbols Om, bindu, and Shiva Nataraja together form the uninterrupted cycle of the psyche: the pulse of creation, the rhythm of preservation, the moment of destruction. This cycle is not abstract; it is felt in the inner body of consciousness, in the rhythm of thoughts, in the tremors of emotion, in the flow of perception. World and psyche dance together, continually giving birth and losing, in a dance that is simultaneously phenomenological, interior, and cosmic – a dance that precedes everything we call I and You.

Theory of Parallel Identities: The Dance of I and You

The theory of parallel identities describes the dynamics of consciousness through the continuous and eternal exchange of two perspectives: I and You. No perspective can exist independently, separated from the other. The experience of my I arises through the creation of your You, while the existence of my I simultaneously requires the destruction of your You. This eternal cycle is not destructive; it is the foundation of the human psyche, the pulse of its functioning and transformation.

Consciousness continuously keeps this exchange alive. Here, Kurt Gödel’s incompleteness theorem (1931) also applies: no system can fully define itself; an external observer is necessary – precisely You, who enables I to become visible and manifest in its fullness.

Empathic mirroring is not passive; it is a dance through time and space. This dance generates the phenomenon of space and time, shaping a dimension in which I encounters both itself and the Other. The body of the psyche, inner perception, and reflection intertwine in a rhythm that gives rise to a third dimension – the space of consciousness. Shiva Nataraja becomes the symbol of this dynamic: creation and destruction of You are not destructive acts but necessary conditions for the life of the psyche. Consciousness emerges from the encounter of I and You, from empathic mirroring, from the so-called “bindu space,” where the cycle continuously maintains its rhythm.

Every interaction with the Other reflects this inner dance. The psyche balances between creating You so that I may exist and destroying You so that I may dominate. In this ongoing rhythm, the experience of consciousness is born. The dance is eternal and universal, just as Shiva Nataraja dances without ceasing, generating the universe through each movement – a dance in which I and You continuously intertwine, in a rhythm that is both cosmic and intimate.

Metaphysics and Critique of Hinduism

Although the Hindu symbol Om and the dance of Shiva Nataraja intuitively reflect the cycle of creation and destruction, Hinduism nevertheless remains – metaphysical. Here, metaphysics can be understood as the illusion that an entity can exist on its own, independent of a perceiver, as if existing outside the intersubjective field.

In Hindu mythology, the phenomenon of You is often not experienced as a subject but as an object – a passive element in relation to the dominant I. As in many Eastern traditions, the purpose of spirituality and meditation often reduces to the recognition of the non-self (anatta), that is, the victory over one’s own ego. What these teachings lack, however, is the insight that the phenomenon of non-self is in fact – You.

The reason for this metaphysical tendency in Eastern philosophy – from Hinduism and Buddhism to Zen – is found in the lack of empathy and mirroring in the parent-child relationship. The tradition of these cultures often treats upbringing not as understanding and empathy, but as a form of mild or severe conditioning. The consequence is more or less psychological trauma: the experience of You is often avoided, and the subjectivity of the other is reduced to an object. Therefore, symbols such as Om and Shiva Nataraja operate primarily intuitively, as metaphors, while their psychological power remains largely symbolic.

However, through the theory of parallel identities and a phenomenological perspective, this process becomes visible and tangible. Shiva, Om, and bindu cease to be mere metaphysical symbols; they become active tools for understanding the inner rhythm of the psyche, its dance of I and You, through creation and destruction, through the continuous dynamics of consciousness and the world.

Conclusion

The eternal dance of I and You shapes the very structure of the psyche. Your You creates a space in which I can exist. My I simultaneously erases You, opening room for a new cycle. And so the dance continues, endlessly, in the rhythm of creation and destruction.

Empathic mirroring and mutual recognition of I and You give birth to a third – consciousness, the space where experience and reality meet. Bindu, Om, Shiva Nataraja – all pulse with this rhythm. Bindu is the transitional space, the space where the psyche transforms itself, reflecting Winnicott’s transitional space and Lacan’s Real. Here, in the encounter of I and You, consciousness is born – a space where creation, preservation, and destruction continuously unfold.

The psyche, like the universe symbolized by Om, continuously balances. It creates and destroys, intertwines I and You, dances through relation, through encounter, through ongoing rhythm. And in this dance – this eternal, cosmic, inner, and phenomenological dance – the world is born, disappears, and is reborn. Shiva Nataraja dances and the psyche dances; the dance never stops.

References

• Donald W. Winnicott (1971). Playing and Reality. London: Routledge.
• Jacques Lacan (1973). Écrits: A Selection. New York: Norton.
• Kurt Gödel (1931). Über formal unentscheidbare Sätze der Principia Mathematica und verwandter Systeme I. Monatshefte für Mathematik und Physik, 38, 173–198.
• Martin Heidegger (1927/1962). Being and Time. New York: Harper & Row.
• Nāgārjuna. (n.d.). Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (B. Garfield, Trans.). In The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way (MMK 24:18–19). Oxford University Press. (Original work ca. 2nd–3rd century CE)
• Rigveda, 1500–1200 BCE.
• Upanishads, 800–200 BCE.
• Vladimir Nemet (2025). New Psychoanalysis and Parallel Identities. https://www.academia.edu/129607071/NEW_PSYCHOANALYSIS_AND_PARALLEL_IDENTITIES