How do we understand the union of Shiva and Shakti from a non-dual (Advaita) perspective?

These are symbolic concepts. Shakti represents everything in motion—everything that can be experienced or thought of. She represents the totality of all this.

If Shakti is everything in motion, then a natural question arises: why is everything moving in the first place?

Why Is There So Much Movement?

Let’s begin by looking at ourselves. Why does the mind move so much? Why doesn’t an individual find rest anywhere? Why are we always thinking? Why do we always want to reach somewhere? What is this quest for success and achievement? What is the desire that keeps pushing us?

We move—it’s natural—because we hope to reach a point where there’s no need to move anymore. Nobody wants to keep walking just for the sake of walking. Nobody starts a journey without wanting to reach somewhere.

So if we are always in motion—both in body and mind—it tells us something deep about who we are. We are beings full of desire. That’s why we’re always moving. Otherwise, why would there be such deep unrest inside us?

You’ll never find a person—or even a non-human creature—who is completely still, either physically or mentally. Consciousness keeps moving. And it moves in search of something final—a destination where there is no more movement, no more experiences.

From Experience to Timelessness

The clock keeps ticking, only so that one day, we can reach a state of timelessness.

We love experiences. We want all kinds of them. But deep inside, we are trying to reach a point where there’s no need for more experiences—where we go beyond them.

We keep looking at faces, meeting people, entering relationships—because we want to reach a place where we don’t need to look at any more faces or remember any more names.

That final place is symbolically represented by Shiv.

Shakti is movement. Shiv is the destination. Those who love the right kind of motion worship Shakti. Those who are in love with the destination worship Shiv. But the truth is—they are not separate. They are one.

The Meaning of Space, Time, and Shiv

Shakti includes all our experiences. Everything in space and time is part of Shakti. But space and time don’t exist on their own. They exist only to dissolve one day.

If space and time had any real meaning by themselves, someone would have found lasting peace in them. But no one has. No one has found true contentment in this world.

Ask yourself—is there anything in the entire universe that can completely satisfy you?

No.

That means your consciousness is searching for something beyond all this—something transcendental.

That transcendental truth is not something you can think about. It cannot be imagined, described, or pictured. It is formless, without qualities—nirgun, nirakar. And that is what we call Shiv.

Giving a form to Shiv is not accurate—but as humans, we always try to put things into forms and names. Even for the formless, we give shapes. Even to the nameless, we assign names.

Still, you must understand—Shiv is just a name for that final truth. That truth is formless, nameless, timeless, and changeless.

Why do we call Shiv the truth?

Because anything that keeps changing, anything that does not stay the same, cannot be true. There is nothing in this world that stays the same. By the time we perceive something, it has already changed.

That’s why the world is called false—it is not what it appears to be.

Even facts are not fully factual. There is a gap between what is happening and how we experience it. That delay is enough for things to change.

Conclusion

Shiva and Shakti are not just gods—they represent our inner journey. Shakti is the energy that moves us, while Shiva is the stillness we all seek. We keep chasing goals and experiences because deep down, we want peace and rest. But no experience in the world can fully satisfy us. Real truth is beyond thoughts, beyond forms—it is still, silent, and formless. When we understand this, our search turns inward, and true peace begins.