Last week I visited some of the most important Hindu pilgrimage sites—the temple of Lord Shiva in Kedarnath and the temple of Lord Vishnu in Badrinath. Both are hard-to-access places in the Indian Himalayas.

Through the symbolism of these two ultimate deities, one understands both critical concepts of our existence — emptiness, and oneness.

Emptiness is the ultimate openness to possibilities, the maybe, the complete agnosticism to everything, represented by Lord Shiva.

While one can understand oneness as the absolute sureness that everything in existence binds together by Love. Lord Vishnu and his incarnations, including Lord Ram, Krishna, and most recently, Lord Buddha, represent this principle.

Nisargadatta Maharaj, the author of the book “I am That” summarised it beautifully in a statement:

“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,
Love is knowing I am everything,
and between the two my life moves.”