Friday, October 19, 2007

The mystical triad


This morning, I was listening to a superb discourse by my Master where He speaks about triputi bheda. I would like to share it with you all. The concept is mindblowing. This is in a way related to one of the previous posts, which throws light on our basic way of operation, by first separating ourselves from the scene.

The triputi bheda refers to the separation of the triad - the see-er, the scene and the act of seeing. Let us see what this means. Because of our solid identity with this body-mind, we become a distinct see-er. We have cut ourselves out from the rest of the universe. Now, whatever else we perceive becomes the scene. This does not necessarily refer to seeing through our eyes, but could be applied to any other sense as well.

Now, the process of seeing happens because of a constant jumping that is happening from the see-er to the scene. The constant bridge that fills the see-er and the scene is the act of seeing. In other words, it is the distinction between the see-er and the scene that causes the act of seeing. When this separation stops, the act stops. For example, can we see our own eyes (without a mirror)?

Now, all spiritual practices are aimed at reducing the gap between the see-er and the scene. You may ask how. Let us take the path of knowledge (gnana). Here through sharp reasoning and analysis, you realize there is no scene at all, just the pure witnessing consciousness. The whole scene is only an illusion of the mind. Now when the scene is taken away, the bridge of seeing falls. The triputi unite and the Truth happens. All relativeness drops and absoluteness remains.

What about the path of devotion? Swamiji explains beautifully that in this case, the see-er dissolves in awe of the scene. How Mirabai melted at the glory of Krishna or how Ramakrishna melted at the mention of Kaali, completely killing the see-er. Once again, the bridge falls and the same uniting happens. I am sure many of us have experienced brief glimpses of this state with our close encounters with nature. When we have completely lost ourselves in its beauty - be it a breathtaking sunset, or in front of a vast ocean, or standing in front of mighty mountains.

So, whether we are becoming one with the see-er or the scene it doesn't matter. We just have to immerse ourselves completely in either or them, breaking the bridge and becoming one with the Truth, with Nithyananda!

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