Gems from Tripura Rahasaya (The mystery beyond the trinity) -V

 "Who is your mother? Who is your friend? Who is her husband? Who are her sons? Tell me, what relationship have all these people to me?"

• My mother : Transcendence — pure Consciousness
• My friend :   Intellect (discerning faculty)
• Madam Dark(the undesirable friend of intellect): Ignorance
• Her son is the greatest of illusions : the mind
• Illusion's wife : thought or concept or imagination
• Their(illusion and thoughts) sons: audition, taste, sight, touch and smell
• Their(son's) mansion: respective senses
• Daughter-in-law of imagination: dream
• Madam Vorax : desire
• Vorax's sons: anger and greed
• Their city: body
• My most potent talisman: Realization of the Self
• Mind's friend guarding the city: the vital principle that keeps moving as life breath.
• The different cities peopled by them: hells passed in the eternal passage of the soul
• The consummation of the discerning faculty: Samadhi
  
• My admission into my mother's chamber : final emancipation

Gems from Tripura Rahasaya (The mystery beyond the trinity) -IV

Who is God?

"God is the All-Seer who generates, permeates, sustains and destroys the universe. He is Siva, He is Vishnu, He is Brahman, the Sun, the Moon, etc. He is the One whom the different sects call their own; He is not Siva, nor Vishnu, nor Brahma nor any other exclusively."

Body being insentient cannot act of its own accord; nor can intellect do so without a tool.Therefore the mind operates apart from the gross body, in dreams; being intelligent it creates environment suitable to its latent desires. This clearly indicates that the body is only a tool for a purpose and the agent is intelligence. Instruments are necessary for human agents because their capacities are limited and they are not self-contained. Whereas the Creator of the universe is perfect in Himself and creates the whole universe without any external aid. This leads to the important conclusion that God has no body. Otherwise, He would be reduced to a glorified human being, requiring innumerable accessories for work and influenced by seasons and environments, in no way different from a creature, and not the Lord. Moreover, pre-existence of accessories would quash His unique mastery and imply limits to His powers of creation. This is absurd, as being contrary to the original premises. 

"He has no body nor the other aids, yet He still creates the world"

Fools are taken in by the notion of giving a body to the transcendental Being. Still, if devotees worship and contemplate Him with a body according to their own inclinations, He shows them Grace, assuming such a body. For He is unique and fulfils the desires of His devotees.

Nevertheless, the conclusion must be reached that He is pure intelligence and His consciousness is absolute and transcendental. Such is the consciousness-intelligence in purity, Absolute Being, the One Queen, Parameswari (Transcendental Goddess) overwhelming the three states and hence called Tripura. Though She is undivided whole the universe manifests in all its variety in Her, being reflected as it were, in a self-luminous mirror. The reflection cannot be apart from the mirror and is therefore one with it. Such being the case, there cannot be difference in degrees (e.g., Siva, or Vishnu being superior to each other).

Bodies are mere conceptions in the lower order of beings and they are not to the point in the case of God. Therefore, be wise, and worship the one pure, unblemished Transcendence

Gems from Tripura Rahasaya (The mystery beyond the trinity) -III

Approach God: Among the methods of approach to God, there are 

(1) worship to overcome troubles, (2) worship to gain wealth, etc., (3) loving dedication of oneself. 

The last one is the best and surest in its results.

Destiny:

Predestiny or divine will is powerless before Him. Every one knows how He set aside predestiny and divine laws in the case of His famous devotee, Markandeya. The current notion that one cannot escape one's destiny is applicable only to weak-minded and senseless wastrels. Yogis who practice control of breath conquer fate. Even fate cannot impose its fruits on yogis.

Destiny seizes and holds only senseless people. Conforming to and following nature, destiny forms part of nature. Nature again is only the contrivance for enforcing God's will. His purpose is always sure and cannot be prevented. Its edge can, however, be blunted by devotion to Him and if it is not so blunted, the predisposing cause must therefore be considered a most powerful factor in a man's life.

Gems from Tripura Rahasaya (The mystery beyond the trinity) -II

Parasurama

Tripura Rahasaya is the spiritual discourse from Sri Dattatreya to Parashurama."Association with the sages, O Rama, is thus the root cause of all that is auspicious and good."  Know then, the satsanga (association with the wise) is alone the root cause of salvation.

Faith: "He who is bent on the highest good should never trust an incompetent person. Otherwise, he comes to grief, like a fish attracted by the tempting bait at the end of a fishing line. Therefore, faith can only be put in the worthy and not in the unworthy."

Mind: What is known as the mind is, after all, always like a restless monkey. So the ordinary man is always afflicted with troubles. Everybody knows that a restless mind is the channel of endless troubles; whereas one is happy in sleep in the absence of such restlessness. Therefore keep your mind steady when you listen to what I say. Hearing with a distracted mind is as good as not hearing, for the words serve no useful purpose, resembling the fruit-laden tree seen in a painting.

Aimless discussions are fruitless and that earnest efforts are fruitful in the world.

Maya (illusion): The Master Wizard is Mahesvara. He being the creator of the universe, all are deluded by Him. Just as there are a few who know how to see through the illusory tricks of the juggler and are not mystified by them, so also men can learn to overcome the universal Maya (illusion) if only the Lord is gracious to them. They can never escape from Maya, without His grace. Therefore he should be worshiped by those who are anxious to cross the Ocean of Maya.

He with whom God is graciously pleased is endowed with Mahavidya, the supreme knowledge by means of which his crossing of the Ocean of Maya is certain. Therefore worship the Primal Cause of the universe as the starting point; be devoted to Him; He will soon enable you to succeed in your attempts to destroy the illusion.

Gems from Tripura Rahasaya (The mystery beyond the trinity) -I

Sri Dattatreya

Tripuara Rahasaya is an ancient literary work in Sanskrit believed to have been narrated by Dattatreya to Parashurama. It is said that its verses are full of Divine nectar which will quench the thirst of any earnest seeker who repeatedly reflects on their meaning and in right earnest attempts to implement the teachings. 

In the meantime, a Brahmin, by name Sumanta, living on the banks of the Sarasvati, had a son, Alarka, who used to hear his mother be called “Jaayi Aayi” by his father. Being a child, he too addressed his mother “Ai”. He died in his childhood, and his last words on his death-bed were “Ai, Ai” only. This sound is however sacred to the Goddess. Having been uttered in all innocence and purity of mind, it conferred unexpected merit on the dying child. He was later born as Sumedha, a son to Haritha. Haritayana was his patronymic. Haritayana’s spirituality developed as he grew up and he sought Parasurama to learn the highest good from him, who in turn imparted to him the knowledge which he had gained from Dattatreya. 

Tripura means three cities or the trinity. Rahasya means secret or mystery. In a sense there is no secret to be revealed. It is only due to our lack of wisdom that we do not experience our true nature. Therefore mystery would be a more appropriate translation. Thus Tripura Rahasya means the Mystery beyond the Trinity.

The three cities or states of consciousness are waking (Jagrut), dreaming (Svapna) and Shushupti (deep sleep). The underlying consciousness in them all is called Sri Tripura.

"If once vichara takes root, the highest good has for all practical purposes, been reached in this life. As long as vichara is absent from a human being, the most desirable form of birth, so long is the tree of life barren and therefore useless. The only useful fruit of life is vichara."