The Trinity in Tantra

Kavitha Chinnaiyan posted about Tripura on Facebook. She is an MD and teacher in a non-dual lineage of tantra.

“The primordial principle of Śrī Vidyā is Tripura – the three-fold, which refers to the supremacy of the triad of pramātra (subject), prameya (object) and the relationship between the two (pramāṇa). The triad… depicts the origin of name and form as the universe. This primordial triad that is the first descent of the Supreme then organizes as the Śrī Cakra [chakra], becoming all this and all that.”

“In the experience of this triad, the worshiper (you) and the worshiped (Devī) are united by the Guru that brings the seeming two into one.”

I’ve written on this extensively, as it’s also the foundation of the Vedic worldview. Regular readers will have seen illustrations of this three-fold in one.

Here we have a) subject/observer, b) object/observed, and c) relationship/process.

The first stage of enlightenment is the realization that we are the subject or observer aspect, the Self (Atman). Then we recognize the same Self underlies all the objects of the world. Subject and object are united in the Unity stage. Then, in Refined Unity, the relationship also merges, setting the stage for the Brahman shift.

It’s also worth noting that the science of mantra comes from the Tantra lineage. My teacher’s teacher, a Shankaracharya (holding the N seat in the Shankara lineage and a Dandi swami), also practiced Sri Chakra.

Davidya