TRIPURA SUNDARI, the Great Cosmic Power of Beauty
“That is perfect. This is truly perfect. Perfection generates perfection. Beauty attracts beauty. Take the perfection out of perfection and see that what remains is perfect.” (Isha Upanishad)
If there is a spiritual path in which the sense of the sacred and adoration of the divine aspects wanted to give concrete forms to the purpose they strive for, then this is Oriental spirituality. The divine aspect that helps the aspirant to achieve the transmutation from the coarse material forms to subtle forms of manifestation is called Tripura Sundari, “The beauty of the three worlds”. By constant worship of Tripura Sundari, human beings discovers a diverse form of expression of their spiritual mission of deliverance from the realm of darkness, intuiting new ways out of the seemingly inexplicable clutter of the illusionary maze that leads the man through its corridors until, with the help of Tripura Sundari, he can reach the “center”, i.e. the ultimate knowledge of the Truth that will reveal the divine spark or the immortal spirit Atman.
The worship of Tripura Sundari is achieved fully in a state of complete dedication, transfiguration, glimpsing the ineffable ecstatic and deeply ecstatic presence of the Divine:
“Oh, Lord God
May I dedicate my life to You
May my love turn with veneration only to You
May my heart full of love flow only to You
May my hands work ceaselessly for You
May my heart be united with You
May my body belong only to You
May all my being become the instrument of Your will.”
The material we present to you below is divided into several chapters, each revealing key information about this great divine manifestation, as the Power of the Embodied Perfection, of the Divine Beauty which is the Great Cosmic Power Tripura Sundari.
1. The meaning of the name of Tripura Sundari
Tripura can be translated as “that which comprises the three cities”, “towns” or “cities” being a metaphor, because in reality they refer to the “three worlds” or gigantic spheres of God’s creation which are: physical, subtle (astral) and causal world
2. Beauty, expression of the divine perfection
Beyond any theory and attempts to define it, the sages of all times have always sought to achieve inner beauty, the ideal perfection carried to holiness, which enables the man to feel beauty intensely and deeply, in order to live beautifully.
3. Fundamental Facets of the Great Cosmic Power Tripura Sundari
Thus, the Great Goddess appears to us as the effulgent beauty of the whole Creation, but this perception is achieved in terms of the indestructible divine unity (in the sense that the whole macrocosm is Brahman or God the Father) and that there is nothing outside the Absolute Consciousness of God.
4. Bala, the young girl of 16
Here is how Bala Tripura Sundari can be perceived through meditation by an aspirant to perfection: a first sensation appears right at the base of the spine as a fine ethereal vibration, like a lotus flower stalk that ascends to the top of the head where it opens its great flower emanating a vivid, intense, brilliant white light out of which the extraordinary form of the Goddess of Beauty appears.
5. The traditional representation of the Great Cosmic Power Tripura Sundari
The bright red color in which the Great Cosmic Power Tripura Sundari is represented, signifies her state of ecstatic happiness, her illuminating and complete knowledge, as well as her boundless compassion for all the beings of the Creation. The symbolic significance attributed to the objects which she keeps in her hands is: the bowl for the candy sugar represents the mind and the arrows braided from flowers symbolize the four senses, which by the grace of the goddess become as many “gates” for the manifestation of an overwhelming happiness.
6. They have worshipped her since ancient times
Although described in Dhyana-Shlokas-s as an extraordinarily graceful Great Cosmic Power, it is only rarely represented in iconography. There are very few statues dedicated to her, compared to other representations of the other Great Cosmic Powers; the few existent statues can be worshiped in the shivaic temples of South India. The worship of Tripura Sundari has known some flowering in Kashmir, where they made a few symbolic images of Hers but unfortunately they were not fully preserved.
7. Sri Yantra, the subtle representation of Tripura Sundari
Sri Yantra represents analogically a whole universe in expansion or resorption. It has to be actively contemplated, perceiving the subtle analog sense, that is either representing the cosmic movement of Tripura Sundari which, from its center extends around creating the universe, or we worship Her starting from the exterior to finally get to its center where the ultimate spiritual essence of Tripura Sundari lies.
8. Yantra of The Great Cosmic Power Tripura Sundari
yogaesoteric
February 2013
