Three realities of existence

The Three realities

प्रतिभासिक सत्ता - The Subjective/ apparent reality, व्यवहारिक सत्ता - Practical reality and 

परमार्थिक सत्ता - Supreme reality

In Upanishads (collection of texts of religious and philosophical nature, written in India probably between c. 800 BCE and c. 500 BCE) it’s mentioned that there are three realities we exist. After knowing this you might turn your attention to supreme reality and experience all of these realities. Before explaining those to you let me tell you a short story which will help us in knowing these realities.

There was a king named "Janaka" who ruled over the kingdom Mithila. One night, he had a terrifying dream in which the king is a beggar and starving, having not eaten in days. He came close to a city and asked for food from some people, but because of his physical appearance, they refused to give him anything except cursing him, so he moved on and found a person. He asked for alms or money from whom he received the same response as before, but the man suggested he go to the holy temple. Where every beggar receives alms and should not ask from city residents because it is illegal in the city.

After waiting in line for hours at the temple, the offerer refused to give the alms, stating that he can only give it in a dish, not with his bare hands. The dispirited king went to Pottery Barn and asked the potter for the dish. When the potter asked the king for money and was told that he hadn't eaten in days and had no money to give, the potter refused to help the king. The king returned to the temple and found a broken dish at the back of the temple.

When the king finally received the alms and was about to eat. When he saw two uncontrollable bulls approaching him, he dropped the dish and dashed to the other side to save his life. King was startled and perplexed when he awoke. He couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't, whether he was a beggar in a dream or the king of his kingdom.

The king decides to go to his guru, Ashtavakra, to find out which of his existences, the beggar or the king, is true. Explain these three realities to Ashtavakra in response to his question.

Where you see, hear and move without Eyes, Ears, and Body

प्रतिभासिक सत्ता — The Subjective/ apparent reality

When the king was dreaming, whatever he felt, hunger, suffering, fear, and being a beggar, were all real to him. His mind was not sleeping, but rather creating a world while sleeping. It wasn't real, but it felt so real that when he awoke, he couldn't tell what was what. Is he a king or a beggar, so first reality in which we exist appears as truth until we are in a dreaming state, then neither the events nor its world exist, and that reality ceases to exist. When he awoke, he realised he was a king, not a beggar, which put him at ease. Only your mind is involved.

Where the change is permanent, The existence of duality.

व्यवहारिक सत्ता — Practical reality 

The reality in which we act and draw conclusions from our actions. Where duality exists, the distinction between subject and object. When King Janaka realised he was the  king and performed all of his duties in accordance with his role. Newton's third law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, or we can say Karma, but Karma is a vast point to traverse. 

The interaction of mind and body, the subject and the object. The ego was created by the union of the mind and the body (false identity). You can have an idea in your head, and if it's manifested well enough, you can make it real; you experience it with your five senses, but this reality also ceases to exist..

After explaining these two realities, guru Ashtavakra stated that you are still not awake, because we have sense and mind to experience the world, but when we begin to misuse them, we never realise the third. We never realise we are from the third generation, not the first or second. Our minds and bodies exist in these two realities, but we (I) exist everywhere.

When the awakening happens you will realize who you are! 

परमार्थिक सत्ता - Supreme reality

The enlightened person realises this real substance (the truth), the world has the rule of change, in this world change is inevitable, everything you know will change no matter how strong or with how much willpower you try to hold it, even if we try to go against this law and suffer. The Supreme Being exists outside of time, space, and matter. It never changes and has no beginning or end. You are the one who exists in three realities at the same time, but belongs to the one and only supreme and never ceases to exist.

Lord Buddha, Lord Shiva, and, more recently, Eckhart Tolle and Sadhguru are examples of people who recognised the nature of being and the truth of life. We are knowledge, love, kindness, integrity, forgiveness, and sincerity, but due to our practical existence, we have practised this to know our true-self, which is why every enlightened being has told you to turn your attention towards your true qualities, so we have the experience of third.

Duality is the very essence of existence, and it is diametrically opposed to ignorance. The true variety of existence is duality: pleasant and unpleasant, bright and calm, separate and yet connected. 

Duality is the Buddha nature within us, but as we develop the outer aspects of our nature — awareness, compassion, joy — we come to recognise duality as a dimension of ourselves that requires further development.

We discover our true strength and abilities through the understanding and identification of duality. When we recognise the core joy within ourselves that lies beneath all duality, we no longer feel oppressed by it and can develop our innate gifts without being dominated by unforgiving thoughts and self-defeating habits.

What is the value of all the knowledge you are burdened with if you don't know yourself? You've missed the main point. - Hear the unseen.

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