Chapter 35 initially describes a state of advanced devotion where the distinction between the observer, the observed, and the act of observation dissolves. For example, the text states, "The heard, the hearer, and the hearing fly away; the triad shatters at once." The story of Kaka Mahajani's friend serves as a practical illustration of this principle. The friend arrived as a distinct 'hearer' with firm ideas. However, when he heard Baba's voice (the 'heard'), the experience was so profound and personal—sounding like his deceased father—that his sense of a separate self with a resolve shattered. In that moment, the triad of 'hearer' (his skeptical self), 'heard' (Baba's voice), and 'hearing' merged into a single, overwhelming reality that made him bow, erasing the duality he had arrived with, as noted in chapter 35.
How does the concept of the 'triad' vanishing, as mentioned in the text, relate to the experience of Kaka Mahajani's friend?
📖 Chapter 35