The trick of three that sets you free
Tri is the word for three in many languages, and in English it is a word-forming element that denotes three. There is a certain magic in three, as you shall see.
Music allows us to get a sense of this magic, before we even understand what has happened to us. Classical compositions alternate between binary and ternary rhythms. For example, you’re rocking back and forth in a predictable two-step dance, and suddenly you’re waltzing. Such transitions can produce a delightful effect, as if your body and soul had become lighter. Even if you are sitting still, something inside you is dancing.
The masters wove such effects into musical phrases using the occasional triplet form, in addition to composing entire movements in ternary rhythm. The third and final partita composed by J.S. Bach for solo violin is almost entirely ternary. Composed in the bright key of E major, it is a moment of grace.
The musical magic of three is deeply embedded in the relationship of tones within scales of notes. Each note forms a triad with two other notes, resulting in a chord. Within the system of 12 tones, there are six pairs of tri-tones. When the 12 tones are arranged in a circle of fifths matrix, the relationship of the triads results in perfect symmetry. This is rather abstract when described, but it can be very naturally felt in music. There is a special joining of the heart and mind that can occur in music, unlike anything else we know.
The experience of duality is embedded in our physical existence, yet this duality is an illusion from the perspective on non-physical consciousness. In this sense, three is the mystical number that transcends the illusion of duality. The Kabbalah reveals three cycles of trinity emanations from Ain Soph (the Limitless One).
Our world is stuck in a million matches of opposing pairs. There is always someone against someone else, something against something else. As long as you are on the “right side”, being against things will make you feel better about yourself. More honorable, more admirable. You are a warrior, and as such are worthy. Others will have more respect for you.
But what if you are in conflict with your spouse? There is your way of seeing things, and there is his or her way. Clearly, if you were not already together, you would not get together, because sometimes you feel very divided. If your spouse were a foreign country, you would be at war.
Something is holding your together like a third entity. It is the relationship that exists between you.
Try this trick. Identify a situation where you feel stuck, or in constant opposition. From this situation, identify the polarities and place yourself on the “right” side, as you of course always do. Imagine your “opponent” doing the same. Their “right” side is necessarily the other side.
You see that you are stuck in a conflict from which there seems to be no way out, unless one concedes to the other.
In your mind, flip back and forth between one and the other, just long enough to feel the emotion connected to each polarity. After a series of back and forth moments in each state, observe how you feel when you consider one or the other polarity.
From this new state of self-observation, is there anything that arises in you that was not there before? Is there the hint of a synthesis? Is there a third idea that somehow disturbs the entrenched oppositions?
Another technique to make synthesis emerge is to inquire to yourself about it before going to sleep. Your whole mind will work wonders while you sleep, leading you to solutions that your analytical mind could never find on its own.
None of this can work unless you actually become aware of the synthesis of three. Without awareness, you are like a prisoner in a cell unwilling to look out the window because you don't believe there is anything to see.