Introduction
The stars blink over the shore of the Deep. The cosmic ocean stretches out over, through, and beyond all of reality. Everything in the cosmos touches and is part of the Deep. The shore is a sacred place that few have ever imagined, let alone glimpsed. The soft sand shore, black in depth with sprinkles of lighter crystals reflecting the essence of the starry sky, embraces the tide of eternity, feeling the Deep's sweet, divine caress as the waters lap gently against the crystals of creation. From these waters, great secrets and truths reveal themselves to those daring enough to survive the journey and willing to stare into the magical depths.
Three wanderers slowly approach. Their feet treading softly, reverently across the sacred grounds. While they were born of the divine, they understand their place, their almost insignificance when compared to the Deep. For here, even the gods know their place.
At the edge, where the cosmic water laps softly against the shore the wanderers came to a halt. The three represent the beginning, middle, and end of all things. The creator with four heads, the preserver with four arms, and the destroyer with the blue neck look out over the waters of the Deep to the endless horizon of eternity. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, born of divinity, aspects of the Ultimate Reality Brahman, stare into the Deep. There is a soft cool breeze coming off the water. All three gods pull in a slow deep breath, closing their eyes, knowing that this is the source of their power, their sanctity, their life. This, this place, this sand, and these waters…this is everything.
Slowly Brahma releases the breath. “We are here,” he says to his brethren turning his four heads to look at them. Adorned simply in ceremonial robes, the gods arrived as instructed with nothing more than themselves, their questions, and their will. To pierce the cosmic veil and enter creation’s source, one must come empty-handed if the desire and purpose is 1) pure and 2) to leave with something more than unanswered questions. Shiva bends down, running his hand through the soft dark sand, mesmerized by the gentle power of the crystals and the pinpricks of light that crackle to the surface. Taking up a handful, he pours the ancient sand back and forth from one hand to another. He can feel the energy, the connectivity that passes from those waters to these sands and out beyond through every star, every planet, every living thing, down to the very atoms that make up reality.
“Can you feel it?” the destroyer asks.
“Yes,” Vishnu replies. “It pours through us. Binds us. Holds everything together,” the preserver answers with his eyes closed, head tilted back, face pointing to the heavens. “We have found Brahman.”
“No,” Brahma sighs with the beginnings of a sad smile. “We have found something more.” Taking a step closer to the water, the creator extends his left hand out over the water. Drops begin to fall up to his palm, just a few before he closes his fist and turns to his divine brother. “Yes, this is Brahman, but it is also so much more. One name cannot do this justice. This is infinite. Why do you think it referred to as the Deep? How else can you describe it? Do you not feel lost in the depths of everything around us?”
“We truly are small and insignificant in the face of it all,” Shiva says. releasing the sand back to the beach.
“Then let us begin,” Vishnu states, locking eyes with his brothers before sending his gaze into the holy depths of the dark cosmic ocean.
Author's Note: The Deep is the name that I have given to the place hidden behind the veil, the source of cosmic creation. This beach will be the setting for the overarching narrative of my storybook. The Trimurti (i.e. the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) will visit this beach to look into the Deep. I chose the ocean to represent this concept because life on this planet, from what we know, started in the sea and I found that to be a fitting metaphor. I also like the image of these three Hindu deities standing on a beach, under an endless sky of stars, staring into the deep of the water, searching for answers.