Vessel, receptacle—the system of mind, life and body considered
as a receptacle of the spiritual consciousness and
force.
ahaitukī bhakti
Devotion not depending on anything; absolute devotion.
ājna cakra
Will centre. See cakra.
anāhata
See cakra.
ānanda (Ananda)
Bliss, delight—the divine or spiritual bliss.
ānandamaya
Full of delight.
anityamasukham
Transient and
unhappy.
antarātman
(Antaratman)
Inner self, soul.
anumantā (Anumanta)
The giver of sanction.
aparā prakrti (Apara Prakriti)
The inferior nature, Nature in the lower manifestation of the Ignorance.
ārādhanā (Aradhana)
Worship of the Divine.
ātman (Atman)
Self.
avatāra (Avatar)
The descent of the Divine in a human form.
avidyā (Avidya)
The cosmic principle of Ignorance.
bhakta
Devotee.
bhakti
Devotion.
brahman
The spiritual Reality, universal and supreme.
brahmā (Brahma)
God as Creator, one of the Trinity,
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brahmānda (Brahmanda)
Cosmos, universe.
brāhmika consciousness (Brahmic Consciousness)
The absolute consciousness.
buddheh paratah
In the higher mental planes.
buddhi
(Buddhi)
Intelligence.
caitya purusa (Chaitya Purusha)
Psychic being.
cakra (Chakra)
Centre, nodus, plexus; the seven psychological centres in the subtle body.
cakra ājna
Centre between the eye-brows.
— anāhata
Centre in the heart.
— hrdpadma
Heart-lotus; same as anāhata.
— manipura
Centre at the navel.
— mūlādhāra
Centre at the bottom end of the spine.
— nābhipadma
Same as manipura.
— sahasradala
See sahasradala.
— svādhifthana
Centre abdominal.
— viśuddha
Centre in the throat.
damana
Suppression.
devī (Devi)
Goddess; the Supreme Power
dharma (Dharma)
The Law of being.
Durgā (Durga)
The Divine Mother as Protector and Fosterer.
ganeśa (Ganesh)
The Power that removes obstacles by the force of Knowledge.
guna (Guna)
Quality, mode of Nature.
guru
Spiritual Master.
guruvāda (Guruvada)
The cult of the Guru.
hrdpadma
See cakra.
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joda
Inert.
jagannātha (Jagannath)
The Lord of the world.
japa
Repetition of set sounds or words or a name as
prayer or invocation.
jīva (Jiva)
The Jivatman; the living
being.
jīanmukta (Jivanmukta)
Liberated in life
jīvātman (Jivatman)
The individual self.
jnana (Jnana)
Wisdom; Knowledge.
karma
Action, work: the resultant force of action done in
the past, especially in past lives.
karma yoga
The system of spiritual discipline which takes work
(dedicated to the Divine) as its basis
kārtikeya (Kartikeya)
The god commander of the divine host, victor over
the hostile powers.
karunā
Grace.
kundalinī
śakti (Kundalini Shakti)
The Power that lies coiled or involved in the lowest
centre at the bottom of the spine; it is awakened by Yoga and rises
to join the Divine Power or Presence in the sahasradala (seventh centre).
laya
Dissolution of the individual being, merging in the
one Self-Existence.
līlā (Lila)
Play (of the Divine).
mahākāli (Mahakali)
The Divine Mother as the Omnipotent Force.
manipura
See cakra.
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mantra
Set words or sounds having a spiritua significance and power.
māyavādin (Mayavadin)
One who
holds the world as Illusion: Illusionist.
moksa (Moksha)
Spiritual
liberation from the sense of personal being; release from cosmic
existence.
mūlādhāra
See cakra.
nābhipadma
See cakra.
nirvāna
(Nirvana)
Spiritual extinction of the separate individual
self.
om
The primal sound representing the supreme spiritual reality.
parā prakrti
The higher or divine Nature.
pātāla (Patala)
The nether world.
prakrti (Prakriti)
Nature, the active and executive Energy as
distinguished from the witnessing and sustaining soul or conscious
being.
pralaya
The dissolution of the cosmos; any dissolution of
the created things.
prāna
Life.
prārabdha karma
The chain of action already set in motion.
purusa (Purusha)
The soul or conscious being
supporting the action of Nature.
purusottama (Purushottama)
The Supreme Being.
rādhā (Radha)
The personification of the absolute love for the
Divine (from the highest spiritual to the most material part of the
being.)
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rajas
One of the three gunas, fundamental qualities or modes of Nature; the kinetic principle in Nature characterised by desire, action and passion.
rājasika (Rajasic)
Full of the quality of rajas, the kinetic principle.
raksasa (Rakshasa)
Power of Darkness.
rāksasi māyā (Rakshasi Maya)
Illusions created by the Powers of Darkness.
ripus (Ripus)
(The vital) enemies; passions.
śakti (Shakti)
The Divine Power, the Conscious Force of the Divine.
śama (Shama)
Quiet, rest—the principle of calm and peace in the
higher or divine Nature.
śiva (Shiva)
(1) God, as destroyer, the
third of the Trinity.
(2) The Lord of Renunciation and of supreme good.
śunya
Void.
saccidānanda (Sachchidananda)
The Supreme Reality as self-existent Being,
Consciousness and Bliss.
sahasradala
The thousand-petaled lotus, the seventh centre at the crown of the head.
samarpana (Samarpana)
Entire self-giving, surrender, dedication.
samatā
Equality.
samskaras (Sanskaras)
Fixed mental formations; impressions of past habits,
experiences stored up in the subconscious parts.
sattva (Sattwa)
One of the three gunas, fundamental qualities or modes of Nature; the principle of light and harmony in Nature.
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sādhaka (Sadhak)
One who practises the discipline of Yoga.
sādhanā (Sadhana)
The discipline of Yoga as a means of realisation; practice of the Yoga.
sāttvika (Sattwic)
Full of the quality of sattva, the principle of light and harmony.
siddhi
Realisation, fulfilment; also, an occult power gained by Yoga.
suksma deha
The subtle body.
svabhāva (Swabhava)
Self-nature.
svādhisthāna
See cakra.
swarūpa
(Own) essential form.
tamas
One of the three gunas, fundamental qualities or modes of Nature; the principle of obscurity and inertia in Nature.
tantra
A path of
spiritual discipline based upon the principle of Consciousness
Power (conceived as the Mother) as the supreme Reality.
tapas
Energy of Consciousness-—the principle of spiritual
power and force in the higher or divine Nature.
tapasyā (Tapasya)
Spiritual effort by concentration of the energies in
a spiritual discipline or process.
tāmasika (Tamasic)
Full of the quality of tamas, the principle
of obscurity and inertia in Nature.
trātaka
(Tratak)
Focussing the eyes upon a single point, to make the consciousness one-pointed.
vairāgya
Detachment; turning away from life.
vedānta (Vedanta)
The system of philosophy and spiritual discipline in accordance with the
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"Book of Knowledge" that forms the Jatter portion of the Vedas (the Vedas are the ancient Indian Scriptures)—the earlier portion being known as the "Book of Works."
vijnāna (Vijnana)
(1) Knowledge as comprehension
as opposed to Prajnana or apprehending knowledge.
(2) Gnosis, Supermind.
viśuddha
Lit. pure. See cakra.
yoga
Union with the Divine; the discipline by which one enters through an awakening into an inner and higher consciousness.
yoga-śakti (Yoga-Shakti)
The Power that comes with the awakening of the inner
and higher consciousness.
yoga-siddhi
Fulfilment or realisation of the aims of the Yoga.