YOGAPEDIA

Abheda No-otherness (see bheda).

Adi-Guru The ancient or primordial or original Guru; the Divine Source from which the power of initiation and guidance descends to a line of gurus; an epithet of Sri Shankaracharya and sometimes also of Dakshinamurti.

Adina-Guru The founder of a line of gurus. Except in the case of the founder of a new path, initiation (like ordination) is valid only when given by one who is duly authorized and whose authorization goes back in an unbroken chain to the founder of his line.

Advaita Literally "not two," Advaita is often called a monistic or non-dualistic system which essentially refers to the indivisibility of the Self (Atman) from the Whole (Brahman). This doctrine says that nothing exists apart from the Spirit, but everything is a form assumed by the Spirit. The principal doctrinal division among the Hindus is between the schools of Advaita and Dvaita. The Dvaitists or Dualists worship a Personal God separate from the worshipper. The Advaitists, while recognizing the truth of this conception on its own plane, go beyond it to the conception of the Absolute in which a man is absorbed back into That which is his Source and real Self, surviving in the pure Bliss and boundless Consciousness of Being.

Advaita Vedanta Advaita Vedanta, or "the non-dual end of the Vedas," is the best-known of the Vedantic schools of Hinduism, referring to the metaphysics expounded in the Upanishads and all scriptures based on the Upanishads in one way or another.

Adya Primordial; original.

Agni Fire.

Aham I; the ego.

Ajnana Ignorance; lack of knowledge.

Akasha Space; the ether.

Ananda Bliss; happiness; joy; beatitude.

Anugraham Grace.

Arati A divine service performed in early morning or at dusk.

Arunachaleswar: God in the form of Arunachala, a contraction of Arunachala-Iswara.

Asana Posture (in particular, a pose of Yoga); seat.

Ardra Darshan Ardra (Arudra) literally means "wet." Shiva's birth star is Ardra, signifying the Lord's overflowing compassion for his devotees. Shiva granted darshan to Patanjali, Vyaghrapada, and others on this day. Hence its importance. Sri Bhagavan was born on the night of this day at 1 a.m. under the star Punarvasu - that is, the star next to Ardra, which was the presiding star during the day. Both the stars are under the constellation of Mithuna (Gemini).

Ashram Hermitage; the establishment or colony that grows up around a sage or guru; sometimes mistranslated as "monastery."

Ashtavadhana The ability to attend to eight different matters simultaneously.

Asramam The Tamil form of ashram.

Asuric Diabolical; evil.

Atman From the Upanishads, Atman - originally meaning "breath" or "soul" - is a cosmological principle signifying a single, unitary divinity, something like a "universal spirit"; the Self.

Atmaswarupa Literally the "form of the Spirit"; a term used for the Universe to indicate that the Universe has no intrinsic reality but exists only as a manifestation of the Spirit.

Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (1872 - 1950) was born on 15 August, 1872, in Calcutta. As a child of 7 he was sent to England for his education. There he studied at St. Paul's in London and at King's College, Cambridge, where he mastered not only English but also Greek, Latin, and French. On his return to India at age 21, he studied intensely Indian culture, and became active in the struggle for Indian freedom. Because of his political activity, from 1908 to 1909 Sri Aurobindo was kept under detention by the British government. During this year of seclusion he underwent a series of decisive spiritual experiences which set him on the spiritual path. He said after his release: "The only result of the wrath of the British government was that I found God."
In 1910, Sri Aurobindo withdrew from the political field and went to Pondicherry to devote himself entirely to his evolving spiritual mission. His spiritual partner, known as "the Mother", joined him in 1920. Together they established the Sri Aurobindo Ashram where he dedicated himself to his voluminous writings.
Sri Aurobindo affirms that all life is Yoga and that man has a greater destiny awaiting him, and through a conscious aspiration he can evolve into a higher being and can open himself to a new consciousness, which he called the Supramental.

Avatar An incarnation or manifestation or Vishnu, that is of God as the Preserver and Sustainer of the Universe. Within the manvantara or cycle stretching (according to Christian symbolism) from the Earthly Paradise (the state of Adam before the fall) to the Heavenly Jerusalem (the consummation after the second coming of Christ) there are 10 avatars. The seventh is Rama, commemorated in the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic; the eighth is Krishna, commemorated in the Bhagavad Gita; the ninth is described as the non-Hindu avatar and is identified as Buddha or Christ or both, the 10th is Kalki, the destroyer of sin with whose coming the Kali Yuga or dark age will end. He is still to come and is equivalent to the second coming of Christ awaited by the Christians and Muslims and the Maitreya Buddha of the Buddhists.
Sometimes the term avatar is used more loosely to indicate a divine manifestation.

Ayurveda The traditional Hindu system of medicine.

Bhagavad Gita Literally the 'Divine Song' or, more correctly, 'God-Song', since 'Bhagavad' is a noun used adjectivally. The scripture of Sri Krishna, the eighth Avatar, probably the most widely studied and followed Hindu scripture. It occurs as an episode in the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata. Bhagavan : The same word as 'Bhagavad' with a different case-ending; the commonly used word for 'God'. Terms such as Iswara, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva and names for the various aspects of God are more technical or philosophical. In ordinary conversation a man says either 'Bhagavan' (God) or 'Swami' (the Lord). The term 'Bhagavan' is used by general consent for those few supreme Sages who are recognized as being completely One with God.

Bhagavan God; the Lord.

Bhajan Song of worship, or simply worship.

Bhakta Devotee. Also one who approaches God through love and devotion.

Bhakti Love or devotion.

Bhakti-marga The approach to God through love and devotion.

Bheda Otherness. The difference between bheda and abheda is substantially the same as that between dvaita and advaita. The exponent of bheda regards himself as 'other than God', whereas the exponent of abheda regards God as the Absolute or Infinite apart from which there can be no other. Bhiksha: An offering of food to the Guru or to a sanyasin. In the case of Bhagavan this came to mean providing an ashram meal, since he would accept nothing that was not shared by all. Brahma : Iswara, Personal God, is conceived of under the threefold aspects of Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and Siva, the Destroyer. There are temples to Vishnu and Siva but not to Brahma, as man is concerned with God as Preserver or God as Destroyer of forms in the Bliss of Union rather than with God as Creator.

Bija Seed; source.

Blowing upon the ember of the Heart: A meditative practice in Yoga of the Spiritual Heart (Hridaya Yoga).

Brahmarandhra Opening in the crown of the head; the fontanelle.

Brahman "The One without a second," Brahman is not only the principle and Creator (as God) of all there is, but is also fully present within each individual. Brahman is the highest and ultimate conception, the Absolute, about which nothing can be postulated, since any assertion would be a limitation. The first stage in the manifestation of Brahman is Iswara, the Personal God.

Brahmin The Hindus were divided traditionally into four castes, of whom the Brahmins were the highest, being devoted to a life of spirituality and study. Next came the Kshatriyas, who were the rulers, warriors and administrators. The Vaishyas were the middle classes and the Shudras the laborers. The castes were not at first exclusively hereditary, but since each caste married within itself, even the law of heredity made them so practically. In course of time they became strictly so and also subdivided into hereditary sub-castes, largely on a professional basis, like medieval guilds in Europe. Also they tended to abandon their caste functions and engage in those of other castes. Today caste has little functional meaning. The Indian government is trying to destroy it.

Brihadnarayana Upanishad - see Upanishads: Brihadnarayana.

Buddhi Intellect.

Chaitanya: Consciousness.

Chakra: Plexus.

Chakra: ajna The sixth center of force in the human body, located in the middle of the forehead, ajna represents cosmic mind, intelligence, deep insight, and coordinates all chakras below it - the mental "command center."

Chakra: anahata The fourth center of force in the human body, seated exactly in the middle of the chest, anahata is related with air energy and the heart, bestowing unconditional love, selflessness, humility, affection, and transpersonal emotions.

Chakra: manipura The third center of force in the human body, located in the naval region, manipura (known as hara in some Eastern traditions) attunes with fire energy. It is represented by willpower, ambition, ego, dynamism, violence.

Chakra: muladhara The first center of force, located in the area of the perineum, is the seat of vitality, the "battery" of the being, attuned with earth energies and mechanical forces (such as gravity).

Chakra: sahasrara At the top of the head, above the physical body, the seventh center of force - not technically a chakra - synthesizes all the other centers and corresponds with real wisdom, the Absolute.

Chakra: svadhisthana Located three finger-breadths above the sexual organs, the second center of force grants attunement with water energies and magnetic forces, instincts including hunger and sex, and confers sensitivity and social conformism.

Chakra: vishuddha The fifth center of force, located above the hollow of the neck, attunes with ether and the energies of space and time. It bestows quick and deep intelligence, the highest aesthetic and symbolic vision, and spiritual intuition.

Chakrapani: Shakti, energy.

Chidakash: Consciousness, space, "I Amness."

Chit: Universal consciousness.

Chitta: Mind stuff.

Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ (Messiah) or Savior and Son of God (an avatar, or incarnation of God), as relayed in the New Testament of the Bible. Beginning as a Jewish sect, by the 4th century Christianity had become the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. A consummately virtuous historical figure, some say that Jesus spent his adult life in Northern India and Kashmir, in study of the highest wisdom of the planet at that time. At age 30, Jesus returned to Judea to fulfill perhaps the greatest spiritual mission of anyone in known history by taking the spiritual karma of humanity onto himself, through full sacrifice. Christianity is characterized by the faith that Jesus suffered persecution, died from crucifixion, was buried, and then ascended from the dead principally to open the way to Heaven for those who believe in him and trust him for the remission of their sins (salvation). He introduced to spirituality the idea of sharing karma, as seen also in the Boddisattva ideal of Mahayana Buddhism, which appeared only long after his life.

Deva: Divine being.

Dhyana: Meditation, contemplation.

Duality A twofold division in spiritual or philosophical doctrines; the fact of recognizing subject and object or two complementary yet opposite states or forces; the state of perceiving Self and other.

Eckhart, Meister A German theologian, philosopher, and mystic, Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260-1328) reached insight into the journey of the soul and the Supreme Truth through Christian prayer and contemplation. He was one of the most influential 14th century Neoplatonists who introduced many novel concepts to Christian metaphysics. His manner of expression was simple yet abstract, and bold enough to get him tried for heresy during the Inquisition, although he died before a verdict was issued.

Fathers of the Desert The first Christian hermits, who abandoned the cities of the pagan world to live in solitude (mostly in the Scetes Desert of Egypt), were ascetics and monks who emphasized an ascent to God through great austeries, stoic self-discipline, and privations that led to the illumination of Divine Unity.

Gayatri: Sacred Vedic mantra.

Gita: Song.

Guna: Attribute, quality born of nature. The three gunas are Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas.

Guru: Teacher, preceptor.

Hatha Yoga: Yoga system for gaining control of the physical body and breath.

Heart - see Spiritual Heart.

Hiranyagarbha: Cosmic intelligence, cosmic mind, cosmic egg.

Hridaya The heart, the mystical center, the non-manifest seat of Pure Consciousness, realized as Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. This seat of God within us is found in the center of the chest, slightly to the right, as expounded by Sri Ramana Maharshi.

I-I The witness of the personality.

Inner Asana An attitude of practicing Yoga postures with the goal of bringing the inner energy into perfect balance, perfect neutrality - this is a gate of perfect equilibrium by which one can go beyond manifestation, yin or yang, or the chakras to where the Infinite is revealed. In this mood, when there is energy in muladhara, there is no personality there, there is no longer a personal energy - it is cosmic vitality, the universal energy. This attitude gives clarity of thoughts as well as a perception of Infinity and, at this level, the natural perfection of sublimation is reached entirely with awareness and not by physical effort.

Isvara or Iswara: God.

Jagat: World.

Jagrat: Waking condition.

Japa: Repetition of a mantra.

Jiva: Individual soul.

Jnana: Knowledge.

Kalpana: Imagination of the mind.

Kama: Desire, lust.

Karma: Action.

Karta: Doer.

Kaya Sthairyam This meditation practice involves concentration on the steadiness of the body to induce steadiness of the mind, leading toward Pure Stillness.

Kosa or Kosha: Sheath.

Kriya: Physical action.

Kumbhaka: Retention of breath.

Kundalini: Primordial cosmic energy.

Lalla The Kashmiri poetess Lalleshvari, widely known as Lalla (1320-1392), left an unhappy early marriage to become a disciple of the Shaivite guru Siddha Srikantha. She reached enlightenment and began singing songs to Shiva, dancing naked, and expressing her divine ecstasy in unconventional ways. Lalleshvari was very influential in shaping Kashmiri culture and attitudes toward life and religion, and her sayings constituted a memory of the Kashmiri classical age in popular consciousness. Her verses are the earliest compositions in the Kashmiri language to have come down to the modern era.

Laya: Dissolution, merging.

Lila: Sport, play.

Linga: Symbol of the masculine principle.

Maha: Great.

Mahakasha: The great space.

Mahavakhyas The four "Great Sayings" or Affirmations of the Upanishads, which indicate the unity of the individual essence (Atman) with God (Brahman). The sayings are: 1) Prajnanam Brahman ("Consciousness is Brahma"); 2) Ayam Atma Brahma ("The Self [Atman] is Brahman"); 3) Tat Tvam Asi ("Thou art That"); and 4) Aham Brahmasmi ("I am Brahman").

Mahesvara: Great Lord.

Manana: Constant thinking, reflection, meditation.

Manas: The thinking faculty, mind.

Manolaya: Involution and dissolution of the mind into its cause.

Mantra: Sacred syllable or word or set of words.

Mauna: Silence.

Maya: Veiling and projecting power, the illusive power of Brahman.

Meister Eckhart - see Eckhart, Meister.

Mirabai A Rajput princess and Hindu mystical singer, Mirabai or Meera (ca. 1498-1547) was a significant figure of the Sant tradition of the Vaishnava Bhakti movement, contributing 1,200-1,300 prayerful songs or bhajans to Krishna worshippers of India's Middle Ages.

Moksha or Mukti: Liberation, release.

Mula: Origin, root.

Mumukshu: Seeker after liberation.

Muni: A sage, an austere person.

Murti: Idol.

Nama: Name.

Namarupa: Name and form, the nature of the world.

Neti neti Literally "not this, not this," neti neti represents a process of discriminating the five elements from the Absolute Reality of the Self using disidentification with or negation of all names and forms in order to arrive at the underlying truth.

Nirguna: Without attributes.

Nirgunabrahman: The impersonal, attributeless Absolute.

Nirmana kaya: The physical body of a spiritually realized being.

Nirvana Liberation; final emancipation; enlightenment.

Nisargadatta Maharaj A great enlightened sage and Advaita Vedanta master, Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981, born Maruti) spent his life as a householder and shopkeeper, until he met his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar, and began a serious mantra sadhana. On the death of his guru, he renounced his family and left for the Himalayas. He was later convinced to return to worldly life and a path of action, and devoted the rest of his life to meditation and the Vedantic teachings of his guru. He was known for his penetrating insight and no-nonsense style. His teachings are most well known through the enduring book, I Am That.

Niskama: Without desire.

Nous A concept derived from the writings of Greek philosopher Plotinus (ca. 204-270), who rejected "perfect-being" theology to explain the ultimate nature of God, which he instead ascribed to his second subordinate god, Nous, the divine mind.

Para: Supreme, other.

Parabrahman: The Supreme Absolute.

Prajna: Consciousness, awareness.

Prakriti: Original, uncaused cause of phenomenal existence.

Pralaya: Complete merging.

Prana: Vital energy, life breath.

Prema: Divine love.

Puja: Worship.

Purna: Full, complete, infinite.

Purusha: The Self which abides in the heart of all things.

Rabia Rabia al-Adawiyya (717-801), the first female Sufi saint, spent much of her life in fervent prayer as an ascetic Muslim, eventually living in the desert in solitude after a period in which she was enslaved. She refused many offers of marriage, even (tradition has it) one from the Amir of Basra, as she had no time in her life for anything but God. More interesting than her absolute asceticism, however, is the concept of Divine Love that Rabia introduced. She was the first to introduce the idea that God should be loved for God's own sake, not out of fear - as earlier Sufis had done. She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him the gift of repentance.

Rajas: Passion, restlessness, one of the three aspects of cosmic energy or gunas.

Ramakrishna Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886) was born near Calcutta, and spontaneously reached states of ecstasy even as a child. At an early age he became priest of the Kali Temple of Dakshineswar, and began in earnest the sadhana of the Goddess. Following a vision of the Goddess, he studied with other teachers including a famous female Tantric guru (Bhairavi Brahmani), and eventually a sage named Totapuri took him to the final stage of enlightenment. His great interest and mission was to teach the Truth of all world religions. His foremost disciple was Swami Vivekananda, who took over his mission.


Ramana Maharshi At the age of 16, Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950), named Venkataraman at birth, had an intense spiritual experience involving a sudden and overwhelming fear of death. He went into the experience and it became the death of his ego, which invoked a flood of Self-awareness. Soon after, he left home for Arunachala - a South Indian mountain whose very name had mysteriously called to him as a holy place worth seeking - to pursue a purely spiritual life. He spent his time in deep meditation, often entering high states of consciousness and samadhi. Eventually he settled on the slopes of Arunachala and his followers built an ashram around him. He answered their questions and commented on the spiritual works they presented him, but always with the same simple issue, pointing to the source of our thoughts summed up in the question: "Who am I?"

Rumi, Jalal-addin The greatest Sufi poet, Afghanistan-born Rumi (1207-1273) composed prolific lyrical and devotional poems in Persian, living out most of his life in modern-day Turkey. Following his death, his followers and his son, Sultan Walad, founded the Mawlawiyah Sufi Order, also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for its Sufi dance known as the sama ceremony. He is now one of the world's most beloved poets.

Sacred tremor of the Heart - see spanda.

Sadhaka: Spiritual aspirant.

Sadhana: Spiritual practice.

Sadhu: Pious or righteous person.

Saguna Brahman: The Absolute conceived of as endowed with qualities.

Sahaja The word sahaja (from saha and ja, "to be born") means literally "together born" or "co-emergent." It signifies the idea that freedom is not external to us but is our very condition; that the phenomenal reality (samsara) arises simultaneously with, and within, the transcendental Reality (nirvana); and that the conditional mind and enlightenment are not mutually exclusive principles. According to this teaching, true spontaneity or naturalness is an expression of Reality, and enlightenment is always close at hand. The great Buddhist adept Sarahapada calls this the "straight path" (uju-patha) or "royal path" (raja-patha). This is a key notion of Mahayana Buddhism and the Sahajiya movement.

St. Callistus Also known as Pope Callixtus I (birth year unknown; served as Pope 217-222, the year of his death), he was martyred for his Christian faith and is a canonized saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

St. Catherine of Siena A Dominican reformer, theologian, scholastic philosopher, and mystic, St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) had an active but short life, campaigning to restore the Papacy to Rome (from Avignon), advocating the reform of the clergy, and advising people that repentance and renewal could be done through "the total love for God." She reported a "mystical marriage" with Jesus at age 19, and upon her death left behind hundreds of letters considered to be great Tuscan literature. Her biographer claims that she was told by the Christ to leave behind her withdrawn life of piety to enter the public life of the world, which she did, helping the poor and ill until her death by a stroke at age 33.

St. Gregory of Sinai St. Gregory of Sinai (1260s-1346) was instrumental in the emergence of "technical" (Athonite) Hesychasm on Mount Athos, Greece, in the early 14th century. Due to Muslim raids on Athos, he sought protection in Bulgaria, where he founded a monastery. The Philokalia includes five texts by Gregory: On Commandments and Doctrines, Warnings and Promises; On Thoughts, Passions and Virtues; On the Signs of Grace and Delusion; On Stillness; and On Prayer.

St. John of the Cross St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), a Spanish mystic, priest, and friar, was considered a major figure of the Catholic Reformation and a founder - alongside St. Teresa of Avila - of the Discalced ("barefoot") Carmelites. He was well known for his prolific writings on the soul united with God in prayer that revealed profound mystical expressions, experiences, and insights. His commentaries depend on positive statements about God, first for their context - enabling the mind to be directed in attention and love toward God and no other - and second for their verbal expression. This being directed toward God is typified when the mind is moved toward a loving, non-conceptual knowledge of God, setting aside images and concepts.

Sama rasa Unison of Shiva; identity of Consciousness; a state in which all differentiation has disappeared.

Samadhi: Oneness, when the self merges into the Self.

Samsara The worldly life of illusion; phenomenal reality; manifestation.

Samskara: Mental impression.

Sankalpa: Thought, desire, imagination.

Sat-Chit-Ananda: Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.

Sat-Guru: Inner Self.

Satsang: Association with the wise.

Sattva or Sattwa: Light, purity, being, existence, one of the three gunas.

Sakti or Shakti: Power, energy, force.

Shankaracharya, Adi A genius and the main representative of Advaita Vedanta, Adi Shankaracharya (788-820) was a great Hindu mystic and scholar who made the greatest revival of Indian philosophy and spirituality in his short lifespan, being alone responsible for a country almost entirely Buddhist becoming again almost entirely Hindu. He wrote many commentaries on the sutras and shastras, the Upanishads, etc., and won many disciples through his power in spiritual debate. His most important lesson was that reason and abstract philosophizing alone would not lead to moksha (Sanskrit for "liberation"). He believed that it was only through selflessness and love governed by viveka (Sanskrit for "discrimination") that a devotee would realize his inner Self. The philosophy that Shankara proposed was powerful and capitalized on years of dormant monist and mystic understandings of existence. He proposed that while the phenomenal universe, our consciousness and bodily being, are certainly experienced, they are not true reality. He did not mean to negate it, but considered that the ultimate truth was Brahman, the one divine ground that is beyond time, space and causation. Brahman is immanent and transcendent, but not merely a pantheistic concept. A lasting statement attributed to him: "Brahman alone is real, the world is appearance, the Self is nothing but brahman."

Shastra: Scripture.

Siddha: A perfected being.

Siddhi: Psychic power.

Sloka: Sacred verse.

Spanda Described variously as divine activity, the dynamic aspect of Shiva, and the creative primordial vibration, spanda ("quiver" or "vibration") is a prominent technical concept in Kashmiri (or Northern) Shaivism. It is the "throb" of the utter bliss of Ultimate Reality. It is not movement as ordinarily understood but the transcendental cause of all motion. This philosophical notion is elaborated at length in Vasugupta's ninth-century Spanda Karika, which is often ascribed to his disciple Kallata.

Spanda Karika ("Composition on Vibration"), authored by either Vasugupta or (less likely) his chief disciple Kallata, is an independent commentary on the Shiva Sutra. It explains the notion of divine "vibration" (spanda), which is a central doctrine of Kashmiri Shaivism. The Spanda Karika contains several significant commentaries, including a Vritti by Kallata.

Sphurana Throbbing, breaking, bursting forth, or pulsing; vibration.

Sunya: Void.

Sutra: A terse sentence.

Swami Sivananda Swami Sivananda (1887-1963) was born in Pattamadai, South India, as Kuppuswami. He went to medical school in Tanjore and then took up a job as a doctor in Malaysia. Although he was a very successful doctor, when his wife died he renounced the world, went back to India, and became a Swami. Swami Sivananda performed austerities for many years and became enlightened through an intensive Yoga practice. Even so, he continued to help the sick, and after his serious sadhana, he continued extensive charitable efforts for giving natural Ayurvedic medicine and spiritual literature to the people.

Swarupa: Essence, essential nature, true nature of being.

Taittiriya Upanishad - see Upanishads: Taittiriya.

Tamas: Ignorance, darkness, one of the three gunas.

Tattva: Element, essence.

Tolle, Eckhart A modern German Advaita master and teacher, Eckhart Tolle (1948-) emphasizes not being caught up in thoughts of past and future as a way of being aware of the present moment, subjects he explored in his nonfiction bestseller, The Power of Now. His later book A New Earth further explores the structure of the human ego and how this acts to distract people from their present experience of the world. He asserts that it is the feeding of the human ego that is the source of inner and outer conflict, and that only by examining the ego may spiritual aspirants begin to see beyond it and to reach a sense of spiritual awakening or a new outlook on reality.

Turiya: Superconscious state, samadhi.

Upanishad: Knowledge portion of the Vedas.

Upanishad: Taittiriya The Taittiriya Upanishad speaks of levels of bliss that can be experienced - from simple pleasure to unexcelled bliss - and the idea that existence is inherently blissful (ananda). Spiritual life consists in discovering the culmination of bliss, which is inherent in the Absolute (brahman). This scripture also contains the first reference to the doctrine of the five "sheaths" (koshas), of which the fifth and final sheath is composed of pure bliss. Here (II.4.1) we also find the first recorded mention of the word Yoga in the technical sense, as the conscious control of the fickle senses (indriyas).

Vac or Vak: Speech.

Vaikuntha: The abode of Lord Vishnu.

Vairagya: detachement from worldly things.

Vasana: Subtle desire.

Veda: A scripture of the Hindus.

Vedanta: The end portion of the Vedas.

Via negativa The term "negative theology" refers to theologies which regard negative statements as primary in expressing our knowledge of God, contrasted with "positive theologies" that give primary emphasis to positive statements. The distinction was developed within Muslim, Jewish, and Christian theism. If the negative way (via negativa) is taken to its limits, two questions arise: first, whether one may speak of God equally well in impersonal as in personal terms (blurring the distinction between theism and, say, the philosophical Hinduism of ]a>kara); and second, whether it leads ultimately to rejecting any ultimate being or subject at all (blurring the distinction between theism and, say, the atheism of Mahayana Buddhism). However, within their original theistic context, positive and negative statements about God are interdependent, the second indispensably qualifying the first, the negative statements taken alone useless.

Negative qualifications on positive statements attributing so-called "perfections" to God - for example, existence, life, goodness, knowledge, love or active power ("strength") - are obviously necessary if God is unimaginable. If his presence is always of his whole being and life all at once, in each place in space and time he must be non-spatial and non-temporal in being and nature, and clearly he must be unimaginable. However, his supposed "simplicity" and "infinity" imply that he is much more radically outside the reach of understanding or "comprehension," imposing the negative way at a deeper level than mere unimaginability. This unimaginability and incomprehensibility are key to theistic accounts of prayer and the mystical life.

Vichara: Inquiry into the nature of the Self.

Vijnana: Principle of pure intelligence.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra This classical but brief Tantric text constitutes a collection of purely monistic teachings, in which Bhairava (Shiva) describes 112 ways to enter into the universal and transcendental state of consciousness. Traditionally regarded as a manual for masters, VBT is a practical work and a comprehensive aid to students of meditation from any tradition, since it deals with the profound underlying principles of spiritual practice and contains a vast library of techniques ranging from elementary to advanced. Most techniques explore the use of dharana, or concentration, for reaching the supreme realization of Oneness with the Absolute. VBT, released for the first time in English in 1918, is a core text of the monistic tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism.

Virat: Macrocosm, the physical world.

Viveka: Discrimination between the real and the unreal.

Vivekananda, Swami Swami Vivekananda, also known as Vivekananda the Great (1863-1902), was the chief disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who transmitted to him by grace the state of Samadhi, which gave him a great spiritual understanding. He applied spirituality even to politics, and taught globally about Vedantic philosophy, including a famous speech at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. 1893. He was considered one of the most influential spirits of the Hindu religion.

Vritti: Thought wave, mental modification.

Witness consciousness In the human being, there is a body and a soul - the principle of consciousness, which has two levels. As the surface, the human subject knows objects, performs actions, and experiences pleasure and pain. However, then there is a deeper level of consciousness at which the subject is simply the witness of the empirical self, unaffected by its pleasures and sufferings, by wants and needs, by motives and intentions, not identifying itself with objects or saying "mine." The human being has a This deeper consciousness is the same as the divinity of the whole universe. The individual self, which in all other systems is an ultimate entity, is here a complex of Brahman characterized as an eternal witness and the objective internal organ (see Monism, Indian). Witness consciousness is also turiya: the fourth state - ever present and unchanging as against the changing states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.
To illustrate the Witness, if one forgets the witnessing, one doesn't remain. Otherwise that one is still there. The one who witnesses always remains. But in the final reality, witnessing is not true, because in oneness there is no seer and no seen.

Who am I? - see Self-inquiry.

Yoga: Union, philosophy of Patanjali.

Yogi: One who practices Yoga.