Glossary

The knowledge of the Self, which is called 'God' in the West, has been established in India for many thousands of years in the form of a voluminous body of practice and literature.  Written in Sanskrit, the seed ideas, which are the record of the spiritual experience of India's seers, are enshrined in the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita and a host of subsidiary texts.  The words unfolded here are generally technical terms that refer to the Self or to subtle states of mind for which there are no equivalent English words. 

 

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Bhakti devotion for God. The literature that speaks of Divine Love and the means for 'union' with the Divine.

Darshan a Sanskrit term meaning 'to see,' indicating a direct perception of the Self (God) though a particular form: a temple icon, a guru, a natural wonder, a crisis, a guru, etc. An epiphany.

Ganesh The ubiquitous elephant God, remover of obstacles. Ganesh is perhaps India's most popular deity. A symbol of the Self.

Gopuram the collosal temple gates that characterize South Indian temples. The literal meaning is "city of light." The gopurams are often twenty or thirty stories high and sport statues of thosands of Gods. The word for god is 'deva' which means light.

Jnani From the word 'jnanam,' knowledge. Someone who knows that he or she is not a he or she. Someone who knows 'I am limitless Awareness' and not this body/mind entity.

Pauranas The Pauranic Age followed the Vedic Age which ended about three thousand years ago. The Vedic Age had its deities but they mostly symbolized the elements or elemental forces: the wind and rain, fire, air, earth, etc. As Indian society became less agrarain and the cities developed materialism started to spread and the teachings of the Vedas, particularly the non-dual idea and the dharmic way of life that goes with it, was in danger of disappearing. To rectify the situation the rishis, India's seers, 'invented' the Pauranas. The Pauranas are called Dharma Shastras, scriptures on Dharma, how to live a righteous life. The cryptic Vedic mantras were were turned into action packed stories, what would be called 'mythology' in the West, and a plethora of deities. The Pauranas were a kind of spiritual 'stealth technology' with the teachings of non-duality cleverly and humorously...but not too obscurely...hidden behind an exicting, baroque and romantic mythological facade. It proved to be a stroke of genius because the Pauranic deities proved to be immensely popular...which focused interest back on their source, the Vedas, as was the rishi's intention. India is still a Pauranic culture today.

Non-dual   When the senses and the mind are transcended one experiences reality as non-dual actionless Awareness, one's Self.  There are two types of transcendence.  In the first the world 'disappears' because what we experience as the world is just a projection of our minds.  Although the world is gone in this state, the Self shines on its own.   In the second the world appears but is known to be an apparent reality and all objects subjective and objective are known to be equal in value to each other.  (See 'samadhi' in this glossary)  This state is known as non-discriminating wisdom.   Experientially, transcendence happens automatically in 'peak' moments, when the mind is extremely one-pointed in any conceivable situation.   Intense fear or desire can cause transcendence.  Transcendence is common and much sought after because it delivers the vision of non-duality.  When one's vision is non-dual one feels whole and complete and non-separate from the world.  This vision can be cultivated by certain 'spiritual' practices and by exposing oneself to Vedanta, the teachings of non-duality. 

Pradkshina The ritual of walking around a deity, temple or holy mountain to the right. A symbol of the mind keeping the Self in the center of its consciousness.

Ramanashram The ashram (place) of Ramana Maharshi one of India's most revered sages. Ramana realized his true nature when he was a boy of seventeen. He lived in caves on the Holy Mountain Arunachala and never left Tiruvannamalai in his life. The ashram has become a major pilgrimmage center in the last ten years, attracting seekers from all over the world.

 

Sadhu An individual, usually male, who has has no legal status in the society. A renunciate. Sadhus take vows of poverty, chastity, etc. and wander from one holy place to another. A free, non-attached person.

Satori     A Zen term meaning 'glimpse.'  It refers to a short intense vision of the Self.

Samadhi    A state of mind from which every object is known to have equal value with every other object.  The Yoga Shastra (scripture) says,  "A yogi in samadhi sees no difference between a lump of gold and the excreta of a cow."

Samadhi taken from the yogic term for a 'dead' mind, the term refers to the burial place of a saint or a sage. Samadhis are pilgrimmage spots in India as it is believed that something of the energy or the aura of the great being remains with the body.

Scripture The Vedanta Shastras: Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma Sutras, and a host of subsidiary texts written by sages who were established in the knowledge of non-duality.

Tantra   An experiential approach to Self realization.  The idea is that because this is a non-dual reality, the Self pervades every aspect of the creation and is therefore available as the essence of each and every experience.   By training the mind to look for the Self in every experience one's daily life can become a spiritual practice, one that may ultimately lead to Self knowledge.  However, in this context, the word tantra refers to sexual contact with the idea of attaining 'union' with God.  The word and the practice that it refers to are much misunderstood and misused these days.   It is an idea that appeals to sensation-starved egos who see it as way to provide a spiritual justification for sexual activity.  In fact the idea that a human being can attain union with God is incorrect.  If this is a non-dual reality, as the Vedic scriptures claim and our epiphanies confirm, and there is such an entity as an individual soul, that soul could not be separate from God even for a minute. 

Shaktipat  The transmission of spiritual energy from one person to another or from the group mind to an individual.  One's mind is temporarily arrested and a vision of the Self ensues.   A valuable experience in the beginning stages of spiritual life in so far as it can give a person an idea of what he or she is seeking, shaktipat is merely a temporary experience of the Self.  Attachment to this kind of experience has its downside.  Because shaktipat feels so good seeking it can easily become a kind of addiction in people of little understanding.  Because the Self appears as an object of experience it often distracts one from the ultimate goal of spiritual life: gaining knowledge of one's identity as the Self.  

Scripture   Vedic scriptures i.e. Vedanta.   The teachings assert that reality is non-dual consciousness. 

The Vedas Veda means knowledge in Sanskrit. The Vedas are the voluminous texts that contain the knowledge behind Sanatana Dharma, the foundation of Hindu spiritual culture. Each of the four Vedas has two portions. One contains knowledge of rituals whose end is to gain things both here and hereafter. The second or Upanishadic portion, also known as Vedanta, contains the knowledge of the Self.

Vedanta a means of Self (God) knowledge found in the Upanishads, the 'philosophical' portion of the Vedas. It states that freedom from limitation is the goal of human life and that the Self, one's innermost being, is free of limitation. It presents teachings that awaken us to our limitless nature.

Yoga a 'scientific' method based on third century BC teachings for gaining the experience of God, the innemost Self.