Aum Dictionary

Rishabha rsabha (Sanskrit) Power, strength, excellence; the second zodiacal sign, Taurus the Bull; in the Vedas and Upanishads, often used to mean pranava or Aum.

Abbreviated as rii, it is the second of the seven notes of the Hindu musical scale. According to the Bhagavata-Purana, the first teacher of the Jain doctrines in India; the first Jain Tirthakara (tirthankara) or arhat.

(See also: Rishabha, rsabha , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Primal Sound: In Hinduism, sound is the first manifestation, even before light, in the creative scheme of things. The Primal Sound is also known as Pranava, the sound of the mula mantra, "Aum."

See: sound, Healing sound, vibrational healing

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Om:

The most sacred word of the Vedas; also written Aum. It is a symbol of both the personal God and the Absolute.

(See also: Om , Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

Taurus The bull; second sign of the zodiac, a constellation containing the Pleiades. In astrology a fixed earthy sign, the night house of Venus, corresponding to the throat, neck, and base of the brain. It is the bull among the four sacred animals who are the Maharajas of the four quarters, and presides over the south. Called in Sanskrit Rishabha, dedicated to Yama, the god of the Underworld, it stands in Hindu reckoning for Pranava or Aum (12 Signs of the Zodiac). Frequently it is connected with Logos, Verbum, Vach -- for it is another form or aspect of the Third Logos.

Taurus stands for both sun and moon gods, its symbol being sometimes a bull and sometimes a cow, the Third Logos mystically being considered androgyne, differentiation into the two opposites not yet having supervened. Thus Taurus was usually connected with sun gods, such as Osiris; and at others connected with moon goddesses -- Isis, Diana, Cybele, etc. -- with the moon, and with the far higher Magna Mater (great mother), source of Taurus as the Second Logos, a distinctly feminine aspect.

Its symbol represents the cow horns which are also a symbol of the moon and lunar goddesses. "Ancient mystics saw the ansated cross, in the horns of Taurus (the upper portion of the Hebrew Aleph) pushing away the Dragon, and Christians connected the sign and constellation with Christ. St. Augustine calls it 'the great City of God,' and the Egyptians called it the 'interpreter of the divine voice,' the Apis-Pacis of Hermonthis" (TG 323).

Designated by the first letter of the alphabet, Taurus is described in many ancient systems as being number one among the signs, because this ascription took place and became static at a time in past history when Taurus opened the spring, and hence was reckoned as the first. Blavatsky suggests that the constellation Taurus was in the first sign of the zodiac at the beginning of kali yuga (3102 BC.), and consequently the equinoctial point fell therein (TG 387).

Associating the Hebrew patriarchs with the signs of the zodiac, Cain presides over Taurus (IU 2:465).

(See also: Taurus   , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Thothori Nyan Tsan (Tibet, Tibetan) A King of Tibet in the fourth century. It is narrated that during his reign he was visited by five mysterious strangers, who revealed to him how he might use for his country’s welfare four precious things which had fallen down from heaven, in 331 A.D., in a golden casket and "the use of which no one knew".

These were

(1) hands folded as the Buddhist ascetics fold them;

(2) a be-jewelled Shorten (a Stupa built over a receptacle for relics);

(3) a gem inscribed with the " Aum mani padme hum" ; and ( the Zamotog, a religious work on ethics, a part of the Kanjur.

A voice from heaven then told the King that after a certain number of generations everyone would learn how precious these four things were. The number of generations stated carried the world to the seventh century, when Buddhism became the accepted religion of Tibet. Making an allowance for legendary licence, the four things fallen from heaven, the voice, and the five mysterious strangers, may be easily seen to have been historical facts. They were without any doubt five Arhats or Bhikshus from India, on their proselytising tour. Many were the Indian. sages who, persecuted in India for their new faith, betook themselves to Tibet and China.

(See also: Thothori Nyan Tsan , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

OM MANI PADME HUM

Tibetan mantra "Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus." OM or Aum is a mystical vibratory word the 3 letters of which represent Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Mani padme ("the jewel in the lotus)," superficially means "Buddhism (the jewel) in the world (the lotus)," but in a deeper sense it is the divine lingam in yoni. (See LOTUS.) It has still deeper meanings, however, relating to unlocking the walls separating self from other.

(See also: OM MANI PADME HUM , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Seal of the Theosophical Society

Composed of a serpent in the form of a circle (Ananta-sesha) biting its tail -- standing for eternity and boundless wisdom.

Its scales signify the illimitable diversity of wisdom or truth, and likewise the innumerable smaller cycles within boundless duration. The circumscribed swastika at the meeting point of the head and tail is a practically universal ancient emblem portraying evolution, the endless movement of spirit in and through matter.

Within the large circle formed by the serpent are two interlaced triangles (called in India the seal of Vishnu, in the West the seal of Solomon). The white triangle pointing upwards denotes the spiritual fire of consciousness, concealed wisdom, or spirit. The downward-pointing black triangle, sometimes colored blue or red, refers to the manifested worlds of matter, or to wisdom revealed in the worlds of manifestation. The two triangles interlaced form a six-pointed star, which means the manifested Logos, or the third cosmic emanation of the ineffable One. Again, the six-pointed star refers to the six general forces or powers of nature, the six principles, the six planes -- which are represented as being all synthesized by their origin, the seventh, when a point or dot is placed within the star, for this point is what Pythagoras called the Monas monadum (the monad of monads).

"The double triangle -- the Satkiri Chakram of Vishnu -- or the six-pointed star, is the perfect seven. In all the old Sanskrit works -- Vedic and Tantrik -- you find the number 6 mentioned more often than the 7 -- this last figure, the central point being implied, for it is the germ of the six and their matrix. It is then thus . . . {drawing]

-- the central point standing for seventh, and the circle, the Mahakasha -- endless space -- for the seventh Universal Principle. In one sense, both are viewed as Avalokitesvara, for they are respectively the Macrocosm and the microcosm. The interlaced triangles -- the upper pointing one -- is Wisdom concealed, and the downward pointing one -- Wisdom revealed (in the phenomenal world). The circle indicates the bounding, circumscribing quality of the All, the Universal Principle which, from any given point expands so as to embrace all things, while embodying the potentiality of every action in the Cosmos. As the point then is the centre round which the circle is traced -- they are identical and one, and though from the standpoint of Maya and Avidya -- (illusion and ignorance) -- one is separated from the other by the manifested triangle, the 3 sides of which represent the three gunas -- finite attributes. In symbology the central point is Jivatma (the 7th principle), and hence Avalokitesvara, the Kwan-Shai-yin, the manifested 'Voice' (or Logos), the germ point of manifested activity; -- hence -- in the phraseology of the Christian Kabalists 'the Son of the Father and Mother,' and agreeably to ours -- 'the Self manifested in Self' -- Yih-sin, the 'one form of existence,' the child of Dharmakaya (the universally diffused Essence), both male and female. Parabrahm or 'Adi-Buddha' while acting through that germ point outwardly as an active force, reacts from the circumference inwardly as the Supreme but latent Potency. The double triangles symbolize the Great Passive and the Great Active; the male and female; Purusha and Prakriti. Each triangle is a Trinity because presenting a triple aspect. The white represents in its straight lines: Gnanam -- (Knowledge); Gnata -- (the Knower); and Gnayam -- (that which is known). The black -- form, colour, and substance, also the creative, preservative, and destructive forces and are mutually correlating . . ." (ML 345-6).

Within the star is placed the crux ansata, the handled cross or tau, one aspect of which is the particularized functions or activity of spirit in matter so far as our own world is concerned, and more especially insofar as intelligence is working upon cosmic matter. It is a symbol often associated with the adept or initiate as typifying his union with spiritual intelligence rather than with the powers and potencies of unspiritualized life in the material world.

When Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott went to India in 1879, the Sanskrit word Aum was placed above the seal, while below it was added the phrase: Satyan nasti paro dharmah (there is no religion [law]

higher than truth [reality]) which was adopted as the motto of the Theosophical Society.

In some respects the seal of the Theosophical Society is similar to the personal seal of Blavatsky: however, in place of the tau within the interlaced triangles, her seal had the initials E B (E standing for Elena, pronounced Yelena in Russian, and B for Blavatsky). Inside the circle are astrological and Qabbalistic signs stated by some to refer to Blavatsky herself, while above the seal is a countess' coronet belonging to her family.

The seal of the Theosophical Society can be said to refer to a universe expanding into manifestation from its origin in cosmic spirit, emanation picturated by the comprehending serpent of space and duration. Just as the serpent periodically sheds its old skin, a universe, after a period of rest or dormancy, is again emanated, the child of its former self, for another period of cosmic manifestation.

(See also: Seal of the Theosophical Society , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Tum, or To?m The "Brothers of the Tum", a very ancient school of Initiation in Northern India in the days of Buddhist persecution. The "Turn B’hai" have now become the "Aum B’hai", spelt, however, differently at present, both schools having merged into one. The first was composed of Kshatriyas, the second of Brahmans. The word "Tum" has a double meaning, that of darkness (absolute darkness), which as absolute is higher than the highest and purest of lights, and a sense resting on the mystical greeting among Initiates, " Thou art thou, thyself ", equivalent to saying "Thou art one with the Infinite and the All".

(See also: Tum , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Om: A mantra that is said to be the manifest symbol of the cosmic energy or God. (Pronounced Aum)

(See also: Om , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Amen 'amen (Hebrew) (from 'aman to be firm, faithful, trustworthy, sure)

Firmness, permanency, durability, truth, fidelity; as an adverb truly, certainly, verily, so be it. The significance of amen is in many cases almost identic with that of the Sanskrit Aum (Om). For this reason in Christian prayers or church services it has been adopted as the final word closing a prayer -- another usage closely similar to the way in which Om is used in Sanskrit writings. In later Gnostic times Amen was one of the angelic host.

In ancient Egypt one of the great gods was called Amen or Ammon (

See also AMMON).

(See also: Amen, amen , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Mandukya Upanishad: (Sanskrit) A "principal" Upanishad (belonging to the Atharva Veda) which, in 12 concise verses, teaches of Aum and the four states (avastha) of awareness: waking (vishva), dreaming (taijasa), dreamless sleep (prajna) and transcendent, spiritual consciousness (turiya).

(See also: Mandukya Upanishad , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

pranava:

pranava - another name for aum

(See also: pranava , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Om:

Om(kara): also AUM, the pranava, the highest syllable combination, whose letters stand for the fundamental trinity of guna's, loka's, veda's, level of realization, names etc.

(See also: Om , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Ardhamatra (Sanskrit) (from ardha half + matra a metrical unit)

Half a short syllable; the Nadabindu-Upanishad in speaking of Aum says that the syllable or character A is considered to be Kalahamsa's right wing; U, the left wing; M, the tail of the Swan, and the ardhamatra its head (cf VS 5, 74-5). In the Mahabharata kalahamsa is the name of several species of the hamsa bird, a goose or swan. Ardhamatra is a mystical term for one of the portions of the swan of time -- Brahma or the manifest or Third Logos of the universe, whose emanation or creative activity is hamsa-vahana (the vehicle or carrier of the swan).

Ardhamatra, therefore, has reference to the egoic individuality of the cosmic Third Logos or Brahma (also called Purusha), considered to be "one-half the measure" of the eternal past and the eternal future -- such egoic individuality being the product in space and time of the continuously reimbodying spirit of the universe, evolving and changing its nature by evolution as the cycles of time pass from the present into the past, and forwards into the future.

(See also: Ardhamatra , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Atharvashikha Upanishad: (Sanskrit) A minor Upanishad dealing with the interpretation of Aum. See: Upanishad, Vedas.

(See also: Atharvashikha Upanishad , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Pranava:

Pranava (Omkara): Recitation of Vedic hymns (BV-28). The sound of God, identity of Krishna being the transcendental sound AUM (OM), the primal mantra

(See also: Pranava , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

The Name of God, In Welsh Enw Duw, written. This name was sounded at the birth of the universe, "whereupon latency flashed into existence more swiftly than the lightning reaches its home." This sacred word is given as O I W -- the Welsh w being a vowel, equivalent to the Sanskrit u. But in Cywydd Cyfrinach ("The Poem of the Secret," by Rhys Goch o Eryri, c. 11th century), a poem on this sacred word, we are told that the letters of it are to be taken from the words Awen and Menw, which would suggest the Sanskrit pranava Aum.

(See also: Name of God , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

omkara:

The famous mantric sylable om or aum.

(See also: omkara , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Omkara (Sanskrit). The same as Aum or Om. It is also the name of one of the twelve lingams, that was represented by a secret and most sacred shrine at Ujjain - no longer existing, since the time of Buddhism.

(See also: Omkara , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Pranava: (Sanskrit) "Humming."

The mantra Aum, denoting God as the Primal Sound. It can be heard as the sound of one's own nerve system, like the sound of an electrical transformer or a swarm of bees. The meditator is taught to inwardly transform this sound into the inner light which lights the thoughts, and bask in this blissful consciousness. Pranava is also known as the sound of the nadanadi shakti.

See: Aum, Siva Consciousness.

(See also: Pranava , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Omkara, Omoroca (Sanskrit) The sacred, mystical syllable Aum or Om; also one of the twelve lingas, the twelve powers of the creative or generative logoi of the solar system.

(See also: Omkara, Omoroca , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Aum (Sanskrit) The ancient Indians held that Om, when considered as a single letter ((Sanskrit character)) was the symbol of the Supreme; when written with three letters -- Aum -- it stood among other things for the three Vedas, the three gunas or qualities of nature, the three divisions of the universe, and the deities of the Hindu Trimurti -- Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva -- concerned in the creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe or the beings composing it. "The mystic formula, résumé of every science, contained in the three mysterious letters, AUM which signify creation, conservation, and transformation" (IU 2:31).

These three letters are supposed by some Hindus to have correspondences as follows: "The letter A is the Sattva Guna, U is the Rajas, and M is the Tamas; these three qualities are termed Nature (Prakriti). . . . A is Bhurloka, U is Bhuvarloka, and M is Svarloka; by these three letters the spirit exhibits itself" (Laheri in Lucifer 10:147). This word is said to have a morally spiritualizing effect if pronounced during meditation and when the mind is at peace and cleansed of all impurities.

See also OM

(See also: Aum , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)