Body Dictionary

upeksha:

upeksha - disregard

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Zipporah tsipporah (Hebrew) A circling, revolving, hence song or singing as a circling of sound; in the Bible, one of the seven daughters of Jethro, the Midianite priest, given in marriage to Moses after the latter had assisted her at the well (Ex 2). In one interpretation, "Jethro is called the 'father-in-law' of Moses; not because Moses was really married to one of his seven daughters. Moses was an Initiate, if he ever existed, and as such an ascetic, a nazar, and could never be married. It is an allegory like everything else. Zipporah (the shining) is one of the personified Occult Sciences given by Revel-Jethro, the Midian priest Initiator, to Moses, his Egyptian pupil. The 'well' by which Moses sat down in his fight from the Pharaoh symbolizes the 'well of Knowledge' " (SD 2:466n).

Zipporah is similar to the City Sippara -- situated on the Euphrates River north of Babylon -- where the casting of the infant Sargon occurred, which is practically identical with the story of Moses, only said to have happened about 1100 years earlier. Blavatsky concludes that Ezra applied this story to that of the prophet Moses when he compiled his history in Exodus.

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

PRANA: the vital force, the life-current

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

Asathor (Scandianvian Norse). The same as Thor. The god of storms and thunder, a hero who receives Miolnir, the "storm-hammer", from its fabricators, the dwarfs. With it he conquer Alwin in a "battle of words" breaks the head of the giant Hrungir, chastises Loki for his magic; destroys the whole race of giants in Thrymheim; and, as a good and benevolent god, sets up therewith land-marks, sanctifies marriage bonds, blesses law and order, and produces every good and terrific feat with its help. A god in the Eddas, who is almost as great as Odin. (See "Miolnir" and "Thor’s Hammer".)

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

Ammon (Egypt, Egyptian). One of the great gods of Egypt. Ammon or Amoun is far older than Amoun-Ra, and is identified with Baal. Hammon, the Lord of Heaven. Amoun-Ra was Ra the Spiritual Sun, the "Sun of Righteousness", etc., for - "the Lord God is a Sun".

He is the God of Mystery and the hieroglyphics of his name are often reversed. He is Pan, All-Nature esoterically, and therefore the universe, and the "Lord of Eternity". Ra, as declared by an old inscription, was "begotten by Neith but not engendered". He is called the "self- begotten" Ra,, and created goodness from a glance of his fiery eye, as Set-Typhon created evil from his. As Ammon (also Amoun and Amen), Ra, he is "Lord of the worlds enthroned on the Sun’s disk and appears in the abyss of heaven".

A very ancient hymn spells the name "Amen-ra", and hails the "Lord of the thrones of the earth...Lord of Truth, father of the gods, maker of man, creator of the beasts, Lord of Existence, Enlightener of the Earth, sailing in heaven in tranquillity. . . All hearts are softened at beholding thee, sovereign of life, health and strength We worship thy spirit who alone made us", etc., etc. (See Bonwick’s Egyptian Belief.)

Ammon Ra is called "his mother’s husband" and her son. (See "Chnourmis" and "Chnouphis" and also Secret Doctrine I, pp. 91 and It was to the "ram-headed" god that the Jews sacrificed lambs, and the lamb of Christian theology is a disguised reminiscence of the ram.

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

Maya (Sanskrit). Illusion ; the cosmic power which renders phenomenal existence and the perceptions thereof possible. In Hindu philosophy that alone which is changeless and eternal is called reality ; all that which is subject to change through decay and differentiation and which has therefore a begining and an end is regarded as maya - illusion.

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Dugpas (Tibet, Tibetan). Lit., "Red Caps," a sect in Tibet.

Before the advent of Tsong-ka-pa in the fourteenth century, the Tibetans, whose Buddhism had deteriorated and been dreadfully adulterated with the tenets of the old Bhon religion, - were all Dugpas. From that century, however, and after the rigid laws imposed upon the Gelukpas (yellow caps) and the general reform and purification of Buddhism (or Lamaism), the Dugpas have given themselves over more than ever to sorcery, immorality, and drunkenness.

Since then the word Dugpas has become a synonym of "sorcerer", "adept of black magic" and everything vile. There are few, if any, Dugpas in Eastern Tibet, but they congregate in Bhutan, Sikkim, and the borderlands generally.

 Europeans not being permitted to penetrate further than those borders, the Orientalists never having studied Buddho-Lamaism in Tibet proper, but judging of it on hearsay and from what Cosmo di Koros, Schlagintweit, and a few others have learnt of it from Dugpas, confuse both religions and bring them under one head. They thus give out to the public pure Dugpaism instead of Buddho-Lamaism. In short Northern Buddhism in its purified, metaphysical form is almost entirely unknown.

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Zervan Akarana (Avestan) [from zervan time (cf Pahlavi zervam, zarvan, zurvan) + arana, akrana boundary]

Also Zeruana Akerne. Boundless spirit (BCW 4:328); in Zoroastrian literature there are two different kinds of time -- boundless time, pre-existing and ever-existing -- and finite time, which lasts for 12,000 symbolic years, the period during which the two forces of Ahura-Mazda and Ahriman are engaged in their never-ending struggle. According to the Avesta, Zervan Akarana has always existed; its glory is too exalted, its light too resplendent, for human intellect to grasp and comprehend. Its first emanation is eternal light, which becomes Ahura Mazda, the Logos; from whom emanate the six Amesha Spentas, and everything that has being, existence, and form. Another translation is "duration in a circle," the circle being the symbol for the endless, the beginningless, the unknown -- hence boundless time. Zervan Akarana is thus the Mazdean equivalent of Parabrahman or 'eyn soph.

The cycle marking the time period of the world (a fixed period, in contradistinction to boundless time) was called in the Avesta, Zervan daregho-hvadata (the sovereign time of the long period), measured as twelve periods of a thousand years, but what is generally understood in the 'Avesta' system as a thousand years, means, in the esoteric doctrine, a cycle of a duration known but to the initiates and which has an allegorical sense" (IU 2:221n).

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

Pantacle (Ancient Greek). The same as Pentalpha; the triple triangle of Pythagoras or the five-pointed star.

It was given the name because it reproduces the letter A (alpha) on the five sides of it or in five different positions - its number, moreover, being composed of the first odd ( and the first even (2) numbers. It is very occult. In Occultism and the Kabala it stands for man or the Microcosm, the "Heavenly Man", and as such it was a powerful talisman for keeping at bay evil spirits or the Elementals.

In Christian theology it refers to the five wounds of Christ; its interpreters failing, however, to add that these "five wounds" were themselves symbolical of the Microcosm, or the "Little Universe", or again, Humanity, this symbol pointing out the fall of pure Spirit (Christos) into matter (Iassous, "life", or man).

In esoteric philosophy the Pentalpha, or five-pointed star, is the symbol of the EGO or the Higher Manas. Masons use it, referring to it as the five-pointed star, and connecting it with their own fanciful interpretation.

(See the word "Pentacle" for its difference in meaning from "Pantacle".)

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

Sutra (Sanskrit) [from siv to sew]

A string, thread; the sutras are strings of rules or aphorisms written in serve form, composed in terse and symbolic language with the obvious intention of their being committed to memory. This was a favorite form among the Hindus, as among all ancient peoples, of imbodying and transmitting rules of ancient religious and philosophic thought.

There are sutras written upon almost every subject, but the sutras commonly signify those connected with the Vedas, of which there are three kinds: the Kalpa-sutras (rules of ritual); the grihya-sutras (domestic rules) treating of ordinary family rites such as marriage, birth, name-giving, etc.; and the Samayacharika-sutras which treat of customs and temporal duties. The Kalpa-sutras belong to the class of writings called Srutis (heard or revealed); while the other two types of sutras belong to the Smritis (remembered), carried traditionally from generation to generation by word of mouth.

In Buddhist writings, the Sutras are the second division of sacred works, generally known under the equivalent Pali term Suttas.

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

Ananda-Lahari (Sanskrit). "The wave of joy"; a beautiful poem written by Sankaracharya, a hymn to Parvati, very mystical and occult.

(See also: Ananda-Lahari , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Cesar. A far-famed astrologer and "professor of magic," i.e., an Occultist, during the reign of Henry IV of France. "He was reputed to have been strangled by the devil in 1611," as Brother Kenneth Mackenzie tells us.

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Palasa Tree (Sanskrit) Called also Kanaka (butea frondosa) a tree with red flowers of very occult properties.

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Hanuman:

Hanuman (Anjaneya): Monkey warrior who became Rama's devoted friend and servant. (RRV2-4a), also called "Sun of the Wind-God Vayu" (RRV-5a) [BG 1:20: Then the son of Pandu, who's flag was marked with Hanuman and who was looking from his chariot upon the sons of Dhritarastra in preparing to take up his bow and shoot his arrows, O King, at that time spoke the following words to Hrisikesa [Krishna as the Lord of the senses].]

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

bhujasana:

bhujasana - the arm posture

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

pavanmuktasana:

pavanmuktasana - the knee squeeze posture

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

Yudishthira (Sanskrit). One of the heroes of the Mahabharata.

The eldest brother of the Pandavas, or the five Pandu princes who fought against their next of kin, the Kauravas, the sons of their maternal uncle. Arjuna, the disciple of Krishna, was his younger brother.

The Bhagavad Gita gives mystical particulars of this war. Kunti was the mother of the Pandavas, and Draupadi the wife in common of the five brothers -  an allegory. But Yudishthira is also, as well as Krishna, Arjuna, and so many other heroes, an historical character, who lived some 5,000 years ago, at the period when the Kali Yuga set in.

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abhijith:

abhijith. Victory; eighth period of the day (about midday); an auspicious constellation of time.

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Diakka. Called by Occultists and Theosophists "spooks" and "shells", i.e., phantoms from Kama Loka. A word invented by the great American Seer, Andrew Jackson Davis, to denote what he considers untrustworthy "Spirits".

In his own words: "A Diakka (from the Summerland) is one who takes insane delight in playing parts, in juggling tricks, in personating opposite characters; to whom prayer and profane utterances are of equi-value; surcharged with a passion for lyrical narrations; . . . morally deficient, he is without the active feelings of justice, philanthropy, or tender affection.

He knows nothing of what men call the sentiment of gratitude; the ends of hate and love are the same to him; his motto is often fearful and terrible to others - SELF is the whole of private living, and exalted annihilation the end of all private life. Only yesterday, one said to a lady medium, signing himself Swedenborg, this: ‘Whatsoever is, has been, will be, or may be, that I AM.; and private life is but the aggregative phantasms of thinking throb- lets, rushing in their rising onward to the central heart of eternal death’

(The Diakka and their Victims; "an explanation of the False and Repulsive in Spiritualism.") These "Diakka" are then simply the communicating and materializing so-called "Spirits" of Mediums and Spiritualists.

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Ptah, or Pthah (Egypt, Egyptian). The son of Kneph in the Egyptian Pantheon. He is the Principle of Light and Life through which "creation" or rather evolution took place. The Egyptian logos and creator, the Demiurgos.

A very old deity, as, according to Herodotus, he had a temple erected to him by Menes, the first king of Egypt. He is "giver of life" and the self-born, and the father of Apis, the sacred bull, conceived through a ray from the Sun. Ptah is thus the prototype of Osiris, a later deity. Herodotus makes him the father of the Kabiri, the mystery-gods; and the Targum of Jerusalem says: "Egyptians called the wisdom of the First Intellect Ptah"; hence he is Mahat the "divine wisdom"; though from another aspect he is Swabhavat, the self-created substance, as a prayer addressed to him in the Ritual of the Dead says, after calling Ptah "father of fathers and of all gods, generator of all men produced from his substance": "Thou art without father, being. engendered by thy own will; thou art without mother, being born by the renewal of thine own substance from whom proceeds substance".

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

Ureus (Ancient Greek). In Egyptian Urhek, a serpent and a sacred symbol. Some see in it a cobra, while others say it is an asp. Cooper explains that "the asp is not a ureus but a cerastes, or kind of viper, i.e., a two- horned viper. It is the royal serpent, wearing the pschent . . . the naya haje." The ureus is "round the disk of Horus and forms the ornament of the cap of Osiris, besides overhanging the brows of other divinities" (Bonwick). Occultism explains that the ureus is the symbol of initiation and also of hidden wisdom, as the serpent always is. The gods were all patrons of the hierophants and their instructors.

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

Tripitaka (Sanskrit). Lit., "the three baskets"; the name of the Buddhist canon.

It is composed of three divisions:

(1) the doctrine;

(2) the rules and laws for the priesthood and ascetics;

(3) the philosophical dissertations and metaphysics: to wit, the Abhidharma, defined by Buddhaghosa as that law (dharma) which goes beyond (abhi) the law.

The Abhidharma contains the most profoundly metaphysical and philosophical teachings, and is the store-house whence the Mahayana and Hinayana Schools got their fundamental doctrines. There is a fourth division - the Samyakta Pitaka. But as it is a later addition by the Chinese Buddhists, it is not accepted by the Southern Church of Siam and Ceylon.

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