Controls Dictionary

The Principles of Yoga

In this article, the five principles of Yoga will be detailed. These are the foundations of Yoga Practice; Correct Relaxation, Proper Breathing, Good Exercise, Positive Thinking and Suitable Diet.

Read more here: » Yoga: The Principles of Yoga

Karma (Sanskrit). Physically, action: metaphysically, the LAW OF RETRIBUTION, the Law of cause and effect or Ethical Causation. Nemesis, only in one sense, that of bad Karma.

It is the eleventh Nidana in the concatenation of causes and effects in orthodox Buddhism ; yet it is the power that controls all things, the resultant of moral action, the meta physical Samskara, or the moral effect of an act committed for the attainment of something which gratifies a personal desire.

There is the Karma of merit and the Karma of demerit. Karma neither punishes nor rewards, it is simply the one Universal LAW which guides unerringly, and, so to say, blindly, all other laws productive of certain effects along the grooves of their respective causations.

When Buddhism teaches that "Karma is that moral kernel (of any being) which alone survives death and continues in transmigration ‘ or reincarnation, it simply means that there remains nought after each Personality but the causes produced by it ; causes which are undying, i.e., which cannot be eliminated from the Universe until replaced by their legitimate effects, and wiped out by them, so to speak, and such causes - unless compensated during the life of the person who produced them with adequate effects, will follow the reincarnated Ego, and reach it in its subsequent reincarnation until a harmony between effects and causes is fully reestablished. No "personality" - a mere bundle of material atoms and of instinctual and mental characteristics - can of course continue, as such, in the world of pure Spirit.

Only that which is immortal in its very nature and divine in its essence, namely, the Ego, can exist for ever. And as it is that Ego which chooses the personality it will inform, after each Devachan, and which receives through these personalities the effects of the Karmic causes produced, it is therefore the Ego, that self which is the "moral kernel" referred to and embodied karma, "which alone survives death."

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

maya

The Supreme Lord’s inferior, material energy. She creates and controls the material world, keeping its inhabitants in countless varieties of illusion.

(See also: maya , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

The Malas

Malas are the various waste products of the dhatus produced during the normal metabolical process. The three primary malas being Purisa (faeces), Mutra (urine) and Sweda (sweat). Ayurveda clearly states that only a balanced condition of doshas, dhatus and malas is arogya (good health or disease free condition) and their imbalance is the cause of ill health or disease.

Purisa is the waste left back after nutrients of digested food have been absorbed in the small intestine. While water and salt absorbed in the large intestine, the residue now converted into solid faeces, leaves the body. The consistency of the faeces depending both on gastrointestinal mobility and nature of diet.

The tridoshas must be in balance to ensure normal evacuation. Pitta and kapha help digestion and vata governs the mobility throughout the process. Any discrepancy or imbalance between these can lead to various symptoms of abdominal heaviness or pain, flatulance, constipation or diarrohea. It may also give rise to diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, low-back pain, asthama, bronchitis as well as stomach ulcers and irritable bowels.

Mutra is derived during the course of biological processes within the human body. The first stage of urine formation begins in the large intestine where fluids are absorbed into the system. The entire urinary system (kidneys, uterus, bladder and urethra) takes part in the formation and elimination of urine, regulating the fluid balance in our body and also maintaining blood pressure. Any imbalance of increased or decreased urine, may result in disorders as kidney stones urinary infections, cystitis, abdominal pain and bladder disorders.

Sweda is the third primary mala, and it occurs as a waste product during the synthesis of meda dhatu (fatty tissue). Eliminated through skin pores, it controls body temperature and helps to regulate the electrolytic balance. The channels responsible for bringing the sweat to skin surface are known as sweda vaha srotas. It is essential that normal formation and flow of sweat takes place as otherwise it may lead to skin infections, itching/burning sensation over the body, loss of fluid balance and reduced body temperature.

(See also: Malas , Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Dictionary, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Yog means union. Union with a supreme power which is the source of creation, perfection and destruction. Union with the supreme intellect and the guiding force behind the perfect mechanism of the universe. Yoga is merging oneself with this force that guides the human being to a state of total bliss. A human being is a small universe in itself. When the consciousness of this small universe unites with the energy prevailing in the vast canopy of the universe the union is complete and the light of wisdom starts flowing in the human body.

Read more here: » Yoga - Beyond The Body And Mind

Harmonic Concordance: An astrological perspective on the Harmonic Concordance.

Read more here: » Harmonic Concordance perspective: November 8th Lunar Exclipse Grand Sextile

YOGA

(Sanskrit for "union," related to our "yoke.") Conquering the self is known as Yoga, the esoteric Eastern teaching of human perfection that lies behind all occult wisdom. It is a thread that binds the individual to the "Supreme Reality" (or, as Watts would say, "The Supreme Identity"). In the Upanishads is written:

"By Vayu, the Inner Controller, as by a thread, O Gautama, are  this world, the other world, and all beings held together.

"Quite so... Now describe the Inner Controller.

"He who inhabits the earth, yet is within the earth, whom the earth does  not know, whose body the earth is, and who controls the earth from within --  he is your Self, the Inner Controller, The Immortal."

A teacher of Yoga is called a guru and a student is called a chela, a practitioner of Yoga is called a Yogi or Yogin. Yoga reveals the beginning yogi's weaknesses and also what transcendent strengths are available to him. There are 12 essential types of Yoga, here presented in arbitrary order:

Hatha-Yoga (The Breath: physical vitality). Bhakti-Yoga (Loving: The way of Devotion of Religion). Shakti-Yoga (Energy: The way of nature). Mantra-Yoga (Sound: Power through sound vibrations). Laya-Yoga (The Will: Mental powers). Yantra-Yoga (Formation: Powers through the use of geometric forms). Dhyana-Yoga (Thinking: Way of thought). Raja-Yoga (Methodology: Power to discriminate and develop consciousness). Jnana-Yoga (Knowledge: Intellectual power). Kundalini-Yoga (Kundalini energy: Development of psychic nerve energy). Samadhi-Yoga (The Self: The way of ecstasy). Karma-Yoga (Action: The way of right action). To these we must also add the esoteric Martya Yoga (willed death).

(See also: YOGA , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Chakra System

The chakras are the bodies centres of energy and vital to the well being of the whole person. They are the energy centres through which our spiritual and emotional energies flow.

The word ‘Chakra’ is taken from Hindi and means ‘wheel of energy’ There are seven chakras or energy centres within the body. Each Chakra has certain characteristics and influences a different aspect of the personality. The correct flow of energies through the chakras is vital for health. When the flow of Prana, or energy is blocked, disease results.

The Base Chakra, Mooladhara

This chakra controls the basic human survival instincts and provides an essential ‘grounding’. Our most basic human instincts originate from this Chakra.

The Sacral Chakra, Swadisthan Manipura

This is linked to sexuality and reproductive capacity.

The Solar Plexus, Nabhi

This chakra is said to direct our awareness of self within the world. This is the seat of our emotional life and existence.

The Heart Chakra, Anhata

Connected to love and compassion. This chakra is the centre of feelings of love, harmony and peace.

The Throat Chakra, Vishuddhi

Linked to individual creativity and communication.

The Brow Chakra, Ajjna

This chakra forms the seat of both intuition and awareness. It is seen as the seat of perception, often perception beyond our physical senses.

The Crown Chakra, Sahasrara

This chakra links to the persons spiritual connection with the universe around them, the link with the divine. This chakra also balances the interior and exterior energies of a person's existence, linking them to the world around them.

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

Hinduism and Celibacy

Hinduism considers celibacy (brahmacharya) as an important virtue and an essential aspect of spiritual life. In ancient India, students who were engaged in the study of the Vedas and Brahman were exhorted to observe strict celibacy. Since control of desires was considered essential for self realization and sexual desire being the ultimate of all desires, observation of celibacy became an important feature of Hindu spiritualism. The idea that a student of Brahman should be a strict celibate became so ingrained in the mind of people that over a period of time the word Brahmacharya became synonymous more with the idea of celibacy than with that of the study of Brahman.

Read more here: » Hinduism and Celibacy: Hindu view on Celibacy

Thor (Scandinavian) Thorr (Icelandic) [from thonor thunder; cf Swedish tordon, German donner]

Best known as the Norse god of thunder and lightning, champion of the gods and subduer of giants in the ongoing battle between these opposites: gods meaning energy and giants typifying inertia. Like the Latin Jupiter, Thor controls the weather and represents the planet Jupiter. The hair of his beautiful wife Sif represents the golden harvest, whether of grain or of experience -- the mead or nectar of the gods.

The sagas depict Thor as blunt, hot-tempered, without fraud or guile, of few words and ready blows. His chariot, drawn by the two goats Toothcrusher and Toothgnasher, has an iron whiffletree, and sparks fly from its wheels and from the goats' hooves. Thor's fiery eyes color the scarlet clouds, his beard is red, on his brow he wears a crown of stars, and under his feet rests the earth whose defender he is. His chariot cannot cross the rainbow bridge, Bifrost, for its lightnings would set the bridge on fire, so the god daily fords the river beneath it when he attends the Thing (parliament) of the gods.

The symbology connected with this deity is multiform and complex, as he functions on many levels. Thor's various names indicate his many aspects as electromagnetic force which he represents in all its spectrum. His "shelf" (plane) is Thrudvang, his mansion Bilskirnir (flash, from bil momentary + skirnir shining). He is comparable to the Greek Eros, the Vedic Kama, the primal motive power which gave rise to the creative divinities from whom emanated the cosmos. In this capacity he is named Trudgalmer (sound of Thor, Icelandic Thrudgelmir), the sustaining power that maintains the cosmos as a viable functioning entity throughout its existence. Trudgalmer has two sons in space: Mode (force) and Magne (strength), the forces of repulsion and attraction recognized in radiation and gravitation or as centrifugal and centripetal force. As the life force in all living beings Thor is called Vior; as electricity on earth his name is Lorride. The terrestrial Lorride has two adopted children, Tjalfe (speed) and Roskva (work).

Thor is sometimes known as Akuthor [from the verbal root aka ride in a vehicle, travel], sometimes as Vingthor (winged Thor) or Vingner (the winged one). His day is Thursday (Thor's day, Anglo-Saxon Thunresdaeg). His hammer mjolnir (miller) is the sacred instrument with which life forms are created and annihilated. It symbolizes the power that brings beings to birth and is the slayer of giants, whereby their lives are ended, for giants represents the lifeterms of living beings.

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

REALITY-TUNNEL

R.A. Wilson: "An emic reality established by a vivid metaphor and transmitted through symbolism across generations. "A nagging question crops up in the mind of the ordinary denizen of "objective" Western, Xtian, technological society as to whether it's "Reality" we're taking about as being "alterable" or whether it's only individual subjective experience. Apart from the reality of the Original Mind or of Nirvana, let's say, there are at least two common varieties of reality: personal individual experience and the objective consensus reality of society. We've only just dropped the third: scientific objectivity. Contemporary physicists are now able to hypothesize sub-categories of reality: Zeroeth Level, First Level, Second Level, etc., but as Wilson adds, "90% of all we experience is our own imagination!" That experience is called a "reality tunnel."

The trick is to recognize how the tunnel has been "customized." Only then can we look clearly at so-called "objective" reality and effectively change it. Scientists believe they have a corner on that market, because they demand strict controls and dispassionate observation. But without realizing it, they're still operating from within their own reality tunnels. They may be able to measure the temperature of the dragon's breath and the length of its claws, but it's still a dragon to them. Whereas to enlightened observers, the dragon may be only fire and paper (or, at the other extreme, the great rooster-headed god, Abraxas himself).

(See also: REALITY-TUNNEL , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

God

1.    (Judeo-Christianity) Creator and sustainer of the universe.

2.    (Theosophy) Transcendent and immanent being who guides and controls the course of planetary evolution.

3.    Sum total of all that is.

4.    (Islam) Lord of the universe who cannot be represented by any form.

5.    (Hinduism) The One who plays the game of life by becoming the Many, losing itself in the creation and finding its way back to unity; supreme being, personal friend, teacher, and lover who knows the heart of all beings.

6.    (mysticism) Indwelling spirit within all beings; one's highest self realized through contemplation or service; eternal, infinite, all-wise, all-knowing, all-loving, ever-free radiant presence.

7.    (humanism) Impersonal spirit of selfless love

(See also: God , Body Mind and Soul)

Sukra (Sanskrit) The bright one; the planet Venus, and its regent. According to theosophy each of the seven globes of the earth planetary chain, and each of the seven root-races, is under the particular guidance and protection of one of the regents of the seven sacred planets. Sukra is the guide and protector of the third globe, globe C, and also analogically of the third root-race.

The astronomical sign of Venus is the ansated cross: the Qabbalah explains this as signifying the existence of parturient energy, yet this is an unfortunate disguise, for it is the moon which controls parturition on earth, and the effluences from Venus are rather those which govern the creative action of the intellect. Venus is often viewed mystically as hermaphroditic in operation, Venus being at times represented as bearded in Greek mythology. Here we see a connection of Sukra with the hermaphrodite early third root-race.

Mystically Usanas-Sukra (Usasans being another name for Venus) is the earth's and man's spiritual guru and preceptor, just as in ancient Hindu mythology Usanas was the guru and preceptor of the daityas. Hence Venus is spoken of as the "older brother" of the earth, whose functions during its present evolutionary stage are those of kama-manas in the solar system and therefore in man (cf SD 2:31, 33).

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

LIGHT BOX: a set of bright, full-spectrum light bulbs inside a box with a reflective background and diffusing screen; produces light thatÕs 10 to 20 times stronger than ordinary indoor light. Used to treat winter depression, or SAD (seasonal affective disorder).

Treatment typically involves spending 15 minutes to 3 hours in front of a light box every day in the fall, winter, and early spring. Research suggests that bright lights help regulate the bodyÕs internal clock, which controls hormone secretion and sleep patterns.

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

Vikshepa viksepa (Sanskrit) [from vi away, apart + kship to throw]

The act of throwing away; dispersion, scattering; sometimes used as the opposite of samyama (contemplation or meditation) which collects or controls the activities and vagaries of the mind and rises above them; hence consequent bewilderment or perplexity bringing agitation.

In Vedantic philosophy, the projecting power of maya or avidya, the mental activity which brings upon the mirror of the soul enveloping illusions producing the apparently real appearance of an external world.

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

The word Kundalini is a familiar one to all students of Yoga, as it is well known as the power, in the form of a coiled serpent, residing in Muladhara Chakra, the first of the seven Chakras, the other six being Svadhishthana, Manipuraka, Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara, in order.
Excerpt from the book Kundalini Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Kundalini and Yoga: Kundalini in different yoga philosophies

Third Eye

Organ of intuition, located between the eyebrows; sixth chakra. The etheric correspondence of the pineal gland which sees, creates, communicates, heals, destroys obstacles, unveils mysteries, and controls and directs energies

(See also: Third Eye , Body Mind and Soul)

Geller Effect:

One or more psi talents (probably including bonding control) that enable the user to bend metal objects without touching them, named after this century’s best known user, Uri Geller. The effect is real and has been done by Geller and others under impeccable laboratory controls, regardless of the tales told by Geller’s supporters and detractors.

(See also: Geller Effect , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Hatha Yoga also builds up its philosophy around this Kundalini and the methods adopted in it are different from Tantrik Sadhana. Hatha Yoga seeks to awaken this Kundalini through the discipline of the physical body, purification of Nadis and controlling the Prana.

Read more here: » Kundalini: Hatha Yoga and Kundalini

LEFT-BRAIN - more receiving, accepting consciousness analytical, rational, hemisphere of the brain that governs language, speech, mathematical and scientific reasoning and that controls the right-side of the body. adj. left-brained. (NAD)

(See also: LEFT , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Prana:

The vital breath, which sustains life in a physical body; the primal energy or force, of which other physical forces are manifestations. In the books of Yoga, prana is described as having five modifications, according to its five different functions. These are: prana (the vital energy that controls the breath), apana(the vital energy that carries downward unassimilated food and drink), samana (the vital energy that carries nutrition all over the body), vyama (the vital energy that pervades the entire body), and udana (the vital energy by which the contents of the stomach are ejected through the mouth). The word Prana is also a name of the Cosmic Soul, endowed with activity.

(See also: Prana , 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

NEURAL THERAPY

a form of therapy based on the idea that illness is the result of disruptions in biological energy and that the disruptions are caused by changes in the electric activity of the autonomic nervous system (which controls involuntary functions like breathing).

(See also: NEURAL THERAPY , Alternative Health, Healing, Body Mind and Soul)