A dictionary with common spiritual words from Hinduism and Sanskrit. Also see these links: Hinduism, Spirituality, Enlightenment, Spiritual Dictionary and Hinduism Dictionary.

Mudras, the science of hand and finger postures, can help you to cure bodily ailments in a wonderful manner. It actually helps in balancing the five elements ( panch-tattvas ) in the human system to their optimal levels. The elements can even be increased or decreased to cure appropriate ailments. When the elements are completely balanced, the yoga (unison) of mind, body and soul with the Supreme Soul can be achieved!

Read more here: » Mudras: Mudras - the science of hand and finger postures

Quran - Koran: Qur'an Revealed During Ramzan

Prophet Muhammad would often sit alone in the cave of Hira, near Mecca, to pray and meditate, asking the Creator of the Heavens and earth for answers to the questions that surged through his mind. What is man's true role in life?

What does the Lord require of us? From where does man come, and where will he go after death? The Prophet would meditate alone, surrounded by nature, seeking answers to all these profound questions.

Read more here: » Quran - Koran: Qur'an Revealed During Ramzan

Feng Shui and the flow of Qi: This article by the experienced Feng Shui teacher & practioner Siou Foon Lee explain how we may enhance our lives by understanding the flow of Qi, that, according to the ancient masters, is the force that enlivens the universe.

Read more here: » Feng Shui: Opening the Door to Qi

Art is a collaboration between God and man, raising him to the exclusive band of creators and taking him deeply within and around his handiwork. It is a unique result of a unique temperament with its beauty derived from mutable disconcern of his environment. Leela Ganapathy, retired Professor of Arts, share her vivid knowledge about the Indian Arts and Dance are recognised as a bridge between the divine and our day to day life and our society.

Read more here: » Spiritual Dance: Dance in Spiritual Indian Art

Indian dance cannot be isolated from the art of literature, painting sculpture and music. Indian dance has a unique body of myths and legend to support the view that the art occupied a central place in the society and religion of the people of India.

The dance styles of Traditional Indian Dance are known as Bharathanatiyam, KathaKali , Kuchipodi , Manipuri, Orrissi and Kathak of each evolved it's own individual vocabulary of movement. Indian Dance is a spiritual practice and a "collaboration with God".

Read more here: » Spiritual Dance: Traditional Indian Dance

In India we find the oldest continually operating pilgrimage tradition in the entire world. The practice of pilgrimage in India is so deeply embedded in the cultural psyche and the number of pilgrimage sites is so large that the entire subcontinent may actually be regarded as one grand and continuous sacred space. Martin Gray spent the last 20 years visiting more than thousand sacred sites around the world and he guides us to some of the sacred sites of India.

Read more here: » Sacred Places: Sacred Sites, places and temples in India

Faith Makes God Visible

We cannot speak of God as we do of other things. This is because the Absolute has neither nama (name) nor rupa (form) . God is beyond name and form.

Western culture is largely centred on the limit-experience of Being and Plenitude, whereas the eastern is centred on the consciousness-limit of Nothing and Emptiness. Raimon Panikkar, a Catholic theologian says the former is attracted by the world of things as they reveal to us the transcendence of Reality. The latter is attracted by the world of the subject, which reveals to us the impermanence of that very Reality. Both are preoccupied with the problem of "ultimacy", which many traditions call God.

Panikkar speaks about nine ways not to talk about God.

Read more here: » Formless God: Faith Makes God Visible

In literature, art and cinema, death has been almost always depicted as a terrible thing, the final end, although in reality it is merely a release from the burden of the physical body.

Every religious tradition recognises that to reach the final truth, one must pass through death. This is the meaning behind Aanea's descent to the underworld in Virgil, of Dante's descent into hell in the Divine Comedy and the Christian baptism: “You were baptised into the death of Christ”.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Life and Death: Finality of Death Is a Myth

There are many types of women in our society, but the one that cries out for the healing the loudest is the Female Warrior. She longs to transform herself into the Goddess and yet doesn't even know it. Nor does she know how.

Who is the Warrior? The Warrior is powerful, independent, self-reliant and successful --because she has to be. Yet, she resents all of the responsibility and obligation that goes with her role. She's the only one around who can get things done, and get things done fast enough and perfectly enough.

Read more here: » Women's Spirituality: Warrior to Goddess - How to Transform the Feminine

Pranayama or breath control signifies stretching, extending and regulating our breathing process. Pranayama can be used as a preparation for meditation wherein it cleanses the body and the mind. It also helps to maximise the benefits of the practice of yogasanas and also focusing the mind.

(See also: Pranayama , God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Pranayama: Breathe Some Life Into Your Soul - Pranayama  

CAVE OF CRUACHAN: The Irish name of the entrance to the Otherworld. In the Christian mythology of the islands this became disparagingly known as the "Gateway to Hell."

(See also: CAVE OF CRUACHAN , Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

It is a paradox that Gujarat, the state which gave India her greatest son, Mahatma Gandhi, should defile his memory and what he stood for with a terrible violence fuelled by communal frenzy, resulting in large scale death and destruction.

Those who react in anger to the recent violent incidents in Godhra, other parts of Gujarat and neighbouring states need to consider Gandhis "talisman". Will anger and revenge help erase the distress? Anger is a negative emotion; it can neither bring peace nor put an end to the cycle of violence.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Mahatma's Talisman Can Exorcise Anger

CAVE SEDEM

Lat. "Beware of the chair!" An ancient reminder to keep fit, because medieval scholars tended to forget to exercise. Today, in light of the fact that everyone and his backup has to make a spectacle of jogging and yet cannot discuss any subject but the latest football scores, I would suggest to them that it is not the lard on their asses that should concern them, but the lard in their heads!

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

Ever since I can remember stories of holy men and women in the mountaintops and forests of India living in enlightened states of divine union have fascinated me. I looked to them with admiration and some envy, recognizing the longing deep in my heart to achieve a similar state of enlightenment, yet convinced I did not have the discipline nor stamina required to spend years in a cave hidden away from the world seeking this most precious of all pearls. In this article, Kiara Windrider share his experience from his personal journey and quest for Awakening.

Read more here: » Enlightenment: Journey into Awakening (part 1)

You have, we all have, a place of Peace within us, whose waters are never shut down. Go there. Borrow from it. Refuse to cave; refuse to slide into blind reaction. Whatever it is that is stirring you up will eventually get tired of no payoff and leave you alone. No kidding.

Read more here: » Anger: Dealing With Anger

Wind Often used synonymously with spirit and breath, which are denoted by similar or identical words in many languages. In the New Testament (John 3:8) Jesus uses the simile of wind for spirit: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Another equally exact translation reads: "The Spirit breathes wither it will, and you hear its voice (or power), but know not whence it comes and whither its destination; thus is everyone who arises out of the spirit."

Wind is also used alternatively with air. The regents of the cosmic forces of north, south, east, and west -- the four Maharajas connected with karma -- have as their material agents the four corresponding winds or spirits, which mightily influence all living things.

With the Greeks, "the cave of the winds was the earth, and the winds were the winds of the spirit, the circulations of the universe figurated as winds: a cave of which the north gate was made of horn through which they ascend also, but mainly descend. And the south gate of the earth, or of the cave of the winds, was made of ivory, signifying the elephants of the south, as the horn does the tusks of the animals of the north. And out of the south gate go the hordes of men" (SOPh 321-2).

See also ANIMA; PNEUMA; SPIRITUS

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

Chalukya: (Sanskrit) Indian dynasty (4501189) in the Punjab area. Buddhism and Saivism were prominent. This dynasty completed the Buddhist Ajanta Cave frescoes and advanced the art of Hindu temple building.

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

Architecture (from Latin architectura from Greek architekton master-builder)

Signifies not building in itself, but the science or art of building in accordance with certain principles or rules which endure through the ages, because rooted in cosmic order and beauty. Architecture is reckoned as one of the five great arts, and the monuments of antiquity in whatever land show clearly that those who designed them had, besides a knowledge of materials and the technique of using them, some knowledge at least of the great cosmic laws of harmony and beauty, and their derivative, proportion.

Primeval self-conscious humanity -- not savage by any means, however much it may have needed spiritual guidance -- was watched over and protected by divine instructors, and among the arts taught by these great beings, architecture had a prominent place: "No man descended from a Palaeolithic cave-dweller could ever evolve such a science unaided, even in millenniums of thought and intellectual evolution.

It is the pupils of those incarnated Rishis and Devas of the third root race, who handed their knowledge from one generation to another, to Egypt and Greece with its now lost canon of proportion. . . . It is Vitruvius who gave to posterity the rules of construction of the Grecian temples erected to the immortal gods; and the ten books of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio on Architecture, of one, in short, who was an initiate, can only be studied esoterically.

The Druidical circles, the Dolmens, the Temples of India, Egypt and Greece, the Towers and the 127 towns in Europe which were found 'Cyclopean in origin' by the French Institute, are all the work of initiated Priest-Architects, the descendants of those primarily taught by the 'Sons of God,' justly called 'The Builders' " (SD 1:208-9n).

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

Initiation (from Latin initio entering into, beginning)

Generally, the induction of a pupil into a new way of living and into secret knowledge by the aid of a competent teacher. In ancient times initiation or the Mysteries were uniform and one everywhere, but as times passed, each country -- though basing its Mysteries and initiation ceremonies on the one original wisdom common to mankind -- followed manners of conducting the procedures native to the psychology and temperament of the different peoples. In still later times most of the original wisdom was but dimly remembered; and the Mysteries and the initiation ceremonies degenerated into little more than ceremonial rites, with more or less academic or theological teaching accompanying them -- as was the case in the Mysteries of Greece, for instance; although it is true that there were genuine initiates in Greece down to the fall of the Mediterranean civilizations.

"Every nation had its exoteric and esoteric religion, the one for the masses, the other for the learned and elect. For example, the Hindus had three degrees with several sub-degrees. The Egyptians had also three preliminary degrees, personified under the 'three guardians of the fire' in the Mysteries. The Chinese had their most ancient Triad Society: and the Tibetans have to this day their 'triple step': which was symbolized in the `Vedas by the three strides of Vishnu. . . . The old Babylonians had their three stages of initiation into the priesthood (which was then esoteric knowledge); the Jews, the Kabbalists and mystics borrowed them from the Chaldees, and the Christian Church from the Jews" (TG 333).

In theosophy initiation is generally used in reference to entering into the sacred wisdom under the direction of initiates, in the schools of the Mysteries. By initiation the candidate quickens natural evolution and thus anticipates the growth which will be achieved by the generality of humanity at a much later time in developmental evolution. He or she unfolds from within the latent spiritual and intellectual powers, thus raising individual self-consciousness to a corresponding level. The induction into the various degrees was aptly spoken of as a new birth.

The seats of initiation were often situated on mountains, which because of this were regarded as holy mountains. Often rocky caves or recesses in mountains were chosen for their inaccessibility, and used as initiation crypts or chambers for teaching; in ancient Egypt the Great Pyramid was an initiation temple.

"The initiated adept, who had successfully passed through all the trials, was attached, not nailed, but simply tied on a couch in the form of a tau (ill.) (in Egypt) of a Svastika without the four additional prolongations (thus: +, not (ill.)) plunged in a deep sleep (the 'Sleep of Siloam' it is called to this day among the Initiates in Asia Minor, in Syria, and even higher Egypt). He was allowed to remain in this state for three days and three nights, during which time his Spiritual Ego was said to confabulate with the 'gods,' descend into Hades, Amenti, or Patala (according to the country), and do works of charity to the invisible beings, whether souls of men or Elemental Spirits; his body remaining all the time in a temple crypt or subterranean cave. In Egypt it was placed in the Sarcophagus in the King's Chamber of the Pyramid of Cheops, and carried during the night of the approaching third day to the entrance of a gallery, where at a certain hour the beams of the rising Sun struck full on the face of the entranced candidate, who awoke to be initiated by Osiris, and Thoth the God of Wisdom" (SD 2:558).

There were successive degrees of initiation, of which seven are usually enumerated. Of these the first three were preparatory, consisting of discipline of the whole nature: moral, mental, and physical. At each stage, the neophyte had to pass through a carefully graded series of tests or trials in order that he might prove his inner strength and capabilities to proceed. In this manner the neophyte reached and entered the fourth degree, in which the powers of his inner god having by now become at least partially active in his daily life and consciousness, he was enabled to begin the experience of passing into other planes and realms of life and of being, and thus to learn to known them by becoming them. In this way he acquired first-hand knowledge of the truths of nature and of the universe about which he previously had been taught.

In the fifth initiation, called in ancient Greece theophany (the appearance of a god), the candidate meets for at least a fleeting moment his own spiritual ego face to face, and in the most successful of these cases, for a time actually becomes one with it. Epiphany signifies a minor form of theophany.

In the sixth stage, theopneusty (in-breathing or through-breathing of a god, divine inspiration), the candidate becomes the vehicle of his own inner god, for a time depending on the neophyte's own power of retention and observation, so that he is then inspired with the spiritual and intellectual powers and faculties of his higher self.

In the seventh degree, theophathy (the suffering a god -- suffering oneself to be one's own inner god), the personal self has become permanently at-one with the inner divinity. The successful passing of the seventh trial resulted in the initiant's becoming a glorified Christ, to be followed by the last or ultimate stage of this degree known in Buddhism as achieving buddhahood or nirvana. Since limits cannot be set to attainment, however, still loftier stages of spiritual and intellectual unfolding or initiation await those who have already attained the degree of buddhahood.

In Buddhist works four degrees of training, in these cases equivalent to initiation, are given: 1) srotapatti (he who has entered the stream), one who has commenced the task of transmuting the forces of his nature to the purposes of his higher self; 2) sakridagamin (he who comes once more), one who will be reborn on earth only once again before reaching the lower degrees of nirvana; 3) anagamin (he who does not come), one who will no longer be reincarnated anymore, unless the choice be made to remain on earth in order to help humanity; and 4) arhat or arhan (the worthy one), one who at will can and does experience nirvana even during his life on earth.

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

At age two, Harry was diagnosed as "autistic" when it was apparent his speech development lagged behind normal. At first, his parents and doctor thought Harry had a hearing problem, so they had grommets (protective loops) placed in his ears. But Harry still didn't speak. His mother, Karenanne, says

"Harry has always had a very sunny temperament and showed no angst at being unable to speak. It was like talking was something he'd do when he was good and ready. It was the same with his reading skills. He showed no interest in baby books, yet when he got interested in Pokemon, he rapidly showed he indeed knew how to read, and he just pored over those handbooks."

(See also: Indigo Children, What is Indigo Children, Parenting Indigo Children, Adult Indigo, Indigo Children Channeling)

Read more here: » Indigo Children: The Crystal Children