Faith healing (spiritual healing): 1. Any method wherein one makes an appeal to God or a spirit to participate in healing others, typically a combination of prayer, meditation, and utilization of faith in God. 2. An ill-defined group of methods that encompasses absent healing, Christian Science, the laying on of hands, mesmerism, and shamanism.

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

Philosophy The Greek philosophia meant love of wisdom, but with equal power of significance, although perhaps not etymologically as correct, the meaning was wisdom of love; also, the systematic investigation and instruction of facts and theories regarded as important in the study of truth.

In common usage it denotes the mental and moral sciences, in some respects being nearly equivalent to metaphysics, and including a number of divisions.

Theosophists speak of a triad of philosophy, religion, and science as being merged by theosophy into a unity; but science was itself at one time called natural philosophy, so that the chief distinction is that between faith and reason.

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

darshana: (Sanskrit) "Vision, sight."

Seeing the Divine. Beholding, with inner or outer vision, a temple image, Deity, holy person or place, with the desire to inwardly contact and receive the grace and blessings of the venerated being or beings. Even beholding a photograph in the proper spirit is a form of darshana. Not only does the devotee seek to see the Divine, but to be seen as well, to stand humbly in the awakened gaze of the holy one, even if for an instant, such as in a crowded temple when thousands of worshipers file quickly past the enshrined Lord.

Gods and gurus are thus said to "give" darshana, and devotees "take" darshana, with the eyes being the mystic locus through which energy is exchanged. This direct and personal two-sided apprehension is a central and highly sought-after experience of Hindu faith. Also: "point of view," doctrine or philosophy.

See: shad darshana, sound.

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

A Theosophical definition of Buddhism :

Buddhism

The teachings of Gautama the Buddha. Buddhism today is divided into two branches, the Northern and the Southern. The Southern still retains the teachings of the "Buddha's brain," the "eye doctrine," that is to say his outer philosophy for the general world, sometimes inadequately called the doctrine of forms and ceremonies. The Northern still retains his "heart doctrine"  - that which is hid, the inner life, the heart-blood, of the religion: the doctrine of the inner heart of the teaching.

The religious philosophy of the Buddha-Sakyamuni is incomparably nearer to the ancient wisdom, the esoteric philosophy of the archaic ages, than is Christianity. Its main fault today is that teachers later than the Buddha himself carried its doctrines too far along merely formal or exoteric lines; yet, with all that, to this day it remains the purest and holiest of the exoteric religions on earth, and its teachings even exoterically are true  - once they are properly understood. They need but the esoteric key in interpretation of them. As a matter of fact, the same may be said of all the great ancient world religions. Christianity, Brahmanism, Taoism, and others all have the same esoteric wisdom behind the outward veil of the exoteric formal faith. See: exoteric. esoteric

See also: Buddhism , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Positive Confession (Christian Positive Confession movement, Word-Faith movement, Faith Movement): a means of commanding blessings from God, a variation of angelic healing.

(See also: Positive Confession , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Belief -Systems  - The belief or faith that the patient holds as his innermost cultural, spiritual, and psychological resources for healing. For modern man the healer may be a physician or priest. For American Indians and Mexicans it is the curandero or shaman. For Alaskan Eskimos it is an angakok and so forth. Each concept has its own specific practices that help the person with faith to be healed. The key to faith healing is belief. All healers must understand the patient-belief system in order to achieve success in treating most disorders.

(See also: Belief -Systems , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Hinduism (Hindu Dharma): (Sanskrit) India's indigenous religious and cultural system, followed today by nearly one billion adherents, mostly in India, but with large populations in many other countries. Also called Sanatana Dharma, "eternal religion" and Vaidika Dharma, "religion of the Vedas."

Hinduism is the world's most ancient religion and encompasses a broad spectrum of philosophies ranging from pluralistic theism to absolute monism.

It is a family of myriad faiths with four primary denominations:

• Saivism,
• Vaishnavism,
• Shaktism and
• Smartism.

These four hold such divergent beliefs that each is a complete and independent religion. Yet, they share a vast heritage of culture and belief:

• karma,
• dharma,
• reincarnation,
• all-pervasive Divinity,
• temple worship,
• sacraments,
• manifold Deities,
• the guru-shishya tradition and
• a reliance on the Vedas as scriptural authority.

From the rich soil of Hinduism long ago sprang various other traditions. Among these were Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, which rejected the Vedas and thus emerged as completely distinct religions, disassociated from Hinduism, while still sharing many philosophical insights and cultural values with their parent faith.

Though the genesis of the term is controversial, the consensus is that the term Hindu or Indu was used by the Persians to refer to the Indian peoples of the Indus Valley as early as 500 bce. Additionally, Indian scholars point to the appearance of the related term Sindhu in the ancient Rig Veda Samhita. Janaki Abhisheki writes (Religion as Knowledge: The Hindu Concept, p. 1): "Whereas today the word

Hindu connotes a particular faith and culture, in ancient times it was used to describe those belonging to a particular region. About 500 bce we find the Persians referring to 'Hapta Hindu.' This referred to the region of Northwest India and the Punjab (before partition).

The Rig Veda (the most ancient literature of the Hindus) uses the word Sapta Sindhu singly or in plural at least 200 times. Sindhu is the River Indus. Panini, the great Sanskrit grammarian, also uses the word Sindhu to denote the country or region.

While the Persians substituted h for s, the Greeks removed the h also and pronounced the word as 'Indoi.' Indian is derived from the Greek Indoi."

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan similarly observed,

"The Hindu civilization is so called since its original founders or earliest followers occupied the territory drained by the Sindhu (the Indus) River system corresponding to the Northwest Frontier Province and the Punjab. This is recorded in the Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, the Hindu scriptures, which give their name to this period of Indian history. The people on the Indian side of the Sindhu were called Hindus by the Persians and the later Western invaders. That is the genesis of the word Hindu" (The Hindu View of Life, p. 12).

See: Hindu.

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

Dream Interpretation Church

Seeing a church in your dream may be a sign of your growing maturity and inner faith. Some people who are in need of help can have this dream. If you dream of praying in the church, you will receive a help from above and your wish will be fulfilled. Watching a church collapse: you lost your faith in God.

Source: Dream-Land, http://www.dream-land.info

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Church , Meaning of Dreams about Church , Dream Interpretation Church )

Paul A man by legend said to be of pure Jewish birth, of the tribe of Benjamin, at first a persecutor of Christians but who underwent a mystic enlightenment of which he speaks. His various letters prove that he was an initiate.

He recognizes Christ -- the Christos -- as being principally the higher self in man, and strives to convey this truth to the minds of many congregation, adapting it to their power of comprehension. He evidently does his best to promote as high an interpretation of Christianity as might be possible among the varied and unpromising, and often indeed refractory, elements which he found at hand.

His failure to mention the familiar gospel stories is due to the fact that the Gospels are of much later date. The brand of Christianity which has prevailed during the centuries would have been very different if Paul's philosophic teachings had been taken more seriously, for they are in the main clear enough even without any esoteric key.

Often they have been disfigured in interpretation, as in the doctrine of justification by faith and not by works, attributed to him. On reading Romans 3 with an unprejudiced eye, we find him insisting that man is not made virtuous by following the letter of the law and doing pious deeds alone, but also by pistis -- a full realization of the truth and determination to follow it. This has become perverted into the dogma that man cannot be saved by any amount of good deeds alone, but must believe that Jesus died in propitiation for his sins.

A contrast has been made between the teachings of Paul and of Peter -- respectively often referred to as the Pauline and Petrine theology -- as representing pagan and Jewish Christianity respectively; and these two have been the occasion of controversies and attempted reconcilements.

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

Spiritual Gifts

According to Christian doctrine, special abilities given by God to worthy believers. Every Christian has at least one

Following is a list of the gifts arranged in two groups.

• The first are gifts that require supernatural intervention and are possessed only by true Christians.
• The second are gifts that do not require supernatural intervention. Even non-Christians can have the second group of gifts.

A further issue is whether or not the gifts are still in use today. Some believe they ceased with the apostles and the completion of the writings of the Bible) and they are no longer needed for the building up of the body of Christ (Eph. 4: 12). Others believe the gifts are still in use but not in the pure apostolic sense. In other words, they are still in use but not in the same way possessed by the apostles. Instead, they are available to the believer if and when God decides it is beneficial to use them.

The first group of spiritual gifts are: Salvation, Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Miracles, Prophecy, Distinguishing of Spirits, Tongues, and Interpretation of Tongues.

The second group of spiritual gifts are: Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading, and Showing mercy.

(see Psychic Gifts)

(See also: Spiritual Gifts , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

A Christian theological definition of Eternal life according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

"

Eternal life

See also: Eternal life , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

Dream Interpretation Icon

An icon is an emblem of faith and worship. If you see an icon in your dream, it means that you lack spiritual faith and you are at a stage in your life when you need to calm down and reconsider your values in order to accept the current situation or new changes. A dream about an icon would suggest that you need some peace of mind, patience and humbleness, if you want to succeed.

Source: Dream-Land, http://www.dream-land.info

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Icon , Meaning of Dreams about Icon , Dream Interpretation Icon )

CHRISTIANITY: The doctrine of faith based on the acceptance of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and the Son of God (Yahweh/Jehovah) in accordance with the New Testament in the Bible. Christianity encompasses religions including Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Morman and Fundamentalist Christian sects.

(See also: CHRISTIANITY , Magickal Traditions, Magickal Paths, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

astikya: (Sanskrit) "Faith." See: faith, shraddha, yamaniyama.

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

Planting the seeds of Buddhahood

(Jpn.: geshu)

Also, sowing the seeds of Buddhahood. One of the three benefits described in T'ien-t'ai's teachings: the benefits of sowing, maturing, and reaping the seeds of Buddhahood. The process of attaining Buddhahood is compared to that of cultivating plants. In this regard, Nichiren (1222-1282) states, "The Lotus Sutra is like the seed, the Buddha like the sower, and the people like the field". In teaching people, the Buddha begins by sowing the seeds of Buddhahood in their lives. The phase of sowing is divided into two stages: First, the Buddha causes the people to hear his teaching, and second, he leads them to take faith in it. These are termed respectively "sowing the seeds by letting one hear the teaching" (Jpn mompogeshu ) and "sowing the seeds by leading one to arouse faith in the teaching" (hosshin-geshu).

There are cases in which a person takes faith immediately upon hearing the teaching. There are also cases in which someone hears the teaching and later takes faith. In either case, the Buddha's teaching has the power to influence one's life, whether or not one takes faith in it immediately. In The Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra," Miao-lo (711-782) states: "Whether one accepts or rejects the teaching, it enters one's ears and one thus establishes a bond with it. And then, though one may comply with or go against it, in the end one will be able to achieve liberation because of this bond." "Sowing the seeds by letting one hear the teaching" in this sense means that simply by hearing the Law one forms the cause, or seed, for attaining Buddhahood eventually, even if one should reject it initially.

See: Sowing maturing and harvesting

(See also: Planting the seeds of Buddhahood , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Demons

Evil influences which hinder cultivation. These can take an infinite number of forms, including evil beings or hallucinations. Disease and death, as well as the three poisons of greed, anger and delusion are also equated to demons, as they disturb the mind.

The Nirvana Sutra lists four types of demon:

i)               greed, anger and delusion;

ii)             ii) the five skandas, or obstructions caused by physical and mental functions;

iii)            iii) death;

iv)            iv) the demon of the Sixth Heaven (Realm of Desire).

The Self-Nature has been described in Mahayana sutras as a house full of gold and jewelry. To preserve the riches, i.e., to keep the mind calm, empty and still, we should shut the doors to the three thieves of greed, anger and delusion.

Letting the mind wander opens the house to "demons," that is, hallucinations and harm. Thus, Zen practitioners are taught that, while in meditation, "Encountering demons, kill the demons, encountering Buddhas, kill the Buddhas." Both demons and Buddhas are mind-made, Mind-Only.

For a detailed discussion of demons, see Master Thich Thien Tam, Buddhism of Wisdom and' Faith, sect. 51.

 (See also: Demons , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Essene way of self-healing: means of tapping psychic and healing powers of the universe. It encompasses affirmations, visualizations, color therapies, and communion with the angels of the Earthly Mother and Heavenly Spirit. (The Essenes, also called Physicians, were a Jewish sect that preceded Christianity. Their specialty was faith healing.)

(See also: Essene way of self-healing , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

sadhana: (Sanskrit) "Means of attainment."

Self-effort, spiritual discipline; the way." Religious or spiritual disciplines, such as puja, yoga, meditation, japa, fasting and austerity. The effect of sadhana is the building of willpower, faith and confidence in oneself and in God, Gods and guru.

The effect of sadhana is the building of willpower, faith and confidence in oneself and in God, Gods and guru. Sadhana harnesses and transmutes the instinctive-intellectual nature, allowing progressive spiritual unfoldment into the superconscious realizations and innate abilities of the soul.

See: purity-impurity, pada, raja yoga, sadhana marga, spiritual unfoldment.

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

manas: (Sanskrit) "Mind; understanding."

The lower or instinctive mind, seat of desire and governor of sensory and motor organs, called indriyas. Manas is termed the undisciplined, empirical mind. Manas is characterized by desire, determination, doubt, faith, lack of faith, steadfastness, lack of steadfastness, shame, intellection and fear. It is a faculty of manomaya kosha, the lower astral or instinctive-intellectual sheath.

See: awareness, indriya, instinctive mind, manomaya kosha, mind (individual).

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

Transfiguration

• To dream of the transfiguration, foretells that your faith in man's own nearness to God will raise you above trifling opinions, and elevate you to a worthy position, in which capacity you will be able to promote the well being of the ignorant and persecuted.
• To see yourself transfigured, you will stand high in the esteem of honest and prominent men.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Transfiguration , Meaning of Dreams about Transfiguration , Dream Interpretation Transfiguration )

Eschatology

General term for teachings concerning the "last things," the end of the world and processes of salvation.

In Christianity, eschatology includes teachings concerning death, judgment, heaven, hell, and the coming of Christ (Gk. parousia). The term itself was first used in the nineteenth century with the rise of critical biblical studies. One significant early finding was that both Jesus and the apostle Paul seemed convinced that God would terminate history soon.

Studies of Jesus' use of "the reign of God" and of Paul's treatment of the return of Christ brought a reevaluation of the relations between the end of history and the new era that Jesus had ushered in. For current Christian theology, eschatology raises important issues about history. If Christian faith says that the crucial victory occurred in Christ's death, resurrection, and sending of the Holy Spirit, what value should believers place on temporal matters? The mainstream of theologians seems to have reached a consensus that both the New Testament and subsequent faith seek a balance between "now" and "not yet. "

The substance of salvation (God's forgiveness and eternal life) is available now, in virtue of Christ. But the full expression of salvation can only occur beyond history, where God is all in all, and so does not yet exist. The study of the teachings in the Bible concerning the end times, or of the period of time dealing with the return of Christ and the events that follow.

Eschatological subjects include the Resurrection, the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Millennium, the Binding of Satan, the Three witnesses, the Final Judgment, Armageddon, and The New Heavens and the New Earth. In one form or another most of the books of the Bible deal with end times subjects. But some that are more prominently eschatological are Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Joel, Zechariah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 2 Thessalonians, and of course Revelation.

(See also: Eschatology , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)