A Christian theological definition of Decrees of God according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

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Decrees of God

See also: Decrees of God , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

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

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Prophet

See also: Prophet , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

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

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Eternal life

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

A Christian theological definition of Ark of the Covenant according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

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Ark of the Covenant

See also: Ark of the Covenant , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of God In the New Testament, used by John the Baptist, Jesus, and St. Paul; it indicates a state of relative spiritual completion and attainment, not merely the afterdeath state of the "righteous" or "saved," as seen in the statement, "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). Blavatsky interprets the answer in the Gospel of the Egyptians as to when the kingdom of heaven will come -- "When the Two has been made One, and the Outward has become as the Inward, and the Male with the Female neither Male nor Female" -- as signifying among other things, 1) the union of lower manas with the higher manas, the self-conscious raising of the personality to the individuality; and 2) the return of humankind to the androgynous state in future root-races.

"Thus this Kingdom may be attained by individuals now, and by mankind in Races to come" (BCW 13:48-9; 14:55; ET).

(See also: Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of God , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Supreme God: Highest God, the source or creator of all other Gods, beings and all manifestation.

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

 Atma:

The real Self, one's Divinity. God, the substance of everything, the spark of God within. The Atma is unchanging, immortal.

(See also:  Atma , Body Mind and Soul)

OLD RELIGION (The): Italian Witchcraft, founded in the mid-14th century with the teachings of Aradia, the Holy Strega, and based upon the pre-Estruscian Italian belief system. The Old Religion is a worship of the "Source of All Things", through the personification of the Goddess and God. Also known as Strega, Stregheria, and La Vecchia Religione.

(See also: OLD RELIGION , Pagan Organisations, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary, Wicca,)

Cosmic Consciousness - N

A spiritual and mystical perception that all in the universe is "one." To attain cosmic con-sciousness is to see the universe as God and God as the universe.

(See also: Cosmic Consciousness , New Age, Body mind and Soul)

maya: (Sanskrit) "Consisting of; made of," as in manomaya, "made of mind."

From the verb root ma, "to measure, to limit, give form." The principle of appearance or manifestation of God's power or "mirific energy," "that which measures." The substance emanated from Siva through which the world of form is manifested. Hence all creation is also termed maya. It is the cosmic creative force, the principle of manifestation, ever in the process of creation, preservation and dissolution.

See: loka, mind (universal), mirific.

The Upanishads underscore maya's captivating nature, which blinds souls to the transcendent Truth. In Shankara's Vedantic interpretation, maya is taken as pure illusion or unreality. In Saivism it is one of the three bonds (pasha) that limit the soul and thereby facilitate its evolution. For Saivites and most other nondualists, it is understood not as illusion but as relative reality, in contrast to the unchanging Absolute Reality.

In the Saiva Siddhanta system, there are three main divisions of maya, the pure, the pure-impure and the impure realms. Pure or shuddha maya consists of the first five tattvas - Siva tattva, Shakti tattva, Sadasiva tattva, Ishvara tattva and Shuddhavidya tattva. The pure-impure realm consists of the next seven tattvas. The impure realm consists of the maya tattva and all of its evolutes - from the kala tattva to prithivi, the element earth. Thus, in relation to the physical universe, maya is the principle of ever-changing matter. In Vaishnavism, maya is one of the nine Shaktis of Vishnu.

See: loka, mind (universal), mirific, tattva, world.

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

Swedenborg, Emmanuel ( 1688-1772)

A Swedish scientist, theosophist, and mystic, a pioneer in both scientific, religious and spiritual thought.

For most of his life Swedenborg pursued a conventional, albeit brilliant, career. Educated at Uppsala University he first became a natural scientist and official with the Swedish Royal College of mines (1710-45), concentrating on research and theory. His foremost scientific writing is 'Opera Philosophica et Mineralia' (Philosophical and Mineralogical Works, three volumes, 1734), a unique combination of metaphysics, cosmology, and science.

A first-rate scientific theorist and inventor, Swedenborg, in some of his insights, anticipated scientific progress by more than a century. Visited by a mystic illumination in 1745, Swedenborg claimed a direct vision of a spiritual world underlying the natural sphere. He began having dreams, ecstatic visions, trances and mystical illusions in which he communicated with Jesus Christ and God and was granted a view of the order of the universe that was radically different from the teachings of the Christian church.

He resigned his job to concentrate full-time on his ecstatic visions and transcribing the knowledge imparted to him from the spiritual world. His voluminous works from this period are presented as divinely revealed biblical interpretations. In his system, best reflected in 'Divine Love and Wisdom' (1763), Swedenborg conceived of three spheres: divine mind, spiritual world, and natural world. Each corresponds to a degree of being in God and in humankind: love, wisdom, and use (end, cause, and effect). Through devotion to each degree, unification with it takes place and a person obtains his or her destiny, which is union with creator and creation.

Unlike many mystics, Swedenborg proposed an approach to spiritual reality and God through, rather than in rejection of, material nature. His 12-volume compendium 'The Heavenly Arcana' (1747-56) represents a unique synthesis between modern science and religion.

In response to a vision of the 'last judgment' and the 'return of Christ', Swedenborg proclaimed the advent of the New Church, an idea that found social expression in the Swedenborgian societies and in the foundation of the Church Of The New Jerusalem in England in 1778, and in the United States in 1792. Many of his views were adopted by 19th century spiritualism and many of his ideas were also disseminated in the works of writers and poets such as William Blake , Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Henry James .

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

Bhagavata: n (Sanskrit) "Relating to God or a God holy; sacred, divine." Pertaining to Vishnu or Krishna. From bhaga, "Gracious lord; patron; good fortune."

The name of a sect of Vaishnavism which arose in the Western part of India after 600 bce. A highly devotional monotheistic faith worshiping God as Krishna, Vasudeva or Vasudeva- Krishna. It is believed by scholars to have been one of five religions (along with the Ekantika, Narayaniya, Vaikhanasa and Satvata) that blended to form what was called the Pancharatra religion in the vicinity of Mathura around 300 bce.

Today, the term Bhagavata is often used to refer to the Vaishnavite religion as a whole.

See: Pancharatra,Vaishnavism.

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

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)

attainment: Acquisition, achievement or realization through effort. Spiritual accomplishment. Saiva Siddhanta notes four primary levels of attainment: salokya (sharing God's world, the goal of charya), samipya (nearness to God, the goal of kriya), sarupya (likeness to God, the goal of yoga) and sayujya (union with God, the state of jnana). See: God Realization, pada, Self Realization, siddha yoga, siddhi.

(See also: Attainment , Hinduism, 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)

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

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God

See also: God , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

God

The unchangeably perfect being who is the first and final cause of the universe, who ensouls the universe and within whom the universe operates. Some religions say God is one, others that God is dual, and still others that God is a Trinity,

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

Explosion

A dream of contrary. To dream of witnessing a massive explosion indicates that your own life is going to “explode.” Great changes for the better are on the way.

Eyes

1. Being watched by strange, disembodied eyes indicates unexpected good fortune to come. If the eyes are particularly beautiful, this is a sign of success in romance and/or reassurance that you are surrounded by people who care for you. If there is only one eye watching you, this is the all-seeing Eye of God, and hints at success beyond your wildest dreams.

2. To go blind, to injure your eyes, or to get something in them is calling your attention to the fact that there is something or someone in your life that you’re not really seeing as they really are.

3. Light-colored eyes indicate a new friendship, while dark eyes hint that someone is sexually attracted to you.

 F

Source: Astrocenter, http://astrocenter.astrology.msn.com/msn/DreamDictionary.aspx

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

God, The - Loving father to all and the perfect compliment to the Goddess. He is viewed as co-creator of the universe. Often Identified with the sun, sky deserts, forests, agriculture, and wild animals. not to be confused with the monotheistic Christian concept of 'God' he is part of a pair.

(See also: God, The , Pagan, Wicca Pagan Dictionary)

Iblis

(Arabic, probably from Greek diabolos, "devil") Satan.

A complex demonic figure in Islamic religious thought, understood as the fallen angel, the tempter, and the head of the hosts of devils.

 As an angel, he pridefully refused God's command to bow down before the newly created man Adam and thus was cursed and banished from Paradise. Until the Day of Judgment Iblis will lead the legions of devils in tempting humans to do evil.

His major act of cunning was to persuade Adam and Eve to disobey God and eat of the tree of immortality in the Garden, which resulted in their consignment to earthly existence.

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

Ancient Astronauts

Astronauts from other planets which allegedly visited Earth in spaceships in ancient times. This theory claims to explain Fortean mysteries and the evidence of ancient sophisticated technology, and primitive societies feats of engineering.

Ancient astronaut writers say also that Man did not evolve only from earthly beings like Adam and Eve. A misreading of Genesis leads one to believe that a second strain not from this world but from a 'heavenly source', was added to the human gene-pool (Genesis chapter

Devotees of this theory like to quote the myths and legends of ancient or primitive peoples in an attempt to justify their case. According to the folklore and mythology of many peoples, the gods gave fire and the skills of agriculture to mankind. However, this fact alone does not mean that the gods of the ancients were extraterrestrial beings, and that our ancestors were so simple minded that they could not have discovered these things by themselves.

In 1968 Erich von DŠniken published a book, Chariots of the Gods?, in which he argued the ancient astronauts theory, presenting supposedly 'proof' of his claims. Zecharia Sitchin is a more modern author who claims to translated ancient Sumerian manuscripts which tell the story of Ancient Astronauts.

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

Islam

A world religion based on the teachings and life of Muhammad (570-632 AD) in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia (then Persia). Islam is the second largest world religion, and has recently become the third largest religious body in America.

Islam is composed of two major divisions - the mainstream Sunni (the largest) and the more radical Shi'ites.

The mystical tradition of Sufism includes many Sunnis and some Shi'ites.

The Arabic word Islam means Òsubmission to the will of GodÓ and a person who submits is called a Muslim.

The Quran (or, Koran), the Torah, the Psalms of the Old Testament, and the Gospel of the New Testament are regarded as holy books. However, only the Quran is considered uncorrupted.

While many Muslims exhibit tolerance towards other faiths, even today Islamic fundamentalism promotes jihad (holy war), against those of other religious and political views.

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