Higher Self Dictionary

Higher Self. The Supreme Divine Spirit overshadowing man. The crown of the upper spiritual Triad in man - Atman.

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

Higher Self

The True Self. The real being who expresses the soul and the body, as opposed to what the person seems to be or thinks they are.

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

higher self

The superconscious or higherconscious mind

(See also: Higher self , Body Mind and Soul)

Higher Triad In theosophical literature a distinction is often made between that part of human nature which is immortal and that which is mortal. Hence the seven principles were divided into the higher triad -- comprising atman, buddhi, and manas -- and lower quaternary -- kama, prana, linga-sarira, and sthula-sarira. Another division is also frequently used: higher triad -- atman, buddhi, and higher manas; lower quaternary -- lower manas or kama-manas, prana, linga-sarira, and sthula-sarira.

Thus, the higher triad is what is occasionally called the immortal reimbodying ego or monad.

(See also: Higher Self , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

HIGHER SELF: That part of us which connects our corporeal minds to the Collective Unconscious and with the divine knowledge of the universe.

(See also: HIGHER SELF , Paganism, Pagan, Pagan Dictionary)

Inner Self or Higher Self - N

Refers to the inner divine nature possessed by human beings. All people are said to possess an inner self, though not all are aware of it.

(See also: Inner Self or Higher Self , New Age, Body mind and Soul)

Higher Self The divine-spiritual essence or essential egoity overshadowing the human being, the atma-buddhi with the efflorescence of manas. The higher self is the god within, the source of all right motive, the fountain of intuition, and the voice of divine harmony seeking to control the individual's life and to transform or transmute all the voices of personal desire.

(See also: Higher Self , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Higher Self: Non-physical, true self. The enlightened, "actual" persona of the individual as opposed to what the person seems to be or thinks they are.

(See also: Higher Self , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Speaking:

1. If someone is speaking to you, make sure you write down what he or she is saying immediately upon awakening. Even if what's being said is cryptic, or seems to make no sense, it is a message from your Higher Self and needs to be heeded. If the message is in fact rather mysterious, look to other symbols in the dream to see what it actually means. If the speaker is male, then the message from your Higher Self is being filtered through your intellect, and if female, through your supportive mind (emotions and intuition).

2. If someone is speaking to you and yet you don't hear what he or she is saying, then there is some sort of situation in your life that you don't understand, and which you need to understand. Again, for the actual message, look to other symbols in the dream.

3. If you are the one doing the speaking, this is a dream of contrary. Again, it's a message from your Higher Self that you need to understand. If you are giving the message to others, the message is designed not only for you, but for those close to you as well. See 1. and 2. above.

4. If you dream that you or someone else is giving a speech, this is a harbinger of increased social and professional status.

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

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

Dream Dictionary including the meaning of dreams about: Dagger, Dahlia, Dairy, Daisy, Damask Rose, Damson, Dance, Dancing Master, Dandelion, Danger, Dark, Dates, Daughter, Daughter-in-law, David, Day, Daybreak, Dead, Death, Debt, December, Deck, Decorate, Deed, Deer, Delay,

Dream Dictionary Index including links to 10.000 dream interpretations: Dream Dictionary Index

For more dream interpretation, see: Meaning of Dreams or Dream Dictionary

For articles about dreams, see: Dreams

Dead, Dead People, Dead Father, Dead Mother, Dead Relative, Dead Relatives

• To dream of the dead, is usually a dream of warning. If you see and talk with your father, some unlucky transaction is about to be made by you. Be careful how you enter into contracts, enemies are around you. Men and women are warned to look to their reputations after this dream.
• To see your mother, warns you to control your inclination to cultivate morbidness and ill will towards your fellow creatures. A brother, or other relatives or friends, denotes that you may be called on for charity or aid within a short time.
• To dream of seeing the dead, living and happy, signifies you are letting wrong influences into your life, which will bring material loss if not corrected by the assumption of your own will force.
• To dream that you are conversing with a dead relative, and that relative endeavors to extract a promise from you, warns you of coming distress, unless you follow the advice given you. Disastrous consequences could often be averted if minds could grasp the inner workings and sight of the higher or spiritual self. The voice of relatives is only that higher self taking form to approach more distinctly the mind that lives near the material plane. There is so little congeniality between common or material natures that persons should depend upon their own subjectivity for true contentment and pleasure.
• [52] Paracelsus says on this subject: ``It may happen that the soul of persons who have died perhaps fifty years ago may appear to us in a dream, and if it speaks to us we should pay special attention to what it says, for such a vision is not an illusion or delusion, and it is possible that a man is as much able to use his reason during the sleep of his body as when the latter is awake; and if in such a case such a soul appears to him and he asks questions, he will then hear that which is true. Through these solicitous souls we may obtain a great deal of knowledge to good or to evil things if we ask them to reveal them to us. Many persons have had such prayers granted to them. Some people that were sick have been informed during their sleep what remedies they should use, and after using the remedies, they became cured, and such things have happened not only to Christians, but also to Jews, Persians, and heathens, to good and to bad persons.''
• The writer does not hold that such knowledge is obtained from external or excarnate spirits, but rather through the personal Spirit Glimpses that is in man.--AUTHOR.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

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

A Theosophical definition of Avalokitesvara :

Avalokitesvara

(Sanskrit) A compound word: avalokita, "perceived," "seen"; Isvara, "lord"; hence "the Lord who is perceived or cognized," i.e., the spiritual entity, whether in the kosmos or in the human being, whose influence is perceived and felt; the higher self.

This is a term commonly employed in Buddhism, and concerning which a number of intricate and not easily understood teachings exist. The esoteric or occult interpretation, however, sees in Avalokitesvara what Occidental philosophy calls the Third Logos, both celestial and human. In the solar system it is the Third Logos thereof; and in the human being it is the higher self, a direct and active ray of the divine monad.

Technically Avalokitesvara is the dhyani-bodhisattva of Amitabha-Buddha  - Amitabha-Buddha is the kosmic divine monad of which the dhyani-bodhisattva is the individualized spiritual ray, and of this latter again the manushya-buddha or human buddha is a ray or offspring.

See also: Avalokitesvara , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Attic

Any part of a house usually represents a part of yourself (dreamer = house). The attic is the last thing built. Consider the details of the dream and try to figure out what your unconscious is trying to tell you. Some believe that the attic symbolizes the higher self, or best self (i.e. the self that is in contact with the eternal). Others think that the attic symbolizes the sum total of your life's work or it may predict how well you will do in old age. If the attic is full of "neat" stuff, it may imply that you are accomplishing wonderful things and are living up to your potential in this lifetime.

Source: Dream Lover Incorporated, http://www.dreamloverinc.com

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

A Theosophical definition of Chela :

Chela

(Cela) An old Indian term. In archaic times more frequently spelled and pronounced cheta or cheda. The meaning is "servant," a personal disciple attached to the service of a teacher from whom he receives instruction. The idea is closely similar to the Anglo-Saxon term leorning-cneht, meaning "learning servant," a name given in Anglo-Saxon translations of the Christian New Testament to the disciples of Jesus, his "chelas." It is, therefore, a word used in old mystical scriptures for a disciple, a pupil, a learner or hearer. The relationship of teacher and disciple is infinitely more sacred even than that of parent and child; because, while the parents give the body to the incoming soul, the teacher brings forth that soul itself and teaches it to be and therefore to see, teaches it to know and to become what it is in its inmost being  - that is, a divine thing.

The chela life or chela path is a beautiful one, full of joy to its very end, but also it calls forth and needs everything noble and high in the learner or disciple; for the powers or faculties of the higher self must be brought into activity in order to attain and to hold those summits of intellectual and spiritual grandeur where the Masters themselves live. For that, masterhood, is the end of discipleship  - not, however, that this ideal should be set before us merely as an end to attain to as something of benefit for one's own self, because that very thought is a selfish one and therefore a stumbling in the path. It is for the individual's benefit, of course; yet the true idea is that everything and every faculty that is in the soul shall be brought out in the service of all humanity, for this is the royal road, the great royal thoroughfare, of self-conquest. The more mystical meanings attached to this term chela can be given only to those who have irrevocably pledged themselves to the esoteric life.

See also: Chela , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Inner Self

Refers to the inner divinity from which the being and personality evolve.

See also The Unconscious, the Subconsicous, the Higher Self, The Christ.

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

 HIGH MAGICK: Magick that calls upon the aid of beneficent spirits and is akin to religion. It is called theurgy, from theourgia "working things pertaining to the gods".  High Magick is based upon a blend of doctrines of Plato and other Greek philosophers, Oriental mysticism, Judaism and Christianity and currently is divided into three forms: Enochian, Thelemic and Eclectic. Enochian Magick originated with John Dee and Edward Kelly in the 16th century and communication with spirits involved the Nineteen Calls (or Keys): incantations in the Enchonian language, a complex language of unknown origin.

This system of Magick was revived by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and studied at length by Aleister Crowley. In turn, Crowley developed the Thelemic Magick system from his studies and High Magickians have since expanded to develop Eclectic Magick systems based on a variety of different systems, inclusive of Alchemy, Egyptology, Kabbalistic doctrines, Chaos Magick etc..

High Magick requires a rigorous discipline and has an intellectual appeal, the mage derives power from God (the Judeo-Christian God) through the successful control of spirits, usually demons, which are believed easier to control than angels. Demons may be good, evil, or neutral. In its highest sense, High Magick is a transcendental experience that takes the mage into mystical realms and into communication with the Higher Self.  Also known as Ceremonial Magick, Ritual Magick, Theurgic Magick, Theurgy.

(See also:  HIGH MAGICK , Pagan Organisations, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary, Wicca,)

Self-Realization

Total consciousness or realizaton of the true self, or Higher Self, and that the body is only an expression of that reality.

(See also: Self-Realization , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Atonement Reconciliation brought about by a re-formation of the lower, so that it may become at one with the higher. Hence a number of Occidental mystics refer to the processes of atonement involving the foregoing idea as at-one-ment.

In its best sense atonement means the becoming at one between the human ego and its spiritual counterpart, where the life or vitality of the lower personal man is offered up as a sacrifice, willing and utterly joyful, to the higher self.

Thus the life which the hierophant is enjoined to offer is not his physical life, but the undesirable and imperfect life of his lower self, the selfish personality. The custom of sacrificing helpless animals -- a custom protested against by Gautama Buddha in particular -- is but an instance of the way in which lofty spiritual teachings or initiatory ceremonies can degenerate into repellent or cruel rites.

Nevertheless, "the atonements by blood -- blood-covenants and blood transferences from gods to men, and by men, as sacrifices to the gods -- are the first keynote struck in every cosmogony and theogony; soul, life and blood were synonymous words in every language . . . The mystic meaning of the injunction, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves' (John 6:53). . . (has) to be interpreted with the help of three keys -- one opening the psychic door, the second that of physiology, and the third that which unlocks the mystery of terrestrial being, by unveiling the inseparable blending of theogony with anthropology" (BCW 8:181-2).

The relation between the atonement and the intellectual and moral evolution of mankind may be explained as follows: "The Higher Manas or ego is essentially divine, and therefore pure; . . . Yet by the very fact that, though dual and during life the Higher is distinct from the Lower, 'the Father and Son' are one, and because that in reuniting with the parent Ego, the Lower Soul fastens and impresses upon it of all its bad as well as good actions, the Higher Ego -- though innocent and without blemish -- has to bear the punishment of the misdeeds committed by the lower Self together with it in their future incarnation. The whole doctrine of atonement is built upon this old esoteric tenet; . . . The Secret Doctrine shows that the Manasa-Putras or incarnating Egos have taken upon themselves, voluntarily and knowingly, the burden of all the future sins of their future personalities. . . . It is, then, true to say that when we remain deaf to the Voice of our Conscience, we crucify the Christos within us" (TBL 55-6).

See also VICARIOUS ATONEMENT

(See also: Atonement , 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)

GOD

Anything from a psychic projection to a full macrocosmic individual. Einstein, shunning Judeo-Xtian pleadings, defined God as the ultimate natural order. Deus est homo. Man is God. Indeed all beings are Gods or immortal entities. The Gods, as such, however, inhabit various levels of substantiality and, as superior entities, exist independently in their own right. And this is not just because strong personalities (as well as human society in general) create and batten projections and archetypes, but because semi-being actually wills itself to be born into that state between Matter and the Void. the Gods are being itself, rather than any particular substance. That is, they are pure substance or the conscious potentiality behind substance. Every mortal, Theosophy has pointed out, has his divine counterpart, his celestial doppelganger or heavenly prototype. It is this personal archetype that we call The Father (or Guardian Angel). Theophany is the rare union (in adepts) of the heavenly counterpart with its earth shadow-self. The divine archetypes are not confined to ordinary human beings, moreover, but ascend to ever more infinite celestial monads themselves. When we speak of The Gods or the God beyond the Gods, such as Allfather Odin or Zeus, Father of the Gods we refer to just these higher monads.

It is difficult to remember that all seemingly separate things -- all individuals -- created themselves out of the Original Void and go on forever creating themselves. Thus, spirit manifests itself through matter; we never cease to embody and demonstrate divinity -- sometimes wisely, more often not. It is the gravest error to reproduce and propagate life indiscriminately. Such attempts to reincarnate oneself on the merely material plane, to maintain the same identity perptually through the generation of progeny -- this form of lust vitiates the Spirit and greedily confines matter disproportionately to a single, inferior and separationist aim. That in turn results in premature entropy and the abortion of Cosmic Purpose.

We should distinguish between various divine synonyms. Daimon, for instance, did not, amongst the Greeks, have our sense of demon, but was rather a spirit or higher self. Socrates spoke often of his daimon who conversed with him. The Sanskrit deva, although translated god, amongst the Hindus means any God, but in the Zend Avesta it is always a malevolent spirit. In Buddhism deva refers to almost anything from a legendary hero to a hobgoblin, but pure Buddhism attaches no importance to Gods of any kind. It considers them to be illusions, like everything else.

Whether reflective of reality or not, it is easy enough to plot an origin for God in the singular, but whence the proliferation of multi-deities? In Egypt they were seen simply as the natures of things (neteru). Iamblichus asks of the Egyptians, however, what the cause of the distinction between them is and whether it is from their energies, or their passive motions, or from things that are consequent, or from their different arrangement with respect to bodies. By the latter, he goes on to say that he means, for example, that Gods inhabit the ethereal, that demons inhabit the air and that souls inhabit terrestrial bodies.

Of course, it is differentiation that being comes to be in the first place. Before differentiation there is nothing but tohu-bohu -- indeed between the Void and confusion (or chaos), there is little difference. With the utterance of the command Be! the zero is annihilated.

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