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Hinduism Dictionary - A

Aadheenam, Abhasa, Abhaya, Abhinavagupta, Abhisheka, Abhor, Abide, Abjuration, Ablution, Abode, Abortion, Absolute, Absolution, Absorption, Abstain, Abyss, Accelerate, Accordant, Achara, Acharya, Acosmic pantheism, Actinic, Actinodic, Adept, Adharma, Adharma, Adhere, Adhyatma, Adhyatma prasara, Adhyatma vikasa, Adi Granth, Adinatha, Adinatha Sampradaya, Adisaiva, Adopt, Adore, Adorn, Adrishta, Adulate, Adultery, Advaita, Advaita Ishvaravada, Advaita Ishvaravadin, Advaita Siddhanta, Advaita Vedanta, Adversity, Advocate, Affirmation, Affirmation of faith, Aftermath, Agama, Agastya, Aghora, Aghorasiva, Aghori, Agni, Agnihotra, Agnikaraka, Aham Brahmasmi, Ahamkara, Ahimsa, Aikya, Aitareya Brahmana, Aitareya Upanishad, Ajita Agama, Ajna chakra, Akasha, Akshata, Allama Prabhu, Allegory, All-pervasive, Aloof, Altruistic, Alvar, Amardaka Order, Ambika, Amid, Amman, Amorphous, Amrita, Amritatman, Analogy, Analytical, Ananda, Ananda tandava, Anandamaya kosha, Anandamaya kosha, Anandamaya kosha, Anava mala, Anavopaya, Anbe Sivamayam Satyame Parasivam, Anchorite, Ancillary, Andal, Andhra Pradesh, Anekavada, Anekavadin, Anga, Aniconic, Animate-inanimate, Animism, Anjali mudra, Ankusha, Annamaya kosha, Annamaya kosha, Annaprashana, Annihilate, Antagonism, Antahkarana, Antarloka, Antarloka, Anthology, Antyavachanam, Antyeshti, Anu, Anubhava, Anugraha, Anugraha shakti, Anukramanika, Anupaya, Anxiety, Apad dharma, Apasmarapurusha, Apatya, Apex, Apex of creation, Appar, Apparent, Appaya Dikshita, Apprehend, Aranyaka, Arati, Arbhuta Tiru Antadi, Archana, Ardhanari Nateshvara Stotram, Ardhanarishvara, Ardra Darshana, Arduous, Arena, Aristotle, Arjava, Arjuna, Artha, Arthaveda, Arunagirinathar, Aruneya Upanishad, Aryaman, Asana, Ascent, Ascetic, Asceticism, Ash, Ashrama, Ashrama dharma, Ashrama dharma, Ashtanga pranama, Ashtavaranam, Ashuddha tattvas, Ashvaghosha, Ashvin, Assam, Assuage, Asteya, Astikya, Astral body, Astral plane, Astrology, Asura, Atala, Atattva, Atha, Atharva Veda, Atharvashikha Upanishad, Atheism, Atman, Atmartha puja, Atmasvarupa, Atmosphere, Attainment, Attitude, Augural, Aum, Aura, Auspicious, Austerity, Authenticity, Authority, Auvaiyar, Avantivarman, Avatara, Avidya, Awareness, Axiom, Axis, Ayurveda, Ayurveda vaidya, Ayyappan

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aura: The luminous colorful field of subtle energy radiating within and around the human body, extending out from three to seven feet. The colors of the aura change constantly according to the ebb and flow of one's state of consciousness, thoughts, moods and emotions. Higher, benevolent feelings create bright pastels; base, negative feelings are darker in color. Thus, auras can be seen and "read" by clairvoyants.

The general nature of auras varies according to individual unfoldment. Great mystics have very bright auras, while instinctive persons are shrouded in dull shades. The aura consists of two aspects, the outer aura and the inner aura. The outer aura extends beyond the physical body and changes continuously, reflecting the individual's moment-to-moment panorama of thought and emotion. The inner aura is much more constant, as it reflects deep-seated subconscious patterns, desires, repressions and tendencies held in the sub-subconscious mind. Those colors which are regularly and habitually reflected in the outer aura are eventually recorded more permanently in the inner aura. The colors of the inner aura permeate out through the outer aura and either shade with sadness or brighten with happiness the normal experiences of daily life.

The inner aura hovers deep within the astral body in the chest and torso and looks much like certain "modern-art" paintings, with heavy strokes of solid colors here and there. In Sanskrit, the aura is called prabhamandala, "luminous circle," or diptachakra, "wheel of light."

See: mind (five states of mind), papa, punya.

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

ayurveda: (Sanskrit) "Science of life." A holistic system of medicine and health native to ancient India. This sacred Vedic science is an Upaveda of the Atharva Veda. Three early giants in this field who left voluminous texts are Charaka, Sushruta and Vagbhata.

Ayurveda covers many areas, including:

1)    chikitsa, general medicine,

2)    shalya, surgery,

3)    dehavritti, physiology,

4)    nidana, diagnosis,

5)    dravyavidya, medicine and pharmacology,

6)    agada tantra, antidote method,

7)    stritantra, gynecology,

8)    pashu vidya, veterinary science,

9)    kaumara bhritya, pediatrics, 1

10) urdhvanga, diseases of the organs of the head,

11) bhuta vidya, demonology, 1

12) rasayana, tonics, rejuvenating,

13) vajikarana, sexual rejuvenation.

Among the first known surgeons was Sushruta (ca 600 bce), whose Sushruta Samhita is studied to this day. (Hippocrates, Greek father of medicine, lived two centuries later.) The aims of ayurveda are ayus, "long life," and arogya, "diseaselessness," which facilitate progress toward ultimate spiritual goals. Health is achieved by balancing energies (especially the doshas, bodily humors) at all levels of being, subtle and gross, through innumerable methods, selected according to the individual's constitution, lifestyle and nature. Similar holistic medical systems are prevalent among many communities, including the Chinese, American Indians, Africans and South Americans. See: doshas.

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

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

awareness: Sakshin, or chit. Individual consciousness, perception, knowing; the witness of perception, the "inner eye of the soul." The soul's ability to sense, see or know and to be conscious of this knowing. When awareness is indrawn (pratyak chetana), various states of samadhi may occur. Awareness is known in the Agamas as chitshakti, the "power of awareness," the inner self and eternal witness. See: consciousness, sakshin.

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

apprehend: To mentally seize and hold, to see or understand; to physically detain.

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

Appaya Dikshita: (Sanskrit) Philosophical genius of South India (1554-1626) who worked to reconcile Vaishnavism and Saivism, advancing the Siva Advaita school of Saivism by his writings, and bolstering other schools by his brilliant summations of their philosophies. He is best known for his commentaries on the teachings of Srikantha. Appaya Dikshita also created a manual of Saiva temple ritual still in use today. See: Siva Advaita.

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

ananda tandava: (Sanskrit) "Violent dance of bliss." See: Nataraja, tandava.

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

Allama Prabhu: (Sanskrit) A contemporary of Basavanna and central figure of Vira Saivism (ca 1150), the head of an order of 300 enlightened beings which included 60 women. Initially a temple drummer, he became an extraordinary siddha, mystic and poet. The Mantra Gopya are his collected writings. See: Basavanna, Vira Saivism.

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

anchorite: "Hermit." A monk or aspirant who lives alone and apart from society, as contrasted with cenobite, a member of a religious order living in a monastery or convent. See: monk, nunk.

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

actinic: Spiritual, creating light. Adjective derived from the Greek aktis, "ray." Of or pertaining to consciousness in its pure, unadulterated state. Describes the extremely rarified superconscious realm of pure bindu, of quantum strings, the substratum of consciousness, shuddha maya, from which light first originates. Actinic is the adjective form of actinism, defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as:

1)   "the radiation of heat or light, or that branch of philosophy that treats of it;

2)    that property or force in the sun's rays by which chemical changes are produced, as in photography."

See: actinodic, kala, kosha, odic, tattva.

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

assuage: To lessen pain or distress; to calm passions or desires.

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

annihilate: To destroy completely, to reduce to nothing.

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

Aghori: (Sanskrit) "Nonterrifying." An order of Saiva ascetics thought to be derived from the Kapalika order (ca 14th century). Following the vamachara, "left-hand ritual of the tantras," they are widely censured for radical practices such as living in cemeteries and using human skulls as eating bowls.

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

Absolute: Lower case (absolute): real, not dependent on anything else, not relative. Upper case (Absolute): Ultimate Reality, the unmanifest, unchanging and transcendent Parasiva - utterly nonrelational to even the most subtle level of consciousness. It is the Self God, the essence of man's soul. Same as Absolute Being and Absolute Reality.

absolutely real: A quality of God Siva in all three perfections: Parasiva, Parashakti and Parameshvara. As such, He is uncreated, unchanging, unevolutionary.

See: Parameshvara, Parashakti, Parasiva.

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

artha: (Sanskrit) "Goal" or "purpose;" wealth, substance, property, money. Also has the meaning of utility; desire. See: dharma, purushartha.

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

amorphous: Of no definite shape or form. See: formless.

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

amrita: (Sanskrit) "Immortality." Literally, "without death (mrita)." The nectar of divine bliss which flows down from the sahasrara chakra when one enters very deep states of meditation. This word is apparently the source of the Greek amrotos, the ambrosia, food or drink, of the Gods, which has its Vedic equivalent in the legendary elixir called soma, a central element in Vedic rites in which it is venerated as a Divinity. anahata chakra: (Sanskrit) "Wheel of unstruck [sound]." The heart center. See: chakra.

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

Amman: (Tamil) "Mother." Usually refers to Mariyamman, the "smallpox Goddess," protectress from plagues, a popular gramadevata ("village Deity" or tutelary Deity of a locale). There are many Mariyamman temples and shrines in Malaysia, Mauritius and rural areas of South India. In the Tamil tradition, amman is often appended to the names of various Goddesses, as in Kali Amman or Draupadi Amman (deified heroine of the Mahabharata). One of the distinguishing features of gramadevata shrines is that they are not served by brahmin priests. See: Shakti, Shaktism.

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