a-vidya-maya:

a-vidya-maya (-vidhyaa-maayaa). Ignorance-based illusion.

(See also: a-vidya-maya , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

gudaakesa:

gudaakesa (gudaakesha). Master of senses; thick-haired (Arjuna). A person who has overcome sloth, sleep, and ignorance.

(See also: gudaakesa , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Avidya:

ignorance

(See also: Avidya ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

a-jnana:

a-jnana (a-jnaana). Ignorance, stupidity.

(See also: a-jnana , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Avidya - Ignorance.

(See also: Avidya ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

a-jnana-sakthi:

a-jnana-sakthi (a-jnaana-shakthi). Power of ignorance.

(See also: a-jnana-sakthi , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

gunas

the three modes of material nature, or controlling principles, sattva-guna (goodness), rajo-guna (passion), and tamo-guna (ignorance).

(See also: gunas , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Malphut - an Islamic term for ignorance.

(See also: Malphut , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

STHULA AVIDYA: gross ignorance

(See also: STHULA AVIDYA , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Krsna-bahirmukha - being oblivious to Krsna due to having one’s attention focused outwardly toward the material world; ignorance of Krsna and enthrallment with material enjoyment.

(See also: Krsna-bahirmukha , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Kleshas:

Kleshas. "Pain". There are five dealt with in Nath literature: Ignorance, Ego, Repulsion, Attachment and Clinging to Life.

(See also: Kleshas , Tantra, Tantra Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Evil Good and evil are attributes of relativity in nature as cognized by the minds of percipient beings.

"Esoteric philosophy admits neither good nor evil per se as existing independently in nature. The cause for both is found, as regards the Kosmos, in the necessity of contraries or contrasts, and with respect to man, in his human nature, his ignorance and passions. There is no devil or the utterly depraved, as there are no Angels absolutely perfect, though there may be spirits of Light and of Darkness . . ." (SD 2:162).

Pythagorean philosophy regards the duad as evil, and the One as the only good; which symbolizes that manifested qualities are in pairs of opposites, so that contrast subsists not merely within the pair itself but also between the pair considered as a whole and the One which is superior to it. Since throughout nature we find such pairs of opposites, reconciled by a synthesizing unity, it follows that the words good and evil of necessity are used in a relative sense, and convey the notion of incompleteness as contrasted with an intuitively conceived perfection. We cannot suppose that things can be good or evil in themselves, except relatively, or even in their relations to other things.

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

sin: Intentional transgression of divine law. Akin to the Latin sons, "guilty."

Hinduism does not view sin as a crime against God, but as an act against dharma - moral order - and one's own self. It is thought natural, if unfortunate, that young souls act wrongly, for they are living in nescience, avidya, the darkness of ignorance.

Sin is an adharmic course of action which automatically brings negative consequences. The term sin carries a double meaning, as do its Sanskrit equivalents:

1)    a wrongful act,

2)    the negative consequences resulting from a wrongful act.

In Sanskrit the wrongful act is known by several terms, including pataka (from pat, "to fall") papa, enas, kilbisha, adharma, anrita and rina (transgress, in the sense of omission).

The residue of sin is called papa, sometimes conceived of as a sticky, astral substance which can be dissolved through penance (prayashchitta), austerity (tapas) and good deeds (sukritya). This astral substance can be psychically seen within the inner, subconscious aura of the individual. Note that papa is also accrued through unknowing or unintentional transgressions of dharma, as in the term aparadha (offense, fault, mistake).

inherent sin or original sin: A doctrine of Semitic faiths whereby each soul is born in sin as a result of Adam's disobedience in the Garden of Eden. Sometimes mistakenly compared to the Saiva Siddhanta concept of the three malas, especially anava.

See: pasha.

mortal sin: According to some theologies, sins so grave that they can never be expiated and which cause the soul to be condemned to suffer eternally in hell. In Hinduism, there are no such concepts as inherent sin or mortal sin.

See: aura, evil, karma, papa.

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

Ajnana:

A term of Vedanta philosophy meaning ignorance, individual or cosmic. According to Non-dualistic Vedanta it is responsible for the perception of multiplicity in the relative world and also for man's bondage and suffering.

(See also: Ajnana , Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

BIGOTRY: willful ignorance.

(See also: BIGOTRY , Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Psychic Powers Powers pertaining to the lower intermediate human nature -- i.e, between the mental-emotional and the physical -- including powers of perception such as astral vision, the lower clairvoyance and clairaudience, the lower psychometry and seership, etc.; and lower biases or tendencies such as hypnotism, the power to produce minor occult phenomena of many kinds, and in connection with the power of automatic astral projection.

In their nature they are morally neutral, being susceptible of use or misuse just as are physical powers. If used with an evil or selfish purpose, the action is black magic; and even if used without such motive or with good intention, they may prove confusing and therefore misleading for one who ventures to use them.

The existence of such powers should be recognized and we should hope some day to be able to avail ourselves properly of them, but a prime requisite in discipleship is equal and harmonious development. We may attain psychic powers by observing the conditions under which they may safely and profitably be allowed to develop.

The presence of vanity, ambition, self-assertion, egoism, and similar qualities prove a bar, and the aspirant who is sincerely desirous of eliminating these defects will not willingly adopt a course likely to enhance them. There is no hard-and-fast division of powers into psychic, physical, mental, etc.: we may contemplate the gradual development of our mental faculties without defining a point where we have stepped out of the ordinary into the occult; and our perceptions may become refined by gradual stages without any sudden jump from one plane to another.

Theosophy enjoins students to let psychic powers alone, until they develop normally and naturally in the progress of the student along the path of wisdom and self-mastery. The craze for psychic powers and attempts in their cultivation arise almost invariably out of ignorance of the existence in ourselves of far higher and more powerful forces which can always be employed with safety, and even profit, to the individual.

These greater powers are those classed as spiritual and intellectual-aspirational -- powers which ennoble and dignify man, containing in themselves capacities for amazing effects. Their use is always safe once they are understood and studied. By their side the psychic powers, attributes, and faculties are like the puny efforts of children to copy adults.

(See also: Psychic Powers , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Testimonium Paupertatis (Latin) Proof of poverty; also unconscious or involuntary admission of ignorance (SD 2:651).

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

anusaya (anusaya): Obsesssion; underlying tendency. (The etymology of this term means "lying down with"; in actual usage, the related verb (anuseti) means to be obsessed.)

There are seven major obsessions to which the mind returns over and over again:

obsession with sensual passion (kama-raganusaya),

with resistance (patighanusaya),

with views (ditthanusaya),

with uncertainty (vicikicchanusaya),

with conceit (manusaya),

with passion for becoming (bhava-raganusaya), and

with ignorance (avijjanusaya).

Compare: samyojana.

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

thamasika-marga:

thamasika-marga (thaamasika-maarga). Path of ignorance and passivity.

(See also: thamasika-marga , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yama (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root yam to subdue, control]

A curb, rein, bridle; hence the act of curbing, suppression, self-control. Especially prominent in yoga as self-restraint: it is the first of the eight angas or means of attaining mental concentration.

As a proper name, the deity who rules over the shades of the dead in the Rig-Veda, corresponding to the Greek Hades or Roman Pluto. Hence Yama is the personification of the third root-race, because these were the first to taste death -- the first self-consciously intellectual humans who died and departed after death to devachan. Hence also the ascription in Hindu mythology to Yama as the ruler of the pitris. In the Mahabharata, he is described as dressed in blood-red garments, with a glittering form, a crown on his head, glowing eyes and, like Varuna, he holds a noose with which he binds the spirit after drawing it from the body after death.

"Yama is represented as the son of Vivaswat (the Sun). He had a twin-sister named Yami, who was ever urging him, according to another hymn, to take her for his wife, in order to perpetuate the species" (TG 375-6). Yama and his twin sister is a distinct reference to the androgynous character of the human race from the middle of the third root-race forward.

The Rig-Veda "nowhere shows Yama 'as having anything to do with the punishment of the wicked.' As king and judge of the dead, a Pluto in short, Yama is a far later creation. One has to study the true character of Yama-Yami throughout more than one hymn and epic poem, and collect the various accounts scattered in dozens of ancient works, and then he will obtain a consensus of allegorical statements which will be found to corroborate and justify the Esoteric teaching, that Yama-Yami is the symbol of the dual Manas, in one of its mystical meanings.

For instance, Yama-Yami is always represented of a green colour and clothed with red, and as dwelling in a palace of copper and iron. Students of Occultism know to which of the human 'principles' the green and the red colours, and by correspondence the iron and copper, are to be applied. The 'twofold-ruler' -- the epithet of Yama-Yami -- is regarded in the exoteric teachings of the Chino-Buddhists as both judge and criminal, the restrainer of his own evil doings and the evil-doer himself. In the Hindu epic poems Yama-Yami is the twin-child of the Sun (the deity) by Sanjna (spiritual consciousness); but while Yama is the Aryan 'lord of the day,' appearing as the symbol of spirit in the East, Yami is the queen of the night (darkness, ignorance) 'who opens to mortals the path to the West' -- the emblem of evil and matter. In the Puranas Yama has many wives (many Yamis) who force him to dwell in the lower world (Patala, Myalba, etc., etc.); and an allegory represents him with his foot lifted, to kick Chhaya, the handmaiden of his father (the astral body of his mother, Sanjna, a metaphysical aspect of Buddhi or Alaya).

As stated in the Hindu Scriptures, a soul when it quits its mortal frame, repairs to its abode in the lower regions (Kamaloka or Hades). Once there, the Recorder, the Karmic messenger called Chitragupta (hidden or concealed brightness), reads out his account from the Great Register, wherein during the life of the human being, every deed and thought are indelibly impressed -- and, according to the sentence pronounced, the 'soul' either ascends to the abode of the Pitris (Devachan), descends to a 'hell' (Kamaloka), or is reborn on earth in another human form" (TG 376).

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

Apasmarapurusha: (Sanskrit) "Forgetful person." The soul under Siva's foot of obscuring grace, depicted in numerous icons. He represents ignorance and heedlessness. (Sometimes simply Apasmara.) See: Nataraja.

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

CHAOS PREDICTION

Mathematical Chaos Prediction is the next step after Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, now used partly (in ignorance) by computers, stockbrokers and oil-dowsers. If the wrong people get hold of this key they will be able to control all random factors in the world to their advantage. James P. Crutchfield say, "Innate creativity may have an underlying chaotic process that selectively amplifies small fluctuations." The amplification of small fluctuations (characteristic of Chaos) and its bibranching can be examined by values of growth factors at which bifurcations take place using "Feigenbaum's Number": 4,669.

Its whole number factors are 7, 23, 29, 161, 203 and 667. Note that 23 is already claimed by R.A. Wilson as the "number of synchronicities" and 7 is the mystical number par excellence, the "Holy Merkabah", the zodiacal sign of Cancer. 29 = Hebrew Dacha, "Crushed". Further, from A.C.'s 777: 161 is the Heavenly Man or Exalted Man, the "Congregation of the Eternal", 203 = Initials of the Trinity: dead; feather: created; ambush: foreign; esoteric. 667 = "oil for lighting". It is fortunate that 4 + 6 + 6 + 9 = 7. Thank Gods, it doesn't add up to One! Then we would be in trouble!

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