Illusion Dictionary

Skrymir (Icelandic, Scandinavian) A Norse giant, also called Utgarda-Loki (Loki of the outermost court), representing the worlds of illusion (matter) in which the gods (consciousnesses) are misled. A well known tale relates how Thor, Loki, and Thor's servant Tjalfi are subjected to a number of "eye-shines" (illusions) and ignominiously outperformed by the giants in a series of contests, all by means of deceptive appearances.

In Norse mythology giants represent ages of manifest existence and each giant exhibits traits belonging to his particular eon. The giantesses who are his daughters represent lesser cycles of time within his longer age. Thurses are the gross, inert aspects of the elements which serve as vehicles for the imbodiments of conscious energies in worlds. They are represented as evil in most myths because their nature is opposed to the dynamism of the gods. Hence the gods and thurses or giants are constantly at war.

Skrymir and other giants exemplify also the gigantic forebears of our human race who inhabited the earth when forms were not yet coarse and weighty. Every mythic history contains references to giants: "in nearly every mythology -- which after all is ancient history -- the giants play an important part. In the old Norse mythology, the giants, Skrymir and his brethren, against whom the sons of the gods fought, were potent factors in the histories of deities and men" (SD 2:754).

(See also: Skrymir , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Now A fundamental concept of the theosophical philosophy is the Eternal Now. The past lingers in the memory and the future is ever vanishing from the present into the past: only Now eternally exists.

In the case of man, at any given moment he is the result of what he has fashioned himself to be out of all preceding moments; his future will therefore be the working out of his previous thoughts and actions, and one by one these disappear into what to us is the past, and yet is always present. These philosophical reflections apply universally.

"The three periods -- the Present, the Past, and the Future -- are in the esoteric philosophy a compound time; for the three are a composite number only in relation to the phenomenal plane, but in the realm of noumena have no abstract validity" (SD 1:43).

"Time is only an illusion produced by the succession of our states of consciousness as we travel through eternal duration, and it does not exist where no consciousness exists in which the illusion can be produced; but 'lies asleep.' The present is only a mathematical line which divides that part of eternal duration which we call the future, from that part which we call the past. Nothing on earth has real duration, for nothing remains without change -- or the same -- for the billionth part of a second; and the sensation we have of the actuality of the division of 'time' known as the present, comes from the blurring of that momentary glimpse, or succession of glimpses, of things that our senses give us, as those things pass from the region of ideals which we call the future, to the region of memories that we name the past" (SD 1:37).

(See also: Now , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Maya - illusion; that which is not; Sri Bhagavan’s external potency which influences the living entities to accept the false egoism of being independent enjoyers of this material world.

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

Nidana (Sanskrit). The 12 causes of existence, or a chain of causation, "a concatenation of cause and effect in the whole range of existence through 12 links". This is the fundamental dogma of Buddhist thought, "the understanding of which solves the riddle of life, revealing the insanity of existence and preparing the mind for Nirvana". (Eitel’s Sans. Chin. Dict.)

The 12 links stand thus in their enumeration.

(1)  Jail, or birth, according to one of the four modes of entering the stream of life and reincarnation - or Chatur Yoni (q.v.), each mode placing the being born in one of the six Gati (q.v.).

(2)  Jararnarana, or decrepitude and death, following the maturity of the Skandhas (q.v.).

(3)  Bhava, the Karmic agent which leads every new sentient being to be born in this or another mode of existence in the Trailokya and Gati.

(4)  Upadana, the creative cause of Bhava which thus becomes the cause of Jati which is the effect; and this creative cause is the clinging to life.

(5)  Trishna, love, whether pure or impure.

(6)  Vedana, or sensation; perception by the senses, it is the 5th Skandha.

(7)  Sparsa, the sense of touch.

(8)  Chadayatana, the organs of sensation.

(9)  Namarupa, personality, i.e., a form with a name to it, the symbol of the unreality of material phenomenal appearances.

(10)              Vijnana, the perfect knowledge of every perceptible thing and of all objects in their concatenation and unity.

(11)              Samskara, action on the plane of illusion.

(12)              (12) Avidya, lack of true perception, or ignorance. The Nidanas belonging to the most subtle and abstruse doctrines of the Eastern metaphysical system, it is impossible to go into the subject at any greater length.

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

Dondampai-denpa don dam pa'i bden pa (don-dam-pe den-pa) (Tibetan) Absolute or universal truth or reality, equivalent to the Sanskrit paramarthasatya; hence in the individual being, the highest spiritual perception and self-consciousness. The opposite of this term is kundzabchi-denpa (kun rdzob kyi bden pa, kun-dzob-kyi den-pa -- illusion-creating appearance), samvritti-satya in Sanskrit -- the origin of illusion or maya.

(See also: Dondampai-denpa , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

MAYA

Sanskrit: illusion, i.e., the true nature of the world. Matter, according to HPB, as the "veiling spirit."

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

Time Theosophy speaks of absolute undivided time or duration, and of manifested or divided time: the former as causal or noumenal, the latter as effectual or phenomenal, and therefore mayavi or illusional. "Time is only an illusion produced by the succession of our states of consciousness as we travel through eternal duration, and it does not exist where no consciousness exists in which the illusion can be produced; but 'lies asleep' " (SD 1:37). Duration is `olam (occult or hid) in the Qabbalah, signifying duration in eternity or endless perpetuity. Among the Greeks it was called Chronos and even Kronos, and sometimes referred to as Saturn among the Latins; yet its occult or eternally secret activities during periods of manifestation were at times referred to in Hindu philosophic thought as Rudra-Siva, or occasionally as Vishnu.

Theosophy divides boundless duration into unconditionally eternal and universal time, and a conditioned or periodic or "broken" one (SD 1:62). One is the abstraction or noumenon of infinite endless time (Kala); the other its phenomenon, appearing periodically. The symbol of causal or relatively boundless time, so far as the universe is concerned, is often given as a circle, which mathematically is a beginningless and endless line. A spiral line represents time returning upon itself in cycles, and yet transcending itself at each cyclic sweep, devouring its children, as Kronos among the Greeks is said to do; and the serpent with its tail in its mouth often stands for the same ideas. Time, meaning divided or phenomenal time, or manvantaric cycles, is often mentioned as an offspring of space, the latter considered as a container of manifestation. Mystically, theosophy looks upon present and past as well as future as being illusional effects of that beginningless and endless Now, eternal duration.

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

Maya:

(1) Sanscrit for “illusion.”

(2) A tribe of Central American Indians.

(See also: Maya , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Maya

1)    Unreality, illusion, prakriti

2)    The Hindu principle that all is an illusion and that ultimately the physical world, contacted through the conscious mind and the five senses, does not represent reality. This philosophy is also taught by A Course in Miracles.

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

Yogamaya (Mahayoga)

The aspect of Krishna’s personal energy who enhances His loving pastimes with His devotees by putting the devotees in benign illusion, making them forget that He is God. When Krishna descended to earth, Yogamaya appeared as His sister, Subhadra. Mahamaya, the material energy of illusion, is her partial expansion

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

maya:

illusion, particularly the illusion of the transient, impermanent, phenomenal world

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

A dictionary Of Commonly Used Sanskrit terms. From Lac to Omkarasana.

Please note that all words in grey, like "yoga", "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

Inclusion of Buddhahood in the nine worlds

(Jpn.: kukai-soku-bukkai or kukai-shogu-no-bukkai)

The principle that the world of Buddhahood is inherent in the nine worlds. That is, all beings of the nine worlds possess the potential for Buddhahood (i.e., the Buddha nature). The nine worlds refer to the realms of hell, hungry spirits, animals, asuras, human beings, heavenly beings, voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones, and bodhisattvas. These realms also signify inherent conditions or states of life that beings manifest at any given moment. The nine worlds are contrasted with the world of Buddhahood in that they are realms or states of illusion and suffering, while Buddha-hood is a state of enlightenment free from illusion and suffering.

The principle of Buddhahood as a potential within the nine worlds means that the beings of the nine worlds, i.e., those who are deluded, inherently possess the state of Buddhahood and can manifest Buddhahood from within their lives. This concept is derived from the Lotus Sutra, particularly the "Expedient Means" (second) chapter. Together with the inclusion of the nine worlds within Buddhahood, it explains T'ien-t'ai's concept of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds. The chapter reads, "The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, wish to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings." Nichiren says, "This refers to the world of Buddhahood inherent in the nine worlds". That is, Buddhahood is inherent in all living beings.

(See also: Inclusion of Buddhahood in the nine worlds , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Kun-ttag, Kun-tag kun brtags (Tibetan) Imagined, projected; particularly applied to illusion. Equivalent to the Sanskrit parikalpita (to be arranged or distributed). The connection arises from the fact that the homogeneous breaks up into the heterogeneous, and in this sense becomes parikalpita, and heterogeneity is the nursery or womb of illusion.

(See also: Kun-ttag, Kun-tag , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Four Noble Truths: The central theme of Buddhism, and was first thing Buddha Gautama taught, in his Sermon at Deer Park.

The Four Noble Truths are:

á      pain is universal,

á      the cause of pain is greed,

á      the source of greed is illusion (maya),

á      following the Eightfold Path leads to the cessation of pain, greed, and illusion.

See also: Dukkha, Tanha, Maya, and Eightfold Path.

 (See also: Four Noble Truths , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

TIME

Adeste, O Tempora Omnia! ("Be now, All Ye Times!") According to Merlin and others, mortals tend to face the opposite direction from that which time actually flows, as when we are seated in a train facing away from the engine. But it is the frozen past that unfolds, not the blazing future. We move away from becoming into the permanence of that which finally is. We alter continuously the shape of our history as we live it backwards. We watch the world recede rapidly as we move into the Nothingness of the Void and are swallowed up by it. However, this old linear view of time is abruptly being replaced by a new understanding of time as an exradiating web with ourselves at the center. The 20th Century has become the most time-obsessed period in history, and thus one of the most confused.

Kenneth Grant defines time as "subjectivity" and space as objectivity," the future as "implicit" and the past as "explicit." Despite the eye-opening insights these definitions provide, they still present time as having concrete existence.

FTL speeds flatten time to zero because light released only as electrons takes quantum leaps in the evolution of matter. In other words, electrons have to be released in order for matter to evolve (i.e., change), in fact, in order for matter to exist, period. Existence is a kind of "fire" or transmutation. And you know (see REALITY), photons appear only when someone actually observes (interacts with) them, because Being and Mind are one. We can't separate the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) -- so if you could succeed in extracting "water" or "fire" you'd wind up with nothing at all. But part of "earth" (the 4th part) is also earth, that is, an infinite replification (hologram) of itself -- boxes inside boxes in infinite regression; and every part is exactly alike, each particle is the entirety.

Inside the holo-mind, the stoppage of time is a play-back of Zeno's Paradox. That is, it decreases by infinite halves, except that one can no longer step out, is locked into halving. This is how annihilation is possible... but we digress.

Time is not some abstract "duration" imposed from outside but is built into the structure of things. There is a secret known to very few initiates, that one of the elements is fictitious, i.e., an abstraction devised merely to connect the others. Our postmodern problem is that we can't decide whether that's Time or Space, because they called it simply "Air." I guess we can work backward -- the nature of air, unlike that of the other elements, is for molecules in its medium to repel other molecules. Earth doesn't repel. It attracts. Water doesn't repel, it allows molecules to pass across one another's paths without obstruction, to flow. Fire doesn't repel, it fuses and spreads. Air alone moves towards separation and disintegration, as the present constantly disengages from past moment to past moment. (Future never does come into existence, does it? Tomorrow literally never comes. It is a physical impossibility).

The "duration" of an ice cube is not really it's "fourth" dimension, but simply a description of water moving from one form (ice) to another (water) and it is at "no time" anything other than H2O. The "duration" of a life is almost meaningless. What has "endured"? The mewling babe or the grizzled old hunchback? What I'm getting at is that duration is such a philosophical term that sub specie aetemitatis it eventually ceases to have any pragmatic importance.

Well, then, if there is no future, how did I get here from the Past? The billions scream for illusions. And through the medium of herbs and drugs, the minds of ages past, present and potential can and do intertwine. It is called the principle of bilocalism, or being in two places at the same "time." As I lie upon my lion rug, dreaming of the 20th Century in my hut with the crossed spears over the doorway, I have entered one of the spirit worlds where time no longer counts. In the same way, I can entrance myself into "the year 1999" or (with a final twist) the year "2013" and this sorcerors have done since any of us can remember. But there is a wall that begins to thicken as we approach the 21st Century. Beyond this it soon becomes impossible to pass (apart from the 2013 "bubble"). That outer wall has been known to exist, since the seers of Egypt and Babylon first perceived it, thousands of years ago. It is the limit of this Aeon -- and it is a ring-pass-not of dense, dark flame.

Of course it's all an illusion. There is no future. What we're looking at is always the present. Infinite knowledge? Well, yes, obviously omniscience has always been there. All you have to do is walk into it. And, yes -- the crossing of infinite parallel lines -- all outcomes equally probable. But, again, it's the "improbable" that always has the edge. The world will actually "end" long before 1999 or 2012 -- the "Implosion" is building up and up. Those are only the uttermost limits. The Three are already at hand.

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

Adisakti (Sanskrit) (from adi first + sakti power, energy)

Primeval power; the divine force or direct energic emanation from mulaprakriti, hence the feminine aspect or clothing of any spiritually formative potency. Personified in the Hindu pantheon as the consort of a divinity, every divinity having its own sakti or formative power-substance. Also a name for maya, significant because illusion begins with manifestation (SD 1:10).

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

Avidya - ignorance, spiritual ignorance, illusion. Ignorance is of four kinds: to mistake that which is impermanent to be permanent, that which is full of misery to be blissful, that which is impure to be pure, and that which is not the self to be the self. Avidya is one of the five types of klesa, or miseries, destroyed by bhakti.

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

Abyss (from Greek a not + byssos, bythos deep, depth)

Bottomless, unfathomable; chaos, space, the watery abyss which becomes the field of manifestation or cosmos -- a concept found in all mythologies. With the Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians the great Deep gave birth to Ea, the All-wise, unknowable infinite deity, while in the Chaldean cosmogony Tiamat, the female principle, is the imbodiment of chaos. The Abyss or chaos was the abode of cosmic wisdom. Egyptian cosmogony speaks of Nut as the celestial abyss while Scandinavian cosmogony tells of Ginnungagap (chasm of offspring of Ginn), the infinite void or the abyss of illusion (SD 1:367).

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

Materialism In the rigid philosophical sense, any theory which considers the facts of the universe to be sufficiently explained by the existence and nature of matter. A familiar form of this is what has been called the atomo-mechanical theory, which derives all phenomena from the movements of material atoms in space. The philosophical definition of materialism differs according to the meaning of the word matter; as for instance, when we limit matter by no physical attributes or implications alone, but

See in it the sevenfold prakritis or pradhanas of Hindu philosophers and mystics, matter is then seen to be but a name for the veil or shadow of spirit -- the other side of spirit as it were. This distinction makes materialism but a synonym for spiritualism -- i.e., the profound philosophic theory that the universe is built throughout, from and of the substances and attributes of spirit, which become matter in its innumerable and manifold forms and phases on the lower cosmic planes. What physicists have been calling matter is a percept derived from the interaction of the physical senses with the physical plane of prakriti or nature.

Matter is one of the twin aspects of universal life, coeternal with spirit and indeed spirit's veil or vehicle, and hence is present on every plane of manifestation, from the highest to the lowest. When the manifested One of a universe is considered as a unit or unity, it is called the First or Unmanifest Logos; when it is considered as a duality it is called the Manifest-Unmanifested or Second Logos, and is spirit-matter or life, spirit being its positive pole and matter its negative. Matter is everywhere the vehicle of spirit, and in matter inhere the attributes which spirit expresses in it. Hence materialism, in this sense, would define the whole theosophic philosophy.

The history of philosophy presents a rivalry of schools where materialism is contrasted with idealism, but all these rival schools originated outside of the Mysteries of the sanctuary, although many if not all contain substantial elements of occult verities. The attempt entirely to separate the notions of spirit and matter, of mind and body, of noumenon and phenomenon, results in futility and confusion; a purely ideal world is as unreal as a purely material one.

Materialism, however, stands commonly for an attitude of mind which exalts sense-life, together with its appropriate species of intellectualism, into a summum bonum; and which strives to devise a philosophy that will justify such an attitude. It is an attitude towards life consisting of mental and emotional attachment to externals, to the senses, and to reasoning based on sensory perceptions; and a corresponding neglect and denial of real values. This kind of materialism undermines morals by substituting self-interest or expediency for an innate moral sense, as the basis for conduct. It places illusory power in the hands of man, while at the same time depriving him of his real power of penetrating discrimination, and hence of his ability while under this illusion to use the powers of nature aright.

(See also: Materialism , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

simplicity

Increased clarity, diminished distortion or illusion, realizing a state wherein absence of complication of understanding results because more integration of Self has ocurred

(See also: Simplicity , Body Mind and Soul)