Agamin (Sanskrit) (from a toward + the verbal root gam to come, go)

Coming, approaching; when applied to karma, impending, future; when applied to auguries, casual, changeable, as opposed to sthira (fixed).

Agami-karma is the karmic seeds that would be sown were one to pursue one's life normally, i.e., karma not yet contracted.

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

Assessors One name given by Europeans to the 42 judges in the scene of the weighing of the heart in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. They stand as accusers of the defunct before Osiris in the former's progress through Amenti after death. The idea of the judges reading the record from the weighing of the defunct's heart is a variant of the teaching concerning the lipikas or karmic scribes recording all things in the astral light (cf SD 1:104-5).

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

Ash `ash (Hebrew) (probably from na`ash to support, bear)

In Job (9:9) wrongly translated as the star Arcturus; from the Arabic it is evident that Ursa Major is referred to. Different peoples consider the Great Bear as the vital support or carrier not only of destiny but of the heavens. Thus the Hindus speak of the Saptarshayah (seven rishis), who preside over this constellation and have our universe in karmic supervision.

(See also: Ash `ash, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Bandhakarana (Sanskrit) (from bandha bondage + karana from the verbal root kri to make, do)

Making or causing bondage; binding, fettering, or a holding back. Subba Row (Notes on BG 71) assumes that mulaprakriti is the real or principal bandhakarana as the originating cause of karmic activity, but this has reference only to the most abstract and spiritual side of things, as in the last analysis even karma itself may be traced backwards and inwards to mulaprakriti as the field of all possible activity.

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

Eumenides (Greek) (from eumenides beneficent or gracious ones)

. Beneficent deities; they appear in the famous Greek tragedy The Eumenidies by Aeschylus. Originally karmic agents, called by the ancient Greeks avenging Erinyes (Furies), whose functions it is to attend upon human acts such as crimes and to bring about the reestablishment of the broken harmony, immediately after which they are seen in their real character: divinities of beneficence and beauty.

See also ERINYES

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

Yih-sin The atman, "the child of Dharmakaya (the universally diffused Essence), both male and female" (ML 346). The seventh principle of any being, whether cosmic, microcosmic, or infinitesimal; the spiritual germ-point from which is emanated the subsequent karmically necessary septenary being. It is the spiritual seed or atmic center, beginning its manifested activity as a septenary or duodenary entity.

See also YIN HSIN

(See also: Yih-sin, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Sankalpa or Samkalpa (Sanskrit) [from sam-klrip to be brought into existence, wish, produce]

A conception or idea formed in the mind or heart; thought, ideation, desire. The Vedas say that the whole universe is evolved through sankalpa -- the ceaselessly acting impulsions of karma driven by cosmic kama -- and hence it is only through sankalpa that the universe retains its karmic structure, appearances, and continuance.

(See also: Sankalpa, Samkalpa, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Sadaikarupa (Sanskrit) [from sada always + eka one + rupa form]

Always the one and same body; the essence of immutable nature. This Hindu philosophical term means the cosmically perduring (through both pralaya and manvantara following each other alternately) of the karmic substance of universal nature, however much cosmic karma may mold or vary the cosmic fields in and upon which it is eternally active.

(See also: Sadaikarupa, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Kshira-samudra ksira-samudra (Sanskrit) The ocean of milk, which was churned by the gods, according to Puranic legend. The sea of milk and curds is the Milky Way and the various congeries of nebulae. The allegory of the churning of the ocean of milk refers to a time before the kosmos was evolved.

Vishnu, who here stands for aeonic preservation of karmically developed kosmic stuff or matter, is its intelligent preserver, and churns out of the primitive ocean (the chaos of a universe in pralaya) the amrita or immortal essence which is reserved only for the gods.

See also KURMA-AVATARA

(See also: Kshira-samudra, ksira-samudra, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Jagad-yoni (Sanskrit) (from jagat world + yoni womb)

The womb of the world; applied to Brahma, Vishnu, and Krishna. It is the material cause of the universe and not the mother of the world, as often translated. It signifies a portion of the spatial deeps to be womb or source of some celestial body such as a planet, or a group of bodies such as a solar system.

Jagad-yoni, therefore, is any portion of kosmic space which through karmic destiny is to be the focus out of which shall spring a celestial globe or solar system. It parallels in certain senses the Hindu hiranyagharba and Greek pleroma (BCW 11:491).

(See also: Jagad-yoni, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Bhava (Sanskrit) (from the verbal root bhu to be, become)

Being; coming into existence, birth, production, origin; worldly existence, the world. As used in Buddhist literature, the continuity of becoming, one of the links in the twelvefold chain of causation (nidanas), therefore also birth. As the third nidana, bhava is the karmic agent which leads every new sentient being to be born in this or another mode of existence in the trailokya and gatis.

As a proper noun, the name of a deity, also applied as a title to the gods Agni, Siva, and Rudra.

See also ABHAVA

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

Chatur-yoni catur-yoni (Sanskrit) Four wombs; the four modes of birth; the four ways of entering on the path of birth as decided by karma.

These four ways as described in ancient books are:

1)    birth from the womb, as men and mammalia;

2)    birth from an egg, as birds and reptiles;

3)    birth from moisture and air-germs, as insects; and

4)    by sudden self-transformation, as bodhisattvas and gods (anupapadaka -- "parentless").

The anupapadaka birth is brought about by the intrinsic energy and karmic merit of the individual, thus transforming himself into a nobler being.

(See also: Chatur-yoni, catur-yoni, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dingir (Akkad) The chief deity of the Akkadians; one of the forms of the creative powers as recognized by the earlier Akkadians.

Every one of these demiurgic powers is the chief or first in his or her own field of activity in the universe, so that in one mythology may be found several such chief or first divinities, each being the chief or hierarch in his or her own hierarchy, but all nevertheless subordinate to the karmic mandates of the inclusive, all-enclosing, cosmic primordial elements.

These chief divinities are the cosmic elements originating in and from the primordial element, which because of the extreme reverence in which it was held by archaic thought is often not mentioned, it being part of the teaching of the sanctuary.

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

Moira (Greek) Plural morai or morae. One's allotted share; destiny. As a proper name, there was originally only one Moira, but later there were three: Lachesis, Clotho, and Atropos. Lachesis is from a root lach, as in lagchano "to obtain that which has already been determined or fixed"; she is depicted as a grave maiden holding a staff pointing to a horoscope, signifying that which man has built in the past is now unfolding. She was occultly connected with the earth.

Clotho or Klotho is from a verb meaning "to spin," and is represented as a woman holding a spindle, spinning thread which is man's destiny, that which he is at present weaving for the future, and is connected with the future in that what we weave now determines what our future shall be. Thus it is linked with the psychological part of human nature, and connected occultly with the moon. Atropos is from a verb meaning "impossible to set aside or evade," and therefore is translated as "inevitable, ineluctable."

It was often represented as a woman pointing to a sundial signifying that as the sun brings its light to the earth, so the future shall bring its destiny to man, as the flying hours unfold what comes to us out of the womb of time. Thus we have Lachesis representing the ineluctable destiny coming to us in our present life on earth from our past; Clotho, the present spinning of our future destiny because of the actions and reactions, mental and emotional, by which we are now weaving the web of fate which someday will become the present; and Atropos, the ineluctable and inescapable future represented as held in store, every thread of which has been woven by ourselves in past and present. Their respective functions are sometimes interchanged. Equivalent to the Latin Parcae and Fata, and the Scandinavian Norns.

It is only in this world that the action of fate seems extraneous to human will, for in reality we are the weaver of our own fates. The Morai are karmic agents or forces rather than karma, which is fundamentally the law governing universal equilibrium. In its essence the constant working of cosmic harmony, karma must of necessity manifest itself in multimyriad forms and manners -- in and through multimyriad agents or forces.

Karma being essentially the law of cosmic unity and concord, it is only the individuals which disturb this universal equilibrium who can feel the reaction therefrom, whether in one life or in a later one; but the karmic effects are by no means always identic with the originating causative action of the individual, because of the karmic agents of many kinds through which karma works.

Thus, the gods, all human beings, the earth itself, and all its component forces and substances are karmic agents constantly interacting upon each other; so that while abstractly the action of karma is infallible and infinitely unerring and cannot ever be escaped or set aside, its reactions upon the individual who broke its laws may take place in diverse ways and usually through agents or instruments, since karma is no individual or cosmic god.

In the Pistis Sophia, Moira is enumerated as one of the principles of man, and called by Blavatsky the karmic ego (SD 2:605).

(See also: Moira, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Blood Transfusion The introducing of blood from the vascular system of one animal or person into the blood vessels of another. Selecting a person for a donor whose blood matches that of the recipient takes no account of the subtle personal and karmic qualities, both active and latent, which are carried over from the donor's lifestream.

The protean influence of personalized blood, thus directly transmitted, is conveyed to the other person with greater potency than would result even from drinking it. No laboratory findings of supposedly healthy blood can ever reveal the latent seeds of karmic disease, or of mental or psychological disorder, which will manifest in due time unless destroyed, even when transplanted into a different vital culture-medium. Moreover, transfusion may result in an increased or abnormal activity of such germinating seeds which thus have been involved with the physical conditions and the life issues of another person. W. Q. Judge, speaking of the esoteric teaching on the influence of the body's tissues on the soul, says:

"We say that the blood cells and the fluid they float in receive and transmit sensation.

"Each sub-division among the physical sheaths performs not only the duty of receiving and transmitting sensations, but also has the power of retaining a memory of them which is registered in the appropriate ganglions of the body, and continually, from there, implanted in the corresponding center of sensation and action in the astral body. At the same time the physical brain has always the power, as is of course a common fact, of collecting all the physical sensations and impressions" (Echoes of Orient 2:37).

The transfusion of blood is an unconscious reminiscence of Atlantean practices.

(See also: Blood Transfusion, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Ve (Scandinavian), Vei, Vi (Icelandic) [cognate with vigan to carry high, venerate]

Sacred, holy; in Norse mythology, the brother of Odin (spirit) and Vile (will), the creative deities who bring a universe into existence. They are born of the primeval pair Bore and Bestla, karmic residue from the previous life cycle, and correspond to the Greek Logos, the Word or intelligence from which emanate the divine forces which organize kosmos out of chaos. Odin and his two brothers "slay" the frostgiant Ymer -- the latent matter of worlds -- transforming him into an orderly universe, into which they infuse consciousness and life from their own essence.

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

Vili, Vile (Icelandic, Scandinavian) Will, wish, desire; in Norse mythology, one of Odin's two brother-creators. Together these three bring worlds into being at the beginning of a life cycle. The idea is reminiscent of that in the Rig-Veda: "Desire first arose in It," when worlds were to emanate from the divine source of life.

In the Eddas, Odin (spirit), Vili (will), and Vi (sanctity or awe) are born from Bore and Bestla, the karmic residue carried over from the preceding world cycle. The present universe is thus the direct result of its predecessor. The triune creative deity slays the frostgiant Ymir and from his latent (frozen) body form the matter of worlds-to-be.

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

metamorphic technique (metamorphosis; originally called prenatal therapy): Spiritual variation of zone therapy developed by English naturopath Robert St. John in the 1960s.

St. John formulated physical, psychological, and temporal maps of reflex points on the feet. He claimed that these maps involve personal experiences predating conception. Metamorphic practitioners communicate with the patient's life force or innate intelligence through points on the feet, hands, and head. They usually focus on the feet and catalyze freeing of the life force from genetic and karmic influences.

(See also: Metamorphic technique, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Ring Employed in the early days of the Theosophical Society, especially in connection with the correspondence held by the mahatmas with A. P. Sinnett and A. O. Hume, to signify any one of the many evolutionary cyclings followed by the monads in and through the different kingdoms of nature, such as the elemental, mineral, vegetable, etc.

Any group of such monads thus collected together is called a life-wave. Every one of the seven, ten, or twelve classes of monads must follow every one of such rings in order to evolve the karmic and latent powers and capacities involved in the monad and held by it as evolutionary tendencies or urges.

In connection with the human kingdom or life-wave, ring or rings has been superseded by the term root-races.

See also ROUND

(See also: Ring, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Samadhi:

Samadhi ("putting together"): the ecstatic or unitive state in which the meditator becomes one with the object of meditation, the eighth and final limb (anga) of Patanjali's eightfold path; there are many types of samadhi, the most significant distinction being between samprajnata (conscious) and asamprajnata (supraconscious) ecstasy; only the latter leads to the dissolution of the karmic factors deep within the mind; beyond both types of ecstasy is enlightenment, which is also sometimes called sahaja-samadhi or the condition of "natural" or "spontaneous" ecstasy, where there is perfect continuity of superconscious throughout waking, dreaming, and sleeping

(See also: Samadhi, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Naraka (Sanskrit) In mythology, a place of torment, a hell, but such popular understandings are but exoteric blinds. The narakas are rather worlds in the spheres of matter, the globes of the planetary chain. They are called thus because they are rupa (form) worlds as contrasted with the arupa (formless) spheres of spirit. The narakas are generally regarded as 21 in number, as in the Laws of Manu. "These 'hells' are called vivifying hells because . . . any being dying in one is immediately born in the second, then in the third, and so on; life lasting in each 500 years (a blind on the number of cycles and reincarnations). As these hells constitute one of the six gati [jatis]

(conditions of sentient existence), and as people are said to be reborn in one or the other according to their Karmic merits or demerits, the blind becomes self-evident" (TG 225).

(See also: Naraka, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)