Mans Health Dictionary

A Theosophical definition of Isvara :

Isvara

(Sanskrit) Isvara means "lord," and is a term which is frequently applied in Hindu mythology not only to kosmic divinities, but to the expression of the cosmic spirit in the human being. Consequently, when reference is had to the individual human being, Isvara is the divine individualized spirit in man  - man's own personal god. It may be otherwise described as the divine ego, the child of the divine monad in a man, and in view of this fact also could be used with reference to the dhyani-buddha or to the immanent Christ in a man. In India it is a title frequently given to Siva and other gods of the Hindu pantheon.

See also: Isvara , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Dream Interpretation Birth

For men and women this dream has slightly different meanings. If a woman dreams about birth: it is a sign of personal growth implying that the process will be painful. It also can mean a new attitude towards life. In a man's dream it usually means a birth of new ideas, tasks, plans. Dreaming of a difficult birth signifies that you need to let go of something you love very much, it also may refer to an illness. In relation to animals, the birth means a new opportunity, or a new phase in your life.

Source: Dream-Land, http://www.dream-land.info

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

Ideal Man. See 'ADAM QADMON; PURUSHA

(See also: Ideal Man , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

God-man Mankind after the change in the third root-race when animal humanity became incarnate devas because of the overshadowing incarnations of the manasaputras. Also manas (mind) in alliance with atma-buddhi, as contrasted with manas in alliance with the lower principles -- the latter being simply and merely human.

Sometimes used to describe the avataras appearing in the human race at periodic intervals, or again to describe buddhas or other spiritual-human beings.

(See also: God-man , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Astrology and Ayurveda

Eternally fascinated by the uncertainty of the future, man has been equally engrossed in various studies that allow a peek into the same. Amongst the more significant ones is Astrology, a significant branch of Ayurveda, that scientifically studies planetary movements and their effect on human constitutions and lives.

Astrology is based on the concept that each planet is intrinsically related to a specific body tissue and that the various planetary movements and their positions in relation to time exert powerful influences on your mind, body and consciousness, directly affecting your physical and mental health. It is to be noted that sun, rahu & ketu are nodal points exactly opposite each other and are given the status of planets according to the Indian system of Astrology. They are important indicators of spiritual and / or materialistic tendencies.

(See also: Astrology and Ayurveda , Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Dictionary, Alternative Health, 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)

Sex As applied to the organism as a whole, the differentiation of the reproductive function and the character of being male and female.

Organisms reproduce their kind in various ways: fission, gemmation, parthenogenesis, hermaphrodite reproduction, and sexual reproduction. In the course of evolution, organisms pass from one method to another; the passage from the hermaphrodite method to the one in which the sexes are in separate individuals took place in the animals in the third root-race of this round on this globe, and shortly afterwards in humanity (SD 2:184), the latter then being in the fifth subrace of the third root-race.

The process of separation did not occur suddenly, but slowly. This is often called the Fall, and is so in one sense, since it is a descent from spirit toward matter, and was an initiation of the beasts. "THEY (the animals) BEGAN TO BREED. The TWOFOLD MAN (then) SEPARATED ALSO. HE (man) SAID: "LET US AS THEY: LET US UNITE AND MAKE CREATURES.' THEY DID" (ibid.). But from another viewpoint, it was simply a following of the natural course of unfolding progress in evolution. The separation is symbolized by a circle with a vertical diameter.

The hermaphroditic state is repeated in the developing embryo where the organs of both sexes arise from the same germinal layer of cells, and the differentiation does not occur until near the middle of the viable period of fetal life. Today, the orderly unfolding of embryonic cells into a human form is due to following the invisible model which, in keeping with the imbodying ego's karma, is directed by creative spiritual entities and forces.

"Before man could become male and female physically, his prototype, the creating Elohim, had to arrange his Form on this sexual plane astrally. That is to say, the atoms and the organic forces, descending into the plane of the given differentiation, had to be marshaled in the order intended by Nature, so as to be ever carrying out, in an immaculate way, that law which the Kabala calls the balance, through which everything that exists does so as male and female in its final perfection, in this present stage of materiality. Chochmah, Wisdom, the Male Sephiroth, had to diffuse itself in, and through, Binah, intelligent Nature, or Understanding" (SD 2:84). After the separation, the third eye began to disappear, and death as we now understand it was not known until then.

Thus the primeval polarity of all things differentiated on the material plane -- including sexual humanity -- was of immaculate origin and purpose. This sublime ancient teaching has been degraded generally in theological interpretations of cosmic sex symbols in crude physiological terms, such as the substitution of a Jehovistic god of generation for an ineffable, unknown deity.

The originating causes of sex are not rooted in the higher principles or elements of the human composite constitution. It is the effect of former thought-deposits, of emotional and mental tendencies and biases given way to in preceding lives on earth. "The predominating and it may perhaps truly be said that the main cause of sex-change in incarnation is strong attraction to the opposite sex during the few -- or in rare cases it may be a fairly large number -- preceding lives on earth. This attraction, which is the instrumental cause of the tendencies and biases spoken of, arising out of thought and emotional energy, feminizes the life-atoms, or masculinizes them, as the individual case may be, and the natural consequence is incarnation in a body of the sex to which attraction leads" (ET 666). Thus a reincarnating ego may have several incarnations in bodies of one sex, and then incarnate in bodies of the opposite sex for a number of times in succeeding incarnations. How many times, therefore, a reincarnating ego may imbody in a male or a female body is not subject to any arbitrary rule but depends solely upon the karmic impulse laid aside in the treasury of psychomental experiences.

Though the distinction of sex is biologically regarded as a profound and nearly universal attribute of organized beings, yet knowledge of composite human nature shows that it does not reach into the roots of the human constitution. Its causes go no deeper than the lower part of the human ego or soul, the psychophysiological nature. It is an evolutionary condition or cycle of the reincarnating ego's development in this present stage of materiality. Therefore, it is a transitory event in its bipolar earthly experience. As sex has been nature's plan for the race for some 18 million years, it will continue to be the natural plan for some ages to come. Some ages hence, sex differentiation will have given way to the activities of impersonal, spiritual creative energies.

(See also: Sex , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Tsela` (Hebrew) A rib, side; a quarter of the heavens; a part or division. Used in reference to the Biblical allegory of the formation of Eve or woman from a rib, side, or portion of Adam (Genesis 2:21-3), who was the first man only in the sense of first humanity or mankind.

The Biblical allegory refers to the teaching that the third root-race was androgynous or hermaphrodite -- that the individuals of humanity were dual-sexed -- so that when the sexes separated into the distinct male and female portions of mankind, as mankind is at present, the Jewish writers described this biological and historical physiological event as the separation of woman from man.

One could equally say that man was separated from woman, or that man was made from a rib or side of woman. The ridiculous supposition that the female part of mankind was born from the male part of mankind because the first woman was separated from the first man by the Lord God taking one of the ribs of the latter and forming a woman out of it, arose from the error of understanding the Hebrew word Adam as signifying one individual human being of the present male type.

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

dharma: (Sanskrit) "Righteousness." From dhri, "to sustain; carry, hold."

Hence dharma is "that which contains or upholds the cosmos." Dharma, religion, is a complex and all-inclusive term with many meanings, including: divine law, law of being, way of righteousness, religion, ethics, duty, responsibility, virtue, justice, goodness and truth. Essentially, dharma is the orderly fulfillment of an inherent nature or destiny. Relating to the soul, it is the mode of conduct most conducive to spiritual advancement, the right and righteous path.

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

Neanderthal Man {SD}

(See also: Neanderthal Man , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

A Christian theological definition of Calvinism according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

"

Calvinism

See also: Calvinism , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

Dream Interpretation Tulip

Dreaming about a tulip alludes to a valuable connection in the near future. In a man's dream picking tulips is a sign of a relationship with a beautiful woman. If you dream of planting tulip bulbs, you will undergo a minor disappointment. Seeing tulips in blossom is a sign of happiness in a love relationship.

Source: Dream-Land, http://www.dream-land.info

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

SYMBOL

A symbol, whose meaning is unconscious or indirect, must not be confused with a sign, which is obviously a resemblance or conscious pointer. A symbol represents something that can't be defined or expressed. Otherwise it is an allegory or a sign. A phallic symbol, for instance, is not a symbol because we know what it stands for. Nor is a skull a "symbol" of death. Nor are the cross (standing for Christ), a heart (standing for love) or a bird (standing for freedom) anything more than signs, i.e., equivalents. Examples of true symbols might be the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone, or even a personalized mandala, since we have no (conscious) idea what these things represent. Most certainly of all, Christ and Buddha are symbols of human perfection. A.B. says their purpose is pedagogical, preserving encapsulizations of truth and developing intuition. Moreover, every symbol can be read in many different ways. And there are four kinds of symbols (physical, astral, numerical, geometrical). There are also symbolic "books" of the "Masters," the words of which are interpreted by color, their position above or below the line, their connection to one another and by their "key," that is, right to left (greater cycles), left to right (lesser cycles), from above down (involution), from below up (evolution).

Postmodern man tends to believe that symbols generate meanings in infinite concentric waves from their centers. Indeed, symbols come to have different meanings in different times and places. For example, the triskelion, tripes, or "three-legs of man," originally meant the 3 ages riddled by the Sphinx or three faces of the Hindu Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). But in Europe, according to Goblet d'Aviella (The Migration of Symbols) it eventually came to acquire purely political meanings, standing, amongst other things, for the "Land of the Three Capes," i.e., Sicily, for Norwegian royalty and for The Isle of Man. In our time many once very fertile and numinous symbols are all but dead.

Says Carlyle: "In a symbol lies concealment or revelation." And further, "It is in and through symbols that man consciously or unconsciously lives, works, and has his being."

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

PARACELSUS

 The famous 16th Century physician and alchemist who taught the maxim, "As above, so below." Born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, 1493, the full glory of his name was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. He taught (before the word was invented) that man is "hologram" of the universe -- the macrocosm dwells within the microcosm. His medicine was based on the observation that health requires the proper balance of sulphur, salt and mercury (male, neutral, female). His understanding was that alchemy was not chemistry so much as an inner human process, yet his pharmacology is still amazing and effective and he is credited with having discovered nitrogen (azote). The secret of the lapis philosophorum was said to have been conferred on him by Solomon of Trismosin. Disease, according to Paracelsus was caused by the separation of man's three elements (sulphur, salt and mercury) from Universe.

Smaragdine, yet Venusian Falling

As yods but green indicating

Undulating flesh-sperm

Pushing forth in microposopic splendor  vectored

in the Four

under the Three Substances

under the Two Hypostatic Principles

under the One Reality

And lifting upward in vaster arc  from Kingdom to Crown

From vacua no more to Gods no less

Thus silk  primordial

Divine foreteller.

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

Rig Veda: (Sanskrit) "Veda of verse (rik)."

The first and oldest of the four Veda compendia of revealed scriptures (shruti), including a hymn collection (Samhita), priestly explanatory manuals (Brahmanas), forest treatises (Aranyakas) elaborating on the Vedic rites, and philosophical dialogs (Upanishads). Like the other Vedas, the Rig Veda was brought to earth consciousness not all at once, but gradually, over a period of perhaps several thousand years.

The oldest and core portion is the Samhita, believed to date back, in its oral form, as far as 8,000 years, and to have been written down in archaic Sanskrit some 3,000 years ago. It consists of more than 10,000 verses, averaging three or four lines (riks), forming 1,028 hymns (suktas), organized in ten books called mandalas. It embodies prayerful hymns of praise and invocation to the Divinities of nature and to the One Divine. They are the spiritual reflections of a pastoral people with a profound awe for the powers of nature, each of which they revered as sacred and alive. The rishis who unfolded these outpourings of adoration perceived a wellordered cosmos in which dharma is the way of attunement with celestial worlds, from which all righteousness and prosperity descends.

The main concern is man's relationship with God and the world, and the invocation of the subtle worlds into mundane existence. Prayers beseech the Gods for happy family life, wealth, pleasure, cattle, health, protection from enemies, strength in battle, matrimony, progeny, long life and happiness, wisdom and realization and final liberation from rebirth.

The Rig Veda Samhita, which in length equals Homer's Iliad and Odyssey combined, is the most important hymn collection, for it lends a large number of its hymns to the other three Veda Samhitas (the Sama, Yajur and Atharva). Chronologically, after the Samhitas came the Brahmanas, followed by the Aranyakas, and finally the Upanishads, also called the Vedanta, meaning "Veda's end."

See: Rig Veda, shruti, Vedas.

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

A Theosophical definition of Kama-Rupa :

Kama-Rupa

(Sanskrit) A compound word signifying "desire body." It is that part of man's inner constitution in which dwell or inhere the various desires, affections, hates, loves  - in short, the various mental and psychical energies.

After death it becomes the vehicle in the astral worlds of the higher principles of the man that was. But these higher principles are nevertheless scarcely conscious of the fact, because the rupture of the golden cord of life at the moment of the physical death plunges the cognizing  personal entity into a merciful stupor of unconsciousness, in which stupor it remains a longer or shorter period depending upon its qualities of spirituality or materiality. The more spiritual the man was the longer the period of merciful unconsciousness lasts, and vice versa.

After death, as has been frequently stated elsewhere, there occurs what is called the second death, which is the separation of the immortal part of the second or intermediate duad from the lower portions of this duad, which lower portions remain as the kama-rupa in the etheric or higher astral spheres which are intermediate between the devachanic and the earthly spheres. In time this kama-rupa gradually fades out in its turn, its life-atoms at such dissolution passing on to their various and unceasing peregrinations.

It is this kama-rupa which legend and story in the various ancient world religions or philosophies speak of as the shade, and which it has been customary in the Occident to call the spook or ghost. It is, in short, all the mortal elements of the human soul that was. The kama-rupa is an exact astral duplicate, in appearance and mannerism, of the man who died; it is his eidolon or "image." (See also Second Death)

See also: Kama-Rupa , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Alba Petra (Latin) White stone; "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it" (Rev 2:17). The meaning of the white stone is initiation, the purified nature of the adept-initiate. The new name written in it is a way of expressing the new man who is thus reborn in the initiation chamber; and because he has thus become a new man, he is entitled to the new name which is that of adept-initiate. Clearly, no man knows this new name except him who receives it.

(See also: Alba Petra , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dream Interpretation Hair

Dreams of getting a new haircut or having entangled hair reflect the type of thoughts you are dealing with. For a man, getting a short hair-cut would mean a fear of being repressed or subdued; for a woman it would reflect her fear to lose reputation or repressed sexuality. Combed and orderly organized hair represents a systematic and methodical approach to things in life. Tangled hair reflects hysterical thoughts, sexual carelessness. If a man sees himself with long hair, it means that he wants more freedom and independence. Losing hair for a man means his fear to become impotent; for a woman it reflects her exhaustion and lack of energy.

Source: Dream-Land, http://www.dream-land.info

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

A Theosophical definition of Higher Triad :

Higher Triad

The imperishable spiritual ego considered as a unity. It is the reincarnating part of man's constitution which clothes itself in each earth-life in a new personality or lower quaternary. The higher triad, speaking in the simplest fashion, is the unity of atman, buddhi, and the higher manas; and the lower quaternary consists of the lower manas or kama-manas, the prana or vitality, the linga-sarira or astral model-body, and the physical vehicle.

Another manner of considering the human constitution in its spiritual aspects is that viewed from the standpoint of consciousness, and in this latter manner the higher triad consists of the divine monad, the spiritual monad, and the higher human monad. The higher triad is often spoken of in a collective sense, and ignoring details of division, as simply the reincarnating monad, or more commonly the reincarnating ego, because this latter is rooted in the higher triad.

Many theosophists experience quite unnecessary difficulty in understanding why the human constitution should be at one time divided in one way and at another time divided in another way. The difficulty lies in considering these divisions as being absolute instead of relative, in other words, as representing watertight compartments instead of merely indefinite and convenient divisions. The simplest psychological division is probably that which divides the septenary constitution of man in three parts: an uppermost duad which is immortal, an intermediate duad which is conditionally immortal, and a lower triad which is unconditionally mortal. (See Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy, 1st ed., pp. 167, 525; 2nd rev. ed., pp. 199, 601).

See also: Higher Triad , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Transfiguration

• To dream of the transfiguration, foretells that your faith in man's own nearness to God will raise you above trifling opinions, and elevate you to a worthy position, in which capacity you will be able to promote the well being of the ignorant and persecuted.
• To see yourself transfigured, you will stand high in the esteem of honest and prominent men.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

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

Amshaspands (Pahlavi) Also Amshaspends. The seven bright and glorious ones, Pahlavi version of the Avestic Amesha-Spenta. They refer to the six attributes of Ahura Mazda, both in the spiritual and mental worlds.

The first three -- Vohu-Man (Bahman), Asha-Vahishta (Ordibehesht), and Khshathra-Vayria (Shahrivar) -- are the three aspects of truth. Spenta-Armaiti (Spandar-Maz or Esphand), Haurvata (Khordad), and Ameretat (Amordad) are reflections of the first male trinity in the mental world. The total sum of the six is kherad (intellect), man's liberating force, which is not to be mistaken as Ahura Mazda, the supreme creator.

The Amshaspands in ancient Persian theology bore the same general relation to the universe that the seven or ten prajapatis have in the Hindu scriptures, or that the seven or ten Sephiroth have in the Hebrew Qabbalah.

See also Amesha-Spenta.

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

A Theosophical definition of Buddhi :

Buddhi

(Sanskrit) Buddhi comes from a Sanskrit root budh, commonly translated "to enlighten," but a better translation is "to perceive," "to cognize," "to recover consciousness," hence "to awaken," and therefore "to understand." The second counting downwards, or the sixth counting upwards, of the seven principles of man. Buddhi is the principle or organ in man which gives to him spiritual consciousness, and is the vehicle of the most high part of man  - the atman  - the faculty which manifests as understanding, judgment, discrimination, an inseparable veil or garment of the atman.

From another point of view, buddhi may truly be said to be both the seed and the fruit of manas.

Man's ordinary consciousness in life in his present stage of evolution is almost wholly in the lower or intermediate duad (manas-kama) of his constitution; when he raises his consciousness through personal effort to become permanently one with the higher duad (atma-buddhi), he becomes a mahatma, a master. At the death of the human being, this higher duad carries away with it all the spiritual essence, all the spiritual and intellectual aroma, of the lower or intermediate duad. Maha-buddhi is one of the names given to the kosmic principle mahat.

(See also Alaya)

See also: Buddhi , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul