Masters Dictionary

REIKI: practitioners of this ancient Tibetan healing system use light hand placements to transmit healing energies to the recipient.

While the practitioners may vary widely in technique and philosophy, Reiki is commonly used to treat emotional and mental distress as well as chronic and acute physical problems, as well as to assist the recipient in achieving spiritual focus and clarity.

What is Reiki?

 Reiki is the hands-on practice of channeling the life force energy which we all possess. This energy is used to balance and heal people in a positive, life-affirming way. Every person has the innate ability to use this energy and pass it along to others. Reiki does not stem from or require any particular religious belief, though we can see from the stories of Buddha and Jesus Christ that hands-on healing is nothing new to the human experience. People trained in Reiki techniques have had their metaphorical light switch "turned on" by a master teacher; in turn, they can heal others.

The 5 Reiki Principles

• Just for today, I will give thanks for my blessings.
• Just for today, I will not worry.
• Just for today, I will not be angry.
• Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
• Just for today, I will be kind to my neighbor and every living thing.

 *These principles are adapted from "The Reiki Handbook" by Larry Arnold and Sandy Nevius (Harrisburg, PA, PSI Press, 1982)

What can Reiki help cure?

There are many reasons to see a Reiki practitioner. Reiki is commonly used to allieviate symptoms of stress, headaches, depression, and tension. Reiki can help a person's emotional healing process or ease the effects of a crippling disease. Reiki is always positive, and can be used on all ages of people, including prenatal infants.

What is the history of the Reiki healing system?

Many people believe that the Reiki healing methods are similiar to those used by Buddha and Christ. The tradition may have been passed down by spiritual people in India and Tibet, and was relatively unknown to the "Western" world until recently.

One modern story of Reiki begins with Mikao Usui, a Christian minister and university president from Kyoto, Japan. In the late 1800's, Usui apparently embarked upon a several-year quest to find out more about this ancient healing system, attributed to the Buddhist philosophy of healing the mind, body, and emotional self through spiritual means. This experience culminated on Mt. Koriyama (in Japan), when after a 21-day period of meditating and fasting, Usui "received" the Reiki symbols and instructions on how to activate the healing process through their use. Usui then travelled throughout Japan teaching and healing people.

Usui's successor was Chujiro Hayashi, who made about 16 Reiki masters before his death in 1941. This included the first female Reiki masters, Chie Hayashi (Chujiros' wife) and Hawayo Takata.

 It was Hawayo Takata who brought the Reiki techniques out of Japan to Hawaii and the mainland United States and Canada. Before her death in 1980, she had made 22 Reiki masters. From then on, students and practitioners of Reiki have grown exponentially.

What happens during a Reiki treatment?

A typical session will last between a half-hour and an hour. You should wear comfortable clothing and try to refrain from eating for at least half an hour before your appointment. Most practitioners work on massage tables, though if you prefer to sit up that is fine. Your practitioner will ask you to take a few deep breaths and relax into a mild meditative state. They may play relaxing music or light a candle to assist you. Then they will place their hands on your body in several different areas (such as the top of the head, over your eyes, on your belly, or the soles of the feet) in succession. Usually they will spend a couple of minutes in each position, depending on where they feel they should direct the "flow" of energy. All you need to do is relax and breathe normally.

You may feel warmth emanating from the therapist's hands; this is a normal reaction. It is also common for your body to tingle slightly. You may even have surges of emotions and memories. However, you may not "feel" anything at all; but after the session is over, you may notice that you are more relaxed or centered than before. Remember to keep an open mind, even if you are not sure of the benefits that Reiki can have for you. If a person is "closed" to the idea, it blocks the flow of energy.

(See also: Reiki , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Zenji: (Ch'an-shih in Chinese) A highly venerated, greatly respected teacher or master. This is a title usually given after death, though some have had the misfortune of achieving this during life. Yes I do mean misfortune. Titles are not appealing to Zen masters.

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

diksha-guru

The spiritual master who connects one with the Supreme Lord through initiation. A disciple has only one diksha-guru but may also have any number of shiksha-gurus, instructing spiritual masters.

(See also: diksha-guru , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Mahaprabhu

supreme master of all masters; refers to Lord Chaitanya.

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

Teachers In theosophical writings, often used to designate masters of wisdom, adepts, mahatmas, or messengers qualified to instruct and guide pupils on the path of wisdom. Teachers are of various grades, belonging to different degrees of different benevolent hierarchies; at the summit are those buddhas and manus who serve as inspirers and light-bringers to the races of mankind. Below these highest come lesser teachers, pertaining to the lesser cycles of time. The mythology of ancient peoples contains reference to divine instructors of various ranks.

The term teachers is applied specially in theosophy to the mahatmas or masters of wisdom, from whom comes the light that guides and aids, but does not govern or control, working through many channels to keep alive mankind's spiritual intuitions. These masters of wisdom send into the world messengers who have earned the right to labor for mankind, including the sublime duty of teaching. On the other hand, false teachers have always abounded in the world, and the pupil needs to discriminate between the false and the true. If his own motives and aspirations are lofty and pure, he will be satisfied with nothing less than what appeals to these aspirations and motives.

A true teacher is recognizable by the universality of his teachings, which are not circumscribed by sectarian, national, credal, party, or other limitations. The true teacher never constrains the will of his pupil nor exacts unconditional acceptance of any doctrines: he points the way in answer to the pupil's call, his authority is that of the torchbearer, seeking to evoke and stimulate the pupil's own spiritual and intellectual strength and inner vision. Teachers always stand ready to answer all who are able to give the right knock; and an aspirant who has the right spirit will find his teacher in due season.

Teachers succeed one another and thus pass on the teachings from age to age; as in the succession of the buddhas and especially of the bodhisattvas in Buddhism; the guruparampara chain in Brahmanism; and even in exoteric life in ancient times, and in far less degree, there were the hierophants in the various Mystery schools, such as in the Eleusinia.

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

Rabbis (Hebrew, Jewish). Originally teachers of the Secret Mysteries, the Qabbalah; later, every Levite of the priestly caste became a teacher and a Rabbin. (See the series of Kabbalistic Rabbis by w.w.w.)

1 Rabbi Abulafia of Saragossa born in 1240, formed a school of Kabbalah named after him; his chief works were The Seven Paths of the Law and The Epistle to Rabbi Solomon.

2 Rabbi Akiba. Author of a famous Kabbalistic work, the "Alphabet of R.A.", which treats every letter as a symbol of an idea and an emblem of some sentiment; the Book of Enoch was originally a portion of this work, which appeared at the close of the eighth century. It was not purely a Kabbalistic treatise.

3 Rabbi Azariel ben Menachem (A.D. 1160). The author of the Commentary on the Ten

Sephiroth, which is the oldest purely Kabbalistic work extant, setting aside the Sepher Yetzirah, which although older, is not concerned with the Kabbalistic Sephiroth. He was the pupil of Isaac the Blind, who is the reputed father of the European Kabbalah, and he was the teacher of the equally famous R. Moses Nachmanides.

4 Rabbi Moses Botarel (1480). Author of a famous commentary on the Sepher Yetzirah; he taught that by ascetic life and the use of invocations, a man’s dreams might be made prophetic.

5 Rabbi Chajim Vital (1600) ( The great exponent of the Kabbalah as taught R. Isaac Loria: author of one of the most famous works, Otz Chiim, or Tree of Life; from this Knorr von Rosenroth has taken the Book on the Rashith ha Gilgalim, revolutions of souls, or scheme of reincarnations.

6 Rabbi Ibn Gebirol. A famous Hebrew Rabbi, author of the hymn Kether Malchuth, or Royal Diadem, which appeared about 1050; it is a beautiful poem, embodying the cosmic doctrines of Aristotle, and it even now forms part of the Jewish special service for the evening preceding the great annual Day of Atonement (See Ginsburg and Sachs on the Religious Poetry of the Spanish Jews). This author is also known as Avicebron.

7 Rabbi Gikatilla. A distinguished Kabbalist who flourished about 1300: he wrote the famous books, The Garden of Nuts, The Gate to the Vowel Points, The mystery of the shining Metal, and The Gates of Righteousness. He laid especial stress on the use of Gematria, Notaricon and Temura.

8 Rabbi Isaac the Blind of Posquiero. The first who publicly taught in Europe, about A.D. 1200, the Theosophic doctrines of the Kabbalah.

9 Rabbi Loria (also written Luria, and also named Ari from his initials). Founded a school of the Kabbalah circa 1560. He did not write any works, but his disciples treasured up his teachings, and R. Chajim Vital published them.

10 Rabbi Moses Cordovero (A.D.1550). The author of several Kabbalistic works of a wide reputation, viz., A Sweet Light, The Book of Retirement, and The Garden of Pomegranates; this latter can be read in Latin in Knorr von Rosenroth’s Kabbalah Denudata, entitled Tractatus de Animo, ex libro Pardes Rimmonim. Cordovero is notable for an adherence to the strictly metaphysical part, ignoring the wonder-working branch which Rabbi Sabbatai Zevi practised, and almost perished in the pursuit of.

11 Rabbi Moses de Leon (circa 1290 A,D.). The editor and first publisher of the Zohar, or "Splendour", the most famous of all the Kabbalistic volumes, and almost the only one of which any large part has been translated into English. This Zohar is asserted to be in the main the production of the still more famous Rabbi Simon ben Jochai, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Titus.

12 Rabbi Moses Maimonides (died 1304). A famous Hebrew Rabbi and author, who condemned the use of charms and amulets, and objected to the Kabbalistic use of the divine names.

13 Rabbi Sabbatai Zevi (born 1641). A very famous Kabbalist, who passing beyond the dogma became of great reputation as a thaumaturgist, working wonders by the divine names. Later in life he claimed Messiahship and fell into the hands of the Sultan Mohammed IV. of Turkey, and would have been murdered, but saved his life by adopting the Mohammedan religion. (See Jost on Judaism and its Sects.)

14 Rabbi Simon ben Jochai (circa A.D. 70-80). It is round this name that cluster the mystery and poetry of the origin of the Kabbalah as a gift of the deity to mankind.

Tradition has it that the Kabbalah was a divine theosophy first taught by God to a company of angels, and that some glimpses of its perfection were conferred upon Adam; that the wisdom passed from him unto Noah; thence to Abraham, from whom the Egyptians of his era learned a portion of the doctrine. Moses derived a partial initiation from the land of his birth, and this was perfected by direct communications with the deity. From Moses it passed to the seventy elders of the Jewish nation, and from them the theosophic scheme was handed from generation to generation; David and Solomon especially became masters of this concealed doctrine. No attempt, the legends tell us, was made to commit the sacred knowledge to writing until the time of the destruction of the second Temple by Titus, when Rabbi Simon ben Jochai, escaping from the besieged Jerusalem, concealed himself in a cave, where he remained for twelve years. Here he, a Kabbalist already, was further instructed by the prophet Elias. Here Simon taught his disciples, and his chief pupils, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Abba, committed to writing those teachings which in later ages became known as the Zohar, and were certainly published afresh in Spain by Rabbi Moses de Leon, about 1280. A fierce contest has raged for centuries between the learned Rabbis of Europe around the origin of the legend, and it seems quite hopeless to expect ever to arrive at an accurate decision as to what portion of the Zohar, if any, is as old as Simon ben Jochai. (See "Zohar".)

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

A Theosophical definition of Chela :

Chela

(Cela) An old Indian term. In archaic times more frequently spelled and pronounced cheta or cheda. The meaning is "servant," a personal disciple attached to the service of a teacher from whom he receives instruction. The idea is closely similar to the Anglo-Saxon term leorning-cneht, meaning "learning servant," a name given in Anglo-Saxon translations of the Christian New Testament to the disciples of Jesus, his "chelas." It is, therefore, a word used in old mystical scriptures for a disciple, a pupil, a learner or hearer. The relationship of teacher and disciple is infinitely more sacred even than that of parent and child; because, while the parents give the body to the incoming soul, the teacher brings forth that soul itself and teaches it to be and therefore to see, teaches it to know and to become what it is in its inmost being  - that is, a divine thing.

The chela life or chela path is a beautiful one, full of joy to its very end, but also it calls forth and needs everything noble and high in the learner or disciple; for the powers or faculties of the higher self must be brought into activity in order to attain and to hold those summits of intellectual and spiritual grandeur where the Masters themselves live. For that, masterhood, is the end of discipleship  - not, however, that this ideal should be set before us merely as an end to attain to as something of benefit for one's own self, because that very thought is a selfish one and therefore a stumbling in the path. It is for the individual's benefit, of course; yet the true idea is that everything and every faculty that is in the soul shall be brought out in the service of all humanity, for this is the royal road, the great royal thoroughfare, of self-conquest. The more mystical meanings attached to this term chela can be given only to those who have irrevocably pledged themselves to the esoteric life.

See also: Chela , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

In the mid-nineteenth century, a man was born into the “Tradition of Masters” in India, and who later became a guiding light in the proliferation of knowledge of the cosmos. He was affectionately known as Guru Dev, and according to this tradition, after he had attained illumination, he was Master to a number of disciples, amongst whom was His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

In 1958 Maharishi was directed by Guru Dev to teach Transcendental Meditation in the West, and so began a marvelous odyssey of one man to help bring peace to the world through this remarkable, formal technique of deep meditation. It is now believed that more than eight million people have learned this technique all over the world, and which has been rigorously subjected to more than five hundred research studies also all over the world, and by some of the world’s most prestigious medical establishments. And so has Transcendental Meditation been supported with all this scientific research, to show that a simple, easy, natural, and effortless mental technique can produce such remarkable physiological, mental and emotional responses.

By practicing Transcendental Meditation twice daily for twenty minutes each time, you can expect to feel relaxed, calm, energetic, dynamic, mentally alert, peaceful, efficient, and a sense of well being. The list is endless, but suffice it to say that this technique is one of the most powerful means we have to eliminate stress easily, naturally and effectively.

(See also: TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION , Alternative Health, Holistic Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Namah (Sanskrit). In Pali Namo. The first word of a daily invocation among Buddhists, meaning "I humbly trust, or adore, or acknowledge" the Lord; as: "Namo tasso Bhagavato Arahato" etc., addressed to Lord Buddha. The priests are called "Masters of Namah" - both Buddhist and Taoist, because this word is used in liturgy and prayers, in the invocation of the Triratna (q.v.), and with a slight change in the occult incantations to the Bodhisvattvas and Nirmanakayas.

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

Patriarch: In Buddhism, the patriarchs are the Dharma heirs, the great masters who have formally received the transmission of Buddha's Dharma. Patriarch is a poor term, since there has also been female masters, but is commonly used anyway, especially in the West.

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

Natha Sampradaya: (Sanskrit) "Transmitted doctrine (or theology) of the masters."

Sampradaya means a living stream of tradition or theology. Natha Sampradaya is a philosophical and yogic tradition of Saivism whose origins are unknown. This oldest of Saivite sampradayas existing today consists of two major streams: the Nandinatha and the Adinatha. The Nandinatha Sampradaya has had as exemplars Maharishi Nandinatha and his disciples: Patanjali (author of the Yoga Sutras) and Tirumular (author of Tirumantiram). Among its representatives today are the successive siddhars of the Kailasa Parampara. The Adinatha lineage's known exemplars are Maharishi Adinatha, Matsyendranatha and Gorakshanatha, who founded a well-known order of yogis.

See: Kailasa Parampara, Natha, Saivism, sampradaya.

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

Solomon, King of Israel and Judah shelomoh (Hebrew) [from shalom prosperous cf Arab zuleima, Greek Salomon Latin solomo, genitive solomonis, French Salomon]

Peace, prosperity; according to orthodox Biblical chronology, he lived 993-953 BC, the youngest son of David whom he succeeded through the influence of his mother Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan. Throughout the East, especially in Arabia and thence in Europe, there are many legends of his wisdom and magical powers, and notably with regard to his seal, the six-pointed star or double interlaced equilateral triangles (Solomon's seal); his meeting with the Queen of Sheba and his answering of the questions and riddles propounded by her and others; and his judgments. Solomon is said to have gotten "his secret learning from India through Hiram, the king of Ophir, and perhaps Sheba" (IU 1:135, 136n).

If the exoteric literal account in the Bible is accepted, Solomon in his later years showed himself as very far from wise, indulging in licentiousness and idolatry (1 Kings 11); further, he began his reign with the murder of Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei and his last recorded act was that he sought to kill Jereboam.

In Freemasonry, King Solomon is especially honored as the builder of the Temple and as the first of the Three Grand Masters -- the other two being Hiram, King of Tyre, and Hiram Abif -- all of whom were concerned with the building of the Temple. The evil ending of Solomon's life, according to the Biblical account, is almost overlooked in Masonic ritual and literature. In the Jewish Encyclopedia ("Solomon"), according to one writer, Solomon is represented as "the wise king par excellence"; and "in Arabic literature, Solomon is spoken of as 'the messenger of God' "; according to another writer in the same work, however, "a critical sifting of the sources leaves the picture of a petty, Asiatic despot, remarkable, perhaps, only for a love of luxury and for polygamous inclinations." Only by interpreting the Bible esoterically can we arrive at the truth regarding King Solomon; and such interpretation fully corroborates the characterization of "the wise king par excellence"; and fully supports both Masonic ritual and tradition in regarding King Solomon as the first and chief of the Three Grand Masters.

What then is the explanation of the otherwise contradictory statements in the Bible regarding Solomon? Even from a historical and ethnological standpoint one may find a clue, for along purely exoteric lines there is nothing foreign in Solomon's "idolatry" and his worship of other deities. The same racial strain ran through all the surrounding peoples as in Israel, and the respective worships, gods, and goddesses were all closely interrelated, derived from the same Babylonian concepts, appearing under different names -- Blavatsky shows the identity of the mystery gods of the Phoenicians, Chaldeans, and Israelites (SD 2:3). The gods and goddesses of the nations surrounding the Jews were all theologically interrelated, aspects or permutations of the same basic idea; and, as worshiped by the people, all were variants and, in their exoteric forms, degradations of the original conception on which every great theogony and cosmogony was built (cf SD 2:535 et seq).

As for Solomon's 700 wives and 300 concubines, these "are merely the personations of man's attributes, feelings, passions and his various occult powers: the Kabbalistic numbers 7 and 3 showing it plainly. Solomon himself, moreover, being, simply, the emblem of Sol -- the 'Solar Initiate' or the Christ-Sun, is a variant of the Indian 'Vikarttana' (the Sun) shorn of his beams by Visvakarman, his Hierophant-Initiator, who thus shears the Chrestos-candidate for initiation of his golden radiance and crowns him with a dark, blackened aureole -- the 'crown of thorns.' (See The Secret Doctrine for full explanation.) Solomon was never a living man. As is described in Kings, his life and works are an allegory on the trials of Initiation" (BCW 10:162-3n).

Solomon the Wise is a type-figure, and the legendary story of his life, wisdom and glory, and temptations and apparent fall, is a variant of the traditional history of certain wise ones recounted in every world-religion. Even granting that a king names Shelomoh reigned over Judah and Israel, the Biblical account and the many traditions of his life are an allegory of initiation.

(See also: Solomon, King of Israel, Judah, Shelomoh , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Parmahansa Yogananda:

Born Mukunda Lal Ghosh on January 5, 1893, in Gorakhpur, India, he is considered as a pioneer of bringing the Yoga system to the West. His life and teachings continue to be a source of light and inspiration to people of all races, cultures and creeds. Sri Parmahansa Yogananda emphasized the underlying unity of the world's great religions, and taught universally applicable methods for attaining direct personal experience of God. To serious students of his teachings he introduced the soul-awakening techniques of Kriya Yoga, a sacred spiritual science originating millenniums ago in India, which had been lost in the Dark Ages and revived in modern times by his lineage of enlightened masters.

(See also: Parmahansa Yogananda , Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

Great White Lodge

(Theosophy) Brotherhood of masters guarding the planet

(See also: Great White Lodge , Body Mind and Soul)

Kailasa Parampara: (Sanskrit) "Crystaline lineage."

A spiritual lineage of 162 siddhas, a major stream of the Nandinatha Sampradaya, proponents of the ancient philosophy of monistic Saiva Siddhanta. The first of these masters that history recalls was Maharishi Nandinatha (or Nandikeshvara) 2,250 years ago, satguru to the great Tirumular, ca 200 bce, and seven other disciples (as stated in the Tirumantiram): Patanjali, Vyaghrapada, Sanatkumara, Sivayogamuni, Sanakar, Sanadanar and Sananthanar. Tirumular had seven disciples: Malangam, Indiran, Soman, Brahman, Rudran, Kalanga, and Kanjamalayam, each of whom established one or more monasteries and propagated the Agamic lore.

In the line of Kalanga came the sages Righama, Maligaideva, Nadantar, Bhogadeva and Paramananda. The lineage continued down the centuries and is alive today- the first recent siddha known being the Rishi from the Himalayas, so named because he descended from those holy mountains. In South India, he initiated Kadaitswami (ca 1810 - 1875), who in turn initiated Chellappaswami (1840 - 1915). Chellappan passed the mantle of authority to sage Yogaswami (1872 - 1964), who in 1949 initiated the current satguru, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.

See: Chellapaswami, Kadaitswami, Natha Sampradaya, Patanjali, Subramuniyaswami, Tirumular, Vyaghrapada, Yogaswami.

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

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,)

cremation: Dahana. Burning of the dead. Cremation is the traditional system of disposing of bodily remains, having the positive effect of releasing the soul most quickly from any lingering attachment to the earth plane. In modern times, cremation facilities are widely available in nearly every country, though gas-fueled chambers generally take the place of the customary wood pyre.

Embalming, commonly practiced even if the body is to be cremated, is ill-advised, as it injures the astral body and can actually be felt by the departed soul, as would an autopsy. Should it be necessary to preserve the body a few days to allow time for relatives to arrive, it is recommended that hot ice surround the body and that the coffin be kept closed. Arrangements for this service should be made well in advance with the mortuary.

Note that the remains of enlightened masters are sometimes buried or sealed in a special tomb called a samadhi. This is done in acknowledgement of the extraordinary attainment of such a soul, whose very body, having become holy, is revered as a sacred presence, sannidhya, and which not infrequently becomes the spiritual seed of a temple or place of pilgrimage.

See: bone-gathering, death, reincarnation, sannidhya.

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

Pictures [156]

• Pictures appearing before you in dreams, prognosticate deception and the ill will of contemporaries.
• To make a picture, denotes that you will engage in some unremunerative enterprise.
• To destroy pictures, means that you will be pardoned for using strenuous means to establish your rights.
• To buy them, foretells worthless speculation.
• To dream of seeing your likeness in a living tree, appearing and disappearing, denotes that you will be prosperous and seemingly contented, but there will be disappointments in reaching out for companionship and reciprocal understanding of ideas and plans.
• To dream of being surrounded with the best efforts of the old and modern masters, denotes that you will have insatiable longings and desires for higher attainments, compared to which present success will seem poverty-stricken and miserable.

[156] See also: Meaning of Dreams about Painting and Photographs.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

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

An Irish Myth Concordance

The following concordance is based on 'Gods and Fighting Men' by Lady Augusta Gregory, first published in 1904. Page number references are to the 1976 trade paperback edition published by the MacMillan Company of Canada Limited. Breif supplimentary material is taken from 'Dictionary of Irish Myth and Legend' by Ronan Coghlan, published in 1979 by Donard Publishing Comapany, and referenced as 'DIM' in the following text.

Grand Architect of the Universe Masonic term for the maker of the universe:

"the Greeks gave this Third or formative Logos the title Demiourgos, a word mystically signifying the supreme cosmic Architect of the universe. This same idea always has been held by the Christians as well as by modern speculative Freemasonry . . ." (FSO 183) Theosophically this Grand Architect is a collective way of presenting the forces of nature, the cosmocratores or cosmic builders, acting on the ideation laid down by still higher beings -- dhyani-buddhas, referred to collectively mahat or cosmic mind -- rather than a personal god or entity:

"but now the modern Masons make of their G. A. O. T. U. a personal and singular Deity" (TBL 40).

See also MASTERS, THE THREE ANCIENT GREAT. ()

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

A Theosophical definition of Hermetic Chain :

Hermetic Chain

Among the ancient Greeks there existed a mystical tradition of a chain of living beings, one end of which included the divinities in their various grades or stages of divine authority and activities, and the other end of which ran downwards through inferior gods and heroes and sages to ordinary men, and to the beings below man.

Each link of this living chain of beings inspired and instructed the chain below itself, thus transmitting and communicating from link to link to the end of the marvelous living chain, love and wisdom and knowledge concerning the secrets of the universe, eventuating in mankind as the arts and the sciences necessary for human life and civilization. This was mystically called the Hermetic Chain or the Golden Chain.

In the ancient Mysteries the teaching of the existence and nature of the Hermetic Chain was fully explained; it is a true teaching because it represents distinctly and clearly and faithfully true and actual operations of nature. More or less faint and distorted copies of the teaching of this Hermetic Chain or Golden Chain or succession of teachers were taken over by various later formal and exoteric sects, such as the Christian Church, wherein the doctrine was called the Apostolic Succession.

In all the great Mystery schools of antiquity there was this succession of teacher following teacher, each one passing on the light to his successor as he himself had received it from his predecessor; and as long as this transmission of light was a reality, it worked enormous spiritual benefit among men. Therefore all such movements lived, flourished, and did great good in the world. These teachers were the messengers to men from the Great Lodge of the Masters of Wisdom and Compassion. (See also Guru-parampara)

See also: Hermetic Chain , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul