Merit Dictionary

Salvation [from Latin salvatio from salvare to save]

In Christianity, the saving of individual souls from supposed damnation, usually by faith in the Atonement. In theosophy, as concerns the individual, salvation is achieved by victory of his divine self over the illusions created by the contact of the intermediate nature with the lower planes. In this sense the serpent of Eden, Satan even, is man's savior, as are Prometheus, Lucifer, etc.

Mankind as a whole is saved by those manasaputras who descended into intellectually senseless mankind of the third root-race and who, by thus enlightening the minds of early humanity, became the elect custodians of the mysteries revealed to mankind by its divine teachers. Again, the Silent Watchers in their various grades, who refuse to pass on into a greater light and maintain their post for the protection and guidance of humanity, are saviors also.

Yet no one can be saved by the vicarious merit of another; his salvation is achieved by means of that very free will and enlightened intelligence of his own through which he at first risks falling. But the great ones maintain the ideal which the multitude elect to follow, and thus light the path mankind will ultimately tread.

(See also: Salvation , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

adharma: "Unrighteousness."

Thoughts, words or deeds that transgress divine law in any of the human expressions of dharma. It brings the accumulation of demerit, called papa, while dharma brings merit, called punya.

• Varna adharma is violating the ideals of social duty, from disobeying the laws of one's nation to squandering family wealth.
• Ashrama adharma is failure to fulfill the duties of the stages of life.
• Sva-adharma is understood as not fulfilling the patterns of dharma according to one's own nature. The Bhagavad Gita states (18.47), "Better one's svadharma even imperfectly performed than the dharma of another well performed. By performing the duty prescribed by one's own nature (svabhava) one incurs no sin (kilbisha)."

See: punya, papa, purity-impurity, varna dharma.

(See also: Adharma , Hinduism, 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)

Pure Land School

When Mahayana Buddhism spread to China, Pure Land ideas found fertile ground for development.

In the fourth century, the movement crystallized with the formation of the Lotus Society, founded by Master Hui Yuan (334-416), the first Pure Land Patriarch.

The school was formalized under the Patriarchs T'an Luan (Donran) and Shan Tao (Zendo). Master Shan Tao's teachings, in particular, greatly influenced the development of Japanese Pure Land, associated with Honen Shonin (Jodo school) and his disciple, Shinran Shonin (Jodo Shinshu school) in the 12th and 13th centuries. Jodo Shinshu, or Shin Buddhism, places overwhelming emphasis on the element of faith. (Pure Land comprises the schools) of East Asia which emphasize aspects of Mahayana Buddhism stressing faith in Amida, meditation on and recitation of his name, and the religious goal of being reborn in his "Pure Land" or "Western Paradise." (Keith Crim.)

Note: An early form of Buddha Recitation can be found in the Nikayas of the Pali Canon: In the Nikayas, the Buddha ... advised his disciples to think of him and his virtues as if they saw his body before their eyes, whereby they would be enabled to accumulate merit and attain Nirvana or be saved from transmigrating in the evil paths ... (D.T. Suzuki, The Eastern Buddhist, Vol.3, No.4, p.317.)

 (See also: Pure Land School , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Kumara (Sanskrit) (from ku with difficulty + mara mortal)

Mortal with difficulty; often used for child or youth, but philosophically pure spiritual beings, unself-conscious god-sparks uninvolved with matter who, destined by evolution to pass through the realms of matter, become mortal, i.e., material, only with difficulty because of their lofty spirituality. They are the classes of arupa or solar pitris, along with the agnishvattas and manasaputras. Of all the seven great divisions of dhyani-chohans, there is none with which humanity is more concerned than with the kumaras, the mind-born sons of Brahma-Rudra or Siva, the inveterate destroyer of human passions:

"it is they who, by incarnating themselves within the senseless human shells of the two first Root-races, and a great portion of the Third Root-race -- create, so to speak, a new race: that of thinking, self-conscious and divine men" (SD 1:456-7). In the Puranas their number varies, given as seven, four, and five. They are often called the Four, because Sanaka, Sanada, Sanatana, and Sanat-Kumara are the names of four important groups of kumaras as they spring from the fourfold mystery. The three secret names of the seven are variously given: Sana, Sanat-Sujata, and Kapila; or Kapila, Ribhu, and Panchasikha; or Jata, Vodhu, and Panchasikha, all of which are but aliases. The patronymic name of the kumaras is Vaidhatra (from vidhatri a title of Brahma as creator of the universe)

These kumaras are sometimes also called rudras, adityas, gandharvas, asuras, maruts, and vedhas. The seven kumaras -- both as groups and as aggregated individuals -- are intimately connected with the dhyani-buddhas who watch over the seven rounds of our planetary chain. The four groups of kumaras generally spoken of are connected equally intimately with the four celestial bodhisattvas of the four globes of our round, and by correspondence with the four completed root-races of our earth. They are identical with the angels of the seven planets, and their name shows their connection with the constellation Makara or Capricorn. Makara is connected with the birth of the spiritual microcosm, and the death or dissolution of the physical universe (its passage into the realm of the spiritual) as are the kumaras.

Mara is the god of darkness, the Fallen one, and death, i.e., death of every physical thing; but through the karmic lessons learned also the quickener of the birth of the spiritual. The kumaras are connected also with the sage Narada. An allegory in the Puranas says that the kumaras, the first progeny of Brahma, were without desire or passion, inspired with the holy wisdom, and undesirous of progeny. They refused to create, but were compelled later on to complete divine man by incarnating in him. The barhishads or lunar pitris formed the "senseless" astral-physical humanity of the early root-races. Those beings possessing the living spiritual fire were the agnishvattas or solar pitris.

The sons of Brahma, the kumaras, being originally themselves unconscious (in our sense) could be of no use in supplying the mental and kamic principles, as they did not possess them: they had attained no individual karmic elevation in merit of their own as had the agnishvattas. The perfection of the kumaras was passive and negative (nirguna). The kumaras eventually "sacrifice" themselves by incarnating in mankind, thus corresponding to the manasaputras and fallen angels cast into hell (material spheres, our earth).

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

Kurukshetra:

Kurukshetra: Baba said that everyone is living, moving, acting and accumulating merit or demerit as a consequence, in Kurukshetra, for, 'Kuru' means 'to do'. In this process, if the current of Dharma illumines every moment of life, then the Kurukshetra becomes Dharmakshetra (SSS-III).

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

Kusala (Sanskrit). Merit, one of the two chief constituents of Karma.

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

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

"

Sola Gratia

See also: Sola Gratia , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

Argha (Sanskrit) (from the verbal root arh to be worthy of, merit)

Worth, value; respectful reception of a guest of distinction by various offerings, such as flowers, durva grass, or water in a small boat-shaped vessel or container; often confused with the Chaldean Argha.

See also ARGHYA

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

Guna (Sanskrit) A thread, cord, string of a musical instrument; also an attribute, quality, or peculiarity. Each of the five elements is said to have its guna or peculiar quality, as well as a corresponding organ of sense in the human being.

Thus ether has sabda or sound for its guna and the ear for its organ; the air has tangibility for its guna and the skin for its organ; fire or light has sight for its guna and the eye for its organ; water has taste for its guna and the tongue for its organ; the earth has smell for its guna and the nose for its organ. There are actually seven gunas in nature, only five of which have yet been evolved in any especial degree, and two remain still to appear both as qualities and as sense organs in the distant future.

Each one of these gunas, with its corresponding quality or sense organ, is evolved in each one of the seven root-races that form a globe manvantara. The above listing gives the order in which these gunas appear correspondentially to the root-race which brings them into activity. At the present time, being in the fifth root-race, we have evolved five perceptible gunas with their corresponding qualities and sense organs.

According to the Sankhya philosophy, prakriti is considered to possess three basic qualities or qualitative bases (triguna), namely sattva (substantial reality), rajas (inherent activity), and tamas (inertia), popularly rendered goodness, passion, and darkness; or virtue, foulness, and ignorance.

According to the Nyaya philosophy, all existing things possess 24 gunas or characteristic qualities: rupa (shape or form); rasa (savor); gandha (odor); sparsa (tangibility); sankhya (number); parimana (dimension); prithaktva (severalty); samyoga (conjunction); vibhaga (disjunction); paratva (remoteness); aparatva (proximity); gurutva (weight); dravatva (fluidity); sneha (viscidity); sabda (sound); buddhi or jnana (understanding or knowledge); sukha (happiness); duhkha (pain); ichchha (desire); dvesha (aversion); prayatna (effort); dharma (merit or virtue); adharma (demerit); and samskara (the self-reproductive quality).

(See also: Gullveig, Gultweig , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Hel (Icelandic) (from helju hell, death)

The mythical regent of the Norse realm of the dead, depicted as half black or blue and half flesh-colored. In myths the representative of death is usually said to be a child of mind: in the Edda she is the daughter of Loki (fire of mind) and of the giantess Angerboda (boder of regret). She rules the nine worlds of death which correspond to the nine worlds of life, and apportions to each arrival a domicile appropriate to that soul's merit or demerit. Some may frolic in sunlit meadows, others suffer agony beneath the lower gates leading to Niflhel (from nifl cloud + hel death)

where matter is ground to extinction. The realm of Hel with its varied accommodations resembles the Greek Hades more than the hell of popular belief where evil souls are sent for punishment. Rather, the kingdom of death is a restful interlude where souls spend a fitting time in their rightful environment. The Eddas relate that elves (human souls) sleep among the gods when they are feasting on the mead of a past period of life (experience); thus the resting souls are present in the divine spheres even through unconscious of their surroundings.

In the Edda's Vagtamskvadet, the tale is told of the sun god's death and departure for the house of Hel, where a sumptuous apartment is furnished for him and mead is being freshly brewed for his arrival.

(See also: Hekat, Heket , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Guna (Sanskrit) A thread, cord, string of a musical instrument; also an attribute, quality, or peculiarity. Each of the five elements is said to have its guna or peculiar quality, as well as a corresponding organ of sense in the human being.

Thus ether has sabda or sound for its guna and the ear for its organ; the air has tangibility for its guna and the skin for its organ; fire or light has sight for its guna and the eye for its organ; water has taste for its guna and the tongue for its organ; the earth has smell for its guna and the nose for its organ. There are actually seven gunas in nature, only five of which have yet been evolved in any especial degree, and two remain still to appear both as qualities and as sense organs in the distant future.

Each one of these gunas, with its corresponding quality or sense organ, is evolved in each one of the seven root-races that form a globe manvantara. The above listing gives the order in which these gunas appear correspondentially to the root-race which brings them into activity. At the present time, being in the fifth root-race, we have evolved five perceptible gunas with their corresponding qualities and sense organs.

According to the Sankhya philosophy, prakriti is considered to possess three basic qualities or qualitative bases (triguna), namely sattva (substantial reality), rajas (inherent activity), and tamas (inertia), popularly rendered goodness, passion, and darkness; or virtue, foulness, and ignorance.

According to the Nyaya philosophy, all existing things possess 24 gunas or characteristic qualities: rupa (shape or form); rasa (savor); gandha (odor); sparsa (tangibility); sankhya (number); parimana (dimension); prithaktva (severalty); samyoga (conjunction); vibhaga (disjunction); paratva (remoteness); aparatva (proximity); gurutva (weight); dravatva (fluidity); sneha (viscidity); sabda (sound); buddhi or jnana (understanding or knowledge); sukha (happiness); duhkha (pain); ichchha (desire); dvesha (aversion); prayatna (effort); dharma (merit or virtue); adharma (demerit); and samskara (the self-reproductive quality).

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

brahma trees:

trees whose wood or flowers or leaves have some particular spiritual merit.

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

punna (pu~n~na): Merit; worth; the inner sense of well-being that comes from having acted rightly or well and that enables one to continue acting well.

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

Kusala or Kusala (Sanskrit) Merit, virtue.

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

Brahma Trees:

Brahma Trees. Trees whose wood or flowers or leaves have some particular spiritual merit.

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

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)

Vaisesika - a later division of the nyaya school of philosophy, also known as vaisesika-darsana. It was founded by Kanada Rsi and differs from the nyaya system of Gautama

Kanada accepted six principles:

(1) dravya (elementary substances which are nine in number - earth, water, fire, air, ether, time, space, the soul, and the mind) ,

(2) guna (characteristics of all created things such as form, taste, smell, sound, and tangibility) ,

(3) karma (activity) ,

(4) samanya (universality; the connection of different objects by common properties) ,

(5) visesa (individuality; the essential difference between objects) , and

(6) samavaya (inseparable concomitance; the relation which exists between a substance and its qualities, between a whole and its parts, or between a species and its individuals).

According to the vaisesika-darsana the jivas are innumerable. The merit or demerit attaching to a man’s conduct in one state of existence and the corresponding reward or punishment which he receives in another is called adrsta (that which is beyond the reach of consciousness or observation). Due to the force of this unforseen accumulated karma, the jiva falls into the cycle of creation and undergoes birth, death, happiness, and distress. When the jiva obtains philosophical knowledge of the six principles, his adrsta is destroyed and he can attain liberation from the bondage of material existence. The vaisesikas define mukti as final release from material misery. There is no direct mention of Isvara in the vaisesika-darsana of Kanada.

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

Paropakaraha Punyaya, Papaya Parapedanam:

Paropakaraha Punyaya, Papaya Parapedanam: To do good to others is merit. To hurt and cause suffering to others is sin. (Discourses)

(See also: Paropakaraha Punyaya, Papaya Parapedanam , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Chatur-varna catur-varna (Sanskrit) (from chatur four + varna a caste, color, form, appearance)

The Hindu four castes as presented in the Laws of Manu: the Brahmana or priest, Kshatriya or warrior and administrator, Vaisya or merchant, and Sudra or agriculturalist and servant. These four castes, while very ancient, belonged to the archaic civilization. In the Hindu view karmic merit and demerit work to place a person in his position in life in repetitive incarnations on earth.

Thus a person might be a Brahmin, the highest of the castes, but if his life were such as to bring about a change in him, some subsequent incarnation would place him either in a higher or a lower position in life. A person might be a slave or beggar in one life, but if he lives in the higher part of his nature his next imbodiment might be that of a prince; or a prince in his palace might for karmic demerit, in his next life be born a slave.

The real person is the reimbodying ego, who carves its own destiny as and how it chooses, and its imbodiments correspond. It might readily happen that for the purposes of discipline and improvement of soul, a reimbodying ego might deliberately choose a body in which it would have to face, meet, and overcome a great many of what the world calls misfortunes.

It is not always therefore in the best interests of a learning and evolving soul to be born "with a silver spoon in its mouth," because with such surroundings as wealth and social position might bring, a weak soul could easily receive tendencies downwards because lacking the stern discipline urging it upwards and awakening the transcendent powers of the spirit within. Luxury, ease, power, and wealth are by no means always unmixed blessings, but quite frequently become positive misfortunes to weak souls.

Also, the four principal colors.

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

Sola Gratia

The Christian teaching that God pardons believers without any merit of their own based solely on the sacrificial work of Jesus.

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

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

"

Grace

See also: Grace , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul