Introduction and links to related topics Below are some short introductions. Click on the blue hyperlinked word to get more related articles.
Mudra - Mudra (Sanskrit) A symbol of power over invisible evil influences, whether as a simple posture or a posture considered as a talisman. Applied to certain positions of the fingers practiced in devotion, meditation, or exoteric religious worship, thought by some to imitate ancient Sanskrit characters, and therefore to have magic efficacy and to have a particular esoteric significance. Used both in the Northern Buddhist Yogacharya school and by the Hindu Tantrikas, with both symbolic and practical meanings.
Puja - (Sanskrit) "Worship, adoration."
An Agamic rite of worship performed in the home, temple or shrine, to the murti, sri paduka, or other consecrated object, or to a person, such as the satguru. Its inner purpose is to purify the atmosphere around the object worshiped, establish a connection with the inner worlds and invoke the presence of God, Gods or one''s guru.
During puja, the officiant (pujari) recites various chants praising the Divine and beseeching divine blessings, while making offerings in accordance with established traditions. Puja, the worship of a murti through water, lights and flowers in temples and shrines, is the Agamic counterpart of the Vedic yajna rite, in which offerings are conveyed through the sacred homa fire. These are the two great streams of adoration and communion in Hinduism.
Central steps of puja include:
achamana, water sipping for purification;
Ganapati prarthana, prayers to Ganesha;
sankalpa, declaration of intent;
ghanta, ringing bell, inviting devas and dismissing asuras;
avahana, inviting the Deity ;
mantras and dhyana, meditating on the Deity;
svagata, welcoming;
namaskara, obeisance;
arghyam, water offerings;
pradakshina, circumambulation;
abhisheka, bathing the murti;
dhupa, incense-offering;
dipa, offering lights;
1naivedya, offering food;
archana, chanting holy names;
arati, final offering of lights;
prarthana, personal requests;
visarjana, dismissal-farewell.
Also central are pranayama (breath control), guru vandana (adoration of the preceptor), nyasa (empowerment through touching) and mudra (mystic gestures). Puja offerings also include pushpa (flowers), arghya (water), tambula (betel leaf) and chandana (sandalpaste).
atmartha puja: Karana Agama, v. 2, states: Atmartha cha parartha cha puja dvividhamuchyate, "Worship is two-fold: for the benefit of oneself and for the benefit of others." Atmartha puja is done for oneself and immediate family, usually at home in a private shrine.
parartha puja: "Puja for others." Parartha puja is public puja, performed by authorized or ordained priests in a public shrine or temple.
See: pujari, puja, yajna.
Yogacharya - Yogacharya (Sanskrit).
(1) A mystic school.
(2) Lit., a teacher (acharya) of Yoga, one who has mastered the doctrines and practices of ecstatic meditation - the culmination of which are the Mahasiddhis. It is incorrect to confuse this school with the Tantra, or Mahatantra school founded by Samantabhadra, for there are two Yogacharya Schools, one esoteric, the other popular.
The doctrines of the latter were compiled and glossed by Asamgha in the sixth century of our era, and his mystic tantras and mantras, his formularies, litanies, spells and mudra would certainly, if attempted without a Guru, serve rather purposes of sorcery and black magic than real Yoga. Those who undertake to write upon the subject are generally learned missionaries and haters of Eastern philosophy in general. From these no unbiassed views can be expected.
Thus when we read in the Sanskrit -Chinese Dictionary of Eitel, that the reciting of mantras (which he calls " spells"!) " should he accompanied by music and distortions of the fingers (mudra), that a state of mental fixity (Samadhi} might he reached ‘ - one acquainted, however slightly,. with the real practice of Yoga can only shrug his shoulders.
These distortions of the fingers or ,mudra are necessary, the author thinks, for the reaching of Samadhi, "characterized by there being neither thought nor annihilation of thought, and consisting of six-fold bodily (sic) and mental happiness (yogi) whence would result endowment with supernatural miracle-working power". Theosophists cannot be too much warned against such fantastic and prejudiced explanations.
Namaskara - (Sanskrit) "Reverent salutations."
Traditional Hindu verbal greeting and mudra where the palms are joined together and held before the heart or raised to the level of the forehead. The mudra is also called anjali. It is a devotional gesture made equally before a temple Deity, holy person, friend or momentary acquaintance.
The hands held together connects the right side of the body with the left, and brings the nerve and nadi currents into poised balance, into a consciousness of the sushumna, awakening the third eye within the greeter to worship God in the greeted.
See: anjali mudra, pranama.
Kshira-samudra - 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
Anjali Mudra - (Sanskrit) "Reverence gesture." Also called pranamanjali. A gesture of respect and greeting, in which the two palms are held softly together and slightly cupped. Often accompanied by the verbal salutation "namaskara," meaning "reverent salutation." The anjali mudra has various forms, including held near the chest in greeting equals, at eye level in greeting one''s guru, and above the head in salutation to God. One form is with the open hands placed side by side, as if by a beggar to receive food, or a worshiper beseeching God''s grace in the temple.
See: mudra, namaskara.
Sapta-sindhavas - Sapta-sindhavas (Sanskrit) [from sapta seven + sindhu river from the verbal root syand to flow, trickle, pour forth]
The seven sacred rivers spoken of in the Vedas, connected with the sapta-samudra (seven oceans). From the standpoint of the planetary chain, the oceans or seas of space which surround the different globes are intimately interconnected by similar lines of communication, which likewise can be called circulations. In Avestic works these sacred streams are called Hapta Heando.
See also CIRCULATIONS OF THE COSMOS
Abhaya - (Sanskrit) Fearlessness, one of the cardinal virtues. "Fearlessness is the fruit of perfect Self Realization - that is, the recovery of nonduality" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.2). Also names the mudra (hand gesture) common in Hindu icons, betokening "fear not," in which the fingers of the right hand are raised and the palm faces forward.
See: mudra, murti.
Death Posture - Austin Osman Spare''s (auto-erotic) trance-state, in the Zos Kia Cultus, for receiving the divine mudra of Death,
in which, says Grant, "the world of appearance ceases and its noumenal source is revealed." Normally this can happen only at the point of physical death itself.
Sapta-samudra - Sapta-samudra (Sanskrit) [from sapta seven + samudra ocean]
The seven oceans of the Puranas, whether cosmic or terrestrial, the latter referring to geologic ages. Mystically, the seven globes of our planetary chain (cf Sapta-sindhavas).
Makaras - Makaras (Sanskrit) The five words beginning with M that concern the lower tantric practices: madya (wine); mamsa (flesh); matsya (fish); mudra (mystic gesticulations); and maithuna (sexual intercourse).
Khecari-mudra - ("space-walking seal"): the Tantric practice of curling the tongue back against the upper palate in order to seal the life energy (prana); see also mudra
Sapta Samudra - Sapta Samudra (Sanskrit). The "seven oceans ". These have an occult significance on a higher plane.
Kshira Samudra - Kshira Samudra (Sanskrit). Ocean of milk, churned by the gods.
Bhuchari Mudra - Bhuchari Mudra {BCW 2:119} (or See ref to Mudra)
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