Vaishnavism

The system of Hindu beliefs and practices that honor Vishnu/Krishna as Supreme God; probably the most widely followed kind of Hinduism. Bhakti yoga is the primary practice of this religion, the final reward of which is eternal communion with God.

The most famous of this god's many names are Vishnu, Narayana, Hari, Bhagavan, Krishna, and Rama; hence the usage Vishnu/Krishna. Vaishnavism's ancient name, Bhagavata ("followers of the Blessed Lord, i. e. , Bhagavan"), may clarify its beginnings, for it makes a connection with the movement's two most important literary works: the Bhagavad Gita (first put in print ca. 150 BC) and the Bhagavata Purana (Shrimad Bhagavatam, ca. 850-900).

Though the tradition began earlier, two things became clear by about 200 BC: the Bhagavatas related to their god, Krishna, by devotion and accepted the Vedas and Upanishads, the scriptures of Brahmanic Hindu religion. In this process the Brahmanic deities Vishnu and Narayana became identified with Bhagavan Krishna. Thereafter, Krishna has been viewed as an incarnation (avatara) of the Supreme God Vishnu (by South Indian Vaishnavas), and Vishnu has been viewed as a subordinate form of the Supreme God Krishna (by North Indian Vaishnavas).

The Bhagavad Gita is the earliest full statement of the Bhagavata synthesis. Krishna teaches a path of salvation: desire-free performance of one's born duty should be combined with the meditative wisdom of the Upanishads, suffused by and culminating in loving devotion to Krishna.

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

Vaishnava

(Sanskrit) A follower of the Hindu god Vishnu

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Vajra

(Sanskrit) One of the channels in the astral spine

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Vedanta

The end or culmination of the Veda, eternally revealed sacred knowledge; one of six orthodox viewpoints (darshanas) of classical Indian thought. Vedanta is the most influential traditional Hindu school of thought to the present day, especially in its nondualistic form.

The term Vedanta is applied both to the Upanishads (unsystematic sacred texts investigating the ultimate nature of self and cosmos), and a later set of related systems of thought arising from Upanishadic exegesis. Vedanta is sometimes called Uttara (later) Mimamsa (exegesis) to differentiate it from Purva (earlier) Mimamsa, explanation of the ritual-oriented portions of the Veda. The three bases of Vedanta are the Upanishads (especially the oldest ones, such as the Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, and Taittiriya), the Brahmasutras summarizing Upanishadic teachings), and the Bhagavad Gita .

Vedantan thinkers share certain assumptions, including the authority of the Veda, brahman as cause and substance of phenomenal appearance, the transmigration of the self due to the necessity of experiencing the fruits of one's actions (karma), and the possibility of release from the cycle of rebirth. Several schools developed within Vedanta, holding to quite different views about the nature of ultimate reality (brahman) and its relation with the individual (jiva) and real self (atman), as well as the nature of liberation from bondage to rebirth.

These views, seen most clearly in their respective commentaries on the Brahmasutras, include the nondualism of Shankara (ca. eighth century), the qualified (theistic) nondualism of Ramanuja (1017-1137), and the radical dualism of Madhva (1238-1317).

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

Vegetarianism

Abstaining from eating flesh (meat, fish), and by some, eggs and dairy products. Religious traditions prescribing vegetarianism include Jains, Pythagoreans, Orphics, and Manichaeans; the medieval Cathari and Bogomils; and sects of Buddhists, post-Vedic Hindus, and Taoists.

Historically it is associated with beliefs in reincarnation, the unity of life, bodily purity, sexual abstinence, rejection of sacrificial cults.

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

Venus

1)    The second planet from the Sun, sometimes called the 'Morning Star'. or Lucifer.

2)    The Roman goddess of beauty and sensual love, identified with the Greek Aphrodite (which was less directly sexual), in some accounts said to have sprung from the foam of the sea, in others to have been the daughter of Jupiter and the nymph Dione; for the Greeks, Zeus and a Titan. Some scholars view her as a manifestation of the Phoenician goddess Astarte. Venus was married to Vulcan (Hephaestus), but had affairs with Mars (Ares) and many other gods and demigods. Cupid (Eros) was the product of one of these affairs, this time with Mercury (Hermes).

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

Vestal

A virgin religious dedicated to Vesta (the Roman hearth goddess). They were responsible for maintaining Vesta's sacred fire in a sanctuary symbolic of the corporate hearth of the Roman people.

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Vicar: (Latin, "substitute")

1)    A salaried Catholic priest who administers to a parish but does not receive parish income.

2)    In the Anglican Church, a common title for a parish priest.

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Vinshopaka

In Hindu astrology, a method of calculating planetary strength using the Vargas

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Vinshotari

The most popular Dasha method in use today

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Viraga

(Sanskrit) Nonattachment/ desirelessness

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Vakrasana

(Sanskrit) The curved posture

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

Valentinus

(100-180) Alexandrian Gnostic poet and author, born in Egypt Founded a school in Rome c. 140. He composed hymns, psalms, poems, and letters, of which only fragments survive. The only known writing of his is a mystical sermon, the Gospel of Truth, which describes the search for God and salvation through the Savior who proclaims truth and brings joy and knowledge. Written for initiates, it alludes to but does not discuss fully developed doctrines, leaving it to his many pupils and followers to develop and clarify his original ideas.

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

Valentinianism

A Gnostic sect derived from Valentinus, A form of Christianity that spread throughout the Roman world and continued until the seventh century.

Valentinus Teaching include the idea that the responsibility for the tragedy in the divine world that gave rise to material creation is not attached to any one age. This deliberate ambiguity employed when speaking of the cosmic tragedy was eradicated by subsequent writers such as Irenaeus in his accounts of Valentinus's work.

Ptolemy identified two Sophias responsible for the tragedy so as to resolve ambiguities in Valentinus's original teaching. The two schools of Valentinianism, Roman and Alexandrian, took different positions regarding Jesus' true nature. The former asserted that Jesus was united to the Holy Spirit at baptism while the latter held that he was conceived and born spiritually. Valentinians believed themselves to be pneumatics (spiritual ones).

The psychics were ordinary Christians who could rise to the pneumatic level or descend to the lowest level of material existence. Valentinians were also known for their allegorical method of explaining Scripture (Ptolemy wrote to Flora to explain the Hebrew Law; Herakleon wrote the earliest commentary on the Fourth Gospel). This respected and ancient mode of textual exposition emerged subsequently in the Christian school of Alexandrian exegesis. In Valentinian understanding, the authority for this method was the apostle Paul, who employed this technique in his letters.

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

Valhalla

In Norse mythology, the banquet hall where the principal god, Odin, played host to the Einherjar, the souls of warriors who had died a courageous death in battle.

Valhalla was the largest building in Asgard, the heavenly home of the gods, and it constituted one of Asgard's 12 realms. There the Einherjar feasted while awaiting the final battle of the world, Ragnarok. The Einherjar were brought to Valhalla by Odin's warlike maidens, the Valkyries, who were sent out by Odin to gather the souls of heroes as they fell on the battlefields. The name Valhalla is derived from the Old Icelandic term Valholl, meaning "hall of the slain. "

The Norse vikings were a warrior people, and in their warrior religion, stories of Valhalla played an important role. There was no other "heaven," and warriors who did not die valiantly in battle went to the murky, miserable underworld. And unlike the Christian concept of heaven, Valhalla itself was not a place of eternal reward.

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Valkyrie

(German) In Scandinavian mythology a female power of death who chooses those who are going to die on the battlefield.

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Vampire

1)    A person who, for sexual or ritual reasons, drinks the blood of others.

2)    The vampire is usually believed to be a restless soul of a heretic, criminal or suicide - that refuses to join the ranks of the dead but instead leaves its burial place - in its original body or taking possession of another's corpse - and becomes a bloodsucking creature in order to continue enjoying the pleasures of the living. The belief in vampires dates back to antiquity. Ancient Mesopotamians feared that corpses not properly buried would rise from their graves and attack the living to suck their blood. Homer's Illiad tells of Odysseus traveling beyond the Gates of Hercules to the land of the dead where he pours out blood to attract them that he might gain information from them. Western notions of the vampire come primarily from Slavic folklore, especially as it was interpreted by the author Bram Stoker in his novel Dracula (1897). In some isolated regions of eastern Europe, peasants still hang wreaths of garlic over their doors - a preventive measure cited in Dracula - as protection against evil spirits, but many other aspects of Stoker's story may have been his own invention.

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

Varshaphala

In Hindu astrology, a method of progression using solar returns

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Vasanta

The Hindu deity of Spring, also Spring itself

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Vasitri

Also known as Salvaje and Aigypan. A sasquatch-like creature from the jungles of Venezuela. It is described as a wild man-like hairy creature that, according to the local Amerindians, constructs primitive huts and crude weapons. These beings are said to be extremely dangerous and carnivorous, eating men but carrying off women for breeding purposes.

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Vatayanasana

(Sanskrit) The horseface posture in yoga

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Trance

A mental state resembling sleep during which the conscious mind rests while the spirit entity takes over the medium's body.

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