Objects (Objectives) of the Theosophical Society The five objectives are: to diffuse among men a knowledge of the laws inherent in the universe; to promulgate the knowledge of the essential unity of all that is, and to demonstrate that this unity is fundamental in nature; to form an active brotherhood among men; to study ancient and modern religion, science, and philosophy; and to investigate the powers innate in man. {BCW}

(See also: Objects , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

A dictionary of parapsychology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.

Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)

Unidentified flying objector spacecraft with no known human-made origin; thought to be piloted by intelligent beings from outer space or another dimension; flying saucer. The term is used generally for all reported sightings of unidentified objects in the sky. More specifically, the term UFO refers to allegedly sighted Òflying saucersÓ or other alien spacecraft.

UFO beliefs can range between innocuous speculation that extraterrestrial beings may have visited Earth to quasi-religious devotion to the alleged presence and teachings of aliens. Often these beings are believed to be non-physical (spiritual) entities who are communicating telepathically (psychically) with contactees.

(See also: Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Unidentified Flying Object, UFO:

Unexplained sightings of lights or objects in the sky, often taken to be evidence of extraterrestrial visitations.

(See also: Unidentified Flying Object, UFO , Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

Sadhya - the object or goal which is desired by a person and for the attainment of which he undergoes a suitable process, is known as sadhya. There are many different types of sadhyas, or objects of attainment, and these are generally grouped into four categories: dharma (religiosity) , artha (economic development) , kama (material enjoyment) , and moksa (liberation).

The  sadhya-vastu, or object of attainment, for the bhaktas is bhagavat-priti, love for the Supreme Lord. This is also known as prema. Bhaktior prema, being an eternal function of Sri Bhagavan’s svarupa-sakti, is not produced by anything. Yet, when the bhakta’s heart is purified by performing sadhana-bhakti, it becomes fit to receive the manifestation of His hladini or pleasure giving potency. At that time Krsna manifests this potency in the bhakta’s heart and it becomes known as bhagavat-priti (see priti and purusartha).

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

Meditation

According to Swami Vishnu Devananda, meditation is "….a continuous flow of perception or thought, just like the flow of water in a river." A practice wherein there is constant observation of the mind, meditation brings awareness, harmony and natural order into life. It helps you dig deep into your inner self to discover the wisdom and tranquility that lie within.

Principles of Meditation

The basic points to be kept in mind in practicing meditation are:

·      Have a special place and specific time for meditation. Try doing it daily.

·      Choose a time when your mind is not clouded with worries.

·      Sit up straight with your back, neck and head in one line. Facing north or east.

·      Condition your mind such so as to remain quiet for the duration of your meditation session.

·      Regulate your breathing. Start with 5 minutes of deep breathing. Then gradually slow it down.

·      Follow a rhythmic breathing pattern - inhale and exhale.

·      Initially let your mind wander. It grows more restless if you force to concentrate.

·      Then slowly bring it to rest on the focal point of your choice.

·      Hold your object of concentration at this focal point throughout your session.

·      Meditation happens when you reach a state of pure thought. Even while retaining an awareness of duel self.

Followed diligently you will soon be able to attain a super-conscious state.

Tips on Concentration

·      At the outset, it is hard to keep your attention to keep focussed on one object.

·      So it is better to start off by limiting your field of concentration to a category of objects.

·      Choose your objects with care e.g. any four flowers, fruits, trees...etc. You must feel at ease with what you choose.

·      After concentrating on one, you can move on to the next, if & when your mind starts wandering.

This style of meditative exercise will help you control your mind down to a finer focus, teaching you the principle of single point concentration.

Meditative Postures

Yoni Mudra

·  Close your ears with thumbs.

·  Cover your eyes with your index finger.

·  Close your nostrils with your middle fingers.

·  Press your lips together with your remaining fingers.

·  Release the middle fingers gently to inhale and exhale while you meditate.

Frontal & Nasal Gazing

·  Gaze at a point between your eyebrows, seat of the 'Third Eye' or at the tip or your nose.

·  This would improve your level of concentration. At the same time, strengthening your eye muscles. Nasal gazing has a positive effect on the central nervous system.

·  Remember not to strain your eyes. Start with one minute of gazing and then slowly build it up to ten minutes.

Candle Gazing

• Place a candle at eye-level in a darkened, draught-free room.
• Close your eyes and hold an after-image of the bright flame.
• The practice steadies the wandering mind, leading you to focus with pin-point accuracy.

(See also: Meditation , Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Dictionary, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Psychokinesis

The power of mind over matter without the use of physical or sensory means. Together with ESP, psychokinesis is investigated by parapsychology.

Psychokinesis includes telekinesis, the paranormal movement of objects; levitation and materialization; mysterious events associated with given people or houses such as rappings, overturned furniture, and flying objects; and psychic healing.

Since the 1930s psychokinesis has been a major research interest among parapsychologists, especially in the United States and Russia, but, in general, the results have been inconclusive.

In 1968 Russia released film and other evidence to the West showing Nina Kulagina, a housewife from Leningrad, apparently using psychokinesis to move a variety of stationary objects. She was also photographed apparently levitating objects.

In the 1970s the Israeli psychic Uri Geller dazzled TV audiences with his alleged powers of bending metal with a few gentle strokes or taps with his fingers. Under laboratory conditions, experiments with Geller proved inconclusive, and certain professional magicians have claimed that Geller is a fraud using simple sleight-of-hand to achieve his extraordinary feats.

Most scientists deny the existence of psychokinesis, and the difficulty in reproducing psychokinesis phenomena and the lack of an adequate theoretical explanation excludes it from systematic scientific investigation.

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

Cigarettes

The interpretation of this symbol, as with all others, depends on your relationship with cigarettes. If you are a smoker or are surrounded by smokers, cigarettes may be a regular part of your daily life which has been brought into your dream state. Cigarettes could represent anything from phallic symbols and symbols of pleasure to tools of destruction. Generally, the cigarette is an object which carries social and emotional significance. When we are teenagers, we associate them with being "cool," daring, and defiant. For some adults they become a way of life where all emotions seem to be punctuated with cigarettes. Finally, as adults come into touch with their own physical mortality, cigarettes become dreadful objects, and smoking becomes a terrible burden and curse. When interpreting the dream with cigarettes in it, ask yourself what cigarettes mean to you.

See also: Meaning of Dreams about Smoking

Source: Dream Lover Incorporated, http://www.dreamloverinc.com

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

psychometry (object reading, psychoscopy): means of obtaining information about people and events associated with an object merely by touching, handling, or being near to the object.

Psychic researcher Dr. J. Rhodes Buchanan devised and named psychometry around the turn of the century. He held that all objects and events leave perpetual impressions in the ether or astral light. Buchanan discovered that when psychometry students simply held drugs, the students often exhibited the symptoms that would have resulted had they ingested the drugs. Moreover, he found that some psychometrists could diagnose illness simply by holding the patient's hand.

The word psychometry literally means measure of the soul. (In science-oriented healthcare, the terms psychometry, psychometrics, and psychometric testing refer to the use of tests to measure such psychological characteristics as aptitude, intelligence, and personality traits.)

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

A dictionary Of Siddha Yoga Terminology. From Abhanga to Yogini.

Please note that all words in grey, like "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

Animism:

(1) Religious practices based on the belief that all living things and natural objects have their individual spiritual essence or "soul".

(2) The belief that every object found in nature, whether living or non-living, has a spirit or life-force attached to it which is endowed with the same fundamental reasoning and volition of men. In essence, all of nature is endowed with a pure life essence which holds all things in a symbiotic relationship and a spiritual balance within the universe. This is a core belief in many magical philosophies and practices.

(See also: Animism , Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

A dictionary of Parapsycology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.

A Theosophical definition of Samadhi :

Samadhi

(Sanskrit) A compound word formed of sam, meaning "with" or "together"; a, meaning "towards"; and the verbal root dha, signifying "to place," or "to bring"; hence samadhi, meaning "to direct towards," generally signifies to combine the faculties of the mind with a direction towards an object. Hence, intense contemplation or profound meditation, with the consciousness directed to the spiritual. It is the highest form of self-possession, in the sense of collecting all the faculties of the constitution towards reaching union or quasi-union, long or short in time as the case may be, with the divine-spiritual. One who possesses and is accustomed to use this power has complete, absolute control over all his faculties, and is, therefore, said to be "completely self- possessed." It is the highest state of yoga or "union."

Samadhi, therefore, is a word of exceedingly mystical and profound significance implying the complete abstraction of the percipient consciousness from all worldly or exterior or even mental concerns or attributes, and its absorption into or, perhaps better, its becoming the pure unadulterate, undilute superconsciousness of the god within. In other words, samadhi is self-conscious union with the spiritual monad of the human constitution. Samadhi is the eighth or final stage of genuine occult yoga, and can be attained at any time by the initiate without conscious recourse to the other phases or practices of yoga enumerated in Oriental works, and which other and inferior practices are often misleading, in some cases distinctly injurious, and at the best mere props or aids in the attaining of complete mental abstraction from worldly concerns.

The eight stages of yoga usually enumerated are the following:

(1)  yama, signifying "restraint" or "forbearance";

(2)  niyama, religious observances of various kinds, such as watchings or fastings, prayings, penances, etc.;

(3)  asana (q.v.), postures of various kinds;

(4)  pranayama, various methods of regulating the breath; (5) pratyahara, a word signifying "withdrawal," but technically and esoterically the "withdrawal" of the consciousness from sensual or sensuous concerns, or from external objects;

(5)  dharana (q.v.), firmness or steadiness or resolution in holding the mind set or concentrated on a topic or object of thought, mental concentration;

(6)  dhyana (q.v.), abstract contemplation or meditation when freed from exterior distractions; and finally,

(7)  samadhi, complete collection of the consciousness and of its faculties into oneness or union with the monadic essence.

It may be observed, and should be carefully taken note of by the student, that when the initiate has attained samadhi he becomes practically omniscient for the solar universe in which he dwells, because his consciousness is functioning at the time in the spiritual-causal worlds. All knowledge is then to him like an open page because he is self-consciously conscious, to use a rather awkward phrase, of nature's inner and spiritual realms, the reason being that his consciousness has become kosmic in its reaches.

See also: Samadhi , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

A dictionary of parapsychology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.

light: In an ordinary sense, a form of energy which makes physical objects visible to the eye. In a religious-mystical sense, light also illumines inner objects (i.e., mental images).

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

Sanskrit dictionary. From Advaita to Yoga.

Please note that all words in grey, like "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

DOWSING -

1. using a pendulum or stick to find a location of a person, place, thing or element. Answering yes or no questions. Holding a pendulum over a chart to answer specific questions on life patterns. (TRASB)

2. practice of locating water, minerals or other objects through the use of a rod, pendulum or other object. (NAD)

(See also: DOWSING , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

dowsing

Practice of locating water, minerals, or other objects through the use of a rod, pendulum, or other object

(See also: Dowsing , Body Mind and Soul)

Fetish

(derived from a Portuguese word for medals and crucifixes worn by sailors and extended by them to amulets used by Africans; first used as a generic term by Ch. de Brosses in 1760)

1)    An article of paraphernalia used in religious practice, or a physical object representative of religious authority. Fetishes commonly are misunderstood to be objects accorded magical or supernatural powers by their users. Objects such as the perfect ear of corn or Corn Mother, important in religious practices of Pueblos (American Southwest), medicine bundles of various North American tribes, and objects that represent the religious authority of clans in Native American communities are often referred to as fetishes.

2)    Small carved stone objects and feather arrangements, with no religious significance, manufactured for commercial sale by modern Native American peoples.

3)    An object or body part that arouses sexual desire, sometimes to the exclusion of genital attraction.

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

A dictionary of parapsychology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.