Perception Dictionary

Mysticism:

(1) The doctrine or belief that direct knowledge of the God(s), o spiritual truth, of ultimate reality, or of comparable matters is attainable through immediate intuition, insight or illumination and in a way differing from ordinary sense perception or conscious thought.

(2) The concepts and theories behind the theurgical approach to occultism.

(See also: Mysticism , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

subconscious

Lower or unconscious mind that registers every perception, experience, reaction, and feeling and sensory stimuli like a computer and makes it available to the conscious mind. Some feel it is what is called the soul

(See also: Subconscious , Body Mind and Soul)

a-paroksha-brahma-jnana:

a-paroksha-brahma-jnana (-jnaana). Direct perception, knowledge of Brahman.

(See also: a-paroksha-brahma-jnana , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

cognition: Knowing; perception. Knowledge reached through intuitive, superconscious faculties rather than through intellect alone.

cognitive body: Vijnanamaya kosha. The most refined sheath of the astral, or subtle, body (sukshma sharira). It is the sheath of higher thought and cognition.

See: astral body, kosha.

(See also: Cognition , Hinduism, 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)

Chakra System

The chakras are the bodies centres of energy and vital to the well being of the whole person. They are the energy centres through which our spiritual and emotional energies flow.

The word ‘Chakra’ is taken from Hindi and means ‘wheel of energy’ There are seven chakras or energy centres within the body. Each Chakra has certain characteristics and influences a different aspect of the personality. The correct flow of energies through the chakras is vital for health. When the flow of Prana, or energy is blocked, disease results.

The Base Chakra, Mooladhara

This chakra controls the basic human survival instincts and provides an essential ‘grounding’. Our most basic human instincts originate from this Chakra.

The Sacral Chakra, Swadisthan Manipura

This is linked to sexuality and reproductive capacity.

The Solar Plexus, Nabhi

This chakra is said to direct our awareness of self within the world. This is the seat of our emotional life and existence.

The Heart Chakra, Anhata

Connected to love and compassion. This chakra is the centre of feelings of love, harmony and peace.

The Throat Chakra, Vishuddhi

Linked to individual creativity and communication.

The Brow Chakra, Ajjna

This chakra forms the seat of both intuition and awareness. It is seen as the seat of perception, often perception beyond our physical senses.

The Crown Chakra, Sahasrara

This chakra links to the persons spiritual connection with the universe around them, the link with the divine. This chakra also balances the interior and exterior energies of a person's existence, linking them to the world around them.

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

Precognition

Precognition is the perception of future events over which one doesn't seem to have much control over. As the name suggests, in precognitive dreams the dreamer experiences an event, in whole or in part, before it occurs.

It has been suggested that some experiences of de'ja'vu can be explained by precognitive dreams. Precognitive dreams differ from prophetic dreams, in that prophetic dreams predict the future, but the events predicted relate to important areas of life. See ESP.

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

KAMA LOKA

The receiving station of the astral plane; the so-called "desire-world" where the dead first arrive. It is this place that the NDE people refer to as "the other side." It takes on the illusory character of anything the newly arrived spirit most desires. Muslims immediately believe they have entered Paradise, Xtians invariable encounter Jesus here. After a very short time, these errors of perception are corrected.

(See also: KAMA LOKA , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

ESP:

See Extrasensory Perception.

(See also: ESP , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

objective:

1)    Quality of thinking or perception relating to the object as it truly is. Not biased or colored by one's personal point of view or prejudices, which then would be subjective thinking.

2)    A target, goal or anything sought for or aimed at.

Cf: subjective.

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

Absorption:

Absorption. The Nath sits on the Dragon Seat inside a magical circle and creates or re-arranges energy to form a cone. Mind projections drawn into this cone are classified as absorption. See also: Expansion. Academies of Sense Perception. A deep study of the qualities and abilities of the five senses.

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

Anugraha, Anugrahana (Sanskrit) (from anu-grah to support, uphold, foster, treat kindly)

Favor, kindness, promoting or favoring a good object. In the Vishnu-Purana (1:5) applied to the eighth creation (in the Matsya and other Puranas to the fifth creation), the period of formative development "which possesses both the qualities of goodness and darkness." In Sankhya philosophy anugraha-sarga is the creation or formation of "the feelings or mental conditions."

Blavatsky calls the anugraha creation a blind, "for it refers to a purely mental process: the cognition of the 'ninth' creation, which, in its turn, is an effect, manifesting in the secondary of that which was a 'Creation' in the Primary (Prakrita) Creation. The Eighth, then, called Anugraha (the Pratyayasarga or the intellectual creation of the Sankhyas . . .), is 'that creation of which we have a perception' -- in its esoteric aspect -- and 'to which we give intellectual assent (Anugraha) in contradistinction to organic creation.' It is the correct perception of our relations to the whole range of 'gods' and especially of those we bear to the Kumaras -- the so-called 'Ninth Creation' -- which is in reality an aspect of or reflection of the sixth in our manvantara (the Vaivasvata)" (SD 1:456).

All theses various "creations" mentioned in the Puranas represent stages of evolutionary production, following each other in regular serial order, and thus unfolding into manifestation what lay originally latent in the seed out of which these various stages arise. Thus the reference in the Vishnu-Purana, for example, by analogical reasoning can apply either to a universe, solar system, planetary chain, or to the developmental history of earth and its inhabitants.

(See also: Anugraha, Anugrahana , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Goddess: Female representation or manifestation of Divinity; Shakti or Devi.

Goddess can refer to a female perception or depiction of a causal-plane being (Mahadeva) in its natural state, which is genderless, or it can refer to an astral-plane being residing in a female astral body.

To show the Divine's transcendence of sexuality, sometimes God is shown as having qualities of both sexes, e.g., Ardhanarishvara, "Half-woman God;" or Lord Nataraja, who wears a feminine earring in one ear and a masculine one in the other.

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

ESP - N,O

Extrasensory perception encompassing paranormal abilities such as telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance.

(See also: ESP , New Age, Body mind and Soul)

ESP -

1. extra sensory perception; knowledge beyond the five senses.

2. elementary spiritual powers. (Mark Age) (NAD)

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

sound: Shabda. As the darshana, or "seeing," of the Divine is a central article of faith for Hindus, similarly, hearing the Divine is spiritually indispensable. The ears are a center of many nadis connected to inner organs of perception. Gurus may when imparting initiation whisper in the ear of disciples to stimulate these centers and give a greater effect to their instructions.

During temple puja, bells ring loudly, drums resound, conches and woodwinds blare to awaken worshipers from routine states of consciousness.

Meditation on inner sound, called nada-anusandhana, is an essential yoga practice. Listening to the Vedas or other scripture is a mystical process. Traditional music is revered as the nectar of the Divine.

See: Aum, nada, Siva consciousness.

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

ESP

Acronym for Extra-Sensory Perception. It encompasses most paranormal abilities such as telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance.

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

anumaana:

anumaana. Inferential perception.

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

Phenomena [from Greek phainomena appearances from phainomai to appear]

The impermanent, ever-changing outward appearances of things, as opposed to onta, the permanent enduring realities behind. Also, objects of perception as opposed to objects of cognition; that which is perceived by the senses, contrasted with that which is conceived by the mind.

The word correlates with both meanings of noumena. Under the first meaning it may be said that, in one sense, everything is phenomenal except the one Reality; but the word may also be used relatively.

Under the second meaning, we may speak of phenomena as a word stressing the mechanical aspect of things, as contrasted with the unseen intelligences behind, as in the contrast between the forces of science and the intelligent noumena of which they are merely the manifestations.

In modern popular use it also denotes a supernormal event, such as an exercise of occult or magical powers, or again a portent, what the Latins would have called a prodigy.

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

Buddha (Sanskrit). Lit., "The Enlightened". The highest degree of knowledge. To become a Buddha one has to break through the bondage of sense and personality; to acquire a complete perception of the REAL SELF and learn not to separate it from all otherselves; to learn by experience the utter unreality of all phenomena of the visible Kosmos foremost of all; to reach a complete detachment from all that is evanescent and finite, and live while yet on Earth in the immortal and the everlasting alone, in a supreme state of holiness.

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

Indriyas:

Indriyas (ten): Five senses of perception and five senses of action (RRV2-2)

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

Demons

Demons are interesting dream characters. Whether you view them as psychological constructs or physical realities, their presence is a significant statement. The meaning of the demons revolves around their power relative to other major characters in the dream.

Demons may have seductive or violent power in a taboo relationship with the dreamer. In these cases the dreamer sees herself as helped or hindered by supernatural powers in the accomplishment of a moral or personal conquest. If a demon is helping you complete a task, it may say something about how your task is viewed morally either in your superego or in your belief system. If a demon is thwarting your progress, this may reflect your perception of evil working against you in your life. If the demon is threatening others who are important in your life, you may be struggling with how to protect or provide for others in a world perceived as hostile.

If the demons are helping you acquire something you hold as taboo, some self-examination concerning motives may be appropriate. Are they powerful in an alluring or repulsive way?

Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk

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