Chitta Riddhi Pada (Sanskrit) " The step of memory." The third condition of the mystic series which leads to the acquirement of adept-ship ; i.e., the renunciation of physical memory, and of all thoughts connected with worldly or personal events in one’s life - benefits, personal pleasures or associations. physical memory has to be sacrificed, and recalled by will power only when absolutely needed. The Riddhi Pada, lit., the four " Steps to Riddhi ", are the four modes of controlling and finally of annihilating desire, memory, and finally meditation itself -  so far as these are connected with any effort of the physical brain -  meditation then becomes absolutely spiritual.

(See also: Chitta Riddhi Pada, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Abhijna (Sanskrit) (from abhi towards + the verbal root jna to know, have special knowledge of, mastery over; cf Pali abhinna)

Inner perception; in Buddhism the five or six transcendental powers, faculties, or superknowledges attained on reaching buddhahood. Gautama Buddha is said to have acquired the six abhijnas the night he attained enlightenment. Generally enumerated as: 1) divyachakshus (divine eye) instantaneous perception of whatever one wills to see; 2) divyasrotra (divine ear) instantaneous comprehension of all sounds on every plane; 3) riddhisakshatkriya, power of becoming visibly manifest at will, intuitive perception; 4) purvanivasajnana (power to know former existences) also called purvanivasanu-smritijnana (recollection of former existences); and 5) parachittajnana (knowledge of others' thoughts) understanding of their minds and hearts.

In China a sixth is listed as asravakshaya (stream-mastery, pain destruction), destruction of all ignorance and the entering of the stream of supernal knowledge. While these aghijnas may be acquired in the process of achieving spiritual progress, the Buddha frowned upon any attempt to develop them; and if they should spontaneously become manifest, then one must avoid any display of such extranormal powers.

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

Kwan, Kuan (Chinese) Taoist term equivalent to the Sanskrit dhyana (meditation).

"Kuan means originally to 'watch' for omens, and in the dictionaries it is defined as 'looking at unusual things,' as opposed to ordinary seeing or looking. Hence, in accordance with the general 'inward-turning' of Chinese thought and vocabulary, it comes to mean 'what one sees when one in is an abnormal state'; and in Taoist literature it is often practically equivalent to our own mystic world 'Vision.'

The root from which dhyana comes has however nothing to do with 'seeing' but means simply 'pondering, meditating'; and it was only because kuan already possessed a technical sense closely akin to that of dhyana that it was chosen as an equivalent, in preference to some such word as nien, or ssu, which are the natural equivalents" (Waley, The Way and Its Power 119-20).

(See also: Kwan, Kuan, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Tantras (Sanskrit) Loom, the warp or threads in a loom; a rule or ritual for ceremonial rites. Religious treatises teaching mystical and magical formulas for the attainment of magical powers, and for the worship of the gods; treating of the evolution of the universe and its destruction; the adoration of the divinities; the attainment of desired objects, especially of six superhuman faculties; and methods of union (usually given as four) with the supreme divinity by contemplative meditation. They are mostly composed in the form of dialogues between Siva and his divine consort or sakti Durga, who is worshiped as a personified female power.

The tendency of these works for long ages has been towards black magic. "The origin of the Tantras unquestionably goes back to a very remote antiquity, and there seems to be little doubt that these works, or their originals, were heirlooms handed down from originally debased or degenerate Atlantean racial offshoots. There is, of course, a certain amount of profoundly philosophical and mystical thought running through the more important tantrika works, but the tantrika worship in many cases is highly licentious and immoral" (OG 17;1).

(See also: Tantras, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Mantra

Mantra is a combination of divine syllables or sounds which when recited invokes the latent power in that particular mantra, which involves pleasing some deities or attaining some results (used originally in Vedic sanatana dharma, Hinduism and Buddhism). The Mantras are created by spiritual Seers (Rishis and Yogis) in a divine trance. Each mantra has a rishi (spiritual seer).

In Sanskrit, mantra literally means 'instrument of thought', from man (to think) verb: ‘Mananat trayate iti mantrah’ - by the Manana (constant recollection or recitation) of which one is liberated. Liberation involves your aim, i.e. what one wants to achieve by this mantra -sadhana.

Each Mantra consists of a Matraa (phase) which creates a distinct sound-frequency; a Devataa (deity or God); a Bija (seed) which gives it a special power, and the Kilakam (support or pillar). Some mantras consists of only seeds (single syllables without special literal meaning) an are called Bija-mantras. [The word is accepted in New English Oxford Dictionary].€€€

(See also: Mantra, Hinduism, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

Spiritual Remedies

It is an unquestionable truth of life that the most precious possession that you have is your very own spiritual self. As we tend to move away from that intrinsic part of ourselves the body gets trapped by negative energies, which are the root cause of ailments. Spiritual therapies channelise your energies back on the right track, by venturing deep within yourself.

As God's children, all individuals have a part of divinity in themselves. By invoking the strength of that divinity through the control over ones thoughts, one can shape ones life very strongly. It is therefore important that one should attempt to root out all negative thoughts from the mind and concentrate on only the positive ones.

The negative thought patterns which cause ailments are anger, criticism, resentment and guilt. It is utterly impossible to maintain a healthy body under such distressed condition. For instance, criticism indulged in over long periods will often lead to disease as arthritis. Anger turns into things that boil and burn and in the long run infect the body and it also leads to heart ailments. Resentment eats into your system and ultimately leads to tumour and cancer. Guilt always seeks punishment and leads to all sorts of pain.

Next to hate, worry is just about the worst form of self-destructive mental activity. Hatred is the most severely damaging mental activity. It poisons the body and the mind and its effects are almost permanent. Similarly if you have no will to live, you are unlikely to have a long life. On the other hand, if you intend to live with a positive mind, you will definitely live a long and healthy life. Thus a person who exercises, meditates and thinks positively, is telling his body that he wants to stay healthy throughout his life.

Think of the experiences in life that you wish to be fulfilled. And you will find your thought patterns taking real shapes. This phenomenon is called metaphysical causation. This describes the power in the words and thoughts to create experiences. And explains the connection between thoughts and your physical self. Thus a stiff neck could easily be indicative of inflexibility in a person to listen to the other side of an argument.

So if need be, be willing to change your words and thoughts and watch your life change right before you. The way to control your life is to control your choice of words and thoughts. Since no one can delve into the depths of your, but you. Although easier said than done, this can be achieved better by practicing the arts of relaxation and concentration. For which one can in turn take the help of music and mantras.

Pushan pusan (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root push to nourish, feed]

The nourisher; a name of the sun, who nourishes and feeds all within his kingdom from his own vital substance and power. As one of the Vedic gods, the surveyor of all things, the conductor on journeys, and the guide on the way to the next world, functions reminiscent of Hermes or Mercury in classical thought.

The Taittiriya-Brahmana says that "when Prajapati formed living beings, Pushan nourished them." This Pushan is "the same mysterious force that nourishes the foetus and unborn babe, by Osmosis, and which is called the 'atmospheric (or akasic) nurse,' and the 'father nourisher.' When the lunar Pitris had evolved men, these remained senseless and helpless, and it is 'Pushan who fed primeval man' " (TG 265).

(See also: Pushan, pusan, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Kwei Shen, Kuei Shen (Chinese) "Man is a product of the beneficial operation of Heaven and Earth, or of the copulation of the Yin and the Yang, and the union of a kwei with a shen; he consists of the finest breath which the five elements contain" (Li yun 3).

The mayavi-rupa, which is the combination by the power of thought (or the inner kriyasakti) of the manasic faculty with a tenuous astral garment. The mayavi-rupa, however, is more often made to contain the complete human being minus the lowest triad (body, physical vitality, and linga-sarira); thus only in one sense does the mayavi-rupa correspond with the kwei shen.

In the lower parts of the human constitution, it becomes vehicular rather than related to active self-consciousness, and can signify the vital body or linga-sarira.

(See also: Kwei Shen, Kuei Shen, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Ammon-Ra (Greek) Amen-Ra (Egyptian) When the princes of Thebes had conquered all rival claimants to the sovereignty of Egypt and established themselves as rulers of the dual Empires, they followed in religious, mystical, and occult matters the thought of the powerful priesthood of Thebes. Thus after the 12th dynasty a new manner of visioning the ancient god Ammon came into prominence, under the name Ammon-Ra, although the latter's preeminence as chief god of Egypt did not occur until the 17th dynasty.

The attributes of the hidden deity Ammon were combined with the solar god Ra, and this deity was acclaimed by the priests as the chief of the gods of Egypt. Ammon-Ra seems to be devoid of most, at least, of the mystical symbols that are present in representations of the older deities, although the hymns to the god that were carefully prepared by the priests incorporated all the attributes and phraseology prevalent in the other scriptures.

(See also: Ammon-Ra, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Alaya-vijnana (Sanskrit) (from alaya abode, dwelling from a-li to settle upon, come close to + vijnana discernment, knowledge from vi-jna to distinguish, know, understand) Abode of discriminative knowledge; the cognizing or discerning faculty, the mental power of making distinctions, hence the higher reasoning. When used mystically as "a receptacle or treasury of knowledge or wisdom," it corresponds very closely to the Vedantic vijnanamaya-kosa, the "thought-made sheath" of the human constitution, the higher manas or reincarnating ego.

In Mahayana Buddhism, alaya-vijnana has acquired a somewhat larger and higher significance: alaya (an abode, in the sense of focus of activity), the prepositional prefix a (meaning position or limitation) with the verb li (to dissolve) signifies solution or coalescence in unity.

Used much as the term human monad is in theosophy, equivalent to the higher manas or even buddhi-manas, it therefore signifies the focus or interior organ of consciousness into which is collected at the end of each incarnation the aroma of the higher experiences during that lifetime, thus forming a kind of treasury.

(See also: Alaya-vijnana, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

'Adam Qadmon (Hebrew) (from 'adam mankind + qadam to be before, precede)

Primordial man, Adam Primus; in the Qabbalah macrocosmic man in contrast to the earthly Adam, the microcosm. Often called the Heavenly Man because symbolically he is the Sephirothal Tree of Life, each of the Sephiroth having its correspondence with a part of the body, the head being Kether (Crown), and the feet standing for Malchuth (Kingdom). 'Adam Qadmon corresponds mystically to the Hindu Purusha: both are generalizing terms used to represent the cosmic Logos or hierarch of their respective hierarchies.

Blavatsky compares 'Adam Qadmon to the first manu, Svayambhuva, "the synthesis of the fourteen Manus" (TG 206); also to the Greek Prometheus and the divine Pymander of the Hermetica -- the power of the thought divine "in its most spiritual aspect" (IU 1:298).

(See also: Adam Qadmon, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Sacred Fire An equivalent for sacred spark, with reference to the lighting of the fires of mind in man during the third root-race. Especially used in connection with the occult allegory of the ancient Greeks dealing with Prometheus, who is represented as bringing the sacred fire -- signifying the fire of mind and thought -- to mankind from heaven.

Also used in reference to the sacred Samothracian deities, the kabeiroi:

"the personified sacred Fires of the most occult powers of Nature" (SD 2:106).

Equated with Living Fire as "a figure of speech to denote deity, the 'One' life. A theurgic term, used later by the Rosicrucians. The symbol of the living fire is the sun, certain of whose rays develope the fire of life in a diseased body, impart the knowledge of the future to the sluggish mind, and stimulate to active function a certain psychic and generally dormant faculty in man" (TG 119).

(See also: Sacred Fire, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Vampire

Vampires, for most people, represent powerful and evil creatures. Dreaming about vampires suggests that the dreamer may be feeling overwhelmed in some areas of his or her life and is struggling with negative thoughts, feelings, and actions. You may be currently concerned about ethical or moral issues and are experiencing anxiety as a result. The vampire represents personal attributes or negative habits that drain energy and resources or cause emotional exhaustion. If you are being attacked by a vampire, you may perceive yourself as a powerless victim. Interpreting this dream's message may help you to identify the source of your negative feelings and helplessness.

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

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

Water

Water is a very common but powerful dream symbol. Its meaning varies with the details and the mood of the dream. Water is a deeply spiritual symbol representing the "water of life" or the "flow of life." Large bodies of water usually represent our unconscious minds or/and soul experiences. Water symbolizes emotions (rough, smooth, clear, murky, etc.). Freud thought that since fluids are involved in sexual activities, at times, water in dreams has sexual connotations.

See also: Meaning of Dreams about Ocean, Rain, River   Source: Dream Lover Incorporated, http://www.dreamloverinc.com   (See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Water, Meaning of Dreams about Water, Dream Interpretation Water)

Definition and meaning of Enlightenment:

Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual awakening of the eighteenth century that celebrated human reasoning powers. This major intellectual movement was inspired by recent scientific advances; Enlightenment thinkers emphasized the role of human reason in understanding the world and directing its events. Their ideas placed less emphasis on God's role in ordering worldly affairs. Enlightened rationalism had a major impact on American political thought.

(Source: Madrid Waddington High School )

Also see these pages:  American History, American History Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

Definition and meaning of Country:

Country (Real Whig) ideology

Country ideology first appeared in England in the late seventeenth century in response to the growth of governmental power and a national debt. Main ideas of this strain of thought stressed the threat to personal liberty posed by a standing army and high taxes, and emphasized the need for property holders to retain the right to consent to taxation.

(Source: Madrid Waddington High School )

Also see these pages:  American History, American History Sitemap, History, History Sitemap

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.

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

Brain-mind Used by theosophists for the astral mind of the personal ego, the pale and too often distorted reflection of the intellection of the reincarnating ego. It is, in fact, the representative in the physical world of kama-manas, mind conditioned by materiality.

The lower mind or psycho-nervous effluvia of the brain acts through the nervous ganglia in the kamic centers, such as the liver, stomach, and spleen, though the central ganglia of this nervous system are situated in the base of the skull. The brain, and with it the heart, however, are likewise the organs of spiritual and intellectual powers far higher than those represented by the merely human personality working through the brain-mind; hence the higher forms of thought, supersensuous, superconscious, correlate with the cerebral and cardiac centers.

The body in general and the brain in particular are compact of finer and grosser elements, the former responsive only to the breath of divine wisdom, out of reach of the winds from the passion-laden lower mind, whose function is to act on and arouse the grosser elements of the nervous system.

The brain, therefore, is a kind of reflector of thought-currents and emotional tides which arise in the kamic centers of the inner self, and are distributed through the nervous ganglia in the skull to the physical kamic reflection centers in the trunk. Thus we scarcely use at all the brain itself in the true sense, or at any rate only in its lowest aspects or functions; and it is only in rare moments that the brain tissues are suffused with the glory emanating directly from the higher nature and working through the pineal and pituitary glands in the skull and through the secret center in the heart.

(See also: Brain-mind, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Principalities The seventh order of angels in the celestial hierarchy of the pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. This hierarchy is recognized in the New Testament: "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God" (Rom 8:38-9).

Principality here translates the Greek arche (beginning, first principle, province ruled over, ruler, and rule in the abstract); the Latin version gives principatus (beginning, sovereignty). The allusion is to recognized names in the Gnostic hierarchical systems of aeons or emanations. "From Mind proceeded the word, Logos, from the word, Providence [Divine Light, rather], then from it Virtue and Wisdom in Principalities, Power, Angels, etc." (Basilidean teaching). All these various denizens of the sidereal world are copies of archaic prototypes.

In a passage relating to the ancient Syrian scheme of hierarchies, the lowest or sublunary world -- Earth -- is ruled by Angels; the sphere of Mercury by Archangels; that of Venus by Principalities; that of the Sun by solar gods termed Powers; that of Mars by Virtues; Jupiter, Dominions; Saturn, Thrones.

The ninefold hierarchy divided into three triads, as given by Dionysius the Areopagite, is but a Christianized copy of ancient occult teaching taken over from Neoplatonic and Neopythagorean thought so widely current in the countries around the Mediterranean around the beginning of the Christian era and for some centuries afterwards.

The ancient wisdom, from which all these various systems of thought originally sprang, likewise has its system of hierarchies which falls naturally into a similar range of nine, ten, or even twelve grades or divisions of cosmic power and substance. These different classes of celestial or angelic beings are the various grades of entities which infill and indeed make our solar system, and to which theosophy gives other titles than those used by Dionysius.

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

Death, Dead People, Death and Dying, Dying

• To dream of seeing any of your people dead, warns you of coming dissolution or sorrow. Disappointments always follow dreams of this nature.
• To hear of any friend or relative being dead, you will soon have bad news from some of them.
• Dreams relating to death or dying, unless they are due to spiritual causes, are misleading and very confusing to the novice in dream lore when he attempts to interpret them. A man who thinks intensely fills his aura with thought or subjective images active with the passions that gave them birth; by thinking and acting on other lines, he may supplant these images with others possessed of a different form and nature. In his dreams he may see these images dying, dead or their burial, and mistake them for friends or enemies. In this way he may, while asleep, see himself or a relative die, when in reality he has been warned that some good thought or deed is to be supplanted by an evil one. To illustrate: If it is a dear friend or relative whom he sees in the agony of death, he is warned against immoral or other improper thought and action, but if it is an enemy or some repulsive object dismantled in death, he may overcome his evil ways and thus give himself or friends cause for joy. Often the end or beginning of suspense or trials are foretold by dreams of this nature. They also frequently occur when the dreamer is controlled by imaginary states of evil or good. A man in that state is not himself, but is what the dominating influences make him. He may be warned of approaching conditions or his extrication from the same. In our dreams we are closer to our real self than in waking life. The hideous or pleasing incidents seen and heard about us in our dreams are all of our own making, they reflect the true state of our soul and body, and we cannot flee from them unless we drive them out of our being by the use of good thoughts and deeds, by the power of the spirit within us.
• [53] See Meaning of Dreams about Corpse.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

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

Talisman [from Arab from Greek telesma completion, initiation, incantation]

A charm made by engraving, for instance, the seal or sigil of a certain planet on a disc of metal corresponding to that planet, the operation being done at a time when the influence of that planet is strong. This, being worn, secured the help or influence of the genius of the planet, and is thought to be protective against one or another evil influence. The application extends beyond the planets, and an indefinite number of signs might be used to propitiate or protect against various genii, evil or good.

Such symbols as the cross, the swastika, and the serpent may serve as talismans, for a true symbol is more than a mere arbitrary sign and actually plays its part in the evocation of certain influences -- but only when intense faith is conjoined in the production of magical effects. Talismans are utterly useless and foolish unless intense faith operates because all such talismanic emblems depend for their efficacy upon the faith of the possessor of them. When a person believes beyond any shadow of doubt and is thoroughly worked up in such conviction, his will power through such faith when concentrated upon a talisman or similar object can actually bring about the functioning of a potent creative power. This is the root of all genuinely magical operations; but the true magician has no need for such exoteric paraphernalia or adventitious aids. He produces his effects through the sole power of his will combined with his wide knowledge of nature and natural laws.

(See also: Talisman, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Ahura-Mazda (Avestan) Aura-Mazda (Old Persian) Auhr-Mazd (Pahlavi) Hormazd, Hormoz, Ormazd, Ormuzd (Persian) (from Avestan ahura lord of life from the verbal root ahu conscious life + mazda the creator of mind, remembering, bearing in mind from the verbal root man to think + da the creator, bestower; cf Pahlavi dehesh creation)

The lord of life and creator of mind; the immutable light, the uncreated supreme deity of the Mazdean system. Pythagoras said that "the Iranian Magis consider Ahura Mazda a being whose body is of light and his soul is of truth." He is referred to as the maker of the material world and father of the six Amesha-Spentas. In later Persian literature similar descriptions of the supreme creator have been given. Ferdowsi refers to him as the lord of jan (consciousness) and kherad (intellect).

Regarding the dualistic cosmic system of the Zoroastrians -- good and evil -- Blavatsky comments: "No more philosophically profound, no grander or more graphic and suggestive type exists among the allegories of the World-religions than that of the two Brother-Powers of the Mazdean religion, called Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu, better known in their modernized form of Ormuzd and Ahriman. Of these two emanations, 'Sons of Boundless Time' -- Zeruana-Akrana -- itself issued from the Supreme and Unknowable Principle, the one is the embodiment of 'Good Thought' (Vohu-Mano), the other of 'Evil Thought' (Ako-Mano). The 'King of Light' or Ahura Mazda, emanates from Primordial Light and forms or creates by means of the 'Word,' Honover (Ahuna-Vairya), a pure and holy world. But Angra Mainyu, though born as pure as his elder brother, becomes jealous of him, and mars everything in the Universe, as on the earth, creating Sin and Evil wherever he goes.

"The two Powers are inseparable on our present plane and at this stage of evolution, and would be meaningless, one without the other. They are, therefore, the two opposite poles of the One Manifested Creative Power, whether the latter is viewed as a Universal Cosmic Force which builds worlds, or under its anthropomorphic aspect, when its vehicle is thinking man" (BCW 13:123-4).

Because Maz or Mez in the word Mazda can also be another way of pronouncing myth, Mazda can mean that which is created by Mez, by the hidden truth. Then Ahura-Mazda would mean the life-bearer who is created by the hidden truth.

(See also: Ahura-Mazda, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)