Reborn Dictionary

Trailokya, or Trilokya (Sanskrit). Lit., the "three regions" or worlds ; the complementary triad to the Brahmanical quaternary of worlds named Bhuvanatraya.A Buddhist profane layman will mention only three divisions of every world, while a non-initiated Brahman will maintain that there are four. The four divisions of the latter are purely physical and sensuous, the Trailokya of the Buddhist are purely spiritual and ethical. The Brahmanical division may be found fully described under the heading of Vyahritis, the difference being for the present sufficiently shown in the following parallel:

Brahmanical Division of the Worlds. Buddhist Division of the Regions.

1.     Bhur, earth.

2.     World of desire, Kamadhatu or Kamaloka.

3.     Bhuvah, heaven, firmament.

4.     World of form, Rupadhatu.

5.     Swar atmosphere the sky.

6.     Mahar, eternal luminous essence. }

7.     The formless world Arupadhatu.

All these are the worlds of post mortem states. For instance, Kamaloka or Kamadhatu, the region of Mara, is that which medieval and modern Kabalists call the world of astral light, and the "world of shells Kamaloka has, like every other region, its seven divisions, the lowest of which begins on earth or invisibly in its atmosphere; the six others ascend gradually, the highest being the abode of those who have died owing to accident, or suicide in a fit of temporary insanity, or were otherwise victims of external forces. It is a place where all those who have died before the end of the term allotted to them, and whose higher principles do not, therefore, go at once into Devachanic state - sleep a dreamless sweet sleep of oblivion, at the termination of which they are either reborn immediately, or pass gradually into the Devachanic state. Rupadhatu is the celestial world of form, or what we call Devachan.

With the uninitiated Brahmans, Chinese and other Buddhists, the Rupadhatu is divided into eighteen Brahma or Devalokas; the life of a soul therein lasts from half a Yuga up to 16,000 Yugas or Kalpas, and the height of the "Shades" is from half a Yojana up to 16,000 Yojanas (a Yojana measuring from five and a half to ten miles !), and such-like theological twaddle evolved from priestly brains. But the Esoteric Philosophy teaches that though for the Egos for the time being, everything or everyone preserves its form (as in a dream), yet as Rupadhatu is a purely mental region, and a state, the Egos themselves have no form outside their own consciousness. Esotericism divides this " region" into seven Dhyanas, "regions", or states of contemplation, which are not localities but mental representations of these.

Arupadhatu: this "region" is again divided into seven Dhyanas, still more abstract and formless, for this "World" is without any form or desire whatever. It is the highest region of the post mortem Trailokya; and as it is the abode of those who are almost ready for Nirvana and is, in fact, the very threshold of the Nirvanic state, it stands to reason that in Arupadhatu (or Arupavachara) there can be neither form nor sensation, nor any feeling connected with our three dimensional Universe.

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

DEVACHAN

The Land where the Gods are reborn. Life's threshold, located between the manvataras and between earth-lives. The higher realm above the astral (Skt. and Tibetan deva, "light" + chan, "dwelling place"). Madame Blavatsky, in writing of the realm of Devachan and the "wheatfields of Aanroo", is careful to point out that Manas splits here, after death, between the higher and lower minds. Only the higher mind remains. The lower, self-directed mind goes with the kama-rupa to the "Abode of Shells", or the place of the Hebrew Qlipoth. Our "I" or "atman" (with small a) rejoins that spiritual part of itself that is not incarnated, and as "Atman (large A), it proceeds on through the aionic planets. According to HPB, in Devachan we relive the totality of our past lives and re-experience our "enduring selfhood". We relive the trans-personal "I" which our labors, filtered through numberless incarnations, have made of the monadic essence which we originally introduced into form. The visualized solar system is the materialistic waste of an as-above-so-below operation. Hence all archetypes and ideas ultimately surface to the material world. Here we blueprint all the evolutions and involutions ("Not the One in many, but the oneness of the Many"). Rulers of these archetype-beings along with their human evolution make up the Dhyan-Choans, gods or "contemplative lords".

There are rare beings who sacrifice their rest, Devachan or Nirvana to remain earthbound in continual rebirth out of compassion for mankind. Animals, though their astral bodies possess some temporary survival potential, have no ego-manas, hence no Devachan. The animal monad can reincarnate only as a higher species. By the same token, HPB states (Secret Doctrine), "Eastern philosophy rejects the Western theological dogma of a newly-created soul for every baby born, as being as unphilosophical as it is impossible in the economy of nature. There must be a limited number of monads growing..."

Prior to Zoroaster and the Forth, or present, race, there was no Devachan, but only rebirth, phoenix-like out of the ashes of the previous body. Xtianity teaches the doctrine of the Old Third Race in which there is no higher Manas and the human monad does not reincarnate until the Second Coming.

In orthodox Xtianity there is no rebirth - only literal resurrection on the Day of Judgment with Christ's return (this opening of graves does not accompany the return of Zoroaster, Kalki or the Maitreya Buddha). Also, unlike the Theosophical version of the hereafter, there is no comparable split of spirit from soul in orthodox Xtianity. Reincarnation is a Gnostic or Neoplatonic heresy (Plato called this the "Realm of Ideas").

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

Pretas (Sanskrit). "Hungry demons in popular folk-lore. " Shells", of the avaricious and selfish man after death; " Elementaries" reborn as Pretas, in Kama-loka, according to the esoteric teachings;

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

Marut-jivas (Sanskrit) [from marut a class of divine beings + jiva monad]

Those monads which have been, are, or will be during long ages passing through the evolutionary stage called agnishvattas or kumaras, a direct hint of the real significance of the term marut itself. All maruts are jivas, the latter explaining characteristics and functions of the maruts.

In a more specific and limited sense, marut-jivas are the monads of adepts who have attained liberation, nirvana, or are very close to attaining it, but who wish to be reborn on earth for the sake of helping humanity. It is apparent that the nirmanakayas, as well as a large part of the sambhogakayas, therefore fall within the category of the marut-jivas.

(See also: Marut-jivas , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Yama (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root yam to subdue, control]

A curb, rein, bridle; hence the act of curbing, suppression, self-control. Especially prominent in yoga as self-restraint: it is the first of the eight angas or means of attaining mental concentration.

As a proper name, the deity who rules over the shades of the dead in the Rig-Veda, corresponding to the Greek Hades or Roman Pluto. Hence Yama is the personification of the third root-race, because these were the first to taste death -- the first self-consciously intellectual humans who died and departed after death to devachan. Hence also the ascription in Hindu mythology to Yama as the ruler of the pitris. In the Mahabharata, he is described as dressed in blood-red garments, with a glittering form, a crown on his head, glowing eyes and, like Varuna, he holds a noose with which he binds the spirit after drawing it from the body after death.

"Yama is represented as the son of Vivaswat (the Sun). He had a twin-sister named Yami, who was ever urging him, according to another hymn, to take her for his wife, in order to perpetuate the species" (TG 375-6). Yama and his twin sister is a distinct reference to the androgynous character of the human race from the middle of the third root-race forward.

The Rig-Veda "nowhere shows Yama 'as having anything to do with the punishment of the wicked.' As king and judge of the dead, a Pluto in short, Yama is a far later creation. One has to study the true character of Yama-Yami throughout more than one hymn and epic poem, and collect the various accounts scattered in dozens of ancient works, and then he will obtain a consensus of allegorical statements which will be found to corroborate and justify the Esoteric teaching, that Yama-Yami is the symbol of the dual Manas, in one of its mystical meanings.

For instance, Yama-Yami is always represented of a green colour and clothed with red, and as dwelling in a palace of copper and iron. Students of Occultism know to which of the human 'principles' the green and the red colours, and by correspondence the iron and copper, are to be applied. The 'twofold-ruler' -- the epithet of Yama-Yami -- is regarded in the exoteric teachings of the Chino-Buddhists as both judge and criminal, the restrainer of his own evil doings and the evil-doer himself. In the Hindu epic poems Yama-Yami is the twin-child of the Sun (the deity) by Sanjna (spiritual consciousness); but while Yama is the Aryan 'lord of the day,' appearing as the symbol of spirit in the East, Yami is the queen of the night (darkness, ignorance) 'who opens to mortals the path to the West' -- the emblem of evil and matter. In the Puranas Yama has many wives (many Yamis) who force him to dwell in the lower world (Patala, Myalba, etc., etc.); and an allegory represents him with his foot lifted, to kick Chhaya, the handmaiden of his father (the astral body of his mother, Sanjna, a metaphysical aspect of Buddhi or Alaya).

As stated in the Hindu Scriptures, a soul when it quits its mortal frame, repairs to its abode in the lower regions (Kamaloka or Hades). Once there, the Recorder, the Karmic messenger called Chitragupta (hidden or concealed brightness), reads out his account from the Great Register, wherein during the life of the human being, every deed and thought are indelibly impressed -- and, according to the sentence pronounced, the 'soul' either ascends to the abode of the Pitris (Devachan), descends to a 'hell' (Kamaloka), or is reborn on earth in another human form" (TG 376).

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

sugati (sugati): Happy destinations; the two higher levels of existence into which one might be reborn as a result of past skillful actions (see kamma): rebirth in the human world or in the heavens (See sagga). None of these states is permanent. Compare apaya-bhumi.

 (See also: Sugati , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Vasishtha

A great sage, one of the mind-born sons of Brahma, reborn in a later age as a son of Mitra and Varuna. He served as priest for Lord Ramachandra, Indra, Vaivasvata Manu, Ambarisha, Harishchandra, Yudhishthira, and others.

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

Tushita (Sanskrit). A class of gods of great purity in the Hindu Pantheon. In exoteric or popular Northern Buddhism, it is a Deva-loka, a celestial region on the material plane, where all the Bodhisattvas are reborn, before they descend on this earth as future Buddhas.

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

SAMHAIN: This is the Sabbat celebrated at what is now called Halloween, October 31. The Wiccan New Year. It marks the 'death' of the Sun God into Summerland (Land of the Young), where He awaits His Rebirth. Samhain marked the beginning of winter for the Celts and was also their New Years Day.  As Wiccans bid the God a temporary farewell, they reflect at this time, over the past year. It is a day to honor the Crone Goddess and the dying God who will be reborn at Yule. Samhain also marks the end of the harvest season. Pronounced: SOW wen, SEW wen, SAHM hain, SAHM ain, SAV een. Also called: Nov. Eve, Hallowmas, Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, Feast of Soul's, Feast of the Dead, Feast of Apples. November Eve Witch Sabbat. Also see NOSWYL CALAN GAEF.

(See also: SAMHAIN , Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Hoddmimir's Holt (Icelandic) (from hodd treasury + Mimir, Mimer a giant, the root of matter + holt grove)

In Norse myths the sacred grove where is guarded the treasury that is being sought by the gods in matter during manifestation. In that grove Lif and Lifthrasir, the immortal principles in humanity, are secreted when the world has ended its lifetime and before it is reborn.

(See also: Hod, hodh , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

sotapanna (sotaapanna): Stream winner. A person who has abandoned the first three of the fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth (see samyojana) and has thus entered the "stream" flowing inexorably to nibbana, ensuring that one will be reborn at most only seven more times, and only into human or higher realms.

 (See also: Sotapanna , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Reincarnation:

The belief that some aspect of a person's being (e.g., consciousness, personality, or soul) survives death and can be reborn in a new body at some future date. Reincarnation is often seen as a repeating cycle of death and rebirth in which future lives are influenced by past and present actions through the law of karma.

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

Enoch, Onech hanoch (Hebrew) Initiation or initiated; hence also hierophant. In the Bible (Genesis 4, 5), "there are three distinct Enochs -- the son of Cain, the son of Seth, and the son of Jared; but they are all identical, and two of them are mentioned for the purposes of misleading. The years of only the last two are given, the first one being left without further notice." He is the great grandfather of Noah, and stands for the first subrace of the fifth root-race (BCW 14:86&n).

The prophet Enoch, supposed to have been an antediluvian, was the inventor of learning, letters, and the founder of initiatory rites. Among the Arabs Enoch is commonly called Idris, meaning the wise or learned. Again, "The Kerkes and the Onech stand for a race cycle, and the mystical tree Ababel -- the 'Father Tree' in the Kuran -- shoots out new branches and vegetation at every resurrection of the Kerkes or Phoenix" (SD 2:617). The connection with the phoenix is purely mystical, because just as the phoenix is said to be reborn from its own ashes, thus bringing about a new cycle, so the neophyte during initiation is said to be reborn from the "ashes" of his past self.

(See also: Enoch, Onech, hanoch , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Scarabeus, In Egypt, the symbol of resurrection, and also of rebirth; of resurrection for the mummy or rather of the highest aspects of the personality which animated it, and of rebirth for the Ego, the "spiritual body" of the lower, human Soul.

Egyptologists give us but half of the truth, when in speculating upon the meaning of certain inscriptions, they say, "the justified soul, once arrived at a certain period of its peregrinations (simply at the death of the physical body) should be united to its body (i.e., the Ego) never more to be separated from it ". (Rougé.) What is this so-called body? Can it be the mummy? Certainly not, for the emptied mummified corpse can never resurrect. It can only be the eternal, spiritual vestment, the EGO that never dies but gives immortality to whatsoever becomes united with it.

"The delivered Intelligence (which) retakes its luminous envelope and (re)becomes Da?mon ", as Prof. Maspero says, is the spiritual Ego; the personal Ego or Kama Manas, its direct ray, or the lower soul, is that which aspires to become Osirified, i.e., to unite itself with its "god "; and that portion of it which will succeed in so doing, will never more be separated from it (the god), not even when the latter incarnates again and again, descending periodically on earth in its pilgrimage, in search of further experiences and following the decrees of Karma. Khem, "the sower of seed ", is shown on a stele in a picture of Resurrection after physical death, as the creator and the sower of the grain of corn, which, after corruption, springs up afresh each time into a new ear, on which a scarab beetle is seen poised; and Deveria shows very justly that "Ptah is the inert, material form of Osiris, who will become Sokari (the eternal Ego) to be reborn, and afterwards be Harmachus ", or Horus in his transformation, the risen god.

The prayer so often found in the tumular inscriptions, "the wish for the resurrection in one’s living soul" or the Higher Ego, has ever a scarabeus at the end, standing for the personal soul. The scarabeus is the most honoured, as the most frequent and familiar, of all Egyptian symbols. No mummy is without several of them; the favourite ornament on engravings, house hold furniture and utensils is this sacred beetle, and Pierret pertinently shows in his Livre des Morts that the secret meaning of this hieroglyph is sufficiently explained in that the Egyptian name for the scarabeus Kheper signifies to be, to become, to build again.

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

Huitzilopochtli Aztec war god, most important of the gods of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) and in all Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest. He accompanied the Aztecs in their wanderings.

"He was believed to be the sun, the young warrior who was born each day, who won a victory over the stars of nights, and who was then carried to the zenith by the souls of dead warriors where he was taken over by the souls of all women who had died in childbirth, to be taken to the west where he fell and died, again to be reborn in the morning" (Funk & Wag Dictionary of Folklore 510). To feed this god, the Aztecs instituted human sacrifice.

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

videhamukti: (Sanskrit) "Disembodied liberation."

Release from reincarnation through nirvikalpa samadhi - the realization of the Self, Parasiva - at the point of death. Blessed are those who are aware that departure, mahasamadhi, is drawing near. They settle all affairs, make amends and intensify personal sadhana. They seek the silver channel of sushumna which guides kundalini through the door of Brahman into the beyond of the beyond. They seek total renunciation as the day of transition looms strongly in their consciousness. Those who know that Lord Yama is ready to receive them, seek to merge with Siva. They seek nirvikalpa samadhi as the body and earthly life fall away.

Those who succeed are the videhamuktas, honored as among those who will never be reborn. Hindu tradition allows for vows of renunciation, called atura sannyasa diksha, to be taken and the orange robe donned by the worthy sadhaka or householder in the days prior to death.

See: jivanmukti, kaivalya, moksha, Parasiva, Self Realization.

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

Avitchi (Sanskrit) A state: not necessarily after death only or between two births, for it can take place on earth as well. Lit., "uninterrupted hell". The last of the eight hells, we are told, "where the culprits die and are reborn without interruption - yet not without hope of final redemption. This is because Avitchi is another name for Myalba (our earth) and also a state to which some soulless men are condemned on this physical plane.

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

Kneph (Egypt, Egyptian). Also Cneph and Nef, endowed with the same attributes as Khem. One of the gods of creative Force, for he is connected with the Mundane Egg. He is called by Porphyry "the creator of the world"; by Plutarch the "unmade and eternal deity"; by Eusebius he is identified with the Logos; and Jamblichus goes so far as almost to identify him with Brahma since he says of him that "this god is intellect itself, intellectually perceiving itself, and consecrating intellections to itself; and is to be worshipped in silence".

One form of him, adds Mr. Bonwick "was Av meaning flesh. He was criocephalus, with a solar disk on his head, and standing on the serpent Mehen. In his left hand was a viper, and a cross was in his right. He was actively engaged in the underworld upon a mission of creation." Deveria writes: "His journey to the lower hemisphere appears to symbolise the evolutions of substances which are born to die and to be reborn". Thousands of years before Kardec, Swedenborg, and Darwin appeared, the old Egyptians entertained their several philosophies. (Eg. Belief and Mod. Thought.)

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

Lotus Sect

A Buddhist sect founded by the great Master Hui Yuan about 390 A.D. at his monastery on Mount Lu in Kiangsi Province in China.

The Lotus Sect believes in and honors Amitabha Buddha and declares that, through the chanting of his name and by purifying and finally ridding oneself of desire, one can be reborn in the Pure Land. There one is born of a lotus, and, depending on one's degree of purification and practice, one is born into one of the nine grades of the lotus: upper superior, middle superior, lower superior, etc.

 (See also: Lotus Sect , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Horus (Latin) Heru (Egyptian) (from heru above)

Egyptian deity associated with the sun god Ra, equivalent in certain respects to Apollo of the Greeks and, similarly, a slayer of a serpent. Originally two distinct deities were recognized: Heru-ur (Aroeris or Haroiri, Horus the Elder) and Heru-pa-khart (Harpocrates, Horus the Younger or Horus the Child). The older Horus was represented as the winged globe or solar disk, while the younger Horus represented the sun reborn each morning from the waters, carried on the lotus flower.

But in later times the characteristics of the two were merged into one, and a further change was made from an original self-born deity to the mythological aspect of a holy child found in the triad Osiris-Isis-Horus -- Father-Mother-Son. Thus the representations of Isis suckling the babe Horus are numerous. Each aspect of this god was represented in a different manner, yet all portrayed the deity as hawk-headed: the hieroglyph for Horus is a hawk.

Horus is helper to the dead in the Book of the Dead, where he is shown as presenting the justified pilgrim to Osiris, pleading in his behalf, so that the former may enter the regions of the glorified. In the Pyramid Texts, Horus and Set are portrayed as setting the ladder so that the deceased may proceed on his journey, Horus helping the pilgrim to mount the ladder into the other regions.

"If we bear in mind the definition of the chief Egyptian gods by Plutarch, these myths will become more comprehensible; as he well says: 'Osiris represents the beginning and principle; Isis, that which receives; and Horus, the compound of both. Horus engendered between them, is not eternal nor incorruptible, but, being always in generation, he endeavours by vicissitudes of imitations, and by periodical passion (suffering)

(yearly re-awakening to life) to continue always young, as if he should never die.' Thus, since Horus is the personified physical world, Aroueris, or the 'elder Horus' is the ideal Universe; and this accounts for the saying that 'he was begotten by Osiris and Isis when these were still in the bosom of their mother' -- Space" (TG 31).

And further:

"the older Horus was the Idea of the world remaining in the demiurgic mind 'born in Darkness before the creation of the world'; the second Horus was the same Idea going forth from the Logos, becoming clothed with matter and assuming an actual existence" (SD 1:366).

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

Hiranyakasipu (Sanskrit) (from hiranya golden + kasipu clothing, vesture)

Golden clothing; one of the most celebrated of the Hindu titans or daityas, son of the sage Kasyapa and Diti. As related in the Mahabharata, he obtained the favor of Brahma and was granted sovereignty of the three worlds for a million years. He became all-powerful because he could not be slain either by god, man, or animal. But his power was used evilly, so that he became notorious for his impiety. He persecuted his son Prahlada for worshiping Vishnu until once, when Prahlada was engaged in his observances, Vishnu during his fourth avataric incarnation appeared out of a pillar in the form of Narasimha (half man, half lion) and tore Hiranyakasipu to pieces.

Hiranyakasipu, after being slain by the Narasimha-avatara was born as Ravana, who in turn was slain by Rama (another avatara of Vishnu); after which he is reborn as Sisupala, who was slain by Krishna (the latest avatara of Vishnu).

"This parallel evolution of Vishnu (spirit) with a Daitya, as men, . . . gives us the key not only to the respective dates of Rama and Krishna but even to a certain psychological mystery" (SD 2:225).

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

Ragnarok (Icelandic) [from ragna plural of regin ruler + rok sentence, judgment, reason, ground, origin]

In Norse mythology, the time when the ruling powers (gods) return to their ground, are reabsorbed in their divine origin. The judgment is their evaluation of the life that has just been completed. Ragnarok has commonly been called the twilight of the gods, probably because of confusion with rokkr (twilight). It has also been interpreted as they age of fire and smoke, because in Swedish rok means smoke. However, in Icelandic it has a more sacred meaning referring to wonders and signs, and the departure of the gods to their home ground, the source of their being.

On the cosmic scale Ragnarok brings to a close a universal cycle of activity. When a world dies the god Heimdal, guardian of the rainbow bridge between the realms of the gods and Midgard, domain of humanity, blows the Gjallarhorn, summoning the gods of life to the final battle against the forces of destruction. Lesser judgments take place when single world systems reach their term, as recorded in the "Lay of Odin's Corpse" (Odins Korpgalder), which deals with a death of one planet, and relates the deities' efforts to elicit from the planetary soul an accounting of its past cycle of activity.

The end of the world is vividly portrayed in the foremost poem of the Elder Edda, Voluspa, which depicts horrors presaging the departure of the gods from this sphere of life. However, this is by no means the end for it is followed by a new creation, when a reborn earth is seen arising in serene beauty and contentment.

Ragnarok has sometimes been personified as a world-destroying monster which is held in check until its proper time. Its approach is heralded by an overwhelming preponderance of evil which presages the end of the gods' reign. This is another way of depicting the withdrawal of the beneficent powers to their supernal realms, leaving matter in a condition of entropy.

Ragnarok is succeeded by the Fimbulvetr or Fimbulvinter -- the long winter of nonbeing, when nothing exists (in the relevant portion of space) for their are no energies (gods) to organize matter. At the appropriate time Heimdal will once more summon the beneficent powers with his Gjallarhorn for a new tour of duty.

(See also: Ragnarok , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)