Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages in the World. The mundane understanding of sound and language is that it is only used for communication between two or more people. But at another level, the science of sound and language is a huge field of wisdom that affect many aspects of life, not the least our spiritual wellbeing. This article explain in detail the science of sound and language and how this wisdom has been an imbedded key component of the ancient sciences of India for thousands of years. Yoga, chanting and the use of mantras are all closely connected to the conscious use of sound and language for healing and spiritual awakening.

Read more here: » Spirituality & Science: Sanskrit - a divine Language?

Read more here: » Sacred: Encyclopedia - Sacred

Pranava (Sanskrit). A sacred word, equivalent to Aum.

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

The sages who gave us the ancient Vedic mantras and hymns were evolved beings who had either attained or come very close to a state of pure consciousness. In their meditations they heard perfect words and sounds - sublime mantras, sacred wisdom arising from within. They passed this sacred wisdom on to their disciples by singing it.

In those days all the scriptures were sung, and the rishis and sages understood that chanting the sacred word was an offering to God for the well-being of the earth and all its creatures. They knew that the human voice chanting sacred mantras has healing power and that these pure sounds actually replenish the universe, create harmony, and keep the universe healthy.

(See also: Chanting, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

"Sacrifice" is a word that has many unpleasant connotations for people, especially in the workplace. When a manager says, "We have to make some sacrifices around here," it usually means giving something up, or doing without something, either of which would make things more difficult.

But there's an entirely different way to look at sacrifice, from a spiritual point of view. From its Latin roots, the word sacrifice actually means "to make sacred." Following the chain of original meanings, sacred means "holy," holy means "whole," and whole means "healthy." Thus, sacrifice is anything that takes a situation and makes it sacred, holy, whole and healthy.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

The Vedic concept of Saraswati was three-fold: First, she is like the sacred river which gave birth to the Aryan civilisation. Second, she was vak or speech personified, as expressed in the Rig Veda’s Vak Sukta . 'Speech’ basically refers to the sacred-word or the Vedas themselves.

The third and most important aspect is Saraswati’s identification with Gayatri, although the Gayatri mantra is worship of the Sun-god, Suryanarayana. The Sun-god symbolises three female deities: Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati, to be invoked in the morning, noon and evening respectively.

(See also: Saraswati, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

March 21 - Vernal Equinox - Lady Day

As Spring reaches its midpoint, night and day stand in perfect balance, with light on the increase. The young Sun God now celebrates a hierogamy (sacred marriage) with the young Maiden Goddess, who conceives. In nine months, she will again become the Great Mother. It is a time of great fertility, new growth, and newborn animals. The next full moon (a time of increased births) is called the 'Ostara' and is sacred to Eostre, Saxon lunar goddess of fertility (from whence we get the word 'eostrogen'), whose two symbols were the egg and the rabbit. The Christian religion adopted these emblems for 'Easter', celebrated the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The theme of the conception of the Goddess was adapted as the 'Feast of the Annunciation', occuring on the alternative fixed calendar date of March 25 ('Old Lady Day'), the earlier date of the equinox. 'Lady Day' may also refer to other goddesses (such as Venus and Aphrodite), many of whom has festivals celebrated at this time. (The name 'Ostara' is incorrectly assigned to this holiday by some modern traditions of Wicca.)

Read more here: » Wiccan Holidays: March 21 - Vernal Equinox - Lady Day

Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their sacred texts (or scriptures) are the "Word of God", often feeling that the texts are wholly divine or spiritually inspired in origin. Even non-believers often capitalize the names of sacred scriptures as a mark of respect or tradition. Although ancient civilizations have produced handmade texts for thousands of years, the first printed scripture for wide distribution to the masses was The Diamond Sutra, ...

Including:

• Sacred text - Texts
• Sacred text - Views

Read more here: » Sacred text: Encyclopedia - Sacred text

The practice of Christian meditation dates back to the beginning of Christianity; its objective is to daily 'empty the self' to experience the fullness of God. It is consonant with Jesus's invitation to his disciples to take up their cross daily and follow him. It is central to Easter celebrations, 'dying' to rise to a New Life.

The way of meditation is the way of silence. Silencing the ceaseless chatter of a mind buzzing with thoughts is not easy. The way to silence is the way of the mantra. Choosing a sacred word and repeating it from the beginning to the end of the period of meditation forms part of the essential teaching of Christian meditation. It is advisable to choose a word of four syllables and pronounce them with equal length. The recommended word in the Christian Tradition is Ma-ra-na-tha. In Aramaic, the language of Jesus's time, it means 'The Lord comes'.

(See also: Christian Meditation, Indian Festivals, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

The word Om and similar words have these meanings:- Aum, a sacred bijakshara (syllable) of Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism; also relevant in Buddhism. Om Records, a San Francisco-based dance music record label. Om, Romanian word for "man". Omu Peak (2507 m) in the Bucegi Mountains. Om River, a river in Russia. Om, a fictional deity in the Discworld universe. Oom, Dutch for "uncle"; this word is found in some names. ohm, a unit of electrical resis

Read more here: » Om: Encyclopedia - Om

See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town The Avesta is a collection of the sacred texts of ancient Persia belonging to the Zoroastrian religion. They are preserved in two languages: the more ancient, in the Avestan language, the oldest attested Iranian language still very closely related to Sanskrit; the younger texts in Pahlavi, a Middle Iranian language. When translated into Pahlavi, the Avestan language was largely forgotten, and literal translations of some places (word-by-word translation of a sacr ...

Including:

• Avesta - History

Read more here: » Avesta: Encyclopedia - Avesta

Homily - In the Roman Catholic Church. A homily is usually given during Mass at the end of the Liturgy of the Word. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) states: 29. When the Sacred Scriptures are read in the Church, God himself speaks to his people, and Christ, present in his own word, proclaims the Gospel. Therefore, all must listen with reverence to the readings from God’s word, for they make up an element of greatest importance in the Liturgy. Although in the readings ...

Including:

• Homily - In the Roman Catholic Church
• Homily - Other senses of homily

Read more here: » Homily: Encyclopedia - Homily

Yod can refer to: Yodh, the tenth letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Hebrew, and Aramaic. The "y-sound" in English (or the equivalent such as "j" in German) as found in the article titled Yod-dropping. The hebrew word for "hand" which is commonly used to describe a silver pointing device to help read sacred texts without touching the page to keep place. Cold

Read more here: » Yod: Encyclopedia - Yod

The Lankavatara Sutra is one of the most important sutras (sacred texts) of Mahayana Buddhism. According to tradition, these are the actual words of the Buddha as he entered Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon). This sutra figured prominently in the development of Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism. It is the cornerstone of Chinese Chan and its Japanese version, Zen, and was translated from Sanskrit into Japanese and English ...

Read more here: » Lankavatara Sutra: Encyclopedia - Lankavatara Sutra

The following are three statement/definitions of the word 'cosmos' along with the author and url - 1. Kosmo (where we get our word cosmic from. In Greek it stands for the world keeping in view the realms above, or the heavens) (c) Copyright 2000 Rev. Bill Versteeg. From ‘TEARING DOWN SPIRITUAL STRONGHOLDS III: CHRIST'S COSMIC CONQUEST.’ [1] 2. In metaphysics, 'cosmic' refers to something which involves the individual's higher state of being or the relationship between the individual and the sacred or m ...

Read more here: » Cosmic: Encyclopedia - Cosmic

The word temple has different meanings in the fields of architecture, religion, geography, anatomy, and education. The word is derived from the both more and less specific Latin word templum ("sacred place") - see Roman temple. Temple - Religion. A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites (as in masonry). It is a general term for house of worship. Some religions use this term: Hinduism Bu ...

Including:

• Temple - Religion
• Temple - Architecture
• Temple - List of religious temples

Read more here: » Temple: Encyclopedia - Temple

Brahmachari is a sacred word in India. A Brahmachari literally means a person who singlemindedly follows the path to reach the eternal Brahman. While people in India commonly use the word to mean bachelor, a Brahmachari traditionally referred to a disciplined young man in the priest caste who has taken oaths to refrain from any kind of physical pleasure (traditionally sex, partaking of meat, intoxicating substances, and gambling) that are perceived to distract the Brahmachari from attai ...

Read more here: » Brahmachari: Encyclopedia - Brahmachari

Bethel is a Semitic word that aquired various meanings Bethel - Semitic root. A Semitic (Phoenician?) word meaning 'sacred stone/pillar" was the etymological root of the Greek Baetylus For traditions of other such stones named Bethel and a god named Bethel see also Bethel (god). Bethel - Hebrew. In this Semitic language of the Jewish people, bethel means "House of El") Bethel - Bible. B ...

Including:

• Bethel - Semitic root
• Bethel - Hebrew
• Bethel - Bible
• Bethel - Geographical names
• Bethel - United States
• Bethel - Canada
• Bethel - South Africa
• Bethel - Sources and References

Read more here: » Bethel: Encyclopedia - Bethel

Hieroglyphs are a system of writing used by the Ancient Egyptians, using a combination of logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic elements. Egyptian hieroglyph - Etymology. The word hieroglyph comes from the Greek ἱερογλύφος (hieroglúphos), from hiero- (ἱερός), meaning "sacred", and glyph (γλύφειν), meaning "carving". The Egyptian phrase for hieroglyphs is transliterated as mdw nṯr [often transcribed medu netjer; lit. "words of god"]. < ...

Including:

• Egyptian hieroglyph - Etymology
• Egyptian hieroglyph - History and evolution
• Egyptian hieroglyph - Script
• Egyptian hieroglyph - Uniliteral signs
• Egyptian hieroglyph - Examples

Read more here: » Egyptian hieroglyph: Encyclopedia - Egyptian hieroglyph

Numina ("presence", singular numen) is a Latin term for deity and conveys the sense of immanence, of the sacred spirit that informs places and objects in Roman religion. The multiplication of names for Italic gods may obscure this sense of numinous presence in all the mundane actions of the natural world. The word numen is also used by sociologists to refer to the idea of magical power residing in an object, particular when writing about ideas in the western tradition. When used in this sense, num ...

Including:

• Numina - External link

Read more here: » Numina: Encyclopedia - Numina