Qur'an Koran

(Arabic, "recital") The Qur'an, or Koran, is the Sacred Scripture of Islam. Muslims claim it to be the actual words of God, spoken to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel, between c. 610 and his death (632). T

he text contains 114 chapters (suras), arranged-except for the opening sura-approximately according to length, beginning with the longer chapters. It is generally believed that the standard text of the Koran, adopted during the reign of the caliph Uthman (644-56), is based on the compilation of one of Muhammad's secretaries, Zayd Ibn Thalbit.

(See also: Qur'an Koran , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Sivajnanabodham: (Sanskrit) "Treatise on Siva Wisdom."

A work authored (or, some believe, a portion of the Raurava Agama translated into Tamil) by Meykandar, ca 1300, consisting of 12 sutras describing the relationship between God, soul and world. The Meykandar Sampradaya revere it as their primary philosophical text, and consider it a pluralistic exposition. For others, it is monistic in character, the pluralistic interpretation being introduced by later commentators. Included in this important text is an acute commentary on each of the 12 sutras.

See: Meykandar Shastras.

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

Literary Criticism

The discipline that seeks to discover the underlying literary sources, stylistic features, type or genre of literature, authorship, unity, and date of a text, for their value in interpreting the text's meaning in its original historical context.

The application of literary criticism to the Bible is very constructive, although the Jesus cult generally regards it as Satanic because it tends to undermine their doctrines.

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

Bhagavad Gita: "The Song of God." The sacred philosophical text often called "the Hindu Bible," part of the epic Mahabharata by Vyasa; the most popular sacred text in Hinduism.

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

Book of Dyzan

An Eastern occult text used by Madame Helena P. Blavatsky as the basis for the commentaries which form the first book of the Secret Doctrine (1888). The text gives, by means of esoteric symbolism, the history of cosmic evolution.

(See also: Book of Dyzan , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Khuddaka-patha (Pali) (from khuddaka little one + patha reading, text)

A Buddhist scripture given to neophytes upon joining the Samgha (the Buddhist brotherhood); first book in the Khuddaka-Nikaya -- a collection of short canonical Buddhist books. This brief text contains some of the most beautiful poems in Buddhist literature, and the reverential feelings evoked by reading it are unquestionably the principal reason for its use. It opens with a profession of faith in the Buddha, in the Doctrine, and in the Order.

See also GEMS, THREE PRECIOUS

(See also: Khuddaka-patha , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Chuang-Tzu (369-286 BCE): Second of the great Taoist philosophers, attributed with composing the first portion of the text titled the Chuang-Tzu; using colorful stories, the text describes the notions of the Tao, non-action, non-mind, transformation, and freedom artificial social constraints.

 (See also: Chuang-Tzu , Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Satchakra-nirupana:

"Description of six chakras" a major text of Kundalini. "The Serpent Power" by Arthur Avalon is a translation in part of this text.

(See also: Satchakra-nirupana , Kundalini, Kundalini Yoga, Kundalini Dictionary)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

Sarvajnanottara Agama: (Sanskrit) This text is not among the traditional list of Agamas and subsidiary scriptures. But it is thought to be a second version of Kalajnam, a subsidiary text of Vatula Agama. The available sections deal with right knowledge.

(See also: Sarvajnanottara Agama , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

mucusless diet: Centerpiece of Ehretism. The mucusless diet consists of all green vegetables and all fruit. In an essay titled My Mucusless Diet and Naturopathy, Ehret held that internal impurity (mucus) was the only disease, and that unusable food elements, mainly from mucus-forming foods, caused it.

Mucus-forming foods, according to one of Ehret's articles, include dairy products, eggs, fats, meat, and all starchy foods. In one of the 25 lessons that constitute the text of Mucusless Diet Healing System, Ehret, citing Genesis, called fruits and starchless greenleaf vegetables the natural food of man (see: Bentonite Clay)

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

Suttee [from Sanskrit sati faithful wife, one who burns herself on a funeral pyre, either on the same pyre as her husbands corpse or at a distance]

The practice of voluntary self-immolation by widows was prohibited by the British in India and finally abolished. When its cessation was first commanded, the Brahmins -- who were principally responsible for the continuance of this dreadful custom -- maintained that their sacred scriptures approved of the practice, but Orientalists have demonstrated that the texts so cited had been altered. "Professor Wilson was the first to point out the falsification of the text and the change of 'yonim agre' into 'yonim agneh' [womb of fire]

. . . According to the hymns of the 'Rig-Veda,' and the Vaidic ceremonial contained in the 'Grihya-Sutras,' the wife accompanies the corpse of her husband to the funeral pile, but she is there addressed with a verse taken from the 'Rig-Veda,' and ordered to leave her husband, and to return to the world of the living" (Max Muller, Chips from a German Workshop 2:35).

The original Sanskrit of the Rig-Veda, supported by the Commentaries and the ceremonials without variation of text or meaning, is: a rohantu janayo yonim agre, "the wives (or mothers, i.e., women) may first ascend to the sacred place." These words finally were misread by the Brahmins as: a rohantu janayo yonim agneh, "wives (mothers, women) may or should ascend to the sacred place of fire" i.e., womb of fire -- construed as the funeral pyre).

Suttee therefore has been confused by the West as the custom of the burning of widows itself; but the word really means the widow herself who, because of her great virtue in unfailing fidelity to her one husband, prefers to sacrifice her life on the funeral pyre rather than to live on earth alone after his death. The custom is not commanded or even approved by Vedic or other Hindu scriptural authority, but on the contrary is, indirectly if not directly, forbidden. How the custom ever arose is still obscure, but may be ascribed to a mixture of priestcraft and unreasoning sentimental and religious devotion on the part of the ignorant masses.

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

Heart Sutra

A Mahayana Buddhist scriptural text that expounds, in condensed form, the doctrine of the Perfection of Wisdom. The text is Indian in origin and achieved its greatest popularity in China and East Asia. Its best-known teaching is the claim: "Form is Emptiness, and the very Emptiness is Form. "

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

Bibliomancy: The act of divination through the use of written text. Originally associated with use of a Bible, the only literature available in many cases, may be applied to any form of text. Often, there is a strong numerology influence present in the divination procedure.

(See also: Bibliomancy , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

smriti: (Sanskrit) "That which is remembered; the tradition."

Hinduism's nonrevealed, secondary but deeply revered scriptures, derived from man's insight and experience. Smriti speaks of secular matters - science, law, history, agriculture, etc. - as well as spiritual lore, ranging from day-to-day rules and regulations to superconscious outpourings.

1)    The term smriti refers to a specific collection of ancient Sanskritic texts as follows: the six or more Vedangas, the four Upavedas, the two Itihasas, and the 18 main Puranas. Among the Vedangas, the Kalpa Vedanga defines codes of ritual in the Shrauta and Shulba Shastras, and domestic-civil laws in the Grihya and Dharma Shastras. Also included as classical smriti are the founding sutras of six ancient philosophies called shad darshana (Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta).

2)    In a general sense, smriti may refer to any text other than shruti (revealed scripture) that is revered as scripture within a particular sect. From the vast body of sacred literature, shastra, each sect and school claims its own preferred texts as secondary scripture, e.g., the Ramayana of Vaishnavism and Smartism, or the Tirumurai of Saiva Siddhanta. Thus, the selection of smriti varies widely from one sect and lineage to another.

See: Mahabharata, Ramayana, Tirumurai.

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

Gita:

Gita: song; conventionally refers to the  renowned sacred text "Bhagavad Gita"; a philosophical  text.

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

samhitha:

samhitha. Collection of methodically arranged verses or text; continuous text of the Vedas as formed out of the separate words by proper phonetic changes.

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

Purana

"Literally "ancient"; any one of eighteen sacred books of Hinduism, attributed to Vyasa, which elaborate and popularize the spiritual truths of the Vedas by means of illustrations from the lives of divine incarnations, saints, kings, and devotees, whether historical or mythological.

Bhagavata Purana

It is the fifth purana in length but is the most popular and influencial among the puranas. It is primarily a vaishnava text and is later to and influenced by the Visnupurana. As the name indicates, it describes some of the incarnations of Visnu and particularly that of Krsna. It is a marvellous bhakti work and includes the story of bhagavathas or devotees of the Lord.

"The metaphysical and spiritual legacy of the Vedas and the upanishads is ably synthesized with the agamic tradition of the pancaratras and embraced even non-aryan tribes in its fold."

-- G V Tagare, Ancient Indian Traditions and Mythology, Vol. 7

Devi Mahatmyam

Otherwise known as the Durgasaptasati or the Candi, this is a sacred text to the Divine Mother used for chanting.

(See also: Purana , Hinduism, Vedic Scriptures, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

Hatha Yoga Pradipika: (Sanskrit) "Light on hatha yoga."

A 14th-century text of 389 verses by Svatmarama Yogin which describes the philosophy and practices of hatha yoga. It is widely used in yoga schools today.

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

Saiva Agamas: (Sanskrit) The sectarian revealed scriptures of the Saivas. Strongly theistic, they identify Siva as the Supreme Lord, immanent and transcendent. They are in two main divisions: the 64 Kashmir Saiva Agamas and the 28 Saiva Siddhanta Agamas. The latter group are the fundamental sectarian scriptures of Saiva Siddhanta. Of these, ten are of the Sivabheda division and are considered dualistic: 1) Kamika, 2) Yogaja, 3) Chintya, 4) Karana, 5) Ajita, 6) Dipta, 7) Sukshma, 8) Sahasraka, 9) Amshumat and 10) Suprabheda.

There are 18 in the Rudrabheda group, classed as dual-nondual: 11) Vijaya, 12) Nihshvasa, 13) Svayambhuva, 14) Anala, 15) Vira (Bhadra), 16) Raurava, 17) Makuta, 18) Vimala, 19) Chandrajnana (or Chandrahasa), 20) Mukhabimba (or Bimba), 21) Prodgita (or Udgita), 22) Lalita, 23) Siddha, 24) Santana, 25) Sarvokta (Narasimha), 26) Parameshvara, 27) Kirana and 28) Vatula (or Parahita).

Rishi Tirumular, in his Tirumantiram, refers to 28 Agamas and mentions nine by name. Eight of these - Karana, Kamika, Vira, Chintya, Vatula, Vimala, Suprabheda and Makuta - are in the above list of 28 furnished by the French Institute of Indology, Pondicherry. The ninth, Kalottara, is presently regarded as an Upagama, or secondary text, of Vatula. The Kamika is the Agama most widely followed in Tamil Saiva temples, because of the availability of Aghorasiva's manual-commentary (paddhati) on it. Vira Saivites especially refer to the Vatula and Vira Agamas.

The Saiva Agama scriptures, above all else, are the connecting strand through all the schools of Saivism. The Agamas themselves express that they are entirely consistent with the teachings of the Veda, that they contain the essence of the Veda, and must be studied with the same high degree of devotion.

See: Agamas, Vedas.

(See also: Saiva Agamas , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

bhashya: n (Sanskrit) "Speech, discussion." Commentary on a text.

Hindu philosophies are largely founded upon the interpretations, or bhashyas, of primary scripture. Other types of commentaries include: vritti, a brief commentary on aphorisms; tippani, like a vritti but less formal, explains difficult words or phrases; varttika, a critical study and elaboration of a bhashya; and tika or vyakhyana, an explanation of a bhashya or shastra in simpler language.

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

Arthaveda: (Sanskrit) "Science of statecraft." A class of ancient texts, also called Nitishastras, on politics, statecraft and much more, forming the Upaveda of the Rig Veda. The most important text of this group is Kautiliya's Arthashastra (ca 300 bce) which gives detailed instructions on all areas of government. It embodies the kshatriya perspective of rulership and society. See: Upaveda.

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