Theory Dictionary

Attavada (Pali) (from attan self (Sanskrit atman) + vada theory, disputation from the verbal root vad to speak)

Atmavada (Sanskrit) The theory of a persistent soul. A study of Buddhist sutras or suttas shows that Gautama Buddha intended the term to convey the meaning of the heresy of separateness, the belief that one's self or soul is different and apart from the one universal self, Brahman.

Its importance in philosophy and mystical thought, and its genuine Buddhist significance, lies in the fact that Buddhism does not deny the existence of a soul, but strongly emphasizes the fact that no such soul is either a special creation or in its essence different from and other than the cosmic self.

Hence the meaning of the heresy of separateness, because those who hold this view are under the constant false impression that in themselves they are different from, and other than, the universe in which they live, move, and have all their being.

In The Mahatma Letters attavada is termed "the doctrine of Self," and with sakkayaditthi leads "to the maya of heresy and belief in the efficacy of vain rites and ceremonies; in prayers and intercession" (ML 111).

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

Hippocrates health program (Hippocrates program): Variation of Nature Cure developed by wholistic health educator Dr. Ann Wigmore (1904-1994), author of Be Your Own Doctor, The Healing Power Within, The Hippocrates Diet and Health Program, Hippocrates Live Food Program, Recipes for Longer Life, The Sprouting Book, The Wheatgrass Book, and Why Suffer?. Wigmore founded the Hippocrates Health Institute in 1957.

The Hippocrates program encompasses brushing the skin, deep breathing, enemas, food combining, the Hippocrates Diet (see Living Foods Lifestyle), and exercises such as squatting. According to its theory, integration of body/mind/spirit is central to health. In Belief: All There Is (1991), Brian R. Clement, codirector of the Hippocrates Health Institute, in West Palm Beach, Florida, asserted: [B]elief can bring you anything that you desire (p. 41). He further stated that death is a sham (p. 67).

(See also: Hippocrates health program , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

A Theosophical definition of Evolution :

Evolution

As the word is used in theosophy it means the "unwrapping," "unfolding," "rolling out" of latent powers and faculties native to and inherent in the entity itself, its own essential characteristics, or more generally speaking, the powers and faculties of its own character: the Sanskrit word for this last conception is svabhava. Evolution, therefore, does not mean merely that brick is added to brick, or experience merely topped by another experience, or that variation is superadded on other variations  - not at all; for this would make of man and of other entities mere aggregates of incoherent and unwelded parts, without an essential unity or indeed any unifying principle.

In theosophy evolution means that man has in him (as indeed have all other evolving entities) everything that the cosmos has because he is an inseparable part of it. He is its child; one cannot separate man from the universe. Everything that is in the universe is in him, latent or active, and evolution is the bringing forth of what is within; and, furthermore, what we call the surrounding milieu, circumstances  - nature, to use the popular word  - is merely the field of action on and in which these inherent qualities function, upon which they act and from which they receive the corresponding reaction, which action and reaction invariably become a stimulus or spur to further manifestations of energy on the part of the evolving entity.

There are no limits in any direction where evolution can be said to begin, or where we can conceive of it as ending; for evolution in the theosophical conception is but the process followed by the centers of consciousness or monads as they pass from eternity to eternity, so to say, in a beginningless and endless course of unceasing growth.

Growth is the key to the real meaning of the theosophical teaching of evolution, for growth is but the expression in detail of the general process of the unfolding of faculty and organ, which the usual word evolution includes. The only difference between evolution and growth is that the former is a general term, and the latter is a specific and particular phase of this procedure of nature.

Evolution is one of the oldest concepts and teachings of the archaic wisdom, although in ancient days the concept was usually expressed by the word emanation. There is indeed a distinction, and an important one, to be drawn between these two words, but it is a distinction arising rather in viewpoint than in any actual fundamental difference. Emanation is a distinctly more accurate and descriptive word for theosophists to use than evolution is, but unfortunately emanation is so ill-understood in the Occident, that perforce the accepted term is used to describe the process of interior growth expanding into and manifesting itself in the varying phases of the developing entity.

Theosophists, therefore, are, strictly speaking, rather emanationists than evolutionists; and from this remark it becomes immediately obvious that the theosophist is not a Darwinist, although admitting that in certain secondary or tertiary senses and details there is a modicum of truth in Charles Darwin's theory adopted and adapted from the Frenchman Lamarck. The key to the meaning of evolution, therefore, in theosophy is the following: the core of every organic entity is a divine monad or spirit, expressing its faculties and powers through the ages in various vehicles which change by improving as the ages pass. These vehicles are not physical bodies alone, but also the interior sheaths of consciousness which together form man's entire constitution extending from the divine monad through the intermediate ranges of consciousness to the physical body. The evolving entity can become or show itself to be only what it already essentially is in itself  - therefore evolution is a bringing out or unfolding of what already preexists, active or latent, within. (See also Involution)

See also: Evolution , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

nutritional herbology: Form of herbology expounded by author and research chemist Mark Pedersen. It is part of the educational basis of Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. (NSP), a multilevel marketing organization whose headquarters are in Spanish Fork, Utah. Nutritional herbology theory encompasses the ancient Chinese theory of the Five Elements.

(See also: Nutritional herbology , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Perigenesis A dynamic theory of generation, which assumes that reproduction is effected by rhythmic vibration of the plastidules (atoms of protoplasm), according to Haeckel, who adopted the dynamic theory from E. D. Cope, author of Origin of the Fittest. Haeckel seems to have thought that certain of these palstidules were transmitted through generations from the primeval parent.

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

UFOLOGY

Nicholas Roerich (Altai Himalaya) reported seeing a shining oval speeding  across the sky over his expedition camp in Mongolia -- 9:30 a.m., August 5, 1920. Metallic disks were observed in the mountains of Tibet in 1924. During WWII "Foo Fighters" were reported as surrounding aircraft on both sides and described as "small, remote-controlled eyes." But most "modern" reports of "flying saucers," as such, began on June 24, 1947, when Kenneth Arnold observed nine "unidentified aerial objects" flying in V-formation over Mt. Rainier. They were followed by many sightings elsewhere over the month of July. Corpses from a crash in New Mexico, comprise the "Roswell Incident." At that time Uranus (planet of "the skies") occupied 22º of Gemini, an air sign. In 2001, Uranus will again occupy 22º of an air sign, Aquarius (which is the natural rulership of the planet). ET biological entities are said to have been guests of the U.S. Government in an "exchange program" since 1948.

The mythological aspect (apart from their possible "reality"), according to Jung,represents the collective 20th Century's social restlessness. But ufos also have undisputed existence in other respects. Bob Swigart's theory of cetacean projection is worth considering. And, according to Steiger, ufos are interdimensional gateways rather than space ships. According to Vall‚e, they and their etherian passengers have always been a part of our pedagogical history, but masked as mythic, religious or legendary events. And Jack Parsons, the Pasadena wizard, felt that they were an "engine" cited in The Book of the Law for converting the world to Crowley's teachings.

Other theories (some of which have been discussed at greater length in Brad Steiger's Alien Meetings) are quite fascinating in themselves. They may be a "planetary poltergeist phenomenon" (similar to John Keel's "Superspectrum") based on some as yet unknown law activated by the unconscious mind capable of reflecting or imitating human intelligence. Then there is Michael Talbot's "Protean Psychoid" theory -- they change in conformity to what is fashionable to believe and to the psychological state of the observer. Finally, there is Vall‚e's now famous idea that the ufonauts are teachers and the ufos are pedagogical devices to train the human mind.

Ufos tend to be seen between the 21st and the 24th of the month, and the most favorite month is July. Many believe them to derive from Zeta Reticuli.

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

spiritual psychotherapy: Method promoted by Carol Weidberg, a psychoanalyst and intuitive. It includes dreamwork, and its theory affirms the Jungian theory of synchronicity.

(See also: Spiritual psychotherapy , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

manifesting (conscious thought manifestation, conscious manifestation, creative manifestation, manifestation): Variable method for wish fulfillment that involves wholehearted visualization and positive thinking.

Its principle is that one can manifest (materialize) one's wants by consciously using the powers of the mind to design the mind's reality. Its theory posits Universal Life Energy.

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

shadow sound therapy (c) (SST, shadow therapy): Modality developed by Elide M. Solomont, Ph.D., composer, Jungian psychotherapist, sound healer, and author of One Day We'll All Be Together and You Are Who You Hate - The Alchemy of Dissonance: History, Theory, Self Reports, Practice for Therapeutic Purpose (Vantage Press, Inc., 1995). SST is a combination of guided imagery and music therapy.

According to its theory,

• if one listens to unfamiliar, unstructured, or inharmonic music, one will face one's shadow (a dark side that disappoints); and
• interpreting images of the unconscious can effect healing.

(See also: Shadow sound therapy , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Swedenborg, Emmanuel ( 1688-1772)

A Swedish scientist, theosophist, and mystic, a pioneer in both scientific, religious and spiritual thought.

For most of his life Swedenborg pursued a conventional, albeit brilliant, career. Educated at Uppsala University he first became a natural scientist and official with the Swedish Royal College of mines (1710-45), concentrating on research and theory. His foremost scientific writing is 'Opera Philosophica et Mineralia' (Philosophical and Mineralogical Works, three volumes, 1734), a unique combination of metaphysics, cosmology, and science.

A first-rate scientific theorist and inventor, Swedenborg, in some of his insights, anticipated scientific progress by more than a century. Visited by a mystic illumination in 1745, Swedenborg claimed a direct vision of a spiritual world underlying the natural sphere. He began having dreams, ecstatic visions, trances and mystical illusions in which he communicated with Jesus Christ and God and was granted a view of the order of the universe that was radically different from the teachings of the Christian church.

He resigned his job to concentrate full-time on his ecstatic visions and transcribing the knowledge imparted to him from the spiritual world. His voluminous works from this period are presented as divinely revealed biblical interpretations. In his system, best reflected in 'Divine Love and Wisdom' (1763), Swedenborg conceived of three spheres: divine mind, spiritual world, and natural world. Each corresponds to a degree of being in God and in humankind: love, wisdom, and use (end, cause, and effect). Through devotion to each degree, unification with it takes place and a person obtains his or her destiny, which is union with creator and creation.

Unlike many mystics, Swedenborg proposed an approach to spiritual reality and God through, rather than in rejection of, material nature. His 12-volume compendium 'The Heavenly Arcana' (1747-56) represents a unique synthesis between modern science and religion.

In response to a vision of the 'last judgment' and the 'return of Christ', Swedenborg proclaimed the advent of the New Church, an idea that found social expression in the Swedenborgian societies and in the foundation of the Church Of The New Jerusalem in England in 1778, and in the United States in 1792. Many of his views were adopted by 19th century spiritualism and many of his ideas were also disseminated in the works of writers and poets such as William Blake , Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Henry James .

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

Missing Link On the theory that man has been produced by evolution from the anthropoid apes, a type which shall be intermediate between the anthropoid and man. A misleading term, implying that a chain of graduated types between animals and men has been completely established except for the lack of a single link or type which, when found, will make the chain complete.

The existence of such a nearly complete chain has always been largely suppositious. The Darwinian theory requires that man evolved by successive stages of continually greater refinement, from an unknown beast ancestor, then from a primitive savage and almost bestial type, up to the man of today. The numerous degrees of human refinement found living today or evidenced by their remains, do not represent a progressive, unbroken serial time scale of evolution, but merely a complicated assortment of types which in all times known to science appear to have existed contemporaneously with each other. Moreover the so-called primitive types are now recessive, and have been so for ages, being themselves to us the remote descendants of far earlier races, once civilized, but now represented merely by these degenerate remnants.

The existing anthropoid apes, however, are truly the closest of the animals or semi-animals to the human stock, actually having originated from a miscegenation by very early, quasi-mindless humans (actually undeveloped savages of those far distant times) with what then were fairly evolved simian types. Thus the present-day anthropoids are a somewhat, if slightly, advanced stock over their earlier forefathers who were the original anthropoids produced by the "sin" of unevolved and savage Atlantean tribes with simians. Precisely because the anthropoids have some human ancestry they will attract to incarnation in the future human egos as yet in a low state of unfolded spiritual and intellectual powers and capacities, and who will thus, as the cycles roll on, finally evolve into a low type of thinking and sensitive human being.

In theosophy evolution is unfolding or emanational development from within outwards of the incarnating monads; and the bodies in which these monads incarnate are the least important part of the matter. The bodies slowly follow, in improving sensitivity and relatively continuous perfection of the nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord, the unfolding impulses from within, which thus guide these bodies to greater degrees of perfection. As the egos or monads unfold from themselves the latent powers of spirit and mind, as well as of the psychological nature, the bodies feel the inner and compelling urges and impulses, and very slowly through the ages conform to become vehicles fitted to express the inner fires.

(See also: Missing Link , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Qi (Chee, chi, ki, Ki energy, Qui): Broadly,a vital force that underlies functioning of body, mind, and spirit. The concept of this multifaceted cosmic life force is fundamental to various practices termed Chinese, including architecture, art, health practices, magic, and martial arts. According to Qigong theory, Qi encompasses air and internal Qi, or true Qi, which includes essential Qi (vital energy).

(See also: Qi - Chee, chi, ki, Ki energy, Qui , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

bioresonance

Theory that every living thing resonates at its own unique frequency like a musical chord

(See also: Bioresonance , Body Mind and Soul)

Taoist five element nutrition (Taoist healing diet): Component of the Healing Tao System. It is a system of food combining based on astrology and the Chinese theory of the Five Elements.

(See also: Taoist five element nutrition , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Jungian psychology (Analytical Psychology): System of psychoanalysis founded by psychiatrist and reincarnationist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), of Zurich, Switzerland.

Jungian psychology theory posits a collective unconscious, synchronicity, and life energy (libidinal energy, the primal energy). Jung held that studying the collective racial unconscious could enhance understanding of the individual unconscious.

(See also: Jungian psychology , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Heat In science heat is a class of effects called thermal, and diagnosed as vibratory affections of the particles of bodies, produced by solar radiation, mechanical means, chemical action, or the flow of electric current. In seeking the unity which may reconcile these diversities, science has agreed to call heat a mode of motion or one of the forms of energy.

According to this theory, heat energy and mechanical energy are mutually convertible. Heat in the terms of modern physics cannot be described either as a fluid or as a mode of motion; but like all physical phenomena, whether we call them substantial or dynamic, it is a function of the activities of some substratum whose nature science is still striving to define.

Theosophically, heat is a manifestation of one of seven forces emanating from the fount of cosmic life and manifesting itself by various effects on various planes. It is a form of one of the seven primordial conscious forces emanating from anima mundi, one of the seven sons of fohat, or one of seven radicals -- one aspect of universal motion; in other words, the emanation from a living entity expressing itself on our plane as heat.

The forces of physics are manifestations of elementals, which themselves are manifestations of noumena on a still higher plane. Heat is both substantial and energic in character, and we may speak of it as being actually a fluidic emanation from living bodies; although it is equally possible to produce heat in so-called inanimate matter because of the stirring up of the same fluid in these bodies by means of intelligence acting to that end.

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

Man can be compared to a plant. He grows and flourishes like a plant and dies in the end but not completely. The plant also grows and flourishes and dies in the end. It leaves behind it the seed which produces a new plant. Man leaves when dying his Karma behind—the good or bad actions of his life. The physical body may die and disintegrate, but the impressions of his actions do not die. He has to take birth again to enjoy the fruits of these actions. No life can be the first, for it is the fruits of previous actions, nor the last, for its actions must be expiated in the next life following. Therefore, Samsara or phenomenal existence is without beginning and an end. But there is no Samsara for a Jivanmukta or liberated sage who is resting in his own Sat-Chit-Ananda Svarupa.

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Reincarnation: Theory Of Rebirth

body oriented emotional release psychotherapy (Neo-Reichian emotional release work): Method promoted by Dee Cassella. Its theory posits blocked sexual energy and holds that one reclaims one's natural 'SELF' as one:

(a)           releases anger, fear, and sadness, and

(b)          grieves over the loss of one's inner child.

(See also: Body oriented emotional release psychotherapy , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

creative visualization: Subject of the bestseller of the same name, written by Shakti Gawain in 1978.

In creative visualization, one clearly imagines whatever one wants to manifest (see manifesting); then one gives the idea, image, or feeling positive energy, by focusing on it regularly, until it becomes reality. Creative visualization's theory posits a spiritual source: a supply of infinite energy, love, and wisdom discoverable in the inner beings of humans.

Expressions for methods identical or similar to creative visualization include: active imagination, creative imaging, directed day-dream, directed waking dream, dynamic imaging, guided fantasy, guided imagery, guided visualization, imagery, imaginal medicine, imaging, initiated symbol projection, inner guide meditation, led meditation, magickal visualization, mental imagery, pathworking, Positive Imaging, positive thinking, positive visualization, visualization, visualization therapy, waking dream therapy, and willed imagination.

For example, willed imagination, also called creative visualization, is the magickal art of imagining the result one desires of one's magick (the word for Wiccan magic) in order to achieve that result.

(See also: Creative visualization , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Chinese auricular therapy (Chinese auricular acupuncture, traditional Chinese auricular acu-points therapy, traditional Chinese auricular acupuncture, traditional Chinese auricular therapy): Group of TCM techniques whose channel theory differs from that of body acupuncture. Its apparent principle is that several areas and more than a hundred acupoints on the auricle (the outer portion of the ear) interactively relate to other areas or to diseases. The fetuslike contour of the auricle inspired the distribution of points thereon. Chinese auricular therapy, which differs from auriculotherapy, includes: auricular analgesia, auricular diagnosis, auricular magnetic therapy, auricular massage, auricular moxibustion, auricular point injection, the auricular point laser-stimulating method, bleeding manipulation, and the seed-pressure method.

(See also: Chinese auricular therapy , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

twelve stages of healing: extraordinary approach to healing physical, mental, and spiritual ills. Its developer, Donald M. Epstein, founded Network Spinal Analysis. His theory posits twelve stages of consciousness common to all humanity.

Nearly all of Epstein's stages involve:

(a)   yoga- or Qigong-like exercises, and

(b)  ) declarations.

For example, the first stage (Suffering) involves declaring: Right now, I am helpless and Nothing works at this time. In The Twelve Stages of Healing: A Network Approach to Wholeness (1994), Epstein states: The most appropriate response to Suffering is to stop thinking about its causes. The seventh stage involves declaring: Oooh, Ahhh, and Whooosh. The ninth stage involves declaring, I experience my vital force; and the eleventh stage, May it be on Earth as it is in Heaven.

(See also: Twelve stages of healing , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

auriculotherapy (auricular acupuncture, auricular therapy, ear acupuncture): Form of homuncular acupuncture developed by Dr. P.F.M. Nogier of France. Its theory depicts the auricle (the outer portion of the ear) as an upside-down fetus with points that correspond to bodily parts. Such points number more than two hundred. Ostensible diagnosis involves examining the ear for tenderness or for variations in electrical conductivity. Treatment consists in the acupuncturing or electrical stimulation of the auricular acupoint that corresponds to the anatomical site of the malady.

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