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Causal Body
The Causal body - originally ''Karana-Sarira'' - is a Yogic and Vedantic concept that was adopted and modified by Theosophy and from the latter made its way into the general New Age movement and contemporary western esotericism. It generally refers to the highest or innermost body that veils the atman or true Self. Hinduism ''Karana sarira'' or the causal body is the cause or seed of the subtle body and the gross body. It has no other function than being the seed of the subtle and the gross body. It is ''nirvikalpa rupam'', "undifferentiated form". It originates with '' avidya'', "ignorance" or "nescience" of the real identity of the atman, instead giving birth to the notion of ''jiva-bhuta''. Swami Sivananda characterizes the causal body as "The beginningless ignorance that is indescribable". Siddharameshwar Maharaj, the guru of Nisargadatta Maharaj, also describes the causal body as characterized by "emptiness", "ignorance" and "darkness". In the search for the "I am", this ...
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Yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciousness untouched by the mind ('' Chitta'') and mundane suffering (''Duḥkha''). There is a wide variety of schools of yoga, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism,Stuart Ray Sarbacker, ''Samādhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga''. SUNY Press, 2005, pp. 1–2.Tattvarthasutra .1 see Manu Doshi (2007) Translation of Tattvarthasutra, Ahmedabad: Shrut Ratnakar p. 102. and traditional and modern yoga is practiced worldwide. Two general theories exist on the origins of yoga. The linear model holds that yoga originated in the Vedic period, as reflected in the Vedic textual corpus, and influenced Buddhism; according to author Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, this model is mainly supported by Hindu scholars. According ...
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Paramatman
''Paramatman'' (Sanskrit: परमात्मन्, IAST: Paramātman) or ''Paramātmā'' is the Absolute ''Atman'', or supreme Self, in various philosophies such as the Vedanta and Yoga schools in Hindu theology, as well as other Indian religions like Sikhism. ''Paramatman'' is the "Primordial Self" or the "Self Beyond" who is spiritually identical with the absolute and ultimate reality. Selflessness is the attribute of ''Paramatman'', where all personality/individuality vanishes. Etymology The word stem ''paramātman'' (परमात्मन्, pronounced , its nominative singular being ''paramātmā'' — परमात्मा, pronounced ) is formed from two words, ''parama'', meaning "supreme" or "highest", and ''ātma'', which means individual self. The word '' Ātman'' generally denotes the Individual Self, but by the word ''Paramatman'' which word also expresses Boundless Life, Boundless Consciousness, Boundless Substance in Boundless Space, is meant the ''At ...
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Subtle Body
A subtle body is a "quasi material" aspect of the human body, being neither solely physical nor solely spiritual, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. This contrasts with the mind–body dualism that has dominated Western thought. The subtle body is important in the Taoism of China and Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, mainly in the branches which focus on tantra and yoga, where it is known as the ''Sūkṣma-śarīra'' ( sa, सूक्ष्म शरीर). However, while mostly associated with Asian cultures, non-dualistic approaches to the mind and body are found in many parts of the world. Subtle body concepts and practices can be identified as early as 2nd century BCE in Taoist texts found in the Mawangdui tombs. Although "evidently present" in Indian thought as early as the 4th to 1st century BCE when the Taittiriya Upanishad describes the Panchakoshas, a series of five interpenetrating sheaths of the body. A fully ...
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Annie Besant
Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human freedom, she was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule. She was also a prolific author with over three hundred books and pamphlets to her credit. As an educationist, her contributions included being one of the founders of the Banaras Hindu University. For fifteen years, Besant was a public proponent in England of atheism and scientific materialism. Besant's goal was to provide employment, better living conditions, and proper education for the poor. Besant then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society (NSS), as well as a writer, and a close friend of Charles Bradlaugh. In 1877 they were prosecuted for publishing a book by birth control campaigner Charles Knowlton. The scandal made them famous, and Bradla ...
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Buddhi (Theosophy)
:''In Hindu mythology, Buddhi is one of the wives of Ganesha.'' ''Buddhi'' (Sanskrit: बुद्धि) refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand". Etymology ''Buddhi'' ( sa, बुद्धि) is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit root ''Budh'' (बुध् ), which literally means "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again". The term appears extensively in Rigveda and other Vedic literature. ''Buddhi'' means, states Monier Williams, the power to "form, retain concepts; intelligence, reason, intellect, mind", the intellectual faculty and the ability to "discern, judge, comprehend, understand" something. Buddhi is a feminine Sanskrit noun derived from ''*budh'', to be awake, to understand, to know. The same root is the basis for the more familiar masculine form ''Buddha'' and the abstract noun '' bodhi''. Buddhi contrasts from ''manas'' (म ...
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Manas (Theosophy)
Manas may refer to: Philosophy and mythology *Manas, the Pali and Sanskrit term for " mind"; see **Manas (early Buddhism) **Manas-vijnana, one of the eight consciousnesses taught in Yogacara Buddhism *''Ramcharitmanas'', a retelling of the Ramayana *''Epic of Manas'', a Kyrgyz epic poem with 500,000 lines Toponymy * Manas River (Drangme Chhu) in southern Bhutan and northeastern India ** Royal Manas National Park, a national park in Bhutan **Manas National Park, a national park in the state of Assam, India * Manas (urban-type settlement), an urban-type settlement in Karabudakhkentsky District of the Republic of Dagestan, Russian Federation * Manas, Drôme, a commune in Drôme département in France * Manas-Bastanous, a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France *Manas District, a district of Talas Province, Kyrgyzstan **Manas International Airport, an international airport near Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan ***Transit Center at Manas, a United States Air Force base at the airpor ...
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Eastern Philosophy
Eastern philosophy or Asian philosophy includes the various philosophies that originated in East and South Asia, including Chinese philosophy, Japanese philosophy, Korean philosophy, and Vietnamese philosophy; which are dominant in East Asia, and Indian philosophy (including Hindu philosophy, Jain philosophy, Buddhist philosophy), which are dominant in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Tibet, and Mongolia. Indian philosophy Indian philosophy refers to ancient philosophical traditions ( sa, ; 'world views', 'teachings') of the Indian subcontinent. Jainism may have roots dating back to the times of the Indus Valley civilization. The major orthodox schools arose sometime between the start of the Common Era and the Gupta Empire. These Hindu schools developed what has been called the "Hindu synthesis" merging orthodox Brahmanical and unorthodox elements from Buddhism and Jainism. Hindu thought also spread east to the Indonesian Srivijaya empire and the Cambodian Khmer Empire. These ...
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Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an international following as the leading Theory, theoretician of Theosophy (Blavatskian), Theosophy. Born into an aristocratic family of History of Germans in Russia, Ukraine, and the Soviet Union, Russian-German descent in Yekaterinoslav, then in the Russian Empire (now Dnipro in Ukraine), Blavatsky traveled widely around the empire as a child. Largely self-educated, she developed an interest in Western esotericism during her teenage years. According to her later claims, in 1849 she embarked on a series of world travels, visiting Europe, the Americas, and India. She also claimed that during this period she encountered a group of spiritual adepts, the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom", who sent her to Shigatse, Tibet, ...
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Mandukya Upanishad
The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad ( sa, माण्डूक्य उपनिषद्, ) is the shortest of all the Upanishads, and is assigned to Atharvaveda. It is listed as number 6 in the Muktikā canon of 108 Upanishads. It is in prose, consisting of twelve short verses, and is associated with a Rig Vedic school of scholars. It discusses the syllable Aum; presents the theory of four states of consciousness; and asserts that ''Aum'' is ''Brahman'' – which is the Whole – and that ''Brahman'' is this self ('' ātman'').Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 605-637 The Mandukya Upanishad is notable for having been recommended in the Muktikā Upanishad, through two central characters of the ''Ramayana'', as the one Upanishad that alone is sufficient for knowledge to gain moksha, and as sixth in its list of ten principal Upanishads.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 556-557 The text ...
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Anandamaya Kosha
The Anandamaya kosha or "sheath made of bliss" (Ānanda (Hindu philosophy), ananda) is in Vedanta, Vedantic philosophy the most subtle or spiritual of the five Kosha, levels of embodied self. It has been interpreted differently according to specific schools of Indian (and also Theosophical) thought. The Anandamaya kosha in traditional Advaita Vedanta In Advaita Vedanta the Anandamaya kosha is the innermost of the five koshas or "sheaths" that veil the Atman (Hinduism), Atman or Supreme Self. Unlike the sukshma sarira, next three more outer koshas, it constitutes the ''karana Sarira (Vedanta), sarira'' or causal body. It is associated with the state of dreamless sleep and Samādhi, samadhi. The Anandamaya kosha in Krsna Consciousness The ānanda-maya stage is explained by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada as the "brahma-bhūta" stage in the Bhagavad-gītā. There it is said that in the brahma-bhūta stage of life there is no anxiety and no hankering. This stage begins w ...
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Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In major schools of Hindu philosophy, it is the material, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists.For dualism school of Hinduism, see: Francis X. Clooney (2010), ''Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries between Religions'', Oxford University Press, , pages 51–58, 111–115;For monist school of Hinduism, see: B. Martinez-Bedard (2006), ''Types of Causes in Aristotle and Sankara'', Thesis – Department of Religious Studies (Advisors: Kathryn McClymond and Sandra Dwyer), Georgia State University, pages 18–35 It is the pervasive, infinite, eternal truth, consciousness and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes. ''Brahman'' as a metaphysical concept refers to the single bi ...
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