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Blend your own aromatherapy remedy. |
ABHAYA—An upright mudra, the hand-gesture of dispelling fear, giving
protection and bestowing benediction.
ADHIKARA—A disciple’s competency or moral fitness to practice the secret
ritual.
ADYA SAKTI—The Primal Energy.
AGAMAS—Sacred Tantrik scripture dealing with rites, dharma, and cosmology.
AGNI—The fire-god: one of the elements of the physical world, fire.
AIRAVATA—The celestial white elephant with six trunks, vehicle of the Vedic
god Indra.
AJAPA MANTRA—The involuntary prayer, “Hang-sah, Hang-sah,” made by
incoming and outgoing breath. It corresponds to the cosmic creative process by
which the entire universe is breathed forth at intervals and then withdrawn.
AJNA—The sixth chakra or center of consciousness in the subtle body, situated
between the eyebrows. It is sometimes called the Third Eye. Two wing-like
“petals” or subtle channels emanate from it.
AKASHA—Ether; an invisible manifestation of primordial substance, which
pervades the entire universe as its substratum; region of pure consciousness.
ANAHATA SARDA—unstuck sound.
ANAHATA—The fourth chakra or center of consciousness, situated in the cardiac
region. It is sometimes called the “heart lotus.” Twelve mystic ducts or “petals”
emanate from it.
ANANDA—Essential principle of joy, bliss, spiritual ecstasy.
ANANDAMAYA—The most subtle “bliss-formed” sheath (kosa) of the causal
body, the sphere of the all-transcendent blissful consciousness.
ANANTA—Meaning “endless” serpent, often identified with Sesha, another great
Naga (naga=serpent), whose thousands heads fan out in a mighty hood, forming
the couch of Vishnu who reclines on his coils in trance-sleep, an archetype of the
unconscious.
ANIMA—Power to become small as an atom through Tantra.
ANJALI—The mudra in which the two hands extended upwards are held palm to
palm.
ANNAMAYA-KOSA—The “food-formed” sheath of the gross body (sthula sarira)
made up of five gross elements or bhuta—earth, water, fire, air, ether—which are
resolved again into their initial states after death.
ANUSVARA—An extended nasalized sound of the Sanskrit alphabet; An
unpronounceable “vibration” capable of articulation in conjunction with a letter of
the alphabet; represented as a semi-circle in which a dot symbolizing the bindu is
inserted.
APANA—One of the energies that goes downwards, controlling the vital air in the
abdominal region.
AP—The material element of water.
ARDHACANDRA—A sound-level above the Ajna chakra. In the gradual
elimination of differentiation experienced by the adept, on the sonic level upward
from the Ajna chakra, the Ardhacandra resonance is symbolized by the half moon.
ARDHANARISVARA—The androgynous form of Shiva.
ASANA—Posture assumed in the practice of Maithuna.
ASRAMA—A hermitage or dwelling place dedicated to spiritual pursuits.
ASVANI—A mudra (or bandha) consisting of the contraction of internal organs to
seal the occult orifices of the body and bring vital centres under control;
performance of secret “internal” acts while the yogic position is steadily
maintained.
AUM—The three sounds which compose the root mantra, Om.
AVADHUTA—A rebel renunciate.
AVATARA—A divine Incarnation.
AYURVEDA—Ancient Indian medical system based on the Vedas.
BANDHA—Muscular flexion, a practice in which certain organs of the body are
“locked” in a position.
BANOWA—A Tibetan word encompassing the Yoga of Ascendancy, by which the
yogi can influence men, animals and inanimate objects.
BARDO—A Tibetan word meaning the intermediate state of the discarnate ego,
between death and rebirth.
BHAGASANA—A sexual posture in which the male member is “locked” in
prolonged erection inside the yoni of a female partner while the female works the
muscles of the vaginal area and the pair unite in a strong mental focus specified
by the ritual practiced.
BHAIRAVA—Destructive aspect of Shiva.
BHAIRAVI—A female guru. It is considered ideal to be initiated by a Bhairavi.
Tantrics perform group sexual rituals of many asanas known as Chakra-Puja or
“circle worship” of which Bhairavi-chakra is one of the most important.
BHAKTI-YOGA—realization through love and devotion; intense desire and will
for union with one’s chosen deity.
BHAVA—Emotion: specifically the aesthetic state or feeling which enlivens the
senses, the vehicle of rasa.
BHAVANA—Meditation.
BHOGA—Enjoyment.
BHUTA—Any of five elemental condition of matter.
BHUTADI—Rudimentary matter devoid of any physical substance.
BHUTA-SUDHI—Purification of the gross physical aspects during ritual.
BIJA MANTRA—A seed sound, produced from the hidden power or primordial
shakti. Tantrik texts say the universe evolved out of the fifty original bija
mantras, which correspond to the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet.
BINDU—Dot: a sacred symbol of the universe in its unmanifested form.
BRAHMA KNOT—A psychic blockage in the subtle body. To clear this knot at
the time of the rising of Kundalini is to get established in totality.
BRAHMA-NADI—The central psychic channel sushumna, through which the
ascent of the Kundalini takes place.
BRAHMAN—The Absolute Reality, transcendental or pure consciousness, not to
be confused with Brahma.
BRAHMA-RUDHRA—The “gateway of Brahma,” an aperture in the crown of the
head, through which the soul may leave the body (also Brahmarandhra).
BRAHMA—The god of creation in the Hindu religion.
BUDDHI—The principle of intelligence; that intelligence which reveals
knowledge of the cosmic unity.
CHAITANYA—Pure consciousness.
CHAKINI SAKTI—Or Rakini Sakti, is the power of Vishnu, the presiding deity of
the Svadishthana chakra.
CHAKRA-PUJA—Literally, “circle worship” the group ritual of union, performed
collectively by a circle of Tanrtic initiates. The rite is designated Panchamakara or
“five sacrifices.”
CHAKRASANA—Sexual poses associated with rituals of the chakras. Also used
to represent the sexual circle pose or ritual.
CHAKRAS—Centers of consciousness and psychic energy in the body. The word
chakra means “wheel” in Sanskrit. There are many chakras in the body, including
several major chakras along the median of the body (along the spine) and on the
hands, feet, knees, and other body areas.
CHAKRESVARA—Leader of the Chakra-Puja, the communal ritual of union.
CHINNAMASTA—One of the Mahavidyas, Devi in her destructive and creative
aspect, signifying apparent dessolution and return to the First Cause.
CHITRINI—A tiny nadi or subtle channel for psychic current, present inside
another—the vajrini.
CHITTAKASA—Mental or physical inner space.
CIT-SAKTI—Consciousness as power, the supreme energy.
CIT—The Absolute, the pure consciousness attributed to the knowledge of the one
reality.
COSMIC CYCLE—The sequence of yugas. India does not think in terms of
historical time, but conceives of time as cyclical, through the doctrine of yugas or
ages. A complete cosmic cycle consists of four successive ages of varying length.
At the end of each maha-yuga, the world is dissolved in a cosmological event
known a laya, or dissolution, in order to manifest again. This phase is known as
srsti, emanation or creation, and is followed by a phase called sthiti, evolution and
preservation, then by samhara, dissolution. Thus is created a continuous cycle of
cosmic events.
COSMIC MAN—the original primeval man known as Purusha. A counterpart is
the primeval female Virag, also termed Prakriti, or nature.
DAKINI—The presiding Sakti of the muladhara chakra.
DAKSHINACHARA—The practice of using honey for wine to represent
intoxicating knowledge, ginger or radish for meat representing the control of
speech, concentration on the Ida and Pingala along with parched cereal to
represent the state of higher-conscious concentration and focus, and flowers to
represent the primal act of creation instead of sexual maithuna to join with the
creation force of the cosmos.
DAKSHINA-MARGA—“right-hand” path of the Tantra.
DAMARU—An hour-glass shaped drum used by the Saivites.
DEVAS—External powers.
DEVATA—A form of divinity, generally male.
DEVI—A form of female divinity, usually Sakti, brought to form by a female
participant in Tantric ritual.
DHARANA—Concentration.
DHARMA—From the Sanskrit “dhamma” which means “the supporting element.
Used in Buddhism to represent the ultimate irreducible factors out of which
everything is composed that we believe to perceive within and without ourselves
(from the Pali Canon). Also used by various sects to mean universal law,
righteousness, duty, property, or object.
DHARMAVICAYA—Discernment of what is Dharma and what is not.
DHYANA—Meditation, sustained inner concentration beginning with concrete
and ending with abstract awareness; the way of inner vision.
DIKSHA—Initiation by a guru.
DIPA—A sacred oil lamp.
DRAGPO—A Tibetan Tantrism, the wrathful of Banishing Performance by which
the yogi can cause calamities, strike a person speechless, kill or destroy.
DURGA—closely related to Kali, and generally identified with her.
EKAGRATA—One-pointed.
ETHERIC DOUBLE—The subtle body. It is believed that the human body, within
its corporeal fram, embraces all the subtle planes of the universe. Beyond one’s
physical existence there is a parallel “etheric double” which constitutes one’d
subtle body. The subtle sheaths are related to the gross body at several psychic
points.
FEMALE PARTICIPANT—Partner in performing sexo-yogic ritual who is
considered to be the reflection of Sakti, and plays the role of divine Energy,
without which the practice of tantric asana cannot be successful.
FEMALE PRINCIPLE—The “devout woman” epitomizes the entire nature of
femaleness, the essence of al the Saktis in their various aspects. Sakti is the female
principle or the dynamic aspect of the Ultimate Reality, the energy that permeates
all creation.
GAYATRI MANTRA—A sacred formula, one of the most important of all
mantras.
GHANTA—Bell.
GHATA—A pot or sacred vessel.
GORAKHNATH—A great Tantrika Siddhai (c. AD 1120) of the Nathas, founder of
the order of the Kanphata Yogis.
GRANTHIS—Psychic knots. The three chakras, Muladhara, Anahata, and Ajna
are associated with the Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra kots respectively and with
psychic blockages called lingas—the Svayambhu, Bana, and Itara lingas—which
are to be surmounted in the passage of the rising Kundalini.
GUHYA-BHASHANAM—Intimate discussion with a person of the opposite sex.
GUNA—Attribute, Qualilty; The three gunas are the substantive qualities of
nature; sattva, rajas, and tamas, of which the world is commposed.
GURU—Teacher.
GYAISPA—In Tibetan Tantrism, the power of procuring prosperity, fame,
progeny, etc.
HAKINI—The Sakti who presides over the Ajna chakra.
HAMSA—Literally a swan, used to indicate spiritual unfolding.
HATHA-YOGA—A yoga system incorporating bodily disciplines leading to
psychic development.
HA—The symbol of Shakti, while “A” is the symbol of Siva.
IDA—Conduit of white, lunar, subtle energy, coiling about the sushumna and
terminating in the left nostril. Opposite in polarity from the pinga.
INDRA—The most celebrated god of the Rig-Veda.
INDRIYAS—The ten faculties of sensation and perception in the human body;
five “knowing” agents or jnanendriyas; hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and
smelling: five “action” agents or karmendriyas; walking, handling, speaking,
procreation, and evacuation.
ISTA-DEVATA—An individual’s chosen deity.
JAGADGURU—The world teacher.
JAGRAT—Waking consciousness.
JAMBU-DVIPA—The earth seen as the gigantic jambu (rose apple) tree of Mount
Meru casting its protective shadow over the island which is the earth.
JAPA—Constant repetition, either silently or audibly, of a mantra.
JITANDRIYA—Control of the senses; in Tantrism, control of the sexual act and
orgasm.
JIVAN-MUKTA—Liberated in this life; spiritually free but still manifest in human
form.
JIVATMA—The self, soul, or individual consciousness.
JNANA—Self-knowledge, knowledge of the absolute throught meditation.
KAIVALYA—Realization of one’s self as being identical with Reality.
KAKINI—The Sakti of the Anahata chakra.
KALAGNI—The lowest plane (bhuvana) of existence.
KALA—Time: The power that conditions or limits the existence of unchangeable
elements in matter.
KALI—The divine Sakti, representing the creative and destructive aspects of
nature, a transcendental symbol of human abilities.
KALPA—Aeon; a “day” of Brahma the creator.
KAMA—Enjoyment, especially in sexual coition and love; desire as a cosmic
power.
KANDA—An egg-shaped electromagnetic sphere surrounding the Kundalini,
located in the area of the perineum.
KARANA—Cause, source; Sanctified liquid (wine or juice) in Tantric Chakra-Puja
ritual of union.
KARMA—Action; the law of universal cause and effect.
KARMA-YOGA—A yoga of action, attaining liberation through reversing
previous harmful actions and moving to liberating and energy-producing actions.
KARUNA—Compassion.
KAULA—“Left-hand” sect of Tantra, usually associated with literal translation
and use of the Tantric Scriptures. Rituals include physical coition and not
“pretend” sexual actions.
KIRTANAM—Discussing the sexual act with another, one of the eight levels of
coition.
KLIM—A Bija mantra often used in Tantric rituals.
KOSHA—Subtle envelope surrounding the gross body, one layer of the
electromagnetic field the body generates. The human body is considered to have
between three and nine such envelopes.
KRISHNA—Incarnation of Vishnu; the Divine lover.
KRIYA-NISHPATTI—Phyisical sexual congress. See Maithuna.
KRIYA—The path of action.
KSITI—The earth element.
KULARNAVA TANTRA—An important Tantra of AD 1150.
KUMBHAKA—Retention of the breath in one of the methods of pranayama.
KUNDALINI—Shakti energy coiled like a sleeping serpent near the base of the
spine, behind the genitals. When aroused, it ascends the central channel of the
spine or sushumna.
KURMA—Tortoise. The sacred incarnation of Vishnu.
LAGHIMA—Power to attain weightlessness through yogic practice.
LAKINI—The Sakti of the Manipura chakra.
LAKSHANA—Auspicious sign; feature of self-expression; attribute.
LAM—The seed mantra of Muladhara chakra.
LATA-SADHANA—Tantrik discipline requiring a female consort. Also the
Tantric term for the Asana in which the woman embraces the man as a creeper
enfolds a tree.
LAYA—Merging, cessation, total dissolution.
LAYA-YOGA—The awakening of the Kundalini.
LILA—The divine play.
LINGA—Phallus. Generative force in its creative aspect; according to Skanda
Purana, the linga is the name for space in which the whole universe is in the
process of formation and dissolution.
LINGA-SARIRA—Totality of the subtle or psychic body.
LOKAS—Planes of existence inhabited by sentient beings.
LOTUS—Symbol of purity, unfolding. The lotus petals surrounding the chakras
represent the varying intensities of the energies working in the different chakras.
MADHYAMA—Cosmic sound in its subtle form, prior to its gross manifestation.
MADYA—Wine as employed in the secret ritual of panchatattva by certain
schools of Tantra, commonly replaced by honey in rituals.
MAHAKALA—An aspect of Siva, personification of the disintegrative forces of
the cosmso.
MAHAMUDRA—Yogic asana known as the “great posture” in which the
practitioner sits with the left heel pressed against the perineum (yoni place) with
the right leg stretched outward, and holding the right foot with both hands. The
nine orifices of the body are pressed closely into the chest (jalandhara) for the
control of the breath.
MAHAVIDYA—Transcendental knowledge of nature.
MAITHUNA—Sexual union, whether symbolical or actual physical coition.
MALA—Rosary. The 108 or 27 beads or knots commonly used to keep track of
the mantras or other ritual performances.
MAMSHA—Meat, one of the five ritual ingredients used in some schools of
Tantra.
MANAS—Mind, the mental faculties of coordination, reasoning, and assimilation.
MANDALAS—A mystic geometric-based diagram of squares, triangles, and
circles, symbolic of cosmic forces, used as a support for concentration.
MANIPURA—The chakra located in the area of the solar plexus. It has ten
“petals.”
MANOMAYA—A sheath of discriminatory process.
MANTRA—Sacred formula based on te principle that sound has a spiritual
significance and power; incantation.
MARGA—Path.
MATSYA—Fish, one of the five ritual ingredients used in some schools of Tantra.
MAYA—Creative power, the limiting principle, illusion of the real nature of the
world-appearance.
MERU—The mythical mountain supporting the world, merudanda; the spine in
the human body.
MITHUNA—Paired, as in polarity.
MOKSHA—The ultimate spiritual liberation from material bondage.
MUDRA—Seal, finger gesture; Yogic control of certain organs as an aid to
concentration which produces psychic responses.
MUKTI—Liberation from the wheel of life and bondage to existence.
MULADHARA—The “root” chakra located at the base of the spine and behind the
genitals. Its emanation on the surface of the body is in the area of the perineum
and lower genitals. It has four “petals” surrounding it.
MULA-PRAKRITI—Primordial root energy.
NADA-BINDU—primal vibration; the seed sound out of which the universe
emanates.
NADA—Vibrational energy permeating all things, and manifesting as sound.
NADIS—Invisible conduits of psychic energy, woven throughout the subtle body.
Most authorities say there are 72,000 of them.
NAMAH—Salutation.
NAMA-RUPA—Name and form.
NARAYANA—An aspect of Vishnu.
NATHA YOGIS—“Lord” yogis who rose to prominence in Northern India during
the tenth century AD. And whose saints bear the title of Natha. Natha yogis were
usually Saivites (followers of Siva), and developed a yogic body-language,
believing in this way to attain supernatural powers.
NIRVANA—Final emancipation.
NIYAMA—Control; yogic discipline of the mind and body.
NYASA—Projection of divine entities into various parts of the body.
OJAS—Energy developed by certain yogic practices, which stimulate endocrine
activity within the body.
OM—Seed mantra compounded of three sounds, aum, embracing all the secrets of
the cosmos which are gathered to a point within it. The sound liberating the
muladhara or root chakra into the sexual energy (Kundalini) of the body and
connecting that energy to the cosmos.
PADMA—Lotus; symbolic name of the chakras.
PADMASANA—Lotus yogic posture in which one sits with legs crossed, right
foot placed on left thigh, left foot crossed over on right leg, soles of feet turned
upwards, with hands holding the toes.
PANCHABHUTAS—The five gross elements; earth, water, fire, air, ether or space.
PANCHARATRA—The Vaishnava philosophy.
PANCHATATTVA—Literally, the five tattvas. This applies to the material of the
earth used as sacrifice in Tantric rituals. These vary greatly but nearly always
include sexual union.
PARA VAK—The unmanifest vibratory movement of cosmic ideation.
PARAMANU—A gross atom.
PARAM—The supreme.
PARA—The last stage of consciousness.
PARATPARA—The supreme of the supreme.
PASHYANTI—Literally, “seeing”; sound emerging towards the visible.
PASU—One who is bound, the individual soul.
PATANJALI—Author of the systematized treatise on Yoga-Sutra (c. 100 BC-AD
300).
PHO-WA—The Tibetan Yoga of Transference, the least aspect of which is known
as astral projection.
PINGALA—A subtle channel through which prana moves. It coils around the
central sushumna canal and terminates in the right nostril. It has a positive
polarity.
PRAJNA—Wisdom, First Principle.
PRAKRITI—Manifested or materialized nature. It posses three gunas or qualities,
(sattwa) the governing order and time, (rajas) activation and mental power, and
(tamas) the gross form of dense matter characterized by stability and inertia.
PRALAYA—The end or dissolution of a cycle of aeons.
PRANA—The total energy, manifest and unmanifest of the cosmos. It is known to
the earth sphere as the seven-rayed emanation from the sun. Also refers to the
“vital air” or power of the breath.
PRANAVA—The primal sound.
PRANAYAMA—Yogic regulation of the breat flow for purposes of prana control.
PRASRABDHI—Serenity.
PREKSHENAM—Flirtation. One of the eight aspects of coition.
PREMA—Love, wherein there is no longer a distinction between the love and the
beloved.
PRITHVI—Earth principle.
PRITI—Rapture or inspiration.
PUJA—Ritual worship.
PURAK—Inhalation process in the practice of yogic breathing.
PURANAS—“Old”; “ancient” Hindu scriptures expounding in legendary form
the powers and deeds of gods and goddesses.
PURUSHA-PRAKRITI—Consciousness in its relation to Nature, male-female,
static-kinetic, ie; polarity.
PURUSHA—Pure, unmanifested consciousness, the counterpart of Nature or
Prakriti.
RAJA YOGA—Royal yoga which emphasizes mental and spiritual rather than
physical culture. Its aim is to make one a “ruler” over all one’s mental and
spiritual equipment, the general aim of all Tantric schools.
RAJASIKA—Active quality of the mind.
RAJAS—The female seed, menstrual cycle. Also, the principle of motion, a
constituent of Prakriti.
RAKINI—The Sakti dominating the svadhishthana chakra of the genitals.
RAM—The seed syllable of the Manipura chakra.
RASA—Essence of a thing, aesthetic delight, the substance of aesthetic experience,
pleasure in the pure source of feeling (pure joy of life).
RECHAKA—Exhalation of air in yogic breathing exercises.
RETAS—Physical substance.
RISHI—An inspired Seer or Sage.
RUDRA KNOT—Psychic blockage of the sushumna at the Ajna chakra. Cleared
by the raising of the Kundalini.
RUDRAGRANTHI—One of the knots that Kundalini has to pierce in its ascent
(see Rudra knot).
RUDRA—Originally a Vedic deity of many aspects; later mythology associates
Rudra with Siva.
SA HAM—I am she and SO HAM, I am he are phrases identifying one’s own
essential nature.
SABDA—See Shabda.
SADASIVA—The presiding deity of the Visuddha chakra, also the third tattva
counting from Siva as the ultimate reality.
SAD-GURU—A teacher of spiritual wisdom.
SADHAKA—One who practices Tantric diciplines.
SADHANA—Meditative practice combining the physical rituals of Tantra;
Spiritual discipline.
SADHU—Holy person.
SAHAJA—Spontaneous, inborn, innate; also a minor sect influenced by Tantra.
SAHAJOLI—One of the mudras by which to reverse the downward tendency of
seminal energy.
SAHASRARA—The thousand-petaled chakra located on the crown of the head
and represented by the lotus flower. Considered the seat of the unmanifested
Shiva.
SAIVAGAMA—Saiva-Agamas, texts expounding the doctrines of Siva, known as
sastras.
SAKINI—The Sakti presiding over the Visuddha chakra located in the throat area.
SAKTI-CHALANAS—energy-movers.
SAKTIPAT—In kundalini yoga, the path through whick kundalini ascends.
SAKTI—See Shakti.
SAMADHI—Ecstasy, unification; The deep meditation, trance, super-conscious
state in which identification is realized; the final goal of yoga.
SAMHITA—Mystic sexual union as distinct from physical coition or Maithuna.
SAMKALPA—A carnal desire to indulge in sexual intercourse. Also, the
determination or resolution to achieve the desired goal. In Tantra, these are
unified and the student is taught to attain through joy and satisfaction. (sankalpa)
SAMKHYA—One of the major systems of Indian Philosophy founded by te sage
Kapila (c 500 BC), which influenced Tantric practices.
SAMSARA—Created forms. The world in which the law or reincarnation
operates.
SAMSKARA—An imprinted impression or fruit of karmic action.
SAMYAK-SAMBODHI—Striving after perfect enlightenment.
SAMYAVASTHA—State of equilibrium, undifferentiated condition.
SANDHA-BHASA—The secret language of Tantra.
SANNYASA—The final stage in the pilgrimage of life which cuts the thread of
bondage.
SANSKARA—An imprinted impression of memory-trace, fruit of karmic action
(see Samskara).
SANTI—Spiritual peace.
SARIRA—The material body, substance.
SASTRAS—Sacred books of divine authority, scriptures.
SAT—Being, pure existence.
SAT-CHIT-ANANDA—Being Consciousness, Bliss, as a unity; the peak stage of
realization.
SATI—See Smriti.
SATTVA—The highest of the gunas, principle of equilibrium, truth, purity.
SAVASANA—The “corpse-like” yogic posture for complete relaxation. One of the
sexual asanas in which the male lies corpse-like and the female completes the
sexual act without movement from the male.
SESHA—A serpent named “residue” because of its birth after the creation of the
Three Worlds. Its great coils and mighty hood of serpent power symbolize
eternity, the depths of the unconscious.
SEXO-YOGIC ASANA—Ritual and discipline for the spiritualization of sex, and
the transformation of its energy to the mental plane. The asana ritual is free from
emotional impulses. It is sustained by the technical possiblity of using sex energy
as a medium of arousing Kundalini for ultimate realization. Presently used as a
medium for changing body chemistry and vitalizing the higher powers of the
human brain.
SHABDABRAHMAN—The Brahman as the primal sound energy.
SHABDA-TANMATRA—Infra-atomic sound potential.
SHABDA—Vibrational energy manifested as sound.
SHAKTI—Power; the secret force permeating all creation. The female, form-
giving, energy of creation and the leading transcendental symbol of Tantra and
Tantric rituals. (Sakti)
SHISHYA—Disciple.
SHIVA—The male transcendental symbol of cosmic energy. Considered the
consort of Shakti, Shiva represents a more harsh and demanding energy than the
gentle and loving Shakti. In Tantra, representing pure consciousness manifesting
in the creative union with Sakti.(Siva)
SHIWA—A Tibetan discipline which bestows the power to prevent misfortune
befalling oneself or selected loved ones.
SIDDHI—Occult or paranormal powers. These are the byproducts of the practice
of Tantra.
SILA—Ethical values.
SIVA—See Shiva.
SMARNANAM—One of the eight aspects of sexual intercourse, allowing the
thoughts to dwell upon it.
SMRITI—Clear awareness, mindfulness.
SOMA—A certain type of vine from which wine was made.
SPHOTAVADA—Concept of sound.
SRISHTI—Creation, one of the three aspects of the world process. The others are
sthiti, evolution or maintenance, and pralaya or samhara, dissolution or
reabsorption into the orginal state in order to emanate again.
STHULA—Gross.
SUDHA—Nectar.
SUKRA—Male seed.
SUKSHMA—Subtle.
SUNYATA—The all-encompassing emptiness.
SUNYA—Void.
SUSHUMNA—A nadi or strong electrical current within the bodies
electromagnetic field which is located in the spinal column.
SUTRAS—Ancient metaphysical and philosophical texts.
SVADISTHANA—The second chakra located behind the genitals and surfacing on
the body at the genitals. This is affected by the color orange and is closely
connected to the Muladhara chakra, the red chakra. It has six “petals.”
SVAHA—commonly used as a terminal word for many mantras.
SWARA SADHANA—Practice in which the yogi causes the breath to flow
through the left nostril from sunrise to sunset; and through the right nostril from
sunset to sunrise.
TAMAS—Power of inertia; the lowest of the three gunas.
TANMATRAS—Infra-atomic energy potentials. Also sense perception; sabda
(sound), sparsa (touch), rupa (form), rasa (taste), gandha (smell).
TANTRA—One of a series of scriptures that emphasize practical ways of self-
enlightenment, especially relating to the power of Shakti. A method of attainment
of higher powers and spiritual flowering through the use of the physical powers
endowed from sexual polarity.
TANTRIC—One who follows the discipline of Tantra.
TANTRIKA—See Tantric.
TAPA—Self discipline.
TARPANA—Libation of water allowed to fall from the palm of the hand.
TATTVA—“Thatness”
TATTVAJNANA—Knowledge of nature, of all powers and principles.
TEJAS—fire, heat, energy.
THRONG-JUG—Tibetan practice of projecting one’s consciousness into, and the
taking over of, another body and mind.
TRATAKA—To look at the space between the eyebrows, or to gaze without
blinking, concentrating on a single point or object.
TRIKONA—A triangle.
TULPA—Tibetan thought-form method in which mental images are brought to
physical form and animated such that they are taken to be real by others. These
may take the form of humans or animals and are difficult to control once
animated.
TUMO—Tibetan word for the psychic fire called Hara by the Japanese and C’hi by
the chinese located behind the pubic bone in the lower abdominal cavity where
there is a large quantity of neurotransmitters stored and an unusually large
bundle of nerves exit the spinal column.
UDANA—The upward movement of vital life-force in pranayama.
UDDIYANA—A mudra in which one alternately contracts and relaxes the
abdominal muscles, rapidly changing from side to side, “like quivering water.”
UDGITHA—The ultimate song.
UPANISHADS—Spiritual doctrines of ancient Indian philosophies composed in
their present form around 1000 BC. The Upanishads is the identity of the
individual soul with the Universal Soul, and is essentially an inquiry into the
nature of the ultimate reality.
UPASANA—Worship.
UPEKSA—Mental balance, equanimity.
URDHVARETA—Sexo-yogic or Tantric exercise in which the polarity of male and
female is controlled through tantric practices. The technique of this is called
“urda-reta” and converts the polarity into vital energy, giving it an upward
direction and opening higher powers of spirituality.
VAIKHARI—The fourth stage of the gross physical sound or vibration
manifesting as word.
VAISESHIKA—One of the six systems of Indian Philosophy; its founder, the
author of Vaiseshikasutra, was Kanada (c. 250 BC-AD 100).
VAJRINI—A tiny duct carrying psychic energy within the subtle body.
VAJROLI-MUDRA—One of the mudras by which sexual energy is conrtolled and
reabsorbed into the body. The adept is expected to draw in the female seed or
energy through the erect penis into this body during the sexual union, a process
called sahaholi. Emission of the semen is not to occur. If semen is released, both
male and female energies are to be drawn back into the body prior to withdrawing
the male member from the vagina. This last process is called amaroli. The term
Vajroli is from vajra or ‘thunderbolt’ which pierces the body in sexual energy.
VAMACHARI—Member of a Tantric School which practices certain disciplines
including the panchatattva.
VAMA-MARGA—“Left hand” or physical sexual path of Tantra.
VAM—The seed mantra of the Svadhisthana chakra.
VARA—A mudra (hand gesture) granting boons.
VARNA—Caste distinctions.
VARUNA—Vedic deity, lord of the oceans.
VAYU—Vital air.
VEDAS—the original source books of India, revealed knowledge of the Aryans,
consisted of 100,000 verses and are in four divisions, the Rig-Veda from about
2000 BC, considered the oldest literature of the world; the Yajur-Veda; the Sama-
Veda; the Atharva-Veda. Written in Vedic, an early Sanskrit dialect.
VIBHUTI—Examples or expression of higher spiritual and physical powers.
VIDYA GUPTA—Secret tradition conveyed from guru to disciple only by word of
mouth.
VIRA—An initiate in Tantric rites is called vira as distinguished from the pasu,
the unitiated, one in bondage.
VIRYA—Effort resulting from a joyful attitude; a spontaneous urge.
VISHNU KNOT—The psychic blockage associated with Anahata, the heart chakra.
VISHNU—The second god of the Hindu trinity, the Preserver.
VISHUDDHA—The chakra situated at the throat level. Sometimes called the
Great Purity center, it has sixteen “petals.”
VISVARUPA—The universal form of the absolute.
VYANA—One of the five vital airs (vayu) distributed in the body.
YAJNA—Sacrifice, one of the main pillars of the Vedic ritual system.
YAKSHA—A female spirit or fairy; also, a guardian angel and, in Tibet, a demon.
YAMA—The first stage of Tantra which restrains and controls the physical.
YAM—The seed mantra of the Anahata chakra.
YANTRA—A form symbol, aid to contemplation, geometrical representation of a
deity.
YOGA—Self discipline; Union; a system of philosophy; the path on which the
individual self is united with the Universal self; teaching about that path of
realization.
YOGIN—A student of yoga; feminine, yogini.
YOGI—One who seeks to attain essential identity with the Reality.
YONI ASANA—Secret sexual positions generally taught by ones guru.
YONI-MUDRA—Yogic posture in which the adept is required to sit in siddhasana
and contract the perenium.
YONISTHANA—“Yoni-place” or perineum, corresponding to the position of the
female opening to the vagina.
YONI—The vulva or female genitals, symbolized by a triangle pointing
downwards.
YUGA—An age or vast cycle of time. The four classical yugas are: Satya yuga,
Treta yuga, Dvapara yuga, and Kali yuga (the present yuga and lowest in powers
of them all).