five states of the mind: A view of the mind in five parts: conscious mind, subconscious mind, subsubconscious mind, superconscious mind and subsuperconscious mind.

Also about the three phases of mind: A perspective of mind as instinctive, intellectual and superconscious: individual mind, universal mind and instinctive mind.

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

individual mind: At the microcosmic level of individual souls, mind is consciousness and its faculties of memory, desire, thought and cognition. Individual mind is chitta (mind, consciousness) and its three-fold expression is called antahkarana, "inner faculty" composed of:

4)    buddhi ("intellect, reason, logic," higher mind);

5)    ahamkara ("I-maker," egoity);

6)    manas ("lower mind," instinctive-intellectual mind, the seat of desire).

From the perspective of the 36 tattvas (categories of existence), each of these is a tattva which evolves out of the one before it. Thus, from buddhi comes ahamkara and then manas. Manas, buddhi and ahamkara are faculties of the manomaya kosha (astral or instinctive-intellectual sheath). Anukarana chitta, subsuperconsciousness, the knowing mind, is the mind-state of the vijnanamaya kosha (mental or intuitive-cognitive sheath). The aspect of mind corresponding directly to the anandamaya kosha (causal body) is karana chitta, superconsciousness.

See: mind, ahamkara, antahkarana, buddhi, chitta, manas, universal mind, consciousness.

(See also: Individual mind , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

subconscious mind: Samskara chitta ("impression mind").

The part of mind "beneath" the conscious mind, the storehouse or recorder of all experience (whether remembered consciously or not) - the holder of past impressions, reactions and desires. Also, the seat of involuntary physiological processes.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world, Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Subconscious mind , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

universal mind: In the most profound sense, mind is the sum of all things, all energies and manifestations, all forms, subtle and gross, sacred and mundane. It is the inner and outer cosmos. Mind is maya. It is the material matrix. It is everything but That, the Self within, Parasiva, which is timeless, formless, causeless, spaceless, known by the knower only after Self Realization. The Self is the indescribable, unnameable, Ultimate Reality. Mind in its subtlest form is undifferentiated Pure Consciousness, primal substance (called Parashakti or Satchidananda), out of which emerge the myriad forms of existence, both psychic and material.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Universal mind , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

conscious mind: Jagrat chitta ("wakeful consciousness").

The ordinary, waking, thinking state of mind in which the majority of people function most of the day.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world, Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Conscious mind , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Treatise on the Mind Aspiring for Enlightenment, The

(Jpn.: Bodai-shin-ron; Chin.: P'u-t'i-hsin-lun)

A work attributed to Nagarjuna (c. 150-250) and translated into Chinese in the eighth century by Pu-k'ung (Skt Amoghavajra). Another account attributes the work itself to Pu-k'ung. No Sanskrit version is extant. The Treatise on the Mind Aspiring for Enlightenment teaches the important Buddhist concept of aspiration for enlightenment and encourages the development of a mind that seeks Buddhahood. It defines three aspects of a mind that aspires for enlightenment, from the standpoint of Esoteric Buddhism: (1) great compassion to save all living beings, (2) great wisdom to know what sutra is supreme, and (3) meditation. The work also explains various kinds of contemplation put forth in Esoteric Buddhism. Kobo, the founder of the Japanese True Word (Shingon) school, valued this work, and it was widely studied in his school.

(See also: Treatise on the Mind Aspiring for Enlightenment , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

MIND

Mind very much resembles matter, both in its degrees of density and in its peculiarity of design. That's not surprising since the one derives from the other. We might also say that they are mirror images of one another. Just as matter varies in the size of its conglomerations, from the circumferences of giant stars and galaxies to the infinitely small subatomic world of its constituents, so mind ranges through the levels of experience infinitely above and below consciousness. There is no Not-Mind - not ever - except within the Ultimate Void itself.

Hypnosis sheds a faint light on certain levels of consciousness beneath the ordinary. By means of the intense concentration and focusing of attention that hypnosis evokes, we are able to accomplish feats of mind and body that otherwise only yogis know. Hypnosis works by forcing a thread of memory awareness deep into the mind labyrinth, which, however deeply it may penetrate the darkness, is always tied tightly to the ordinary consciousness at the top. Without that Ariadne's thread, the more deeply we were to concentrate on something, the more we would be lost to the world. The more attention we bring to bear on anything, the deeper into a simulacrum of sleep we proceed, as our surroundings and the outside world disappear into this darkness and outer sensations are walled off - presumably to prevent distraction. Since this state of concentration so much resembles sleep, in fact, the slightest lapse of the will sends us drifting towards unconsciousness. Ordinary sleep is a mirror-like repetition of the fragmentation of superconsciousness that we shall see results in abandonment of the self. However, as concentration proceeds ever more inward, the more the inner landscape is illuminated and narrowed. This "inner light" of laser-like consciousness is shared by the vegetable kingdom. (Its character can be recognized in psychedelic intoxication of various kinds). Finally, as we proceed into the unconscious itself we enter a quantum universe of our own. Here we find ourselves in the very "consciousness" of matter itself, with its links to everything in the universe. Presumably, death is but a deeper descent still, a proceeding into the actual heart of Mind, leading into the Void, which is the womb of all manifestations. Ordinary consciousness is obviously the link between higher and lower planes. It is a delicate balance between retreat into self-absorption and abandonment of the self to the sensory experience. It is maintained with great difficulty, for we have a tendency to drift out of it into one or the other of the two diametrically opposed realms of experience that it separates. These realms, of course, are infinitely more attractive than boring, old, routine mind. Within this narrow water-hole of ordinary consciousness, however, lie all the accomplishments and discoveries of human history. Indeed, it is this narrow and unreliable bridge that human society has learned to exploit as "civilization". Unfortunately, it has been examined but superficially and little has been done to stretch its dimensions or protect it from disintegration. Consequently we know almost nothing either of its limitations or its potential powers.

Heightened awareness is the opposed of focused attention or concentration. Attention becomes more and more generalized and cognizant of every petal on every flower in the garden, then every vein in every leaf. . . But now, as attention fans out, mind loses its coherency and begins to fragment. Under the influence of psychedelic drugs the attention is so fragmented that it merges altogether with the outer world and the inner self is abandoned to the chaos of the interface. The loss of the inner self, however, is usually accompanied by extreme panic as it attempts to jump from scintilla to scintilla.

For a time, the fragmentation of expanding mind can be kept under control by the use of amphetamines or cocaine in ever-increasing dosages. By means of these substances, alertness and intelligence are increased because attention is spread infinitely thin across a wider and wider spectrum of sensory experience coming in from the outer world. The "outer world" includes, of course, the consciousness of one's own body, as well as reflexive self-observation. At the same time, the inner self is being supplied with increased energy and speed too, so that it can maintain consciousness of itself and stave off chaos by racing back and forth around the ever-enlarging periphery of experience. As we are all very well aware, however, this path quickly comes to an end.

Fortunately, the heightening of externalized consciousness can be achieved without drugs, through mysticism. The sensory awareness can either be bypassed or used as the vehicle of its own transcendence. If the inner self is voluntarily released to heightened consciousness, which we sometimes refer to as leaving the ego behind in order to enter Nirvana, peace descends at once and chaos is transformed into the so-called "mystical experience." This process, once begun, can continue into such total absorption that the individual consciousness ceases to exist at any point and we could refer to that as a more or less permanent trance.

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

superconscious mind: Karana chitta.

The mind of light, the all-knowing intelligence of the soul. The psychological term is turiya, "the fourth," meaning the condition beyond the states of wakefulness (jagrat), "dream" (svapna), and "deep sleep" (sushupti). At its deepest level, the superconscious is Parashakti, or Satchidananda, the Divine Mind of God Siva. In Sanskrit, there are numerous terms for the various levels and states of superconsciousness. Specific superconscious states such as: vishvachaitanya ("universal consciousness"), advaita chaitanya ("nondual consciousness"), adhyatma chetana ("spiritual consciousness").

See: mind, chitta, consciousness, samskara, Satchidananda, vasana, Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Superconscious mind , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Vastu Shastra

Vastu Shastra is an ancient science energy flow throughout the house/office/factory that allows inflow of fresh air and natural light that promotes health, wealth, peace and happiness.

The most ancient science of architecture that goes back to the Vedic ages, it is composed of specific rules and regulations, set down by sages of those times, that an architect / builder / owner was expected to religiously follow to avoid coming under negative or evil influences. Today, it is looked upon as a highly evolved, comprehensive building philosophy in which directions and shapes are the most vital aspects of designing.

Right from the selection of site to correct slope of land down to the shape of the building, this oldest form of architecture covers nearly every aspect of construction. Not only for houses but temples, palaces, forts, offices...just about every possible form of construction. Often providing relief if not cures to physical or emotional problems simply by relocating an entrance, window or room.

Some of the important points made therein are:

• Directional Alignment
• Shape Of The Site
• Slope Of The Land Surface
• Impact of Gates At Various Locations
• Brahmasthan (Central Zone of the Building)
• The Staircase
• Inner Planning of a House
• Inner Planning of an Office
• Internal Planning of any Industrial Building

See also: Vastu Shastra

(See also: Vastu Shastra , Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Dictionary, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Inner Child Cards: Divination system created by Isha Lerner and professional astrologer Mark Lerner, coauthors of Inner Child Cards: A Journey into Fairy Tales, Myth, and Nature (1992). The system features this book and a fairy-tale adaptation of the 78-card tarot. It reawakens the child within by conducing to interaction of the user and the most potent archetypes of the inner world. Its apparent principle is that humans are divine and have radiant selves: starchildren who live in the heart.

(See also: Inner Child Cards , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

A Theosophical definition of Devachan :

Devachan

[Tibetan, bde-ba-can, pronounced de-wa-chen] A translation of the Sanskrit sukhavati, the "happy place" or god-land. It is the state between earth-lives into which the human entity, the human monad, enters and there rests in bliss and repose.

When the second death after that of the physical body takes place  - and there are many deaths, that is to say many changes of the vehicles of the ego  - the higher part of the human entity withdraws into itself all that aspires towards it, and takes that "all" with it into the devachan; and the atman, with the buddhi and with the higher part of the manas, become thereupon the spiritual monad of man. Devachan as a state applies not to the highest or heavenly or divine monad, but only to the middle principles of man, to the personal ego or the personal soul in man, overshadowed by atma-buddhi. There are many degrees in devachan: the highest, the intermediate, and the lowest. Yet devachan is not a locality, it is a state, a state of the beings in that spiritual condition.

Devachan is the fulfilling of all the unfulfilled spiritual hopes of the past incarnation, and an efflorescence of all the spiritual and intellectual yearnings of the past incarnation which in that past incarnation have not had an opportunity for fulfillment. It is a period of unspeakable bliss and peace for the human soul, until it has finished its rest time and stage of recuperation of its own energies.

In the devachanic state, the reincarnating ego remains in the bosom of the monad (or of the monadic essence) in a state of the most perfect and utter bliss and peace, reviewing and constantly reviewing, and improving upon in its own blissful imagination, all the unfulfilled spiritual and intellectual possibilities of the life just closed that its naturally creative faculties automatically suggest to the devachanic entity.

Man here is no longer a quaternary of substance-principles (for the second death has taken place), but is now reduced to the monad with the reincarnating ego sleeping in its bosom, and is therefore a spiritual triad. (See also Death, Reincarnating Ego)

See also: Devachan , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Karma

Volition, volitional or intentional activity.

Karma is always followed by its fruit, Vipaka. Karma and Vipaka are oftentimes referred to as the law of causality, a cardinal concern in the Teaching of the Buddha.

• Common karma: the difference between personal and common karma can be seen in the following example: Suppose a country goes to war to gain certain economic advantages and in the process, numerous soldiers and civilians are killed or maimed. If a particular citizen volunteers for military service and actually participates in the carnage, he commits a personal karma of killing. Other citizens, however, even if opposed to the war, may benefit directly or indirectly (e.g., through economic gain). They are thus said to share in the common karma of killing of their country.

• Fixed karma: in principle, all karma is subject to change. Fixed karma, however, is karma which can only be changed in extraordinary circumstances, because it derives from an evil act committed simultaneously with mind, speech and body. An example of fixed karma would be a premeditated crime (versus a crime of passion).

 (See also: Karma , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Universal Mind The sum of the states of kosmic consciousness grouped under the human expressions thought, will, understanding, and feeling, collectively expressed in the Sanskrit as mahat. During deep sleep, the human mind is in abeyance on the physical plane, because our consciousness is not affecting the physical brain which in waking hours expresses it, although during the svapna (sleeping-dreaming) state the brain dreams; and similarly in the cosmos at the manvantaric dawn universal mind "was not" because there was as yet no vehicle for its expression through the cosmic hierarchies, this vehicle being the collective Ah-hi or hosts of dhyani-chohans. Universal mind remained during pralaya in a state of intense spiritual-intellectual activity, as the permanent root of subsequent cosmic mental action arising during manvantara. Universal mind is the manifested One, from the still more abstruse One or kosmic unity, and simultaneously with the evolution of universal mind the cosmic supreme One or hierarch also manifests itself in manvantara as avalokitesvara (Logos or atman) through its veil, universal substance or mulaprakriti -- a unity with triple aspects. It is the mother of the manasaputras or sons of mind, and is kosmic buddhi or mahabuddhi.

All generalizing terms such as universal mind have various applications, because nature is built throughout on analogical structure and function, and hence what applies to the great likewise applies to the small. Thus universal mind is applicable either to a solar system, a galactic system, or a system comprising a number of galaxies, etc.

See also MAHAT; UNIVERSAL SOUL

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

Seven aids to enlightenment

(Jpn.: shichi-kakushi or shichi-bodaibun)

Seven practices conducive to enlightenment. They are memory, discrimination, exertion, joy, lightness and ease, meditation, and impartiality (also referred to as indifference).

Memory here means to recollect one's own past deeds and states, and keep them in mind. Discrimination means to discern the true from the false. Exertion means to be ever diligent in the practice of true teachings, and joy to delight in the practice of true teachings.

Lightness and ease means that one's body and mind are at peace and free from burden. Meditation means to keep the mind concentrated and unperturbed, and impartiality to abandon feelings of attachment and keep the mind detached and calm.

The "seven aids to enlightenment" constitutes the sixth of the seven categories within the thirty-seven aids to the way, or the thirty-seven practices leading to enlightenment. The Sanskrit for "aid to enlightenment" is bodhyanga.

(See also: Seven aids to enlightenment , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

consciousness: Chitta or chaitanya.

1)    A synonym for mind-stuff, chitta; or

2)    the condition or power of perception, awareness, apprehension.

There are myriad gradations of consciousness, from the simple sentience of inanimate matter to the consciousness of basic life forms, to the higher consciousness of human embodiment, to omniscient states of superconsciousness, leading to immersion in the One universal consciousness, Parashakti. Chaitanya and chitta can name both individual consciousness and universal consciousness.

Modifiers indicate the level of awareness, e.g.,

-       vyashti chaitanya, "individual consciousness;"

-       buddhi chitta, "intellectual consciousness;"

-       Sivachaitanya, "God consciousness."

Five classical "states" of awareness are discussed in scripture:

1)    wakefulness (jagrat),

2)    "dream" (svapna) or astral consciousness,

3)    "deep sleep" (sushupti) or subsuperconsciousness,

4)    the superconscious state beyond (turiya "fourth") and

5)    the utterly transcendent state called turiyatita ("beyond the fourth").

See: awareness, chitta, chaitanya, mind (all entries).

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

Grape Cure (grape diet): Mono-diet advanced by Johanna Brandt, N.D., Ph.N., author of The Grape Cure ((c) 1928). The front matter of the 1967 edition, a paperback published by Benedict Lust Publications, quotes the author: My discovery of the Grape diet is the direct result of Divine Illumination.

The grape diet consists of grapes or grape juice. Brandt held that the mind operated through magnetism and that the Grape Cure contributed to the purification and buildup of magnetism. She recommended it for appendicitis, cancer, diabetes, gout, pyorrhea, rheumatism, scurvy, sex problems, tuberculosis, unnatural cravings (as for alcoholic beverages, coffee, tea, and tobacco), and other conditions. Under the heading Sex Problems, she stated: By the magical purification of the blood the nerves are stabilized, self-control is established and our God-given heritage of sense and desire is transmitted into divine creative power.

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

BODY-MIND CENTERING: a movement-reeducation approach that explores how the bodyÕs systems contribute to movement and self-awareness. The approach also emphasizes movement patterns that develop during infancy and childhood. Incorporates guided movement, exercise, imagery and hands-on work.

(See also: Body-mind centering , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Polarity energy balancing massage: System based on the work of Randolph Stone (see Polarity Therapy). It has four branches: (1) energy balancing bodywork technique, (2) Polarity Yoga, (3) diet, and (4) body/mind/spiritual psychology.

(See also: Polarity energy balancing massage , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

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Alternative Health Dictionary

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Group mind:

A section of the Switchboard consisting of two or more metapatterns linked into an identity circuit. Term is used for those formed telepathically in rituals but can also be used to refer to mobs or other cases of crowd hysteria.

(See also: Group mind , Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)