Thummim tummin (Hebrew) [from tom innocence, integrity, truth]

Truth, perfections; associated as an appurtenance with the breastplate of the Jewish high priest. In the casting of the Urim and Thummim, the latter showed a man's innocence (cf 1 Sam 14:41, where tamin is translated "lots"). The urim and thummim

"were the instruments of magic divination and oracular communication -- theurgic and astrological. This is shown in the following well-known facts: -- (1) upon each of the twelve precious stones was engraved the name of one of the twelve sons of Jacob, each of these 'sons' personating one of the signs of the zodiac; (2) both were oracular images, like the teraphim, and uttered oracles by a voice, and both were agents for hypnotisation and throwing the priests who wore them into an ecstatic condition. The Urim and Thummim were not original with the Hebrews, but had been borrowed, like most of their other religious rites, from the Egyptians, with whom the mystic scarabaeus, worm on the breast by the Hierophants, had the same functions. . . . when the Jewish 'Lord God was called upon to manifest his presence and speak out his will through the Urim by preliminary incantations, the modus operandi was the same as that used by all the Gentile priests the world over" (TG 334).

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

Pantacle (Ancient Greek). The same as Pentalpha; the triple triangle of Pythagoras or the five-pointed star.

It was given the name because it reproduces the letter A (alpha) on the five sides of it or in five different positions - its number, moreover, being composed of the first odd ( and the first even (2) numbers. It is very occult. In Occultism and the Kabala it stands for man or the Microcosm, the "Heavenly Man", and as such it was a powerful talisman for keeping at bay evil spirits or the Elementals.

In Christian theology it refers to the five wounds of Christ; its interpreters failing, however, to add that these "five wounds" were themselves symbolical of the Microcosm, or the "Little Universe", or again, Humanity, this symbol pointing out the fall of pure Spirit (Christos) into matter (Iassous, "life", or man).

In esoteric philosophy the Pentalpha, or five-pointed star, is the symbol of the EGO or the Higher Manas. Masons use it, referring to it as the five-pointed star, and connecting it with their own fanciful interpretation.

(See the word "Pentacle" for its difference in meaning from "Pantacle".)

(See also: Pantacle , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Rohit (Sanskrit) Red; a female deer, hind. In the Puranas Vach, the female aspect of Brahma, assumes the form of a rohit in order to escape the amorous pursuits of her father, Brahma, who nevertheless transformed himself for that purpose into a buck or red deer (rohita), Brahma's color being red.

Events in cosmic evolution and emanation were told under the guise of fairy tales such as the above, in order to hide the meaning from those whose right to know had not yet been established through proper training, self-devotion to truth, and renunciation of the temptations of ordinary life. Here Vach is the feminine form of the Logos, and Brahma is the masculine form; the Logos is a unit, but when worlds are evolved it produces from itself its alter ego for the purpose of the ensuing manvantara, which is called the feminine Logos in which the masculine Logos of intelligence drops the seeds of thought, and from the spiritual matter or feminine Logos emanate the hierarchies of beings.

The two aspects of the Logos are inseparable, but appear as a manifested duality only at the very beginnings of manvantaric time. It is thus seen that when Brahma emanates Vach as one half of his body or self, it means that for the purposes of manvantaric emanational productions, the Logos enters upon its creative activities. Brahma in this case becomes what would in the Christian Trinity be called the Father, Vach the Holy Spirit (always feminine among the early Christians), out of which comes forth the third aspect of the Logos, the manifested Logos. Brahma therefore is the First or Unmanifest Logos, Vach the Second or Manifest-unmanifest Logos; the intelligence creating the hierarchies of beings is the Third or Manifesting Logos. Thus the three Logoi are yet but one, as the Christian Trinity is said to be composed of three persons or masks philosophically, and yet to form one Godhead or Godhood.

(See also: Rohit , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Upeksha upeksa (Sanskrit) [from upeksh to consider carefully + the verbal root iksh to look at]

Indifference, disdain, disregarding, abandonment; also endurance, patience. Enumerated as one of the ten paramitas, similar in meaning to viraga (cf VS 48), although viraga is not commonly enumerated when the paramitas are counted as six.

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

Dharma-Ending Age, Degenerate Age, Last Age.

The present spiritually degenerate era, twenty-six centuries after the demise of Shakyamuni Buddha. The concept of decline, dissension and schism within the Dharma after the passing of the Buddha is a general teaching of Buddhism and a corollary to the Truth of Impermanence. See, for example, the Diamond Sutra (sect. 6 in the translation by A.F. Price and Wong Mou-lam).

The time following Buddha Shakyamuni's demise is divided into three periods:

i)               the Perfect Age of the Dharma, lasting 500 years, when the Buddha's teaching (usually meditation) was correctly practiced and Enlightenment often attained;

ii)             the Dharma Semblance Age, lasting about 1,000 years, when a form of the teaching was practiced but Enlightenment seldom attained;

iii)            the Dharma-Ending Age, lasting some ten thousand years, when a diluted form of the teaching exists and Enlightenment is rarely attained.

 (See also: Dharma-Ending Age, Degenerate Age, Last Age. , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime

(Jpn.: issho-jobutsu)

See: attainment of Buddhahood

(See also: Attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Expedient Means chapter

(Jpn.: Hoben-bon)

The second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in which Shakyamuni Buddha reveals that the purpose of a Buddha's advent in the world is to lead all people to enlightenment. Shakyamuni shows that all people have the potential for Buddhahood, namely, that Buddhahood is not separate from ordinary people but is inherent in their lives.

This principal chapter of the theoretical teaching (first half of the Lotus Sutra), together with the "Life Span" (sixteenth) chapter of the essential teaching (latter half ), constitutes one of the two pivotal chapters of the entire sutra. At the beginning of this chapter, Shakyamuni arises from the deep meditation he had entered in the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, the prologue to the Lotus Sutra, and addresses Shariputra, declaring that the wisdom of the Buddhas is infinitely profound and immeasurable, far beyond the comprehension of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones. Only Buddhas, he says, can realize the true aspect of all phenomena, which consists of appearance, nature, entity, power, influence, internal cause, relation, latent effect, manifest effect, and consistency from beginning to end.

This revelation that all living beings of the Ten Worlds are innately endowed with and can manifest the true aspect identified as "the ten factors of life" establishes a theoretical basis for the subsequent assertion that all people have the potential to attain Buddhahood. Based on this passage, T'ien-t'ai (538-597) established the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.

Shakyamuni then reveals that the Buddhas make their advent for "one great reason": to enable all people to attain the same enlightenment as themselves. According to the chapter, their purpose is "to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings, to show the Buddha wisdom to living beings, to cause living beings to awaken to the Buddha wisdom, and induce living beings to enter the path of Buddha wisdom." Shakyamuni goes on to state that the three vehicles, or the teachings for voicehearers, cause-awakened ones, and bodhisattvas, are not ends in themselves, but are expedient means by which he leads people to the one Buddha vehicle. This concept is referred to as "the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle."

(See also: Expedient Means chapter , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past

(Jpn.: kuon jitsujo)

Shakyamuni's original attainment of enlightenment in the inconceivably remote past as related in the "Life Span" (sixteenth) chapter of the essential teaching (latter fourteen chapters) of the Lotus Sutra. In this chapter, Shakyamuni discloses that he actually attained enlightenment in the distant past. He then illustrates in rather awe-inspiring detail the cosmic proportions of the time that has elapsed since then, the magnitude of which is abbreviated as "numberless major world system dust particle kalpas." Nothing Shakyamuni had taught until this point challenged people's basic assumption that he had attained enlightenment in his present lifetime after sitting in meditation under the bodhi tree near Gaya, India.

This is the assumption upheld in the theoretical teaching (first fourteen chapters) of the Lotus Sutra and in the other sutras. Through this revelation in the "Life Span" chapter, however, Shakyamuni demolishes the belief that he attained enlightenment for the first time in his present lifetime. The "Life Span" chapter says: "In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of meditation not far from the city of Gaya and there attained supreme perfect enlightenment. But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood."

(See also: Attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Asthi Soshirya: Porous or brittle bones; osteoporosis.

(See also: Asthi Soshirya ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

guidance

Connecting with the inner self that provides a sense of knowing as we attune to a higher dimension of self. Until we connect with guidance from within, we need guidance from an outer mentor, a moral code, or ethical philosophy

(See also: Guidance , Body Mind and Soul)

Prakamya:

fulfillment of desire

(See also: Prakamya ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

cosmic energy

1.    Law of movement keeping all atoms vibrating.

2.    Energy permeating all space necessary to all like, known and unknown

(See also: Cosmic energy , Body Mind and Soul)

Alaya-vijnana (Sanskrit) (from alaya abode, dwelling from a-li to settle upon, come close to + vijnana discernment, knowledge from vi-jna to distinguish, know, understand) Abode of discriminative knowledge; the cognizing or discerning faculty, the mental power of making distinctions, hence the higher reasoning. When used mystically as "a receptacle or treasury of knowledge or wisdom," it corresponds very closely to the Vedantic vijnanamaya-kosa, the "thought-made sheath" of the human constitution, the higher manas or reincarnating ego.

In Mahayana Buddhism, alaya-vijnana has acquired a somewhat larger and higher significance: alaya (an abode, in the sense of focus of activity), the prepositional prefix a (meaning position or limitation) with the verb li (to dissolve) signifies solution or coalescence in unity.

Used much as the term human monad is in theosophy, equivalent to the higher manas or even buddhi-manas, it therefore signifies the focus or interior organ of consciousness into which is collected at the end of each incarnation the aroma of the higher experiences during that lifetime, thus forming a kind of treasury.

(See also: Alaya-vijnana , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Holy Word

Divine name or breath. Logos (Greek). Kalma, Ism-i-Azam (Arabic). Nad, Udgit (Sanskrit). Naam, Gurbani, Dani (Hindi). Rauch (Hebrew)

(See also: Holy Word , Body Mind and Soul)

Holy Water. This is one of the oldest rites practised in Egypt, and thence in Pagan Rome. It accompanied the rite of bread and wine. "Holy water was sprinkled by the Egyptian priest alike upon his gods’ images and the faithful. It was both poured and sprinkled.

A brush has been found, supposed to have been used for that purpose, as at this day." (Bonwick’s Egyptian Belief.) As to the bread, "the cakes of Isis were placed upon the altar. Gliddon writes that they were ‘identical in shape with the consecrated cake of the Roman and Eastern Churches’. Melville assures us ‘the Egyptians marked this holy bread with St. Andrew’s cross’.

The Presence bread was broken before being distributed by the priests to the people, and was supposed to become the flesh and blood of the Deity. The miracle was wrought by the hand of the officiating priest, who blessed the food. . . . Rouge tells us ‘the bread offerings bear the imprint of the fingers, the mark of consecration ‘."

(Ibid, page 458.) (See also " Bread and Wine".)

(See also: Holy Water , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Awakening of Faith

(Jpn.: Kishin-ron)

See: Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, The

(See also: Awakening of Faith , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Land of Enlightened and Unenlightened Beings

(Jpn.: bonsho-dogo-do)

Also, Land of Sages and Common Mortals. Here ordinary people of the six paths live together with the sages of the four noble worlds.

See: Land of Sages and Common Mortals

(See also: Land of Enlightened and Unenlightened Beings , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, The

(Jpn.: Daijo-kishin-ron; Chin.: Ta-ch'eng-ch'i-hsin-lun)

Abbreviated as Awakening of Faith. A work traditionally attributed to Ashvaghosha, a Mahayana scholar who lived from the first through the second century, though opinions on this differ. There are two Chinese translations of this work, the first done in 550 by Paramartha, who had gone from India to China, and the second around 700 by Shikshananda, a monk from Khotan in Central Asia. Paramartha's version has been the more popular. Awakening of Faith sets forth the fundamental doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism and attempts to awaken people to faith in it. It specifically takes up the concept of tathata, literally thusness or suchness, meaning the true aspect of reality. It was widely studied in China and Japan, and in China several commentaries on it were written.

(See also: Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Land of Sages and Common Mortals

(Jpn.: bonsho-dogo-do)

Also, Land of Enlightened and Unenlightened Beings. Literally, "the land where common mortals and sages dwell together" and thus called "land of co-dwelling" for short. One of the four kinds of lands described in the doctrine of the T'ien-t'ai school. This is divided into two categories: impure lands of co-dwelling and pure lands of co-dwelling. The impure lands include this saha world, where common mortals of the six paths (the realms of hell, hungry spirits, animals, asuras, human beings, and heavenly beings) and sages of the four noble worlds (the realms of voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas) dwell together. The pure lands include Amida Buddha's Pure Land of Perfect Bliss, where human beings and heavenly beings are said to live together with the people of the three vehicles (voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones, and bodhisattvas) and the Buddha.

(See also: Land of Sages and Common Mortals , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Attaining Buddhahood in one's present form

(Jpn.: soku-shin-jobutsu)

See: attainment of Buddhahood

(See also: Attaining Buddhahood in one's present form , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Attainment of Buddhahood by evil persons

(Jpn.: akunin jobutsu)

See: attainment of Buddhahood

(See also: Attainment of Buddhahood by evil persons , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Enlightened One

(Jpn.: kakusha)

Also, Awakened One. A Buddha. One who is enlightened to the ultimate truth or principle of life and the universe.

(See also: Enlightened One , Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)