Discovering the Interior Life
by
Marco Pallis
Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 2, No. 2. (Spring, 1968) © World Wisdom, Inc.
www.studiesincomparativereligion.com
This title was originally chosen by the Lama Trungpa for a talk he was to have given at a conference of Catholic religious headmistresses just after New Year 1968 at "Spode House" near Rugeley, Staffs. Being unexpectedly prevented from keeping this date, the Lama asked me to act in his stead; this new version of the talk was afterwards published in the monthly "Spode House Review" and is reproduced here with the kind concurrence of its editor. Given the nature of the audience, no attempt was made to stick to a Buddhist terminology; Pali and Sanskrit words have been replaced by expressions more familiar to Christians. Both sources have been freely drawn on in the shape of quotations and other illustrative material. Emphasis all along has been less on anti-thesis than on intelligible dialogue.
Marco Pallis
REVEREND MOTHERS AND SISTERS,
When the Venerable Lama Trungpa asked me to stand in for him at this conference I confess to having felt some dismay at the prospect of replacing one whose whole training, from early childhood, was conditioned by the aim of developing the Interior Life to the fullest possible extent. Schooled in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism under its most contemplative form with saints for his instructors, the Lama Trungpa is unusually qualified to discourse on the means whereby a human soul may be opened to its own latent possibilities of illuminationto the "Kingdom of Heaven that is within you," to quote the phrase used by Christ Himself. It is a real pity that a conjunction of unforeseen causes prevented the Lama from attending your meeting, but this could not be helped; he wishes me to say how sorry he is to have disappointed you. He had, however, told me something about the line he intended to take when addressing you and this evidently has been some guidance to me. I can only express the hope that what I am going to say ties up sufficiently with the specific question raised in your Conference prospectus, namely how to help the young people placed under your care to form themselves in the love and knowledge of the Lord in a manner that will be, not merely conceptual, but also effective.
This in fact is a question that concerns us one and all, be we young or old, clever or simple, European or Asian, religious or lay; quite simply, the supplying of an answer to this question is the purpose of religion under all its forms. Buddhism expresses this truth by saying that, for any human enterprise to be brought to proper fulfilment, Wisdom and Method must operate together, as one conjoint principle; they must keep in step with one another, otherwise the enterprise will be frustrated as a result of its own inherent unbalance. The Tibetans convey this lesson by the following parable: two men were both trying to get to the City of Nirvana, but neither of them could make much headway because the one was blind while the other was lame, so they decided to join forces; the lame man climbed on the blind man's back and pointed out the way (this is Wisdom) while the man who had sound legs (this is Method) carried his companion along the road. This sets the pattern of every spiritual life; all the rest is but a matter of variable circumstance and detail.
The same idea is expressed traditionally by saying that Method and Wisdom are husband and wife, who may never be divorced. In the Buddhist iconographical symbolism Method is always depicted as a male figure, Wisdom by a female; when the two appear together on the same ikon they are usually shown in conjugal embrace, a fact which in the past has often been misinterpreted in an obscene sense by uninformed European observers; had they but known it, it was their own minds that were thus affected, since these particular ikons illustrating what might be called the "mystical marriage of Wisdom and Method" are regarded by Buddhists as conveying a message of austerest purity; to suspect anything different would, for them, savour of blasphemy.
It is noteworthy that though Method is represented as playing the male part in the Divine Alchemy, that is to say in the process of trans-muting the lead of our creatural ignorance into the gold of the saving Enlightenment, it is Wisdom, female counterpart of Method, who will first be encountered by the human aspirant and the reason for this is evident; there must be some kind of initial vision of the Truth, a first glimpse of Wisdom, before any man will feel impelled to alter the direction of his life by turning his back on the world and its manifold allurements in order to seek God. This change of direction, which the word "conversion" by its etymology expresses, itself implies an initial grace thanks to which one suddenly becomes aware of the futility of one's present state and, by the same token, becomes aware of the possibility of reaching a better and happier state. This grace, the gift of faith, marks the first awakening of Wisdom in the soul; automatically it will give rise to the question "what must I do (or avoid) in order to reach a goal I now discern in the dim distance? What road am I to follow?" This very word "what?" implies a prayer for Method: all the prescriptions, positive or negative, of Religion can in fact be grouped under one or other of our two main headings: its doctrinal formulations indicating what is to be realized and why, correspond to wisdom under various aspects; while the ritual, moral and artistic equipment provided by religion may properly be grouped under the heading of "methodic supports" at various levels. The supreme instrument of Method is the Life of Prayer, taken in the widest sense; Buddhists would rather say "the practice of Meditation," a matter of terminology that indicates a certain difference of viewpoint but certainly not any essential incompatibility.
In this same connection it should be pointed out that, from a Buddhist standpoint, a too preponderantly abstract presentation of theological truth is dangerous inasmuch as this can easily degenerate into mere philosophising, into a mental art for art's sake. A theology offered without its concurrent means of active verification in the soul, that is to say as an isolated wisdom, will at best lead the mind into an intellectual dead end; at worst, it will engender its own opposite, since typically the world's heresies have all arisen from an unbalanced presentation of some truth or other; errora failure in respect of wisdomalways will imply a parallel failure in respect of method and vice versa: one cannot afford to forget for a minute the essential interdependence of the two great spiritual factors. The great value of tradition is that it serves to maintain the polar balance between theory and practice, between wisdom and its effective realization, through calling into play the appropriate spiritual means. If wisdom is by definition concerned with knowing, method for its part is concerned with being. In fact, one can only really claim to know some-thing by being that thing; to mistake a merely mental appreciation for knowledge is the classical trap of the philosophers. Realization can be said to take place at the moment when being and knowing coincide.
If one were called upon to describe the process of spiritual regeneration or enlightenment as a whole, one could perhaps best qualify it in terms of a circuit, with wisdom calling forth its appropriate method at each stage of the way with the result that this same wisdom will become integrated in the soul as a henceforth inalienable element of one's being. The Way starts from wisdom and ends in wisdom: Buddhism by its own showing offers itself as a series of methods calculated to lead suffering beings more or less directly to Enlightenment; this is Buddhism's specific "note."
To give the parallel version: Christ offers Himself to men both as "Light"another name for Wisdomand as "the Way"; "I am the Way"He could equally well have said "I am the Means": the prayer "light up our way, O Lord !" sums up man's most essential needs. What we call the "Interior Life" is but an answer to that prayer.
* * *
Before entering on a discussion of Method under its more technical aspects, it were well to give our attention briefly to two important conditions attaching to any form of contemplative discipline if it is to be fruitful; the first of these conditions relates to the attitude a man should take up versus Nature and the things of nature, whereof he himself is one thing among others; while the second relates to what may be called "the mythological mantle of Truth," this being one among several means whereby divine wisdom has chosen to reveal its secrets in intelligible form, either in certain parts of Holy Scripture or else through the medium of a traditional folklore, for both these ways of conveying certain truths have been in evidence throughout the world. If our own rationalistic education has rendered us largely impervious to this mode of communication, then it is important for us to re-animate the missing faculty, since a mind that has become closed in this respect will certainly be gravely hampered in its discovery of the Life Within.
To take the question of man's place in Nature first of all: quite obviously mankind, in order to exist, are compelled to draw on the things around them for their sustenance and in various other ways; as far as that goes man does not differ greatly from the cow or the tiger or any other living thing, except that his ingenuity in procuring what he wants exceeds theirs and so do his appetites, a fact which, religiously speaking, is hardly a cause for self-satisfaction; rather should it be deemed a cause for self-questioning.
To suggest, as has been far too commonly the case, that the right to use the fruits of this world's garden, as recorded in Genesis, can be equated with permission to indulge an irresponsible and limitless cupidity, destructiveness and even cruelty towards our non-human fellow-creatures is an insult to the Creator, firstly because it makes nonsense of the statement that "God hateth nothing of what He has made" and secondly, because it restricts the idea of the usefulness of things to their material possibilities alone, and even to only a part of these: their illuminative uses, as signs or reminders of God's merciful presence are ignored. The beauty of animals and plants, for instance, and the intrinsic qualities which make of each created thing a unique and irreplaceable witness to one or other Divine aspectall this is food for the Intellect, chosen instrument of intuitive contemplation where-with man is enabled to behold mysteries far beyond the reach of his discursive reason. It is this transcendent faculty, which since Adam's fall has been as if asleep, that needs reawakening in such a way as to allow all our other faculties of perception and action to group them-selves harmoniously around it: the word "Buddha," which means "the Wake," testifies to this crowning need. For Buddhists, goodness is first of all intelligent, since it leads to God; sin, on the other hand, is stupid, it proceeds from ignorance and leads back to ignorance and its mere "badness" pales beside its principal disadvantage, which is to thicken the veil between ourselves and the Divine. Buddhism always tends to see in sin a greater or lesser degree of incompetence and in virtue a proof of skill; a Buddhist would readily agree with the statement that Christian "love," that which makes a man yearn to know God and experience His constant presence already here in this world, is firstly and lastly an activity of awareness. As for the love of neighbour, in which Buddhism includes all that shares in man's capacity to sufferitself a consequence of separation from the Divine Centrethis is both a logical and indispensable condition of deliverance from suffering through a clear discerning of its root-cause: Christ's words "inasmuch as ye have done so to the least of these, ye have done it unto Me" will always find a ready echo in any Buddhist heart.
A compassionate attitude both in thought and practice towards all that lives is one of the keys of a true contemplation: it is preceded, in a Buddhist religious training, by intense meditation on the theme of the impermanence, including suffering and death, which man and all other creatures have to share. This thought is inculcated early in the Buddhist child; such a remark as "look at that horrid moth, let's kill it" would be quite unthinkable in a Buddhist home. In Tibet, to swear at a horse or mule was a thing unknown let alone to beat it. Wild animals and birds were mostly half-tame because they had so little cause to fear their human neighbours and their peaceful proximity was in fact a particularly powerful factor in moulding the spiritual outlook of the people at largean object-lesson in what Eden must have felt like for Adam.
Let me quote you one passage from the writings of a great saint which perfectly sums up the attitude I have just been describing: "What is a charitable heart? It is a heart aflame with charity for the whole of Creation, for men, for birds, for beasts, for devils, for all creatures. He who has this heart will be unable to remember or see a creature without his eyes filling with tears because of the compassion that grips his heart; and that heart is softened and cannot endure to see even a slight pain inflicted on a creature or to hear of it through others; this is why such a man does not cease praying also for animals, for the enemies of the Truth, for those who do evil to him, so that they may be protected and purified; he even prays for reptiles, moved by an infinite pity which is awakened in the heart of those who assimilate themselves to God."
Surely a world so schooled would be a world far less contentious and destructive than the one we know: but now, I must make a confession, since I have been playing something of a spiritual practical joke on you all, if such an expression be not far-fetched! The quotation I have just read out to you does indeed well express the Buddhist spirit; but it is in fact taken from a Christian saint, St. Isaac the Syrian. The Desert Fathers, the Celtic hermits, St. Francis all represent a similar trend. Contemplation of the divine mysteries and a fellowship with Nature go hand in hand; this is the point I have been trying to make. And now for the second condition alluded to above, the function of "mythological communication": this need not occupy us long, yet some mention of the subject is indispensable.
Latterly a widespread movement has made itself felt in the Christian West the aim of which, as its supporters put it, is to "demythologise" the Church's teachings: this is a most sinister development, one fraught with peril both to faith and to the object of faith which is none other than Truth. This anti-mythological bias proceeds from two evident causes, namely, first a feeling of defeatism versus modern science, its discoveries and its gibes and secondly, an inability to see that it is quite in the nature of things for Revelation to use various means of communicating its message, traditions having a mythological form being one kind of means among others and indispensable in their own place. Every religion contains this element to some extent, while in certain religionsHinduism for instancethis enters in very largely as I was myself able to observe when living in the hills of North Bengal: my gardener, for instance, had a strongly developed sense of the omnipresence of God of which the evidence, for him, was for the most part vehicled by Scriptural narratives of a mythological character, therefore also timeless; historical considerations hardly entered in.
Like Christianity and Islam, Buddhism has a strongly affirmed historical framework; the life of the Founder can be timed and featured and its episodes provide the prototype whereon a man's spiritual life is to be modelled. However, even in these traditions there are to be found other concordant ways of conveying the saving message and the respective Scriptures all include portions which are neither ascribable to the historical unfolding of the religion in question nor yet to its purely doctrinal side; they narrate mythological happenings which, to be understood, have to be read not physically but meta-physically. This does not mean, of course, that these stories are of human invention and therefore lacking in truthindeed quite the contrary; their place in the corpus of revealed truth is guaranteed by the fact that certain lessons can best be conveyed by this means and thanks to the very fact that they take one into a metaphysical dimension that is as real today as yesterday and will remain equally so tomorrow.
The Old Testament, in particular, is rich in this kind of ever-actual narrative; a mind that can respond aright to such a teaching has to be free of a certain self-imprisonment in time and space. Many people are apt to confuse the miraculous with the mythological, which is wrong inasmuch as miracle, whenever it occurs, belongs by definition to the order of historical happenings; a miracle is an exceptional manifestation in this world of an influence of a transcendent order on a particular occasion. Those who say they wish to remove the mythological element from the Church's inheritance may not admit, even to themselves, that after mythology miracles will be their next target; a false mental association of these two elements will nevertheless make this likely. Where possible, miraculous happenings will be explained away, as by saying of the Virgin Birth that the mother of Jesus was so pure a soul that her purity was "tantamount to virginity" or some such thing: I fully expect this to happenif this warning proves to have been needless, so much the better! Common prudence, however, requires us to be prepared for this and other similar attempts, for pointers in this direction are now too many to be overlooked by anyone who is not blind.
In the case of happenings that could properly be qualified as pertaining to a sacred mythology, such as the story of the Ark or the Tower of Babel, those who wish to discredit them start off from an assumption that such happenings are either historical or else mere fiction; they can discern no other choice. What they fail to see is that even if these stories be accepted as literal fact, as was the case with our ancestors, this in no wise deprives the stories of their power to convey truth. Where a genuine myth is concerned its illuminative effectiveness operates outside the alternative "belief or disbelief"; whosoever cannot receive it thus will fail to understand it.
Let the two afore-mentioned examples from the old Hebrew mythology tell us what they can: firstly the Ark. From its description in Genesis XI, complete with measurements given in cubits, it is obvious that a person in the Middle Ages, for instance, had he felt so minded, could easily have found out that a vessel of that size could not possibly have accommodated all the known kinds of animals, let alone the food needed to keep them and also Noah's family alive for forty days or more. Since there is not the slightest reason for supposing that people then were stupider than nowadays and many reasons for believing the contrary, one has to explain their apparent lack of interest in certain questions of probability or otherwise by the fact that, for them, the dimension of sacred happenings was accepted as a whole, for what it plainly told them; its intrinsic truth shone too brightly to require corroborating through a meticulous canvassing of details. The medieval mind, for all the presence there of human defects as well as virtues, was a whole mind and so was its view of the Cosmos; the Gospel references to receiving the truth "as a little child" well describe this attitude. For such a mentality, the story of the Ark retains all its intrinsic validity quite apart from any possibility that at a certain moment in time an extensive flood might in fact have overwhelmed part of the inhabited world and thus given rise, in retrospect, to this marvellous story: its lesson is for all time, for the flood (or its equivalent) is always on the point of overwhelming some section of humanitytoday it might well be humanity as a whole that is thus threatenedand escape from the disaster is always by way of an ark of sorts to which only those who fear the Lord can gain admission because this very fear spells intelligence: the fate of those who become oblivious of God (they may appear to be quite kindly people) is always to be drowned in the consequences of their own forgetfulness.
The Tower of Babel is another such universal myth, also peculiarly applicable to our own time, as it happens. Here again, it is irrelevant whether some ruler in ancient Mesopotamia may or may not have inaugurated an ambitious project of constructing an edifice bigger than ever before and describable as "reaching to heaven"; the Empire State building at New York almost answers to that description, especially on days when the top is swathed in cloud while the street below is clearin this respect it can emulate many a natural hill. All this remains beside the point, however, because the spirit of Babel is some-thing that is repeating itself continually in human history, in the form of megalomaniac plans wherein Man sees himself as the "conqueror of Nature" and as the archplanner who can manipulate the future at his own sweet pleasure. The day some Russian or American space-man first sets foot upon the Moon you can be sure that the world will be treated to a babel of blasphemous boasting exceeding all that has been heard hitherto; for the "confusion of tongues" one has but to substitute "confusion of minds" and the Bible story will be lived over again with almost literal similarity.
It is moreover noticeable that those who have taken part in recent cosmonautical exploits have been alike in one thing, namely that their comments relayed from the heights of space have been of a uniformly abysmal triviality that contrasts disconcertingly with the supposed greatness of their achievement, let alone with the courage these people undoubtedly have shown: this is the story of Babel repeating itself with a vengeance! Who then shall say that this story has lost its relevance for us moderns and should now be "demythologised" into oblivion?
* * *
As you doubtless are expecting, the latter part of this discussion will contain some reference to the question of "method" in its positive sense of aids to concentration or, to give it also its negative sense, of hindrances to distraction. Needless to say, this is where the Venerable Trungpa himself will be most sadly missed by us today, for though still young he has already had a wide and varied experience of handling this matter of practical training in the contemplative art, both in relation to the ever-varying needs of individual disciples and, at a more external level, when offering general guidance to groups. Though I cannot hope to emulate him in this respect, I can at least suggest that consider-able profit may be derived through reading his book Born in Tibet which was published not long ago by Allen and Unwin. Though this is presented as a personal account of the Lama's early life and training leading gradually to his adventurous escape with a band of refugees in 1959, the book episodically contains much that throws light on the power of a steady Contemplation to regulate Action even under the utmost stress of danger and hardshipa lesson to our contemporary activists. Whoever will but read between the lines will find in this book much that speaks to his condition.
Since we are on the subject of books, I take this opportunity of drawing your attention to another book by a contemporary Catholic author, Dom Aelred Graham, an English Benedictine who spent many years in America as director of a large boys' school. As a result of experience in the practice of meditation in company with some Buddhist friends, Dom Aelred wrote a book[1] to show how certain current Buddhist techniques might be adapted advantageously for Christian use with the aim of deepening the contemplative awareness of Christians at this time when the pull is mostly in the opposite direction: as you see, his motives and your own are much the same in this respect.
With much sagacity, Dom Aelred Graham has arranged his material according to the plan that is traditional in the Buddhist East; that is to say, he has presented it under the two-fold heading of theory or wisdom and of practice or method whereby that same wisdom may be experienced in one's inmost beingthe only way to know, as has been said already. Every initiatic teaching, in Tibet or Japan, has always rested on the authority of a particular sûtra or group of sûtras, that is to say on certain inspired treatises or selected portions of the Scriptures related directly to the method in question and from which the method itself draws its technical apparatus in appropriate form; normally these sûtras would be memorized before embarking on the corresponding course of meditation. In Dom Aelred's book this wisdom-function is filled by a quite remarkable series of quotations mostly drawn from St. Thomas Aquinas and disposed in such a way that the subsequent comments about ways and means will at once be recognisable as "enactments" (if one may so use the word) of the truths expressed specifically by those quotations. I feel sure that this book will be of interest to many of you here and it may well be that its author, when he eventually returns to this country, can usefully be consulted in connection with this whole question of meditational practices suited to the present needs of the Church.
Incidentally, in a talk on this same subject given by Dom Aelred Graham to the Anglican Congregation of St. John the Divine in Boston he mentioned one fact which will surely interest you greatly: in his school, quite unprompted by himself, a number of the boys came and asked to be allowed to join in a session of what they called "Catholic Zen meditation" each Sunday for half an hour of their free timeDom Aelred said this had been one of the most moving experiences of his life at the school. What this shows above all is that the young, given the right example exerted through the presence of a revered teacher even more than through any spoken exhortation, may well discover in themselves that very possibility of contemplation which provides faith with its inward dimension and with an unshakable defence. This does not mean, of course, that the spoken or written word has ceased to count, where these profound matters are concerned; what it means is that wherever wisdom at any degree is content to shine with its own light, by an "activity of presence," its communication will be both more clear and more far-reaching.
To return to Buddhists and their practices: certain methods of inducing a habit of attention or "mindfulness," as it is most commonly called, have been in current use since the beginning whereof an example is the practice of watching the alternate in-coming and out-going breaths over a longer or shorter period; this method remains classical where beginners are concerned and it has many variants. Similarly in Hinduism exercises in breath-control are in common use, as also a whole body of quasi-gymnastic movements and posturings whereby rhythm and poise are promoted in body and mind together: a number of instructors in these methods have found their way to the West many of whom, however, offer them as a means of promoting bodily and psychic health apart from any religious purpose; whatever benefits may accrue from such a restricted application of these methods, the results will always suffer from a taint of profanation, as indeed happens with many things familiar to us todaytobacco smoking, for instance, started as the profanation of a sacramental rite of the Red Indians which the white settlers in America prostituted to a mere luxury of the senses. Carried out under proper direction, however, this kind of physical or psychological adjunct to meditation can have great uses, provided the indispensable link with a traditional wisdom is maintained from start to finish.
It is not, however, about this kind of method that I wish to speak today, not being expert in this field. Nor is there much point in discoursing on some of the more elaborate meditative schemes belonging to the Tantrik form of spirituality, as found in India and Tibet, for the simple reason that these methods require conditions such as would not easily be realizable in a Western framework, save by exception. The Venerable Trungpa is in fact qualified to initiate disciples in several of these methods; but I do not think that these would transpose into a Christian medium just as they stand, though theoretic-ally the possibility of adaptation in certain cases need not be excluded altogether. What can be said, however, in a more general way is that in a time of growing alienation and disbelief apparatus of a very complex kind hardly fits the need, which calls for a discipline that is at once "central," that is to say expressive of the most central truths of the tradition, and at the same time extremely concise as to the instruments it sets in motion, thus allowing of their methodic exercise under all kinds of circumstances, be it even the most unfavourable.
Such an instrument is typically represented by the invocation of a Sacred Name (the Indian japa) or else of a short formula in which a Sacred Name is found enshrined: all the great traditions are agreed in saying that this way of concentrating attention and pervading a person's whole being with continual reminders of God is a spiritual means particularly suited to the needs of the Dark Age, when religion is at a low ebb and the forces of godless subversion seem to be a mounting tide. In Buddhist Japan, for instance, this method is associated with the school known as Jodo or "Pure Land," in which the name of the Buddha Amitâbha (meaning Infinite Light) is the invocatory means provided. In Tibetan Buddhism a similar means exists in the form of the six-syllabled phrase OM MANI PADME HUM, of which the manifold and complex mystical correspondences has caused it to be described as "the quintessence of the wisdom of all the Buddhas"; but time does not allow of more than a bare mention of the sacred formula in question. In the Islamic tradition the Name of God (in Arabic Allah) is recognised as the spiritual means, par excellence: its invocation, in the Sufi confraternities which exist for the sole purpose of fostering the Inward Life, is known as dhikr, remembrance; the Sufi initiations, instituted for this purpose of bringing about the "divine encounter" in the heart, all trace back their lineage to the Prophet himself.
Perhaps some inkling of how an invocatory method is intended to operate in the soul may be afforded by recalling the words of a Lama whom I met near Shigatse in Tibet when I was staying in the district in 1947; after describing some other methods of a more specialised kind he offered the following advice: "If a man has been given a particular task to accomplish, this should be carried out with diligence according to the needs of the moment. This having been done, one's remaining time should be filled up with the invocation, leaving no gaps."
Thinking afterwards about that Lama's advice, it came into my mind that here was a case for applying the lesson of the Gospel story about the man whom an unclean spirit had just quitted. The text goes on to relate how this unclean spirit wandered away through dry places vainly seeking rest until it began to feel homesick for its previous haunt within the man, so it came back there to find the place empty and nicely tidied upthe text says "swept and garnished"as if awaiting a new occupant. Then that evil spirit proceeded to recruit seven more wickeder than itself and they all came to dwell there so that the last state of that man was worse than the first.
Here we have a perfect picture of the process of distraction in the mind. If one distracting thought be expelled, a horde of other distracting thoughts will crowd in to fill the vacant place, for will-power alone will not suffice to fight them off. What is needed is a wholesome presence that will leave no room for anything else of a harmful kind: this presence is the Name and its continual invocation. So long as the Name is there, no unclean spirit can gain access to that soul; let but this state become an established habit of unbroken attention, and the distractions will give up the struggle, leaving the man in peace.
After what has been said about the Oriental religions, it will be no cause of surprise to find an analogous spiritual method in the Christian tradition itself; indeed it could scarcely be otherwise, since such a way corresponds to a basic human need, outside all questions of religious form. In fact a quintessential formula of the kind referred to above exists in the Churches of the Eastern Rite under the name of the Jesus Prayer, being invoked there in much the same way as in the traditions of the farther East and giving rise to a whole spiritual method that goes under the name of "Hesychasm" from the Greek word hesychia, meaning "tranquillity," that peace in Christ which is the recompense of saints in this world and the next.
Probably a good many of those here present will have read a small book published under its English title of The Way of a Pilgrim, its author being an unidentified Russian of the mid-Nineteenth century at that time the Jesus Prayer and its invocation was the lamp lighting up the way of salvation for many pious men and women both in Russia and the Balkan countries; monastic centres or hermitages where eminent Masters of this spiritual art were known to reside attracted a continuous stream of pilgrims drawn from all sections of the population. Such a Master was called Geron in Greek and Staretz in Russian, both of which mean "old man." The "Elder" Zosima, in Dostoievsky's Brothers Karamazov is a somewhat fanciful portrait of such a Master. The most famous centre where the Hesychast methods were practised and taught was the Holy Mountain of Athos, having been so since Byzantine times; but the roots of this form of Christian yoga, as it may well be called, can be traced much further back, to the hermit communities of the Desert Fathers in Egypt and other parts of the Christian East.
In the Eighteenth Century a specially selected collection of Greek texts from the Fathers was compiled and first printed in Venice under the name of Philokalia, its purpose being to provide the appropriate sapiential foundation for those following the Hesychast way; this collection was soon translated into Russian, being also slightly modified in the process. Two sizeable volumes of extracts from this book exist in English, translated by E. Kadloubovsky and G. E. H. Palmer, the publisher being Faber and Faber. I recommend this book to your notice with all my heart.
The Jesus Prayer itself consists of a single sentence which runs as follows: Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me (or "on us" or "on me a sinner," since all three variants exist); quite evidently, this formula sums up the essentials of the Christ-given wisdom in relation to human need: as a Buddhist would say, this is an upaya or spiritual means of the greatest efficacy and power. It is equally evident that, as far as the prayer itself goes, it is accessible and appropriate to every baptised person as such; moreover its conciseness makes it suitable for all possible occasionseven in the presence of scoffers and persecutors it can be pronounced unobtrusively, just as it also lends itself to being whispered by the dying with their last conscious breath.
Seeing that the Jesus Prayer belongs historically to Eastern Christianity, it may be asked by some whether its transplantation to the West at this late hour would be entirely appropriate, using it of course in its Latin translation of Domine Jesu Christe Fill Dei miserere nobis. Could not the Rosary, as an existing Western form, fill the same purpose? This is a question I do not feel prepared to answer outright; all one can say is that "Invocation," in the methodic sense given to its practice in the East, seems to require a maximum of concentration in the form so used, so that a more extended formula, though not inferior per se since it relates to the same wisdom, may not in practice lend itself quite so well to the purpose the invocation is intended to foster. According to one Spiritual Master, the natural equivalent for a Western follower of the method might well be either Christe eleison (which in effect is a compressed form of the Jesus Prayer) or else simply the twofold name Jesu-Maria, whereof the concentration of both light and power is too evident to require comment. Another point to note in this connection, one that has an important "technical" bearing on this whole method, is that the less the formula used lends itself to rational analysis, the better will it match that inward synthesis of which it is destined to become the operative support: it is the Holy Name, sonorous presence of the divine grace enshrined in the formula, which is both the source of its power to illuminate and a sharp sword to cut off ignorance and distraction at the root. The Name when treasured in the heart may be likened to a spark of that same Untreated Light which shone into the faces of the three Apostles on Mount Tabor and out of which, as the Hesychast tradition itself teaches, the crowns of God's saints both here and hereafter are made.
In point of fact, a number of Catholics known to the writer have long been using the Jesus Prayer and there is no reason why others should not follow their example, if so minded. In Greece and Russia the Prayer can be invoked on a rosary or else aloud or silently according to circumstances: with those in whom the invocation becomes fully operative, the formula begins to repeat itself spontaneously in the heart, by night as well as day. Christian saints have testified to this fact, and so have Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim saints who have followed corresponding methods: in every case it is a Divine Name that is at the centre of the process, being first the apparent object of invocation and then becoming its subject, until finally the subject-object distinction disappears altogether. This, as Buddhists would say, is the consummation of the marriage of Wisdom and Method in the heartbut here words fail entirely and only silence remains to express this supreme experience.
One question relating to the Invocation is likely to be put by some: those who have written from actual knowledge in this connection have been almost unanimous in emphasising the need to practice this method under direction of a Spiritual Master who has himself proceeded far along this way; as in the case of those following one of the Indian forms of yoga, an intending Hesychast disciple is warned of dangers that might arise from an unguided use of a spiritual instrument of such great inherent potency, for instance through the development of unusual psychic powers whereby attention might be diverted from "the one thing needful" to the ego of the person himself, as proud possessor of the powers in question: this is always a danger, especially when a man is passing from the elementary to the more advanced stages of a spiritual training, when the bodily faculties have been considerably disciplined but the far more elusive psychic faculties are still half out of control. For this reason, it is far better to work under direction of a qualified Master who thus becomes, for the disciple, the earthly representative of Christ in relation to the method and should, as has been said again and again, be treated as if it was the Saviour Himself who was imparting the instruction. Given this need for qualified direction, it may well be asked where today is such direction to be sought? For it is in no wise to be supposed that qualification for this spiritual office somehow goes with the priestly office, the latter being sacrificial and ritual but not per se connected with the initiatic function of a "director of souls": if the sacerdotal office represents the organised side of the tradition, the office of Spiritual Master represents "the Spirit that bloweth where it listeth"; if the Spiritual Master happens to be a priest and monk (as in fact has usually been the case in practice) this must nevertheless be accounted an "accident" in respect of his special vocation.
When I saw the Lama Trungpa some time ago I put the question to him "what shall I answer if I am asked where qualified guidance may be found?" His reply was that if those who are now seeking will take up the practice of meditation in faith and hope or, to put it still better, in an active spirit of "prayerful expectancy," teachers will spring up when the moment is ripe for their presence. This is a characteristically Tibetan attitude. But in fact, the Hesychast Fathers had already foreseen this contingency long ago; after dwelling at length on the imperative need to find a Master and put oneself under his direction they add that if despite all efforts no Master is found, the aspirant is not to despair but is to practice the Jesus Prayer with fear and love, instructing himself where possible through reading: as they say, he must throw himself confidently upon the mercy of Christ the Lord, imploring him to be his teacher and, if the aspiration be a genuine one, surely God's grace will come to his aid. As you see, this reply does not differ essentially from what the Lama Trungpa advised; one is never justified, however discouraged one may feel, in behaving like the man in the parable who only received one talent; one cannot compel the Grace of God, but one can always keep oneself in the disposition of responding to it if and when it chooses to manifest itself.
Properly speaking, it is the Interior Life itself that chooses the man, not the contrary, let this also be remembered. To wait upon the Lord by day and by night is already to be well on the way: there is no time or place where man is left devoid of all spiritual opportunity, unless it be that he himself refuses or ignores the divine mercy that surrounds him.
NOTES
[1] Zen Catholicism, Collins, London, 1964.
Original editorial inclusions that followed the essay in Studies:
The truth is that there is really no such thing as a “profane realm” opposable in some way to a “sacred realm”; there is simply a “profane point of view,” which is really nothing but the point of view of ignorance. It is for this reason that profane science, as understood by the moderns that is to say, can fairly be described as “ignorant knowledge”…: it is knowledge of an inferior order, remaining at the level of the lowest degree of reality and blind to everything that transcends it or to any aims loftier than its own, as well as to any principle capable of assuring it a legitimate place, however humble, among the various orders of knowledge as a whole; imprisoned irremediably within the relative and narrow field in which it has striven to proclaim itself independent, thereby of its own accord severing all connection with transcendent truth and supreme knowledge, it amounts to no more than an aimless and illusory form of knowledge, issuing out of nothing and leading nowhere.
René Guénon
|
gnosis(A) "knowledge"; spiritual insight, principial comprehension, divine wisdom.
(B) knowledge;
gnosis is contrasted with
doxa (opinion) by Plato; the object of
gnosis is
to on, reality or being, and the fully real is the fully knowable (
Rep.477a); the Egyptian Hermetists made distinction between two types of knowledge: 1) science (
episteme), produced by reason (
logos), and 2)
gnosis, produced by understanding and faith (
Corpus Hermeticum IX); therefore
gnosis is regarded as the goal of
episteme (ibid.X.9); the -idea that one may ‘know God’ (
gnosis theou) is very rare in the classical Hellenic literature, which rather praises
episteme and hieratic vision,
epopteia, but is common in Hermetism, Gnosticism and early Christianity; following the Platonic tradition (especially Plotinus and Porphyry), Augustine introduced a distinction between knowledge and wisdom,
scientia and
sapientia, claiming that the fallen soul knows only
scientia, but before the Fall she knew
sapientia (
De Trinitate XII).
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) logos(A) "word, reason"; in Christian theology, the divine, uncreated Word of God (
cf. John 1:1); the transcendent Principle of creation and revelation.
(B) the basic meaning is ‘something said’, ‘account’; the term is used in explanation and definition of some kind of thing, but also means reason, measure, proportion, analogy, word, speech, discourse, discursive reasoning, noetic apprehension of the first principles; the demiurgic
Logos (like the Egyptian
Hu, equated with Thoth, the tongue of Ra, who transforms the Thoughts of the Heart into spoken and written Language, thus creating and articulating the world as a script and icon of the gods) is the intermediary divine power: as an image of the noetic cosmos, the physical cosmos is regarded as a multiple
Logos containing a plurality of individual
logoi (
Enn.IV.3.8.17-22); in Plotinus,
Logos is not a separate
hupostasis, but determines the relation of any
hupostasis to its source and its products, serving as the formative principle from which the lower realities evolve; the external spech (
logos prophorikos) constitutes the external expression of internal thought (
logos endiathetos).(more..) Torah "instruction, teaching"; in Judaism, the law of God, as revealed to Moses on Sinai and embodied in the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) sat"Being;" one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
cit, "consciousness," and ananda (
ānanda), "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) yogaunion of the jiva with God; method of God-realization (in Hinduism)
(more..) abd(A) In religious language, designates the worshiper, and, more generally, the creature as dependent on his Lord (
rabb. (B) "servant" or "slave"; as used in Islam, the servant or worshiper of God in His aspect of
Rabb or "Lord".
(more..) ayn al-‘ayn ath-thābitah, or sometimes simply
al-‘ayn, is the immutable essence, the archetype or the principial possibility of a being or thing
(more..) ayn al-‘ayn ath-thābitah, or sometimes simply
al-‘ayn, is the immutable essence, the archetype or the principial possibility of a being or thing
(more..) Darqawi A famous reviver of Sufism in the Maghreb (Islamic West). Founded the Shādhilite order of the Darqāwā
(more..) Dhat The
dhāt of a being is the subject to which all its qualities (
ṣifāt) relate. These qualities differ as between themselves, but not in their being connected with the same subject.
(more..) dhikr "remembrance" of God, based upon the repeated invocation of His Name; central to Sufi practice, where the remembrance often consists of the single word
Allāh.
(more..) gnosis(A) "knowledge"; spiritual insight, principial comprehension, divine wisdom.
(B) knowledge;
gnosis is contrasted with
doxa (opinion) by Plato; the object of
gnosis is
to on, reality or being, and the fully real is the fully knowable (
Rep.477a); the Egyptian Hermetists made distinction between two types of knowledge: 1) science (
episteme), produced by reason (
logos), and 2)
gnosis, produced by understanding and faith (
Corpus Hermeticum IX); therefore
gnosis is regarded as the goal of
episteme (ibid.X.9); the -idea that one may ‘know God’ (
gnosis theou) is very rare in the classical Hellenic literature, which rather praises
episteme and hieratic vision,
epopteia, but is common in Hermetism, Gnosticism and early Christianity; following the Platonic tradition (especially Plotinus and Porphyry), Augustine introduced a distinction between knowledge and wisdom,
scientia and
sapientia, claiming that the fallen soul knows only
scientia, but before the Fall she knew
sapientia (
De Trinitate XII).
(more..) Haqq In Sufism designates the Divinity as distinguished from the creature (
al-khalq).
(more..) koana Japanese word used to describe a phrase or a statement that cannot be solved by the intellect. In Rinzai Zen tradition,
koans are used to awaken the intuitive mind.
(more..) Nur Particularly the uncreated Divine Light, which includes all manifestation and is identified with Existence, considered as a principle. “God is the Light (
Nūr) of the heavens and the earth…” (Qur’ān 24:35).
(more..) shaikh(1) In Islam, a Sufi or other spiritual leader or master. (2) The term is also used more generally as an honorific title for a chief or elder of a group.
(more..) sufi In its strictest sense designates one who has arrived at effective knowledge of Divine Reality (
Ḥaqīqah); hence it is said:
aṣ-Ṣūfī lam yukhlaq (“the Sufi is not created”).
(more..) adam In Sufism this expression includes on the one hand the positive sense of non-manifestation, of a principial state beyond existence or even beyond Being, and on the other hand a negative sense of privation, of relative nothingness.
(more..) wahm The conjectural faculty, suspicion, illusion.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) quod absit literally, "which is absent from, opposed to, or inconsistent with"; a phrase commonly used by the medieval scholastics to call attention to an idea that is absurdly inconsistent with accepted principles. (It is sometimes used in the sense of "Heaven forfend…" or "God forbid…")
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) kalpaOne of the six Vedāngas; it is usually referred to as a "manual of rituals". In the Hindu reckoning of time a kalpa is one-seventh of the life-span of Brahmā
(more..) kshatriyaa member of the second highest of the four Hindu castes; a warrior or prince. (Also includes politicians, officers, and civil authorities.) The distinctive quality of the
kshatriya is a combative and noble nature that tends toward glory and heroism.
(more..) RamaIn Hinduism, one of the names by which to call God. In sacred history, Rama was the hero king of the epic Ramayana, and is one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. The term is also a form of address among
sadhus(more..) RamaThe seventh incarnation (
avatāra) of Vishnu and the hero of the epic tale,
Rāmāyaṇa.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) yugaAge; Hindu cosmology distinguishes four ages:
Kṛta (or
Satya)
Yuga,
Tretā Yuga,
Dvāpara Yuga,
and Kali Yuga, which correspond approximately to the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages of Greco-Roman mythology; according to Hindu cosmology humanity is presently situated in the
Kali Yuga, the "dark age" of strife.
(more..) BodhisattvaLiterally, "enlightenment-being;" in
Mahāyāna Buddhism, one who postpones his own final enlightenment and entry into
Nirvāṇa in order to aid all other sentient beings in their quest for Buddhahood.
(more..) guruspiritual guide or Master. Also, a preceptor, any person worthy of veneration; weighty; Jupiter. The true function of a guru is explained in
The Guru Tradition. Gurukula is the household or residence of a preceptor. A brahmacārin stays with his guru to be taught the Vedas, the Vedāngas and other subjects this is
gurukulavāsa.
(more..) samsaraLiterally, "wandering;" in Hinduism and Buddhism, transmigration or the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; also, the world of apparent flux and change.
(more..) Atma the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) Atma the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) Atma the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) Atma the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) Atma the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) chaitanyaSpirit, life, vitality.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) karmaaction; the effects of past actions; the law of cause and effect ("as a man sows, so shall he reap"); of three kinds: (1)
sanchita karma: actions of the past that have yet to bear fruit in the present life; (2)
prārabdha karma: actions of the past that bear fruit in the present life; and (3)
āgāmi karma :actions of the present that have still, by the law of cause and effect, to bear fruit in the future.
(more..) karmaaction; the effects of past actions; the law of cause and effect ("as a man sows, so shall he reap"); of three kinds: (1)
sanchita karma: actions of the past that have yet to bear fruit in the present life; (2)
prārabdha karma: actions of the past that bear fruit in the present life; and (3)
āgāmi karma :actions of the present that have still, by the law of cause and effect, to bear fruit in the future.
(more..) samsaraLiterally, "wandering;" in Hinduism and Buddhism, transmigration or the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; also, the world of apparent flux and change.
(more..) sriLiterally, "splendor, beauty, venerable one;" an honorific title set before the name of a deity or eminent human being; also a name of Lakshmi (
Lakṣmī), the consort of Vishnu (
Viṣṇu) and the goddess of beauty and good fortune.
(more..) Sria prefix meaning “sacred” or “holy” (in Hinduism)
(more..) swamiA title of respect set before the names of monks and spiritual teachers.
(more..) swamiA title of respect set before the names of monks and spiritual teachers.
(more..) ananda "bliss, beatitude, joy"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
chit, "consciousness."
(more..) Atmā the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) barakah Sheikh al-barakah is a phrase also used of a master who bears the spiritual influence of the Prophet or who has realized that spiritual presence which is only a virtuality in the case of most initiates.
(more..) Bodhidharmathe 28th patriarch of Buddhism and the 1st patriarch of Zen, he is said to have brought the meditation school of Buddhism to China around 520 C.E. A legendary figure whose face is painted by many Zen masters. (His original name was Bodhi-dhana.)
(more..) chit "consciousness"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
ānanda, "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) chit "consciousness"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
ānanda, "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) Chit "consciousness"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
ānanda, "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) gnosis(A) "knowledge"; spiritual insight, principial comprehension, divine wisdom.
(B) knowledge;
gnosis is contrasted with
doxa (opinion) by Plato; the object of
gnosis is
to on, reality or being, and the fully real is the fully knowable (
Rep.477a); the Egyptian Hermetists made distinction between two types of knowledge: 1) science (
episteme), produced by reason (
logos), and 2)
gnosis, produced by understanding and faith (
Corpus Hermeticum IX); therefore
gnosis is regarded as the goal of
episteme (ibid.X.9); the -idea that one may ‘know God’ (
gnosis theou) is very rare in the classical Hellenic literature, which rather praises
episteme and hieratic vision,
epopteia, but is common in Hermetism, Gnosticism and early Christianity; following the Platonic tradition (especially Plotinus and Porphyry), Augustine introduced a distinction between knowledge and wisdom,
scientia and
sapientia, claiming that the fallen soul knows only
scientia, but before the Fall she knew
sapientia (
De Trinitate XII).
(more..) guruspiritual guide or Master. Also, a preceptor, any person worthy of veneration; weighty; Jupiter. The true function of a guru is explained in
The Guru Tradition. Gurukula is the household or residence of a preceptor. A brahmacārin stays with his guru to be taught the Vedas, the Vedāngas and other subjects this is
gurukulavāsa.
(more..) Ibrahim Ibn adham A prince of Balkh (in Afghanistan); received his first teaching in
ma‘rifah (mystical knowledge) from “a (Christian) monk named Simeon.”
(more..) jnani a follower of the path of
jñāna; a person whose relationship with God is based primarily on sapiential knowledge or
gnosis.
(more..) Māyā "artifice, illusion"; in
Advaita Vedānta, the beguiling concealment of
Brahma in the form or under the appearance of a lower reality.
(more..) Mutatis mutandismore or less literally, "with necessary changes being made" or "with necessary changes being taken into consideration". This adverbial phrase is used in philosophy and logic to point out that although two conditions or statements may seem to be very analagous or similar, the reader should not lose sight of the differences between the two. Perhaps an even more easily understood translation might be "with obvious differences taken into consideration…"
(more..) padmaLotus; in Buddhism, an image of non-attachment and of primordial openness to enlightenment, serving symbolically as the throne of the Buddhas; see
Oṃ maṇi padme hum.
(more..) sadhakaA spiritual aspirant; one who endeavors to follow a method of spiritual practice.
(more..) sat"Being;" one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
cit, "consciousness," and ananda (
ānanda), "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) sriLiterally, "splendor, beauty, venerable one;" an honorific title set before the name of a deity or eminent human being; also a name of Lakshmi (
Lakṣmī), the consort of Vishnu (
Viṣṇu) and the goddess of beauty and good fortune.
(more..) Sria prefix meaning “sacred” or “holy” (in Hinduism)
(more..) svamigalHonorific Tamil plural of svami.
(more..) tamasIn Hinduism and Buddhism, the lowest of the three cosmic qualities (
gunas) that are a result of the creation of matter;
tamas literally means "darkness" and this cosmic quality or energy is characterized by error, ignorance, heaviness, inertia, etc. Its darkness is related to the gloom of hell. In the Samkhya system of Hindu philosophy,
tamas is seen as a form of ignorance (
avidya) that lulls the spiritual being away from its true nature.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) VedaThe sacred scriptures of Hinduism; regarded by the orthodox (
āstika) as divine revelation (
śruti) and comprising: (1) the
Ṛg,
Sāma, Yajur, and
Atharva Saṃhitās (collections of hymns); (2) the
Brāhmanas (priestly treatises); (3) the
Āranyakas (forest treatises); and (4) the
Upaniṣāds (philosophical and mystical treatises); they are divided into a
karma-kāṇḍa portion dealing with ritual action and a
jñāna-kāṇḍa portion dealing with knowledge.
(more..) Atman the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) bhakti the spiritual "path" (
mārga) of "love" (
bhakti) and devotion.
(more..) Brahma God in the aspect of Creator, the first divine "person" of the
Trimūrti; to be distinguished from
Brahma, the Supreme Reality.
(more..) Brahman Brahma considered as transcending all "qualities," attributes, or predicates; God as He is in Himself; also called
Para-Brahma.
(more..) dharmaTruth, Reality, cosmic law, righteousness, virtue.
(more..) guruspiritual guide or Master. Also, a preceptor, any person worthy of veneration; weighty; Jupiter. The true function of a guru is explained in
The Guru Tradition. Gurukula is the household or residence of a preceptor. A brahmacārin stays with his guru to be taught the Vedas, the Vedāngas and other subjects this is
gurukulavāsa.
(more..) HonenFounder of the independent school of Pure Land (
Jodo) Buddhism in Japan. He maintained that the traditional monastic practices were not effective in the Last Age (
mappo) nor universal for all people, as intended by Amida’s Vow. He incurred opposition from the establishment Buddhism and went into exile with several disciples, including Shinran. His major treatise, which was a manifesto of his teaching, was
Senchaku hongan nembutsu shu (
Treatise on the Nembutsu of the Select Primal Vow, abbreviated to
Senchakushu).
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) mokshaliberation or release from the round of birth and death (
samsāra); deliverance from ignorance (
avidyā). According to Hindu teaching,
moksha is the most important aim of life, and it is attained by following one of the principal
mārgas or spiritual paths (see
bhakti, jnāna, and
karma).
(more..) pirIn Persian, literally, "old"; the term is used in Sufism to refer to a spiritual master, a
shaykh (in Arabic). A
pir commonly refers to the head of a Sufi order who is a spiritual guide for disciples following the esoteric path.
(more..) pirIn Persian, literally, "old"; the term is used in Sufism to refer to a spiritual master, a
shaykh (in Arabic). A
pir commonly refers to the head of a Sufi order who is a spiritual guide for disciples following the esoteric path.
(more..) purushaLiterally, "man;" the informing or shaping principle of creation; the "masculine" demiurge or fashioner of the universe; see "Prakriti (
Prakṛti)."
(more..) Qutb In Sufism: the pole of a spiritual hierarchy. The “pole of a period” is also spoken of. This pole is often unknown to most spiritual men.
(more..) shastrasAs (1) śāstra (s): Legal textbooks which codify the laws governing Hindu civil society (
Mānava-Dharma-Shāstra) and canonize the rules for the sacred arts of dance, music, drama, and sculpture (
Bharata-Natya-Śastra); also used more broadly to encompass the
Vedas and all scriptures in accord with them; as (2) śastra: A weapon like a knife, sword, arrow.
(more..) shaykh(1) In Islam, a Sufi or other spiritual leader or master. (2) The term is also used more generally as an honorific title for a chief or elder of a group.
(more..) shaykh(1) In Islam, a Sufi or other spiritual leader or master. (2) The term is also used more generally as an honorific title for a chief or elder of a group.
(more..) shaykh(1) In Islam, a Sufi or other spiritual leader or master. (2) The term is also used more generally as an honorific title for a chief or elder of a group.
(more..) ShinranShinran (1173-1262): attributed founder of the Jodo Shin school of Buddhism.
(more..) sriLiterally, "splendor, beauty, venerable one;" an honorific title set before the name of a deity or eminent human being; also a name of Lakshmi (
Lakṣmī), the consort of Vishnu (
Viṣṇu) and the goddess of beauty and good fortune.
(more..) Sria prefix meaning “sacred” or “holy” (in Hinduism)
(more..) sutraLiterally, "thread;" a Hindu or Buddhist sacred text; in Hinduism, any short, aphoristic verse or collection of verses, often elliptical in style; in Buddhism, a collection of the discourses of the Buddha.
(more..) swamiA title of respect set before the names of monks and spiritual teachers.
(more..) swamiA title of respect set before the names of monks and spiritual teachers.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) upanishadAmong the sacred texts of the Hindus, mostly
Upaniṣāds discuss the existence of one absolute Reality known as
Brahman. Much of Hindu
Vedānta derives its inspiration from these texts.
(more..) VedaThe sacred scriptures of Hinduism; regarded by the orthodox (
āstika) as divine revelation (
śruti) and comprising: (1) the
Ṛg,
Sāma, Yajur, and
Atharva Saṃhitās (collections of hymns); (2) the
Brāhmanas (priestly treatises); (3) the
Āranyakas (forest treatises); and (4) the
Upaniṣāds (philosophical and mystical treatises); they are divided into a
karma-kāṇḍa portion dealing with ritual action and a
jñāna-kāṇḍa portion dealing with knowledge.
(more..) Vedanta"End or culmination of the
Vedas," a designation for the Upanishads (
Upaniṣāds) as the last portion ("end") of the
Vedas; also one of the six orthodox (
āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy who have their starting point in the texts of the Upanishads (
Upaniṣāds), the
Brahma-Sūtras (of Bādarāyana Vyāsa), and the
Bhagavad Gītā ; over time,
Vedānta crystallized into three distinct schools:
Advaita (non-dualism), associated with Shankara
(ca.788-820 C.E.);
Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism), associated with Rāmānuja
(ca.1055-1137 C.E.); and
Dvaita (dualism), associated with Madhva (ca.1199-1278 C.E.); see "Advaita."
(more..) yogaunion of the jiva with God; method of God-realization (in Hinduism)
(more..) Atman the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) dharmaTruth, Reality, cosmic law, righteousness, virtue.
(more..) guruspiritual guide or Master. Also, a preceptor, any person worthy of veneration; weighty; Jupiter. The true function of a guru is explained in
The Guru Tradition. Gurukula is the household or residence of a preceptor. A brahmacārin stays with his guru to be taught the Vedas, the Vedāngas and other subjects this is
gurukulavāsa.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) philosophylove of wisdom; the intellectual and ‘erotic’ path which leads to virtue and knowledge; the term itself perhaps is coined by Pythagoras; the Hellenic
philosophia is a prolongation, modification and ‘modernization’ of the Egyptian and Near Eastern sapiential ways of life;
philosophia cannot be reduced to philosophical discourse; for Aristotle, metaphysics is
prote philosophia, or
theologike, but philosophy as
theoria means dedication to the
bios theoretikos, the life of contemplation – thus the philosophical life means the participation in the divine and the actualization of the divine in the human through the personal
askesis and inner transformation; Plato defines philosophy as a training for death (
Phaed.67cd); the Platonic
philosophia helps the soul to become aware of its own immateriality, it liberates from passions and strips away everything that is not truly itself; for Plotinus, philosophy does not wish only ‘to be a discourse about objects, be they even the highest, but it wishes actually to lead the soul to a living, concrete union with the Intellect and the Good’; in the late Neoplatonism, the ineffable theurgy is regarded as the culmination of philosophy.
(more..) sunyataA Sanskrit term used to describe the state of voidness as discussed in the
Mādhyamika school of Nāgārjuna, which became central to Zen experience.
(more..) sutraLiterally, "thread;" a Hindu or Buddhist sacred text; in Hinduism, any short, aphoristic verse or collection of verses, often elliptical in style; in Buddhism, a collection of the discourses of the Buddha.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) yogaunion of the jiva with God; method of God-realization (in Hinduism)
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) mleccha foreigner; "barbarian"; one who deprecates the
Vedas(more..) Qutb In Sufism: the pole of a spiritual hierarchy. The “pole of a period” is also spoken of. This pole is often unknown to most spiritual men.
(more..) taijasaThe individual being in the dream state.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) Vedanta"End or culmination of the
Vedas," a designation for the Upanishads (
Upaniṣāds) as the last portion ("end") of the
Vedas; also one of the six orthodox (
āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy who have their starting point in the texts of the Upanishads (
Upaniṣāds), the
Brahma-Sūtras (of Bādarāyana Vyāsa), and the
Bhagavad Gītā ; over time,
Vedānta crystallized into three distinct schools:
Advaita (non-dualism), associated with Shankara
(ca.788-820 C.E.);
Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism), associated with Rāmānuja
(ca.1055-1137 C.E.); and
Dvaita (dualism), associated with Madhva (ca.1199-1278 C.E.); see "Advaita."
(more..) yogaunion of the jiva with God; method of God-realization (in Hinduism)
(more..) barakah Sheikh al-barakah is a phrase also used of a master who bears the spiritual influence of the Prophet or who has realized that spiritual presence which is only a virtuality in the case of most initiates.
(more..) barzakh Symbol of an intermediate state or of a mediating principle.
(more..) Brahmin "Brahmin"; a member of the highest of the four Hindu castes; a priest or spiritual teacher.
(more..) Hiranyagarbhaa manifestation of
īshvara in association with the totality of subtle beings in the dream state;
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) MahayanaThe Larger Vehicle in contrast to the Hinayana, or Smaller Vehicle. It claimed to be more universal in opening Enlightenment to all beings, and inspired the emergence of the Pure Land teaching directed to ordinary beings—denoted as all beings in the ten directions. This tradition is characterized by a more complex philosophical development, an elaborate mythic and symbolic expression which emphasizes the cosmic character of the Buddha nature, and its inclusion of the key virtues of compassion and wisdom.
(more..) RamIn Hinduism, one of the names by which to call God. In sacred history, Rama was the hero king of the epic Ramayana, and is one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. The term is also a form of address among
sadhus(more..) sadhuan ascetic or a sage (in Hinduism). Literally, one who is “accomplished, virtuous, holy”; a person living a life of asceticism, often withdrawn from the world. A pious or holy person, a seer, or a deified saint; a
sannyasi.
(more..) sriLiterally, "splendor, beauty, venerable one;" an honorific title set before the name of a deity or eminent human being; also a name of Lakshmi (
Lakṣmī), the consort of Vishnu (
Viṣṇu) and the goddess of beauty and good fortune.
(more..) Sria prefix meaning “sacred” or “holy” (in Hinduism)
(more..) tathagataSanskrit term (Jap.
Nyorai) used to refer to a Buddha. It means the one who comes and the one who goes—the thus come, thus gone one.
Tathātā means "truth" or "suchness;" consequently, one who comes from truth and goes to truth. The Buddhas as enlightened beings are manifested from the realm of truth.
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) Theravadaan early form of Indian Buddhism translated as "The Teachings (or "way") of the Elders." As a historical religious tradition, it was formed soon after the death of the Sakyamuni Buddha. (This form of Buddhism is still practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia.)
(more..) upanishadAmong the sacred texts of the Hindus, mostly
Upaniṣāds discuss the existence of one absolute Reality known as
Brahman. Much of Hindu
Vedānta derives its inspiration from these texts.
(more..) Vedanta"End or culmination of the
Vedas," a designation for the Upanishads (
Upaniṣāds) as the last portion ("end") of the
Vedas; also one of the six orthodox (
āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy who have their starting point in the texts of the Upanishads (
Upaniṣāds), the
Brahma-Sūtras (of Bādarāyana Vyāsa), and the
Bhagavad Gītā ; over time,
Vedānta crystallized into three distinct schools:
Advaita (non-dualism), associated with Shankara
(ca.788-820 C.E.);
Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism), associated with Rāmānuja
(ca.1055-1137 C.E.); and
Dvaita (dualism), associated with Madhva (ca.1199-1278 C.E.); see "Advaita."
(more..) Rumi Founder of the Mevlevī (Arabic: Mawlawīyyah) order of “whirling dervishes”; author of the famous mystical poem the
Mathnawī, composed in Persian and which contains his whole doctrine.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) anamnesis(A) recollection, remembrance; in the Orphico-Pythagorean context, it is understod as a remembrance of one’s true divine nature, revealed through the sacred initiation; the idea of memory and restoration of the soul’s true identity is crucial for the Egyptian tradition as reflected in the
Book of the Dead and later employed by Pythagoreans and Plato who explains
anamnesis as recollection of things known before birth and forgotten
(Meno 85d); thus Platonic learning is equated to remembering (
Phaed.72e).
(B) literally, a "lifting up of the mind"; recollection or remembrance, as in the Platonic doctrine that all knowledge is a recalling of truths latent in the soul.
(more..) apotheosisdivinization; in the esoteric sense it is accomplished by the philosophical purification and theurgical
anagoge which reveals one’s primal and true identity with the divine principles; this is not a Homeric conception, because Homer clearly separates the gods and men; however, following the ancient Egyptian spiritual paterns, the Orphic texts already promised
apotheosis and immortality for the initiated soul who (like the Egyptian
ba and the
psuche in Plato’s
Phaedrus) restores her wings and raises up back to the divine homeland.
(more..) humanismThe intellectual viewpoint increasingly prevalent in the West since the time of the Renaissance; it replaced the traditional Christian view of God as the center of all things by a belief in man as the measure of all things.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) philosophylove of wisdom; the intellectual and ‘erotic’ path which leads to virtue and knowledge; the term itself perhaps is coined by Pythagoras; the Hellenic
philosophia is a prolongation, modification and ‘modernization’ of the Egyptian and Near Eastern sapiential ways of life;
philosophia cannot be reduced to philosophical discourse; for Aristotle, metaphysics is
prote philosophia, or
theologike, but philosophy as
theoria means dedication to the
bios theoretikos, the life of contemplation – thus the philosophical life means the participation in the divine and the actualization of the divine in the human through the personal
askesis and inner transformation; Plato defines philosophy as a training for death (
Phaed.67cd); the Platonic
philosophia helps the soul to become aware of its own immateriality, it liberates from passions and strips away everything that is not truly itself; for Plotinus, philosophy does not wish only ‘to be a discourse about objects, be they even the highest, but it wishes actually to lead the soul to a living, concrete union with the Intellect and the Good’; in the late Neoplatonism, the ineffable theurgy is regarded as the culmination of philosophy.
(more..) psyche(usually transcribed as
psyche): soul; breath of life, life-stuff; Homer distinguishes between a free soul as a soul of the dead, corresponding with
psuche (and still regarded as an
eidolon), and body souls, corresponding with
thumos,
noos and
menos: following the Egyptian theological patterns, the Pythagoreans constituted the
psuche as the reflection of the unchanging and immortal principles; from Plato onwards,
psuchai are no longer regarded as
eidola, phantoms or doubles of the body, but rather the human body is viewed as the perishable
simulacrum of an immaterial and immortal soul; there are different degrees of soul (or different souls), therefore anything that is alive has a soul (Aristotle
De anima 414b32); in
Phaedrus 248b the soul is regarded as something to be a separate, self-moving and immortal entity (cf.Proclus
Elements of Theology 186);
Psuche is the third
hupostasis of Plotinus.
(more..) sat"Being;" one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
cit, "consciousness," and ananda (
ānanda), "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) Nur Particularly the uncreated Divine Light, which includes all manifestation and is identified with Existence, considered as a principle. “God is the Light (
Nūr) of the heavens and the earth…” (Qur’ān 24:35).
(more..) Qutb In Sufism: the pole of a spiritual hierarchy. The “pole of a period” is also spoken of. This pole is often unknown to most spiritual men.
(more..) shaikh(1) In Islam, a Sufi or other spiritual leader or master. (2) The term is also used more generally as an honorific title for a chief or elder of a group.
(more..) sufi In its strictest sense designates one who has arrived at effective knowledge of Divine Reality (
Ḥaqīqah); hence it is said:
aṣ-Ṣūfī lam yukhlaq (“the Sufi is not created”).
(more..) tariqahLiterally, “path” in Arabic. In exoteric Islam, it is a virtual synonym for
sharî‘ah, equivalent to the “straight path” (mentioned in the Fatihah, the first verse of the Koran) that a believer must follow. However, in esoteric Islam, Sufism,
tariqah refers to the mystical path which leads from the observance of the
sharî‘ah to self-realization in God. In Sufism it also refers to a Sufi brotherhood.
(more..) Tasawwuf Designates the whole of the contemplative ways founded on the sacred forms of Islam. By transposition an Arab might speak of “Christian
taṣawwuf” or “Jewish
taṣawwuf” to indicate the esotericism of the respective traditions.
(more..) adam In Sufism this expression includes on the one hand the positive sense of non-manifestation, of a principial state beyond existence or even beyond Being, and on the other hand a negative sense of privation, of relative nothingness.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) philosophylove of wisdom; the intellectual and ‘erotic’ path which leads to virtue and knowledge; the term itself perhaps is coined by Pythagoras; the Hellenic
philosophia is a prolongation, modification and ‘modernization’ of the Egyptian and Near Eastern sapiential ways of life;
philosophia cannot be reduced to philosophical discourse; for Aristotle, metaphysics is
prote philosophia, or
theologike, but philosophy as
theoria means dedication to the
bios theoretikos, the life of contemplation – thus the philosophical life means the participation in the divine and the actualization of the divine in the human through the personal
askesis and inner transformation; Plato defines philosophy as a training for death (
Phaed.67cd); the Platonic
philosophia helps the soul to become aware of its own immateriality, it liberates from passions and strips away everything that is not truly itself; for Plotinus, philosophy does not wish only ‘to be a discourse about objects, be they even the highest, but it wishes actually to lead the soul to a living, concrete union with the Intellect and the Good’; in the late Neoplatonism, the ineffable theurgy is regarded as the culmination of philosophy.
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) abd(A) In religious language, designates the worshiper, and, more generally, the creature as dependent on his Lord (
rabb. (B) "servant" or "slave"; as used in Islam, the servant or worshiper of God in His aspect of
Rabb or "Lord".
(more..) Aql Al-‘Aql al-awwal : the first Intellect, analogue of the Supreme Pen (
al-Qalam), and of
ar-Rūḥ. Corresponds to the
Nous of Plotinus.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) imam In relation to ritual: he who presides when a number pray together; head of a religious community.
(more..) logos(A) "word, reason"; in Christian theology, the divine, uncreated Word of God (
cf. John 1:1); the transcendent Principle of creation and revelation.
(B) the basic meaning is ‘something said’, ‘account’; the term is used in explanation and definition of some kind of thing, but also means reason, measure, proportion, analogy, word, speech, discourse, discursive reasoning, noetic apprehension of the first principles; the demiurgic
Logos (like the Egyptian
Hu, equated with Thoth, the tongue of Ra, who transforms the Thoughts of the Heart into spoken and written Language, thus creating and articulating the world as a script and icon of the gods) is the intermediary divine power: as an image of the noetic cosmos, the physical cosmos is regarded as a multiple
Logos containing a plurality of individual
logoi (
Enn.IV.3.8.17-22); in Plotinus,
Logos is not a separate
hupostasis, but determines the relation of any
hupostasis to its source and its products, serving as the formative principle from which the lower realities evolve; the external spech (
logos prophorikos) constitutes the external expression of internal thought (
logos endiathetos).(more..) mua Japanese term used to describe a non-ego self. The goal in Zen is to become
mu-no-hito, a person without ego.
(more..) shaikh(1) In Islam, a Sufi or other spiritual leader or master. (2) The term is also used more generally as an honorific title for a chief or elder of a group.
(more..) sophia(A)wisdom; the term covers all spheres of human activity – all ingenious invention aimed at satisfying one’s material, political and religious needs; Hephaistos (like his prototypes – the Ugaritian Kothar-wa-Hasis and the Egyptian Ptah) is
poluphronos, very wise,
klutometis, renowned in wisdom – here ‘wisdom’ means not simply some divine quality, but wondrous skill, cleverness, technical ability, magic power; in Egypt all sacred wisdom (especially, knowledge of the secret divine names and words of power,
hekau, or demiurgic and theurgic mantras, which are able to restore one’s true divine identity) was under the patronage of Thoth; in classical Greece, the inspird poet, the lawgiver, the polititian, the magician, the natural philosopher and sophist – all claimed to wisdom, and indeed ‘philosophy’ is the love of wisdom,
philo-sophia, i.e. a way of life in effort to achieve wisdom as its goal; the ideal of
sophos (sage) in the newly established Platonic paideia is exemplified by Socrates; in Neoplatonism, the theoretical wisdom (though the term
sophia is rarely used) means contemplation of the eternal Forms and becoming like
nous, or a god; there are the characteristic properties which constitute the divine nature and which spread to all the divine classes: good (
agathotes), wisdom (
sophia) and beauty (
kallos).
(B) "wisdom"; in Jewish and Christian tradition, the Wisdom of God, often conceived as feminine (
cf. Prov. 8).
(more..) sufi In its strictest sense designates one who has arrived at effective knowledge of Divine Reality (
Ḥaqīqah); hence it is said:
aṣ-Ṣūfī lam yukhlaq (“the Sufi is not created”).
(more..) tanzih Affirmation of the Divine transcendence; the contrary is
tashbīh : comparison, similitude, affirmation of symbolism. The two terms are to be found together in such sayings of the Qur’ān as, “Nothing is like unto Him (=
tanzīh) and it is He who sees and hears (=
tashbīh).”
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) adam In Sufism this expression includes on the one hand the positive sense of non-manifestation, of a principial state beyond existence or even beyond Being, and on the other hand a negative sense of privation, of relative nothingness.
(more..) Wahdah Stands ontologically between the Supreme Unity (
al-Aḥadiyah) and the Distinctive Uniqueness (
al-Wāḥidiyah).
(more..) mathThe dwelling of an ascetic. The term refers in general to any ascetic or monastic community, but particularly to any of the monastic institutions established by Ādi Śankara; for example, the Kānci Matha.
(more..) samsaraLiterally, "wandering;" in Hinduism and Buddhism, transmigration or the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; also, the world of apparent flux and change.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) Brahman Brahma considered as transcending all "qualities," attributes, or predicates; God as He is in Himself; also called
Para-Brahma.
(more..) cit "consciousness"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
ānanda, "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) philosophylove of wisdom; the intellectual and ‘erotic’ path which leads to virtue and knowledge; the term itself perhaps is coined by Pythagoras; the Hellenic
philosophia is a prolongation, modification and ‘modernization’ of the Egyptian and Near Eastern sapiential ways of life;
philosophia cannot be reduced to philosophical discourse; for Aristotle, metaphysics is
prote philosophia, or
theologike, but philosophy as
theoria means dedication to the
bios theoretikos, the life of contemplation – thus the philosophical life means the participation in the divine and the actualization of the divine in the human through the personal
askesis and inner transformation; Plato defines philosophy as a training for death (
Phaed.67cd); the Platonic
philosophia helps the soul to become aware of its own immateriality, it liberates from passions and strips away everything that is not truly itself; for Plotinus, philosophy does not wish only ‘to be a discourse about objects, be they even the highest, but it wishes actually to lead the soul to a living, concrete union with the Intellect and the Good’; in the late Neoplatonism, the ineffable theurgy is regarded as the culmination of philosophy.
(more..) ananda "bliss, beatitude, joy"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
chit, "consciousness."
(more..) Brahma God in the aspect of Creator, the first divine "person" of the
Trimūrti; to be distinguished from
Brahma, the Supreme Reality.
(more..) Brahman Brahma considered as transcending all "qualities," attributes, or predicates; God as He is in Himself; also called
Para-Brahma.
(more..) jnani a follower of the path of
jñāna; a person whose relationship with God is based primarily on sapiential knowledge or
gnosis.
(more..) prasadaLiterally, radiance or happiness. The word is usually applied to what has been offered or presented to a deity and it symbolizes the grace of the deity worshipped.
(more..) RamIn Hinduism, one of the names by which to call God. In sacred history, Rama was the hero king of the epic Ramayana, and is one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. The term is also a form of address among
sadhus(more..) RamaIn Hinduism, one of the names by which to call God. In sacred history, Rama was the hero king of the epic Ramayana, and is one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. The term is also a form of address among
sadhus(more..) RamaThe seventh incarnation (
avatāra) of Vishnu and the hero of the epic tale,
Rāmāyaṇa.
(more..) shriLiterally, "splendor, beauty, venerable one;" an honorific title set before the name of a deity or eminent human being; also a name of Lakshmi (
Lakṣmī), the consort of Vishnu (
Viṣṇu) and the goddess of beauty and good fortune.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) upanishadAmong the sacred texts of the Hindus, mostly
Upaniṣāds discuss the existence of one absolute Reality known as
Brahman. Much of Hindu
Vedānta derives its inspiration from these texts.
(more..) Vedanta"End or culmination of the
Vedas," a designation for the Upanishads (
Upaniṣāds) as the last portion ("end") of the
Vedas; also one of the six orthodox (
āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy who have their starting point in the texts of the Upanishads (
Upaniṣāds), the
Brahma-Sūtras (of Bādarāyana Vyāsa), and the
Bhagavad Gītā ; over time,
Vedānta crystallized into three distinct schools:
Advaita (non-dualism), associated with Shankara
(ca.788-820 C.E.);
Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism), associated with Rāmānuja
(ca.1055-1137 C.E.); and
Dvaita (dualism), associated with Madhva (ca.1199-1278 C.E.); see "Advaita."
(more..) yogia practitioner of yoga (in Hinduism)
(more..) barakah Sheikh al-barakah is a phrase also used of a master who bears the spiritual influence of the Prophet or who has realized that spiritual presence which is only a virtuality in the case of most initiates.
(more..) five pillars of IslamThe foundations of the religion of Islam. They are: 1. attesting to the Divine unity (
la ilāha illā Llāh, "There is no god but God"); 2. performing the ritual prayer (
ṣalāt) five times daily; 3. paying the annual tithe (
zakāt) on one’s wealth and possessions; 4. fasting (
ṣawm) during the month of Ramadan; and 5. performing the pilgrimage (
ḥājj) to Mecca, if health and wealth permit.
(more..) hajjThe rite of pilgrimage to Mecca; the fifth of the "five pillars" of Islam. It is required that all Muslims perform this rite once in their life, so long as they possess the health and wealth to complete the journey.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) imam In relation to ritual: he who presides when a number pray together; head of a religious community.
(more..) jinn Subtle beings belonging to the world of forms.
(more..) Umar Author of the famous Sufi poem the
Khamriyah (“Wine Ode”).
(more..) Rahmah The same root RHM is to be found in both the Divine names
ar-Raḥmān (the Compassionate, He whose Mercy envelops all things) and
ar-Raḥīm (the Merciful, He who saves by His Grace). The simplest word from this same root is
raḥīm (matrix), whence the maternal aspect of these Divine Names.
(more..) sat"Being;" one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
cit, "consciousness," and ananda (
ānanda), "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) shahadah The testimony that “there is no divinity but The Divinity.”
(more..) sunnah(A) Wont; the model established by the Prophet Muḥammad, as transmitted in the
ḥadīth.
(B) "custom, way of acting"; in Islam, the norm established by the Prophet Muhammad, including his actions and sayings (see
hadīth) and serving as a precedent and standard for the behavior of Muslims.
(more..) adam In Sufism this expression includes on the one hand the positive sense of non-manifestation, of a principial state beyond existence or even beyond Being, and on the other hand a negative sense of privation, of relative nothingness.
(more..) Rinzai(d. 867 C.E.), renowned Chinese Zen master and founder of the Rinzai sect. His teachings are contained in the
Lin-chi Records.
(more..) sutraLiterally, "thread;" a Hindu or Buddhist sacred text; in Hinduism, any short, aphoristic verse or collection of verses, often elliptical in style; in Buddhism, a collection of the discourses of the Buddha.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) KamiJapansese. In Shinto, the sacred, spiritual powers that animate all things; deities associated with eminent personages, sacred places, and the phenomena of nature.
(more..) abd(A) In religious language, designates the worshiper, and, more generally, the creature as dependent on his Lord (
rabb. (B) "servant" or "slave"; as used in Islam, the servant or worshiper of God in His aspect of
Rabb or "Lord".
(more..) BodhisattvaLiterally, "enlightenment-being;" in
Mahāyāna Buddhism, one who postpones his own final enlightenment and entry into
Nirvāṇa in order to aid all other sentient beings in their quest for Buddhahood.
(more..) karmaaction; the effects of past actions; the law of cause and effect ("as a man sows, so shall he reap"); of three kinds: (1)
sanchita karma: actions of the past that have yet to bear fruit in the present life; (2)
prārabdha karma: actions of the past that bear fruit in the present life; and (3)
āgāmi karma :actions of the present that have still, by the law of cause and effect, to bear fruit in the future.
(more..) karmaaction; the effects of past actions; the law of cause and effect ("as a man sows, so shall he reap"); of three kinds: (1)
sanchita karma: actions of the past that have yet to bear fruit in the present life; (2)
prārabdha karma: actions of the past that bear fruit in the present life; and (3)
āgāmi karma :actions of the present that have still, by the law of cause and effect, to bear fruit in the future.
(more..) skandhasA Sanskrit term used to describe the absence of a permanent self; it usually refers to the five aggregates, namely: the body, feelings, perceptions, states of mind and awareness—all of which are in a state of constant flux.
(more..) ananda "bliss, beatitude, joy"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
chit, "consciousness."
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) Aql Al-‘Aql al-awwal : the first Intellect, analogue of the Supreme Pen (
al-Qalam), and of
ar-Rūḥ. Corresponds to the
Nous of Plotinus.
(more..) hal A spiritual state (
ḥāl) is sometimes opposed to
maqām (spiritual station), and in this case the former is considered as a passing thing and the latter as something stable.
(more..) humanismThe intellectual viewpoint increasingly prevalent in the West since the time of the Renaissance; it replaced the traditional Christian view of God as the center of all things by a belief in man as the measure of all things.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) imam In relation to ritual: he who presides when a number pray together; head of a religious community.
(more..) kashf Literally, “the raising of a curtain or veil.”
(more..) kun The creating fiat, or order.
(more..) nousintelligence, immediate awareness, intuition, intuitive intellect; Plato distinguished
nous from
dianoia – discursive reason;
Nous is the second hupostasis of Plotinus; every intelligence is its own object, therefore the act of intellection always involves self-consciousness: the substance of intelligence is its noetic content (
noeton), its power of intellection (
nous), and its activity – the act of
noesis; in a macrocosmic sense,
Nous is the divine Intellct, the Second God, who embraces and personifies the entire noetic cosmos (Being-Life-Intelligence), the Demiurge of the manifested universe; such
Nous may be compared to Hindu
Ishvara and be represented by such solar gods as the Egyptian Ra;
nous is independent of body and thus immune from destruction – it is the unitary and divine element, or the spark of divine light, which is present in men and through which the ascent to the divine Sun is made possible.
(more..) philosophylove of wisdom; the intellectual and ‘erotic’ path which leads to virtue and knowledge; the term itself perhaps is coined by Pythagoras; the Hellenic
philosophia is a prolongation, modification and ‘modernization’ of the Egyptian and Near Eastern sapiential ways of life;
philosophia cannot be reduced to philosophical discourse; for Aristotle, metaphysics is
prote philosophia, or
theologike, but philosophy as
theoria means dedication to the
bios theoretikos, the life of contemplation – thus the philosophical life means the participation in the divine and the actualization of the divine in the human through the personal
askesis and inner transformation; Plato defines philosophy as a training for death (
Phaed.67cd); the Platonic
philosophia helps the soul to become aware of its own immateriality, it liberates from passions and strips away everything that is not truly itself; for Plotinus, philosophy does not wish only ‘to be a discourse about objects, be they even the highest, but it wishes actually to lead the soul to a living, concrete union with the Intellect and the Good’; in the late Neoplatonism, the ineffable theurgy is regarded as the culmination of philosophy.
(more..) shaikh(1) In Islam, a Sufi or other spiritual leader or master. (2) The term is also used more generally as an honorific title for a chief or elder of a group.
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) adam In Sufism this expression includes on the one hand the positive sense of non-manifestation, of a principial state beyond existence or even beyond Being, and on the other hand a negative sense of privation, of relative nothingness.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) agapeselfless “love”, as of God for man and man for God; human compassion for one’s neighbor; equivalent of Latin caritas. In Christianity, it typically refers to the love of God toward mankind, given freely, to which believers must respond reciprocally, and which they must share with others.
(more..) ahimsa "non-violence," a fundamental tenet of Hindu ethics, also emphasized in Buddhism and Jainism.
(more..) Bhagavad Gita lit. "the Song of the Lord"; a text of primary rank dealing with the converse of
Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu) and the warrior
Arjuna on the battlefield of
Kurukshetra.
(more..) Brahman Brahma considered as transcending all "qualities," attributes, or predicates; God as He is in Himself; also called
Para-Brahma.
(more..) Brahmana "Brahmin"; a member of the highest of the four Hindu castes; a priest or spiritual teacher.
(more..) cit "consciousness"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
ānanda, "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) nirvanaIn Buddhism (and Hinduism), ultimate liberation from
samsara (the cycles of rebirths or the flow of cosmic manifestation), resulting in absorption in the Absolute; the extinction of the fires of passion and the resulting, supremely blissful state of liberation from attachment and egoism.
(more..) philosophylove of wisdom; the intellectual and ‘erotic’ path which leads to virtue and knowledge; the term itself perhaps is coined by Pythagoras; the Hellenic
philosophia is a prolongation, modification and ‘modernization’ of the Egyptian and Near Eastern sapiential ways of life;
philosophia cannot be reduced to philosophical discourse; for Aristotle, metaphysics is
prote philosophia, or
theologike, but philosophy as
theoria means dedication to the
bios theoretikos, the life of contemplation – thus the philosophical life means the participation in the divine and the actualization of the divine in the human through the personal
askesis and inner transformation; Plato defines philosophy as a training for death (
Phaed.67cd); the Platonic
philosophia helps the soul to become aware of its own immateriality, it liberates from passions and strips away everything that is not truly itself; for Plotinus, philosophy does not wish only ‘to be a discourse about objects, be they even the highest, but it wishes actually to lead the soul to a living, concrete union with the Intellect and the Good’; in the late Neoplatonism, the ineffable theurgy is regarded as the culmination of philosophy.
(more..) Puranasliterally, "stories of old" in Hinduism. There are 18 major Puranic works, dating back many centuries. They contain legends, mythology, and stories of creation, history, etc., all placed within the cosmology of Hinduism.
(more..) sattvathe quality of harmony, purity, serenity
(more..) suraha chapter or division of the Koran, the holy book of Islam. There are 114
sūar (plural) in the Koran.
(more..) tathagataSanskrit term (Jap.
Nyorai) used to refer to a Buddha. It means the one who comes and the one who goes—the thus come, thus gone one.
Tathātā means "truth" or "suchness;" consequently, one who comes from truth and goes to truth. The Buddhas as enlightened beings are manifested from the realm of truth.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) Yahweh a transliteration of the supposed pronunciation, now lost, of the sacred Name of God in the Hebrew Bible or Christian Old Testament; revealed to Moses on Sinai and often translated as "I am" or "the One who is" (
cf. Exod. 3:14).
(more..) abd(A) In religious language, designates the worshiper, and, more generally, the creature as dependent on his Lord (
rabb. (B) "servant" or "slave"; as used in Islam, the servant or worshiper of God in His aspect of
Rabb or "Lord".
(more..) alter the "other," in contrast to the
ego or individual self.
(more..) anthroposman; in Gnosticism, the macrocosmic
anthropos is regarded as the Platonic ‘ideal animal’,
autozoon, or a divine
pleroma, which contains archetypes of creation and manifestation.
(more..) cit "consciousness"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
ānanda, "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) gnosis(A) "knowledge"; spiritual insight, principial comprehension, divine wisdom.
(B) knowledge;
gnosis is contrasted with
doxa (opinion) by Plato; the object of
gnosis is
to on, reality or being, and the fully real is the fully knowable (
Rep.477a); the Egyptian Hermetists made distinction between two types of knowledge: 1) science (
episteme), produced by reason (
logos), and 2)
gnosis, produced by understanding and faith (
Corpus Hermeticum IX); therefore
gnosis is regarded as the goal of
episteme (ibid.X.9); the -idea that one may ‘know God’ (
gnosis theou) is very rare in the classical Hellenic literature, which rather praises
episteme and hieratic vision,
epopteia, but is common in Hermetism, Gnosticism and early Christianity; following the Platonic tradition (especially Plotinus and Porphyry), Augustine introduced a distinction between knowledge and wisdom,
scientia and
sapientia, claiming that the fallen soul knows only
scientia, but before the Fall she knew
sapientia (
De Trinitate XII).
(more..) humanismThe intellectual viewpoint increasingly prevalent in the West since the time of the Renaissance; it replaced the traditional Christian view of God as the center of all things by a belief in man as the measure of all things.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) imam In relation to ritual: he who presides when a number pray together; head of a religious community.
(more..) logos(A) "word, reason"; in Christian theology, the divine, uncreated Word of God (
cf. John 1:1); the transcendent Principle of creation and revelation.
(B) the basic meaning is ‘something said’, ‘account’; the term is used in explanation and definition of some kind of thing, but also means reason, measure, proportion, analogy, word, speech, discourse, discursive reasoning, noetic apprehension of the first principles; the demiurgic
Logos (like the Egyptian
Hu, equated with Thoth, the tongue of Ra, who transforms the Thoughts of the Heart into spoken and written Language, thus creating and articulating the world as a script and icon of the gods) is the intermediary divine power: as an image of the noetic cosmos, the physical cosmos is regarded as a multiple
Logos containing a plurality of individual
logoi (
Enn.IV.3.8.17-22); in Plotinus,
Logos is not a separate
hupostasis, but determines the relation of any
hupostasis to its source and its products, serving as the formative principle from which the lower realities evolve; the external spech (
logos prophorikos) constitutes the external expression of internal thought (
logos endiathetos).(more..) rasul In theology: divine messenger. It is in his function of
rasūl that a prophet (
nabī) promulgates a new sacred law; not every prophet is necessarily a
rasūl, although he enjoys divine inspiration, but every
rasūl is by implication a
nabī.
(more..) ratio literally, "calculation"; the faculty of discursive thinking, to be distinguished from
intellectus, "Intellect."
(more..) rationalismThe philosophical position that sees reason as the ultimate arbiter of truth. Its origin lies in Descartes’ famous cogito ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am."
(more..) Rumi Founder of the Mevlevī (Arabic: Mawlawīyyah) order of “whirling dervishes”; author of the famous mystical poem the
Mathnawī, composed in Persian and which contains his whole doctrine.
(more..) sufi In its strictest sense designates one who has arrived at effective knowledge of Divine Reality (
Ḥaqīqah); hence it is said:
aṣ-Ṣūfī lam yukhlaq (“the Sufi is not created”).
(more..) tawhid In common usage means the saying of the Muslim credo, the recognition of the Divine Unity. In Sufism it sums up all levels of the knowledge of Unity.
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) tul Figuratively, the spiritual dimension of exaltation.
(more..) adam In Sufism this expression includes on the one hand the positive sense of non-manifestation, of a principial state beyond existence or even beyond Being, and on the other hand a negative sense of privation, of relative nothingness.
(more..) Wajh Allah The transcendent Essence of all things. Note the Koranic verse: “All that is on it (the earth) is transitory and there remains only the Countenance of thy Lord, the Essence of majesty and of Bounty.”
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) MahayanaThe Larger Vehicle in contrast to the Hinayana, or Smaller Vehicle. It claimed to be more universal in opening Enlightenment to all beings, and inspired the emergence of the Pure Land teaching directed to ordinary beings—denoted as all beings in the ten directions. This tradition is characterized by a more complex philosophical development, an elaborate mythic and symbolic expression which emphasizes the cosmic character of the Buddha nature, and its inclusion of the key virtues of compassion and wisdom.
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) BonThe ancient, pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet, which still exists today; adherents are called Bön-Pos.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) abd(A) In religious language, designates the worshiper, and, more generally, the creature as dependent on his Lord (
rabb. (B) "servant" or "slave"; as used in Islam, the servant or worshiper of God in His aspect of
Rabb or "Lord".
(more..) gnosis(A) "knowledge"; spiritual insight, principial comprehension, divine wisdom.
(B) knowledge;
gnosis is contrasted with
doxa (opinion) by Plato; the object of
gnosis is
to on, reality or being, and the fully real is the fully knowable (
Rep.477a); the Egyptian Hermetists made distinction between two types of knowledge: 1) science (
episteme), produced by reason (
logos), and 2)
gnosis, produced by understanding and faith (
Corpus Hermeticum IX); therefore
gnosis is regarded as the goal of
episteme (ibid.X.9); the -idea that one may ‘know God’ (
gnosis theou) is very rare in the classical Hellenic literature, which rather praises
episteme and hieratic vision,
epopteia, but is common in Hermetism, Gnosticism and early Christianity; following the Platonic tradition (especially Plotinus and Porphyry), Augustine introduced a distinction between knowledge and wisdom,
scientia and
sapientia, claiming that the fallen soul knows only
scientia, but before the Fall she knew
sapientia (
De Trinitate XII).
(more..) humanismThe intellectual viewpoint increasingly prevalent in the West since the time of the Renaissance; it replaced the traditional Christian view of God as the center of all things by a belief in man as the measure of all things.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) modernismThe predominant post-Renaissance and post-Enlightenment worldview of Western civilization marked by rationalism, scientism, and humanism. In the Muslim world, it refers to those individuals and movements who have sought to adopt Western ideas and values from the nineteenth century onwards in response to Western domination and imperialism.
(more..) quod absit literally, "which is absent from, opposed to, or inconsistent with"; a phrase commonly used by the medieval scholastics to call attention to an idea that is absurdly inconsistent with accepted principles. (It is sometimes used in the sense of "Heaven forfend…" or "God forbid…")
(more..) sat"Being;" one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
cit, "consciousness," and ananda (
ānanda), "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) sattvathe quality of harmony, purity, serenity
(more..) shaikh(1) In Islam, a Sufi or other spiritual leader or master. (2) The term is also used more generally as an honorific title for a chief or elder of a group.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) humanismThe intellectual viewpoint increasingly prevalent in the West since the time of the Renaissance; it replaced the traditional Christian view of God as the center of all things by a belief in man as the measure of all things.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) alter the "other," in contrast to the
ego or individual self.
(more..) Om the most sacred syllable in Hinduism, containing all origination and dissolution; regarded as the "seed" of all
mantras, its three
mātrās or letters are taken to be symbolical of the
Trimūrti, while the silence at its conclusion is seen as expressing the attainment of
Brahma.
(more..) dhikr "remembrance" of God, based upon the repeated invocation of His Name; central to Sufi practice, where the remembrance often consists of the single word
Allāh.
(more..) ideain non-technical use the term refers to the visual aspect of anything; for Plato and Platonists, it is the highest noetic entity, the eternal unchanging Form, the archetype of the manifested material thing; in Plato,
idea is a synonim of
eidos, but in Neoplatonism these two terms have a slightly different meaning.
(more..) japa "repetition" of a
mantra or sacred formula, often containing one of the Names of God; see
buddhānusmriti,
dhikr.
(more..) Jodo(A) Japanese term for "Pure Land." Though all Buddhas have their Pure Lands, the Land of Amida Buddha became the most well-known and desired in China and Japan because of its comprehensive nature, its popular propagation, and its ease of entry through recitation of his Name.
(B) "pure land"; the untainted, transcendent realm created by the Buddha Amida (
Amitabha in Sanskrit), into which his devotees aspire to be born in their next life.
(more..) mani "jewel," often in the shape of a tear-drop; in Eastern traditions, understood to be powerful in removing evil and the causes of sorrow; see
Om mani padme hum.
(more..) nirvanaIn Buddhism (and Hinduism), ultimate liberation from
samsara (the cycles of rebirths or the flow of cosmic manifestation), resulting in absorption in the Absolute; the extinction of the fires of passion and the resulting, supremely blissful state of liberation from attachment and egoism.
(more..) Pure Land"Translation from the Chinese
ching-t’u (
jodo in Japanese). The term as such is not found in Sanskrit, the closest being the phrase ‘purification of the Buddha Land.’ Shinran describes it as the ‘Land of Immeasurable Light,’ referring not to a place that emanates light, but a realization whenever one is illumined by the light of compassion." (Unno)
(more..) sufi In its strictest sense designates one who has arrived at effective knowledge of Divine Reality (
Ḥaqīqah); hence it is said:
aṣ-Ṣūfī lam yukhlaq (“the Sufi is not created”).
(more..) theologydivine science, theology,
logos about the gods, considered to be the essence of
teletai; for Aristotle, a synonim of metaphysics or first philosophy (
prote philosophia) in contrast with physics (
Metaph.1026a18); however, physics (
phusiologia) sometimes is called as a kind of theology (Proclus
In Tim.I.217.25); for Neoplatonists, among the ancient theologians (
theologoi) are Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod and other divinely inspired poets, the creators of theogonies and keepers of sacred rites.
(more..) Tradition(as the term is used by "Traditionalists" and in the "Perennial Philosopy":) Divine Revelation and the unfolding and development of its sacred content, in time and space, such that the forms of society and civilization maintain a "vertical" connection to the meta-historical, transcendental substance from which revelation itself derives.
(more..) adam In Sufism this expression includes on the one hand the positive sense of non-manifestation, of a principial state beyond existence or even beyond Being, and on the other hand a negative sense of privation, of relative nothingness.
(more..) upaya"Means, expedient, method;" in Buddhist tradition, the adaptation of spiritual teaching to a form suited to the level of one’s audience.
(more..) yogaunion of the jiva with God; method of God-realization (in Hinduism)
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