| Term |
Definition |
| Ahamkara |
Self-sense of ego. |
| Ajna chakra |
The sixth or brow chakra located between the eyebrows; nondual-knowing center. |
| Alchemy |
A method or power of transmutation; seemingly miraculous change of one thing into another. |
| Amrita |
Divine nectar; essence that drips from the crown lotus. |
| Anahata chakra |
The heart center, associated with love and courage, presides over the air element. The spiritual center located at the heart. The unstruck (anahata) sound heard in meditation originates in this center. |
| Anna-maya kosha |
fleshy food-eating body |
| Asanas |
Various bodily postures practiced to strengthen the body and purify the nadis. |
| Atman |
Soul |
| Aura |
Subtle bodily radiance arising from virtuous action |
| Ayurveda |
The medical system of the Vedas, : physical body, a holistic spiritual approach |
| Bandha |
Lock, an exercise of hatha yoga. The three main locks are jalandhara bandha, in which the head is bent forward and the chin is pressed against the chest, uddiyana bandha, in which the stomach muscles are pulled inward toward the spine, and mula bandha, in which the anus is pulled inward. |
| Bhakti yoga |
The path of love, devotion and surrender to the divine. |
| Bindu |
The subtle abode of the inner Self. See Blue Pearl. |
| Blue Pearl |
A brilliant blue light, the size of a tiny seed, which appears to the meditator whose energy has been awakened. |
| Brahma |
The supreme Lord...in the Hindu trinity, God in His aspect as the creator of the universe. |
| Brahmacharya |
A life of following the Absolute. |
| Buddhi |
Intellect, knowing aspect of mind. |
| Chakra |
(lit. "wheel") A subtle energy center, or nerve plexus, located in the subtle body. There are seven major chakras: muladhara, svadhishthana, manipura, anahata, vishuddha, ajna and sahasrara. |
| Chi |
Life energy, according to the Chinese system of medicine. |
| citta prana |
Energy of consciousness |
| Dharana |
Intermediate maturation of sustained attentional focus. |
| Dharma |
Religion; duty; righteousness. The highest dharma is to recognize the Truth in one's own heart. |
| Dhyana |
Advanced maturation of sustained attentional focus. |
| Divya sharira |
Fully matured "divine body". |
| Granthi |
Three knots in Saraswati nadi where it intersects Susumna |
| Guru |
An enlightened being authorized to guide and initiate disciples. |
| Hatha yoga |
The foundation of Raja yoga; ethics, postures, breathing. |
| Ida nadi |
Left side channel along the spinal sushumna channel; moon, receptive, cooling. |
| Jiva |
The being that has the life; the soul of one's being. |
| Kaivalya |
Separated from all illusions and resting in the natural state; eternal beatitude. |
| Karma |
The sequential flow of consequences. |
| Karma yoga |
The path of loving, selfless service to the divine. |
| Khecari mudra |
Yogic puberty of the tongue. Advanced stage of urdhva-reta in which the tongue spontaneously moves back toward the palatial cavity of the head, as the body seeks its own source. |
| Koshas |
The five sheaths: physical body, energy, mind, wisdom, bliss. |
| Kriya |
A movement of the body caused by Kundalini process. |
| Kundalini |
(lit. "coiled one") The supreme Power, the primordial shakti or Energy, which lies coiled at the base of the spine, in the muladhara chakra of every human being. When this extremely subtle force is awakened, it begins to purigy the whole system. |
| Kundalini |
The spiritual capacity/presence in a person; static or dynamic |
| Kundalini yoga |
The process of attaining union of the individual self with the supreme Self through the evolution of awakened Kundalini energy. |
| Laya |
Absorption or matured unification of mind-as-consciousness. |
| Laya yoga |
The yoga of dissolution; the tattvas absorbed into their subtlest |
| Linga |
The column-shape of Sushumna nadi in root, heart and brow chakra |
| Maha yoga |
The "highest" yoga; Kundalini yoga |
| Manipura chakra |
The navel chakra,; primary site of urdva-retas. |
| Mantra yoga |
The yoga of the divine word, the science of sound, integral to Siddha yoga. The path to union through mantra yoga is based on repetition of a sacred mantra and contemplation of its meaning. |
| Mudra |
Symbolic gestures and movements of the hands which express inner feelings and inner states, or which convey various meanings such as charity, knowledge, and fearlessness. |
| Muladhara chakra |
The root chakra; sacral center; seat of Kundalini. |
| Nadi |
A channel in the subtle body through which the vital force flows. The three main nadis are the sushumna nadi, the central spinal channel; the ida, feminine or lunar channel, which is on the left of sushumna; and the pingala, masculine or lunar channel, which is on the right side of sushumna.. |
| Niyama |
Soteriological sentiment cultivations. |
| Patanjali |
A great sage and author of the famous Yoga Sutras, the exposition of one of the six philosophies of India and the authoritative text of the path of Raja yoga. |
| Pingala nadi |
Solar energy channel corresponding to ida along the spinal sushumna channel and passing through each of the first six chakras. |
| Prana |
The vital, life-sustaining force of both the individual body and the universe. |
| Pranayama |
A yogic technique, consisting of systematic regulation and restraint of the breath, which leads to steadiness of mind. |
| Pranotthana |
Intensified pranic activity; a precursor to kundalini awakening. |
| Pratyahara |
Withdrawal of the senses from their sense objects; restraining the mind's outward-flowing tendency. |
| Qi gong |
Chinese yoga, cultivation of qi (chi), or prana |
| Rajas |
Female sexual fluids. |
| Rasa |
Nectar, sweetness. The subtle energy that gives the experience of pleasure. |
| Retas |
Vital juice-current, procreative essence. |
| Rumi |
Jalalud-Din Rumi. The most eminent Sufi poet-saint of Persia. |
| Sadhana |
Practices, both physical and mental, on the spiritual path; spiritual discipline. |
| Sahasrara chakra |
The crown chakra; the "thousand-petaled lotus". When this chakra is pierced at the crown of the head, the individual self merges into the supreme Self. |
| Samadhi |
State of meditative union with the Absolute. |
| Samskaras |
Impressions of past actions or thought which remain in the unconscious and are stored in the sushumna, the central nerve channel in the subtle body. They are brought to the surface and eliminated by the action of the awakened Kundalini energy. |
| Satchakra-nirupana |
"Description of six chakras" a major text of Kundalini. "The Serpent Power" by Arthur Avalon is a translation in part of this text. |
| Shakti |
Kundalini Shakti. Spiritual power; the divine cosmic Power which creates and maintains the universe. The immanent aspect of Divine Consciousness. |
| Shambhavidi mudra |
The puberty of the eyes and pineal, leading to inner vision of the soul's (melatonin-like) radiances. |
| Shiva |
Shiva is Pure Consciousness; the masculine principle of the universe. In the Hindu trinity, Shiva is the aspect of God as the destroyer of ignorance. |
| Shukra |
Male sexual fluid. |
| Siddha |
A perfected yogi. One who has attained the state of unity-consciousness, or enlightenment. |
| Siddha yoga |
Yoga of the Siddhas, the adepts. |
| Soteriological |
Redemptive-healing..i.e. gratitude, forgiveness, longing, praise-love, compassion, and awe of the Eternal. |
| Subtle body |
In the Vedic tradition it is believed that the physical body has a subtle counterpart made not of gross matter but of a finer substance, or energy. The chakras, nadis are the basic structures of the subtle body. |
| Sushumna |
See nadi. |
| Svadhisthana chakra |
The chakra at the genital pubic center; associated with sexual and reproductive functioning; presides over the water element. |
| Tantra |
Yoga of weaving the spiritual into the physical. |
| Tummo |
The Tibetan word for Kundalini. |
| Udana Pran |
Pranic currents from the throat to the top of the head; govern swallowing movements of throat and tongue. |
| Unmani Mudra |
No-mind-mind puberty of stable consciousness. |
| Urdhva-reta |
Upward refinement of the juice-current of life, the body's inherent capacity of "inner alchemy", or what is loosely known as sublimation. |
| Vairagha |
Nonattachment arising from contentment and dispassion. |
| Vasanas |
Deep-seated, strong desires in the unconscious. |
| Veda |
The most ancient scriptures of Indian Philosophy |
| Virya |
The quintessential distillate of sublimation, arising from virtuous activity. |
| Vishuddha chakra |
The fifth or throat chakra located at the pit of the throat. |
| Viyoga |
The hidden union that occurs when one believes that only separation exists. |
| Yama |
Soteriological observances. |
| Yoga |
(lit. "Union") The sate of oneness with the Self, with God; the practices leading to that state. |
| Yogi |
One who practices yoga; also, one who has attained perfection through yogic practices.
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Cathy Woods Vancouver BC Canada