Powers Within

Glossary

Adverse forces - forces opposed to spiritual progress or realisation.

akasa-lipi - the etheric writing.

Brahman - the Absolute; the Supreme Being; the One besides whom there is nothing else existent.

Buddhi - the thinking mind proper; the mental power of un-derstanding; the discerning intelligence and enlightened will; the discriminating principle of mind, at once intelligence and will.

Chakras - centres of consciousness, seven in number, situated in the subtle body, each having a fixed psychological use and general function.

Gnosis - power beyond mind, based upon Truth of being; see also Supermind.

Gnostic - relating to Gnosis. see Gnosis.

Mahatma - a great soul; the term is used particularly by Theosophists to whom it means someone who has attained self-perfection and who acts as a guide for those who are still on the path.

Manas - mind, the mind proper [as distinct from the intellect (buddhi)]; sense-mind.

Mantra - sacred name, syllable or mystic formula

Mental, the - "mind" and "mental" connote specially that part of the nature which has to do with cognition and in-telligence, with ideas, with mental or thought perceptions, the reactions of thought to things, with the truly mental movements and formations, mental vision and will, etc. that are part of man's intelligence.

the Psychic - the soul; spark of the Divine before it has evolved into an individualised being; the divine essence in the individual. In the course of the evolution, the soul grows and evolves in the form of a soul-personality, the psychic being. The term is also often used for the soul-personality or the psychic being.

Purusha - Conscious Being; Conscious-Soul; a Consciousness behind that is the lord, witness, enjoyer, upholder and source of sanction for Nature's works; the Purusha represents the true being on whatever plane it manifests physical, vital, mental, psychic.

the Subliminal - comprises the inner being, taken in its entirety of inner mind, inner life, inner physical, with the soul or psychic entity supporting them.

Supermind - the Supramental, the Truth-Consciousness, the Divine Gnosis, the highest divine consciousness and force operative in the universe. A principle of consciousness superior to mentality; it exists, acts and proceeds in the fundamental truth and unity of things and not like the mind in their appearances and phenomenal divisions.

Supramental - See Supermind.

Tratak - concentration of the vision on a single point or object.

the Vital - the Life-nature made up of desires, sensations, feelings, passions, energies of action and of all the play of possessive and other related instincts, such as anger, fear, greed, lust, etc. The vital has three main parts:

higher vital - the mental vital and emotional vital taken together. The mental vital gives a mental expression by thought, speech or otherwise to the emotions, desires, passions, sensations or other movements of the vital be-ing; the emotional vital is the seat of various feelings, such as love, joy, sorrow, hatred and the rest. central vital or vital proper - dynamic, sensational and passionate, it is the seat of the stronger vital longings and reactions, such as ambition, pride, fear, love of fame, attractions and repulsions, desires and passions of various kinds and the field of many vital energies.

lower vital - made up of the smaller movements of human life-desire and life-reactions, it is occupied with small desires and feelings, such as food desire, sexual desire, small likings, dislikings, vanity, quarrels, love of praise, anger at blame, little wishes of all kinds, etc.

Yoga - union with the Divine and the conscious seeking for this union. Yoga is a generic name for any discipline by which one attempts to pass out of the limits of one's ordinary mental consciousness into a greater spiritual consciousness.

Yoga-Shakti - yoga-force, spiritual force.

Yogi, Yogin - one who practices yoga; one who is established in realisation.