The Aims and Ideals of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram

Glossary

The philosophical and psychological terms in this glossary are defined almost entirely in Sri Aurobindo's words.

Ashram - the house or houses of a Teacher or Master of spiritual philosophy in which he receives and lodges those who come to him for the teaching and practice; a spiritual community.

bhakti - love for the Divine, devotion to the Divine.

Brahman-the Reality, the Eternal, the Infinite, the Absolute, the One besides whom there is nothing else existent.

Chit-Tapas - Conscious Force.

Gita - the Bhagavad Gita, the "Song of the Blessed Lord", being the spiritual teachings of Sri Krishna spoken to Arjuna on the battlfield of Kurukshetra.

Integral Yoga - a union (yoga) in all the parts of our being with the Divine and a consequent transmutation of all their now jarring elements into the harmony of a higher divine consciousness and existence.

Ishwari Shakti - the Divine Conscious Force and World Mother.

Karmayoga -the yoga of (desireless) works.

Mantra -s et words or sounds having a spiritual significance or power; sacred syllable, name of mystic formula.

moksa -l iberation, spiritual liberation.

Mukti - liberation, spiritual liberation.

ojas-physical (and vital physical) energy; a primal physical energy supporting all the other energies of the body, vital, mental, spiritual.

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overmental - of or relating to the Overmind, the highest gradation of spiritualised mind.

psychic - of or relating to the soul (as distinguished from the mind and vital); used in the sense of the Greek word "psyche". The term "psychic" refers to all the movements and experiences of the soul, those which rise from or directly touch the psychic being. The psychic being is the evolving soul of the individual, the divine portion in him which evolves from life to life, growing by its experiences until it becomes a fully conscious being.

rajasic - of the nature of rajas, the quality of Nature that energises and drives to action; the quality of action and passion and struggle impelled by desire and instinct.

retas - semen.

sadhak - one who practises a spiritual discipline; one who is getting or trying to get spiritual realisation.

sadhana - spiritual practice or discipline; the practice of Yoga.

samagram mam -"the whole Me" of the Divine Being.

Sannyasi(n) -one who has renounced the world and action; an ascetic.

Sat-chit-ananda - the One Divine Being with a triple aspect of Existence (Sat), Consciousness (Chit) and Delight (Ananda).

sattwic-of the nature of sattwa, the quality of Nature that illumines and clarifies; the quality of light, harmony, purity and peace.

Shakti - Force, Power; the Divine Power; the Power of the Divine Mother.

shraddha - faith; the soul's belief in the Divine's existence, wisdom, power, love and grace Siddha Yogi-one who is perfected (siddha) in Yoga.

Siddha Yogi - one who is perfected (siddha) in Yoga.

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supramental - of or relating to the Supermind, the highest divine consciousness and force operative in the universe.

tamas - the quality of Nature that hides or darkens; the quality of ignorance, inertia and obscurity, of incapacity and inaction.

Tapasya - effort, energy, austerity of the personal will; concentration of the will and energy to control the mind, vital and physical and to change them or to bring down the higher consciousness or for any other yogic or high purpose.

vital - the life-nature made up of desires, sensations, feelings, passions, energies of action, will of desire, reactions of the desire-soul of man and of all that play of possessive and other related instincts, anger, greed, lust, etc., that belong to this field of nature.

Yoga - joining, union; union with the Divine and the conscious seeking for this union. Yoga is in essence the union of the soul with the immortal being and consciousness and bliss of the Divine, effected through the human nature with a result of development into the divine nature of being.

Yoga-Shakti - yogic force, spiritual force.

Yogi - one who practises Yoga, but especially one who has attained the goal of Yoga and is already established in spiritual realisation.

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