Man in the Universe:
Permanence Amidst Apparent Change
by
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Source: Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 2, No.4. (Autumn 1968) © World Wisdom, Inc.
www.studiesincomparativereligion.com
THERE is no domain in which change and transformation reign with the same supremacy and totality as in that which concerns nature and man's relation to it as well as his knowledge of it. Modern science, which has acted as a catalyst during the past centuries for change in so many other fields, is itself based upon change and impermanence. Were it to become stationary and immutable it would cease to exist in its present form. And since this is the only science of nature known to modern man, the whole relation between man and nature, as well as the nature of man himself and the Universe that surrounds him, is seen only in the light of flux and change. The view that man's position in the Universe and his knowledge of it, not to speak of the object of this knowledge, is constantly changing has come to appear as so obvious and evident as to make any other point of view seem absurd and well-nigh impossible to understand. Modern man is bewildered at even the possibility of an element of permanence in his relation with the Universe, not because such an element does not exist, but because the problem itself is never considered from the point of view of permanence.
It is often forgotten that before man began to view his relation to nature only from the aspect of change and impermanence, he had become himself inwardly detached from the immutable principle of the Intellect, the nous, which along with revelation is the only factor that can act as the permanent and immutable axis for the machinations of human reason. With the weakening of gnostic elements in Christianity the rational faculty of Western man became gradually estranged from the twin sources of immutability, stability and permanence: namely, revelation and intellectual intuition.[1] The result was on the one hand the nominalist trend, which destroyed philosophical certainty, and on the other this reduction of man to the purely human cut off from any transcendental elements, the man of Renaissance humanism. Such a concept of man itself implied sheer change and becomingwhich are apparent even outwardly during that period in those rapid transformations of Western society which have given the Renaissance its transitional character. But even then man's concept of the Universe had not as yet changed. His science of nature was still essentially medieval, comprised of Hermetic and Scholastic elements. It is only his conception of himself that had changed, leading in turn to a change in his concept of the Universe and his own place in it.
It is always essential to bear in mind the time-lag between the religious and metaphysical revolt at the end of the Middle Ages expressing an attempt on the part of Western man to cut himself away from his celestial and immutable archetype and to become purely terrestrial and human, and the scientific revolution which carried this secularized vision of man to its logical conclusion by creating a purely secular science, Man, once he came to consider himself a predominantly secular being, developed a science that considers the changing aspect of things alone, a science that is concerned solely with becoming rather than being, and this is a most logical happening if we remember that even etymologically secular is derived from the Latin secularis one of whose meanings is change and temporality. The destruction of the sacred vision of man and the Universe is equivalent to the destruction of the immutable aspect of both man and the Universe. A secular science could not have come into existence without being wholly concerned with change and becoming.
If we keep in mind the historical factors that brought into being a world-view in the West based solely on the changing aspect of things, it should be possible for us to reconstruct and bring back to light permanent elements in the vision of modern man without appearing to speak of absurdities; but this can only happen if there is an understanding of traditional metaphysics and the language of symbolism through which the metaphysical truths have always been revealed.[2] Metaphysics, or the science of the permanent, can be ignored or forgotten; but it cannot be refuted precisely because it is not concerned with change qua change. That which deals with permanence cannot become "out of date," because it is not concerned with any date as such. The permanent elements in the relation between man and the Universe remain as valid now as ever. Only they must become known once again after the long period during which the West did not search for permanent elements in change and even sought to reduce permanence itself to change and historical process.
* * *
From the point of view of traditional metaphysical and cosmological doctrines there are several elements of permanence in the relationship between man and nature and in man's own situation in the Universe. The first and most basic element is the fact that the cosmic environment that surrounds man is not ultimate reality but possesses the character of relativity and even illusion. If one understands what is meant by the Absolute then by the same token one understands the relative and comes to realize that all that is not Absolute must of necessity be relative. The aspect of the world as mâyâ, to use the Hindu term or samsâra in the Buddhist sense, is itself a permanent element of the cosmos and man's relation to it. The Universe, in its cosmic aspect, was always mâyâ and will always be mâyâ. The Absolute is always the Absolute and the relative the relative, and no amount of historical process and change can turn one into the other. Historical process can cause a people or even a civilization to forget for a while the distinction between the Absolute and relative and therefore to take the relative for the Absolute as modern science seems to have done. But wherever and whenever metaphysical discernment appears, the distinction becomes clear and the world becomes known for what it is, namely mâyâ. The changing element of the world which the concept of mâyâ implies is itself a permanent feature of the world. It is in the nature of the world to be changing, to undergo generation and corruption, to experience life and death. But the meaning of this change can only be understood in terms of the permanent. To have understood that the world is mâyâ is to have understood the meaning of Atmân or Brahmân that transcends mâyâ. To know that the world is impermanent or samsâric in nature is to know by extension the presence of the nirvânic state beyond it.[3] The changing character of the world reveals metaphysically the permanent reality that transcends it. To realize the relativity of things is to know, by extension of the same knowledge, about the Absolute and the Permanent. Throughout history, in all periods of human culture, this metaphysical distinction has existed. It lies in the nature of things and so is there for all to see, provided they turn their vision towards it. Only, in certain periods such as ours the relative has come to be idolized as the Absolute. Today, one often hears the claim that all is relative. But the same people who make such a claim often bestow an absolute character on the domain of the relative itself. Without always being fully aware of it they have mistaken both Brahmân and mâyâ, due to a lack of discernment and true knowledge, an ignorance which itself stems from mâyâ. But when there is metaphysical knowledge there is also awareness of the relativity of things in the light of the Absolute, and this fundamental truth is a permanent element in man's situation in the Universe, and concerns his destiny as a being who is called upon to seek to transcend the cosmic crypt into which he has fallen and to return from the domain of the relative to the Absolute.[4]
Another element of permanence in the relation of man to the Universe is the manifestation of the Absolute in the relative in the form of symbols understood in the traditional sense of the word.[5] A symbol is not based on man made conventions. It is an aspect of the ontological reality of things and is as such independent of man's perception of it.[6] The symbol is the revelation of a higher order of reality in a lower order through which man can be led back to the higher sphere. To understand symbols is to accept the hierarchic structure of the Universe and the multiple states of being.
During phases of the historical process symbols which are given special significance and power in a revealed religion through the revelation itself can gradually lose their efficacy either partially or completely, as a result of the weakening of the spiritual basis of that religion as can be seen in the case of the de-mythologizers of our day. Nevertheless, the symbols of nature are permanent and immutable. What the sky signifies symbolically, as for example the dimension of transcendence and the Divine throne, (‘arsh) to use the Islamic image, is as permanent as the sky itself. The sun symbolizes the Universal Intellect as long as it goes on shining and the tree with its extended branches is a symbol of the multiple states of being as long as trees grow on the surface of the earth. That is why one may speak of a cosmologia perennis, of a qualitative science of nature which is always valid and which reveals an aspect of nature which is, to say the least, no less real than the changing aspect studied by modern science.[7] The main difference between the traditional and modern sciences of nature lies in the fact that modern science studies change with respect to change, whereas traditional science studies change in the light of permanence through the study of symbols which are nothing but the reflection of permanence in change.
A civilization may develop a science which turns its back upon the qualitative aspect of things revealed through symbols to concentrate upon the changes which can be measured quantitatively; but it cannot destroy the symbolic reality of things any more than can a qualitative and symbolic study of natural phenomena destroy their weight or size. Today through the destruction of the "symbolist spirit",[8] men in the West have lost the sense of penetrating into the inner meaning of phenomena which symbols alone reveal. But this impotence does not mean that natural symbols have ceased to exist. The symbolic significance of the homocentric spheres of Ptolemaic astronomy, which the immediate appearance of the heavens reveals, remains valid, whether in the theoretical Newtonian absolute space or in the curved space of relativity the earth moves around the sun or the sun around the earth. The homocentric spheres symbolize states of being above the terrestrial sphere in which man is presently placed. The states of being remain true whether we understand and accept the natural symbolism which the heavens themselves reveal to us in our immediate and direct contact with them, or whether we destroy this immediate appearance and the symbol in the name of other theoretical considerations.
In fact even new scientific theories, if they conform to any reality at all, possess their own symbolic meaning. To correspond to reality means to be symbolic. If the Ptolemaic spheres symbolize man's position with respect to higher states of being, the galactic space of modern astronomy itself symbolizes the indefinitude of the relative, the vastness of the ocean of samsâra. It is itself proof of the fact that man's intelligence was created to know the Infinite rather than the indefinite. But in a more direct sense, the symbolic meaning of the phenomena of nature, not to speak of scientific theories based upon them, represents a permanent aspect of things and of man's relation to the cosmos. It is upon this permanent character of the symbolic content of the phenomena of nature that one can construct a symbolic science of nature, a traditional cosmology which remains of perennial value and permanent importance, and which is of particular significance today when the purely quantitative sciences of nature and their manifold applications threaten the existence of both man and nature.[9]
Yet another permanent feature of the relation between man and the Universe, at least according to a certain aspect of the situation, is the way that nature presents itself to man. Today man seeks to change all his social, political and even religious institutions with the excuse that nature itself is always changing and therefore man must change likewise. In fact just the reverse holds true. It is because man's mentality has lost its anchor in the permanent and become itself a fleeting river of ever changing ideas and images that man sees only change in nature. If modern man has read evolution into nature, he had begun to believe in evolution in his mind before observing it in nature itself. Evolution is primarily not the product of natural observation but of a secularized mentality cut off from every avenue of access to the immutable, which then began to see its own fleeting nature in outward nature. Man always sees in nature the reflection of his own being and his conception of what he himself is.
If we study the world about us we see that in fact the terrestrial environment in which men saw permanence for millenia has not changed in its general features. The sun still rises and sets the same way now as it did for ancient and medieval man, who looked upon it as the symbol of the Divine Intellect. The natural forms still reproduce them-selves with the same regularity and through the same processes as in older historical periods. Neither the petals of the rose nor its scent have changed since Dante and Shakespeare wrote about them. Nor in fact has man himself evolved biologically since there has been a recorded or even unrecorded human history. Today's man is biologically the same as the men of old who believed in permanence and transcendence. If modern men have ceased to so believe they had better find some other excuse than their own biological or natural evolution.
In this question of the permanence of natural phenomena as they appear to man there is a diametrical opposition between the traditional and that modern point of view which is its direct inversion. Today all things are considered to be changing, yet the hypothesis of uniformitarianism is used with such certainty in geology, paleontology and even anthropology that one would think it was a proven law. On the one hand it is said that laws have been uniform and so we speak of events having taken place millions and billions of years ago without considering precisely what it is that we mean by a "million years." On the other hand we say that nature changes all the time, without considering the possibility that what appears as a "law of nature" today may itself have changed over the ages or under particular circumstances and conditions. If we cannot walk on water, there is no logical reason why such and such a medieval saint could never have done so.
The traditional view of nature reverses this situation completely. In place of change it substitutes permanence and in place of uniformity and immutability of natural conditions, qualitative change. The changing processes of nature are viewed as permanent patterns which through repetition integrate time and process into the image of eternity.[10] The apparent uniformity of nature is in turn modified by the theory of cycles, the yugas of Hinduism or adwâr and akwâr of certain schools of Islamic thought, which do not mean mere repetition of the same patterns but rather bring out the qualitative difference between different epochs both in the cosmos and in human history. The modern inversion of these two realities has destroyed the vision of permanence in nature as well as the realization of the qualitative differences in the various cycles. In fact this inversion is itself proof of the reality of the cosmic cycles and only confirms what all authentic traditions teach about them.[11]
For this reason alone older works of natural history and mythology have become closed books and at best are interpreted in a purely psychological manner, whereas they can be understood in the light of the fact that there is a qualitative difference between the cosmic milieu of the ancient natural environment and our own. There was not the same crystallization and condensation, the same separation of matter from spirit. The water of Thales was still full of the animating spirit of nature and in fact symbolized the psycho-physical substratum of things. It was very far removed from the post-Cartesian dead matter with which Lavoisier was experimenting twenty-four centuries later.
Yet, between this change and that permanence and across this inversion of views there remains one immutable element: that is, the way in which the phenomena of nature appear to man. The sky, the sea, the mountains, the seasonal cycles, these realities manifest themselves now as in the millenia before, except for certain qualitative differences involved, and they are the majestic testament of the Immutable manifested in the process of becoming. Men who love nature are essentially in quest of the permanent, and nature in fact itself gives the lie to those who want to limit all reality to change and becoming. Such philosophies never arose among people who lived close to nature but have always been the products of sedentary environments where an artificial atmosphere has enabled men to forget both nature and the permanent elements which she reveals to man, elements which evoke in man those factors that are permanent and anchored in the immutable strata of man's own being.
As far as the present sciences of nature are concerned, much though they differ from the various traditional cosmologies, even here there is an element of permanence if one takes modern science for what it really is. Of course by the very fact that modern science has consciously turned its back upon the metaphysical and symbolic aspect of things, it is cut off from the traditional view of nature through its own point of view and must ignore any metaphysical significance that its own discoveries may possess. Yet, these discoveries, to the extent that they have a connection with the reality of things, do possess a symbolic significance. For example the fact that order repeats itself in all planes of material reality from the galaxy to the atom, or the fact that with whatever unit science deals with, whether it be the biological cell or the atom, there is a harmony of parts within a whole, represent permanent features of any science of nature whether one bothers to take these facts into consideration or not.
Even in a more evident manner, one sees the repetition of certain patterns and problems throughout the history of science, a fact which more than any other has attracted many modern scientists to its study. No matter how much science changes, the encounter of man's mind with nature seems to produce certain permanent features. Take for example the problem of continuity and discontinuity of bodies, which had occupied Aristotle and the Greek atomists, the Muslim Peripatetics and theologians as well as the modern physicists; or the relation of the One to the manifold, or between order and disorder or between chance and determinism; these are all problems that recur perennially in all forms of science. Many scientists turn today to the history of science to find inspiration for new methodologies in order to face problems of contemporary physics or biology which are basically related to the problems of the ancient and medieval sciences. The recurrence of these patterns and problems is yet another element of permanence in a domain that is the most changing and fluid of all fields, just because men have turned their backs upon Unity to view multiplicity, to study the contingent without considering the Principle.
But perhaps the most important permanent element in man's relation to the Universe is his "existential" situation in the hierarchy of universal existence. Traditional man knew with certainty where he came from, why he lived and where he was going. Modern man, however, for the most part knows neither where he comes from nor what his end will be and therefore, most important of all, why he is living. Nevertheless, like the traditional man he faces the two points which determine the beginning and end of his terrestrial life. He is born and he dies. This fact has not changed one iota nor will it do so through the cheap form of would-be immortality that modern man seeks, if unconsciously, through such artificial means as heart transplantations. The only difference is that what was once certainty has become today doubt and fear. But the reality of birth and death remains, and no amount of modern science can unravel the mysteries of these two "eternities" between which stands the flickering moment of earthly life.[12]
It is these two "infinities" which determine the character and meaning of the finitude that stands between them. With respect to these two "infinities" the situation of man has not changed at all even if the destruction of the medieval cosmologies has destroyed for most men the metaphysical doctrine of the states of being which that cosmology symbolized so beautifully. Man is still a finite being with an intelligence made to understand the Infinite and the Absolute and not merely the indefinite and the relative, whereof the total grasp lies forever beyond the ken of any human science. With respect to the Absolute and all the states of being which comprise the Universe man is what he has always been and will always be, an image of the Absolute in the relative, cast into the stream of becoming in order to return this becoming itself to Being. Today there is so much talk of change that men are hypnotized by their own phrases and forget that just beneath the surface of these ever moving waves of change lies the immutable and permanent sea of man's real nature. The situation of this permanent nature which man carries within himself wherever he comes face to face with the Real, in its metaphysical sense, has never changed nor can it ever alter. The ontological situation of man in the total scheme of things is forever the same; it is, more than all the other elements of cosmology and the sciences that relate man to the Universe, a situation of permanence midst apparent change.
NOTES
[1] See S. H. Nasr, The Encounter of Man and Nature, the Spiritual Crisis of Modern Man, London, 1968, pp. 63 ff.
[2] See F. Schuon, The Transcendent Unity of Religions, trans. by P. Townsend,
London
, 1953, pp. 9 ff., and R. Guénon, La métaphysique orientale,
Paris
, 1951.
[3] See. F Schuon, In the Tracks of Buddhism, trans. by M. Pallis, London, 1968, where the relation between nirvana and samsâra is discussed in all its amplitude and depth
[4] Concerning this theme in its Islamic setting, see S. H. Nasr, An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines, Cambridge (U.S.A.), 1964, chapter XV.
[5] The meaning of traditional symbols cannot be treated here. This question has been amply dealt with in the writings of F. Schuon, R. Guénon, T. Burckhardt, and A. K. Coomaraswamy as well as H. Zimmer and M. Eliade.
[6] "The science of symbolsnot simply a knowledge of traditional symbolsproceeds from the qualitative significances of substances, forms,..., we are not dealing here with subjective appreciations, for the cosmic qualities are ordered both in relation to Being and according to a hierarchy which is more real than the individual..." F. Schuon, Gnosis, Divine Wisdom, trans. G. E. H. Palmer, London, 1959, p. 110.
[7] On the cosmologia perennis, see T. Burckhardt, Scienza moderna e saggezza traditionale, Torino, 1968; see also his Alchemie, Sinn and Weltbild, Olten, 1960, which deals with permanent values of Hermetic cosmology.
[8] Concerning the "symbolist spirit" see F. Schuon, "The Symbolist Outlook", Studies in Comparative Religion, Winter, 1966, pp. 50 ff.
[9] The author has dealt fully with this question in his Encounter of Man and Nature.
[10] On the relation between linear and cyclic time as it effects both history and cosmology, see M. Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, trans. by W. Trask, New York, 1954; see also, A. K. Coomaraswamy, Time and Eternity, Ascona, 1947, where the metaphysical relationship between time and eternity in different traditions is elucidated.
[11] The downward tendency of the Kali Yuga or Dark Age which itself obliterates the vision of qualitative time for most men is admirably treated by R. Guénon in many of his writings, especially The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, trans. by Lord Northbourne, London, 1951.
[12] "Modern Science, which is rationalist as to its subject and materialist as to its object, can describe our situation physically and approximately, but it can tell us nothing about our extra-spatial situation in the total and real Universe". F. Schuon, Light on the Ancient Worlds, trans. by Lord Northbourne, London, 1965, p. 111.
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..) 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..) jinn Subtle beings belonging to the world of forms.
(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..) 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..) Advaita "non-dualist" interpretation of the
Vedānta; Hindu doctrine according to which the seeming multiplicity of things is regarded as the product of ignorance, the only true reality being
Brahman, the One, the Absolute, the Infinite, which is the unchanging ground of appearance.
(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..) Ibn Arabi Ash-Shaikh al-Akbar (“The greatest master”). Wrote numerous Sufi treatises of which the most famous is his
Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam and the most rich in content his
Futūḥāt al-Makkiyah.
(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..) 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..) ratio literally, "calculation"; the faculty of discursive thinking, to be distinguished from
intellectus, "Intellect."
(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..) 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..) bhakti the spiritual "path" (
mārga) of "love" (
bhakti) and devotion.
(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..) 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..) 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..) 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..) samsaraLiterally, "wandering;" in Hinduism and Buddhism, transmigration or the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; also, the world of apparent flux and change.
(more..) sat"Being;" one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
cit, "consciousness," and ananda (
ānanda), "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(more..) yogaunion of the jiva with God; method of God-realization (in Hinduism)
(more..) ahimsa "non-violence," a fundamental tenet of Hindu ethics, also emphasized in Buddhism and Jainism.
(more..) dharmaTruth, Reality, cosmic law, righteousness, virtue.
(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..) in divinisliterally, "in or among divine things"; within the divine Principle; the plural form is used insofar as the Principle comprises both
Para-Brahma, Beyond-Being or the Absolute, and
Apara-Brahma, Being or the relative Absolute.
(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..) 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..) Advaita "non-dualist" interpretation of the
Vedānta; Hindu doctrine according to which the seeming multiplicity of things is regarded as the product of ignorance, the only true reality being
Brahman, the One, the Absolute, the Infinite, which is the unchanging ground of appearance.
(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..) dharmaTruth, Reality, cosmic law, righteousness, virtue.
(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..) jnanaKnowing or understanding. Though usually translated into English as "knowledge", "jñāna" does not mean proficiency in a subject like history or physics. It is not mere learning but inward
experience or awareness of a truth. In Advaita it is the realization that one is inseparably united with the Supreme.
(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..) margaIn Hinduism, a spiritual “way, path”; see
bhakti,
jnāna,
karma.
(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..) prajnaAs (1)
prājñā: The individual being in the state (
avasthā ) of deep sleep wherein the activity of the mind temporarily ceases and an unconscious, but fleeting, union with
Brahman occurs; As (2)
Prajñā: A Sanskrit term that denotes transcendental wisdom. It is considered one of the most important pillars of
Mahāyāna Buddhism, including Zen.
(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..) 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..) 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..) upaya"Means, expedient, method;" in Buddhist tradition, the adaptation of spiritual teaching to a form suited to the level of one’s audience.
(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..) 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..) 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..) 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..) apocatastasis“Restitution, restoration”; among certain Christian theologians, including Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa, the doctrine that all creatures will finally be saved at the end of time.
(more..) Brahman Brahma considered as transcending all "qualities," attributes, or predicates; God as He is in Himself; also called
Para-Brahma.
(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..) 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..) 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..) ex cathedra literally, "from the throne"; in Roman Catholicism, authoritative teaching issued by the pope and regarded as infallible.
(more..) Advaita "non-dualist" interpretation of the
Vedānta; Hindu doctrine according to which the seeming multiplicity of things is regarded as the product of ignorance, the only true reality being
Brahman, the One, the Absolute, the Infinite, which is the unchanging ground of appearance.
(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..) 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..) 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..) 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..) jiriki(A)Self power; the consciousness that one achieves Enlightenment through one’s own effort. In Pure Land Buddhism it is considered a delusory understanding of the true nature of practice and faith, which are supported and enabled through Amida’s compassion.
(B) One who is "liberated" while still in this "life"; a person who has attained to a state of spiritual perfection or self-realization before death; in contrast to
videha-muktav, one who is liberated at the moment of death..
(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..) 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..) mantra literally, "instrument of thought"; a word or phrase of divine origin, often including a Name of God, repeated by those initiated into its proper use as a means of salvation or liberation; see
japa.
(more..) murtiAnything that has a definite shape; an image or idol; personification.
(more..) nembutsu(A) "The practice of reciting
Namu-Amida-Butsu (the Name of Amida) is known as recitative
nembutsu. There is also meditative
nembutsu, which is a method of contemplation.
Nembutsu is used synonymously with
myogo, or the Name." (Unno)
(B) "remembrance or mindfulness of the Buddha," based upon the repeated invocation of his Name; same as
buddhānusmriti in Sanskrit and
nien-fo in Chinese.
(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..) rupabodily or physical form, shape, appearance, figure, image (e.g. of a god)
(more..) shunya “Void”, “emptiness,” in Sanskrit; in Mahāyāna Buddhism, the true nature of all phenomena, devoid of all independent self or substance.
(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..) svaraSound; a note of the musical scale; accent in Vedic intonation.
(more..) tariki(A) literally, "power of the other"; a Buddhist term for forms of spirituality that emphasize the importance of grace or celestial assistance, especially that of the Buddha Amida, as in the Pure Land schools; in contrast to
jiriki.
(B) Other Power; "The working of the boundless compassion of Amida Buddha, which nullifies all dualistic notions, including constructs of self and other. According to Shinran, ‘Other Power means to be free of any form of calculations (
hakarai).’" (Unno)
(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..) 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..) Advaita "non-dualist" interpretation of the
Vedānta; Hindu doctrine according to which the seeming multiplicity of things is regarded as the product of ignorance, the only true reality being
Brahman, the One, the Absolute, the Infinite, which is the unchanging ground of appearance.
(more..) AgamaTraditional doctrine, science or knowledge; the
āgama śāstras deal with ritual, iconography, the construction of temples,
yantras and so on.
(more..) arghyaLibation to the gods,
rsis or fathers; an important part of
sandhyāvandana (qv) is
arghya-pradāna, the offering of
arghya.
Aghya also means valuable or venerable.
(more..) Atma the real or true "Self," underlying the ego and its manifestations; in the perspective of
Advaita Vedānta, identical with
Brahma.
(more..) Atman 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..) avidya "ignorance" of the truth; spiritual delusion, unawareness of
Brahma.
(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..) bhakta a follower of the spiritual path of
bhakti; a person whose relationship with God is based primarily on adoration and love.
(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..) Brahmin "Brahmin"; a member of the highest of the four Hindu castes; a priest or spiritual teacher.
(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..) hamsaa renunciate (
sannyāsin) who attains to
Satyaloka after the death of the body, there to obtain liberation
(more..) homaOffering oblations in the consecrated fire.
(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..) Ishvara(A) literally, "possessing power," hence master; God understood as a personal being, as Creator and Lord; manifest in the
Trimūrti as
Brahmā,
Vishnu, and
Shiva.
(B) lit. "the Lord of the Universe"; the personal God who manifests in the triple form of
Brahmā (the Creator), Vishnu (the Sustainer), and
Shiva (the Transformer); identical with
saguna Brahman.
(more..) Ishvara(A) literally, "possessing power," hence master; God understood as a personal being, as Creator and Lord; manifest in the
Trimūrti as
Brahmā,
Vishnu, and
Shiva.
(B) lit. "the Lord of the Universe"; the personal God who manifests in the triple form of
Brahmā (the Creator), Vishnu (the Sustainer), and
Shiva (the Transformer); identical with
saguna Brahman.
(more..) jagat "world"; the existing or manifested universe.
(more..) japa "repetition" of a
mantra or sacred formula, often containing one of the Names of God; see
buddhānusmriti,
dhikr.
(more..) jivathe individual soul; the living being.
(more..) jnanaKnowing or understanding. Though usually translated into English as "knowledge", "jñāna" does not mean proficiency in a subject like history or physics. It is not mere learning but inward
experience or awareness of a truth. In Advaita it is the realization that one is inseparably united with the Supreme.
(more..) jnanin a follower of the path of
jñāna; a person whose relationship with God is based primarily on sapiential knowledge or
gnosis.
(more..) jnanin a follower of the path of
jñāna; a person whose relationship with God is based primarily on sapiential knowledge or
gnosis.
(more..) jnanin a follower of the path of
jñāna; a person whose relationship with God is based primarily on sapiential knowledge or
gnosis.
(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..) manas mind; all of the mental powers
(more..) mantra literally, "instrument of thought"; a word or phrase of divine origin, often including a Name of God, repeated by those initiated into its proper use as a means of salvation or liberation; see
japa.
(more..) Maya "artifice, illusion"; in
Advaita Vedānta, the beguiling concealment of
Brahma in the form or under the appearance of a lower reality.
(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..) 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..) prakritiLiterally, "making first" (see
materia prima); the fundamental, "feminine" substance or material cause of all things; see "purusha (
puruṣa)
."
(more..) prakritiIn Hinduism, literally, “making first” (see
materia prima); the fundamental, “feminine” substance or material cause of all things; see
guna,
Purusha.
(more..) pujaritual worship (in Hinduism)
(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..) rishiin Hinduism, a seer, saint, inspired poet; the Vedas are ascribed to the seven great seers of antiquity.
(more..) sadhakaA spiritual aspirant; one who endeavors to follow a method of spiritual practice.
(more..) sadhanaA method of spiritual practice.
(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..) 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..) 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..) shudraA member of the lowest of the four Hindu castes; an unskilled laborer or serf.
(more..) shunya “Void”, “emptiness,” in Sanskrit; in Mahāyāna Buddhism, the true nature of all phenomena, devoid of all independent self or substance.
(more..) Sria prefix meaning “sacred” or “holy” (in Hinduism)
(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..) 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..) vasanaLatent tendency; hidden desire; habit of mind.
(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..) yoginLiterally, "one who is yoked or joined;" a practitioner of
yoga, especially a form of
yoga involving meditative and ascetic techniques designed to bring the soul and body into a state of concentration or meditative focus.
(more..) avatar the earthly "descent," incarnation, or manifestation of God, especially of Vishnu in the Hindu tradition.
(more..) Brahma God in the aspect of Creator, the first divine "person" of the
Trimūrti; to be distinguished from
Brahma, the Supreme Reality.
(more..) buddhi "Intellect"; the highest faculty of knowledge, to be contrasted with
manas, that is, mind or reason; see
ratio.
(more..) in divinisliterally, "in or among divine things"; within the divine Principle; the plural form is used insofar as the Principle comprises both
Para-Brahma, Beyond-Being or the Absolute, and
Apara-Brahma, Being or the relative Absolute.
(more..) Intellectus agens "agent Intellect"; in Aristotelian and scholastic epistemology, the faculty of the mind responsible for abstracting intelligible forms from the data of sense.
(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..) 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..) 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..) 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..) ananda "bliss, beatitude, joy"; one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
sat, "being," and
chit, "consciousness."
(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..) sat"Being;" one of the three essential aspects of
Apara-Brahma, together with
cit, "consciousness," and ananda (
ānanda), "bliss, beatitude, joy."
(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..) Hallaj Crucified by the
sharī‘at authority for having said
Ana-l-Ḥaqq, “I am the Truth.”
(more..) NagarjunaA Buddhist philosopher and saint usually placed in the beginning of the second century C.E. He taught
Śūnyavāda, meaning that all reality is empty of any permanent essence. His thought is central to Zen 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..) 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..) alter the "other," in contrast to the
ego or individual self.
(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..) 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..) 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..) 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..)