Dictionary of Spiritual Terms
ab extra
(Language: Latin)
In Latin, “from outside”; proceeding from something extrinsic or external (more)
abhicara
(Language: Sanskrit)
Exorcism; practice of black magic (more)
Abhirami Antadi
(Language: Tamil)
See under “Abhirami Bhatta”. (more)
Abhiramibhattar
(Language: Tamil)
His real name was Subrahmanya and he was a contemporary of the Maratha raja of Tanjavur, Sarabhoji II (1798-1832). (more)
abhiseka
(Language: Sanskrit)
Sprinkling; showering; bathing a deity or a guru (more)
abhivadana
(Language: Sanskrit)
Reverential salutation of a superior like a teacher or any elder (more)
acara
(Language: Sanskrit)
Matters of custom and tradition that serve as a general discipline (more)
acarya
(Language: Sanskrit)
A teacher or spiritual Master (more)
ad alterum
(Language: Latin)
toward another (more)
ad extra
(Language: Latin)
In Latin, “at the extremity”; from the point of view of a boundary or limit (more)
ad intra
(Language: Latin)
In Latin, “at the interior”; considered from within (more)
ad se
(Language: Latin)
toward itself (more)
adaequatio rei et intellectus
(Language: Latin)
the intellect (of the knower) must be adequate to the thing (known); (more)
adhikarana
(Language: Sanskrit)
Placing at the head of; appointing; (more)
adhyapana
(Language: Sanskrit)
Imparting instruction in the Vedas (more)
adhyaropa
(Language: Sanskrit)
lit. “false covering”; superimposition of the unreal upon the real (more)
adhyasa
(Language: Sanskrit)
false perception; superimposition (more)
adhyaya
(Language: Sanskrit)
A chapter or division of a work (more)
adhyayana
(Language: Sanskrit)
Learning the Vedas, chanting them (more)
Adi Sankara
(Language: Sanskrit)
Adi means “first” See under the name “Shankara” (more)
Adi-Buddha
(Language: Sanskrit)
In Buddhist cosmology, the universal or primordial Buddha (more)
Advaita
(Language: Sanskrit)
non-dualist interpretation of the Vedānta (more)
agalma
(Language: Greek)
image, cult-statue, ornament, shrine, object of worship, something in which one takes delight (more)
Agama
(Language: Sanskrit)
The āgama Śāstras deal with ritual, iconography, the construction of temples, yantras and so on (more)
agape
(Language: Greek)
Selfless “love”, as of God for man and man for God; human compassion for one’s neighbor; equivalent of Latin caritas. (more)
agape
(Language: Greek)
Selfless “love”, as of God for man and man for God; human compassion for one’s neighbor; equivalent of Latin caritas (more)
agrahara
(Language: Sanskrit)
The Brahmin quarter in a village or town (more)
ahankara
(Language: Sanskrit)
the ego; the “I”-consciousness (more)
ahimsa
(Language: Sanskrit)
“non-violence,” a fundamental tenet of Hindu ethics (more)
ahitagnin
(Language: Sanskrit)
One who tends the sacred śrauta and grhya fires (more)
ahl al-hadith
(Language: Arabic)
Community of scholars committed to preserving of the Prophet Muḥammad (more)
ahl al-kitab
(Language: Arabic)
Term referring to those communities of non-Muslim peoples who have been given a sacred scripture by God (more)
ahuti
(Language: Sanskrit)
Oblation made in the sacrificial fire (more)
Airavata
(Language: Sanskrit)
The celestial elephant (more)
aisthesis
(Language: Greek)
sensation, perception, as an opposite of intellection (noesis), understanding and pure thought; more loosely – any awareness (more)
Aiyanar
(Language: Tamil)
Almost all villages of Tamil Nadu have a guardian deity (grama devata) called Aiyanar, also known as Sasta. (more)
Ajatasatru
(Language: Sanskrit)
The evil prince in the Contemplation Sutra and Nirvana Sutra. He is an example of the power of the Buddha to save (more)
ajnana
(Language: Sanskrit)
Ignorance; nescience. (more)
akh
(Language: Ancient Egyptian)
the ancient Egyptian term for intelligence, spiritual light, illumination, irradiation (more)
Akhir
(Language: Arabic)
In Islam, a name of God meaning “The Last” (more)
aksata
(Language: Sanskrit)
Whole, uninjured; unbroken rice grains used in various rites (more)
akunin shoki
(Language: Japanese)
evil person as the object of Amida Buddha’s salvation (more)
al-kawnu insanun kabirun wa-l- insanu kawnun saghir
(Language: Arabic)
Sufi saying (more)
alam al-arwah
(Language: Arabic)
“The world of (pure) spirits” (more)
alam al-jabarut
(Language: Arabic)
The world of Omnipotence (more)
alam al-mithal
(Language: Arabic)
“The world of analogies” (more)
Ali ibn Abi Talib
(Language: Arabic)
(name) early leader of Muslim community and Sufi saint (male), died 7th century (more)
alter
(Language: Latin)
the “other,” in contrast to the ego or individual self (more)
Amida Buddha
(Language: Japanese)
The Buddha of Eternal Life and Infinite Light (more)
Amr
(Language: Arabic)
Order, commandment (more)
amrita vrisht
(Language: Sanskrit)
“shower of nectar” (in Hinduism) (more)
Amrta
(Language: Sanskrit)
The nectar of immortality, associated with Amida Buddha (more)
anagoge
(Language: Greek)
ascent, elevation, bringing up (more)
anamnesis
(Language: Greek)
literally, a “lifting up of the mind” (more)
ananda
(Language: Sanskrit)
“bliss, beatitude, joy” (more)
anandamaya-kosha
(Language: Sanskrit)
the sheath of bliss (more)
Anandashram
(Language: Sanskrit)
“abode of bliss” (in Hinduism) (more)
Andal
(Language: Tamil)
Daughter of Visnucitta who belonged to Srivilliputtur in Tirunelveli district. (more)
anga (s)
(Language: Sanskrit)
Limb(s); the six limbs of the Vedas (more)
anicca
(Language: Pali)
impermanence (more)
anjin
(Language: Japanese)
In Buddhism, the settled mind, tranquil mind, a parallel term to shinjin, true entrusting (more)
annamaya-kosha
(Language: Sanskrit)
the sheath of nutriment; the physical body (more)
ansar
(Language: Arabic)
Helpers; an honorific term referring to the people of the town of Yathrib (more)
antahkarana
(Language: Sanskrit)
The internal organ consisting of mind, memory, intellect, and ego (more)
anthropos
(Language: Greek)
man (more)
anudatta
(Language: Sanskrit)
Lowered tone in Vedic chanting (more)
anumana
(Language: Sanskrit)
Inference in Nyāya. (more)
anusvara
(Language: Sanskrit)
Literally means “after-sound” (more)
apara vidya
(Language: Sanskrit)
Lower type of knowledge (more)
Apara-Brahman
(Language: Sanskrit)
the “non-supreme” or penultimate Brahman (more)
aparoksha
(Language: Sanskrit)
Literally, “not indirect, non-mediated”; thus, direct, immediate (jñāna, knowledge) (more)
apatheia
(Language: Greek)
impassivity or freedom from emotions, understood as a philosophical virtue (more)
apavada
(Language: Sanskrit)
de-superimposition; the removal of superimposition (more)
apavarga
(Language: Sanskrit)
Liberation, emancipation of the soul (more)
apeiron
(Language: Greek)
(apeiros, apeiria): lacking of limit, unlimitted (more)
apocatastasis
(Language: Greek)
“Restitution, restoration”; among certain Christian theologians, the doctrine that all creatures will finally be saved (more)
aporrhetos
(Language: Greek)
secret, prohibited, unspeakable (more)
apotheosis
(Language: Greek)
divinization; in the esoteric sense it is accomplished by the philosophical purification and theurgical anagoge which reveals one’s primal and true identity with the divine principles (more)
Appar
(Language: Tamil)
A celebrated Saiva saint poet whose hymns are included in the Tevaram (qv). (more)
Appar
(Language: Tamil)
A celebrated Saiva saint poet whose hymns are included in the Tevaram (qv). (more)
Appayya Diksita
(Language: Sanskrit)
(1554-1626) He belonged to a family of scholars and wrote 104 works on such topics as poetics and Vedanta (more)
Apsara
(Language: Sanskrit)
Celestial damsel (more)
aqil
(Language: Arabic)
Knower, intelligent (more)
Aql
(Language: Arabic)
Intellect (more)
arangerru
(Language: Tamil)
Presenting a literary work, dance recital or dramatic performance for the first time. (more)
arche
(Language: Greek)
beginning, starting point, authority, government, heart, principle (more)
arete
(Language: Greek)
exellence, goodness, virtue (more)
arghya
(Language: Sanskrit)
Libation to the gods, rsis or fathers (more)
arif
(Language: Arabic)
Knower, gnostic (more)
arithmos
(Language: Greek)
number (more)
arrhetos
(Language: Greek)
ineffable, unspeakable (more)
Arunagirinathar
(Language: Tamil)
He belonged to the 15th century and his hymns in praise of Kanda or Muruga (more)
arupa
(Language: Sanskrit)
formless; beyond form (more)
asamshakti
(Language: Sanskrit)
non-attachment; the fifth of the seven stages of enlightenment (more)
ascesis
(Language: Greek)
“exercise, practice, training,” as of an athlete; spiritual exercises (more)
ashrama
(Language: Sanskrit)
the four stages of life for a Hindu (more)
ashtanga-yoga
(Language: Sanskrit)
lit. “eight-limbed yoga”; a reference to the eight steps of rāja-yoga (more)
Asma Dhatiyah
(Language: Arabic)
Names of the Essence (more)
Asma Sifatiyah
(Language: Arabic)
Names of the Qualities (more)
astaksari
(Language: Sanskrit)
An eight-syllable mantra like “Aum Namo Nārāyanāya” (more)
