Glossary

GLOSSARY

Sanatan Home

Aarti (Arati)
A ritual of worship by waving lighted lamps, incense sticks or camphor.

Abhishek
A ritualistic worship. The ritual of consecration by sprinkling water on the statue of a deity.

Ablutions
The washing of one's body or parts of it as in a religious rite to ensure physical purification.

Prophet Abraham
According to the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, He is reported to have initiated the history of the Hebrews. Prophet Abraham is believed to have lived around 1900-1800 BC. He is also the father messenger of Islam. Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon Him) referred to Prophet Abraham as His 'ancestor'.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave
A Saint from Maharashtra, India in the 20th century.

Adi
Adi literally means the first or one with a beginning. The adi illusion occurs once one realizes intellectually that one is not distinct from God (Brahman). That is, although one knows one is not different from God, one does not experience it.

Adi Shankaracharya
Shri Adi Shankaracharya was a great philosopher, mystic and poet from India. He was born in year 788 A.D. and became a Monk at the tender age of 8. Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada was His Guru.
Shri Adi Shankaracharya renounced His body at the age of 32 years, in the year 820 A.D. During His short, but spiritually radiant life, He founded the Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism) School of thought, established many Mathas (hermitages or ashrams of monks), reformed ritualistic worship (Karmakanda) to focus on progressing to the next step of spiritual practice, namely, mental worship (Upasanakanda). His profound spiritual knowledge, attained through actual practice and experience, won several scholarly debates on the Scriptures.

Adibija
The primal seed.

Advait
Merging with The Lord, that is, the state of non-separation between The Lord and the seeker.

Sri Agnidevata
Deity of Fire.

Aham
See Ego.

Akarma-karma
Karma means an action and Akarma-karma means a non-action. An action is an action so long as the self has a sense of doership. Once this sense of doership is dispelled, it becomes a non-action. Hence, when a person performs an action for which he is not its doer, it is a non-action for him.

Akash
Absolute ether. The most subtle of the five cosmic elements (Panchmahabhutas)

Akkalkot Swami Maharaj
A great Saint from Akkalkot, district Solapur, Maharashtra, India.

Allah
God in Arabic, the language in which the Holy Koran, the Holy text of Islam, is written.

Amma Syncletica
Amma Syncletica was from the Eastern Orthodox Church and was with the 'desert fathers'. She was one of the 'desert mothers'.

Shri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Ammachi)

    A Saint from South India. She was born in Kerala, India in 1953 as the daughter of a fisherman. She had schooling only till the age of nine. Her Self-realization and wisdom stems from Her constant remembrance of God.
    Her name 'Mata Amritanandamayi' translates into 'Mother of Immortal Bliss'. To millions around the world, she is fondly known as 'Amma' (mother) or 'Ammachi', which means beloved mother. She is also called 'the Hugging Saint', because of the loving embraces she has tirelessly given to thousands everyday.
    She continually spreads Spirituality by traveling all over the world, conducting satsangs and singing devotional songs (bhajans).

Anadi
Anadi literally means one without a beginning. Anadi refers to the illusion of the embodied soul that one is distinct from God (Brahman)

Anahat chakra
The four center in the spiritual energy flow system, located in the region of the heart. See chakra.

Anand
See Bliss

Sri Anandamayi Ma
In a small cottage in the village Kheora, now in Bangladesh, there lived a poor and devout Brahmin family of Sri Bipin Bihari Bhattacharya and his wife Mokshada Sundari Devi. This couple was graced by divine descent in the form of a second child - a girl born on April 30, 1896. Prior to and following the birth of this unique child, it is said that her mother frequently had dreams of divine Knowledge (dnyan), angels and deities coming to her humble cottage. The happy couple named this beautiful child Nirmala Sundari Devi. She later came to be known as Sri Sri Anandamayi Ma or Mataji. Sri Sri Anandamayi Ma showed signs of a high spiritual level right from Her birth. She always said that She has always been as She is and She will be the same in all eternity.

Sri Sri Anandamayi Ma did not receive any formal education. In conformity with orthodox tradition of the time, She was married at the age of 12 years to Sri Ramni Mohan Chakravarti, who later on came to be known as Bholanath. Their relationship remained only at the spiritual level. Later Bholanath requested Sri Sri Anandamayi Ma to be his spiritual Guru and was accepted by Her as a disciple.

Mataji's travels for spread of Spirituality all over India began in 1932. Bholanath passed away in 1938 and Mataji renounced Her body in 1982 after a lifetime of spreading Spirituality and guiding seekers on the spiritual path. Mataji's mortal remains were buried in Kankhal, which is on the outskirts of Haridwar.

H. H. Anantanand Saish
Sadguru of H.H. Bhaktaraj Maharaj

Angel
A typically benevolent celestial being that acts as an intermediary between heaven and earth, especially in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Zoroastrianism. Angels are messengers of deities, which link God and man (devdut). (Also used to mean a kind and lovable person; one who manifests goodness, purity, and selflessness.)

Goddess Annapurna (Annapoorna)
Deity Who provides food and sustains properity.

Celebration of birth anniversaries of Incarnations and death anniversaries of Saints
The birthdays of incarnations like Lord Rama are celebrated because the renunciation of Their bodies is not Their death. They can assume a body anytime for the sake of Their devotees, indicating that incarnations are immortal. Whereas, the death anniversary (punyatithi) of Saints like Dnyaneshvar is celebrated because at birth Saints are mostly only average persons or seekers, but later with spiritual progress They attain Sainthood. After renunciation of the body They attain the Final Liberation (Moksha). Their mission is augmented, as Their physical body does not exist anymore and the energy expended by it is conserved and utilized for The Lord's mission. Hence, Their death anniversaries are celebrated to commemorate Their passing away. In case of average persons' death anniversaries, however, funeral rites (shraddha) are performed to liberate them to the next higher region of the nether world.

Antahkaran
The inner sense organs consisting of the conscious mind, subconscious mind, intellect and ego.

Anubhuti
A spiritual experience, which results from spiritual practice. A spiritual experience of an inferior nature is an experience related to the five senses, mind and intellect, e.g., experiencing a fragrance in the absence of a perfume, receiving an answer to some question without any effort, etc. (See the Five Cosmic Elements [panchamahabhutas].) A superior spiritual experience is related to attainment of higher siddhis (supernatural powers), anand (Bliss) or shanti (serenity).

Anugraha
Initiation into spiritual practice

Anushthan
    1. Doing an action.
    2. Any spiritual activity.
    3. Beginning of action, preparation.
    4. Get a spiritual action done or organizing it.

Apa
Absolute water. One of the five cosmic elements (Panchmahabhutas)

Apan
One of the five vital energies.

Apostles
The disciples of Lord Jesus and St. Paul, Who carried out the spread of Spirituality according to the teachings of Jesus.

Apta
A type of tree found in India.

Aranyakas
Those who developed a dislike for and lost faith in the rituals performed according to the Vedas. The names of Janak and Yadnyavalkya figure prominently among these Gurus.

Arjun
The brave Pandava prince from the Mahabharata times, to whom Lord Krushna had explained the key to the Final Liberation through the holy Bhagvad Gita.

Arka
‘Arka’ is one of the names of the deity of the sun, which is associated with the fire principle (tej) and the sense of sight (vision).

Art Department
The seekers in the art department of the Sanatan practice spiritual art as their primary satseva. This involves developing their subtle perception by using the subtle vision to understand the specific forms of deities or divine principles, and portraying it accurately. Such images, portrayed with devotion and the accuracy of subtle readings, emanate the energy of the particular divine principle to a great extent. Thus, such images help invoke devotion or spiritual emotion in the viewer, facilitating his smooth spiritual practice. Refer to the http://www.sanatan.org/downloads/deities/index.html for an array of various deities’ images, published by the Sanatan. The Sanatan’s art department also prepares spiritually pure (sattvik) fonts, chanting strips and other such Holy material that facilitate spiritual practice.

Asana
A posture practiced to strengthen the body, purify the nervous system and develop one-pointedness of the mind. Part of the path of deliberate rigour (Hathayoga).

Saint Asaram Bapu
A Saint from Gandhidham, a place in Gujarat, India.

Asat
Non-Truth, that is, the Great Illusion (Maya).

Ashadh
The fourth month according to the Hindu calendar.

Ashram
An institution where spiritual discipline is practiced. Also refers to abode of a Saint or a Holy man.

Also refers to a stage of life of a traditional Hindu. The four stages are:

Brahmacharyashrama	:	The celibate student stage.
Gruhasthashrama	:	The married householder stage.
Vanaprasthashrama	:	The retired householder stage.
Sannyasashrama	:	The renunciative stage in which one's house, property and family are renounced.

Ashtasattvik bhav
The eight manifestations of spiritual emotion (bhav):

1.	Becoming standstill
2.	Sweating
3.	Hair standing on end
4.	Tremulous voice
5.	Trembling
6.	Face becoming white
7.	Tears of joy (cool)
8.	Spiritual emotion showing on the face

Atma
Soul

H. H. Atma Bholanandaji Maharaj
A Saint from Pune, India.

Aum
Same as Om. The prime sound form from which the entire universe emanates. A symbol of God in the unmanifest form (Brahman). It is the most sacred word of the Vedas and is the inner essence of all mantras.

Shri Aurobindo
Shri Aurobindo was born in Calcutta, India on August 15, 1872. In 1879, at the age of seven, he was taken with his two elder brothers to England for education and lived there for fourteen years. There he learned French, German and Italian.

    Shri Aurobindo's involvement in India's freedom struggle lasted for eight years. Eventually he cut off connection with politics, refused repeatedly to accept the Presidentship of the National Congress and devoted His life to the pursuit of Spirituality. He had begun his practice of Yoga in 1904, during his years of political involvement itself. Later He moved to Pondicherry and became increasingly devoted to his spiritual work.

    In 1914 He began the publication of a philosophical monthly, the Arya that serially published many of His spiritual works. Shri Aurobindo's mission soon extended from a few of His disciples to a large community of seekers worldwide (later it led to the foundation of Shri Aurobindo Ashram). Till date, seekers continue to be drawn to His teachings.

    Shri Aurobindo renounced His body on December 5, 1950. His French disciple, fondly known as The Mother, carried on His mission until November 17, 1973.

Autosuggestion
A self-hypnosis technique wherein a suggestion – the change one is trying to bring about in oneself – is repeated to oneself 15-20 times, a few times daily for a few weeks or until the desired change has taken place.

Avatar
An incarnation of God; God coming down to earth in any life-form.

Avidya
Nescience (the layer of ignorance around the soul).

Ayodhya
Lord Rama's kingdom in ancient India, close to the city of Ayodhya in North India of today.

Ayurveda
One of the four Upavedas of Artharaveda. The ancient Indian science of health, which is based on the vedika scriptures. It is a systematic study of the human mind, body and soul, which relies mainly on clinical observation. It teaches that good health depends on the balance of three constituents of the body – vata (wind), pitta (bile) and kapha (phlegm). Vata controls muscle tone and the nervous system; pitta controls heat and metabolism; and kapha controls structure and stability.

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