 163. Terminology |
LOGO-CENTRISM: Derrida's term for the attempt of philosophical writing to suggest meaning that is not simply produced by writing. The term is based on the Greek word for word, "logos" and is modeled after the word "ethnocentrism," which refers to the tendency to look at things with a biased cultural perspective. In other words, logo-centrism is the tendency for philosophy to think it is special and better than other kinds of writing such as fiction.
LOKA: A plane of existence. A complete world to the one who lives there.
LOGICAL ATOMISM: Russell and Wittgenstein's theory that language and concepts could, like physical elements, be broken down to their smallest particulars and thereby logically analyzed.
LOTUS: The lotus is a plant which grows on the dirtiest or muddiest of water. It grows in the foulest surroundings, and yet no matter how foul those surroundings, the lotus remains pure and unsullied and quite uncontaminated by that which is around it. It represents spiritual development or spiritual evolution, being untouched by the world.
LOVE: A feeling. Not one of the emotions. The "harmony" between two or more creatures of any kind. (It does not mean sex.)
MACHIAVELLIANISM: A term that is often used to describe ruthlessness and deception in politics. More generally, the term is used to refer to anything someone doesn't like about anything political.
MACROCOSM (big universe): The world as a whole understood as a reflection of the human body.
MANAS: This is the "thought power" of a person. When "thought power" is taped into one can do quite a lot of difficult things, like telepathy, clairvoyance, psychometry, astral travel, etc.
MANIPURAKA: One of the chakras, at the level of the navel. The third of the common seven yogic centers of consciousness. (Some teachings indicate there are "nine" levels of consciousness.)
MANTRA: A particular vibratory name for God to attain purification of thought. A form of a "prayer." All sounds and words can influence what is called "matter," i.e., mind over matter).
MARXISM: Philosophy based on the economic and political thinking of Karl Marx that says ideology, or the way people think, depends on the relations of production, or the way people make and use things.
MATERIALISM: The belief that existence is entirely physical and that thinking and knowing are effects produced by the physical process of sensation in the brain.
METAPHYSICS: A branch of philosophy that studies the makeup, working, and organization of reality in general. Metaphysics is also used more specifically to refer to whatever aspects of reality there may be that cannot be observed and measured, such as God and virtue.
MAUNA: Being quiet, not talking about their esoteric studies or experiences.
MAYA: The power of illusion. Our own earth and universe is an illusion, i.e., not material at all, but condensed energy. E=MC 2.
