 163. Terminology |
QUANTIFIER: In analytic philosophy, a concept that indicates amount. A universal quantifier indicates all of the objects of the kind referred to. An existential quantifier indicates at least one of all the objects.
RAJA YOGA: Raja is royal and so "royal yoga," the special training of self-mastery in meditation, and not to depend on others or a teacher for spiritual progress.
RATIONALISM: The epistemological position that we can have knowledge without experience.
RATIONALIST: The philosophy of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. They believe that there are innate ideas in the mind, and not everything we know must necessarily be gathered through sensory experience.
REALISM: The belief that universals, or ideas about reality, exist in reality outside the mind.
REALITY PRINCIPLE: In Freudian psychology, the idea that our desires are often frustrated by our circumstances.
RECURSIVENESS: The degree of interconnectedness of the various elements of a complex system. The more recursive the system, the more unpredictable it becomes.
REDUCTION: In Husserl's philosophy, the act of identifying your own intentionality or attitude in the way you see things after you have bracketed our the intentionality of science.
REINCARNATION: The re-entering or being reborn into the physical world again and again until a person learns the purpose of this life, which is master or conquer one's physical and mental conditions and to achieve (actually return to) a condition of God-self-realization. Also known as: liberation, kingdom of God, Satori, Nirvana, eternal life (as spirit consciousness), finding the "golden fleece" (Greek).
RELATIVISM: The belief that things such as morality vary from society to society and culture to culture, and none is better or worse than any other. The idea that notions of truth and falsehood or good and bad are not universally true, but may be different in different societies. In other words, good and bad may be understood relative to the way society works.
REPRESSION: In Freudian psychology, the subconscious inability to face unacceptable wishes.
SADHANA: Spiritual disciplines.
SADHU: A holy man, a monk, similar to a Christian priest.
SAHASRARA: The "seventh" center, or chakra.
SAMADHI: Self realization, revelation. Same as Satori, Nirvana, Christhood, heaven, Tao, etc.
SAMANA: A "vital force" at the center of the solar plexus.
SAMATWA: Tranquility of temperament. Peace of mind.
SAMSARA: The many cycles of birth, living, and death needed to achieve liberation from the physical plane.
