 163. Terminology |
AKASHA: Ether, or that which fills all space between worlds, molecules, and everything. The "matter" or stuff from which everything is formed.
AKASHIC: (Akashic record). Every past event and possible future combination in the mind of God for creation and expression. Past, present, and possible future events.
ALIENATION: The feeling of isolation, of not being part of society. Expressed by Hegel, Kierkegaard, and the Existentialists.
ALTRUISM: Looking out for the next fellow and trying to do good works. Some philosophers believe altruism is impossible, because all actions, even charitable ones, are motivated by self-interest. The Objectivists think it is a downright foolish practice.
AMRITA NADI: Amrita Nadi, in Sanskrit, means literally "Nerve (or Current) of Immortal Bliss." In the Awakening of Divine Self-Realization, the Spiritual Current of Divine Being is felt to move in an S-curve out from the seat of the Divine Self associated with the right side of the heart, then forward and up the front of the chest, through the throat, and then up the back of the head, and forward to the Spirit-Matrix of Love-Bliss at and above the crown of the head. From there, the Living Spirit-Current circulates in a "Circle" of life-sustaining Spirit-Energy, down the front and up the spine of the human body-mind.
ANAHATA CHAKRA: The chakra at the heart level. The fourth of the commonly known yogic centers.
ANAHATA SHABDA: A sound not heard but perceived during meditation when one has reached a certain level. It is the sound of "om" (or "Amen" by Christians), i.e., I believe because I have experienced.
ANANDA: Spiritual joy, not associated with the body-mind consciousness, freedom.
ANATMA: This is the world of illusion, this earth; this world is an illusion, patterns of energy, a secondary reality.
ANGST: Deep anxiety, which many philosophers, including Hegel, Kierkegard, Sartre, and Camus, believe is an unavoidable emotional state for any thinking man or woman.
ANNAMAYA KOSHA: The physical body that encases the spirit, our physical body.
ANTAKHKARANA: Eastern philosophy, Vedanta philosophy. The use of the mind to control the physical body.
ANTHROPOMORPHISM: Assigning human qualities and characteristics to nonhuman things, including nature and God.
APEIRON: The Greek word for Boundless, this was Anaximander's way to describe the ultimate reality, as opposed to the other Monists who made one of the elements the basis for all reality.
APHORISM: Nietzsche's main technique for philosophizing. A pithy observation that can vary in length from a few lines to a few paragraphs.
APOCALYPSE: The Greek word for "revelation" has come to mean the time when the world as we know it will be destroyed.
