 163. Terminology |
BRAHMA-SUTRAS: Very famous aphorisms which place before one the principal teachings of the Upanishads.
BUDDHA: Not a God, but a person who has attained freedom, enlightenment, "Nirvana" (i.e., heaven, Christhood, Tao, Satori, super consciousness, etc.). The Buddha's real name was Siddhartha Gautama (lived 2500 years ago in India).
BUDDHI: A word meaning wisdom, i.e., wisdom derived from stillness, as in insights.
BUDDHISM: Philosophy founded in India during the fifth century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama. It stresses the transcendence of self and of desire.
CALCULUS OF FELICITY: Jeremy Bentham's strange mathematical formula wherein we can calculate the pain/pleasure factor of an act before indulging in it.
CAPITALISM: The economic practice of producing goods and selling them at a profit. Also the economic system based on this practice.
CASTE SYSTEM: Social stratification into distinct groups based on the idea that everyone is born to hold a particular position in society. It defined the social structure in India for centuries.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE: A moral law posited by Kant that says an act is good if it can be described by a rule that is universally applicable. Thus it holds true for everybody and forms the basis of our "practical reason," or moral understanding.
CAUSAL BODY: Also called "Anandamaya-Kosha" or "Karana Sharira." The inner most body which
commences the processes where we gain experiences in the flesh body. The causal body is the body of
incarnation, the one which causes all the troubles with the flesh, lusts, desires, greed, selfishness.
CAVE OF SATAN: Also called the "pit of pseudo-emancipation." This is a stage in zazen where one experiences absolute serenity and is bedeviled into believing it to be Self-realization. It requires an inspired effort to break out and go beyond this state.
CHAITANYA: A state when spiritual consciousness has just been awakened, ready for deeper meditation and more progress inward.
CHAKRAS: Sometimes called "lotuses" or "wheels." There are six chakras along the spine and the seventh is in the center of the cerebrum; there two others, making nine in all. The first chakra is at the base of the spine near the excretory organ (the serpent). The second is at the genitalia level. The third at the umbilicus. The fourth approximately at the heart level. The fifth at the throat. The sixth at the eyebrow level. Most humans live in the lower parts of the spine. Not until man is able to raise the kundalini, powers into the heart chakra is he able to be aware of spiritual progress. And to the sixth chakra to be able to make any satisfactory progress. (The eighth and ninth center of consciousness can be found after one reaches God-self-realization.)
CHAN or CH'AN or CHANNA: This means "meditation" in Japanese Zen Buddhism. Channa also means "truth seeker." A person who has had "channa" has experienced a "revelation."
CHANG: The opposite of artificial. The opposite of abnormal, i.e., to be "normal," "sane" (from Taoism).
