Adharmic:
unrighteous.
Advaitha:
the philosophy of
non-duality.
Amrit:
a honey-like
jasmine-flavored nectar.
Atman:
Divine Self.
Atmic:
pertaining to the Atman.
Avatar:
Incarnation of God.
Ajna
Chakra:
the sacred energy center located at
the ‘third eye’, in the center of the forehead.
Anahat
Chakra:
the sacred energy center located in
the ‘heart area.’
Bhagavan:
Lord.
Brahma:
Lord Brahma is the
Creator, the first of the Hindu Trinity.
Brahman:
the Supreme Reality;
non-dual, formless pure Awareness.
Chakras:
the seven sacred energy
centers within the spine of man.
Darshan:
Seeing a Saint. (In Sai
Baba's ashrams, 'darshan' specifically refers to Baba's
walking out among the devotees, giving everyone a chance to see
His form.)
Darshan
dreams: special
dreams given by God to His devotees, in which a form of God
appears.
Gopis:
Lord Krishna’s
cowherd-girl devotees.
Guru:
spiritual teacher.
With a capital ‘G’, the word implies a fully Self-Realized
Divine Master.
Jnana:
divine wisdom of the
highest order. (One who truly has Jnana has reached
the Goal of Life.)
Jnani:
one who has attained
full Realization of the Atman. The term is most
often applied to those who have attained Realization via the
path of Self-enquiry.
Karma:
the cosmic law of cause
and affect; ‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’
Kumkum:
a red powder used in
the worship of the Divine Mother.
Kundalini:
the spiritual force
latent within man, which remains dormant unless awakened through
spiritual practices.
Leela:
divine play, or sport.
Many Hindus believe the whole universe is a ‘leela’, a play of
God.
Lingam:
a symbol of the Supreme Reality, used in the worship of Lord
Shiva.
Maha: a prefix meaning 'great'.
Mahavatar:
‘Great Divine Incarnation’.
Maya: The cosmic illusion;
the power which veils the truth and keeps us stuck in bondage.
Moksa (also: Moksha): The
final spiritual Liberation, i.e., Self-Realization.
Muladhara Chakra: the sacred
energy center located at the base of the spine.
Nilayam: ‘The abode of…’.
Pada Puja: foot-worship
ceremony.
Paramatma: Supreme Divine
Self.
Parashakti: a name of the
Divine Mother, meaning ‘Supreme Power’.
Parvati: one form of the
Divine Mother. (Parvati is the consort of Lord Shiva.)
Poornavatar: a full
incarnation of God.
Prashanti: Supreme Peace.
Prema: Divine Love.
Puja: worship ceremony.
Purushartha: the spiritual
Goal of Life, i.e., Self-Realization.
Puttaparthi: the town in
Andhra Pradesh, South India, where Sai Baba’s “Prashanti Nilayam”
ashram is located.
Rishis: the ancient Hindu
Sages.
Rasa dance: Krishna's dance
with the Gopis, in which He manifested Himself into many
different forms so He could personally dance with each Gopi.
Sadhaks: dedicated full-time
spiritual seekers.
Sadhana: spiritual practices
such as meditation, contemplation, Self-enquiry, and repetition
of the Divine Name.
Sakti: Divine Power; also, a
name of the Divine Mother.
Samadhi: a state of Yogic
absorption in the Supreme Being, in which the mind is completely
stilled.
Sathya: Truth.
Shirdi: the town in
Maharashtra where Shirdi Sai Baba lived.
Siddhis: Yogic powers, i.e.,
the power to work miracles.
Subramaniam: The second son
of Lord Shiva and Parvati.
Tantra: an ancient spiritual
path. (‘Right-handed tantra’ involves worship of the
Divine Mother through mantras and meditation, whereas
‘Left-handed tantra’ additionally involves the direct use of
sexual energy and, sometimes, intoxicants, to awaken the
spiritual power within man.)
Vasanas: mental tendencies;
oft-repeated patterns of thought and action which create
unwanted habits and mental bondage.
Venkateshwara: a form of Lord
Vishnu, worshipped in Tirupathi, Tamil Nadu.
Vibhuti: ‘sacred ash’, often
manifested by Sai Baba for His devotees. Vibhuti carries
a spiritual and/or medicinal blessing.
Vishnu: the ‘Preserver’ in
the great Hindu Trinity, ‘Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.’ Many
Hindus worship Vishnu as the Supreme Lord.
Yoga: the many-branched
science of attaining union with God.
Yogi: one who has attained
union with God through the practice of Yoga.
\:
the sacred syllable “OM”.
