Chapter XVII: Part 17

Under this diet he is ever watchful, and spends his time in the contemplation of Om. From the small quantity of nitrogen contained in his diet he is free from anger. The Yogi next subdues his carnal desire or sexual appetite. He diminishes day by day his food until it reaches the minimum quantity on which existence is maintained. He passes his life in prayer and meditation. He seeks retirement. He lives in his little cell; his couch is the skin of tiger or stag; he regards gold, silver, and all precious stones as rubbish. He abstains from flesh, fish, and wine. He never touches salt, and lives entirely on fruits and roots. I saw a female mendicant who lived upon a seer of potatoes and a small quantity of tamarind pulp daily. This woman reduced herself to a skeleton. She led a pure, chaste life, and spent her time in the mental recitation of Om. One seer of potatoes contains 3,600 grains of solid residue, which is exactly 7 1/2 ounces troy.

The solid residue of one seer of potatoes consists of the following ultimate ingredients:--

Carbon .............. 1587.6 grains Hydrogen ............ 208.8 " Nitrogen ............. 43.2 " Oxygen .............. 1580.4 " Salts .................180.0 " -------- 3600.0 "

I saw a Brahman (Brahmachari) who consumed daily one seer of milk, and took no other food.

Analysis of One Seer of Cow's Milk by Boussingault.

Water ....................... 12,539.520 grains Carbon ...................... 1,005.408 " Hydrogen ...................... 164.736 " Nitrogen ....................... 74.880 " Oxygen ......................... 525.456 " Salts ........................... 90.000 " ----------- 14,400.000 "

Now, one seer of cow's milk requires for combustion within the animal economy 3278.88 grains of oxygen. The Brahmachari inhaled 2.27 grains of oxygen per minute. This Brahmachari spent his life in the contemplation of Om, and led a life of continence. The French adult, who is a fair specimen of well-developed sensuality, inhaled from the atmosphere 10.87 grains of oxygen every minute of his existence.

A retired, abstemious, and austere life is essentially necessary for the pronunciation of Om, which promotes the love of rigid virtue and a contempt of impermanent sensuality. Siva says "He who is free from lust, anger, covetousness and ignorance is qualified to obtain salvation, or moksha," or the Nirvana of the Buddhists. The solid residue of one seer of cow's milk is 1860.48 grains. "In 1784 a student of physic at Edinburgh confined himself for a long space of time to a pint of milk and half a pound of white bread."

The diet of this student contained 1487.5 grains of carbon and 80.1875 grains of nitrogen. This food required 4,305 grains of oxygen for the complete combustion of its elements. He inspired 2.92 grains of oxygen per minute. In this instance the intense mental culture diminished the quantity of oxygen inspired from the atmosphere. The early Christian hermits, with a view to extinguish carnal desire and overcome sleep, lived upon a daily allowance of 12 ounces of bread and water. They daily consumed 4063.084 grains of oxygen. They inhaled oxygen at the rate of 2.8215 grains per minute.

According to M. Andral, the great French physiologist, a French boy 10 years old, before the sexual appetite is developed, exhales 1852.8 grains of carbon in the twenty-four hours. He who wishes to curb his lust should consume 1852.8 grains of carbon in his daily diet.

Now, 6,500 grains of household bread contain 1852 grains of carbon, according to Dr. Edward Smith. This quantity of bread is equal to 14 ounces avoirdupois and 375 grains, but the early Christian hermits who lived upon 12 oz. of bread (avoirdupois) consumed daily 1496.25 grains of carbon. This quantity of carbon was less than that which the French boy consumed daily by 356.55 grains. The French boy consumed 1852.8 grains of carbon in his diet, but the Hindu female mendicant, who led a life of continence, consumed in her daily ration of potatoes 1587.6 grains of carbon. Hence it is evident that the French boy consumed 265.2 grains of carbon more than what was consumed by the female Hindu Yogi. There lived in Brindavana a Sannyasi, who died at the age of 109 years, and who subsisted for forty years upon the daily diet of four chuttacks of penda and four chuttacks of milk. His diet contained 1,980 grains of carbon and 90.72 grains of nitrogen. Abstemiousness shortens the length of respiration, diminishes the waste of the body, promotes longevity, and engenders purity of heart. Abstemiousness cures vertigo, cephalalgia, tendency to apoplexy, dyspnoea, gout, old ulcers, impetigo, scrofula, herpes, and various other maladies.

Cornaro, an Italian nobleman, who was given up by all his physicians, regained health by living upon 12 ounces of bread and 15 ounces of water, and lived to a great age.

He consumed less than an ounce of flesh-formers in his diet. According to Edward Smith 5401.2 grains of bread contain 1 ounce of flesh-formers.

He who wishes to lead a life of chastity, honesty, meekness, and mercy, should consume daily one ounce of flesh-formers in his diet. As an ounce of nitrogenous matter contains 70 grains of nitrogen, one should take such food as yields only 70 grains of azote.

Murder, theft, robbery, cruelty, covetousness, lust, slander, anger, voluptuousness, revenge, lying, prostitution, and envy are sins which arise from a consumption of a large quantity of aliments containing a higher percentage of azote.

He who intends to be free from every earthly thought, desire and passion should abstain from fish, flesh, woman, and wine, and live upon the most innocent food.

The following table shows approximately the quantities of various aliments furnishing 70 grains of nitrogen:

Wheat dried in vacuo ............ 3181.81 grains Oats ............................ 3181.81 " Barley .......................... 3465.34 " Indian corn ..................... 3500 " Rye dried ........................4117.64 " Rice dried .......................5036 " Milk dried .......................1750 " Peas dried .......................1666.6 " White haricots dried ..... .......1627.67 " Horse beans dried ................1272.72 " Cabbage dried ....................1891.89 " Carrots dried ....................2916.66 " Jerusalem artichokes .............4375 " Turnips dried ....................3181.81 " Bread ............................5401.2 " Locust beans .....................6110 " Figs .............................7172.13 " Cow's milk fresh .................1346.2 "

Abstemiousness begets suspension of breath. From the suspension of breath originates tranquillity of mind, which engenders supersensuous knowledge. From supersensuous knowledge originates ecstasy which is the Samadhi of the ancient Hindu sages.

Instead of walking and running, which lengthen the respiration, the devotees of Om should practice the two tranquil postures termed the padmasana and siddhasana, described in my mystic tract called "The Yoga Philosophy." According to Siva the normal length of expiration is 9 inches. He says that one can subdue his lust and desire by shortening his expiration to 8.25 inches, whether by the inaudible pronunciation of Om or by the suspension of breath (Pranayama); that one can enjoy ecstasy by diminishing the length of his expiration to 7.50 inches.

One acquires the power of writing poetry by reducing his expiration to 6.75 inches.

When one can reduce his expiration to 6 inches long he acquires the power of foretelling future events. When one reduces the length of his expiration to 5.25 inches he is blessed with the divine eye. He sees what is occurring in the distant worlds.

When the inaudible pronunciation of Om reduces the length of the expiration to 4.50 inches it enables its votary to travel to aerial regions. When the length of expiration becomes 3.75 inches, the votary of Om travels in the twinkling of an eye through the whole world.

When by the inaudible muttering of Om a man reduces his expiration to 3 inches, he acquires ashta Siddhis or consummations (or superhuman powers). When the expiration is reduced to 2.25 inches, the votary of Om can acquire the nine precious jewels of the world (Nava nidhi). Such a man can attract the wealth of the world to him.*

-------- * Supposing he had any care or use for it--Ed. Theos. --------

When the expiration becomes 1.50 inches long from the above practice, he sees the celestial sphere where the Supreme Soul resides. When the inaudible pronunciation of Om reduces the length of expiration to .75 inch, the votary becomes deified and casts no shadow.

"Om Amitaya! measure not with words
The immeasurable; nor sink the string of thought
Into the Fathomless! Who asks doth err;
Who answers errs. Say nought!"

"Om mani padma hum. Om the jewel in the lotus."

By the muttering of the above formula the Great Buddha freed himself from selfishness, false faith, doubt, hatred, lust, self-praise, error, pride, and attained to Nirvana.

"And how man hath no fate except past deeds,
No Hell but what he makes, no Heaven too high
For those to reach whose passions sleeps subdued."

According to Siva a man acquires Nirvana when his breathing becomes internal and does not come out of the nostrils. When the breathing becomes internal--that is, when it is contained within the nostrils, the Yogi is free from fainting, hunger, thirst, languor, disease and death. He becomes a divine being, he feels not when he is brought into contact with fire; no air can dry him, no water can putrefy him, no poisonous serpent can inflict a mortal wound. His body exhales fragrant odours, and can bear the abstinence from air, food, and drink.

When the breathing becomes internal, the Yogi is incapable of committing any sin in deed, thought, and speech, and thereby inherits the Kingdom of Heaven, which is open to sinless souls.

--N.C. Paul

-------------------

Glossary

Ab-e-Hyat, Water of Life, supposed to give eternal youth.
Abhava, negation or non-being of individual objects; the
substance, the abstract objectivity.
Adam Kadmon, the bi-sexual Sephira of the Kabalists.
Adept, one who, through the development of his spirit, has
attained to transcendental knowledge and powers.
Adhibhautika, arising from external objects.
Adhidaivika, arising from the gods, or accidents.
Adhikamasansas, extra months.
Adhishthanum, basis a principle in which some other
principle inheres.
Adhyatmika, arising out of the inner-self.
Advaiti, a follower of the school of Philosophy established
by Sankaracharya.
Ahankara, personality; egoism; self identity; the fifth
principle.
Ahriman, the Evil Principle of the Universe; so called by
the Zoroastrians.
Ahum, the first three principles of septenary human
constitution; the gross living body of man according to the
Avesta.
A'kasa, the subtle supersensuous matter which pervades all
space.
Amulam Mulam (lit. "the rootless root"); Prakriti; the
material of the universe.
Anahatachakram, the heart, the seat of life.
A'nanda, bliss.
A'nanda-maya-kosha, the blissful; the fifth sheath of the
soul in the Vedantic system; the sixth principle.
Anastasis, the continued existence of the soul.
Anima Mundi, the soul of the world.
Annamaya Kosha, the gross body; the first sheath of the
divine monad (Vedantic).
Antahkarana, the internal instrument, the soul, formed by
the thinking principle and egoism.
Anumiti, inference.
Aparoksha, direct perception.
Apavarya, emancipation from repeated births.
Apporrheta, secret discourses in Egyptian and Grecian
mysteries.
Arahats (lit."the worthy ones"), the initiated holy men of
the Buddhist and Jain faiths.
Aranyakas, holy sages dwelling in forests.
Ardhanariswara, (lit. "the bisexual Lord"); the unpolarized
state of cosmic energy; the bi-sexual Sephira, Adam Kadmon.
Arka, sun.
Aryavarta, the ancient name of Northern India where the
Brahmanical invaders first settled.
A'sana, the third stage of Hatha Yoga; the posture for
meditation.
Asat, the unreal, Prakriti.
A'shab and Laughan, ceremonies for casting out evil spirits,
so called among the Kolarian tribes.
Ashta Siddhis, the eight consummations of Hatha Yoga.
Asoka (King), a celebrated conqueror, monarch of a large
portion of India, who is called "the Constantine of Buddhism,"
temp. circa 250 B.C.
Astral Light, subtle form of existence forming the basis of
our material universe.
Asuramaya, an Atlantean astronomer, well known in Sanskrit
writings.
Asuras, a class of elementals considered maleficent;
demons.
Aswini, the divine charioteers mystically they correspond to
Hermes, who is looked upon as his equal. They represent the
internal organ by which knowledge is conveyed from the soul to
the body.
Atharva Veda, one of the four most ancient and revered books
of the ancient Brahmans.
Atlantis, the continent that was submerged in the Southern
and Pacific Oceans.
Atmabodha (lit. "self-knowledge"), the title of a Vedantic
treatise by Sankaracharya.
Atman, &c Atma.
A'tma, the spirit; the divine monad; the seventh principle
of the septenary human constitution.
A'ttavada, the sin of personality (Pali).
Aum, the sacred syllable in Sanskrit representing the
Trinity
Avalokitesvara, manifested wisdom, or the Divine Spirit in
man.
Avasthas, states, conditions, positions.
Avatar, the incarnation of an exalted being, so called among
the Hindus.
Avesta, the sacred books of the Zoroastrians.
Avyakta, the unrevealed cause.

Baddha, bound or conditioned; the state of an ordinary
human being who has not attained Nirvana.
Bahihpragna, the present state of consciousness.
Baodhas, consciousness; the fifth principle of man.
Barhaspatyamanam, a method of calculating time prevalent
during the later Hindu period in North-eastern India.
Bhadrasena, a Buddhist king of Magadha.
Bhagats (or called Sokha and Sivnath by the Hindus), one who
exorcises an evil spirit.
Bhagavad Gita (lit, the "Lord's Song"), an episode of the
Maha-Bharata, the great epic poem of India. It contains a
dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna on Spiritual Philosophy.
Bhao, ceremony of divination among the Kolarian tribes of
Central India.
Bhashya, commentary.
Bhon, religion of the aborigines of Tibet.
Bikshu, a religious mendicant and ascetic who suppresses all
desire and is constantly occupied in devotion; a Buddhist monk.
Boddhisatwas, Egos evolving towards Buddhahood.
Brahma, the Hindu Deity which personifies the active cosmic
energy.
Brahmachari, a Bushman ascetic.
Brahmagnani, one possessed of complete illumination.
Brahman, the highest caste in India; Brahman, the absolute
of the Vedantins.
Brahmana period, one of the four periods into which the
Vedic literature has been divided.
Brihadranyaka Upanishad, one of the sacred books of the
Brahmins; an Aranyaka is a treatise appended to the Vedas, and
considered the subject of special study by those who have retired
to the forest for purposes of religious meditation.
Buddha, the founder of Buddhism; he was a royal prince, by
name Siddhartha, son of Suddhodhana, king of the Sakyas, an Aryan
tribe.
Buddhi, the spiritual Ego.
Buru Bonga, spirit of the hills worshiped by the Kolarian
tribes of Central India.

Canarese, one of the Dravidian tongues, spoken in Southern
India.
Chandragupta, one of the kings of Magadha, an ancient
province of India.
Chandramanam, the method of calculating time by the
movements of the moon.
Charaka, the most celebrated writer on medicine among the
Hindus.
Chaturdasa Bhuvanam, the fourteen lokas or states.
Chela, a pupil of an adept in occultism; a disciple.
Chichakti, the power which generates thought.
Chidagnikundum (lit. "the fireplace in the heart"), the seat
of the force which extinguishes all individual desires.
Chidakasam, the field of consciousness.
Chinmatra, the germ of consciousness, abstract
consciousness.
Chit, the abstract consciousness.
Chitta suddhi (Chitta, mind, and Suddi, purification),
purification of the mind.
Chutuktu, the five chief Lamas of Tibet.

Daemon, the incorruptible part of man; nous; rational
soul.
Daenam (lit. "knowledge"), the fourth principle in man,
according to the Avesta.
Daimonlouphote, spiritual illumination.
Daityas, demons, Titans.
Dama, restraint of the senses.
Darasta, ceremonial magic practised among the Kolarian
tribes of Central India.
Darha, ancestral spirits of the Kolarian tribes of Central
India.
Deona or Mati, one who exercises evil spirits (Kolarian).
Deva, God; beings of the subjective side of Nature.
Devachan, a blissful condition in the after-life; heavenly
existence.
Devanagari, the current Sanskrit alphabet.
Dharmasoka, one of the kings of Magadha.
Dhatu, the seven principal substances of the human body
--chyle, flesh, blood, fat, bones, marrow, semen.
Dhyan, contemplation. There are six stages of Dhyan,
varying in the degrees of abstraction of the Ego from sensuous
life.
Dhyan Chohans, Devas or Gods planetary spirits.
Dik, space.
Diksha, initiation.
Dosha, fault.
Dravidians, a group of tribes inhabiting Southern India.
Dravya, substance.
Dugpas, the "Red Caps," evil magicians, belonging to the
left-hand path of occultism, so called in Tibet.
Dukkhu, pain.
Dwija Brahman, twice born; the investiture with the sacred
thread constitutes the second birth.

Elementals, generic name for all subjective beings other
than disembodied human creatures.
Epopta, Greek for seer.

Fakir, a Mahomedan recluse or Yogi.
Fan, Bar-nang, space, eternal law.
Fohat, Tibetan for Sakti; cosmic force or energizing power
of the universe.
Fravashem, absolute spirit.

Gaudapada, a celebrated Brahmanical teacher, the author of
commentaries on the Sankhya Karika, Mundukya Upanishad, &c.
Gayatri, the holiest verse of the Vedas.
Gehs, Parsi prayers.
Gelugpas, "Yellow Caps," the true Magi and their school, so
called in Tibet.
Gnansaki, the power of true knowledge, one of the six
forces.
Gujarathi, the vernacular dialect of Gujrat, a province of
Western India.
Gunas, qualities, properties.
Gunava, endowed with qualities.
Guru, spiritual preceptor.

Ha, a magic syllable used in sacred formula; represents the
power of Akasa Sakti.
Hangsa, a mystic syllable standing for evolution, it
literally means "I am he."
Hatha Yog, a system of physical training to obtain psychic
powers, the chief feature of this system being the regulation of
breath.
Hierophants, the High Priests.
Hina-yana, lowest form of transmigration of the Buddhist.
Hiong-Thsang, the celebrated chinese traveler whose writings
contain the most interesting account of India of the period.
Hwun, spirit; the seventh principle in man (Chinese).

Ikhir Bongo, spirit of the deep of the Kolarian tribes.
Indriya, or Deha Sanyama, control over the senses.
"Isis" ("Isis Unveiled"), book written by Madame Blavatsky
on the Esoteric Doctrine.
Iswara, Personal God, Lord, the Spirit in man, the Divine
principle in its active nature or condition, one of the four
states of Brahma.
Itchasakti, will power; force of desire; one of the six
forces of Nature.
Itchcha, will.
Ivabhavat, the one substance.

Jagrata, waking.
Jagrata Avasta, the waking state; one of the four aspects
of Pranava.
Jains, a religious sect in India closely related to the
Buddhists.
Jambudvipa, one of the main divisions of the world,
including India, according to the ancient Brahminical system.
Janaka, King of Videha, a celebrated character in the Indian
epic of Ramayana. He was a great royal sage.
Janwas, gross form of matter.
Japa, mystical practice of the Yogi, consisting of the
repetition of certain formula.
Jevishis, will; Karma Rupa; fourth principle.
Jiva or Karana Sarira, the second principle of man; life.
Jivatma, the human spirit, seventh principle in the
Microcosm.
Jnanam, knowledge.
Jnanendrayas, the five channels of knowledge.
Jyotisham Jyotih, the light of lights, the supreme spirit,
so called in the Upanishads.

Kabala, ancient mystical Jewish books.
Kaliyuga, the last of the four ages in which the
evolutionary period of man is divided. It began 3,000 years B.C.
Kalpa, the period of cosmic activity; a day of Brahma,
4,320 million years.
Kama Loka, abode of desire, the first condition through
which a human entity passes in its passage, after death, to
Devachan. It corresponds to purgatory.
Kama, lust, desire, volition; the Hindu Cupid.
Kamarupa, the principle of desire in man; the fourth
principle.
Kapila, the founder of one of the six principal systems of
Indian philosophy--viz., the Sankhya.
Karans, great festival of the Kolarian tribes in honour of
the sun spirit.
Karana Sarira, the causal body; Avidya; ignorance; that
which is the cause of the evolution of a human ego.
Karma, the law of ethical causation; the effect of an act
for the attainment of an object of personal desire, merit and
demerit.
Karman, action; attributes of Linga Sarira.
Kartika, the Indian god of war, son or Siva and Parvati; he
is also the personification of the power of the Logos.
Kasi, another name for the sacred city of Benares.
Keherpas, aerial form; third principle.
Khanda period, a period of Vedic literature.
Khi (lit, breath); the spiritual ego; the sixth principle
in man (Chinese).
Kiratarjuniya of Bkaravi, a Sanskrit epic, celebrating the
encounters of Arjuna, one of this heroes of the Maha-bharata with
the god Siva, disguised as a forester.
Kols, one of the tribes in Central India.
Kriyasakti, the power of thought; one of the six forces in
Nature.
Kshatriya, the second of the four castes into which the
Hindu nation was originally divided.
Kshetrajnesvara, embodied spirit, the conscious ego in its
highest manifestation.
Kshetram, the great abyss of the Kabbala; chaos; Yoni,
Prakriti; space.
Kumbhaka, retention of breath, regulated according to the
system of Hatha Yoga.
Kundalinisakti, the power of life; one of the six forces of
Nature.
Kwer Shans, Chinese for third principle; the astral body.

Lama-gylongs, pupils of Lamas.
Lao-teze, a Chinese reformer.

Macrocosm, universe.
Magi, fire worshippers; the great magicians or wisdom-
philosophers of old.
Maha-Bharata, the celebrated Indian epic poem.
Mahabhashya, a commentary on the Grammar of Panini by
Patanjali.
Mahabhautic, belonging to the macrocosmic principles.
Mahabhutas, gross elementary principles.
Mahaparinibbana Sutta, one of the most authoritative of the
Buddhist sacred writings.
Maha Sunyata, space or eternal law; the great emptiness.
Mahat, Buddhi; the first product of root-nature and
producer of Ahankara (egotism), and manas (thinking principle).
Mahatma, a great soul; an adept in occultism of the highest
order.
Mahavanso, a Buddhist historical work written by the Bhikshu
Mohanama, the uncle of King Dhatusma.
Maha-Yug, the aggregate of four Yugas, or ages--4,320,000
years--in the Brahmanical system.
Manas, the mind, the thinking principle; the fifth
principle in the septenary division.
Manas Sanyama, perfect concentration of the mind; control
over the mind.
Manomaya Kosha, third sheath of the divine monad, Vedantic
equivalent for fourth and fifth principles.
Mantra period, one of the four periods into which Vedic
literature has been divided.
Mantra Sastra, Brahmanical writings on the occult science of
incantations.
Mantra Tantra Shastras, works on incantation and Magic.
Manu, the great Indian legislator.
Manvantara, the outbreathing of the creative principle; the
period of cosmic activity between two pralayas.
Maruts, the wind gods.
Mathadhipatis, heads of different religious institutions in
India.
Matras, the quantity of a Sanskrit syllable.
Matrikasakti, the power of speech, one of six forces in
Nature.
Matsya Puranas, one of the Puranas.
Maya, illusion, is the cosmic power which renders phenomenal
existence possible.
Mayavic Upadhi, the covering of illusion, phenomenal
appearance.
Mayavirupa, the "double;" "doppelganger;" "perisprit."
Mazdiasnian, Zoroastrian (lit. "worshiping God").
Microcosm, man.
Mobeds, Zoroastrian priests.
Monad, the spiritual soul, that which endures through all
changes of objective existence.
Moneghar, the headman of a village.
Morya, one of time royal houses of Magadha; also the name
of a Rajpoot tribe.
Mukta, liberated; released from conditional existence.
Mukti. See Mukta.
Mula-prakriti, undifferentiated cosmic matter; the
unmanifested cause and substance of all being.
Mumukshatwa, desire for liberation.

Nabhichakram, the seat of the principle of desire, near the
umbilicus.
Najo, witch.
Nanda (King), one of the kings of Magadha.
Narayana, in mystic symbology it stands for the life
principle.
Nava nidhi, the nine jewels, or consummation of spiritual
development.
Neophyte, a candidate for initiation into the mysteries of
adeptship.
Nephesh, one of the three souls, according to the Kabala;
first three principles in the human septenary.
Neschamah, one of the three souls, according to the Kabala;
seventh principle in the human septenary.
Nirguna, unbound; without gunas or attributes; the soul in
its state of essential purity is so called.
Nirvana, beautitude, abstract spiritual existence,
absorption into all.
Niyashes, Parsi prayers.
Noumena, the true essential nature of being, as
distinguished from the illusive objects of sense.
Nous, spirit, mind; Platonic term, reason.
Nyaya Philosophy, a system of Hindu logic founded by
Gautuma.

Occultism, the study of the mysteries of Nature and the
development of the psychic powers latent in man.
Okhema, vehicle; Platonic term for body.

Padarthas, predicates of existing things, so called in the
"Vaiseshikha," or atomic system of philosophy, founded by Kanad
(Sanskrit).
Padma sana, a posture practised by some Indian mystics it
consists in sitting with the legs crossed one over the other and
the body straight.
Pahans, village priests.
Panchakosha, the five sheaths in which is enclosed the
divine monad.
Panchikrita, developed into the five gross elements.
Parabrahm, the supreme principle in Nature; the universal
spirit.
Paramarthika, one of the three states of existence according
to Vedanta; the true, the only real one.
Paramatma, time Supreme Spirit, one of the six forces of
Nature; the great force.
Parasakti, intellectual apprehension of a truth.
Pataliputra, the ancient capital of the kingdom Magadha, in
Eastern India, a city identified with the modern Patna.
Patanjali, the author of "Yoga Philosophy," one of the six
orthodox systems of India and of the Mahabhashya.
Peling, the name given to Europeans in Tibet.
Phala, retribution; fruit or results of causes.
Pho, animal soul.
Pisacham, fading remnants of human beings in the state of
Kama Loka; shells or elementaries.
Piyadasi, another name for Asoka (q.v.)
Plaster or Plantal, Platonic term for the power which
moulds the substances of the universe into suitable forms.
Popol-Vuh, the sacred book of the Guatemalans.
Poseidonis, the last island submerged of the continent of
Atlantis.
Pracheta, the principle of water.
Pragna, consciousness.
Prajapatis, the constructors of the material universe.
Prakriti, undifferentiated matter; the supreme principle
regarded as the substance of the universe.
Pralaya, the period of cosmic rest.
Prameyas, things to be proved, objects of Pramana or proof.
Prana, the one life.
Pranamaya Kosha, the principle of life and its vehicle; the
second sheath of the Divine monad (Vedantic).
Pranatman, the eternal or germ thread on which are strung,
like beads, the personal lives. The same as Sutratma.
Pratibhasika, the apparent or illusory life.
Pratyaksha, perception.
Pretya-bhava, the state of an ego under the necessity of
repeated births.
Punarjanmam, power of evolving objective manifestation;
rebirth.
Puraka, in-breathing, regulated according to the system of
Hatha Yoga.
Puranas (lit. "old writings"). A collection of symbolical
Brahmanical writings. They are eighteen in number, and are
supposed to have been composed by Vyasa, the author of the
Mahabharata.
Purusha, spirit.
Rajas, the quality of foulness; passionate activity.
Rajarshi, a king-adept.
Raj Yoga, the true science of the development of psychic
powers and union with the Supreme Spirit.
Rakshasas, evil spirits; literally, raw-eaters.
Ramayana, an epic poem describing the life of Rama, a
deified Indian hero.
Ram Mohun Roy, the well-known Indian Reformer, died 1833.
Rechaka, out-breathing, regulated according to the system of
Hatha Yoga.
Rig Veda, the first of the Vedas.
Rishabham, the Zodiacal sign Taurus, the sacred syllable
Aum.
Rishis (lit. "revealers"), holy sages.
Ruach, one of the souls, according to the Kabala; second
three principles in the human septenary.

Sabda, the Logos or Word.
Saketa, the capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of
Ayodhya.
Sukshma sariram, the subtile body.
Sakti, the crown of the astral light; the power of Nature.
Sakuntala, a Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa.
Samadhana, incapacity to diverge from the path of spiritual
progress.
Sama, repression of mental perturbations.
Samadhi, state of ecstatic trance.
Samanya, community or commingling of qualities.
Samma-Sambuddha, perfect illumination.
Samvat, an Indian era which, is usually supposed to have
commenced 57 B.C.
Sankaracharya, the great expositor of the monistic Vedanta
Philosophy, which denies the personality of the Divine Principle,
and affirms its unity with the spirit of man.
Sankhya Karika, a treatise containing the aphorisms of
Kapila, the founder of the Sankhya system, one of the six schools
of Hindu philosophy.
Sankhya Yog, the system of Yog as set forth by Sankhya
philosophers.
Sannyasi, a Hindu, ascetic whose mind is steadfastly fixed
upon the Supreme Truth.
Sarira, body.
Sat, the real, Purusha.
Sattwa, purity.
Satva, goodness.
Satya Loka, the abode of Truth, one of the subjective
spheres in our solar system.
Shamanism, spirit worship; the oldest religion of Mongolia.
Siddhasana, one of the postures enjoined by the system of
Hatha Yoga.
Siddhi, abnormal power obtained by spiritual development.
Sing Bonga, sun spirit of the Kolarian tribes.
Siva, one of the Hindu gods, with Brahma and Vishnu, forming
the Trimurti or Trinity; the principle of destruction.
Sivite, a worshipper of Siva, the name of a sect among the
Hindus.
Skandhas, the impermanent elements which constitute a man.
Slokas, stanzas (Sanskrit).
Smriti, legal and ceremonial writings of the Hindus.
Soham, mystic syllable representing involution; lit. "that
am I."
Soonium, a magical ceremony for the purpose of removing a
sickness from one person to another.
Soorya, the sun.
Souramanam, a method of calculating time.
Space, Akasa; Swabhavat (q.v.)
Sraddha, faith.
Sravana, receptivity, listening.
Sthula-Sariram, the gross physical body.
Sukshmopadhi, fourth and fifth principles (Raja Yoga.)
Sunyata, space; nothingness.
Suras, elementals of a beneficent order; gods.
Surpa, winnower.
Suryasiddhanta, a Sanskrit treatise on astronomy.
Sushupti Avastha, deep sleep; one of the four aspects of
Pranava.
Sutra period, one of the periods into which Vedic literature
has been divided.
Sutratman, (lit. "the thread spirit,") the immortal
individuality upon which are strung our countless personalities.
Svabhavat, Akasa; undifferentiated primary matter;
Prakriti.
Svapna, dreamy condition, clairvoyance.
Swami (lit. "a master"), the family idol.
Swapna Avastha, dreaming state; one of the four aspects of
Pranava.

Tama, indifference, dullness.
Tamas, ignorance, or darkness.
Tanha, thirst; desire for life, that which produces re-birth.
Tanmatras, the subtile elements, the abstract counterpart of
the five elements, earth, water, fire, air and ether, consisting
of smell, taste, feeling, sight and sound.
Tantras, works on Magic.
Tantrika, ceremonies connected with the worship of the
goddess Sakti, who typifies Force.
Taraka Yog, one of the Brahmanical systems for the
development of psychic powers and attainment of spiritual
knowledge.
Tatwa, eternally existing "that;" the different principles
in Nature.
Tatwams, the abstract principles of existence or categories,
physical and metaphysical.
Telugu, a language spoken in Southern India.
Tesshu Lama, the head of the Tibetan Church.
The Laws of Upasanas, chapter in the Book iv. of Kui-te on
the rules for aspirants for chelaship.
Theodidaktos (lit. "God taught "), a school of philosophers
in Egypt.
Theosophy, the Wisdom-Religion taught in all ages by the
sages of the world.
Tikkun, Adam Kadmon, the ray from the Great Centre.
Titiksha, renunciation.
Toda, a mysterious tribe in India that practise black magic.
Tridandi, (tri, "three," danda, "chastisement"), name of
BrahmanicaI thread.
Trimurti, the Indian Trinity--Brahma, Vishnu and Siva,
Creator, Preserver and Destroyer.
Turiya Avastha, the state of Nirvana.
Tzong-ka-pa, celebrated Buddhist reformer of Tibet, who
instituted the order of Gelugpa Lamas.

Universal Monas, the universal spirit.
Upadana Karnam, the material cause of an effect.
Upadhis, bases.
Upamiti, analogy.
Upanayana, investiture with the Brahmanical thread.
Upanishads, Brahmanical Scriptures appended to the Vedas,
containing the esoteric doctrine of the Brahmans.
Upanita, one who is invested with the Brahmanical thread
(lit. "brought to a spiritual teacher").
Uparati, absence of out-going desires.
Urvanem, spiritual ego; sixth principle.
Ushtanas, vital force; second principle.

Vach, speech; the Logos; the mystic Word.
Vaishyas, cattle breeders artisans; the third caste among
the Hindus.
Vakya Sanyama, control over speech.
Varuna or Pracheta, the Neptune of India.
Vasishta, a great Indian sage, one of those to whom the Rig
Veda was revealed in part.
Vata, air.
Vayu, the wind.
Vayu Puranas, one of the Puranas.
Vedantists, followers of the Vedanta School of Philosophy,
which is divided into two branches, monists and dualists.
Vedas, the most authoritative of the Hindu Scriptures. The
four oldest sacred books--Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva--revealed
to the Rishis by Brahma.
Vedic, pertaining to the Vedas.
Vidya, secret knowledge.
Vija, the primitive germ which expands into the universe.
Vijnana-maya-kosha, the sheath of knowledge; the fourth
sheath of the divine monad; the fifth principle in man
(Vedanta).
Viraj, the material universe.
Vishnu, the second member of the Hindu trinity; the
principle of preservation.
Vishnuite or Vishuvite, a worshiper of Vishnu, the name of a
sect among the Hindus.
Vrishalas, Outcasts.
Vyasa, the celebrated Rishi, who collected and arranged the
Vedas in their present form.
Vyavaharika, objective existence; practical.

Yajna Sutra, the name of the Brahmanical thread.
Yama, law, the god of death.
Yashts, the Parsi prayer-books.
Yasna, religious book of the Parsis.
Yasodhara, the wife of Buddha.
Yavanacharya, the name given to Pythagoras in the Indian
books.
Yavanas, the generic name given by the Brahmanas to younger
peoples.
Yoga Sutras, a treatise on Yoga philosophy by Patanjali.
Yog Vidya, the science of Yoga; the practical method of
uniting one's own spirit with the universal spirit.
Yogis, mystics, who develop themselves according to the
system of Patanjali's "Yoga Philosophy."
Yudhishthira, the eldest of the five brothers, called
Pandavas, whose exploits are celebrated in the great Sanskrit
epic "Mahabharata."

Zend, the sacred language of ancient Persia.
Zhing, subtle matter; Kama Rupa, or fourth principle
(Chinese).
Zoroaster, the prophet of the Parsis.