ABHIMÁNA. Inflated ego.
ADHARMA. That which goes against DHARMA.
AHAḾKÁRA. Pride.
AHAḾTATTVA. Doer “I”, ego, second mental subjectivity.
ANANDA MARGA. Path of divine bliss; Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Saḿgha (Ananda Marga organization).
AVADHÚTA or AVADHÚTIKÁ. A monk or nun of an order close to the tradition of Shaeva Tantra. Literally, “one who is thoroughly cleansed mentally and spiritually”.
AVIDYÁ SHAKTI. Centrifugal, or extroversial, force; force of repulsion from the Nucleus Consciousness; aspect of the Cosmic Operative Principle which guides movements from the subtle to the crude. See also VIDYÁ SHAKTI.
ÁCÁRYA or ÁCÁRYÁ. Spiritual teacher qualified to teach all lessons of meditation.
ÁGAMA AND NIGAMA. Nigama means questions on spiritual topics; or the theoretical side of TANTRA. Ágama means answers to the questions; or the practical, applied, side of TANTRA.
ÁSANA. The third limb of aśt́áḿga (eight-limbed) yoga. Ásanas: postures for curing physical problems, especially those that interfere with SÁDHANÁ.
ÁTMÁ, ÁTMAN. Soul, consciousness, PURUŚA, pure cognition. The átman of the Cosmos is PARAMÁTMAN, and that of the unit is the JIIVÁTMAN.

BHAGAVÁN. Lord.
BHAKTI. Devotion.
BHAKTI YOGA. Devotional form of spiritual practice.

CAETANYA. See MANTRA CAETANYA.
CAKRA. Cycle or circle; psycho-spiritual centre, or plexus. The cakras in the human body are all located along the suśumná canal which passes through the length of the spinal column and extends up to the crown of the head. Some cakras, however, are associated with external concentration points. The concentration points for the cakras: (1) for the múládhára cakra, the base of the spine, above the perineum; (2) for the svádhiśt́hána, the base of the genital organ; (3) for the mańipura, the navel; (4) for the anáhata, the mid-point of the chest; (5) for the vishuddha, the throat; (6) for the ájiṋá, between the eyebrows; and (7) for the sahasrára, the crown of the head.
CITTA. Done “I”, objective “I”, objective mind, mind-stuff.

DHÁRAŃÁ. The sixth limb of aśt́áḿga (eight-limbed) yoga. Restricting the flow of mind to particular points in the body; conception. (Tattva Dhárańá means restricting the flow of mind to, or conception of, the fundamental factors.)
DHARMA. Characteristic property; spirituality; the path of righteousness in social affairs.
DHYÁNA. Meditation in which the psyche is directed towards Consciousness; seventh limb of aśt́áḿga (eight-limbed) yoga.
DHYEYA. Object of meditation.
DURÁCÁRII. Sinner.

GAORAVA. Self-aggrandizement.

HLÁDINII SHAKTI. See RÁDHIKÁ SHAKTI.

INDRIYA. One of the ten sensory and motor organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin; and hands, feet, vocal cord, genital organ and excretory organ). The eye indriya (for example) comprises the eye itself, the optical nerve, the fluid in the nerve, and the location in the brain at which the visual stimulus is transmitted to the ectoplasm, or mind-stuff.

JAPA. Repetition of mantra, incantation.
JIIVA. An individual being.
JIIVÁTMÁ, JIIVÁTMAN. See ÁTMÁ.
JIṊÁNA. Knowledge; understanding.
JIṊÁNA YOGA. A form of spiritual practice which aims at Self-realization through the path of knowledge.
JIṊÁNII. A SÁDHAKA who follows the path of knowledge or discrimination.

KAOLA. One who practises kula sádhaná and is adept at raising one’s own KUŃD́ALINII.
KARMA. Action; sometimes, positive or negative action which produces SAḾSKÁRAs.
KARMA YOGA. A form of spiritual practice which aims at Self-realization through the path of selfless action.
KIIRTANA. Collective singing of the name of the Lord, sometimes combined with a dance that expresses the spirit of surrender.
KRPÁ. Cosmic grace.
KUŃD́ALINII, KULAKUŃD́ALINII. Literally, “coiled serpentine”; sleeping divinity; the force dormant in the kula (lowest vertebra) of the body, which, when awakened, rises up the spinal column to develop all one’s spiritual potentialities.

MAHÁKAOLA. A Tantric guru who can raise not only His own KUŃD́ALINII, but those of others also.
MAHÁPÁTAKII. See SUDURÁCÁRA.
MAHATTATTVA. “I” (“I am,” “I exist”) feeling, existential “I”.
MANTRA. A sound or collection of sounds which, when meditated upon, will lead to spiritual liberation. A mantra is incantative, pulsative, and ideative.
MANTRA CAETANYA. The awakening of a mantra; conceptual understanding of and psychic association with a mantra.
MARGI. A member of ANANDA MARGA.
MÁYÁ. Creative Principle, i.e., PRAKRTI in Her phase of creation. One aspect of Máyá is the power to cause the illusion that the finite created objects are the ultimate truth.
MOKŚA. Spiritual emancipation, non-qualified liberation.
MUDRÁ. Meaningful gesture (an inseparable part of Oriental classical dance).
MUKTI. Spiritual liberation.

NÁRÁYAŃA. The Supreme Entity; literally, “the Lord of Nára (PRAKRTI)”.
NIGAMA. See ÁGAMA and NIGAMA.

OṊM, OṊḾKÁRA. The sound of the first vibration of creation; the biija mantra (acoustic root) of the expressed universe. Oṋḿkára literally means “the sound oṋm”.

PARAMA PURUŚA. Supreme Consciousness.
PARAMASHIVA. See PURUŚOTTAMA.
PARAMÁ PRAKRTI. Supreme Operative Principle.
PARAMÁTMÁ, PARAMÁTMAN. Supreme Consciousness in the role of witness of His own macropsychic conation. Paramátman comprises: (1) PURUŚOTTAMA, the Macrocosmic Nucleus; (2) Puruśottama’s association with all creation in His extroversive movement (prota yoga); and (3) Puruśottama’s association with each unit creation individually (ota yoga) and (4) with all collectively (prota yoga) in His introversive movement.
PARÁGATI. Supreme Desideratum, “where the journey of finite entities ends”.
PARIPRASHNA. A question on a spiritual topic.
PÁPA. Sin.
PÁPII. Sinner.
PÁTAKA. Sin that involves simply disobeying the code of morality.
PRAKRTI. Cosmic Operative Principle.
PRATISAIṊCARA. In the Cosmic Cycle, the step-by-step introversion and subtilization of consciousness from the state of solid matter to the Nucleus Consciousness. (Prati means “counter” and saiṋcara means “movement”.)
PRATIŚTHÁ. Social status.
PRATYAGÁTMÁ. PARAMA PURUŚA in the sense “That which takes a stance opposite to the JIIVÁTMÁ and witnesses the JIIVÁTMÁ”.
PRÁŃÁYÁMA. The fourth limb of aśt́áḿga (eight-limbed) yoga: process of controlling vital energy by controlling the
breath.
PUŃYA. Virtue.
PURUŚA. Consciousness.
PURUŚOTTAMA or PARAMASHIVA. The Nucleus Consciousness, the witness of saiṋcara and PRATISAIṊCARA.

QUINQUELEMENTAL. Composed of the ethereal, aerial, luminous, liquid, and solid factors, or elements.

RÁDHIKÁ SHAKTI, HLÁDINII SHAKTI. A positive expressional aspect of VIDYÁ SHAKTI which a person experiences as a desire to do something practical towards spiritual realization.

SADÁSHIVA. SHIVA (literally, “Eternal Shiva”).
SAḾSKÁRA. Mental reactive momentum, potential mental reaction.
SANNYÁSII or SANNYÁSINII. A renunciant; literally, “one who has surrendered one’s everything to the Cosmic will” or “one who ensconces oneself in SAT, the Unchangeable Entity”.
SAT, SATYA, SATYAM. “That which undergoes no change”; Absolute Reality.
SÁDHAKA. Spiritual practitioner.
SÁDHANÁ. Literally, “sustained effort”; spiritual practice; meditation.
SÁDHU. Virtuous person, spiritual aspirant. See also SÁDHAKA.
SHAKTI. PRAKRTI; energy; a deification of PRAKRTI.
SHAMBHÚLIUṊGA. Fundamental positivity.
SHÁSTRA. Scripture.
SHIVA. A great Tantric guru of 5000 B.C. who guided society while His mind was absorbed in Consciousness; hence, Infinite Consciousness, PURUŚA.
SHLOKA. A Sanskrit couplet expressing one idea.
SUDURÁCÁRA. “Sinner hated even by other sinners for his or her sins”. A synonym of sudurácára is mahápátakii.
SVABHÁVA. Characteristics, one’s own nature; nature.
SVAYAMBHÚLIUṊGA. Ultimate point of negativity, or crudity, in the human body.

TÁŃD́AVA. A vigorous dance for male spiritual aspirants, originally formulated by SHIVA. It develops the glands in a way that enhances courage and fearlessness. When Shiva Himself does this dance (Shiva Nát́arája), the dance becomes a metaphor in which Supreme Consciousness sends vibrations throughout the universe and causes all objects of the universe in turn to radiate vibrations.
TANTRA. A spiritual tradition which originated in India in prehistoric times and was first systematized by SHIVA. It emphasizes the development of human vigour, both through meditation and through confrontation of difficult external situations, to overcome all fears and weaknesses. Also, a scripture expounding that tradition.
TAPAH. One of the points of Yama and Niyama, the moral code: undergoing trouble or accepting physical discomforts in order to serve others or to reach one’s spiritual goal.
TÁRAKA BRAHMA. Supreme Entity in Its liberating aspect.
TÁTTVIKA. A teacher of ANANDA MARGA elementary philosophy; literally, “one who knows the essence of philosophy”.

VIDYÁ SHAKTI. Centripetal, or introversial, force; force of attraction to the Nucleus Consciousness; aspect of the Cosmic Operative Principle which guides movements from the crude to the subtle. See also AVIDYÁ SHAKTI.