Glossary
ABDUCTOR Muscle that draws a bone away from the mid-line of the body.
ACHARYA Teacher, one who has studied the texts, practiced the methods, achieved the results, and is capable of communicating them.
ADDUCTOR Muscle that draws a bone toward the midline of the body.
ADVAITA VEDANTA Upanishadic philosophy propounding unqualified monism, founded by Acharya Gaudapada and developed by Acharya Shankara, holding that the individual self (atman) and the deep reality (Brahman) are identical.
AFFLICTIONS The five forms of suffering (kleshas).
AHAMKARA Egoity, I-maker, the one that owns the perception, not to be mistaken for the Freudian ego.
AKASHA Space, ether.
ALLOPATHY Western medicine.
ANAHATA CHAKRA Heart chakra, a subtle energy center.
ANAHATA NADA The unstruck sound, sound of the heart lotus, an object of meditation.
ANANDA Ecstasy, bliss.
ANANTA Infinity, a name of the serpent of infinity.
ANTERIOR Forward, in front.
ASAMPRAJNATA Objectless samadhi, supercognitive samadhi.
ASANA Posture.
ASHTADYAYI Ancient treatise on Sanskrit grammar, authored by Panini.
ASMITA Literally I-am-ness. 1. Egoism, to take seer and seeing as one, one of the five forms of suffering. 2. A form of objective samadhi that arises when pure I-am-ness is witnessed.
ATMAN The true self, consciousness. Term used by Vedanta instead of purusha.
AVATARA Divine manifestation.
AVIDYA Ignorance.
AYURVEDA Ancient Indian medicine, one of the four subsidiary Vedas (Upvedas).
BANDHA Bond, energetic lock.
BHAGAVAD GITA Song of the Lord, most influential of all shastras. The Supreme Being in the form of Lord Krishna amalgamates the teachings of Samkhya, Yoga, and Vedanta.
BHAGAVATA PURANA Also called Shrimad Bhagavatam, a Purana that deals with devotion to the Supreme Being in the form of Lord Vishnu. All avataras of Vishnu are described, including Krishna.
BHAKTI Yoga of love, the practice of devotion to the Supreme Being.
BHOGA Consummation, experience, bondage.
BONDAGE Erroneous identification with the transitory, being bound up with the phenomena.
BRAHMA SUTRA Principal treatise of the Vedanta, authored by Rishi Vyasa.
BRAHMACHARYA Recognition of Brahman in everything, later to mean celibacy.
BRAHMAN Infinite consciousness, deep reality, the reality that cannot be reduced to a deeper layer.
BRAHMARANDHRA Gate of Brahman, upper end of sushumna.
BUDDHI Intellect, seat of intelligence.
CERVICAL SPINE The vertebrae of the neck.
CHAKRA Subtle energy center.
CHARAKA SAMHITA Treatise on Ayurveda. The author, Charaka, is said to be an incarnation of Patanjali.
COGNITION Effort of the mind to identify and interpret data supplied by the senses.
COGNITIVE SAMADHI Samadhi whose arising depends on cognition of an object; objective samadhi.
CONSCIOUSNESS That which is conscious, the observer, awareness.
DARSHANA View, system of philosophy. The darshanas are divided into orthodox and heterodox, depending on whether they accept or reject the authority of the Vedas. The orthodox darshanas are Samkhya (rational inquiry), Yoga (science of the mind), Mimamsa (science of action), Nyaya (logic), Vaiseshika (categorization), Vedanta (analysis of the Upanishads). These darshanas ideally do not compete with each other but solve different problems. The Yoga master T. Krishnamacharya had degrees in all six systems. The heterodox darshanas are Jaina (Jainism), Baudha (Buddhism), and Charvaka (materialism). A special case is Tantra, which is neither accepted as orthodox nor seen as heterodox. Shankara was probably the last human being to have mastered all ten systems of philosophy.
DHARANA Concentration.
DHARMA 1. Characteristic, attribute. 2. Righteousness, virtue.
DHARMIN Object-as-such, such-ness of an object, essence of an object.
DHYANA Meditation.
DRISHTI Focal point.
EKAGRA CHITTA Single-pointed mind, the mind fit to practice higher yoga.
ENTROPY Amount of disorder in a system.
EXTENSION Returning from flexion.
FEMUR Thigh bone.
FLEXION To bind, to bring bones together.
FULL-VINYASA SYSTEM Practice in which one does a vinyasa to standing between sitting postures.
GUNAS Rajas, tamas, and sattva, the qualities or strands of prakrti which form, through their various intertwinings, all phenomena.
HALF-VINYASA SYSTEM Practice in which one transits through Chaturanga Dandasana, Upward Dog, and Downward Dog between sitting postures.
HATHA YOGA Tantric school of yoga that was founded approx. 1100 CE by the master Ghoraknath. Literally sun/moon yoga, the emphasis is on balancing the solar and lunar energy channels in the body. Hatha Yoga shifted the focus away from the mysticism and philosophy of the older upanishadic types of yoga toward using the body as a tool.
HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA A tantric treatise authored by Svatmarama.
HEART Sanskrit hrdaya, referring to the core of all phenomena, which according to the Vedanta is consciousness. If the term is used in an anatomical instruction it refers to the core of the ribcage.
HUMERUS Arm bone.
HYPEREXTENSION Extension beyond 180°.
IDA Lunar energy channel.
INSERTION OF A MUSCLE End of the muscle that is distant from the center of the body.
INTELLECT Seat of intelligence.
ISHTADEVATA Meditation deity, personal projection that enables one to establish a devotional relationship to the Supreme Being
ISHVARA The Supreme Being, Brahman with form.
ISOMETRIC EXERCISE Exercise in which the muscle does not get shortened.
ISOTONIC EXERCISE Exercise that involves shortening of a muscle.
ITIHASA Scriptures that deal with what once was, history: the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Yoga Vashishta.
JIVA Phenomenal self, image of oneself that is formed through contact with the phenomena, not the true self.
JNANA Knowledge, here knowledge of the self.
JNANIN Knower, here a knower of the self.
KAIVALYA Freedom, independence; the goal of yoga.
KALI YUGA Current age, age of darkness; started 3102 BCE with the death of Lord Krishna; thought to last for another 400,000 years.
KAPHA One of the three ayurvedic humors, sometimes translated as phlegm.
KARMA Action.
KARMA, LAW OF Law of cause and effect.
KARMASHAYA Storehouse where the effects of our actions are stored.
KLESHA Mode of suffering. The modes are ignorance, egoism, desire, hatred, and fear of death.
KRAMA Sequence of moments, succession of moments.
KRISHNA, LORD A form of the Supreme Being, avatara of Lord Vishnu, teacher in the Bhagavad Gita.
KSHANA Instant, moment, smallest time unit.
KSHIPTA CHITTA Restless mind, unfit to do yoga.
KUMBHAKA Breath retention.
KUNDALINI 1. The obstacle that closes the mouth of sushumna. 2. Sometimes used to refer to the rising of shakti in the sushumna.
KYPHOSIS Forward curvature of the spine.
LATERAL Sideways, away from the body midline.
LATERAL ROTATION External rotation.
LIBERATION To recognize one’s true nature as the eternal, immutable consciousness.
LORDOSIS Backward curvature of the spine.
LUMBAR SPINE The vertebrae of the low back.
MAHABHARATA Largest piece of literature created by man, dharma shastra (scripture dealing with right action), authored by Rishi Vyasa; contains the Bhagavad Gita.
MAHABHUTA Gross element, i.e., ether, air, fire, water, or earth.
MANDALA Circular drawing, sacred geometry, a meditation object.
MANDUKYA KARIKA Commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad, authored by Acharya Gaudapada, which constitutes the beginning of the philosophical school of Advaita Vedanta. Gaudapada contends that the three states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep have no reality of their own and are dependent on the fourth state (turiya), the consciousness.
MEDIAL Toward the body midline.
MEDIAL ROTATION Internal rotation.
MOKSHA Liberation from bondage.
MOKSHA SHASTRA Scripture dealing with liberation.
MUDHA CHITTA Mind infatuated with materialistic stupor, unfit to do yoga.
MUDRA Seal, usually a combination of asana, pranayama, and bandha.
MULA BANDHA Root lock.
NADI Literally river; energy channel.
NIRGUNA BRAHMAN Formless Brahman, deep reality, infinite consciousness.
NIRODHA CHITTA Suspended mind, the natural state, the goal of yoga.
OBJECT Everything that is not the subject (consciousness); includes ego, intelligence, and the universe.
OBJECT OF MEDITATION Any object of sattvic quality, such as a mantra, the symbol OM, a yantra or mandala (sacred geometry), a lotus flower, the breath, one’s meditation deity, emptiness, the light or sound in the heart, the intelligence, the subtle elements.
OBJECTIVE SAMADHI Samadhi that depends for its arising on an object.
OBJECTLESS SAMADHI Samadhi that does not depend for its arising on an object, and therefore can reveal the subject, the consciousness.
ORIGIN OF A MUSCLE End of the muscle that is closer to the body center.
PARAVAIRAGYA Supreme surrender, total letting go, supreme detachment.
PARINAMA Transformation, change.
PINGALA Solar energy channel.
PITTA One of the three ayurvedic humors, sometimes translated as bile.
POSTERIOR Backward, opposite of anterior.
PRAJNA Complete knowledge of the phenomena produced by prakrti.
PRAKRTI Procreatress, procreativeness, nature, the matrix or womb that produces the entire subtle and gross universe apart from consciousness.
PRANA Life force or inner breath; refers sometimes to anatomical or outer breath.
PRANAYAMA Breath extension, breathing exercises to harmonize the flow of life force.
PRATYAHARA Independence from sensory stimuli.
PURANAS Literally ancients. Sacred texts that relate mysticism and philosophy, in the form of allegories and stories, to common man.
PURUSHA Pure consciousness, which is eternal and immutable; term used by Samkhya and Yoga instead of atman.
RAJAS Frenzy, energy, dynamics; one of the gunas of prakrti.
RAMAYANA Literally Rama’s way. Ancient epic (itihasa) that describes the life of Rama, an avatara of Lord Vishnu.
RISHI Vedic seer, liberated sage, one who through suspension of mind can see to the bottom of his or her heart.
SAGUNA BRAHMAN The Supreme Being, Brahman, with form.
SAMADHI Absorption.
SAMAPATTI Identity of the mind with an object; state of the mind during objective samadhi.
SAMKHYA The oldest system of philosophy, founded by Rishi Kapila.
SAMKHYA KARIKA Treatise authored by Ishvarakrishna describing the Samkhya system of philosophy. The Karika is of great importance, since it is the oldest surviving text describing the Samkhya on which Yoga is based. One needs to keep in mind, however, that this text is younger than the Yoga Sutra and is not representative of older and more original forms of Samkhya.
SAMPRAJNATA Objective samadhi, cognitive samadhi.
SAMSARA Conditioned existence, the endless round of rebirths.
SAMSKARA Subconscious imprint.
SAMYAMA Combined application of dharana, dhyana, and objective samadhi.
SATTVA Light, wisdom, intelligence; one of the gunas of prakrti.
SHAIVITE A worshiper of Shiva.
SHAKTI 1. Mother Goddess, consort of Shiva, personification of prakrti. 2. Energy, life force, prana.
SHASTRA Scripture, path to truth.
SHATKRIYA Literally six actions, a set of purifying actions used in Hatha Yoga to restore the balance between the three humors (doshas) of the body.
SHIVA, LORD A name of the Supreme Being, pure consciousness, Brahman with form.
SHRUTI Vedas and Upanishads, revealed scriptures of divine origin, which are seen or heard by a rishi.
SHUNYATA Emptiness, void.
SHUNYAVADIN Adherent of the Buddhist Shunyavada school of thought, which holds that the inherent nature of all phenomena is emptiness (shunyata).
SIDDHA Perfected being.
SIDDHIS Perfections, supernatural powers.
SMRTI 1. Sacred tradition, scriptures conceived by the human mind that explain the revealed shruti. 2. Memory, one of the five fluctuations of the mind.
SUBCOMMENTARY A commentary that further explains an already existing commentary on an original treatise. Since Indian masters very much respected those that thought before them, they often compiled texts that added another layer of explanation and interpretation, rather than starting their own school of thought.
SUBTLE Something real but not perceptible to the senses. It can be perceived directly in objective samadhi. The word appears in many expressions such as subtle body, subtle element, subtle anatomy.
SUPERCOGNITIVE SAMADHI Samadhi beyond cognition of object, objectless samadhi, samadhi that reveals the subject, the consciousness.
SUSHUMNA Central energy channel, Hatha Yoga’s metaphor for the heart.
SVADHYAYA Study of sacred texts.
TAMAS Dullness, inertia, mass; one of the gunas of prakrti.
TANMATRA Subtle element, infra atomic potential, smallest particle of matter.
TANTRA 1. System that focuses on the precise performance of actions rather than mystical speculation. 2. Treatise in which this system is described.
THORACIC SPINE The vertebrae of the rib cage.
TIBIA Shin bone.
UDDIYANA One of the Shatkriyas of Hatha Yoga; sucking of the abdominal contents up into the thoracic cavity during Kumbhaka.
UDDIYANA BANDHA Elevating lock, lower abdominal lock, drawing of the lower abdominal contents in against the spine.
UJJAYI PRANAYAMA Victorious stretching of life force.
UPANISHADS Ancient scriptures out of which all systems of Indian philosophy developed. The Upanishads are conceived by the heart (shruti).
UPVEDA Ancilliary Veda, of which there are four: Ayurveda (medicine), Arthaveda (economy), Dhanurveda (military science), and Gandharvaveda (music).
VAISHNAVITE A worshiper of Vishnu.
VASANA Conditioning, an accumulation of subconscious imprints.
VATA One of the three ayurvedic humors, sometimes translated as wind.
VAYU Literally wind, vital air current.
VEDANTA Literally end of the Veda. Analysis of the content of the Upanishads, main treatise being the Brahma Sutra. Several schools developed (Advaita Vedanta, Visishtadvaita Vedanta, Dvaita Vedanta).
VEDAS Oldest sacred texts of humankind. Vyasa divided the one Veda into four, the Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Vedas, all of which are subdivided into Samhita (hymns), Brahmana (ritual), Aranyaka(worship), and Upanishad (mysticism). There are four anciliary Vedas (Upvedas), which are Ayurveda (medicine), Arthaveda (economy), Dhanurveda (military science), and Gandharvaveda(music). The Veda has six limbs (Vedangas), which are Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar), Jyotisha (astrology), Nirukta (etymology), Shiksha (phonetics), Chandas (meter), and Kalpa (ritual, duty). Early hymns of the Rig Veda are in excess of 8000 years old. According to tradition the Vedas are eternal and are seen at the beginning of each world age by the rishis.
VIDYA Correct knowledge, opposite of ignorance (avidya).
VIKALPA Conceptualization, a word without an object that it refers to.
VIKSHIPTA CHITTA Confused mind, the mind fit to commence practice of yoga.
VINYASA Sequential movement that interlinks postures to form a continuous flow. It creates a movement meditation that reveals all forms as being impermanent and for this reason are not held on to.
VIPARYAYA Wrong cognition, error, wrong identification of the perceived object.
VISHNU, LORD A name of the Supreme Being; Brahman with form.
VISISHTADVAITA VEDANTA Upanishadic philosophy propounding qualified monism, developed by the Acharya Ramanuja. Holds that the individual self (atman) and the deep reality (Brahman) are identical yet different.
VIVEKA KHYATEH Discriminative knowledge, knowledge of the difference between the seer and the seen.
VIVEKINAH A knower of the difference, one who has gained discriminative knowledge.
VRTTI Literally whirls, fluctuations, modifications (of the mind).
YANTRA Sacred drawing that is eventually visualized; meditation object used in the school of Tantra.
YOGA KORUNTA Treatise on sequential yoga authored by Rishi Vamana.
YOGA VASHISHTA Ancient treatise in which the nondualistic teachings of the Rishi Vasishta are rendered in 30,000 stanzas.