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Sabaoth

The Hebrew term for the army or Host of the Lord.

Sacral Centre

See Svadhisthana Chakra.

Sacred Planets

The term refers to those Planetary Rulers that have gained their liberation from the bounds of cosmic Dense Physi­cal form. Con­sequently the type of suffering and pain as associ­ated with our Earth, which is a non-sacred planet, is not possible for the Hierarchies evolv­ing thereon. Essentially the Sacred Planetary Rulers embody the major chakras in the Body of the Solar Logos, whilst those of the non-sacred Planets embody the minor centres. The Lords of the sacred Planets thus control the expression of the major Rays as they affect the realms of en­lightened Being, the Kingdom of Souls, whilst the Lords of the non-sacred Planets govern the expression of these Rays and Hi­erarchies as they effect the realms of form, the three worlds of human livingness. See Esoteric Astrology by A.A. Bailey for further detail.

Sadhaka

A devotee, one following spiritual pre­cepts.

Sadhana

One’s devotional practice, involving ritual, prayers, and observation of various precepts and rules of train­ing.

Sahasrara Padma

The 1,000 petalled lotus at the top of the Head; the crown chakra. It unfolds fully in an adept and expresses the spiritual will of the enlightened being. It gives control of the el­ement Aether (Atma) and thus every type of force or form in the mate­rial universe. It makes a person a Mas­ter of Wisdom when fully devel­oped.

Sakya

A patrynomic of the former Buddha, the clan from which he heralded, hence Sakyamuni Buddha.

Salamanders

The little fire elementals that are omnipresent and that gather in large numbers wherever a flame is kindled. They em­body the sub­stance of all flames, latent or active, internal or ex­ternal, Planetary or Solar. They generally take the shape of dancing fire, with streams of rushing fire composing the face and “hair”. They are ruled by the larger Lords of Fire, who are self-conscious and come under the auspices of Agni.

Sama

One of the eight “flowers of sanctity” (bhava pushpas). They are: charity, self-restraint, compassion, patience, calmness of mind (Sama), devotion, meditation, and veracity.

Samadhi

A state of complete absorbed contempla­tion upon the ob­jective of the meditation practice. Absorption into the stream of en­lightenment-perception, generally said to be accom­panied by bliss. The highest of the yoga states.

Samael

See Samuel.

Samajna

An enlightened or awakened luminous sage.

Samana

The second of the five breaths (Vayus) associ­ated with the pranic circulation in the etheric vehicle. It is “the nadi from the heart to the solar plexus” in yogic philosophy, and is related to the as­tral plane, the element water, and the solar plexus centre. It controls the right nourishing of the body through the medium of food and drink, physically, astrally, and mentally. It therefore implies the integral inner assimilation or digestion of all the ele­ments of life; those that emanate from the Soul and also from the personality. Its colour is green.

Samantabhadra

Literally “universal sage”, the all-compassionate One of per­fect activity, one of the five Dhyani-Bodhisattvas of Mahayana Bud­dhist philosophy.

Samapatti

Absolute concentration in yoga philos­ophy. The last stage of development before samadhi is entered.

Samata

The experience of the equality of things.

Samaya

Bound or fixed, as bound to an oath or agreement.

Sambhogakaya

The second of the three vestures of a Buddha or fully liber­ated Being. It relates to the Causal form of a person. See Dharmakaya, trikaya.

Sambhogakaya Flower

In the Uttaratantra the Sanskrit term used for this concept is tathagatagarbha (the Buddha-germ, or “womb”). The nature of the Sambhogakaya Flower was explained in detail in The Buddha-Womb and the Way of Liberation. It is an alternate name for the reincarnating principle, in the form of a chakra (a flower) existing upon the domain of the abstract Mind.

Sambodhi

Consciousness in its enlightened state.

Samskara

Also Sangskara. From the Sanskrit roots, Sam and Kri, meaning the action (kri) that will improve, refine or make an im­pression in consciousness. Samskaras are thus the impressions carried forth from actions done in former incarna­tions and which are carried through to this one and which be­comes the basis for one’s present karma. It also refers to the ef­fects of one’s present actions that will bear fruit in later lives. Samskaras are thus those actions that tend to bind one to the wheel of rebirth, to repetitious pain and suffering.

Samyak-sambodhi

The attainment of perfect (samyak) enlighten­ment (bodhi).

Samuel

(Hebrew for “his name is God”.) He is the seventh or lowest of the Archangels or Raja Lords, and governs the substance of the physical plane, specifically that of the four ethers. He works closely with Gabriel for he rules the process of touching or con­tacting the dense physical realm, and this brings in the element of sensation, the conden­sation of the elements of desire and thus the means to the precipitation of the Watery element, ruled by Gabriel. From one point of view Samuel can be considered to embody the physical strength of the Lo­gos, in that he wields power over that which is most physical and mate­rial. The colour of this Deva Lord is violet.

Samvriti

A false conception, worldly knowledge, thus the basis to illusion.

Sanat Kumara

The fourth of the Kumaras, the Bearers of the Mind substance of our Logos. He is literally the Avatara or appear­ance of our Planetary Logos, as explained in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by A.A. Bailey. He is equated with Melchisedec in the Bible (Hebrews, chapter seven.) See also Kumara, Planetary Logos.

Sandhya

Literally, the “twilight”, a period between a full manvan­tara or Logoic Day of activity and a period of dis­solution (pralaya). It is that which joins day to night.

Sangha

In Buddhism a community of monks. One of the three pre­cious jewels (triratna) that must be held by one wishing to tread the path to liberation. The other two being the Buddha or spiri­tual teacher, and the Dharma or teaching.

Sangsara

Also Samsara. The ocean of causality, the per­petual turning of the wheel of births and deaths. Any­thing as­sociated with the material worlds, to that which is ephemeral and ever­changeing, and hence phenomenal, having no true sub­stantiality of its own. It refers thus to the realms of illusion (corporeality) into which the personality incarnates and begins to identify with by means of his concrete mind.

Sangskara

See Samskara.

Sankhya

The oldest Indian philosophy, founded by Kapila.

Sanskrit

The ancient Aryan language of India, with which the sa­cred texts are written. It is also called Devanagri, language of the Gods, the Devas.

Santa

“Placidity”, the primal quality of the latent, undiffer­entiated, unmodified state of being.

Santana

The Sanskrit term for “stream”. Literally the stream of consciousness and karmic actions, that has moulded or made our present and future lives. It is the stream of action-reac­tion, cause-effect voli­tions that have made us what we are. Note the phrase “to go through the Santana of your heart” thus means to tirelessly follow the path of desirelessness as to the way of karmic impulsions, so that the stream of ever-expanding consciousness (citta) that is the effect of an awaken­ing heart can manifest without hindrances. It thus concerns the way of the development of the enlightenment-consciousness as it pro­gresses from life to life.

Sanyasi

(Or Sannyasi.) A Hindu ascetic who has renounced attach­ment to things material. A wandering mendicant or holy man.

Sapta

The number seven.

Saptaparna

The sevenfold man-plant. This refers to the Monadic aspect, as viewed from cosmic space, and the seven sheaths into which it incar­nates. The flowers of this “plant” are the Causal Form, and the chakras.

Saraph

A Hebrew term meaning a flying serpent, thus an aspect of evoked Wisdom. Singular for Seraphim.

Sarasvati

The wife and daughter of Brahma (the same as Vach). She is the goddess of speech and thus of the sa­cred esoteric knowledge or Wisdom.

Sarira

An envelope or body, a sheath that clothes one.

Sat

The eternally existing Principle. Be-ness. Sat, Ananda (Bliss), and Chit (consciousness) form a trinity.

Satan

From the Hebrew hassatan = adversary or accuser at law. Only in the New Testament and by later theological assertions, does Satan begin to appear as a “Prince of darkness” and a leader of a host of evil entities or “Demons”. Esoterically Satan rules the effects of the workings of the law of karma, which many see as evil when karma produces effects not desired by their personalities.

Satori

A term used in Japanese Buddhism to denote the awakened or en­lightenment state. See Moksha.

Sattva

The vehicle for the understanding of the immutable, the essence of being. Also the highest of the three gunas (referring to rhythm or pu­rity), with rajas and tamas.

Saturn

(From the Latin root satum, meaning “to sow”.) The Roman ver­sion of the Greek God Kronos (Chronos), who delineates the cycles of time. In Esoteric Astrology, he is the Planetary Ruler govern­ing the third Ray of Active Intelligence.

Satya

Supreme truth.

Satya Yuga

The first or golden age (yuga), being the era of truth, purity, and of primordial innocence.

Schemes, Planetary

The sum of the Body of manifestation of a Planetary Logos, seen as seven spoked wheels of Chains of Planetary Globes, through which the various Logoi incarnate. An aspect in the computa­tion of evolutionary time. There are said to be ten (7 + 3) major Plane­tary Schemes to our Solar System. They are really the embodiments of the chakras to Solar Being. See also Chains, Rounds.

Seance

The sitting with one who is a “medium” to try to call up the spirits of the dead and other associated phe­nomena.

Secret Doctrine

Another term for the esoteric Wisdom of the ages, the white Dharma.

Seer

One full of wisdom and who has the higher spiritual faculties awak­ened.

Senzar

The ancient precursor of Sanskrit (the language of the Gods). It consists largely of a hieroglyphic cypher, and is known and used by initiated adepts who have access to the most ancient records.

Sepher Yetzirah

(Hebrew) The Book of Formation, an ancient Kabbalistic work ascribed to Abraham and which describes the sacred mysteries of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Sephiroth

A Kabbalistic term for the ten emanations of Deity, and from which stem the Kabbalistic tree of life. They come forth in successive emanations from the Divine Light, seen as a trinity, Ain, Ain Soph, Ain Soph Aur. The ten sephiroth are: 1. Kether, the Crown. 2. Hokhmah (chokhmah), Wisdom. 3. Binah, Un­derstanding. 4. Hesed, Grace or Mercy. 5. Gevurah, Power, Strength. 6. Tifereth (Tiphereth), Beauty. 7. Netsah, Victory. 8. Hod, Glory, Majesty. 9. Yesod, Founda­tion. 10. Malkuth, Kingdom.

Seraphim

A class of Deva Lords possessing six wings, as de­scribed in Isa­iah 6:2 – 6. They are the second grouping of the highest aspect of Devas and are thus an aspect of the Head cen­tres of the Planetary Logoi. They are the builders of the sub­stance of the petals of the Logoic Head Cen­tres, and are there­fore the evokers of the Wisdom aspect in Nature. Thus the Hebrew term Seraph, meaning serpent, from which the word seraphim is derived.

Sesha

In Hinduism, the great serpent (cobra) of Eternity, embody­ing the space-time continuum. The seven headed version is the car­rier or sup­port of Vishnu, the second aspect of Deity. The thou­sand headed ver­sion becomes king of the nether world.

Set. Or Seth

The Egyptian Deity embodying the qualities of the ser­pent. He is the adversary of Osiris.

Shaman

The magicians and religious men of the more “primitive” cultures of the earth. Sometimes translated as “witchdoctors”. They have control over the elemental forces of the earth, are of­ten healers, and are either black or white magicians.

Shamballa

Or Samballa, or Shambhala. The residence of the great King, the Ancient of Days, the Great Sacrifice (Sanat Kumara) and His Coun­cil. It is the “Holy City” that is the externalisation of the Head Centre of our Planetary Logos and is said to exist in the “sacred white Isle” in the Gobi desert. Esoterically this City exists in the substance of the second ether and is thus unde­tectable to all but those with the eyes to see. It is “the centre where the Will of God is Known”.

Shastra

A sacred verse or book, or the component parts of a sacred text (Shastras).

Shekinah

The indwelling manifestation of God as Light, the crown of Glory, in Kabbalistic philosophy. That which veils Divinity. It can be taken as the Feminine aspect of God, and can also stand for the Soul of man. In terms of the Sephiroth, the Shekinah represents the middle pillar of the tree of Life. There is also an upper and lower Shek­inah, the Superior Supernal Mother, and the inferior Mother.

Shila

Morality, one of the six great paramitas (great virtues).

Siddhartha

A name given to Gautama Buddha.

Siddhi asana

The sitting position in hatha yoga said to favour the evocation of psychic powers.

Siddhis, Siddhas

Psychic powers developed through yogic prac­tices. They can be both of the left or right hand variety, and are of many types. We distinguish between the lower siddhis, de­rived from the chakras below the diaphragm, and the higher sid­dhis, the powers associated with the evocation of the qualities of the heart centre.

Sidereal

Anything to do with the stars, thus with the map of the heavens and the energies therefrom.

Sirius

The Dog Star. (In Egyptian Mythology, Sothis.) This is the bright­est star in the night sky and is of immense importance to all on the Earth, for Humanity as a whole (the human Monads) has de­rived origi­nally from this Star. Hence it is a goal for all who travel upon the Cosmic Paths. What we know as Love within Systemic Space (the One fundamental Blue Ray) derives from Sirius, as does the Law of Karma, and the conditionings and Ceremonies associated with the Hierarchy of Light on this planet. Sirius is a source of the waters of the cosmic As­tral Ocean.

Shakti

The active feminine force or power that is an ef­fect of the rais­ing of kundalini. A shakti is technically a consort of one or other of the Gods, and thus embodies the manifest ex­pression of their activi­ties.

Shanti

Tranquility.

Shiva

Also Siva and Civa. The first person of the Hindu Trinity Shiva-Vishnu-Brahma, or the third person, when we look at Brahma as the Mother-Creator, Vishnu as the Son-Preserver, and Shiva as the Father-Destroyer. Shiva embodies the Will as­pect, (Brahma – Activity, and Vishnu – Consciousness) the Fires of Agni, and is considered the God of the Yogis. He is some­times called Maha-yogi – the great Yogi as­cetic, by which the most unlimited powers, and the highest spiritual knowledge is attained.

Another of his many names is, Mahadeva, the great Deva (shining One), and also Trilochana, the three-Eyed One. Another name given to him is Nilakantha or “blue throated” because he took the poison of the world into himself for its transmutation. He is also known as Rudra in the Vedas. He is said to be the wielder of thunderbolts, terrible as wild animals, destructive and fierce, when mounted on his chariot. In the Upanishads he de­clares that he alone was before all things, that no other God tran­scends him, that he is eternal, and yet not eternal, dis­cernible and yet undiscernible, Brahma, and not Brahma. He is also noted for his terrible dance (Tandava) with his wife Devi, and the power of his Third Eye, with which he reduced to ashes Kama, the god of love, as well as all the gods, everything, in one of the periodical de­structions (pralayas) of the Universe.

Skandha

(Also Skanda) Literally this word means the bundles or groups of at­tributes which together constitute the personality as­pect of a be­ing when incarnate and are responsible for the evolu­tion of consciousness. They are those attributes (samskaras) that are carried through from life to life collectivised in their various groupings. Exoterically, there are five such groupings (attributes of consciousness): 1. form, or body, the sense organs, sense objects and interrelationships (rupa), 2. per­ception or sensation, feelings and emotions (vedana), 3. con­sciousness, the faculty of discrimination (samjna), 4. ac­tion, or the motives to thus act (samskara), 5. Divine Knowl­edge (vijnana).
Literally they become one’s karmic accumulations which must be worked with in any one life, and are eventually trans­muted into the seeds of the enlightenment-consciousness. These Skandhas relate to the five different types of pranas conveyed throughout the nadi system.

Soham

A mystic syllable connoting the in and outbreathing motion, inton­ing “That am I”, like the action of the ocean’s waves upon a seashore.

Solar Devas

The Deva lives that are responsible for the vitalisation of an entire Solar or Logoic form, or the human body. They work in associa­tion with the Heart centre, and thus are centred above the diaphragm, and the splenic centre. They can be con­sidered liberated Lords of Life and Love, in contradistinction to the Lunar pitris, or the builders of the form, the Lords of the shadow. The Solar Devas are the Ah-Hi or Builders of the Soul or Consciousness aspect of all life.

Solar Logos

The Logos that embodies the sum of the Solar System, with its Planetary Schemes and Rounds of Evolution. Solar Lo­goi can be considered the members of an ineffable cosmic Hu­manity. See Logos.

Solar Lords

Lords of Liberation, the embodiers of Consciousness, the Soul aspect underlying all manifest life. They convey the Pranic vitality sus­taining the entire Solar Form, and from an­other perspective can be considered Logoi and Buddhas of past ages.

Solar Plexus Centre

See Manipura Chakra.

Soma

The moon, but more specifically the drink or ambrosial en­ergies from the moon, which awaken the inner vision, the lunar forces in the nadi system, thus the awakening of the solar plexus centre. The plant by this name was used in temples for trance purposes.

Sophia

The Gnostic term for Wisdom, the Universal Mind, which is femi­nine in its characteristics.

Sorcerers

Adepts or Masters in the black arts. They are higher than black magicians, in that the black magician is still involved in coven activ­ity, overseeing the rites associated with sex magic. The sorcerer works purely from mental or atmic levels and has many black magicians under his domination. See black magic, the left hand path, Dugpas.

Sparsa

The sense of touch.

Spiritual

This term refers to anything to do with non-material mat­ters, with the subjective, the inner universe, generally depicted in religious or theistic terms, but this is not necessary. Anything that helps to serve humanity and uplift us from gross materi­alism, the lure of the “lower four”, to make us more creative, humanitarian and to aspire to work for the greatest good, can be termed “spiritual”.

Splenic Centre

This is a dual chakra in that it basically consists of two mi­nor centres superimposed upon each other and which to­gether con­stitute the Powers of a major (the eighth) Centre. The Spleen is respon­sible for the vitalisation of the entire body, and stands between the Heart and Sacral Centres. It stores and redi­rects the prana that has circulated throughout the body, rejecting that which is no longer viable to the system. Thus it veils the potency of “the eighth sphere”. Techni­cally, the reticulation of the entire nadi system radiates out from this centre.

Sraddha

Faith, reverence or respect.

Sravaka

In Buddhism it denotes one who is a disciple, a chela.

Srotapatti

Literally “he who has entered the stream of enlight­enment consciousness.” In Buddhism, the first stage of Bodhisattva­ship.

Straight-Knowledge

The intuition developed by the illumined Seer. It is the special Knowledge that goes straight to the heart of any subject, and which speaks as the undistorted hidden Wisdom or Truth thereof. It is the accumulation or gain of many lives of en­lightened undertaking.

Stupa

A religious shrine in Buddhism and Hinduism, usu­ally con­taining a sacred relic.

Substance

In esotericism, substance is the principle underlying dense mat­ter. It can be considered congealed energy forming the constituency of any plane of perception.

Subtle world

The various subplanes of the astral, wherein are the various heaven and hell realms. Here reside the various Ele­mentaries that are so troublesome to mediums and psychics, as well as the disincarnate hu­manity, who are preparing to reincar­nate.

Sukhavati

The Western paradise of Amitabha, the Dhyani Buddha of infinite Light. This is similar to the Heavenly realms of the Christians.

Sun, The

The source of Light and Life to all within our Solar Sys­tem. The disc that lights up the day is but the externalised Sacral centre of our Solar Logos, and can be considered the Physical Sun. The Sun is the symbol of the Soul, or the vehicle of the Son in incarnation, mani­festing a dense form (the Solar System) for the Purpose of salvation and resurrection of the lives (atoms) embodied within its form. It is a sphere of activity wherein the consciousness-aspect of all embodied life comes to be and evolves. It contains a number of lesser Flowers, Chakras, the Logoi of the Planetary Schemes that are vitalised and unified by the Magnetism and Light of the Greater Luminary. See also (Solar) Logos, (Planetary) Schemes and Chains, the Heart of the Sun, the Central Spir­itual Sun. Also, in Esoteric Astrology the Sun stands as a non-sa­cred planet governing the second Ray of Love-Wisdom.

Sunyata

The literal meaning is “Void, Space, that from which all discernible characteristicsis are absent.” It is equated with the highest state of enlightenment, and thus can be related to bud­dhic per­ception, Moksha.

Surya

The Deified Sun in the Vedas.

Sushumna nadi

The central nadi that rises up the spinal col­umn from the base of the spine centre to the Head cen­tre. It relates to the Fa­ther aspect of the trinity Sushumna (Father, the abstracting, lib­erating energy), Pingala (Son, or consciousness-engendering), and Ida (Mother, or form sustain­ing) nadis. It is the Energy of the Spirit or Monad that descends down the spinal column at the appropriate time to awaken the sleeping Kundalini, and fuses with it, to rise up again to liberate the individual.

Sutra

Meaning “a thread or string”. A verse, rule, or precept of the sacred canonical writings of Buddhism and Hin­duism.

Sutratma

The “Life-line”, or thread of the (human) Monad/Spirit which inter­relates or links this Father aspect to the Soul, and then to the personality. It is anchored in the Heart centre, and is thus the link of the Monad that allows It to utilise a vehicle (a per­sonality) in cosmic Dense Physical sub­stance, to fulfill Its Compassionate Purpose (the re­demption of matter).

Svabhavat

Universal world-forming substance; the “plastic essence” of concrete matter. It can thus be equated with etheric sub­stance, or that of the fourth cosmic Ether.

Svadhisthana Chakra

The Sacral Centre, con­sisting of six petals that have an over­all sun-like appearance. It is lo­cated in the lower part of the lumbar region, and expresses the sexual, animal, or physically vital forces in us. It is very strongly developed in most, es­pecially the sensual, physical, types of people. When fully unfolded it gives us the control of the vital energy (prana), of bio-magnetic fields, healing currents, and insight into the etheric realm. It forms an es­oteric unity with the base of spine centre.

Svaha

A mantric utterance – “so be it”.

Svapna

A trance or clairvoyant faculties, the dream consciousness.

Svaraj

Sva = self and raj = resplendent or luminous. An epithet given to many of the Gods.

Sylphs

The Elementals (lesser Devas) of the air. Part of the army of the Voice. They are of many shapes and sizes and can be quite human-like, though often possessing wings of energy, and can be quite fierce in composition, as are the Sylphs that embody storms.

Swami

A spiritual preceptor, a learned Brah­man, or as­cetic.

Swastica

Also Svastika. This is the mutable cross, the active mov­ing cross of matter, the Mother, the Creative Deity, and embod­ies the powers of the vajra or Dorje. The version of the Swastica that Hitler used as the symbol of his “Aryan” regime is the left hand version as opposed to that associated with the white dharma.

Swayam-bhu

The spontaneously self-pro­duced or self exis­tent be­ing. A name of Brahma the Creator.

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