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Yajna

An act of sacrifice or worship.

Yachin

(also Jachin) and Boaz. In Masonic tradition the two pillars cast by Hiram Abiff of Tyre for Solomon’s temple. Yachin, was considered masculine, is coloured white, and is thus the symbol of the right hand nadi stream, that which is productive of the flowing of the conscious­ness-aspect and the evocation of Wis­dom. Boaz is feminine and coloured red. Hence it stands for the left hand nadi stream (Ida) and thus that which relates to the sustaining of the form nature and the evocation of intelligence.

Yakshas

A class of celestials who attend upon Kubera, the God of the earth, of wealth.

Yama

The Hindu god of the dead and thus of the underworld and the hell states therein.

Yang

See yin-yang.

Yantras

The systemic arrangement of symbols to assist the practice of vi­sualisation for meditation.

Yesod

The Kabbalistic term for the ninth Sephira, thus the basis of founda­tion for all the others.

Yetzirah

In Kabbalism the abode of the Angels, or “World of For­mation”.

Yggdrasil

The Scandanavian term for the world tree, of manifest space.

YHVH

(Yod-He-Vau-He) Jehovah, Jahweh, the God of Genesis.

Yidam

(Skt: iśtadevata). Tutelary deity, a personal protector for one’s practice, a guide to enlightenment. Traditionally, a vow binding one to a personal deity or meditation maṇḍala as the root of accomplishment. The Yidam is the main practice that flows from the preliminaries of a yogic path.

Yi-king

The I-Ching, the Chinese book of changes.

Yin-yang

Yin is the feminine, passive principle everywhere evident in Na­ture. Yang is the masculine (positive) principle. The two form an inter­related harmony.

Yoga

The term is derived from the Sanskrit root yug meaning “to unite”. Thus it is the system of bodily postures, breathing exer­cises, and men­tal disciplines that will allow one to “unite” one’s consciousness with whatever is the object of the union. Usually this is seen in terms of the highest possible attainment – union with Deity, concepts of De­ity, one’s higher self, or the enlight­enment principle (Moksha). There are consequently many forms of yoga, the lowest is termed Hatha yoga, which focuses upon bodily postures and the attainment of good health. It is usually viewed as a necessary basis to the obtaining of the higher forms of yoga. Bhakti yoga, is the yoga of devotion; devotion to a con­cept of Deity, such as Krishna or the Christ. Karma yoga, is the yoga of action, of following one’s karma in a desireless manner. Raja yoga is the “kingly” yoga of the development and training of the mind, as associated with the yoga sutras of Patanjali. Most other forms of yoga, such as Gnana yoga, Kun­dalini yoga, and Kriya yoga are but permutations of Raja yoga.

Yogi

A practitioner of yoga, usually of Hatha yoga and/or Raja yoga.

Yoni

Female generative organs.

Yuga

A great age or era of the evolutionary journeying. H.P. Blavatsky has this to say in her Theosophical Glossary:

“A 1,000th part of a Kalpa. An age of the World of which there are four, and the series of which proceed in succession during the manvantaric cycle. Each Yuga is pre­ceded by a period called in the Puranas Sandhya, twilight, or transition period, and is fol­lowed by another period of like duration called Sand­hyansa, “portion of twilight”. Each is equal to one-tenth of the Yuga. The group of four Yugas is first computed by the divine years, or “years of the gods” – each such year being equal to 360 years of mortal men. Thus we have, in “divine” years:

1. Krita or Satya Yuga 4,000
Sandhya 400
Sandhyansa 400
= 4,800

2. Treta Yuga 3,000
Sandhya 300
Sandhyansa 300
=3,600

3. Dwapara Yuga 2,000
Sandhya 200
Sandhyansa 200
=2,400

4. Kali Yuga 1,000
Sandhya 100
Sandhyansa 100
=1,200

Total 12,000

This rendered in years of mortals equals:
4800 x 360 = 1,728,000
3600 x 360 = 1,296,000
2400 x 360 = 864,000
1200 x 360 = 432,000
Total 4,320,000

The above is called a Mahayuga or Manvantara. 2,000 such Ma­hayugas, or a period of 8,640,000,000 years, make a kalpa; the latter being only a “day and night”, or twenty-four hours, of Brahma. Thus an “age of Brahma”, or one hundred years of his divine years, must equal 311,040,000,000,000 of our mortal years.”

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