Baba
Father, a title of reverence to one’s guru or spiritual teacher, who is one’s “father”, or progenitor of the line of teaching which one is following.
Baptism
The rite of purification by means of immersion into water, which allows Divinity to enter the cleansed vehicles. See also the second Initiation.
Barhishad Pitri
A class of the progenitors or ancestors (Pitris) of the (lunar) human form, specifically the Devic builders of the astral form, the chhayas or “shadows” of man. See Lunar Pitris.
Base of Spine centre
(Muladhara chakra). It has four petals, and the colour attributed to it is red-orange . It is the home of the Kundalini shakti.
Beelzebub
Lord of the flies, the prince of the demons of the lower regions (of the astral plane). Also Baalzebub.
Be-ness
A Buddhist term. That which is not being, yet is. A state of awareness that is not identified to the form aspect in any way, but which simply IS part of the greater whole, it is the foundation of the enlightened Consciousness.
Bhagavat
(Bhagavan) A sacred or Holy one, one who is adored. Bhakti Yoga. The yoga of devotion (bhakti), generally to the supreme Deity, such as Krishna.
Bhikshu
(Pali = Bhikkhu.) The name given to the first followers of the Buddha, literally a mendicant scholar, and later a Buddhist monk or priest.
Bhūmi
The ten progressive levels of realisation, stages of perfection of the Bodhisattva.
Bīja
Seed (syllable), seminal point, the sound (vac) essence of a deity. The essential part of a mantra. The seed germ, the starting point for the display of power or creativity for a maṇḍala, or as a focus for meditation.
Binah
The third person in the Kaballistic trinity.
Bindu
(Tib. thig-le) seminal point or “drop” of energy. A bindu differs from a bīja in that a bīja is a unique indivisible seed germ, whilst a bindu may be a collection of many of these. From each drop can come an entire maṇḍala of visual or creative expression. The dharmakāya for instance can be taken as a bindu or “seminal point” for saṃsāra.
Black magic
The evocation of psychic powers for selfish purposes, to dominate others in any way, or to obtain the object of one’s desires, monetarily, psychically, temporally or sensually, or simply to impress others. There are unconscious black magicians as well as conscious ones. Those who are conscious usually work in organised groupings, with understanding of the significance of ritual and mantric sound, with well formulated purposes for their necromancy, and working specifically upon the fear element of those who are their targets. The unconscious ones usually work thus upon the subtle realms, the astral/etheric/lower mental planes when out of their bodies at night, and are not aware of such activity upon awakening. Many are psychics of differing degrees, who utilise such elemental power with selfish motives. There is always a karmic price to pay for all such activity. The colour black (and the various shades of grey) is derived from the colourings of the pranas that are thus engendered.
Black magicians
Practitioners in black magic. They generally are masters of aspects of the solar plexus centre and related minor chakras, and are involved in coven work, often controlling many others, with the emphasis of the ritual upon sex magic and the many perverted forms of witchcraft. The brothers of the left work under highly organised groupings, uniting so their common needs of selfishness are best served, plus the fact that they come under the domination of greater Sorcerers, who force the black magicians to serve them. Thus the ladder of darkness is trod, the lesser being submissive and subservient to the more powerful, who rule the lesser with “Iron Rods” and the black antahkaranas that extend from one to the other. See also Sorcerers, the left hand path, brothers of the shadow.
Boaz
A Hebrew term, from Boa, meaning “in” and of “strength”. It is the name given to one of the pillars of Solomon’s temple.
Bodhi
Enlightenment, full awakening, attainment of perfected knowledge, transcendental insight, the result of the union of compassion (karuna) and wisdom (prajñā). The expression of compassionate revelation. Literally compassionate understanding, divine Intelligence, “Be-ness”. That which is obtained from the “Bo” tree, under which the Buddha sat when he gained his full enlightenment.
Bodhicitta
(Tib: chang-chub-ky’i-sem) it the Heart’s Mind, the Mind of enlightenment. The power or force productive of awakened realisations, enlightenment, that emanates from the Heart centre. Essentially the “Mindstuff” (citta) that houses the enlightenment consciousness and which manifests as compassionate understanding. In the Biblical terminology it can be equated with the “Spirit of Truth”, or Christ-consciousness.
Bodhisattva
One who is the vehicle (va) of the eternal or immutable principle (sat) which is the grounding or foundation for the expression of the enlightenment consciousness (Bodhi). In Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is one who has made a vow never to cease striving until all sentient beings have reached “the other shore” of life (Nirvana), and then and only then will he also do so.
There are ten stages of Bodhisattvaship in exoteric Buddhist teaching, as described in sGam-Po-Pa’s Jewel Ornament of Liberation. In our terminology we simply use the word disciple (of the Christ), or Initiate to mean exactly the same thing. Technically one becomes a Bodhisattva during the process of undertaking their fourth Initiation. They are sons of the Bodhi tree, the tree of enlightenment, thus of Initiation into the Mysteries of Being. The Christ is the paradigm of all Bodhisattvas, and is sometimes simply called, the Bodhisattva. As such He is the forthcoming Buddha, Maitreya.
Book of Life
The book of the Mysteries concerning Monadic evolution, and thus of Shamballic concerns.
Bo-tree, Bodhi tree
The tree of enlightenment, under which the Buddha gained His great awakening. It equates with the Biblical fig tree, the tree of Initiation.
Brahma
The third person of the Hindu trimurti, or trinity of Deities, Shiva – the Destroyer. Vishnu – the Preserver, and Brahma, the Creator. As such He is really the Feminine principle in Nature (Brahma-Vach, “Vach” referring to speech, the act of naming and Sounding out the mantrams producing active embodied life), the Activity that brings forth the principle of intelligence within the Created Universe. “He” can be viewed as the third Logos, the Mother, embodying the third Ray of ac-tive intelligence, the fires of Mind, which is inherent throughout the fabric of Space. As such Brahma is sometimes depicted with five heads in Hindu iconography. The One Who said that He was a “consuming fire” in Exodus is really an aspect of Brahma. (There is also a neutral form of Brahma, or Brahman, which is the uncognizable principle, the essence from which all things emanate and to which all things return, and which is “unborn”, immutable, “Be-ness”.)
Brahmachari
A Hindu ascetic, one vowed to celibacy or a monk devoted to the pursuit of Brahma Vidya.
Brahman
) The Causeless Cause, the Supreme Spirit in the Universe. Also the priestly (or highest) caste in India.
Brahmarandra Vidara
The subjective opening on top of the head, (“the bell”) through which a person is said to exit and enter the body at death, birth, and deep meditation. Also Brahma-Randhra Vidara.
Brahma’s Year
This symbolises the entire evolutionary period wherein the intelligence principle evolves in formed Space, the objective Universe. It thus concerns a period of Incarnation for a Cosmic Logos. Exoterically, this concerns a period of 311,040,000,000,000 of our mortal years, and is divided into several sub-periods or Yugas. Such a year is technically called a mahamanvantara (Great period of activity), or mahayuga. (Maha, meaning “great”.) It is also divided into periods of Days and Nights of Brahma, a “Night” being a period of rest or of inactivity, the period between Incarnations of Such Logoi, or of the sub-Logoi that constitute Their Bodies of manifestation. Such a period of night, of dissolution or abstraction is called Pralaya.
Brahma Vidya
The esoteric sciences. The knowledge about the true nature of the neutral as well as the Creatively active forms of Brahmas.
Brothers of the Shadow
Members of the dark brotherhood, the black or evil correspondence to the Hierarchy of Light, (who are termed the white brotherhood). As light casts a shade whenever it passes over something that is material in nature, so this dark brotherhood embodies all that is of material nature in us, of all attitudes of mind and desire that attaches itself to the form side of things, the fleshy world and the lure of things that are transient, corruptible, decaying, have no true lasting value, and which work to block out the light of the spiritual Sun or Soul within us. This brotherhood thus works to oppose everything to do with Light and Love and associated forces. They are a “brotherhood” in that they are a unified organised grouping with common motives and methods of activity. See also evil, black magic, Sorcerers, the left hand path.
Brownies
Grosser elemental Devic lives of the Earthy Element. They inhabit the dark spaces of cities and the dark spots of the Earth’s crust, on or just beneath the surface of the soil. They usually take the shape of small men (about six inches high) with medieval style of dress usually of brownish colour, and often carry little aprons and spades with which they dig in the earth and amongst the roots of plants. They work especially at night (with a characteristic mock-seriousness) and gather together in friendly groups.
Buddhas of Activity
(Pratyeka Buddhas). These are great Beings who are Buddhas, in that they have attained the eighth Initiation, or greater, attained complete liberation from the formed realms (Nirvana), but still retain links with these realms, with which they are said to be actively involved in some way. Exoterically they contrast with the Dhyani Buddhas, or Buddhas of meditation substance, who are not considered thus active.
Esoterically, the Buddhas of Activity are the lowest triad of the Kumaras, Who form a quaternity with the fourth of the Kumaras, Sanat Kumara, the representative of the Logos of the Earth. These three Buddhas/Kumaras embody the sum of the consciousness aspect of the three kingdoms of Nature below that of the Human, and thus of the sum of the three worlds of the human personality. They work through the substance of the higher mental realms, to which two of the Kumaras are said to have “fallen”, and thus Incarnated into/as a part of that substance and the related evolution with a part of their Beings. For They are Buddhas, thus Lords of Compassion, and Their Purpose is to thus help liberate the lives associated with cosmic Dense Physical Life.
Buddhadharma
The teachings of the Buddha.
Buddhi
This relates to the fourth of the alchemical Elements – the Airy Element, the “breath of life”, the enlightenment consciousness, or higher correspondence to the pranic vitality that sustains our forms. It is the substance of the fourth plane of perception, that of the Intuition. Its evocation is that which will allow one to see all things in time and space in a flash of Revelation. All things are seen “at-oned”, embraced within the Heart of Life. It can be equated with the “blood” or “ambrosial wine” of the Christ. It is “the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 23:29-39.) The lightning flash is the symbol of this quality, and the “spotless mirror” that is freed from all discernible attributes as its function. It is the Energy that is the expression of the Soul of the world (the anima-mundi), and can only come to be known as one dies completely to the vicissitudes of the concrete mind and its understandings or activities. It is the Voice of Silence that speaks within the silent recesses of the Heart, and is productive of the attainment of the fourth Initiation. It is the Wind that blows away the dust and stains of the mind.
The word Buddha is derived from the same root term as buddhi. Buddhi thus implies the evocation of the Wisdom that is the heritage of the Buddha. Indeed, the entire dispensation of the (Mahayana) Buddhist religion, with its abstruse formulation of concepts, is to bring the individual to this state of Realisation, and thus gain liberation from concepts, from material activity, to gain the Nirvana that is of the buddhic plane, and which the attainment of the fourth Initiation concurs. See also intuition.
Budh
The root term for buddhi and Buddha. Wisdom.
Bythos
A Gnostic term, meaning the “Great Deep”, the Waters of Space, Chaos. It relates to the space that existed before anything was Created.
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