Glossary
Words for the wordless.
- Advaita
- Literally 'not two'. The non-dual school of Vedanta.
- Ahamkara
- The ego-sense; the 'I-maker' that identifies with body and mind.
- Atman
- The Self; pure awareness, identical with Brahman.
- Avidya
- Ignorance; not knowing one's true nature.
- Brahman
- Absolute reality; existence-consciousness-bliss.
- Jiva
- The individual soul, as it appears under ignorance.
- Jnana
- Knowledge; specifically, direct knowledge of the Self.
- Kosha
- Sheath; one of five layers covering the Self.
- Maya
- The appearance of multiplicity in the one reality.
- Moksha
- Liberation; freedom from the sense of separateness.
- Neti neti
- 'Not this, not this' — negation of all objects to reveal the subject.
- Sakshi
- The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.
- Satchidananda
- Existence, consciousness, bliss — the nature of Brahman.
- Tat tvam asi
- 'That thou art' — a great saying from the Chandogya Upanishad.
- Turiya
- The 'fourth' — pure awareness underlying waking, dream and sleep.
- Upanishads
- The philosophical texts at the end of the Vedas.
- Viveka
- Discrimination between the real and the unreal.