Adhyatma: Spiritual, principle of self.
Amidah: Also called Shmoneh Esreh (meaning 18), the central prayer of Jewish liturgy found in the prayer book, and recited in prayer services, originally containing 18 constituent blessings.
Amoraim (plural, meaning “those who tell over” or “those who say”): Refers to the scholars who follow the Tannaim, whose debate and reflection upon the oral law is eventually codified as the Gemara. This period covers approximately 200–500 CE in Babylonia and Israel.
Ashkenazim (plural): Originally Jews from Germany, later also applied to Jews from Western and Central Europe.
Atman: Individual self or the eternal soul, which is identical to Brahman in essence.
Ayurveda: A traditional system of medicine, regarded as the Hindu science of healing that originated in India during the Vedic age.
Bhagavad Gita: Literally translated as the song of God, the “Gita” is a sacred Hindu text considered to be a concise guide to Hindu theology and a practical guide to life. The text of the Gita is written as a conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna who is experiencing confusion and moral dilemmas on the battlefield about fighting his own cousins. Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince and elaborates on the Hindu philosophies with examples and analogies that are considered life lessons from the divine.
Bhagya: Fate or destiny. It is the fruit of all karma (past and present) and is not in the hands of human beings.
Brahman: Absolute God who is beyond the thinking power of human beings. Brahman is great and infinite. Brahman transcends matter, time, space, energy, being, and everything beyond.
Buddhi: The rational and logical capacity or thinking of the brain. It is the instrument of intellect, knowledge, discernment, and decision and thus is considered a high mental faculty.
Carak (or Charak) Samhita: An ancient, comprehensive, and authoritative work of Ayurveda. This is the earliest literature on Indian medicine and health. The book is written in the form of the teachings of Atreya imparted to his pupil Agnivesa. It is central to modern day Ayurvedic medicine. Unique scientific contributions credited to the Caraka Samhita include a rational approach to the causation and cure of disease, and an introduction of objective methods of clinical examination.
Church: The body of Christians of which Jesus Christ is the head. It can also mean a subgroup of Christians, such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Protestant Church. It can also mean the building in which Christians worship.
Dharma: Signifies the divine law or divine path.
Fardh kifaya: A societal duty, specifically knowledge, that is required by the Muslim community; requires that the community have a scholar or expert in Islamic religious obligations to the community.
Fatwa: A formal religious legal opinion.
Fidiah: A payment.
Fiqh: Islamic jurisprudence (literally: understanding and acquisition of knowledge); the knowledge of practical Islamic rulings as deduced from detailed statements and religious texts.
Gita: See Bhagavad Gita.
Gospel: A writing that relates the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Gunas: Attributes. In Hindu philosophy, every worldly thing has three attributes: sattva, rajas, or tamas. Sattva is characterized by goodness, purity, illumination, order, stability, permanence, happiness, spirituality, cleanliness, and health. Rajas is characterized by passion, action, creation, desire, lust, attachment, movement, and striving. Tamas is characterized by darkness, destruction, madness, disease, dissolution, ignorance, intoxication, heaviness, and sleep.
Hadith: Saying(s) or action(s) ascribed to the Prophet or act(s) approved by the Prophet.
Halacha: The collective body of Jewish law, including Biblical, Talmudic, and rabbinic law.
Halal: The word Halal, as used by Arabs and Muslims, refers to anything that is considered permissible and lawful under religion. The word is derived from the verb Halla, to be or become lawful, legal, licit, legitimate, permissible, permitted, allowable, allowed, admissible, unprohibited, and unforbidden.
Haram: What is forbidden and punishable according to Islamic law. Prohibited, banned, illegal, and impermissible from a religious standpoint.
Haredim, Charedim: The most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, some-times referred to as Ultra-conservative.
Hijra: The emigration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE.
Holy Communion: Also called the Eucharist, this is the ritual whereby Christians commemorate the last supper when Christ shared bread and wine with his disciples and commanded them to continue to remember him in this way. The Eucharist is viewed in different ways in different churches. To some the bread and wine are actually mysteriously changed to Christ’s flesh and blood, to others the change is more symbolic. Where it is celebrated, it is usually the most important sacrament of the church.
Ihsan: Perfection or excellence; requires that one takes faith into deed and action.
Ishwar: God.
Islam: The Qur’an defines Islam as the natural course of life that God has bestowed on humanity.
Ithm: Harm.
Kabbala: A school of rabbinic Judaism concerned with the mystical tradition of the faith that uses a set of primary texts that exist apart from the Jewish canon. These works include mystical ascent literature, exegetical literature, mystical Biblical commentaries, and philosophical works.
Karma: Literally means “actions or deeds.” In Hinduism, karma refers to the law of causality where actions or deeds (whether voluntary or involuntary) lead to beneficial or harmful effects. The effects may not be immediate but are accumulative and may be experienced later in one’s current life or in subsequent lives.
Kavanah: “Intention” or “direction of the heart.”
Midrash: A homiletic (public preaching) method of Biblical exegesis or a collection of homiletic teachings.
Moksha: Release from the cycle of birth and death. In moksha, there is ultimate peace, ultimate knowledge, and ultimate enlightenment.
Monk: A person who has chosen to live a life of discipline and asceticism devoted to God. Monks either live alone or in communities with other monks.
New Testament: The second major part of the Christian Bible consisting of works written from about 50 CE to the mid-2nd century and telling of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. While there is some disagreement among churches about which books should be included, most Christians agree on 27.
Old Testament: The first major part of the Christian bible consisting of works written from circa 13th century BCE to circa 2nd century BCE. There are between 39 and 51 books in the Old Testament, depending on the usage of a specific Christian Church. Much of what Christians call the Old Testament is known in Judaism as the Tanach or Hebrew Bible.
Parable: A story that teaches a moral or religious lesson.
Paramatman: Great Soul, God.
Perichoresis: This Greek word expresses the intimate fellowship between the three persons of the Trinity; as if they dwell in each other or interpenetrate each other.
Prakriti: Nature.
Prophet: The Prophet Muhammad, the Messenger of God. Any reference to the Prophet is usually followed by the symbol meaning “Peace be upon him.”
Qur’an: The Holy Book of Islam; the highest and most authentic authority in Islam. Quotations from the Qur’an are normally followed by a reference to the chapter number (Sura).
Ramayana: A Hindu scripture that describes the life of Lord Rama. It depicts the duties and relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king, and serves as a guide for righteous conduct in daily life.
Responsa literature: A body of written legal decisions given by scholars to questions brought to them. Responsa address ordinary life situations. They are a unique category of rabbinic literature.
Sacraments: These are visible signs of the invisible grace of God. Usually they are in the form of church rituals such as baptism and Holy Communion. An act can be called a sacramental if it is thought to have a sacramental quality or be like a sacrament even if it is not a recognized sacrament.
Sanatan Dharma: Eternal religion that exists in God and is revealed by God.
Sansara or Samsara: The world where the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth (reincarnation) occurs.
Sat-Chit-Anand: A metaphor for God. Sat is existence, Chit is consciousness, and Ananda is bliss. Sat-Chit-Anand is existence–consciousness–bliss that can be experienced by human beings through self-realization. It also means God.
Schools of Fiqh: The schools of Islamic thought or jurisprudence; the four most important of which were founded by Malik, Abu Hanifa, Al-Shafie, and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.
Segulot (plural; segulah, singular): Symbols created or actions performed for mystical, sometimes supernatural, purposes.
Sephardim (plural): Refers to Jews from the Iberian peninsula (Spain) who use a Sephardic liturgy; can also sometimes used to refer to all Jews who are not Ashkenazic.
Seva: Service.
Shari’a: The body of Islamic law based on the Qur’an and the Sunna.
Shulchan Aruch: Known as the code of Jewish Law. Written by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice in 1565. It is the most widely accepted compilation of the Jewish Law.
Sunna: Practices undertaken or approved by the Prophet Muhammad and established as legally binding precedents.
Synoptic gospels: The first three books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Talmud: Includes the Mishneh (c. 200 CE), a collection and codification of oral law compiled by Rabbi Judah HaNasi (the Prince) and his school in Palestine, c. 160–200 CE. Also includes the Jerusalem Gemara, a compilation of the commentary on the Mishnah by the Amora’im in Palestine c. the end of the 4th century. Together with the Mishnah this comprises the Jerusalem Talmud. Also includes the Babylonian Gemara (c. 500 CE), a compilation of the commentary on the Mishnah by scholars of the Babylonian academies, c. the end of the 5th century. This is a much more substantial and significant work than the Jerusalem Gemara. Together with the Mishnah this comprises the Babylonian Talmud.
Tanach: The Jewish scriptures. Tanach is an acrostic for Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. Also known as the Hebrew Bible and (by Christians) as The Old Testament.
Tannaim (plural): Refers to the Rabbinic sages, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE to 200 CE), whose exegesis is recorded in the Mishnah. The 130-year period of the Tannaim is referred to as the Mishnaic period. These sages directly transmitted the oral tradition, in uncodified form.
Therapeusis: A noble profession, which God honored by making it the miracle of Jesus, son of Mary. Abraham enumerating his Lord’s gifts upon him, including “and if I fall ill He cures me.”
Vedic Age: The time period during which Hindu religion evolved and the four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda, and Atharveda) were composed. It is thought to have been written between 3500 and 1500 BCE. This period is considered as an immortal era of the Indian civilization.