This is a list of words found in this book and commonly used when studying kundalini.
Aditya: Truth
Ahamkara: Egoism
Ahimsa: Nonviolence
Amrita: Eternal life
Asana: Posture, one of the five external limbs of yoga according to Patanjali
Astanga: Eight limbs of yoga described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
Atman: Self, Spirit, the soul, the deepest part of a person
Aum: Same as Om
Aura: Field outside of body
Avatara: Descent of a deity
Avidya: Ignorance, illusion, sometimes called maya
Bandhas: Exercises to release the bindings, or locks/granthis, to assist kundalini in rising
Bhagavad Gita: Song of the Blessed One, an important work to originate from India; part of the Mahabharata, written between 600 and 200 bc
Bhakti: Devotion, worship, love
Bodhi: Perfect knowledge or wisdom
Brahma: First of the triad of personalized gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva); the Universal Spirit as Creator
Brahman: Godhead, Ultimate Reality, Vastness
Brahmin: One with the sacred knowledge
Buddha: Awakened, awake, enlightened; the proper name of the historical Siddhartha Gautama
Chakra: Center of energy connecting spiritual and physical self
Deva: God
Dharana: Focus, concentration; one of the eight limbs of Patanjali
Dharma: Law, order, obligation
Dharmashastra: Texts outlining requirements of dharma
Dhyana: Meditation, contemplation, one of the three internal limbs of yoga
Drstis: Gaze taking when doing a posture
Dukkha: Suffering
Elements: Five building blocks of the manifest world: earth, water, air, fire, space or ether
Granthi: Binding or locks affecting rise of kundalini
Gunas: Strand, constituent, the three gunas (satva, rajas, tamas) are the three fundamental components of the whole of prakriti, or nature
Guru: Teacher
Hatha: Force, joining of sun and moon
Ishvara: God, the Supreme Being
Kaivalya: Highest state of consciousness, according to Patanjali
Karma: Act, action, work; see law of karma
Klesas: Afflictions causing karma and suffering
Krishna: A teacher in the Bhagavad Gita, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu
Kriya: Action, work
Kundalini: Serpent energy (Shakti) that moves up the body between first and seventh chakras; when unified with crown chakra, one is unified with the Divine
Law of karma: Law of cause and effect applied to physical, moral, and psychological spheres, see karma
Linga: Mark, sign, trace; phallic symbol of Shiva
Locks: Bindings affecting the rise of kundalini (see granthi)
Manas: Lower mind, reason
Mandala: Circle
Mantra: Special sound given by a teacher as a discipline for recitation
Maya: Illusions, unreality, deception; Maya is illusion personified
Moksha: Unconditional freedom, liberation
Mudra: Hand gesture creating a specific energetic outcome
Mukti: Freedom, liberation, same as moksha
Muni: Sage
Nadis: Energy channels in body, affect path of kundalini
Nirvana: Extinction of selfish cravings
Niyama: Control, one of the five outer limbs of yoga
Om: Primordial vibration, most sacred syllable, same as Aum
Paramatma: The universal self
Prakriti: Nature, materiality, sometimes same as maya
Prana: Subtle energy, breath; same as chi in Chinese thought and mana in Polynesian
Pranayama: Regulation of prana, breath control, one of the five outer limbs of yoga
Pratyahara: Drawing back the senses, one of the five outer limbs of yoga
Prikrita: Natural, unrefined, vulgar
Purusha: Person, primal human, identified with Atman and Brahman
Raga: King
Rajas: The gunas or constituent of passion and activity
Ramayana: The great epic of Rama
Rig Veda: The oldest of the four Vedas and the oldest text in any Indo-European language; parts may date to 3000 bc
Rita: Cosmic order
Sadhaka: Aspirant, practitioner
Sadhana: Quest, effort
Samadhi: Joining, synthesis, integration, the eighth and last state of yoga
Samsara: Worldly life, secular, illusion; cycle of birth and death
Samskara: Impression
Samyama: Discipline, steady attention; last three limbs of yoga; control of mind
Sanatana: Eternal
Sanskrit: The sacred language of India
Santi: Peace, calm
Sanyasa: Renunciation
Sat-Karmas: Bodily cleaning techniques to purify body and mind
Satva: The guna of lucidity
Satya: Truth
Shakti: Energy, serpent power, the kundalini; feminine counterpoint of Shiva
Shiva: Lord of transformation, destruction, sleep; third of the Hindu triad of personalized gods (also including Brahma and Vishnu); the one who merges with Shakti
Siddhi: Power, attribute, gift
Soma: Yogic nectar, sacred juice
Sutra: A thread, a short rule or aphorism in the Sanskrit texts
Svabhava: Inner calling, essential nature
Svakarma: Karma relating to one’s svabhava or essential self
Tamas: Inertia, sloth, stability; one of the three gunas
Tapas: Heat, austerity, penance, effort
Tapasya: Sustained practice and austerity
Upanishads: Sacred writings of the Hindus, the concluding portion of the Vedas, numbering over 200 works dating between 800 and 500 bc
Vasana: Innate tendency
Vayus: Winds of the body or components of breath
Veda: The most sacred literature of the Hindus; knowledge. There are four Vedas, the oldest (Rig Veda) composed around 1500 bc.
Vedanta: End of knowledge, end of the Veda; most influential school of philosophy in India
Vidya: Mental knowledge, wisdom
Vishnu: Second of the Hindu triad of gods, also including Brahma and Shiva; the preserver and sustainer
Yama: Lord of death and of dharma; yama is one of the five outer limbs of yoga
Yantra: Visual geometrical pattern
Yoga: Integration; union; the art of yoking; attaching; joining; meditation aiming at the union with Ishvara, or the Supreme Spirit; a path that creates that union
Yoga Sutra: One of the most important texts of yoga, attributed to Patanjali
Important Background Information
The Vedas
The Vedas are the original Sanskrit texts that form the foundation of Indian philosophy and yoga. They are written in poetic verse and have been chanted for generations, since at least 1500 bc. Some might date back to 3000 bc.
Rig Veda: First Veda, the source of mantra
Sama Veda: Second Veda, singing of mantras
Yajur Veda: Third Veda, application of mantras in ritual
Atharva Veda: Fourth Veda, supplementary mantras
Upanishads
These are the source of the Vedanta philosophy. The thirteen listed here are the most common. They are encapsulations of the Vedas and passed on orally by teacher to student.
Aitareya: Name of a sage
Brhad-Aranyaka: Great forest
Chandogya: Named after a part of the Veda
Isa: Lord
Katha: Named after a part of the Yajur Veda
Kausitaki: Name of sage who taught it
Kena: Discourse on Brahman, the Absolute Being
Maitri: Friendship
Mandukya: Name of sage who taught it
Mundaka: Shaved
Prasna: Question
Svetasvatara: White horse
Taittiriya: Named after a part of the Yajur Veda
Major Yoga Texts
Bhagavad Gita: Conversation between Krishna (God) and Arjuna (human); the divine song; part of the Mahabharata, which, along with the Ramayana, make up the two gigantic Indian epics
Gheranda Samhita: Treatise on hatha yoga
Hatha Yoga Pradipika: Treatise on hatha yoga, the illumination of Mahabharata: an epic story containing the Bhagavad Gita
Ramayana: Epic story about the life of Rama
Siva Samhita: Treatise on hatha yoga
Yoga-Darsana Yoga Sutras: by Patanjali
Yoga-Vasistha: Treatise on yoga
The Eight Limbs of Patanjali (Astanga)
1. Yama: Social restraints
2. Niyama: Personal ethics, internal restraints
3. Asana: Posture, sitting
4. Pranayama: Breath regulation
5. Pratyahara: Internalization of the senses, drawing back
6. Dharana: Focus, concentration
7. Dhyana: Maintaining a focus, meditation
8. Samadhi: Complete absorption
The Winds or Breaths (Vayus)
These are the vayus, or primary components of the breath, all governed by prana and affected by an asana.
Apana: Downward breath
Prana: Primary moving force, attention, primary breath
Samana: Equalizing breath
Vyana: Pervading breath
Udana: Upward breath
The Seven Primary Chakras
- First or base or root, coccyx, Muladhara
- Second, sacrum, Swadhisthana
- Third, solar plexus, Manipura
- Fourth, heart, Ahahata
- Fifth, throat, Vishuddha
- Sixth, brow or third eye, Ajna
- Seventh, crown, Sahasrara