Definitions of words and terms used in Satsang

Advaita Vedanta: Literally ‘not two’; non-duality or absolute unity. Advaita Vedanta affirms that what is, is only Brahman, the Ultimate Reality. It also affirms the unreality of the world and the conceptual self.

Awakening: When the delusion of identification with the mind has dissolved, it is said that that one is an awakened being. This may also be referred to as enlightenment or self-realization. The process by which one awakens is known as Awakening.

Awakening Experience: The recognition of what we are in reality, but not necessarily the dissolution of all prior conditioning.

Awareness: That which is unborn and unchanging; the Self. Awareness is the Pure Seeing itself, which is aware even of Beingness.

Bhakta: A lover of God, a devotee; one who follows or practices the path of surrender or devotion (bhakti yoga).

Bhakti: Loving devotion and surrender to God. Ultimately, this devotion will take one toward the formless realization of Oneness.

Being: Your own holy presence. Also referred to as Consciousness, Presence and God.

Brahman: The Absolute principle by which all manifestation arises. The designation in Hinduism for the impersonal Absolute Reality, ultimate truth, existence-knowledge-bliss; the one, formless, non-dual, Absolute, substratum of all that exists.

Contemplation: Contemplation is a non-intellectual looking as one follows the teacher’s pointings inwardly. It does not seek to find an answer, but instead holds a question or inquiry softly allowing an insight or revelation to arise. Contemplation does not always lead to revelation, however. Instead, contemplation may give way to the dissolution of a sense of doership and identification with the Ego/Mind structure.

Disciple: When one sincerely follows the teaching of a Guru/Master they may be called a disciple of that teacher.

Doership: The sense that I as a person am the doer of my actions and the thinker of my thoughts.

Ego: The belief in separation and an individual sense of a ‘me.’
‘That which resists what is, is the ego.’ ~ Ananta

Freedom: When one experiences themselves as being free from the constraints of the projections of the mind.

Guru: Literally, ‘remover of darkness’. The true Guru guides the seeker of truth to turn inward and discover that they are truth itself.

“The Guru actually is the Polar Star around which all things revolve. He is the unmoving one, the core. To live with your head at the Master’s feet is to live on top of the world. I discovered this at the feet of my Master, Papaji.” ~ Sri Mooji

I Am: The natural sense or knowing in all sentient beings, that ‘I exist.’ This sense is untaught and therefore completely natural. The knowing that ‘I Am’ can be interchanged with many words, and may be called Being, Presence, Spirit or Consciousness. The natural being that has not taken itself to be its beliefs, preferences, desires, feelings, sensations and the body, and that lives spontaneously and free from the constraints of identified consciousness.

Identified Consciousness (Identification): Believing that one is their beliefs, preferences, desires, sensations and/or their body. When one is identified with the above mentioned phenomenon, they may believe they are a person with particular beliefs, likes and dislikes. The state of believing oneself to be a person or a ‘me’ is known to be a state which may vacillate wildly between pleasure and pain. When one dis-identifies with beliefs, the sense that they are vulnerable and alone loosens as the natural state of Being is naturally revealed.

Jnana: Perfect knowledge or understanding arising from the practice of self-inquiry. Jhana yoga is the path of true knowledge and wisdom which is incontrovertible and permanent; absolute knowledge.

Jnani: Sage, a liberated or enlightened one.

Ki Jai: A sign of respect, praise and reverence to whomever it is referring. It is customarily used as a call and response, as in, “Satguru Sri Moojiji Ki Jai!”

Lila: The Divine play or dance of existence.

Maya: The illusion that the world (both inner and outer) is real and is made of separate and independent parts.

Non-Duality: Simply, non duality means One without a second. This term may be considered a secular version of Advaita Vedanta.

Sangha: A group or community of seekers, finders and lovers of Truth and everyone who is drawn to sincere interaction with Truth.

Satguru: The Satguru is the true master which is your own being; the already free Self living within and as all sentient beings.

Satsang: Fellowship or company of Truth; the company of a realized sage, conversation which leads one toward Truth.

Seeing: Unlike sight, as in the mechanism of perception, seeing is used to point to a broader Knowing or Pure Awareness. This can also be called Witnessing.

Self: Awareness is the Self.

Self-Inquiry: Introduced by Adi Shankara and popularized by Ramana Maharshi, Self-Inquiry is asking, “Who Am I?” Like Contemplation, the questioner should not seek an answer but rather remain open. By doing so, the inquirer discovers that they are not composed of the five elements (body) or thought, belief, desire, sensation, or emotion.

Seva: Selfless service to Guru and God.

The Seer: The one to whom seeing is occurring. This is not referring to the personal sense of “me” but rather to the neutral observing. This may also be called the Witness.

Truth: That which cannot be altered and is common to all beings.

Yoga: Literally, ‘to yoke, harness, unite’; union in which the subject and object of meditation have become one.

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