Sanskrit words and their meanings

Here are some Sanskrit words that most people are familiar with

Nirvana
Karma
Om

When most people hear Nirvana, they think of Kurt Cobain, and so the meaning of nirvana has been lost, reduced down to a type of 'ecstasy' or a heightened state of awareness. What nirvana actually means is the disengaging from conditioning that keeps us repeating our physical cycles. Nirvana is the vehicle that allows us to enter higher states of bliss.

Most people view Karma as "what goes around comes around" and ask themselves whether or not they "believe" in it. Karma has nothing to believe in, since it actually means "cause and effect" or just simply "action." Just as someone does not believe but rather observes cause and effect, the same can be said about Karma

Om, or Aum, is the cosmic sound, most often known through the symbol www.biolifestyle.org... When you meditate on Om, pay close attention to the vibrations felt in the chest and head region. Repetitions of the word Om will allow the body to experience what I call "wind energy" it is felt in the head region, and feels like wind traveling through a tunnel. This is a physical occurrence of the body and not just a metaphor or abstract idea.

Some other words we may not be familiar with include

Samsara
Samadhi

These two words are opposites. Samsara refers to the life we are experiencing right now. It is mostly cyclical in nature, and samsara means a wheel turning. To transcend samsara is to see the movements as a type of veil that covers the truth. the "axle" the wheel spins around. This hub or nexus is Samadhi, the state of supreme peace and concentration in which the mind is conscious of its own self, a type of consciousness of consciousness, or super-consciousness, in which the mind can start to see the reality of Brahman.

In English, God is the Cosmic Creator, but in Sanskrit God is Brahma, whereas the Godhead, or the "power of God" is Brahman. Brah means "to expand" and man means "to think" so Brahman refers not to a creator God but rather an expansionary force, much like the universe itself as it expands outwards following the big bang.

Brahman, however, is not just set in motion at a certain time 0, but rather exists eternally. The secret to understanding this is through meditation, in which you understand the most important phrase of Sanskrit "Om Tat Sat" which means "thou art That" meaning you the individual self is That, the cosmic reality. Another way of saying this is "Atman is Brahman" Atman, being the True Self, found within the heart of the individual self, is Brahman the Supreme.

This "revelation" is mystical and not empirical. Material science can neither affirm nor deny something immaterial, and so the only way to do it is through subjective discovery within your own mind, to discover the "self" beyond the body, which is at one moment unmoving and at another the animator of the body's empirical will. This will derives itself from the absolute will, Brahman. Once the two wills unify, the empirical will goes out, and you can almost "feel death" which is the soul's separation from the body. But you do not die, furthermore, you realize that the soul can never die, since it inherently is what it always is.

The real faith involves understanding this subtle connection between Atman and Brahman, to understand that "thou art That" and to understand the connection between yourself and the cosmos at large.

Let the light be your guide, and desire with all your passion to enter into this union, what the body fears as a separation from its empirical will quickly becomes overpowered by the soul's own ability to recognize its own nature.


[edit on 30-12-2009 by ancient_wisdom]

reply to post by ancient_wisdom

"Another way of saying this is "Atman is Brahman" Atman, being the True Self, found within the heart of the individual self, is Brahman the Supreme. "
This is interesting.
And Atman , being self and Brahman has the same morpheme as Atlas and Atlan.
I just wrote about them on an Atlantis based thread the other day.
And here they are coming up again.
This word has the same root and it came from Sanskrit.
That's a good piece of linguistic info IMHO.
I've long theorized that Sanskrit or its predecessor was the language spoken by whichever culture built pyramids around the world.


Oh, but the word Nirvana is not destroyed. As a songwriter I suggest it now has yet another definition.
And synchronistically enough Cobain really did disconnect from the hive mind , so he sort of embodied the word and exposed an entire new world and many generations to an ancient word.
The word has more exposure because of him to say the least; it's definitely not tainted.

no, the word is not tainted, nor do I think Sanskrit words ever get tainted, even when used for marketing purposes, like Lotus computer program and Tantra products and Yoga mats.

The culture of yoga is exposed one way or another, and usually in a positive light.

Thought I might revitalise this thread a bit.

Depending on your point of view, I know I have mine; Krishna invented Sanskrit some 200 000 years ago as a tool to expose the truth of reality. To view this truth one does not required decades just to get a basic gist but a certain type of neurological and spiritual 'tweak' or switch that must be tripped. A more detailed explanation of this requires an insight into Krishna's soul; by observing such a thing of Krishna one can look into the vibrational form of reality that consciousness is. Krishna's soul forms Source or the thing that unifies all things as one, or every timed vibration as one- the place where all creativity comes from. So when one reads or listens to Sanskrit with this 'switch' on (plugged into Krishna's soul essence), an entire new reality and understanding comes to mind. For example, after reading a sentence you may get a feel of the primordial vibrations behind it, or a story showing Krishna consciousness and his interconnectivity that connects everything or you may get a very practical meaning all of which are relevant.

Personally, the beginning of this Sanskrit switch started about two years ago but only came into full effect a month ago. Since then I have been studying some Sanskrit online and new meanings have come to mind. For example the first two lines of the Rigveda (agnim īḷe purohitaṃ yajñasya devam ṛtvijam hotāraṃ ratnadhātamam ) can mean the following- 'the fire is quenched by waters from above forming a soul/light ball meaning/expounding a god (can be Krishna) oversees this process with his thoughts; calling from the essence of Krishna's soul in the Universe. This is the cosmic transfiguration'. I get the meaning as concepts and pictures. It is also a discourse on love as becomes obvious when later lines of the Rgveda is read. 'agniḥ pūrvebhir ṛṣibhir īḍyo nūtanair uta sa devāṃ eha vakṣati ':- "The soul is located inside the body (and subtle bodies) and experiences life from this viewpoint. The soul (also meaning personal humours and personality) enters the body through the mouth."

The cosmic transfiguration means the process of falling in love and with this in mind the lines can be reinterpreted. The ball of light talked about could mean the link to the divine process that oversees falling in love. The fire being quenched could mean the fabrication of a soul through spiritual contrast (small consciousness coming from universal consciousness).

I'll give a better explanation at a better time and in another post as there is quite a bit to talk about.