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ahimsa
nonharm, nonviolence
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Ashram
spiritual community
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Atman
spiritual essence of all individual human beings
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Avatar
Earthly embodiment of a deity
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Bhagavad Git
religious literary work about Krishna
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Bhakti
Devotion to a deity or guru
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Bhakti Yoga
spiritual discipline of devotion to a diety or guru
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Brahman
Spiritual essence of the universe
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brahmin
member of the priestly caste
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Caste
one of the major social classes snctioned by Hinduism
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Devi
Goddess, the Divine Feminine, also called the Great Mother
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durga
awe-inspiring, distant, a mother-goddess, a form of Devi
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Hatha Yoga
spiritual discipline of postures and bodily exercises
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Jnana yoga
spiritual discipline of knowledge and insight
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Kali
dark, a form of Devi, a goddess associated with destruction and rebirth
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karma
moral law of cause and effect that determines the direction of rebirth
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karma yoga
spiritual discipline of selfless action
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krishna
a god associated with divine playfulness, a form of Vishnu
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Kundalini Yoga
a form of raja yoga that envisions the individual's energy as a force that is capable of being raised from the center of the body to the head, producing a state of joy
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Mantra
a short sacred phrase, often chanted or used in meditation
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maya
illusion, what keeps us from seeing reality correctly; the world viewed inadequately.
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moksha
liberation from personal limitation, egotism and rebirth
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monism
philosophical position that all apparently separate realities are ultimately one, the belief that God and the universe are the same, that the universe is divine
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puja
offerings and ritual in honor of a deity
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raja yoga
the "royal" discipline of meditation
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Rama
a god and mythical king; a form of Vishnu
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samadhi
a state of complete inner peace resulting from meditation
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samsara
everyday world of change and suffering leading to rebirth
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sannyasin
a wandering holy man
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Shiva
a god associated with destruction and rebirth
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Trimurti
Three forms of the divine, the three gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
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Upanishads
written meditations on the spiritual essence of the universe and the self
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Vedas
Four collections of ancient prayers and rituals
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4 Vedas
- Rig Veda
- Sama Veda
- Yajur Veda
- Artharva Veda
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Rig Veda
Praise like Psalms
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Sama Veda
readings for chanting
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Yajur Veda
prose text for liturgy
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Artharva Veda
chants, spells and songs
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Vishnu
god associated wit preservation and love
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yoga
spiritual discipline; a method for perfecting one's union with the devine
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