Ritual

KAMA, enjoyment, especially in
love; desire as cosmic power.
KARANA, cause, source; wine, in
tantric chakra-puja, ritual of
union.
KARMA, action; the law of universal
cause and effect.
KAULA, 'left-hand' sect of tantrism.
KHECHARI-MUDRA, a yogic pose in
which the tongue is thrust up
to close the nasal orifice.
KLIM, a bija mantra often used in
tantric rituals.
KOSA, sheath; an individual
human being is conceived of
having five sheaths or kosas.
KRISHNA, incarnation of Vishnu;
the Divine Lover.
KSITI, the earth element.
KULARNAVA TANTRA, an important
tantra of AD 1150.
KUMBHAKA, retention of breath
during the practice of pranayama.
KUNDALINI, dormant psychic
power lying coiled up like a
serpent at the base of the spine.
LAGHIMA, power to attain
weightlessness through yogic
practice.
LAKINI, the sakti of the manipura
chakra.
LAKSHANA, auspicious sign; feature
of self-expression; attribute.
LATA-SADHANA, tantric discipline
requiring a female partner,
lata, literally 'a creeper'; tantric
term for a woman embracing
a man as the creeper enfolds
a tree.
LAYA, merging, cessation, total
dissolution.
LAYA-YOGA, the awakening of
KUNDALINI.
LILA, the divine play.
LINGA, phallus; generative force
in its creative aspect; according
to Skanda Purana, the linga is
198
the name for space, in which
the whole universe is in the
process of formation and dissolution.
LINGA-SARIRA, totality of the
subtle or psychic body.
LOKA, world, plane of existence.
LOTUS, symbol of purity, unfolding.
MADHU, honey, sacred wine.
MAHAKALA, an aspect of Siva,
personification of the disintegrative
forces of the cosmos.
MAHAMUDRA, sexo-yogic asana
known as 'great posture' in
which the practitioner sits with
the left heel pressed against the
perineum (yoni-place) with
the right leg stretched outward,
and holding the right
foot with both hands. The nine
orifices of the body are contracted
and the chin is pressed
closely into the chest (jalandhara)
for the control of the
breath.
MAHAVIDYA, transcendental
knowledge of the Nature.
MAITHUNA, sexual union.
MALA, rosary.
MAMSA, meat, one of the five M's
in the tantric ritual of union.
MANAS, mind, the mental faculties
of coordination, reasoning,
assimilation.
MANDALAS, a mystic diagram of
squares and circles, symbolic of
cosmic forces, used as support
for concentration.
MANIPURA CHAKRA, navel centre
in the subtle body.
MANTRA, sacred formula based on
the principle that sound has a
spiritual significance and
power; incantation.
MARGA, path.
MAYA, creative power, the limiting
principle, illusion of the
real nature of the worldappearance.
MERU, the mythical mountain
supporting the world, merudanda;
symbolically, the
spine.
MITHUNA, paired.
MOKSHA, liberation.
MUDRA, seal, finger gesture;
yogic control of certain organs
as an aid to concentration
which produces psychic responses.
MUKTI, liberation from the wheel
of life and bondage of existence.
MULADHARA CHAKRA, the root
chakra at the base of the spinal
column in the subtle body.
MULA-PRAKRITI, primordial root
Energy.
NADA, motion; vibrational energy
manifesting as sound;
primeval and inner sound.
NADA-BINDU, primal vibration;
the seed sound out which the
universe emanates.
NADI, psychic or astral nerve
channel in the physical body.
NAMAH, salutation.
NAMA-RUPA, name and form.
NARAYANA, an aspect of Vishnu.
NIRVANA, final emancipation.
NIYAMA, control, yogic discipline
of the mind and body.
NYASA, projection of divine entities
into various parts of the
body.
OJAS, vital energy.
OM, seed mantra compounded of
three sounds, aum, embracing
all the secrets of the cosmos
which are, as it were, gathered
to a point within it.
PADMA, lotus; symbolic name of
the chakras.
PANCHABHUTAS, five gross elements;
earth, water, fire, air,
ether or space.
PANCHARATRA, the Vaishnava
philosophy.