Glossary of Wisdom Traditions

/ahd-VY-tah veh-DAHN-tah/

The non-dualist school of Hindu philosophy teaching that Atman and Brahman are ultimately identical.

/AL-kuh-mee/

An ancient art of transformation — outwardly the attempt to transmute base metals into gold, inwardly a system of spiritual refinement.

/AHT-mahn/

The eternal, unchanging self — the innermost essence of the individual, which the Upanishads identify with Brahman, the ground of all being.

/az uh-BUV soh bih-LOH/

The foundational Hermetic principle of correspondence — that the patterns of the cosmos are reflected in the human soul, and vice versa.

/BRAH-mahn/

The ultimate, infinite reality — the ground of all being from which everything arises and to which everything returns.

/BOO-dah NAY-cher/

The innate capacity for awakening present in all sentient beings — the seed of enlightenment that is already fully present, waiting to be recognized.

/KRIS-chun MIS-tih-siz-um/

The tradition within Christianity emphasizing direct, experiential encounter with God — not merely belief about God, but immediate, transformative experience of the divine.

/DAR-mah/

Cosmic order, moral law, and one's individual duty — one of the four aims of human life in Hindu philosophy.

/NOH-sis/

Direct, experiential knowledge of the divine — not belief about God, but immediate inner knowing of ultimate reality.

/NOS-tih-siz-um/

A diverse family of ancient religious movements emphasizing direct inner knowledge (gnosis) of the divine as the path to salvation.

/HER-meez tris-MEG-is-tus/

The legendary 'Thrice-Great Hermes' — a mythical sage combining the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth, credited as the author of the Hermetic texts.

/her-MET-ih-siz-um/

A philosophical and spiritual tradition rooted in the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, teaching that the cosmos is a living mind and that self-knowledge is the path to the divine.

/KAR-mah/

The universal law of cause and effect — every action generates consequences that shape future experience, in this life and beyond.

/KOH-ahn/

A paradoxical question or story used in Zen training to break through conceptual thinking and provoke direct insight into the nature of mind.

/MAH-yah/

The cosmic power of illusion — the force that makes the one ultimate reality appear as the multiplicity of the world.

/MOHK-shah/

Liberation — freedom from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara) through the direct realization of one's true nature.

/nee-oh-PLAY-toh-niz-um/

A philosophical tradition founded by Plotinus in the 3rd century CE, teaching that all reality emanates from a single transcendent source — the One.

/sahm-SAH-rah/

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth — the endless round of conditioned existence from which liberation (moksha or nirvana) is the escape.

/sah-TOH-ree/

Sudden awakening — the direct, immediate recognition of one's true nature in Zen Buddhism.

/SOL-vay et koh-AG-yoo-lah/

The central alchemical maxim: 'Dissolve and coagulate' — break down the old form, then rebuild it in a more refined and perfected state.

/EM-er-uld TAB-let/

A short, cryptic alchemical text attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, containing the foundational principle 'As above, so below.'

/peh-REN-ee-ul fih-LAH-suh-fee/

The idea that all the world's great spiritual traditions share a common core of metaphysical truth — a single wisdom expressed in different cultural forms.

/FIL-uh-suh-ferz stohn/

The legendary agent of perfect alchemical transformation — capable of transmuting base metals into gold and, spiritually, of perfecting the soul.

/SEV-en her-MET-ik PRIN-suh-pulz/

The seven universal laws described in The Kybalion: Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender.

/dow (rhymes with 'cow')/

The Way — the fundamental, unnameable principle underlying all of existence in Taoist philosophy.

/taht TVAHM ah-SEE/

Sanskrit for 'That Thou Art' — one of the four great sayings (mahavakyas) of the Upanishads, declaring the identity of the individual self and ultimate reality.

/KOR-pus her-MET-ih-kum/

A collection of Greek philosophical and theological texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, composed in Alexandria between roughly 100 and 300 CE.

/oo-PAH-nih-shadz/

A collection of ancient Indian philosophical texts forming the basis of Hindu philosophy — profound explorations of the self, the cosmos, and the path to liberation.

/duh/

Virtue, power, or integrity — the expression of the Tao in a particular being; the natural excellence that arises when a being is fully itself.

/woo-WAY/

Effortless action — the Taoist principle of acting in harmony with the natural flow of things, without forcing or straining.

/YOH-gah/

Union — a family of spiritual disciplines in Hindu philosophy aimed at the liberation of the self through the integration of body, mind, and spirit.

/yin yahng/

The complementary, interdependent opposites that together constitute the dynamic balance of the Tao — dark and light, receptive and active, feminine and masculine.

/ZAH-zen/

Seated meditation — the core practice of Zen Buddhism, in which one simply sits with open, non-grasping awareness.

/zen BOO-diz-um/

A school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing direct, experiential awakening through meditation and the guidance of a teacher, rather than doctrinal study.