Jnana is a Sanskrit word that means knowledge, particularly of the spiritual kind. It is used in many different Indian traditions. Jnana isn’t knowledge in the usual cognitive sense, but refers to knowledge embedded in the experience of the true nature of reality. It isn’t something that can be understood with the intellect because it is… Continue reading Spiritual Glossary: Jnana
Moksha is a Sanskrit word meaning liberation or release from illusion. It is freedom from the cycle of birth and death, or samsara. Moksha is achieved through the identification of your true Self or the true nature of reality, and can be gained through many different practices or paths, such as devotion or service to… Continue reading Spiritual Glossary: Moksha
Maya is a Pali and Sanskrit word meaning illusion or delusion. It is used most commonly to refer to the illusory appearance of the phenomenal world, but it also means the power through which the universe becomes manifest. Maya is the world of duality and relativity, the world of the conditioned and separate self. As… Continue reading Spiritual Glossary: Maya
Hinduism is the main religion in India and is the oldest major religion in the world, ranking third in popularity behind Christianity and Islam. The word Hindu comes from the Sanskrit Sindhu, the historical name for the Indus River in what is now Pakistan, and was first mentioned in the Rigveda. Hinduism is seen as a… Continue reading Spiritual Glossary: Hinduism
Nirvana is Sanskrit and means to be extinguished or to blow out (as in blowing out a candle). It’s often interpreted to mean blowing out the flame of illusion, or the self. In Pali nirvana is spelt nibbana. Hinduism and Jainism also talk of nirvana as the state of moksha. Nirvana means freedom from suffering.… Continue reading Spiritual Glossary: Nirvana
Addled: Adventures of a Reluctant Mystic is my forthcoming novel about a modern mystic called Zoe Popper. It follows the ups and downs of awakening, and explores the difficulties of the spiritual path in a post-modern world. Addled is a love story for our cynical times, and includes everything from music and cookery to cleaning,… Continue reading Adventures of a Reluctant Mystic
Satori is the Japanese term used in Zen Buddhism to refer to awakening and the realisation of the true nature of the self, or Buddha nature. It is sometimes also called Kensho, where ken means ‘seeing’ and sho means ‘nature’ or ‘essence’. Kensho is generally understood to be your first experience of realisation and is often a tiny glimpse of Buddha… Continue reading Spiritual Glossary: Satori
Buddha nature is your true nature. This may be hard to believe at times, but even a tiny glimpse of reality during awakening will reveal the truth of it. Enlightenment reveals the true nature of all beings as Buddha nature. It’s also called Buddha-dhātu, which means ‘Buddha Element’ or ‘Buddha Principle.’ This is the seed… Continue reading Spiritual Glossary: Buddha Nature
The cover announces that Lucid Living is a book you can read in an hour that will turn your world inside out. It’s a bold claim and I can’t say it worked for me. But then, I’d already been turned inside out before reading it so Freke was preaching to the choir. Lucid Living is… Continue reading Lucid Living: Book Review
This is a book to feast on, and then act upon. It pulls together a collection of Andrew Harvey’s previously published works and new interviews, and channels them into an argument for Sacred Activism. Building from his last book The Hope, Sacred Activism combines the mystic’s vision of unity and compassion with the activist’s passion for… Continue reading Radical Passion: Book Review
Jessica Davidson 