LEXICON- DEFINITIONS & INTERPRETATIONS (PART 2)

Avesta:

The holy book of Zoroastrianism (the word probably means “The Injunction [of Zoroaster]’). Only approximately one-quarter of the original is extent. That which has survived is basically the liturgical material which continued in use in regular worship. The content of the “Canon” includes material from many ages. There are some pre-Zoroasterian “hymns” (some of the Ya’sts, such as Yt. 10 to Mitra) and “Litanies” (Nyayes). The anti-demonic law, the Vendidad, containmuch ancient material, although its present structure was probably Parthian. The liturgy of the substance deriving form Indo-Iranian times. Embeded in the Yasana are the seventeen hymns of Zoroaster, the Gathas. They are in two blocks (Ys. 28-34 and 43-53) either side of the Yasna Haptanhait liturgy, which if not by Zoroaster, is certainly early. The Gathas are embedded in the Yasna the ‘act of [daily] worship’ because that is the liturgical context within which the prophetic hymns have been preserved. Their fragmentary nature, combined with them extremely difficult to translate. They are intensely personal in style, passionate outpourings of an individual spirit, following visions of God. For Zoroasterians, they are the most powerful holy manthras.

In modern religious practice, Zoroasterians use a Khorda Avesta, a collection of essential prayers for daily use by lay people.

Eckankar:

(union with God; of IK Onkar). A new religions movement (the Religion of Light and Sound) “revived” by Paul Twitchell (1908-71) in San-Francisco in 1965. Its teaching is pantheistic. The movement has many centers in the USA and Europe, and reports a world-wide membership of 50,000 chelas or students.

Existentialism:

A disparate trend concentrated mainly in the second quarter of the 20^th century but with roots in 19^th-cent. European thought, especially in the writings of S. Kierkegaard. F. Dostoevsky and F. Nietzsche. Existentialism is more a pervasive ‘mode’ than a united movement or ‘school’ of thought. However, recurrent features are: (i) deep suspicion of the claims of permanent systems or traditional ideologies, whether religious, metaphysical, or political; (ii) contempt for most academic philosophy as superficial and irrelevant to basic human needs and central human concerns; (iii) concern for the human condition as determined by the ever-present threat of death and ultimate meaningless; (iv) conception of human nature as unfixed and unfinished (v) life as a series of ambiguous  possibilities; and, (vi) disengagement from public issues and focus on the solitary individual and the decisions s/he is required to make in the moment.

Ideology: The organization of ideas and related practices into a more-or-less coherent belief system, carrying with it commitment. Although the term was first used by Destutt de Tracy in 1796 to apply to the study of the way in which ideas are related to their base in sensations, it has come to refer to belief-systems which aim to achieve goals, justifying particular actions or policies on the way and vigorously excluding others. ‘Ideology’ is most naturally understood of a political system, e.g. fascism, totalitarianism, Maoism. Although the definition lends itself most naturally to such religious organizations as Vatican Catholicism, it is nevertheless an issue whether religions can rightly be thought of as ideologies.

For more loosely, ideology is used simply as a substitute for ‘world-view’, and in that general sense religions as ideologies are sometimes discussed in relation to secularization-with secularization taken to be a contesting worldview. Popular thought that usage is, it lacks rigor in dealing with the actual processes of change in belief-system.

Inquisition:

A Roman Catholic tribunal for the Suppression of heresy and punishment of heretics. Strictly speaking, one should speak of “inquisitions” since there was no single institution. The inquisition came into being under Pope Gregory IX in 1232, with papal inquisitors selected chiefly from among Dominicans and Franciscans because of their (theoretical) detachment form the world. In 1542 the Congregation of the Holy Office was established, being reorganized in 1587 into the Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition to supervise faith and morals in the entire church. After a further reorganization in 1908, in 1965 it became the Congregation for the Doctorine of the Faith and its role in censuring wrong belief has again become prominent.

The ‘Spanish inquisition’ was a separate national institution, set up in 1478 (endorsed by Sixtus IV in 1483) against the Marranos and Moriscos but later directed against protestants. The number of persons burnt under the first Grand Inquisitors, Torquemada, was c.2000. It was finally abolished in Portugal in 1821 and in Spain in 1834.

Nestorianism:

The Christian heresy that within the incarnate Christ there were two separate persons, the one divine, the other human. It is named for Nestorius (d. c. 451), patriarch of Constantinople from 428, who rejected the title Theotokos (God-bearer) for the Virgin Mary as suggesting Apollinarianism.

Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree (Osho) (1931-90)

Founder of an Indian-based movement known variously as the Orange People (from their dress), Sannyasins or neo-Sannyasins, Rajneeshees, or followers of Bhagwan. He was born Mohan Chandra Rajneesh of a Jain father. He became enlightened by his own account, in 1953. In 1981, having temporarily disappeared, he moved to Oregon in the USA, where a new city was planned, called Rajneeshpuram. Rajneesh took a vow of silence until 1984, so the foundation was run (increasingly auto critically) by his personal assistant. Ma Anand Sheela. In 1985, she absconded (and was later arrested), and Rajneesh was expelled from the USA. He resettled in Poona, where he became known as Osho. After his death, his followers continued to offer courses in his teaching.

In the Bhagwan’s monistic interpretation of the world, there is only one source of energy and that is bio-energy, called “life” or “love” or “light”. Awareness of one’s inner life enable one to stand at a distance from it, and eventually to become an impartial observer and witness- the Sashi of classical Indian Yoga. Thus, if one is ‘aware’, then whether one enters into or renounces sexual relationships, the end result is the same.