Note: This glossary does not undertake fully to explain all the above terms. It is simply an attempt to render into English certain words used in this book, so that the reader may understand their connotation. The majority of the definitions have been culled from the Theosophical Glossary, The Secret Doctrine, and the Voice of the Silence.

Adept A Master, or human being who, having traversed the path of evolution and entered upon the final stage of that path, the Path of Initiation, has taken five of the Initiations, and has therefore passed into the Fifth, or Spiritual kingdom, having but two more Initiations to take.

Adi The First; the primeval; the atomic plane of the solar system; the highest of the seven planes.

Agni The Lord of Fire in the Vedas. The oldest and most revered of the Gods in India. One of the three great deities Agni, Vayu and Surya, and also all the three, as he is the triple aspect of fire; fire is the essence of the solar system. The Bible says: "Our God is a consuming fire." It is also the symbol of the mental plane of which Agni is paramountly lord.

Agnichaitans A group of fire devas.

Atlantis The continent that was submerged in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the occult teaching and Plato. Atlantis was the home of the Fourth Root Race, whom we now call the Atlanteans.

Antahkarana The path, or bridge, between higher and lower mind, serving as a medium of communication between the two. It is built by the aspirant himself in mental matter.

Ashram The center to which the Master gathers the disciples and aspirants for personal instruction.

Atma The Universal Spirit; the divine Monad; the seventh Principle; so called in the septenary constitution of man. [351]

Atomic subplane The matter of the solar system is divided by the occultists into seven planes or states, the highest of which is the atomic plane. Similarly, each of the seven planes is divided into seven subplanes, of which the highest is called the atomic subplane. There are therefore forty-nine subplanes, and seven of these are atomic.

Aura A subtle invisible essence or fluid which emanates from human and animal bodies, and even from things. It is a psychic effluvium, partaking of both mind and body. It is electro-vital, and also electro-mental.

Auric egg An appellation that has been given to the causal body owing to its form.

Bodhisattva Literally, he whose consciousness has become intelligence, or buddhi. Those who need but one more incarnation to become perfect buddhas. As used in these letters the Bodhisattva is the name of the office which is at present occupied by the Lord Maitreya, Who is known in the occident as the Christ. This office might be translated as that of World Teacher. The Bodhisattva is the Head of all the religions of the world, and the Master of the Masters and the Teacher of angels and of men.

Buddha (The) The name given to Gautama. Born in India about B.C. 621, be became a full buddha in B.C. 592. The Buddha is one who is the "Enlightened", and has attained the highest degree of knowledge possible for man in this solar system.

Buddhi The Universal Soul or Mind. It is the spiritual soul in man (the Sixth Principle) and therefore the vehicle of Atma, the Spirit, which is the Seventh Principle. [352]

Causal Body This body is, from the standpoint of the physical plane, no body, either subjective or objective. It is, nevertheless, the center of the egoic consciousness, and is formed of the conjunction of buddhi and manas. It is relatively permanent and lasts throughout the long cycle of incarnations, and is only dissipated after the fourth initiation, when the need for further rebirth on the part of a human being no longer exists.