Glossary
to
The Voice of the Silence
K
Kālachakra (Sk.) H., B. [Fragment 2]
In Tibetan Buddhism the Kālachakra Tantra (introduced to the public in 1027) is a collection of writings (of the Tibetan Canon) containing astronomical treatises for the measuring of time, and a system of meditation based on occult metaphysics in which Ādi-Buddha and the families of Buddhas derived therefrom. But for H.P.B. the word Kālachakra (“Wheel of Time, Time’s Circle”) refers to a system of esoteric mysticism “as old as humanity, known in India and already practiced before Europe became a continent.” For the Jains Kālachakra is the wheel of time turning infinitely.
Kāla Haṁsa (Sk.) H. [I 10, 16]
See Haṁsa.
Kalpa (Sk.) H., B. [Fragment 2, 3]
A very large period of time (differing according to systems): a great cycle of manifestation of the world. Generally, for India, the term refers to the duration of one “Day of Brahmā,” a period of 4,320 x 109 years i.e. the total life period of the Earth, in which are contained many shorter cycles. (1000 Mahā-yugas). See also Mahākalpa.
Desire. At the dawn of the Universe, Kāma, the original desire, is mentioned in the Ṛg Veda as the first impulse towards manifestation; Kāma penetrates and sustains all the worlds in their fundamental unity with the Absolute. On the human plane it expresses itself as the desire to unite the senses with their objects in order to enjoy these. Kāma thus becomes the great irresistible power binding man to the earth (cf. Taṇhā). In daily language it is used as the Cupid-aspect of love. Its higher aspect (Ερως – Erōs), forming the basis of every spiritual attempt, is the manifestation of the universal Desire which is in harmony with the Kosmic Dharma (cf. Bhagavad-Gītā VII, 11) – which refers to Compassion, the Law of Laws.
Kāma-Rūpa (Sk.) H., Th. [I 29, III 9]
In Hinduism it is the “protean form” or “which has the form of desire” (Bhagavad-Gītā III, 43). In Theosophy: “the body of desire,” which, after the death of the individual, becomes a kind of astral entity, more or less durable (and harmful) depending upon the amount of pictures and energies of the desire activating it, and which form the non-spiritual dregs of the terrestrial personality.
Karma(n) (Sk.) H., Th. [I 12, 45, III 34; all Fragments]
“Action” as the cause producing “fruits” or effects. The law of the (ethical) causation by which man is always put face to face with the consequences of his past actions, thoughts, and attitudes. In a wider sense, the “Karman” of an individual is the collection of the effects he inevitably “reaps” day after day. The “Karmic chains” having been forged by the being itself, due to its ignorance, can only be broken by the vigilant exercise of his free will and by following the Path of Dharma.
“He who moves” (chara) “in heaven” (khe). One of the powers (Siddhi) of the Yogī is the possibility to “fly”, or to move in space at will, in his astral form (T.G.). The word also indicates various astral entities. In the Voice probably the possibility is meant to free the consciousness from its terrestrial prison in order to have access to the higher planes.
See Chiao men (Ch.) B. [II 1]
Affliction. The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali (II, 3) mention five of these afflictions plaguing the individual: ignorance (avidyā), the feeling of I, desire, aversion and strong attachment to existence. In Buddhism these inner “impurities” increase in number (there are ten), and they are impediments to every progress as well. The Arhat is supposed to have totally eliminated these imperfections condemning the beings to Saṁsāra.
Kṛṣṇa, Krishna (Sk.) H. [I 1, 32; Preface]
The “black” God or “He who has the color of the night.” In the Bhagavad-Gītā is the image par excellence of the Master–Guru who throughout the centuries remains the spiritual Father of each human being in search of light and spiritual realization, represented by Arjuna. He represents also the inner source of omniscience, the Higher Self sending its rays through the channel of Buddhi.
Kṣānti (Sk.) H., B. [Fragment 3]
The third of the Pāramitās and the key to the third portal of the Path “to the other shore.” Patience which allows one to bear aggressions from outside, one’s troubles and the adversities, without turning away from the Noble Path, and supports the study and practice of the Precepts of Buddha.
Misery, suffering. It is the first of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism: existence is suffering. See: “Eight Dire Miseries.”
Kuan-Shih-Yin [Guan-Shi-Yin] (Ch.) B. [III 26]
“He who is listening (kuan) to the Voices (yin) of the world (shih)”: the Chinese version of Avalokiteśvara. The female Kwan-Yin is the Goddess of Compassion being reputed as the great protector of humankind – in reality: the divine voice of the Self in the individuality, the female aspect of the Logos, Kuan-Shih-Yin being its male aspect (S.D. I, 473).
Kuṇḍalinī (Sk.) H. [I 23 24, 31]
The source of the word is Kuṇḍalu: circle, ring. Kuṇḍalinī-Śakti is defined as: “the power or Force which moves in a curved path”, similar to a serpent unrolling its coils. “It is the Universal Life-Principle manifesting everywhere in nature” (S.D. I, 293). “Electricity and magnetism are but manifestations” of it […]. “A Yogī must thoroughly subjugate this power before he can attain Mokṣa” (liberation of all bonds with this world). The controlled manifestation of this energy within the ascetic leads to various psychic and spiritual phenomena, depending upon the specific occult center or Chakra of the body which is being stimulated. See: Anāhata Śabda.
The first note of the primitive pentatonic gamut in Chinese music.
