Authors: John Updike
Paramashiva
Shakti and Shiva in coitus
parinama
development; evolution
parinirvana
“the going beyond nirvana”; Buddha’s death
Pashchimottanasana
the “stretching the back”
asana;
also translated “climbing westwards,” as the
shakti
enters the head from the
sushumna
in the spine
Patanjali
the author of the classic text on
yoga
, in the third century
B.C
.
phalatrishna
“thirst for fruits”; the desire for ego-satisfaction and -extension
pingala
the solar
nadi
, ending at the right nostril
prakhya
vivacity; mental clarity and serenity
prakriti
matter; Nature
prana
life-force; breath (one of five types)
pranayama
discipline of respiration; breathing exercise
prapatti
passive surrender
prapti
the power to obtain anything at will, including knowledge of the past and future
pratiloman
against the grain
pratyahara
withdrawal of sensory activity from exterior objects
prem
loving being: a mode of address
prema
love
puja
“invocation”; worship; cult
puram
city
purnabhisheka
ritual copulation practiced in “left-handed” tantric
yoga;
the
shri chakra
or
chakra puja
purusha
eternal cosmic spirit, from which
prakriti
emerged; Self, one with
atman
and
brahman
Radha
Krishna’s deified lover
Rahula
the son of Buddha and Yashodhara
rajas
the
guna
of motor energy and mental activity; passion; dust; menstrual fluid; female secretions:
fig.
, the “lotus seed”
Rakini
the
shakti
of Vishnu at the Svadhisthana
chakra
rasa
flavor; essence; mercury, the essence of Shiva; bliss; sap; juice; sweat
rasamandali
“circle of bliss”; Krishna’s dance with the Gopis; orgy
ressentiment
French term used by Nietzsche for resentment as the basis of “slave morality”
rishi
seer
rita, rta
“course”; the rhythmic order whereby Varuna maintains the universe
Rudra
the storm-god; presiding deity at the Manipura
chakra
sachchidananda
being-consciousness-bliss: triune attribute of Brahman and of highest human realization
sadhana
realization, in tantrism
sahaja
“the innate”; pure spontaneity, arrived at by transcending the dualities, in tantrism
Sahasrara
the seventh
chakra
, above the crown of the head, its lotus of a thousand petals shedding illumination
samadhi
the ultimate contemplative state in
yoga
, closed to stimuli, in which an object presented to the mind is seen in its true light, without distortion, as if
arthamatranirbhasam svarupashunyamiva
samanya rati
ordinary (consort) woman
samara
a dry one-seeded winged fruit, often in pairs
samarasa
the beatific experience of unity, obtained through arrest of breath or of semen
sambhogakaya
in tantric Buddhism, the subtle “body of bliss”
samsara
existence; the cosmic process; the round of birth and death, destruction and renewal
Sankhya
an ancient philosophy, supposedly founded by Kapila, distinguished from
yoga
by its atheism and its emphasis upon metaphysical knowledge, rather than meditation, as the means to
moksha
sannyasin
pilgrim; holy man, sworn to itinerant poverty; the fourth and ultimate stage of the model male life, the three preceding being
brahmacharya
, celibate studenthood;
grihastha
, husband and householder; and
vanaprastha
, partial withdrawal, as to a forest hermitage
satori
enlightenment, in Zen Buddhism
sattva
the
guna
of luminosity and intelligence
satya
truth
Satyavati
the daughter, called “Fishy Smell,” of King Vasa and a fish, and the mother of the great poet and
rishi
Vyasa
Savitri
the Vedic sun-god
shakti
power; energy;
(cap.)
the consort of Shiva, bringing
the dynamic principle to his immutable foundational consciousness; the feminine creative principle throughout the cosmos, worshipped in many forms,
e.g.
, as Parvati, the ideal wife; Kali, the destroyer; Durga, the terrible; Shri, the bringer of prosperity; Lakshmi; Shashthi, protector of children; and Shitala, the personification of smallpox
shanti
peace
Shirsasana
in
yoga
, the Headstand
Shiva
“auspicious”; the destroyer in the Brahma-Shiva-Vishnu trinity, Brahma being the creator and Vishnu the preserver; the god of pure consciousness, with the
linga
as his symbol
shri
holy
shri chakra
“holy circle”; ritual copulation in a temple setting
Shuddhodana
“having pure rice”; Buddha’s father
Shudra
a member of the artisan or worker caste
shunya
the void, of an adamantine essence and therefore called
vajra;
a girl of low caste, or courtesan
Siddhartha
Buddha’s given name
smarana
recollection
Soma
intoxicating plant juice consumed by the Vedic priests and worshipped as an immortality-bestowing god
sthula
gross; material
sthulabhutani
molecules
strivyatireka
love
Sukhavati
the Land of Bliss
sukra
semen
sukshma
subtle; etheric; immaterial
sushumna
the central subtle channel
sutra
“thread”; a concise religious text
Svadhisthana
the second
chakra
, located in the genital region
svarupa
proper or essential form:
sahaja
is the
svarupa
of all things
tamas
the
guna
of inertia and resistance, produced by matter, passion, and clouded consciousness
tanmatras
the five subtle elements or energy nuclei produced from
ahamkara
and giving rise to the
paramanu
and
sthulabhutani
tantra
“loom, weave”; scriptures advocating anti-ascetic forms of
yoga
emphasizing Shakti-worship, visualizations, mandalas, and the “five boons”:
madya
(wine),
mamsa
(meat),
matsya
(fish),
mudra
(woman or parched cereal), and
maithuna
tapas
“heat, ardor”; asceticism
Tat tvam asi
“That thou art,” meaning that our innermost nature is the same as ultimate reality,
purusha
tena tyaktena bhunjithah
“Accept the quota set aside (for you) by him (God)” from the Vedas
tikka
beauty spot applied between female brows, to ward off evil eye and to symbolize third eye of wisdom
ujjana sadhana
against the current
Uma
“peace of the night”; Shakti in her benign, wifely aspect, representing feminine creativity and heavenly wisdom
vairagya
detachment
vajra
thunderbolt;
linga;
urethral meatus
vajrolimudra
the “thunderbolt posture”; the yogic technique whereby semen is retained and
rajas
are absorbed
Vamachara
the “left-handed,” more overtly sexual practice of tantric
yoga
Varuna
a Vedic deity, the god of the waters; presiding over
rita
vasana
the subconscious; the source and repository of latencies, the
vasanas
, in the cycle
vasanas-vrittis-karma-vasanas
vayu
air;
(cap.)
the Vedic god of winds
Vedas
the four canonical collections of the hymns and prayers of the Aryan people who invaded Northwest India
c
. 1500
B
.
C
.; the oldest Hindu sacred writings
vidya
wisdom; science; metaphysical knowledge
vikshipta
scattered attention; uncenteredness; a merely provisional and occasional state of concentration, undisciplined by
yoga
virya
“heroism”; strength, potency
vishesha rati
extraordinary consort
Vishnu
the god who in the Hindu trinity takes most interest in human affairs and is most widely worshipped: of his ten incarnations, Krishna and Rama are best known
Vishuddha
“pure”; the fifth
chakra
, located behind the throat
Vrindavan
the idyllic realm where Krishna copulates with Radha and the Gopis
vrittis
eddies, fluctuations;
chittavrittis
yajna
sacrifice
yamas
restraints
Yashodhara
“upholding glory”; the name of Buddha’s wife
yoga
“yoke, link”; a philosophy and method of uniting the mind with the essential Self, the
atman:
defined by Patanjali as “chittavritti-nirodhyah” the settling of the mind into silence
yogi
male practitioner of
yoga
yogini
female practitioner of
yoga;
a type of forest fairy
yoni
vagina; womb
yuganaddha
a state of unity obtained by transcending the two polarities of
samsara
and
nivritti
and perceiving the identity of the phenomenal world and the absolute
POEMS
The Carpentered Hen
(1958) •
Telephone Poles
(1963) •
Midpoint
(1969) •
Tossing and Turning
(1977) •
Facing Nature
(1985) •
Collected Poems 1953–1993
(1993)
• Americana
(2001)
• Endpoint
(2009)
NOVELS
The Poorhouse Fair
(1959)
• Rabbit, Run
(1960)
• The Centaur
(1963) •
Of the Farm
(1965)
• Couples
(1968)
• Rabbit Redux
(1971)
• A Month of Sundays
(1975)
• Marry Me
(1976)
• The Coup
(1978)
• Rabbit Is Rich
(1981)
• The Witches of Eastwick
(1984)
• Roger’s Version
(1986)
• S
. (1988)
• Rabbit at Rest
(1990)
• Memories of the Ford Administration
(1992)
• Brazil
(1994)
• In the Beauty of the Lilies
(1996) •
Toward the End of Time
(1997)
• Gertrude and Claudius
(2000)
• Seek My Face
(2002)
• Villages
(2004)
• Terrorist
(2006)
• The Widows of Eastwick
(2008)
SHORT STORIES
The Same Door
(1959)
• Pigeon Feathers
(1962)
• Olinger Stories
(a selection, 1964)
• The Music School
(1966)
• Bech: A Book
(1970) •
Museums and Women
(1972)
• Problems
(1979)
• Too Far to Go
(a selection, 1979)
• Bech Is Back
(1982)
• Trust Me
(1987)
• The Afterlife
(1994)
• Bech at Bay
(1998)
• Licks of Love
(2000)
• The Complete Henry Bech
(2001)
• The Early Stories: 1953–1975
(2003)
• My Father’s Tears
(2009)
• The Maples Stories
(2009)