Chapter VIII, Section 1a

A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.

The practice described involves focusing the mind on a specific form of deity or the Supreme Being, utilizing imagery and symbolic thought rather than empty stillness.

The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.

The passage describes cosmic cycles where all perceptible things are produced from the unperceived and dissolve back into it, indicating a periodic restoration or recurrence.

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The Divine is described as 'unthinkable form,' 'more minute than the minutest atom,' and 'beyond all darkness,' utilizing negation to describe the ineffable nature of God.

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

The text mentions ascetics from whom 'all desires have departed' and the need for a mind not running to other objects, indicating a letting-go of worldly attachments.

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

The supreme Being is described as having brilliance like the sun and being beyond all darkness, associating the divine with luminosity.

Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.

The entire passage serves as a guide for the soul's journey at the moment of death, detailing the specific mental and physical preparations required to navigate the transition.

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

Krishna instructs Arjuna that knowing the nature of Brahman and remembering Him at death leads to liberation, emphasizing direct knowledge over mere ritual.

The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.

The instruction to 'stop up all passages' and confine the mind within the heart suggests a practice of stilling external senses and internal chatter.

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

The declaration that the Adhidaiva is 'I myself in this body' locates the divine realm directly within the individual's interior.

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

Krishna speaks in the first person ('I myself'), engages in dialogue, and promises accessibility to those who remember Him, presenting a personal and active deity.

Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.

The text repeatedly instructs the practitioner to fix the mind, engage in continuous meditation, and concentrate the life-breath as the path to liberation.

The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.

The passage explicitly defines the Adhyatma as the individual self and states that the Divine (Adhidaiva) resides within the body, establishing the human as a mirror of the cosmic whole.

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

The text identifies Brahman as the supreme, indestructible, and singular source from which all manifestations flow.

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

The text describes the devotee who remembers Krishna at death as coming into His essence, signifying a complete merging of the individual with the divine.

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The central theme is the soul's departure from the body to return to its divine origin (Brahman/Krishna) and avoid further rebirth.

Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.

The text prescribes the repetition of the single syllable 'Om' as a means to reach the highest goal, attributing ontological power to this sound.

The transmigration of the soul across lives.

The text discusses the departure of the soul from the body and its subsequent journey to a destination based on its final thoughts, implying a cycle of existence.

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

The passage asserts that the individual self (Adhyatma) is a manifestation of the supreme Brahman and that the Divine resides within every body, pointing to non-duality.

The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.

The repetition of the syllable 'Om' is presented as a causal mechanism that enables the soul to reach the eternal Brahman.