Sanskrit T

Question 1

Tantra (“Loom”)

Answer 1

a type of Sanskrit work containing Tantric teachings; the tradition of Tantrism, which focuses on the shakti side of spiritual life and which originated in the early post-Christian era and achieved its classical features around 1000 C.E.; Tantrism has a “right-hand” (dakshina) or conservative and a “left-hand” (vama) or unconventional/antinomian branch, with the latter utilizing, among other things, sexual rituals

Question 2

Tapas (“glow/heat”)

Answer 2

austerity, penance, which is an ingredient of all yogic approaches, since they all involve self-transcendence

Question 3

Tattva (“thatness”)

Answer 3

a fact or reality; a particular category of existence such as the ahamkara, buddhi, manas; the ultimate Reality (see also atman, brahman)

Question 4

Turiya (“fourth”), also called cathurtha

Answer 4

the transcendental Reality, which exceeds the three conventional states of consciousness, namely waking, sleeping, and dreaming