I would like to share a little writing which demonstrates correspondences for Eastern terms and concepts with more elaborately explained concepts/design. This was inspired by a description of how the Universe came/comes into existence by John Lily, and I thought of the correspondences. There is more you could do, with various spiritual systems, but here is what I have for now.

Before Beginning(of Time/Space): Sunyata(emptiness/void)
From void Came Brahma(Growing/Choosing-God)
Then Self(Atman) was realized; Consciousness-Without-Object
Then the first notion of an Object arose; Unity(of time/space), 1
Then polarity arose, which would always equal out to 0, all the way up to infinity.

That which becomes all experiences: Brahma
That which is the experience itself: Vishnu
Spontaneous creation & destruction of every reality/moment from Void: Shiva
Sensual-Body: Soma

This is just a bit of translation/interpretation I did of the words used for a variety of major concepts/terms used in our spiritual/religious thought. It is important to look at these terms in their original form/context, if we are to properly understand the meaning.

EASTERN
tanha = thirst, craving
sunyata = emptiness, void

WESTERN
shama = hear
neshema = intuitive-soul(Passively taking in the Word)
dabar = word/speak
Shamayim = Heavens(They-Who-Hear/listen)
adam = man
adam HaKodesh = the Holy, Archetypal Man
ruach = spirit, breath, air, wind
ruach HaKodesh = Holy spirit, holy breath
Ben = Son(The Word flows upward into Him)

You forgot this....


Reincarnation == resurrection of Christ...

Here is an explanation/translation of some fundamental Eastern concepts...

Tanha = thirst, craving
Which correlates with…
Karma = Laws of action/reaction implicit in reality

Playing with material/sensual reality is called…
Tantra = Playing God, as human. Or, playing human, as God. The Art and Science of Divinity. How can I see God, be God, find Goddess, be with Goddess.

All of these things arise from…
Sunyata = Emptiness, Void

The reality of which means that all movement of life, its never-ending searching, is…
Samsara = Cycles of Reality, never-ending, ultimately un-satisfactory

This is due the reality of…
Anitya = Impermanence, due to the necessary end of all which has a beginning

This, one of the highest teachings, is one aspect of…
Dharma = Truth embedded in the fabric of Reality itself

The One who sees this(there can only be one, from every perspective other than ‘his’ own) is called…
Buddha = The Awoken One. Is all things/people/Gods, no things/people/Gods, all manifested as one thing/person/God, whom we have called ‘Buddha’ for convenience.

Have you been to Sunyata, OP?

Alright, I would like to write just a bit about some information I have learned from reading Eastern texts, with some studying into the meaning of the words. This combined with my knowledge of Hebrew, and Kaballah.

The Upanishads stress the importance of the syllable AUM, or OM. These are three sounds, really making up one syllable. Each sound represents one of the three primary 'Gods,' or aspects of reality.
A - Vishnu. The sustainer of reality, or an experience in and of itself.
U - Shiva. Creator/destroyer of world.
M - Brahma. The growth and expansion of the All into itself.

Now, in hebrew. A would be 'Aleph, the first letter of the hebrew alphabet, 'the Alpha.' Thus Aleph is Vishnu. U would be vav, or waw. It means and, implying moving on to the next one. M is mayim, water, the flow of reality. Brahma is represented, as in b'ra'sheet, "in the beginning" as Genesis begins. Or B'ra, creation. Also M is the last letter of Elohim, the primary name for God in Hebrew. Elohim indicates the masculine plural of Goddess, Eloah, feminine. Thus it indicates some combination of masculinity and femininity, into One. Thus this concept is implicit within Brahma, the growth and expansion of life/reality.

Originally posted by BlueMule
Have you been to Sunyata, OP?

As in, have I had direct experience of Emptiness? If so, I would say yes.