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These are my definitions of some of the terms commonly used in this website. These are words that often have a different definition depending on who uses them & I am not claiming the definitions below as "correct"
It is useful to remember that all language fails when defining concepts such as God or Presence or even Infinity.
God & god – capital G – God refers to both the traditional Christian God and also as a concept similar to Infinite Existence / Oneness / Tao / Brahmin. Small g – god refers to any named deity held up as not subject to humans and the creator or superior of humans.
Enlightenment, Awakening, Awareness – these terms are used to refer to a spiritual /mystical understanding of life that is in some way seeing the truth of life. I am not the biggest fan of the terms enlightenment/enlightened or Awakening/ awakened because they are so often seen and used in an egocentric way. To be enlightened sets one apart from others as if you are superhuman or have received superhuman understanding. Awareness is preferable but ultimately all words will fail to describe a sense / feeling of freedom which comes from seeing everything as part of everything else without beginning or end.
Infinite Existence, Oneness, Tao, Brahmin – Refers to the idea that everything that can or will exist is all the same. It is the idea that all possibilities exist at once. There is no beginning, no end. I use the term Infinite Existence as I place this within my own cosmological view of the nature of reality. Oneness is a catch all term for this and in the Taoist Philosophy it is simply the Tao. In Hindu Vedanta Philosophy it is Brahmin.
Consciousness – a word with many different sometimes contradictory meanings. Can mean the thinking process in human and non-human animals but also used by authors like Tolle as interchangeable with Oneness to describe the totality of reality.
Soul, Spirit, Divine-Self – These are terms similar to the Self in IFS therapy and also Universal Consciousness / Universal Self and are also close to the definition of Infinite Existence / Oneness / Tao / Brahmin. However, Soul, Spirit and Divine Self seem more to separate each person from Oneness by their use and often conjure up an afterlife style angelic version of the person you are in the world (your Ego / World Identity / Individual Self).
Self – Another term sometimes describing complete opposites depending on the person using it. Self in IFS can refer to that part of us that is universal to all humans and a loving, non judgmental, observing self, like Universal Consciousness. Or, the term Self, as it is more commonly used in society, (as in Selfish or Selfless) means the Ego / World Identity / Individual Self as identified with an individual’s actions in the world.
Universal Consciousness, Universal Self – I use the term Universal Consciousness for clarity to describe the IFS type Self but without any verbal aspect. This is the part of ourselves that is common to all self-conscious beings and is loving and without judgement. It is not subject to time or change. In this way it is similar to the Universal Self, which is sometimes also called Universal Consciousness in the Hindu Vendanta Philosophy but without any connection to Hindu Vedanta or its religious practices.
World Identity, Ego, Individual Self – Ego is another term with multiple different meanings often conflicting. Though Freud and others divide Ego up from Id and Superego, to me they are all only aspects of the Ego. I use it in the sense that the Ego is those Parts of a human that strives and defines you as separate from others. The term Individual Self from the Hindu Vedanta Philosophy describes the same state. Because the terms Ego & Self have so much baggage, I prefer to use the new term World Identity as it sums up the idea of how we usually see ourselves in the World as having a specific Identity.
Presence, Being Present – Primarily used in Buddhism to describe that state of being where we feel and sense ourselves as part of all existence without becoming enmeshed in thoughts. Presence is a felt experience and Being Present can’t be fully described. Presence can be experienced at any time and under any circumstances.
Present Moment, The Now – Very simply this describes itself. The Present Moment or The Now as author Eckhart Tolle has preferred to call it, is the actual moment you are experiencing wherever you are and whatever you are doing, whether it is making love or picking your nose or meditating or watching Youtube. It is related to Mindfulness and Presence in that these states require being aware of, and living in, the Present Moment.
Being – A loose often contradictory term referring to both the state of being in the world which would encompass all of human action feeling and thought and the sense of existing that is beyond thought and action and so more like Universal Consciousness or even Infinite Existence / Oneness / Tao / Brahmin.
Mindfulness – At one level the act of being aware of our thoughts and actions without being attached to a particular desire or fear. At a deeper level it is synonymous with the state of Presence.
Meditation – a state of being where you are Present. Meditation is possible at any time in life and isn’t confined to traditional meditative poses like lying down, sitting cross legged etc. See the article Meditation – 3 Ways.
Freedom – living primarily in a state of presence. Acting with joy in the world while also not minding what ultimately happens, even if that means death.
Happiness, Joy, Satisfaction, Contentment – various states where either your World Identity / Ego / Individual Self gets something it wants, or in a fuller more lasting sense, similar to freedom, where you acts in line with your values and with a sense of presence knowing that you are part of Infinite Existence / Tao / Oneness.
Parallel Universes, Multiverse, Many Worlds– the simple way of seeing life as having parallel strands where an individual action is different depending on which universal you are in. Infinite existen e is parallel universes on steroids.
Infinity – in a philosophical sense this is almost interchangeable with Infinite Existence as Infinity could be said to contain everything and go on forever. Similar in this way also to Eternity but without the religious connotations of that word. Infinity in mathematics has quite distinct and different meanings beyond the most basic idea that numbers are infinite (you can always add 1 to a number to make it bigger) but that kind of maths is outside the scope of this website.
Self-conscious – to be aware that you are thinking. As far as we know only humans have this capacity.
Self-esteem, Self-actualization – related to the World Identity / Ego / Individual Self – your actions in the world and your successes and failures affect how you perceive yourself which then also affects your actions. In many ways this becomes a self-feeding loop.
Repression – Feelings, thoughts and experiences, generally painful, that you have closed off from your conscious awareness. This is generally done to protect you from the potential effects of these feelings, thoughts and experiences and because you don’t want these feelings, or thoughts, or to relive the experience. Suppression is related to repression but you are aware of the feeling, thought or experience and are actively, consciously pushing it down.
Time – a purely human construction to structure daily life.
Spiritual – concerning life beyond the physical. Usually associated with a religious context but not necessarily religious.
Mystical – similar to spiritual but without a distinct religious connotation, though a religious experience for example can be a mystical experience.
Metaphysical – a philosophical (though related to science) term for questions about the nature of reality.
