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abbot

An abbot or abbess is the title of the superior of a monastery or convent. Some scholars and practitioners have used these titles to apply to the ranking monk or nun of a Buddhist monastic community as well.

`Abdu’l-Bahá

Upon the death of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892, his son Abbas Effendi (1844-1921 CE), took the title `Abdu’l-Bahá (“Servant of Bahá’u’lláh”) and assumed the role given him by Bahá’u’lláh as the new head of the Bahá’í community. During his tenure he consolidated the Bahá’í community by opening schools, initiating women's activities, and encouraging all Bahá’ís to observe the Holy Days and feasts. He did much to establish the Bahá’í Faith in Europe and North America. He wrote prolifically, producing over 30,000 letters providing authoritative guidance to the Bahá’ís. Before his death he designated his... Read more about `Abdu’l-Bahá

abhishekam

Abhishekam is the Hindu “ritual shower” of water, milk, honey, yogurt, and sandalwood paste that is poured over a murti (sacred image) as part of daily, weekly, or festival rites. The term was used in ancient India to mean the ritual anointing of a king and these royal meanings still attend the abhisheka rites as they are offered to the Divine.

Abraham

Abraham is the patriarch, acknowledged as the father of the lineage of faith by the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. He is presumed to have lived sometime in the period 2000-1700 BCE. He is the father of Isaac by Sarah (Genesis 12.25), and the “Friend of God” and Father of Ishmael by Hagar (Qur’an 37.83-113), and the exemplar of faith. (Galatians 3-4).

acharya

An acharya is teacher or spiritual guide, one learned in the religious tradition and its texts.

Adam

Adam is Hebrew for “human, man.” It is the name given to the first person created by God and as such has an important symbolic role in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions.

adhan

The adhan, also called azan or the call to prayer, is called out by the muezzin five times each day to all Muslims within hearing distance. Contained in this call is the shahadah, the “witness” to the two fundamental convictions of Muslim religious belief: “There is no God but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

Adi Granth

(Also: Duru Granth Sahib) Adi Granth means literally the “First Book.” For Sikhs, the three thousand hymns (shabads) contained within its pages are the Word of God. Before the death of Guru Gobind Singh in 1708, he invested the Guruship not in a human successor, but in the scripture itself. Hence, as the most reverend (Sahib) fully authoritative spiritual guide (Guru), the book is also known as the Guru Granth Sahib.

Adinath

Adinath is the first of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras. He is said to have established the various institutions that form the basis of all civilized life: marriage, agriculture, the arts, and weaponry. After ruling for thousands of years, he divided his kingdom among his sons and departed to take up an ascetic way of life. He attained full illumination (kaivalya), then spent the rest of his life teaching others how to leave the cycle of birth and death.

Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta is a school of Hindu philosophy based on the doctrine of non-dualism associated with Shankara. That doctrine attests that Brahman is the only reality.

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