Glossaries

Most of the world's scriptures and wisdom tales were originally composed in a  revealed language, such as Sanskrit, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, Classical Arabic, or Classical Chinese. These are all known as “root languages”, because they form almost every word from a root, which lends its meaning to the word—the Sanskrit word hridaya ("heart") for instance is derived from three roots: hri ("to bring"), da ("to receive"), and ya ("to go"). Thus the heart as "the place of giving and receiving" opens great possibilities for metaphorical interpretation, depending on the context.

This is a radically different structure from most other languages which associate a concept with a particular word without any reason or deep meaning behind it.

This characteristic gives to revealed languages an extraordinary degree of precision and possibilities... for those familiar with its roots. But for the uninitiated, language becomes a mental landscape filled with ambiguous sign posts and dead-end alleys. Thus a basic knowledge of the metaphorical meaning of the language (and its roots) of the three major revealed languages—Sanskrit, Ancient Hebrew, and Classical Arabic—will go a long way towards understanding some of the hidden stories within the stories found in most of the world's wisdom tales.

To this end, in addition to a traditional list of definitions, we offer this modest little sampler of metaphorical meanings. This is by no mean any substitute for the actual study and practice with a qualified spiritual teacher versed in the esoteric interpretation of sacred languages. Our only purpose is to present an additional tool for reading sacred texts and, hopefully, to stimulate the desire to study them more in depth.