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Glossary of Terms | ||||||||||
Anuddha (m) / Anuddhi (f) - an aspirant of the Mata Devi Math. The first stage in entering the Math. Sadhaka (m) / Sadhika (f) - a novice of the Mata Devi Math. The second stage of entry in the Math. Mathavasi (m) / Mathavasini (f) - a brother or sister of the Mata Devi Math. The final stage, full member. Mathavasi Swami (m) / Mathavasini Swamini (f) - the head and chief organizer of the entire Mata Devi Math. Mathakesavadhari (m) / Mathakesavadharini (f) - the founder of a math. Mathadhipati (m) / Mathadhipatini (f) - the head and chief organizer of a mathayatana. Mathayatana - a local division of the Mata Devi Math. The local members of the Mata Devi Math gather together in fellowship, plan activities and events, work on records, plan the satsang and other related things. Sometimes a mathayatana will set up a dhuryata. Dhuryata - an office set up by members of a mathayatana to work alongside lay people who attend satsang and other activities to help manage the affairs of several satsangs, sevas, and other such things. Mathasthiti - the rule of life for all members of the Mata Devi Math. The word literally means "resides" in Sanskrit, thus symbolizing that the members "reside" in the world and within the context of the Mata Devi Math. Mathara (m) / Mathari (f) - a member of a mathayatana that leads an activity such as group meditation (Matharadhyana) or seva (Matharaseva). Dhurya (m) / Dhuryi (f) - a lay person that assists members of the math in some way. Satsang - a fellowship, a gathering of people for worship, singing, chanting, praying, puja, and other activities including field trips. Most satsangs also have jnadhyanas, sevas, and gurukuls. Jnadhyana - a meditation group, usually within a satsang and this is the portion of the satsang where member meditate, but can be a seperate gathering at different times from the satsang, thus allowing people who may not want to participate in satsang to have a shared group that they can atleast practice meditation with others. Seva - selfless service, community service. Satsangs usually have a group seva of some kind...atleast one. It can be as simple as taking care of a garden to as large as helping out a food shelter, or even larger. Sevas can also be independent of a satsang and therefore also allow people who may not want to participate in satsang to also participate in selfless service. Gurukul - for the purposes of the math the term is used to mean two things. Within the context of a satsang this is the part of the satsang where the satsang, if chosen by the organizer, can teach or share information about a particular subject of Hinduism or whatever the subject might be. It can also be an independent thing, like the jnadhyana and seva, whereby members of the satsang and/or mathayatana study certain subjects together. |
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IMPORTANT NOTE Members of the Order are not interested in bearing titles and many do not use them at all with their names. The same can be said of many lay people who assist the Order. Many do so not because they wish to hold a title, but assist out of love for the divine. Thus titles listed here may not necessarily be used by members and lay people on an every day basis. They merely exist to help distinguish between the roles of people and their services to the Order. No title is seen as being "greater" or "lower" than any other title. All people in the Order are treated with respect and as equals. |