Sanskrit for “truth,” “reality,” or “being,” derived from the root as (be, exist). In Indian philosophy, it is usually used to refer to ultimate reality. Helena P. BLAVATSKY, calling it “untranslatable” (SD I:61), prefers to translate it “Be-ness” in The Secret Doctrine rather than “Being” to emphasize its absolutely transcendent, abstract, or noumenal nature (cf. SD I:14, 143 fn, 556; II:310). She also equates it, as does Vedanta philosophy, with Parabrahman (SD I:14; II:58).

R.W.B.

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