The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1017 page)

 
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(1st cent. BCE).
A Jewish miracle worker. According to the
Talmud
, Honi ha-Me‘aggel (‘the circle drawer’) prayed for
rain
in a time of drought and his prayer was fulfilled. Some have seen him as exemplifying the kind of activity in which Jesus engaged, but virtually no indication of his teaching has survived, nor is there any reason why that context should have compelled Jesus to move from Galilee to Jerusalem.

 
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(Jap., ‘original substance manifests traces’). Principle whereby Buddhism is reconciled with Shinto. In its original form, it stated that the
kami
and gods or goddesses of Japan are
avatars
of
Vairocana
. From the Middle Ages until the Meiji Restoration (1868), honjisuijaku was extensive. On occasion, Shinto asserted itself as the senior partner—e.g. after the
kamikaze
had driven off the Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281; or again, in the composition of the Five Classics at about the same time, which are mainly about the history of the Ise shrine, but which also give an account of Shinto philosophy and ethics (leading to Ise Shinto). The Five Classics were used by adherents of ‘Primordial Shinto’ (Yuiitsu Shinto) in the 15th cent. to reverse the relationship. Thus Yoshida Kanetomo (1435–1511; see
YOSHIDA FAMILY
) interpreted honjisuijaku as meaning that the Japanese gods were the original substance and the Buddha and
bodhisattvas
the manifest traces.

 
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(Jap., ‘original face’). An expression through which Zen Buddhists penetrate through the superficial appearances to the unchanging, uniform buddha-nature (
buddhat
) present in all things.

 
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(Jap., ‘root-master’). Any master or teacher in Zen Buddhism who is the root or source of
h
(
dharma
).

 
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