The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1023 page)

(Chin.,
Pu-tai
, ‘cloth-bag’). A popular figure in the Ch'an or Zen Buddhist
iconography
of China and Japan, as well as a popular deity in Chinese and Japanese folk religion. He is the Zen (and perhaps
Taoist
) eccentric, wandering sage who bestows his spiritual goods on all he comes in contact with.
In Far Eastern folk religion he becomes associated with indigenous deities of happiness and good luck, all symbolized by obesity and a large (cloth) sack on his back.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Jap., ‘repaying virtue’). A popular syncretic religious movement of the Tokugawa period (1600–1868) in Japan. H
toku was founded by Ninomiya Sontoku (1787–1856), whose mission was to uplift morally the life of farmers, while, at the same time, encouraging economic productivity. Sontoku's creed emphasized the
Confucian
doctrine of filial piety, the virtue of manual labour (which was the human counterpart of the creative activities of the gods,
kami
), and the practice of husbanding agricultural surpluses to protect against times of famine.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Hot
(group of Hindu priests)
:

see
TVIJ
;
SACRIFICES (HINDUISM)
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Jap.,
Kataku Jin'e;
c.
680–
c.
760).
Chinese Ch'an master, pupil of
Hui-neng
, and founder of the Kataku school. In contrast to his predecessors, Ho-tse maintained that enlightenment was not attained by a gradual process through long stages of training, but rather through disengagement from mind and mentality (
mushin
) which leads directly into awareness of one's true nature (
kensho
) and thus to sudden enlightenment. Despite this important breakthrough, the school did not last long.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

H
Un
(lay Ch’an/Zen Buddhist)
: