The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (171 page)

m
n
(so be it)
:

see
AMEN
.

 
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Amish
.

A group of strict
Mennonites
now settled mainly in the eastern USA, particularly in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The sect originated at the end of the 17th cent. with Jacob Ammann (
c.
1644–
c.
1725), a Swiss minister who insisted on strict discipline, including avoidance of those under the ban of excommunication, even within the family. Members of the sect began to emigrate to N. America soon after 1700. They now number about 130,000.
The ‘Old Order’ Amish separate themselves from the society around them by retaining the dress and customs of that early period. There is no missionary activity, and marriage is always within the Amish community; the growth or maintenance of their numbers is due to the large size of families. Some other Amish groups, in various ways more liberal, have separated from the Old Order Amish.

 
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Amit
bha
(Pure Land Buddha)
:

see
AMIDA
.

 
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Amit
bha-S
tra
.

One of the three basic
s
tras
of the
Pure Land School
(with
Amit
yurdhy
na-S
tra
and
Sukh
vat
vy
ha
). It survives in Chinese translations, and describes the fundamental practice of reciting Amit
bha's name (
Amida
).