The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2008 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Rishon le-Zion
(Heb., ‘First of Zion’). Hebrew title of the
Sephardi
head of the
rabbis
of
Israel
. From 1920, the Rishon le-Zion was given the additional title of
hakham bashi
(
Chief Rabbi
) of
Erez Israel
.
Rissh
K
sei Kai
(‘Establishment of Righteousness and Friendly Intercourse’). New religion, derived from
Nichiren
, started in Japan in 1938 by Naganuma My
k
(1889–1957) and Niwano Nikky
(b. 1906). Placing its own version of the
bodhisattva
ideal at the centre of its teachings, this movement stresses that everyone can travel the road to Buddhahood by leading a life of moral and spiritual wisdom and by foregoing
nirv
na
in order to be of service to weak and suffering humanity.
The word
rissh
alludes to Nichiren's injunction in 1260,
rissh
ankoku ron
, ‘establish authentic Buddhism to secure peace in our land’;
k
sei
points to a faith-oriented fellowship of those seeking the Buddha's goal;
kai
means ‘association’ or ‘society’. RKK is highly organized, from the network of districts throughout Japan, down to the most local level, where people gather for
h
za
, i.e. seated (
za
) to share problems and solutions related to Buddhist principles (
ho
).

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