The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2414 page)

 
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(Heb., sing.,
takkanah
). Directives enacted by Jewish scholars which have the force of law. The authority to enact takkanot is derived from Deuteronomy 17. 11. The difference between a takkanah and a
minhag
is that a minhag is anonymous while a takkanah is deliberately made. The purpose of the takkanot is to deal with problems that emerged and which were not dealt with by the existing
halakhah
. To be distinguished from the takka-not in general are the takkanot ha-kahal, which is Jewish legislation enacted not by halakhic authorities but by the communal leaders for members of their particular community.

 
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Takuan S
h
.

Japanese Zen master of the
Rinzai
school, S
h
(1573–1645). He became a monk as a boy, and received the seal of recognition (
inka-sh
mei
) from Mind
Koky
. He became abbot of Daitoku-ji in Ky
to under orders in 1609, but retired after three days. Much later he was first abbot of Takai-ji in 1638. Famous for his skill in the ways of
calligraphy
(
sh
d
) and tea ceremony (
chad
), he also, in
Fudochi Shimmy
-roku
, explored the relation between the way of the sword (
kend
) and the mental disposition of a Zen practitioner. He became known as ‘the naked monk’, since he had only one robe, and when he washed it, he remained in his room.
His writings were many, including poetry, but little has been translated. He explored in particular the meaning of Confucian thought in relation to Zen.