The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2514 page)

 
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see
HALAKHAH
.

 
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see
HALAKHAH
.

 
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Torii
.

The gateway into
Shinto
temples, standing also before sacred rocks, bridges, etc. They are made generally of two posts supporting two horizontal lintels. Worshippers bow to the gods as they pass through them. Their shapes and design vary greatly.

 
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(
gtor.ma
, ‘scattered (oblation)’; Skt.,
bali
, ‘offering’). Sacrificial cake-offering in Tibetan Buddhism, made of barley flour, brightly decorated with coloured butter and shaped according to ritual requirements. It is so called because almost invariably it is scattered for eating by birds and animals after the ceremony, though occasionally it may be consumed during the ritual. Tormas may be offered to
bodhisattvas
,
kin
s
, local spirits, even as bribes to satisfy demons. Tormas often play a part in empowerment
(Skt.,
abhi
ekha
; Tib.,
dbang.bskur
) rituals, where the empowerment to perform the practice of a particular deity is given by the lama first projecting the deity into the torma, and then anointing the disciple with it.

 
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