The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2597 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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ika philosophy.
Vaiku
ha
.
Vi
u's
paradise (and thus also an epithet/name), variously located, e.g. on Mount
Meru
, or in the depths of the ocean. As Baikunth, ‘heaven’ enters into the teaching of Gur
N
nak
, but only in a demythologized form: Baikunth is the bliss of union with God.
Vailala Madness
.
The best-known of the early
cargo
movements, in the Gulf division of Papua. In 1919, an old man, Evara, had trance experiences and prophesied that a steamer would come with the spirits of their ancestors and a cargo of European goods; others had similar visions depicting a coming
millennium
and sometimes featuring God or
Christ
. Traditional rituals and objects were attacked, gardens and trade were abandoned, and a new
ascetic
ethic enjoined
Sunday
observance, cleanliness, and rejection of personal adornment. It spread rapidly and did not die out till about 1931, but is still remembered as an idealized time of wonders. It was much more than mere anti-white hysteria, for it arose from resentment at the inadequacy of the old ways in comparison with those of the whites.

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