The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (269 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
13.29Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Ash Wednesday
.
So-called because of the practice of marking with
ash
the foreheads of clergy and people at the beginning of
Lent
.
Asmi-m
na
(P
li, ‘pride of “I am”’). In Buddhism, self-pride, egoism, conceit; considered to be a major obstacle to moral and spiritual development at any stage along the path to
nirv
na
. One of the ten fetters (
saññojana
) and an important factor in Buddhist teaching on no-self (
anatta
), it is combated specifically by meditation on impermanence (
anicca
).
Asmita
(Skt., ‘I am-ness’). The error in Hinduism of supposing that the immediately experienced self is the true self: it is one of four kinds of error or ignorance (
avidy
), to be overcome in
yoga
. The others are
r
ga
(attachment),
dve
a
(aversion, which indicates that one is still involved, albeit by a feeling of revulsion), and
abhinive
a
(love of material and physical life).

Other books

The Honest Folk of Guadeloupe by Timothy Williams
The Armoured Ghost by Oisin McGann
Beautiful Music by DeVore, Lisa
Freakshow by Jaden Wilkes