The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (351 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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yats. His egalitarian community of followers grew rapidly, evoking the opposition of traditionalists. Basava espoused non-violence, but when he could not control his followers, he returned to Kappa
isa
gama, where he died. His most practical and characteristic teaching aimed to re-establish the body as the true temple, a theme which he often expressed in poems of the vacana style—
vacana
(‘that which is said’) being a religious lyric in Kannada free verse.
Base Communities
:
Bash
(Matsuo Bash
, Japanese poet)
:
see
HAIKU
.
Basil, St, ‘the Great’
(
c.
330–79).
One of the three
Cappadocian fathers
, and the first of the three Holy Hierarchs of the E. Church. Besides his eloquence and personal holiness, Basil was known for his talent for administration. His two monastic rules (see below) determined the structure of E. Christian monasticism ever since. He built hospitals and hostels alongside church buildings in Caesarea, and organized relief for the poor. His writings, in addition to letters, are a treatise
On the Holy Spirit
, three anti-Arian books
Against Eunomius
, and homilies. Feast day in W., 2 Jan.; in the E., 1 Jan.
The
Rule of Basil
has two forms, each set out as a series of questions and answers about the monastic life. Stopping well short of the extreme deprivations of the desert hermits, it prescribed liturgical prayer at fixed hours, manual work, poverty and chastity, community life, care for the poor, and the education of children. The present form of the rule is a revision by
Theodore of Studios
(d. 826).
The Liturgy of Basil is used in the E. Church in place of that of
Chrysostom
on a few fixed days (e.g. the Sundays in
Lent
) each year.
Basilica
.
A Christian church building, derived in form from Roman empire buildings. In R. Catholicism, it is a title given to four (‘major’) churches in Rome, and to several (‘minor’) churches in Rome and elsewhere.

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