The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (520 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
2.67Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Chao-chou Ts’ung-shen
or J
sh
J
shin
(778–897).
Leading Ch’an/
Zen
master in China. He had a profound experience of enlightenment when he was 18, which simply indicated to him that there was a way worth pursuing further (i.e. enlightenment is not an end, but a step on a path).
Chao-chou was especially important in showing how Ch’an and
Tao
relate together, opening the way to creative coexistence. His enlightenment is known as
funi daid
, ‘the nonduality of the great Tao’—which is a near synonym for the buddha-nature empty of self and differentiation.
Chaos
.
The primordial condition from which (or onto which) order is imposed, according to many religions, so that the cosmos can appear.
Chapter
.
The members of a Christian religious community or of any similar body. From the 9th cent. cathedrals often had separate ‘chapter houses’.
Charan p
hul
(Pañj
b
, ‘foot-initiation’). Hindu initiation ritual continued by Sikh
Gur
s
. Gur
Gobind Si
gh
replaced charan p
hul with
kha
e-d
-p
hul
, initiation with the
kha
on
Bais
kh

Other books

El ciclo de Tschai by Jack Vance
Mary of Nazareth by Marek Halter
The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian
The Square of Revenge by Pieter Aspe
Mayhem by Artist Arthur
The Battle of Hastings by Jim Bradbury
Peacekeepers by Walter Knight
Savage Arrow by Cassie Edwards