The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1091 page)

 
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Initiation
.

The (usually
ritual
) transfer of a person into a new state, and thus common in religions—either to bring a person into a new religious community, or to make transfers of status within such communities. Examples are
circumcision
in Judaism,
baptism
and
confirmation
in Christianity,
bay‘at
(‘pact’) when a
S
f
novice joins an order,
upanayana
among twice-born Hindus,
abhi
eka
in Buddhism,
dbang.bskur
in Tibet (see
ABHI
EKA
),
d
k
a
in all Indian religions, but of especial importance among Jains,
kha
e-d
-p
hul
among Sikhs.

 
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