The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1199 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Kahal
(community leader)
:
Kai
(Jap.). The Buddhist precepts: see
LA
. Kaigy
is the observance of the precepts ordered by the Buddha; and kai-dan is the platform from which the precepts are pronounced when an initiate takes them upon himself for the first time; kai-gi is the ritual for that purpose.
Kaibara Ekken
(1630–1714).
A Japanese
Confucian
scholar of the early to mid-Tokugawa period. As an advocate of ‘practical learning’ (
jitsugaku
), Kaibara wrote many popular works encompassing a wide range of interests: philosophy, moral education, health and diet, and the natural sciences. Although originally a follower of the orthodox
Chu
Hsi school of
Neo-Confucianism
, he established his own independent, critical position, often compared to the school of Ancient Learning (
Kokugaku
). For example, in his major work, the
Taigiroku
(Record of Grave Doubts), Kaibara attacks Chu Hsi's overreliance on Buddhist and
Taoist
teachings. He saw an inherent unity between the Confucian ethics of the early sages and Japanese
Shinto
, while rejecting Buddhist ideas, such as the application of
honjisuijaku
.
Kaidan
.
The ordination hall in a Zen monastery, where monks are initiated into an order and receive the ten precepts (
jujukai
). The Kaidan-seki is a stone tablet set in front of the monastery, saying, ‘Meat, fish, and alcohol are forbidden.’

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