The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1820 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Pezpopovtsy
(‘without priests’ group among Old Believers):
’Phags-pa Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan
(
c.
1235–80). One of the five leading figures of the Sa-skya order of Tibetan Buddhism. He was a prolific author who addressed a wide range of topics, engaging also in correspondence with Mongol princes in which he summarized Buddhist teaching. In 1244, when his uncle, Sa-skya Pa
ita, was summoned to serve in the Mongol court, ’Phags-pa went with him. As a result of this, the Sa-skya order was delegated to rule over Tibet, but ’Phags-pa was kept by the emperor of China, Kubla (Qubilai) Khan, to ensure Tibet's submission to Mongol rule. He so impressed the emperor with his
Tantric skills
(which eclipsed those of the court
shamans
) that he was made instructor of the court and ruler (in absence) of Tibet. The pattern of relationship between China and Tibet was thus established which is known as
yon mchod
, ‘patron and priest’, and which was overthrown by the Chinese annexation of Tibet. The emperor is protector of the
lama
and through him, by extension, of the land, and the leading lama of Tibet (in due course, the succession of
Dalai Lamas
) is the spiritual advisor and guarantor of rites to the emperor. For the complexity of this relationship, see also
PANCHEN LAMA
.
’Phags-pa-lha
(leading exponent of Buddhist M
dhyamaka):
Pharisees
(Heb.,
perushim
, ‘separatists’ or ‘interpreters’). Members of a Jewish religious sect of the second
Temple
period. The Pharisees emerged
c.
160 BCE, after the
Hasmonean
revolt. They believed themselves to be the inheritors of the traditions of
Ezra
and were scrupulous in their obedience to the
oral law
as well as to the written
Torah
. In some sense, they were the predecessors of the
rabbis
. Despite the strong anti-Pharisaic bias of the New Testament, there is no doubt that the Pharisees set high moral standards for themselves and through their devotion sustained the people through the trauma of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the loss of the sacrificial cult.

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