The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2010 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Ritroma
(Tib.,
ri khrod ma
, ‘the lady of the mountain ranges’). A Tibetan female deity, who is an object of meditation. She is associated with healing, and is one of the
wrathful deities
.
Ritsu
(Jap.; Skt.,
vin
ya
). Codes of discipline which govern the Buddhist monastic life. The
vinaya
were compiled about 100 years after
kyamuni
Buddha's death and transmitted orally until they were put down in writing in the 1st cent. BCE, forming the Vinaya-pi
aka of the
Tripi
aka
. The version that prevailed in E. Asia was the
Ssu-fen lü
(Vinaya in Four Parts), translated into Chinese between 410 and 412 by Buddhaya
as (no Sanskrit original or Tibetan translation exists). There were several other vinaya texts translated and utilized, all of H
nay
na origin, but the
Ssu-fen lü
became standard, and became the basis of the Ritsu school in Japan, one of the six schools of the Nara period, based on Lu-tsung (see
BUDDHISM IN CHINA
), and introduced by
Ganjin
. When the compound, kai-ritsu is used, ritsu (vinaya) refers to an objective code of disciplines, and
kai
(
la
) denotes precepts to be undertaken voluntarily, such as the Five Precepts. Thus monks and nuns observe both kai-ritsu, whereas lay believers take on only the kai. Two main schools survive: Ritsu, whose centre is the T
sh
daiji; and Shingon-ritsu, whose centre is the Saidaiji.

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