The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2462 page)

see
RY
KAN DAIGU
.

 
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(Jap., ‘presentation’). The presentation of Zen realization by a Zen master (r
shi) during a period of
sesshin
. The offering, usually based on a
k
an
or
s
tra
passage, is made to the
buddha
. It is not an address to the assembled company, but a return of insight to its source.

 
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(Skt.). Fire, energy, majesty, authority, in Hinduism. It may be of the gods, but can also be a visible aura surrounding a spiritual master, or one who is meditating.

 
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(Jap.). ‘Authorized transmission’ in Zen Buddhism of the
buddha-dharma
from a master to his pupil (cf.
HASSU
), confirmed by the seal of recognition (
inka-sh
mei
).

 
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(Karen, ‘fruit of wisdom’). A Buddhist-influenced
millennial
movement among the Karen of Burma, founded in the mid-19th cent. by Con Yu. Their mythology speaks of a withdrawn high god, Ywa, whose offer of a Golden Book of knowledge and power was ignored by their ancestors; the millennium, with freedom from British and later Burmese oppression, would arrive when the Book was restored by the Karen's white younger brothers, and in preparation animal sacrifice was banned and a strict ethic adopted.