The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (341 page)

(‘speech’) Common abbreviation among Sikhs for
gurb
, the writings contained in the
di
Granth.

 
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(Jap., ‘evening portion’). The recitation in Zen monasteries of the evening
s
tra
(also ‘bansan’). Banka-zoji, which follows, is the careful cleaning of the monastery.

 
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(1622–93).
Japanese
Zen
teacher of the Rinzai school. When young, he wandered through Japan, attending various Zen teachers, and then retired into seclusion to practise
zazen
. Neglecting his health, he had an enlightenment experience at a moment of critical illness. He received further instruction from D
sha Ch
gen, who bestowed on him the seal of recognition (
inka-sh
mei
), but Bankei seized it and tore it up—he had no need of written authority. In 1672, he was appointed abbot of My
shin-ji (monastery) in
Ky
to
, and at this point the extreme simplicity of his teaching led to a Rinzai revival, in which ritual preoccupations were transcended. Although he prohibited the recording of his teaching, some instructions and dialogues have survived.