The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (404 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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on earth. This theory of ijtih
d, which led to the authoritarian development of Shi‘ite Islam, is set forth in
Risalat al-ijtihad wa'l-akhbar
.
B
ja
(Skt., ‘seed, potency’). In both Hinduism and Buddhism, the latent power underlying every manifest appearance. In particular, b
ja is the power concentrated in a symbolic sound, which a
guru
has learnt in experience, and which he passes on to a pupil in a b
ja
mantra
(seed syllable). An aspect of the absolute reality is thus concentrated in the mantra.
Biku
.
Jap. for
bhik
u
.
Bil
kaif(a)
:

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