The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (553 page)

Judaism
(Heb.,
berit milah
‘
covenant
of circumcision’). Following Genesis 17. 11–12, any child born of a Jewish mother is Jewish whether circumcised or not. None the less it is the duty of a Jewish father to have his son circumcised on the eighth day (
Shul
n Arukh
YD 260. 1). The operation is done by a
mohel
who must be an observant Jew (
Sh.Ar.
YD 264. 1).
Islam
Khit
n
is male circumcision. It is obligatory, though the details, and the age at which it is done, vary.
Khaf
is female circumcision, which is not obligatory, but which is nevertheless regarded by many as according to
sunna
—i.e. customary in the strong and religious sense.

 
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Cistercians
.

Roman Catholic
monastic order, also called ‘White Monks’. The mother-house, Cîteaux
(Lat.,
Cistercium
) in Burgundy, was founded in 1098. In contrast to the comparative luxury of the monasticism of
Cluny
, then at its height, they were austere in diet, clothing, architecture, and liturgy.
In the 17th cent. a party of ‘Strict Observance’ emerged, advocating, among other rigours, total abstinence from meat. Its most important figure was A. de Rancé (d. 1700), abbot of La Trappe, whence is derived the name
Trappists
, applied from the 19th cent. onward to Cistercians of the Strict Observance.

 
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(Skt., ‘See’). In Hindu thought, pure consciousness as the essential and irreducible quality of the eternal self or
Brahman
. In
Ved
nta
, cit is often grouped together with being (
sat
) and bliss (
nanda
) as a description of Brahman.

 
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(Skt., ‘that which has been seen’, i.e. belonging to consciousness, cf.
CIT
). In Hinduism, the reflective and thus conscious mind; in Buddhism, an equivalent to
manas
(reflective mind) and
vijñ
na
(continuing consciousness). It belongs to all beings above the level of plant life. The nature of citta received particular analysis and emphasis in
Vijñanav
da
(also known as Yogac
ra)—so much so that the school is also known as Cittam
tra, Mind only.
In
Abhidhamma
, the analysis differentiates 121 types of citta, each of which may be combined with any one of fifty-two
cetasikas
(the accompanying qualities of experience), thus producing the extremely large variety of mental events.