The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (792 page)

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Authors: John Bowker

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Five pecks of rice
(school of religious Taoism)
:
Five periods, seven stages
(Taoist analysis of progress to the goal)
:
Five Periods and Eight Schools
.
T’ient’ai classification, initiated by
Chih-i
, of the
Buddha's
teaching to reconcile the immense divergences that had grown up since his death. Controlled by the acceptance that the Buddha adapted his teaching to the levels of his audiences (
up
ya-kau
alya
), the five periods are chronological in his life, producing
(i) 
Buddh
vatamsaka-s
tra
in the first three weeks;
(ii) the
gamas
in the next twelve years;
(iii) the Vaipulya-s
tras, the first level of
Mah
y
na
, stressing superiority of
bodhisattva
over
arhat
, in the next eight years;
(iv) 
Prajñ
p
r-amit
-s
tra
(
Perfection
of Wisdom), unfolding
nyat
, in the next twenty-two years;
(v) the
Lotus S
tra

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