The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (829 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Gant
(Jap., ‘the goose tower’). A tower built in Japan in honour of a
bodhisattva
who had become manifest in the form of a goose, and who had sacrificed himself in order to instruct
H
nay
na
bhik
us
. Thence it became a name in general for Buddhist towers.
Gaon
(Heb., ‘pride’, Nahum 2. 3; pl.
ge’onim
). Honorific title of the heads of the Jewish
academies
of
Sura
and
Pumbedita
. Between the 6th and 11th cents. CE, the geonim were recognized as the highest Jewish religious authorities. Pre-eminent among the geonim were
Yehudai
,
Sa‘adiah
,
Sherira
,
Samuel b. Hophni
, and
Hai ben Sherira
.
Gapat
(acronym for gemara, perush, and tosafot)
:
Garbhag
ha
(Skt., ‘womb-container’). In Indian religions, a conceptualization of the inner source of life and truth, the origin of the universe; more particularly, the inner sanctuary of Hindu temples.

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