The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1103 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Ishida Baigan
(1685–1744).
Founder of the Japanese movement, Shingaku (‘education of the heart’). Applying himself to meditation, he had several experiences of a total identity of mind and body. He set up his own class, teaching that the true and attainable goal is the overcoming of self-centredness by the deliberate appropriation of the
Confucian
virtues. Two of his works have survived,
Toimondo
(Town and Country Dialogues) and
Seikaron
(On Household Management).
Ishin-denshin
(Jap., ‘transmitting mind through mind’). Zen recognition of the transmission of buddha-dharma from master to pupil and to dharma-successors (
hassu
), especially in the lineages of succession (
soshigata
,
inka-sh
mei
).
Ishmael
.
Eldest son of the Jewish
patriarch
,
Abraham
, by his maidservant, Hagar. After the birth of
Isaac
, Ishmael and his mother were driven from the camp, because Isaac, rather than Ishmael, was the heir of the
covenant
(Genesis 16. 21). According to the
Aggadah
, Ishmael dishonoured women, worshipped idols, and tried to kill his younger brother (
Gen.R
. 53. 11;
Tosef.Sot
. 6. 6). He was said to be the ancestor of the Ishmaelites and, by extension, all the Arab peoples.
In Islam Ishmael (Ism

l) is mentioned in the
Qur’
n
as one of the
prophets
(3. 84, 4. 163), and more specifically as a son of Ibr
h
m (
Abraham
) (14. 39). The two are said to have rebuilt the
Ka‘ba
in
Mecca
and instituted the rites of
ajj
(pilgrimage). (2. 127–9).

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