The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1360 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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An important
s
tra
in the
Mah
y
na
Buddhist tradition which sets out the teachings of Idealism or
Vijñ
nav
da
. The text must have been in existence some time before 443 CE when the first Chin. tr. was made. Meditation based on the s
tra was emphasized by
Huik'o
.
Lan Tsai-ho
(one of eight immortals):
Lao-chun
.
The name of
Lao-tzu
in his deified form, one of the highest deities in religious Taoism. He has been incarnated many times, and is deeply revered as the supreme focus of worship. The reverence of both Lao-tzu and the
Buddha
led to a belief that Lao-tzu actually was the Buddha, who assumed that guise in order to convert all people to the way of Tao.
Lao-Tzu
also Lao Tan
(Chin., ‘old master’). A founding figure (though perhaps legendary) of Taoism, and according to tradition a contemporary (and teacher) of
Confucius
. His main importance is the tradition that he is the author of
Tao-te ching
, which is consequently also known as
Lao-tzu
; though again that claim cannot be historically true. He was later deified in religious Taoism (
tao-chiao
).

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