The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1547 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Minaret
(tower):
see
MOSQUE
.
Minbar
(pulpit):
see
MOSQUE
.
Mindfulness of death
.
Buddhist meditative practice to reinforce the sense of impermanence (
anicca
) in all things, including one's own brief appearance. It is usually combined with meditation on the transient nature of the body, and both are summarized in
Buddhaghosa's
Vissudhimagga
8. 1–144.
Mind-only
(Buddhist school):
Ming
(Chin., ‘light-bearing’).
1
Taoist enlightenment. According to Lao-tzu, it is attained by realization and acceptance of the return of all things to their proper root (
fu
). It is to live according to
Tao
, as rhythm and return.
2
The celestial mandate in Confucianism, the will of heaven (
t'ien
). Subsequently it came to mean the constraints in the universe which set limits on human action because they are non-negotiable (e.g. what might be called ‘natural laws’).

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