The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1547 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
10.91Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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’).

Other books

Pearl Harbor by Steven M. Gillon
That Takes Ovaries! by Rivka Solomon
Inheritor by C. J. Cherryh
Abandon by Elana Johnson
Rules of Surrender by Christina Dodd
Aligned by Jaci Wheeler
The Darling by Russell Banks
Brutal by Uday Satpathy