The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2172 page)

School of the Three Stages
.

A Chinese Buddhist school founded by Hsin-hsing (540–94 CE) during the Sui dynasty (581–618). The three stages were based on the idea that the teachings of the
Buddha
may be divided into three periods; pure
dharma
, duration 500 years; counterfeit dharma, duration 1,000 years; decay of the dharma, said to last 10,000 years. Hsin-hsing taught that his age was already the third stage. The school advocated the performance of altruistic deeds and almsgiving. To carry out these deeds, the school relied mainly on the income of the Inexhaustible Treasury established in the Hua-tu Monastery in Ch'ang-an. The income of the Treasury was divided into three portions, one for the repair of the temples and monasteries, one for social welfare, and one for ceremonies to the Buddha. Because the school insisted that it taught the sole formula for salvation during the age of decay, it met with opposition from other schools of Buddhism.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Arab.,
madhab
, pl.,
madh
hib
, ‘direction’). Muslim life is founded on
Qur’
n
, which itself was first expressed in the lives and words of the Prophet
Mu
ammad
and his
Companions
. Their words and actions were collected in a
dith (
ad
th
), and these become exemplary in Muslim life. Even so, not every circumstance was covered, so application of these sources to life became necessary. These eventually issued in (among
Sunni
Muslims) four major schools of law (
shar
‘a
), named after their founders:

(i) M
likite (
M
lik ibn Anas
), which relies on the customary interpretations of
Mad
na
, and puts less reliance on methods of exegesis such as
ijm
‘
(consensus) or
ra’y
(informed opinion);
(ii) 
Han
fite
(
Ab
an
fa
), seeking consensus, and prepared to use methods of exegesis to make shar
‘a readily applicable;
(iii) Sh
fi‘ite (Mu
ammad b. Idr
s
al-Sh
fi‘