Pronounced “zar-uh-THOO-struh.” The ancient Iranian name for Zoroaster.
Zarathushtra
Filed in Eastern traditions
Zen Buddhism
A Mahayana Buddhist tradition that teaches enlightenment through meditation. It developed in China as Ch’an. Two major schools of Japanese Zen are the Rinzai school, which emphasizes koan practice, in which the student is given a traditional paradoxical sutra or story to consider (and, by having ultimately to transcend the logical use of mind, thereby is propelled into a direct encounter with reality beyond words), and the Soto school, whose primary practice is shikantaza (“just sitting” meditation, in which there is no object but simply a state of awareness).
Filed in Buddhism
Zionism
A modern movement in Judaism rooted in the establishment of a separate Jewish nation, based on God’s biblical promise that Israel would forever belong to Abraham and his descendants as a nation. Many Zionists do not have religious motives, but believe a Jewish state is necessary because of the long history of persecution of Jews. That goal was realized with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Zionism refers to Mount Zion, the site of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. A Zionist is a supporter of Zionism.
Filed in Government and politics, Judaism
Zoroaster
Pronounced “zoh-roh-AS-tuhr.” Zoroaster was the founder of Zoroastrianism (pronounced “zoh-roh-AS-trah-nism”), one of the world’s oldest surviving monotheistic religions. It was once the state religion of the ancient Persian empires, which include modern-day Iran, before the Arab Muslim invasions of the seventh century. Zoroastrians who fled to India more than 1,000 years ago are known as Parsis.
Filed in Eastern traditions
