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A patriarch in Buddhism refers to high members of the sangha who were not only succesors to the historical Gautama Buddha, but were also leaders of their respectful sect. Bodhidharma, for example, was considered the first Zen (Ch'an) patriarch, and the twenty-eighth successor to the Buddha. In Jodo Shinshu it refers to seven Indian, Chinese and Japanese masters before its founder Shinran. In Theravada the term is used for the Sangharaja.
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