Deck 5: Buddhism

Question 1

What does the following Key Term mean:
-anatta

Answer 1

The impermanence of the self; or not-self, or no-soul.

Question 2

What does the following Key Term mean:
-anicca

Answer 2

Impermanence; the ephemeral nature of everything.

Question 3

What does the following Key Term mean:
-asceticism

Answer 3

Denial of physical comfort or pleasures for religious ends.

Question 4

What does the following Key Term mean:
-bodhisattva

Question 5

What does the following Key Term mean:
-dukkha

Question 6

What does the following Key Term mean:
-koan

Question 7

What does the following Key Term mean:
-nirvana

Question 8

What does the following Key Term mean:
-samana

Question 9

Enlightenment in Buddhism is achieved

A) primarily through a practitioner's own efforts
B) by making a pilgrimage and sitting under the Bodhi tree
C) by strict adherence to sacred texts
D) in concert with a practitioner's spiritual guide

Question 10

Which of these Hindu practices of his time did Buddha not reject?

A) the caste system
B) extreme asceticism
C) meditation
D) animal sacrifice

Question 11

Contradicting the Hindu social conventions, Buddha taught which of these?

A) that Buddhism retained the Hindu caste system
B) that only men could achieve enlightenment
C) that extreme asceticism was required of men but not women
D) that women could achieve enlightenment

Question 12

Which of these best describes a Buddhist teaching?

A) The universe is infinite.
B) After enlightenment a practitioner joins Brahman.
C) Human life is suffering.
D) The universe is finite.

Question 13

Buddhism arose in northern India in the ________century BCE.

A) sixth
B) tenth
C) first
D) third

Question 14

Which of these words is used for the practice of denying physical comfort or pleasures for religious ends?

A) aesthetics
B) atonement
C) asceticism
D) ahimsa

Question 15

What did Siddhartha see when he finally left his father's palace for the first time at age twenty-nine?

A) a beautiful woman
B) the way to the Eightfold Path
C) how to achieve enlightenment
D) the Four Passing Sites

Question 16

Which of these statements describes one of the realizations Siddhartha had when trying to achieve enlightenment?

A) He thinks that if he continues his life as an ascetic he will achieve enlightenment.
B) He thinks that if he continues his asceticism, he will not achieve enlightenment and will die trying.
C) He thinks enlightenment is difficult for him to achieve because of his karma.
D) He thinks enlightenment is difficult for him to achieve because he has rejected his dharma.

Question 17

The name "Buddha" means which of these?

A) the first one
B) the awakened one
C) priest or shaman
D) leader

Question 18

For Buddha, the ________ embodies the ultimate truth about the nature of reality, the nature and cause of suffering, and the means for transcending suffering and its recurrence in continuous cycles of death and rebirth.

A) karma
B) moksha
C) samsara
D) dharma

Question 19

The Buddha made his firsive followers part of his ________, or monastic order.

A) arhat
B) sanga
C) murti
D) samsara

Question 20

In this firsive hundred years after Buddha's death, the two great branches of Buddhism, ________ and _________, arose in India before spreading elsewhere.

A) Mahayana and Zen
B) Theravada and Zen
C) Theravada and Mahayana
D) Tibetan and Mahayana

Question 21

The ____________ are at the heart of Buddha's system of teachings about the true nature of reality and how to live correctly to transcend it.

A) The Three Jewels
B) The Sixfold Path
C) The Four Baskets
D) The Four Noble Truths

Question 22

Which of these is not included in the Four Noble Truths?

A) Life is suffering.
B) To banish suffering, banish desires.
C) Suffering is caused by desires.
D) Suffering is the righteous path.

Question 23

What is dukkha?

A) suffering and dissatisfaction
B) desire
C) the truth
D) enlightenment

Question 24

Which of these is The Second Noble Truth?

A) The cause of suffering is selfish desire for things that we can never truly obtain.
B) Life is suffering.
C) Suffering is caused by karma accumulated before rebirth.
D) The Eightfold Path.

Question 25

The ultimate aim of all Buddhist practice and the liberation to which all the Buddha's teachings point is called ________.

A) dharma
B) anatta
C) nirvana
D) atman

Question 26

Generally _________ holds that nirvana is attained through personal effort with little or no help from Buddhas, bodhisattvas, or teachers.

A) Mahayana
B) Zen
C) Theravada
D) koan

Question 27

In most cases, Buddhism has responded to __________ by revising old ideas, generating new ones, or creating different traditions altogether.

A) competing religions
B) Jainism
C) the modern world
D) Sikhism

Question 28

The tradition's altruistic approach to the planet's woes are part of what is referred to as ________ Buddhism.

A) socially engaged
B) activity-based
C) political
D) philosophical

Question 29

Which of these is not included as one of the "three baskets," also called the Tripitaka?

A) the Buddha's major teachings
B) commentary and systemization of the Buddha's teachings by scholars
C) miscellany that includes aphoristic sayings of the Buddha
D) the Buddha Gita

Question 30

Which of the several Buddhist canons is the most widely accepted?

A) Sangha Canon
B) Pali Canon
C) Dharma Canon
D) Sanskrit Canon

Question 31

In Buddhism ________ means impermanence, the ephemeral nature of everything.

A) anatman
B) anicca
C) ahimsa
D) arvati

Question 32

According to the text, perhaps the best telling of the life or legend of the Buddha is found in the ________.

A) Karmacarita
B) Puranas
C) Pali Sutras
D) Buddhacarita

Question 33

The Buddha passed through several phases of trance, finally to attain enlightenment. Which of these describes one of these phases?

A) the transformation of his soul into material substance to be discarded
B) a profound meditation on the nature of the world and the source of all suffering
C) a meeting with Brahman
D) transmission of the steps on the Eightfold Path

Question 34

The Buddhaghosa, a ________ Buddhist in the fourth century CE, taught thaew things are as beneficial to a Buddhist as profound meditation on the certainty of death.

A) Theravadin
B) Mahayanic
C) Tibetan
D) traditional

Question 35

What is referred to as adapting the message of the dharma to individuals to appeal to them?

A) skillful means
B) koan training
C) Zen means
D) Tibetan means

Question 36

What is the word for Buddhist Saints?

A) aryas
B) bodhisattva
C) arhat
D) sutra

Question 37

Chogyam Trungpa asserts that the biggest obstacle on the way to genuine spirituality is ego. Though we may think we are following the right path to enlightenment, we may instead be strengthening our ego-centeredness through spiritual techniques. He called this

A) spiritual materialism
B) ascending materialism
C) a materialist Buddhism
D) arhat practice

Question 38

According to Damien Keown, the goal of ________ is not to be "elsewhere" but to be right here, fully conscious and aware.

A) enlightenment
B) Buddhism
C) meditation
D) yoga

Question 39

The traditional posture for meditation is called _________ posture.

A) the lotus
B) the warrior
C) the mindful
D) the steady

Question 40

Which of these terms denotes Buddhism's core teachings systematized in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path?

A) samsara
B) dharma
C) moksha
D) yoga

Question 41

Which of these best describes the term samana?

A) a Buddhist nun who has renounced all physical comforts to live as a beggar in search of the truth
B) a wandering philosopher who has renounced all physical comforts to live as a beggar in search of the truth
C) someone who has achieved enlightenment and remains on Earth to teach others
D) the first stage of a twice-born male's life

Question 42

A ________ is a being who is eventually to be a Buddha.

A) bodhisattva
B) karmic master
C) philosopher
D) wandering nun

Question 43

All Buddhists are expected to follow rules called what?

A) The Four Noble Truths
B) The Eightfold Path
C) The Four Baskets
D) The Five Precepts

Question 44

Which of these is not included in the story that describes the life of the Buddha called Buddhacarita?

A) He recollected all his past lives.
B) He acquired "the supreme heavenly eye."
C) He recalled all of the names of god.
D) He entered into a profound meditation.

Question 45

Buddhaghosa, a Theravadin Buddhist in the fourth century CE, taught thaew things are as beneficial to a Buddhist as profound meditation on the certainty _________.

A) of death
B) of birth
C) of life
D) of moksha

Question 46

Which of these does the Heart of Perfect Wisdom sutra convey?

A) the certainty of karma
B) the essence of the doctrine of emptiness
C) the essence of the doctrine of enlightenment
D) the uncertainty of life

Question 47

The Lotus sutra is a _________.

A) meditation on dharma
B) fable
C) koan
D) yogic text

Question 48

In the ________ sutra, to grasp the true nature of things-their emptiness-is finally to attain perfect wisdom.

A) Yoga
B) Dharma
C) Heart
D) Mindful

Question 49

In Zen philosophy, zazen is the way to achieve _________.

A) mindfulness
B) not thinking
C) correct thinking
D) enlightenment

Question 50

Bankei was an iconoclastic teacher of Zen who lived in the seventeenth century. Which of these did he reject in his teachings?

A) formal precepts
B) meditative practice
C) koan exercises
D) yogic practice

Question 51

Which of these is the worst enemy of Zen experience, in the beginning?

A) the body
B) the material world
C) distractions
D) the intellect

Question 52

Buddha warned monks that women could be a(n)________, yet he instituted an order of nuns.

A) wife only
B) distraction
C) deterrent to reaching nirvana
D) evil element

Question 53

Buddhist thinker Pema Chodron says that often in the midst of our ________, we are on the verge of discovering something about ourselves.

A) suffering
B) existence
C) joy
D) meditation

Question 54

Which Nobel laureate stated, "as a Buddhist, I see no distinction between religious practice and daily life"?

A) Master Dogen
B) The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
C) T'ung-shan
D) Edward Conze

Question 55

In what century did Buddhism spread throughout Central Asia?

A) seventeenth century CE
B) third century BCE
C) eighth century BCE
D) first century CE

Question 56

Secular Buddhists may accept ________ for its scientifically proven physiological and psychological benefits, and embrace the ethical contenor its moral guidance.

A) meditation
B) yogic breathing
C) samsara
D) tai chi

Question 57

The Buddhist Peace Fellowship practices ________.

A) Tibetan Buddhism
B) Zen Buddhism
C) socially engaged Buddhism
D) Mahayana Buddhism

Question 58

In what year was the World Council of Buddhists established?

A) 1910
B) 1950
C) 1750
D) 1580

Question 59

Buddhism has 460 million adherents worldwide.

Question 60

Buddha himself was a manifestation of god.

Question 61

In the Pali Canon, Gotama was seen as born a human.

Question 62

Buddhism has no single set of authorized practices or a common compilation of doctrines or a universal statement of the articles of faith.

Question 63

Buddha taught extensively on the existence and condition of the soul.

Question 64

Buddha taught that gods, goddesses, and demons exist.

Question 65

Buddha taught the fact of suffering and the path of liberation from it.

Question 66

Buddha was a person before he reached enlightenment.

Question 67

Siddhartha left his father's house, his wife, and his son when he began his quesor enlightenment.

Question 68

Enlightenment is attainment of perfect understanding of the true nature of the universe, of life and death, and of suffering and liberation.

Question 69

After his enlightenment, the Buddha spent a long and challenging ten years walking the roads and paths of northern India, spreading his message before returning to his home to die .

Question 70

Today most Buddhists follow the Theravada tradition.

Question 71

Vajrayana Buddhism arose out of India after Theravada and Mahayana and spread to Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, and Bhutan.

Question 72

In his teachings, the Buddha tried to provide a reasonable explanation for the problem of existence and offer a plausible solution to suffering.

Question 73

The Buddha told people not to believe in anything simply because it is found written in their religious books.

Question 74

Dukkha is the belief in a permanent self that spawns "craving," greed, selfishness, and egocentrism, and these lead to misery.

Question 75

To quench selfish desires and therefore to end dukkha is to attain nirvana.

Question 76

According to Buddha, we have no distinct, permanent identity; the "self" is no more than a locus of shifting, flowing energy.

Question 77

By attaining nirvana, one acquires the title of arhat.

Question 78

Karma means the same thing in Buddhism and Jainism.

Question 79

In Zen Buddhism, initiates meditate on koans until rational thought is overcome, and insight breaks through.

Question 80

Buddhism does not have a single compilation of writings thought to be the authoritative Buddhist text.