AQA RS GCSE paper 1 - Buddhist beliefs

What is the Dhamma (Dharma)

The Buddha’s teachings

What is paticcasamupada

Dependent arising: the idea that everything is interlinked, dependent on everything else and hence impermanent

What are the three marks of existence

Three fundamental truths about reality and existence.

These are: anicca (impermanence), anatta (no fixed self), dukkha (suffering)

What are the five aggregates (skandhas)

A Theravada Buddhist concept of the human personality.

The five aggregates are: form, sensation, perception, mental formation, consciousness

What is sunyata

A Mahayana Buddhist concept that everything, including the self, lacks permanence and independent existence

What is Buddha-nature

The Mahayana Buddhist teaching that all living things have enlightened essence that provides an innate potential to become a Buddha

What is an Arhat

A ‘perfected person’ in Theravada Buddhism who has reached Nirvana (enlightenment)

What is a Bodhisattva

A Mahayana Buddhist who delays their own enlightenment to help others reach Nirvana, with the goal of helping all living things escape suffering

What is pure land Buddhism

A Mahayana Buddhist tradition of belief in a realm perfect for achieving Buddhahood in.

Buddhists in this world chant the Buddha’s name, remain faithful and take vows with the hope of entering the pure land when they’re reborn, which will provide the perfect environment for enlightenment

Describe the Buddha’s early life

Birth name Siddhartha Gautama.

Before his birth his mother (queen Maya) had a dream about an elephant piercing her side with its husk.

Immediately after birth he walked seven steps and lotus flower’s bloomed where he stood.

Raised in extreme luxury as a prince and sheltered from all suffering.

What were the four sights

siddartha’s first experiences of suffering when he snuck out the palace.

These were: an old man, a sick person, a dead body, and a holy man

Quote from the Jataka Tales about the 4 sights

he “realised the triviality of the mundane life, which is bound to crumble.”

Shows the Buddha realising the fundamental truth that life involves suffering and impermanence.

Describe the Buddha’s ascetic life

Spent 6 years practicing extreme self-denial; as little as one grain of rice per day.

He eventually rejected this lifestyle because he realised it leads to weakness and mental decline

Describe the Buddha’s enlightenment

The Buddha refused to stop meditating until he reached supreme enlightenment.

The demon Mara tried to tempt him to stop 3 times: his beautiful daughters, threatening him with his army, and questioning his authority. The Buddha stayed untempted and meditating.

When the Buddha reached enlightenment he said “the earth is my witness.”

Enlightenment lead him to realise the 3 knowledges

What are the 3 knowledges

The realisations the Buddha had when he reached enlightenment.

These are: knowledge of his past lives, the laws of Karma, and the 4 noble truths

What are the 4 noble truths

Suffering (Dukkha)

The cause of suffering is impermanence (Samudaya)

There is an end to craving/suffering (Tanha)

The eightfold path to enlightenment/nirvana (Magga)

What are the 3 poisons

Hatred, greed, and ignorance

Give 4 parts of the eightfold path

Right intention

Right speech

Right action

Right livelihood

What is the threefold way

Summarises the eightfold path.

The three ways are: ethics, meditation, and wisdom