Buddhist Beliefs

GCSE AQA RS - Buddhist Beliefs

What is the Pali word for suffering?

dukkha

What is the Pali word for happiness?

sukkha

What is the Pali word meaning " teachings [of the Buddha]"?

dhamma

What is the Pali word meaning "the cycle of life and rebirth"?

samsara

What is the Pali word meaning "impermanence"?

anicca

What is the Pali word meaning "no-self"?

anatta

What is the Pali word meaning "cessation"?

nirodha

What is the Pali word meaning "path"?

magga

What does "buddha" mean?

One who is enlightened

List the "four passing sights".

A sick man, an old man, a dead man, and a holy man (an ascetic).

What was Siddhartha's status when he was born?

A prince

What was the prophecy told at Siddhartha's birth

He would become either a great king, or a great religious leader

What did his father want Siddhartha to become?

A great king

What did Siddhartha's father do in order to prevent Siddhartha from becoming a religious leader?

Sheltered him in a palace, away from any evidence of suffering

Give two specific things Siddhartha did when he decided to live a new life?

Cut his hair, didn't sleep, starved himself, slept on nails.

Why did Siddhartha accept a bowl of kheer from a milkmaid?

Because he realised asceticism was not the path to enlightenment.

Which deity attacked Siddhartha as he sought enlightenment under the Bodhi tree?

Mara

What is the "Deer Park Sermon"?

The Buddha's first sermon after his enlightenment, in which he explained the four noble truths

What is the Buddha's parinirvana?

The Buddha's death, when he escaped samsara and attained nirvana.

What are the "three jewels"?

The three sources of authority for Buddhists: the Buddha's life (Buddha), his teachings (dhamma), and the beliefs of his followers (sangha)

Quote a common Buddhist chant relevant to the three jewels.

"I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the Dhamma; I take refuge in the Sangha"

What does the parable of the raft tell us about Buddha's teachings?

Buddhists should not cling onto them once they have served their purpose (i.e. enlightenment)

Describe the story of the "selfless hare" in the Jataka tales.

In a past life as a hare, Buddha was prepared to jump into a fire to feed a passing priest. The priest was revealed as the deity Sakrah, who rewarded Buddha for his kindness.

Name the most ancient collection of Buddhist scriptures, sacred to both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists.

The Pali Canon

Name the second most ancient collection of Buddhist scriptures, sacred to Mahayana Buddhists only.

The Mahayana Sutras

List (and briefly explain) the four noble truths.

Dukkha (inevitability of suffering), Samudaya (origins of suffering), Nirhoda (cessation of suffering), and Magga (path out of suffering)

Buddhism distinguishes three kinds of suffering. What are they?

Suffering of suffering (dukkha-dukkha), suffering of change (viparinama-dukkha), and suffering of existence (sankhara-dukkha)

Explain the suffering of suffering (dukkha-dukkha) and give an example.

Mental, physical, or emotional pain. E.g. hurting your knee or feeling lonely.

Explain the suffering of change (viparinama-dukkha) and give an example.

The knowledge that even happiness will fade. E.g. thinking about school during the summer holidays.

Explain the suffering of existence, or conditionality, (sankhara-dukkha)

The knowledge that existence itself is suffering.

Quote a Sutta relevant to the First Noble Truth.

"Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering" (Deer Park Sermon)

The Second Noble Truth distinguishes three causes of suffering. What are they?

Ignorance, attachment (greed), and aversion (hatred)

Which animals represent the three poisons?

A pig (ignorance), a rooster (attachment), and a snake (aversion).

According to Buddhism, what do the three poisons all have in common?

Each poison is a kind of craving.

Quote a sutta relevant to the Second Noble Truth.

"it is this craving that leads to renewed existence [i.e. rebirth]" Samyuta Nikaya (Pali Canon)

What, according to the Third Noble Truth, should be the ultimate aim for human beings?

To attain nibbana.

How did the Buddha describe nibbana? (Quote!)

As a "remainderless fading away". Sutta Pitaka (Pali Canon)

Give two different Buddhist interpretations of nibbana

Extinction of the self (annihilation) and exinction of wrong views (Enlightenment).

List the branches of the eight-fold path.

Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

What are the branches of the three-fold way?

Wisdom; ethical conduct; mental discipline

Quote a Sutta relevant to the Fourth Noble Truth.

"And what is that Middle Path realized by the Tathagata…? It is the Noble Eightfold path, and nothing else," Deer Park Sermon (the Tathagata = the Buddha)

What is the Pali word for "dependent arising" (or dependent origination)?

Paticcasamupada

Explain dependent arising (or dependent origination).

The view that everything depends on everything else (like water in a wave). Therefore, there is no "first cause" of the universe, and the wheel of samsara has no beginning or end.

Quote a sutta relevant to the concept of dependent arising.

"When this exists, that is; due to the arising of this, that arises." The Buddha, Samyuta Nikaya (Pali Canon)

What are the "twelve nidanas"?

The stages in the process of dependent arising, through which human beings are born and reborn

Name two of the twelve nidanas.

(1) absolute ignorance, (2) karmic formations, (3) consciousness, (4) name and form, (5) sensation, (6) contact, (7) feeling (8) craving (9) clinging & grasping, (10) becoming, (11) birth, (12) aging & death.

List the three marks of existence (Pali and English)

Dukkha (suffering); Anicca (impermanence); Anatta (no-self)

Quote a sacred writing relevant to the first mark of existence.

"Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering." (Deer Park Sermon)

Quote a sacred writing relevant to the second mark of existence.

"All compounded things in the world are impermanent." Buddha's last words (Great Parinirvana Sutra)

Quote a sacred writing relevant to the third mark of existence.

"No permanent individual can be found." Nagasena, in King Melinda's Chariot

List the five skandas.

Form (i.e. body), sensation (i.e. feeling), perception (e.g. seeing), volition (wanting), and consciousness (awareness)

Quote a sutta relevant to the five skandhas

"The five aggregates are truly burdens, the burden carrier is the person." The Buddha, Samyuta Nikaya (Pali Canon) [Enlightenment is realising that there is no person!]

What is Nagasena's argument in the parable of King Melindas Chariot?

There is no chariot, only its constituent parts.

How do the five skandas illustrate the concept of anatta?

There is no self, only its constituent parts (matter, sensation, perception, volitions).

Explain the Mahayana concept of sunyata.

Emptiness - all things are empty of intrinsic nature.

Quote a Mahayana sutra relevant to sunyata.

"All phenomena are empty of characteristics." The Buddha, Heart Sutra (Mahayana Sutras)

How might Mahayana Buddists represent sunyata pictorally?

With an enso circle.

Explain the Mahayana concept of Buddha nature.

Deep down, all living beings are Enlightened. They just need to discover it.

Quote a Mahayana sutra relevant to Buddha nature.

"It is like pure honey in a cave or a tree, surrounded and protected by a countless swarm of bees." The Buddha, Tathagatagarba Sutra (Mahayana Sutras)

In Mahayana Buddhism, what is meant by "bodhisattva"?

An enlightened person who chooses to remain within the wheel of samsara out of compassion for all beings.

Quote a sacred text relevant to bodhisattvas.

"However innumerable sentient beings are, I vow to save them all" Bodisattva vow.

The Dalai Lama is believed to be the reincarnation of which historical Boddhisattva?

The Bodhisattva of Compassion, who renounced Nirvana in order to help mankind.

Which Bodhisattva founded of Pure Land Buddhism?

Amitabha Buddha

What is the Pure Land Buddhist concept of Sukhavati?

A perfect supernatural land where there is nothing to distract us from attaining enlightenment.

Why did the Amitabha Buddha create a "pure land"?

Out of compassion for all beings.

What do Pure Land Buddhists chant in order to gain entry into Sukhavati? (Quote!)

"Namo Amitabha" Pure Land Buddhist chant

In Theravada Buddhism, what is meant by "arhat"

A perfected person who escapes the wheel of samsara and leaves it behind.

Quote a Mahayana sutra that criticises the concept of arhat.

"If arhats thought to themselves, 'I have attained the level of arhat', they would be clinging to the concept of a self." The Buddha, Diamond Sutra (Mahayana Sutras)