Seeking the Buddha Quiz #3

Why did the Chinese originally object to the Buddhist Teachings how does How a Monk Freed His Mother From Hell by Donald Lopez respond to these critiques:

At first, the conflict with Chinese objecting to Buddhism was in large part due to conflict with Confucian Ideals which emphasize respect and obedience to your parents and their ideals and continuing the family. Donald Lopez responds to these critiques by saying that instead of defying these ideals they actually play into them, rather than abandoning family ideals you'd be repaying debts of gratitude by aligning/combining the ideals rather than having it be one or the other.

Why is the Amitabha Buddha important to this school of Buddhism:

embodies the ideas of compassion and faith with his vow to create the pure land

What is the most important practice in this tradition:

Repeating Amithabas name which helps to align your mind with his compassionate energy and helps to ensure rebirth in the pure land

Bodhidharma:

Founder of Chan Buddhism in China

"A special transmission outside the scriptures, not founded on words or letters"

Chan believes that the ultimate truth cannot be achieved through written text or teachings

Pure Land Buddhism:

Faith in the Amitabha Buddha to be reborn in his pure land where enlightenment is easier to achieve, this school focuses more on faith rather than personal effort/discipline

Shinran:

Japanese Buddhist Monk and founder of True Pure Land Buddhism (Jodo Shinsu) which introduced the ideas of Other Power (Tariki) vs Self Power (Jiriki)

Jiriki/Self Power

active in trying to achieve enlightenment through your own efforts such as meditating

Tiriki/Other Power

more passive and focused on faith and placing trust in the Amitabha

Tiriki

believed to be superior because there were no human limitations of your own power but rather you could harness the infinite compassion of Amitabha, Shinran believed that ego would get in the way when using self-power (Jiriki) because people begin taking pride in their spiritual efforts

"Directly pointing to a person's mind, one sees nature and becomes a Buddha"

Chan focuses on recognizing the mind's true nature which is that we're all already enlightened but blinded by our attachments and cannot see it

Koan:

A question or statement that seems like nonsense but is meant to help you see beyond typical limits leading to more insight into reality, for example: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

"If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him"

an example of a koan and serves as a reminder to not get attached to the idea of the Buddha or enlightenment and to focus on the direct experience without any conceptual thoughts

Soto Zen Master Dogen:

Founder of Soto Zen school

Importance of Just Sitting (Shikan-Taza):

Dogen believed that just sitting embodied the ideals of Zen practice which are being fully present in the moment without distraction. The emphasis on the body and posture helps keep you in the present moment and has no direct goal rather by sitting you are already believed to be enlightened.

How is warfare tolerated within buddhism

Buddhist soldiers and monks interpret warfare through karma and intention. Negative karma is generated when killing people on the battlefield however much more negative karma is generated based on intention, killing out of hatred/malice is believed to cause much more negative karma. Soldiers are told to attempt to keep a clear mind when involved in war.

B. R.Ambedkar

an Indian economist, jurist, social reformer and political leader

how did ambedkhar use buddhism to raise indias lower classes

Abdedkhar emphasized social equality through the Buddha's rejection of a caste system/social hierarchy. He also emphasized social and ethical action within religion in order to eradicate suffering and social oppression

what is the scientific buddha

the scientific Buddha is a concept made by Wright in the book offering a reinterpretation of Buddha attempting to align the ideas of Buddhism with science for the interests of Western audiences which comes at the expense of cultural context and key philosophies. Wright's main claims in the book are to align some key concepts like the nature of suffering and the benefits of meditation with evolutionary psychology and backing these ideas with science.

What does western buddhism keep/remove and is it a contiuation of previous buddhist traditions

Wright downplays anything metaphysical such as karma and rebirth while keeping things that can be backed with science such as the benefits of meditation and the nature of suffering. This is a radical rupture of Buddhist ideals and cultural appropriation overall, he takes ideas that a Western audience can align with and molds Buddhism into something it's not. Without some of the key concepts of the religion, it's hard to call this a version of Buddhism at all.