Buddhism

Question 1

Shaman Movement is known as

Answer 1

Gangetic Spirituality

Question 2

Shamana Movement caused

Answer 2

• Gave rise to various “schools”
  -Rise of Buddhism as a prominent religion shappens due to this societal change

Question 3

Characteristics of Buddhism

Answer 3

-Arises out of Hindu context
-Buddha’s teaching are at the core, but various sects have diverse practices/understandings
-No single institutional structure or orthodoxy
-Many sects, initially 18 sects

Question 4

Theravada

Answer 4

Thera (elder) + vada (“discussion”) : 3rd century BCE, estd. In Sri Lanka

Question 5

Mahayana

Answer 5

Maha (great) + yana (vehicle) : 1st -5th century, SE Asia

Question 6

Vajrayana

Answer 6

Vajra (thunderbolt/diamond) + yana : 7th century CE, Tibet

Question 7

Who was Buddha

Answer 7

-Born in Shakya clan, present day Nepal
- Buddha: Indian and Western Scholars
- 566-486 BCE
- Sri Lanka and SE Asia - 624 - 544 BCE
- Sources from Tibet and China : 448 -368 BCE
- Parinirvana or bliss achieved after life
- Became Buddha after attaining Nirvana

Question 8

Four Sights

Answer 8

Sick Man
Old Man
Dead Man
Ascetic

Question 9

First Sermon

Answer 9

Known as Instruction on Middle Oath
Delivered at Sarnath

Question 10

4 Nobel Truths

Answer 10

-No living being can escape
-Suffering arises form craving or desire
-Suffering will cease when desire ceases
-Follow the Eightfold path

Question 11

Three Refuges or Three Jewels or Triple Gem

Answer 11

• Buddha
  -Dharma (Dhamma Teaching)
• Sangha (Monks, nuns, lay Buddhist as a community

Question 12

Five Precepts

Answer 12

• Do not harm or destroy life of living creatures
• Do not Steal, or take what is not given
• Do not engage in sexual misconduct (Monastics are celibate and no sex outide marraige for lay Buddhist)
• Do not lie
• Do not take intoxicants (Liquor or substances that cause intoxication)

Question 13

Sangha

Answer 13

• Composed initially of initiated males or monks, nuns, and laity allowed to be aprt of Sangha much later
• Monk: Bhikshu (bhikku)
• Nun: Bhikshuni (Bhikkuni)
• Householder or lay Buddhist: Grihasta (male)/ Grihini (female)

Question 14

Trikaya

Answer 14

• Mahuana concept, Buddha understood to have 3 bodies
• Earthly manifestation - Nirmankaya
• Devotional body - Sambhogkaya
• Absolute essence of universe - Dharmakaya

Question 15

Tripitaka

Answer 15

• Sutra Pitika: discourse on dhamma (Dharma )
• Vinaya Pitika: discourse on monastic rules (disclipline)
• Abhidhamma P: systematic treatise or further discourse on Buddha’s teaching

Question 16

3 Marks of Existence

Answer 16

• dukkha= suffering
• Anitya (anicca)= impermanecne
• Anatman (anatta)= no self (opposite to Vedantic/Upanishadic concept of atman is part of the eternal brahman)

Question 17

Bodhisattva

Answer 17

Ideal practitioner, forgoes their nirvana to help others

Question 18

Arhat

Answer 18

worthy one or someone who has realized the idea/ on path to realize spiritual perfection (nirvana)

Question 19

Skandhas

Answer 19

five aggregates that constitutes human sensation

Question 20

Upaya

Answer 20

literally solution, Mahyana concept of skillful means

Question 21

Emperor Ashoka (Asoka)

Answer 21

273-232 BCE
3rd emperor of Mauryan Dynasty, India’s first Empire
Under his patronage Buddhism enjoyed its Golden Age

Question 22

Empire of Ashoka

Answer 22

Ahima a major precept to run his state
Sent groups of monks to distant lands (Mediterranean and Mesopotamia world “west” in an attempt to spread Dharma
Employed edicts within his territory to create markers that were used as “advertisement”
Markers were divided in 3 tiers
1st: pillars (core regions)
2nd: rock edicts (regions under control)
3rd: Minor rock edicts (periphery of his empire)

Question 23

Stupa

Answer 23

Means heap or pileup
Above ground crypt, half hemisphere (anda) covers the funerary remains
Pre-Buddhist and pan-Indian presence to house the remains “burial mound”
Until recently predominantly linked to buddhism

Question 24

Elements of Stupa

Answer 24

Anda (solid hemisphere) represents the “dome” or the sky
At the center of this hemisphere is a reliquary, holding the funerary remains
Funerary remains at the center of the solid dome is a metaphor for the reliquary as the center of the universe creating sacred geography
Vedika or the fence surrounds the Stupa, separating the sacred from the profane
4 openings/gates in the Vedika, these are marked by Torana
Space between Vedika and Stupa is identified as Pradikshina-path or circumambulatory path (devotees walk clockwise around Stupa)
Stupa is topped with a set of umbrellas, Chatris a sign of royalty/sacrality

Question 25

Engaged Buddhism

Answer 25

20 century movement called Engaged Buddhism aroses in the Asian Buddhist communities that critique the coail problems and aims to improve the situation of poor and oppressed peoples