1
Q
What are the different ways Buddhists worship
A
- Meditation
- Chanting
- Puja and Devotional
- Mantra
- Malas
- Offerings
2
Q
What are the six types of meditation
A
- Samatha
- Vipassana
- Maitri (metta bhavana)
- Zazen
- Mindfulness
- Visualisation
3
Q
What is samatha meditation
A
- It is a Theravadan tradition, meaning ‘calm abiding’
- Develops the mind to the aid Buddhist path
- There are 42 objects worthy of meditation in Theravadan tradition
- They aide concentration
4
Q
What are the different types of samatha meditation
A
- Samatha Anapanasati: The most common kind is ‘Breath Awareness’
- It is the foundation of many meditation exercises
- Samatha Kasina: which focuses on small discs, Kasinas, they are worthy of meditation
- There are 10 Kasinas with their own symbolism e.g earth, wind fire
5
Q
What is vipassana meditation
A
- Often translated as ‘insight’ or ‘wisdom’
- Involves looking into yourself in relation with the basic truths Buddhism promotes
- Investigate Anicca and Anatta
6
Q
What is vipassana revival
A
- Meditation had fallen away in many Theravadan traditions
- Monks focussed on chanting
- It was revived in 19th -20th centuries as a modern movemnt
7
Q
What is Mairi or Metta Bhavana
A
- Metta means ‘love’
- There are five stages:
- Feel metta for yourself - feeling peace and tanquility
- Think of a friend and think ‘may they be well; may they be happy’ and like of their good qualities
- Reflect on the humanity of someone you neither like or dislike
- Think positively of an enemy
- Extend your feelings further to everyone around you
8
Q
What is Zazen
A
- The aim of zazen is just sitting
- Suspending judgemental thinking and letting words, ideas and thoughts pass by
- Without getting involved in them
- The heart of Japanese Soto Zen Buddhist practice
9
Q
What is mindfulness
A
- Right mindfulness is the seventh path from the Noble Eightfold path
- Which is one of the Four Noble Truths
10
Q
What is visualisation
A
- Tibetan Buddhism uses visualisation a lot
- You visualise deities that symbolise the full enlightenment
- Each deity symbolises a different aspect of Buddhahood
11
Q
What is chanting
A
- Many teachings are chanted in a ancient languages such as Pali
- Most Buddhist ceremonies contain chanting e.g. reciting the three refuges
- It has a definite pace and rhythm
12
Q
What are the benefits of chanting to Buddhists
A
- Chanting is a way to show commitment to the Dhamma
- Anyone can practice chanting
- It has a calming effect on the mind
- It connects Buddhists to past and present members of the sangha
13
Q
What is puja
A
- Puja is the word Buddhists use for worship
- Puja involves honouring something by giving it devoted attention
- Puja means investigating the true nature of life in order to reveal enlightenment
14
Q
What are the three aspects to Puja
A
- Looking inwards: for qualities worthy of admiration and respect
- Development: develop these qualities to make them stronger
- Extension: spread these positive feelings so they reach all
15
Q
What are mantras
A
- Buddhists chant short phrases repeatedly called mantras
- Some believe reciting the mantra is sufficient to reveal enlightenment
16
Q
Give a famous Pure Land mantra
A
- Chant a phrase called ‘Nembutsu’
- Means ‘I dedicate my life to the Buddha of infinite light’
- Pure Land Buddhists believe chanting will being you to the Pure land
17
Q
Give a famous Tibetan mantra
A
- ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’
- Literally means ‘Hail to the jewel of the lotus’
- Many Buddhists believe repeating the mantra will bring great blessing from the Buddha of compassion
18
Q
What are malas
A
- They are prayer beads to help Buddhists focus on chanting
- Consist of 108 beads strung into a loop
- They represent the 108 worldly desires that must be overcome - samsara
- The beads can be split into three sections reflecting the Three Jewels (treasures)
19
Q
What are malas made of
A
- Originally were made from the seeds of the Bodhi pipal (fig) tree
- Today made of any material though polished wood is common
- Some Tibetan prayer beads are made of semi - precious stones or the bones of a deceased llama
20
Q
What offerings are common at shrines
A
- Fruit: reflects the independent nature of all things
- Offerings are changed daily (fruit and flowers)
- Offering of candle: shows the wisdom of the light drives away darkness of ignorance
- Flowers: all things are impermanent
- Incense: symbolises purity, and practicing pure thoughts
21
Q
What is the set up of a shrines
A
- Statue/pic of Buddha: not to worship but to reflect on qualities of the Buddha
- Flowers: anicca
- Evergreen leaves: eternity
- Candle: enlightenment
- Bell: used to indicate beginning and end of puja
22
Q
How do Buddhist treat their shrines
A
- Treat it with great care out of respect
- The state of the shrine reflects their state of mind
23
Q
Why do Buddhists bow before a shrine
A
- It is an acknowledgement that the other person has greater life and spiritual understanding
- Bowing also indicates the denial of the ego anatta
24
Q
What is the significance of worship in the temple
A
- A main hall: allows Buddhists to practice puja together
- It is often the heart of a Buddhist community
- Shrines dedicated to the Buddha ( and Bodhisattvas in Mahayana)
- Buddhists may listen to talks given by the monastic community
25
What is a temple or a gompa
- Temple: a place where Buddhists come together to practise
- Gompa: a hall or building where Tibetan Buddhists meditate
26
What is a stupa and a Buddha rupa
- Stupa: a small building in a monastery that sometimes contain holy relics
- Rupa: a statue of the Buddha often sitting in a meditation pose
27
What is a monastery (vihara)
- A place where Buddhist monks and nuns live
28
What is a temple
- Found at the heart of a Buddhist community
- May include: main hall, mediation hall, study hall, shrine. a pagoda or stupa
- Centre of religious life and monastic and lay community come together
29
How are pagodas and stupas designed
- Symbolise the five Buddhist elements or earth, water, fire, air and wisdom
30
What are the four key places of pilgrimage
- Lumbini: the birthplace of the Buddha (Nepal)
- Bodh Gaya: the place of his enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree
- Sarnath ( the deer park): where he delivered his first teaching
- Kusinara (now Kushinagar): where he died
31
What are the key reasons to go on a pilgrimage
- In order to get 'good kamma' (merit) to have a better rebirth
- To cultivate some of the 6 perfections
- A form of penance
- Expression of devotion and respect to the Buddha
- An offering of time
32
What does the Buddha say about pilgrimage
- In the Pali Tipitaka , the oldest surviving body of Buddhist literature
- The Buddha speaks specifically about the importance of pilgrimages
- All Buddhist should go to one of the four sites
33
What it is the monastic sangha
- The community of bhikkhus (Buddhist monks or nuns). They try to keep their attachments to a minimum as to work towards enlightenment
34
What is the Lay sangha
- The community of lay people
- They follow the Dhamma but continue to live with their families and earn their own earnings
- This community supports the Bhikkhus
35
What are the 10 precepts that the bhikkhus follow
1. Not destroy life
2. Not to take what is not freely given
3. Not misuse sexual relations
4. Not to lie
5. To not cloud the mind with alcohol or drugs
6. Not eat after midday
7. Refrain from dancing, singing and watch unsuitable entertainments
8. Not use scents or garland
9. Not to sleep in luxurious beds
10. Refrain from handling gold or silver (includes money)
(Every follows the first 5 and the bhikkhus follow the rest)
36
What is the sangha like in the Theravadin tradition
- Bhikkhus live in monasteries and are supported by lay believers
- The lay sangha support the bhikkhus with food and money
- Bhikkhus lead worship and teach the Dhamma
- The vihara is a community centre where bhikkhus teach children to read and write and adults other key skills e.g. building and farming
- The vihara acts as a bank
- Lay Buddhists make donations to build good kamma
37
What is the sangha like in the Mahayana tradition
- Mahayanists do not believe that becoming a monk or nun gives them a unique opportunity for enlightenment
- Mahayana monks do not cut themselves off from attachment some have families
- Lay sangha can just as easily attain Buddhahood
- Still mutual dependence between lay and monastic sangha
- Often lay people teach the Dhamma
38
What is the role of women in the Sangha
- Buddha thought women were just as capable as men in attaining enlightenment
- But Buddha was reluctant to permit women into Sangha
- The Buddha later changed his mind
39
How do the role of women differ in Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism
- Women's Sangha still exist in Mahayana countries
- No fully Theravada nuns in Sri Lanka, Thailand or Burma
- Attempts are being made to revive the Theravada nuns' ordination
40
When is Wesak celebrated and what did it celebrate
- Also known as Vesak or Buddha Day ( most important festival)
- It is celebrated on the full moon of the month
- It commemorates three major events in the Buddha's life: birth, enlightenment and death
- All these happened on the full moon
- Honour and remembers the Buddha and his teachings
41
How do Buddhists celebrate Wesak
- Light up their homes with candles, lamps and decorations
- Make offerings to local monastery
- Monks give sermons and chants
- Celebrations differ: in Singapore caged birds are released to show liberation
42
What is Vassa, when is it celebrated and who celebrates it
- It is celebrated in Theravadin countries e.g. India and Thailand
- It is celebrated during the three month rainy season
- It begins in the month when the Buddha first teaching was given and starts on that months full moon
- Known as Dhamma Day
43
How do the monastic community celebrate Vassa
- It is time for bhikkhus to re-energise their commitment to the Dhamma
- Bhikkhus stay in viharas and reflect study and meditate focussing on scriptures
- End of Vassa there is Pavarana Day 'Telling off day' and each bhikkhu invites the sangha to reflect on his behaviour
- Recognise humanity and strengthen relationships
44
How does that lay community celebrate Vassa
- Time for them to re-energise their commitment to the Dhamma
- Advance their spiritual progress and give up bad habits e.g. smoking
- Some lay Buddhists become ordained for the rainy season then return to normal life
45
What is Kathina
- A festival at the end of Vassa
- Festival of unity between lay and monastic sangha as they are not involved during Vassa
- Lay sangha provide a meal for bhikkhus
46
What are Uposatha days (moon days)
- Held every fortnight at new moon and full moon
- Seen as opportunity to renew ones life. On this day bhikkhus renew their vows to keep their 227 Patimokkha rules of the monastic sangha
47
How do the lay and monastic sangha celebrate Uposatha days
- The day before bhikkhus shave their heads - purity
- Clean their bodies and confess their faults and meditate to clarify the mind
- To remove moral impurity and spiritual ignorance
- Lay people provide bhikkhus a meal, wear white (purity) and some follow the 10 precepts
48
What is Parinirvana day
- Mahayana festival in February
- Remembers the Buddha's passing into parinirvana (death)
- Focus on teachings on impermanence and meditate and read about the Buddha's last days
- Many Buddhist go on pilgrimage to Kushinager
49
What is Lama Tsongkhapa day
- Celebrated in Tibetan Buddhism
- Lama Tsongkhapa is a great scholar and yogi, and taught his path to awakening through is life
- His spiritual relatives include the Dalai Lama
- Celebrated by taking and keeping the 8 Mahayana Precepts for 24 hours
- Make light offerings, study and meditate
50
What are the general Buddhist views on life after death
- Believe their consciousness is reborn in another being
- If they have lived a 'skilful' life (good kamma) they will be reborn into a higher realm
- If they have defeated the 3 poisons, they will escape samsara and be enlightened and move to nibbana
51
What are the 3 higher realms of the 6 realms
- The god realm (deva): the Gods live long happy lives with lots of pleasure but don't practise the Dhamma and are reborn into a lower realm
- Demi God realm (asura): lots of pleasure but suffer from fighting and jealously, making war on the Gods
- Human realm (Manusya): balance between pleasure or pain, so can focus on the Dhamma
52
What are the 3 lower realms of the 6 realms
- Animal realm: wild animals live in constant fear of being attacked, domestic suffer from exploitation
- Hungary ghost realm (preta): they constantly suffer from hunger and thirst, when they find food eating is agony
- Hell realm (naraka): unimaginable suffering for eons of time
53
What is the best realm
The human realm is considered to offer the best opportunity to practise the Dhamma
54
What are Pureland Buddhist views on life after death
- The Mahayana Pureland Buddhists believe in a special place apart from the 31 planes of existence called the Pureland
- Each cosmic Buddha has their own Pureland created out of their merits
- Most Pureland Buddhists chant the name of Amitabha Buddha (the Buddha of infinite loving kindness)
55
What are the zen Buddhist views on life after death
- Type of Mahayana Buddhism but different views
- They focus on the present moment, not the future
- They try to let go of all attachments, including beliefs that there is / isn't life after death
- They focus on the truth of the present moment, so less likely to believe things based on ancient the + authority figures
56
What are Western Buddhist views on life after death
- Interpret the 6 realms as a metaphor for how we live as humans
- Our actions will determine what are future is like
- Hungary ghosts are metaphor for addiction (feel dead inside)
- Life after death is a mystery
57
What are the Tibetan views on life after death
- They believe in bardo state
- Bardo states are 'intermediate states' between one life and the
next
- There are six bardo states
- Written in 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead'
58
What are the first three bardo states
1. The bardo of life and birth, it commences from conception until last breath
2. The bardo of the dream state, it is a subset of the first bardo. Use dream yoga to develop the dream state
3. The bardo of meditation,, experienced by meditators
59
What are the second 3 bardo states
4. The bardo of the moment of death, it begins when outer and inner signs shows death is near
5. The bardo of luminosity of the true nature, in this bardo visions and auditory phenomena occur
6. The bardo of becoming / transmigration this occurs until the new inner breath of the new form
60
What is Obon
- A Japanese Buddhist Funeral
- Aims to honour ones ancestors
- Celebrated in Japan for 3 days
-Influenced by Chinese traditions if ancestor worship (associated with Confucianism)
- People visit graves of ancestors
- Spirits of ancestors revisit the household altars
61
How do Theravada Buddhists mourn the dead
- Very little money is spent on funerals
- May donate to a worthy cause and transfer the merit to the deceased
- E.g. Offer cloth to make new robes to a senior monk on behalf of the deceased
62
What does a Theravadin Funeral involve
- A shrine is set up to display the deceased portraits along with offerings
- An image of the Buddha is placed by the shrine
- Cremation is traditional and more common
- Monks will perform the last rites before casket is sealed
- The is silence and all mourners should be sending good thoughts to family
63
How do Tibetan Buddhists mourn the dead
- They have a tradition of the 'sky burial'
- Body is left as a high place as a gift to the vultures
- This was because they were short of firewood and often too frozen for grave digging
- More common now to cremate
- Offerings of yak-butter lamps will be made every 7 days for 49 days
64
What are the Japanese Pureland traditions with death
- Coffin may be placed with the head pointing West
- Chant 'Namo Amida Bu'
- After the cremation all relation pick of the bones from the ashes with chopsticks
- The remains may be kept for 49 days and prayers every 7
65
What are the different mudra
Mudra is a hand sign
- A gesture of meditation
- Gesture of gift giving and bestowal
- The gesture of fearlessness and protection often seen in a standing Buddha
- Gesture of 'earth witness' the Buddha made when enlightened
- Gesture of "wheel turning" of Dhamma, representing the Buddhas teachings
66
What are the robe colours in different traditions
- Thai Forest (Theravadan): orange
- Zen (mahayana): brown
- Tibetan (Mahayana) yellow
