2B

Question 1

Candle analogy

Answer 1

Rebirth can be thought of as a line of candles. One candle lights another, but the two flames are not the same, even though one caused another.

Question 2

Greed

Answer 2

Links to our attachment to things outside ourselves to gain happiness and our selfishness in grasping these things - we are never satisfied

Question 3

Hatred

Answer 3

Links to our avoidance of unpleasant people, experiences and feelings, and our refusal to confront and manage these things

Question 4

Ignorance

Answer 4

Relates to our misunderstanding of the true nature of the world, our inability to understand to root causes of suffering and our insistence on seeking happiness

Question 5

Karma

Answer 5

Actions have consequences. It is not a form of reward and punishment but simply the concept that certain types of thoughts and actions have inevitable consequences.

Question 6

Quote: Peter Harvey on karma

Answer 6

‘Karma is often likened to a seed… and action is thus like a seed which will sooner or later, as part of the natural maturation process, result in certain fruits accruing to the doer of the action’

Question 7

Rebirth

Answer 7

Humans are constantly in the process of change, from little to big changes. Death and rebirth are simply a more dramatic part of the same process of change. The end of life entails the end of consciousness, however, the power of karma causes a new psychophysical unity to begin to grow.

Question 8

Rope analogy

Answer 8

A rope consists of many short strands twisted together, and in a very long rope, none of the strands used at the start are the same as the ones used at the end. A human is like this as none of the skhandhas will last throughout our lifetime, but it is still the same life.

Question 9

The Three Poisons

Answer 9

Greed, hatred and ignorance