Buddhism

Question 1

arhat

Answer 1

“worthy one:’ a perfected saint who
has reached nirvana and will be released from samsara
at death

Question 2

Ashoka

Answer 2

great Buddhist king in India (r. ca. 272-236 B.C.E.),
the “second founder” of Buddhism

Question 3

bodhisattva

Answer 3

being who is intent on becoming fully enlightened;
in Mahayana Buddhism, one who reaches
enlightenment but vows to continue rebirths in samsara
to assist others

Question 4

Four Noble Truths

Answer 4

basic teachings presented in the Buddha’s
first sermon: the truths of sorrow, of the cause of
sorrow, of the overcoming of sorrow, and of the path
to follow

Question 5

Buddha

Answer 5

“Enlightened one”; Siddhartha Gautama
(ca. 563-483 B.C.E.) became the Buddha for our
present age

Question 6

dependent co-arising

Answer 6

central Buddhist
teaching that everything is conditioned by something
else, that all reality is interdependent

Question 7

Dharma

Answer 7

in Buddhist usage, the truth; the teaching of the
Buddha

Question 8

Dukkha

Answer 8

“sorrow:’ characteristic of all conditioned reality
as stated in the First Noble Truth of Buddhism

Question 9

Eightfold Path

Answer 9

the fundamental path toward nirvana as
taught by the Buddha, involving eight interrelated
practices: right views, right resolve, right speech, right
conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness,
and right concentration

Question 10

impermanence

Answer 10

basic Buddhist doctrine that change is
characteristic of everything that arises

Question 11

karma

Answer 11

law that all deeds and thoughts, according
to one’s intentions, will have set consequences, including
rebirth

Question 12

Mahayana

Answer 12

the “great vehicle:’ form of Buddhism that
arose in India beginning in the second century B.C.E.
and eventually spread to East Asia

Question 13

nirvana

Answer 13

“blowing out” the fires of life, liberation from
suffering and rebirth, the spiritual goal of Buddhist
practice

Question 14

no-self

Answer 14

the basic Buddhist doctrine that there
is no permanent, absolute self

Question 15

rebirth

Answer 15

belief that after a person’s death, the accumulated
karma will cause another rebirth to take place

Question 16

samsara

Answer 16

the rebirth cycle of existence

Question 17

Theravada

Answer 17

“teaching of the elders,” term for the early
Buddhist tradition and practice still followed in South
and Southeast Asia. Theravada is generally used in
place of the term Hinayana, “lesser vehicle;’ a pejorative
term that Mahayana Buddhists applied to the early
Buddhist sects

Question 18

Three Refuges

Answer 18

the ritual formula, “I take refuge in the
Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in
the Sangha”