Buddhism

Question 1

Buddhist meditation is an invitation to turn one’s awareness away from the world of activity that usually preoccupies us to the inner experience of thoughts, feelings and perceptions.

Answer 1

Meditation

Question 2

Buddhists believe that human life is a cycle of suffering and rebirth, but that if one achieves a state of enlightenment (nirvana), it is possible to escape this cycle forever. Siddhartha Gautama was the first person to reach this state of enlightenment and was, and is still today, known as the Buddha

Answer 2

Enlightenment

Question 3

Nirvana, the state to which all Buddhists aspire, is the cessation of desire and hence the end of suffering. Nirvana in Sanskrit means “the blowing out.” It is understood as the extinguishment of the flame of personal desire, the quenching of the fire of life.

Answer 3

Nirvana

Question 4

right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. The expression “middle way” refers to the Buddhist understanding of practical life, avoiding the extremes of self-denial and self-indulgence, as well as the view of reality that avoids the extreme positions of eternalism and annihilationism.

Answer 4

Eightfold Path/Middle Way

Question 5

karma refers to the idea that intentional actions have consequences for the agent, in this life and in future lives; in fact, it is karma that leads to rebirth.

Answer 5

Karma

Question 6

the doctrine, the universal truth common to all individuals at all times, proclaimed by the Buddha.

Answer 6

Dharma

Question 7

They are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. More simply put, suffering exists; it has a cause; it has an end; and it has a cause to bring about its end.

Answer 7

Four Noble Truths

Question 8

spreading teachings that they believe are universally applicable in all times and places

Answer 8

Missionaries

Question 9

the Buddhist community; it is the men, women and children who follow the teachings of the Buddha.

Answer 9

Sangha

Question 10

Refrain from taking life

Answer 10

Five Precepts

Question 11

Refrain from taking what is not given.

Answer 11

Five Precepts

Question 12

Refrain from wrong speech.

Answer 12

Five Precepts

Question 13

Refrain from intoxicants that cloud the mind.

Answer 13

Five Precepts

Question 14

Refrain from intoxicants that cloud the mind.

Answer 14

Five Precepts

Question 15

Buddhists believe that when someone dies, they will be reborn again as something else. What they are reborn as depends on their actions in their previous life (kamma ). The cycle of rebirth is called samsara and it is an ongoing cycle of life, death and rebirth.

Answer 15

Reincarnation

Question 16

is the idea that humans have no soul or self. The Buddha taught that people have no soul because nothing is permanent and everything changes.

Answer 16

Annata

Question 17

the Triratna comprises the Buddha, the dharma (doctrine, or teaching), and the sangha (the monastic order, or community).

Answer 17

Triple Jewel

Question 18

bodhisattva, (Sanskrit), Pali bodhisatta (“one whose goal is awakening”), in Buddhism, one who seeks awakening (bodhi)—hence, an individual on the path to becoming a buddha

Answer 18

Bodhisatta

Question 19

A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism.

Answer 19

Monasteries

Question 20

Asalha Puja, known as Dharma (Pali, Dhamma) Day in English, commemorates the Buddha’s first teaching.

Answer 20

Dharma Day

Question 21

“Vesak”, the Day of the Full Moon in the month of May, is the most sacred day to millions of Buddhists around the world. It was on the Day of Vesak two and a half millennia ago, in the year 623 B.C., that the Buddha was born

Answer 21

Buddha Day (Wesak):

Question 22

The Tripitaka (in Sanskrit, meaning “Three Baskets”), or Daejanggyeong in Korean, refers to the collection of Buddhist scriptures, or Buddhist canon, that relate to discourses with the Buddha (Sutta-pitaka), regulations of monastic life (Vinaya-pitaka), and commentaries on the sutras by renowned monks and scholars

Answer 22

Tripitaka

Question 23

Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism

Answer 23

Siddhartha Gautama

Question 24

Dalai Lama

Answer 24

a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.