Buddhism: Beliefs

Question 1

Theravada

Answer 1

The school of Buddhism mainly found in Sri Lanka and Thailand; it is an older tradition than Mahayana.

Question 2

Mahayana

Answer 2

Literally “Greater Vehicle”; this school of Buddhism focuses on achieving enlightenment for the sake of all beings (Bodhisattva). It is the main school of Buddhism in China, Tibet and Japan.

Question 3

Anatta

Answer 3

Belief that there is no fixed self/no soul; one of the Three Marks of Existence.

Question 4

Arhat

Answer 4

A perfected person. In Theravada Buddhism this is a term for a person who has become enlightened.

Question 5

Dhammapada

Answer 5

A source of wisdom and authority; part of the Pali Canon that includes some of the most famous teachings of the Buddha, including the Eightfold Path.

Question 6

Dhamma (Dharma)

Answer 6

The teachings of the Buddha; these are the ultimate truth. Can also refer to following the Buddhist path (following the dharma).

Question 7

Threefold Way

Answer 7

The three divisions of the Eightfold Path: ethics, meditation and wisdom.

Question 8

Ethics (Sila)

Answer 8

Moral principles that inform behaviour and attitudes; part of the Eightfold Path.

Question 9

Eightfold Path (Magga)

Answer 9

The fourth Noble Truth. Known as ‘The Middle Way,’ it includes the way to wisdom; mental training and the way of morality. Eight stages to be practised simultaneously.

Question 10

Nibbana (Nirvana)

Answer 10

Literally ‘blowing’ out. The belief that individuals can achieve a state of perfect peace where they experience liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

Question 11

Craving (tanha)

Answer 11

The ongoing state of desire which causes suffering; grasping at things we enjoy/want.

Question 12

Dukkha

Answer 12

Suffering. Belief that all life includes suffering and unsatisfactoriness; one of the Three Marks of Existence.

Question 13

Four Noble Truths

Answer 13

An important part of the Buddha’s teachings found in the Pali Canon, explaining the truth about existence. These include: suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, the path to the end of suffering.

Question 14

Three Marks of Existence

Answer 14

The belief that all life involves/is marked by these three features; sometimes known as the Three Universal Truths. The three are: dukkha, anicca, anatta.

Question 15

Enlightenment

Answer 15

A state of wisdom that enables total clarity and understanding of the truths of existence; achieving Enlightenment (Buddhahood) allows a being to be freed from the cycle of rebirth.

Question 16

Three Poisons

Answer 16

Causes of dukkha that affect all beings: ignorance, greed and hate.

Question 17

Sunyata

Answer 17

Literally ‘emptiness’. Mahayana belief about the absence of an intrinsic nature or self-identity.

Question 18

Dependent arising (Paticcasamupada)

Answer 18

The belief that everything exists because other things do; everything is interconnected and everyone affects everyone else.

Question 19

Ascetic

Answer 19

A life free from worldly pleasures, and involves giving up of material possessions. An ascetic life often has the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals.

Question 20

Four Sights

Answer 20

Teaching from the Jataka Tales about Siddhartha Gautama’s experience of illness, old age, death and a holy man. These sights led him to give up his life of luxury, to follow an ascetic lifestyle, in search of the truth about suffering.

Question 21

Anicca

Answer 21

Impermanence. Belief that nothing is permanent; one of the Three Marks of Existence.

Question 22

Five Aggregates (Skandhas)

Answer 22

The belief that human beings are composed of five factors - form, sensation, perception, mental formation, consciousness.

Question 23

Buddha-nature

Answer 23

In Mahayana Buddhism this refers to the fundamental nature of all beings, which means that all beings can become enlightened/reach Buddhahood.

Question 24

Bodhisattva

Answer 24

In Mahayana Buddhism this is a being destined for enlightenment, who postpones their final escape from samsara in order to help living beings.