Buddhism beliefs

Question 1

Arhat

Answer 1

for Theravada Buddhists, someone who has become enlightened.

Question 2

Bodhisattva

Answer 2

For Mahayana Buddhists, someone who has become enlightened but chooses to remain in the cycle of samsara (suffering) to help others to achieve enlightenment as well.

Question 3

The Four sights

Answer 3

old age, illness, death and a holy man.

Question 4

Jataka

Answer 4

the jataka tales are popular stories about the life the Buddha

Question 5

Ascetic

Answer 5

living a simple and strict lifestyles with few pleasures and possessions.

Question 6

Meditation

Answer 6

A practice of calming and focusing the mind, and reflecting deeply on specific teachings to penetrate there true meanings.

Question 7

Enlightenment

Answer 7

The gaining of true knowledge about God, self of the nature of reality, usually through meditation and self discipline.

Question 8

Mara

Answer 8

A demon that represents spiritual obstacles, especially temptation.

Question 9

The three watches of the night

Answer 9

The three realisations that the Buddha made in order to achieve enlightenment.

Question 10

The 5 ascetics

Answer 10

The Buddhas first 5 students:5 monks who followed ascetic practices.

Question 11

Dhamma

Answer 11

The Buddhas teachings

Question 12

Pali

Answer 12

language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures.

Question 13

Sanskrit

Answer 13

language used in later Buddhist texts.

Question 14

Dependent arising

Answer 14

the idea that all things arise in dependence of conditions.

Question 15

The Tibetan wheel of life

Answer 15

an image that symbolises samsara often found in Tibetan Buddhists monasteries and temples.

Question 16

Dukkha

Answer 16

the 1st noble truth that is that there is suffering.

Question 17

Annica

Answer 17

Impermanence; Change

Question 18

Anatta

Answer 18

the idea that people do not have a permanent, fixed self or seal.

Question 19

the five aggregates

Answer 19

the 5 aspects that makes up a person; mental formations, sensations, consciousness, form, perception

Question 20

Theravada Buddhism

Answer 20

the school of the elders: an ancient Buddhist tradition found in Southern Asia.

Question 21

Mahayana Buddhism

Answer 21

an umbrella term for later Buddhist traditions.

Question 22

Sunyata

Answer 22

emptiness; the concept that nothing has to be separate independent soul or self.

Question 23

Buddha-Nature

Answer 23

The idea that everyone has the essence of the Buddha inside them.

Question 24

Buddhahood

Answer 24

when someone achieves enlightenment and becomes enlightened.

Question 25

Pureland Buddhists

Answer 25

a Mahayana form of Buddhism based on the belief of Amitabha Buddhism

Question 26

Amitabha Buddha

Answer 26

the Buddha worshipped by pure land buddhists

Question 27

Sukhavti

Answer 27

paradise where Amitabha Buddha lives, and where pure land buddhists want to be reborn

Question 28

Tanha

Answer 28

craving

Question 29

The 4 noble truths

Answer 29

The 4 key truths that the buddha knew about suffering and how to end it.