Buddhism - Practices Flashcards
Outline 5 key features of a Buddhist Temple.
- A main hall or building.
- A meditation hall or building.
- A study hall or building.
- A shrine or number of shrines dedicated to the Buddha.
- A pagoda or stupa, which is a tiered tower or mound-like structure.
What are the pagodas and stupas designed to symbolise?
To symbolise the five Buddhist elements of earth, water, fire, air and wisdom.
Exam Question: Explain two reasons why temples are important in Buddhist worship
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What is a shrine?
An area where the focus is a statue of the Buddha (a Buddha rupa)
Why do Buddhists make offerings at a shrine?
As a way of paying respect to the Buddha and expressing gratitude and thanks for his teachings. The offerings also remind Buddhists of the Buddha’s teachings.
How does giving offerings at a shrine remind Buddhists of the Buddha’s teachings? (3 examples)
- An offering of light symbolises wisdom, because the light of the candle drives away the darkness of ignorance.
- An offering of flowers reminds Buddhists that all things are impermanent.
- An offering of incense symbolises purity, reminding Buddhists of the importance of practising pure thoughts, speech and conduct.
Exam Question L Explain two ways in which shrines are important in Buddhist worship. Refer to Buddhist teaching in your answer.
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Outline the key features of a monastery (Vihara)
A building where a community of Buddhist monks or nuns live. These are Buddhists who have chosen to dedicate their lives full time to their spiritual practice.
How do monks or nuns spend their daily lives in monasteries?
Studying, practising and meditating on the Buddha’s teachings.
Exam Question: Explain two ways in which monasteries are important in Buddhist worship. Refer to Buddhist teaching in your answer.
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Why do Buddhists worship? (5 reasons)
- To express their gratitude and respect for the Buddha and his teachings.
- To focus on their faith
- To deepen understanding of the Buddha’s teachings.
- To reflect on the nature of existence and the way of life, .
- Become wiser and more compassionate towards themselves and others.
What 5 activities does puja usually involve?
- Meditation.
- Making offerings.
- Chanting.
- Reciting mantras.
- Bowing.
Give 3 examples of sacred texts that Buddhists might chant.
- The three refuges
- The five moral precepts
- The Bodhisattva vows.
List 2 ways that chanting might benefit a Buddhist.
- Increase a Buddhist’s receptivity towards the Buddha and his teachings.
- It can also be used to help calm and concentrate the mind.
List 3 ways that mantra recitation might benefit a buddhist
- To focus the mind.
- Helps them to become more receptive to compassion.
- To call on the spiritual qualities of a Buddha or Bodhisattva.
How is a mala used in mantra recitation?
To count the number of recitations. They usually have 108 beads.
What is the aim of Samatha meditation?
To develop calm and positive emotion.
What is the method of Samatha meditation?
Focus on one particular subject (usually the breath) like an object or sound, to develop singular concentration.
What is the aim of Vipassana meditation?
To develop understanding and wisdom.
What is the method of Vipassana meditation?
To focus on everything objectively. For instance, to reflect on oneself or a Buddhist teaching in order to gain insight into its meaning.
What is the method of zazen meditation, and how does it differ from other types of Vipassana meditation?
It is about focusing on the present moment. The meditator begins by sitting in an upright position, concentrating on their surroundings and perpetually bringing their brains back to the present moment.
What is the aim of meditation through visualisation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?
The idea is to imagine what you want to be, in order to understand it better and therefore become more like it.
What is the method of meditation through visualisation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?
The meditator will focus not only on what the deity looks like, but also on its qualities and characteristics.
What do Buddhists believe happens to a person when they die?
When a Buddhist dies, their kammic energy leaves their body and is reborn into a new one.
List 4 features of a Theravada funeral
- Family and friends may donate to a worthy cause and transfer merit
- Rituals that transfer merit to the deceased may also be performed.
- A shrine may be set up to display the deceased’s portrait.
- Cremation is more traditional than burial
List 4 features of a Tibetan funeral (including sky burial)
- The body is left in a high place to be eaten by vultures (sky burial).
- It is increasingly common to burn the body.
- Revered teachers are cremated.
- Ceremonies involving prayers and offerings of yak-butter lamps may be made every seven days for 49 days after death.
List 4 features of a Japanese Pure Land funeral
- The coffin may be placed with the head pointing west.
- Those assembled chant ‘Namo Amida Bu’ as they process around the coffin.
- Relations gather after the cremation and pick out the bones from the ashes, using chopsticks.
- The remains may be kept for 49 days and prayers offered every seventh day.
Give two contrasting ways in which Buddhist funerals are conducted.
- Theravada Buddhist focus on the transfer of merit and helping the deceased in the next life, and bury or cremate the deceased.
- Tibetan Buddhists practice sky burials and make offerings and prayers every week for 49 days after the deceased’s death.
What is the difference between a festival and a retreat?
A festival is celebratory while a retreat is a period of time spent away to meditate and reflect.
What does the festival of Wesak celebrate?
The Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing away. It is celebrated by all Buddhists.
List 5 ways that Wesak is celebrated
- Light up homes with cnadles
- Put up decorations
- Make offerings to the Buddha
- Give gifts to the monks
- Monks lead meditation, read scripture and give sermons.
Why is light an important symbol during Wesak?
It is associated with a number of different meanings: overcoming darkness or ignorance, enlightenment and hope.
What does the festival of Parinirvana celebrate?
The Buddha’s passing into parinirvana. It is more solemn than Wesak.
List 5 ways that Parinirvana Day is celebrated.
- Reflection on future death and impermanence.
- Reading the Mahaparinirvana Sutra
- Organising retreats
- Simple meditation
- Pilgrimage.
Explain the difference between ‘skillful’ and ‘unskillful’ actions and how they link to the 3 poisons.
Skillful actions are good and ethical.
Unskillful actions are bad and unethical - motivated by the 3 poisons.
Give an example to show how Kamma can affect this life.
If someone regularly acts with anger, they become an angry person and people no longer want to be around them. People are not punished for their actions, they are punished by them.
Explain, with reference to the Tibetan Wheel of life, how Kamma can affect future lives.
Depending on kamma, Buddhists may be reborn into one of the 6 realms: realm of gods, angry gods, animals, tormented beings, hungry ghosts, humans.
Explain how many Tibetans view the Wheel of Life literally, whereas other Buddhists view it metaphorically.
What goes around comes around innit
Give two ways in which believing in Kamma might affect the way a Buddhist lives their life.
- It is empowering because it means that they can change the future through their own actions.
- it means that they try to cultivate good and skillful behavior.
How did the Buddha demonstrate Compassion once he had become enlightened?
He remained within the cycle of Samsara to pass on his knowledge.
What are the 4 Sublime States?
- Love
- Compassion
- Sympathetic joy
- Equanimity
In Mahayana Buddhism, compassion (karuna) is a crucial quality required to become what?
Enlightened innit.
Why do Buddhists believe that wisdom and compassion (karuna) need to be developed together?
It is not possible to have one without the other:
A clever scientist might develop a new type of explosive, but without a sense of compassion for others, he might turn it into a deadly weapon.
Briefly outline the work of a Buddhist charity (ROKPA) that shows karuna in action.
- Set up in 1980
- Helps to run schools and provide education to help families out of poverty and teach children about the value of compassion.
Explain the difference between compassion (karuna) and loving-kindness (metta)
Metta is a general wish for other people to be happy, karuna arises when a person is suffering and you must try to relieve it.
Why do Buddhists believe it is important to cultivate loving kindness (metta)?
To dissolve away the tendency to act out of greed, hatred, jealousy or any other negative emotions.
List the five steps of loving-kindness meditation.
Cultivate loving kindness towards:
- Yourself
- A good friend
- A ‘neutral’ person
- A ‘difficult’ person
- Everyone else in the world
List the 5 moral precepts.
- Abstain from taking life.
- Abstain from taking what is not freely given
- Abstain from misuse of the senses or sexual misconduct.
- Abstain from wrong speech
- Abstain from intoxicants that cloud the mind.
Explain why Buddhists view these precepts more as guidelines rather than strict rules.
Because there is no punishment by a god, the 5 precepts are seen as principles that Buddhists voluntarily practice more and more deeply, rather than rules that determine your quality as a person.
List the 6 perfections
- Generosity or giving
- Morality
- Patience
- Energy
- Meditation
- Wisdom
Give an example of how each perfection might be developed.
.- Generosity : Give without expecting anything in return
- Morality : Restrain from immoral action until they stop feeling it as a restraint.
- Patience : Understanding that suffering is an intrinsic part of life.
- Energy : Look after their own health.
- Meditation and wisdom : All of the first 5 perfections contribute to the 6th.
