Buddhism Unit 2 Flashcards
10-01: What question has been asked only of Jesus and Buddha? How did buddha answer?
“Who are you, what are you, are you a god, an angel, a saint? No. Then what are you?” Buddha said I am awake
10-02: What does the term Buddha mean?
Enlightened one, awakened one
10-03: What legends surround the life of Buddha?
When he was born, worlds were flooded with light, the blind received their sight, deaf and mute conversed, crooked became straight, lame walked, cries of beasts were hushed
10-04: What are the known historical facts of Buddha’s life?
Born: 563bc Nepal
Name: Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakyas
Father: king
Handsome, at 16 married Yasodhara the princess, had a son named Rahula
10-05: By legend, what did the fortune tellers summoned by Siddhartha’s father predict?
He would either unify India and become the greatest conqueror, a universal king, if he forsook the world he would be a world redeemer
10-06: What are the “4 passings?” What accumulative lesson is learned?
- Old man
- Sick man
- Dead man
- Monk
Siddhartha realizes that he will become old sick and die but the monk knows the path to the after life
10-07: What was the “Great Going Forth?”
“Made a break” he silently said his goodbyes had a servant bring his horse and they rode off and never came back
11-08. What were the three phases of Siddhartha’s six-year journey toward enlightenment?
Learned from the Hindu masters
Asceticism
rigorous thought and mystical concentrations (raja yoga)
11-09. What is the “Immovable Spot?”
It was the Bo Tree that the first Buddha sat under to achieve enlightenment
11-10. What were Evil One’s first three temptations [before enlightenment was reached]?
1) Women
2) Death
3) “By what right do you have”?
11-11. What is the Great Awakening?
Gautama’s being was transformed and emerged the buddha
11-12. What was Mara’s last [fourth] temptation?
It was a question. Don’t tell anyone. Keep it a secret
11-13. What were the Buddha’s post-enlightenment activities?
Started orders of monks and nuns, challenged the brahmin society
11-14. How did Siddhartha, now the Buddha, die?
Died of dysentery after eating bad boar meat
11-15. What is the meanings of the Taoism pericope?
Don’t better yourself for the material world but rather for the spiritual world
12-01. What kind of personality did the Buddha have?
Cool head and a warm heart. Great rationalist
12-02. How did the Buddha respond to the Caste System?
The cast system meant little to him and did not even notice peoples cast
12-03. Could the Buddha be described as a modest person? Explain.
No. He felt that he had risen to a plane of understanding that was far above anyone else. he accepted his superiority
12-04. Is Buddha God? Did he think of himself that way? Ex
No. He knew that he was human in every way who suffered from temptations.
12-05. What characteristic did Buddha share with other great spiritual geniuses?
Buddha was gifted with preternatural insight into character
12-06. What personal conviction saturated the life of Buddha?
Buddhas entire life was saturated with the conviction that he had a cosmic mission to preform
12-07. Why is Buddha sometimes called the Silent Sage?
To the end he remained half light, half shadow, defying complete intelligibility. So they called him the silent sage of the Sakya clan, a symbol of something beyond what could be said and thought
12-08. What is the “remarkable unanimity” that today’s Sketch refers to?
The characterization of the perfected human being
12-09. What is the meaning of the Taoism pericope?
Once you have achieved god you enter into nothingness, friendship doesn’t draw or repel you, you can’t benefit or be harmed by things, and you can’t be raised or humbled
13-01: Against what background must Buddhism be viewed in order to be understood?
In moving from Buddha to Buddhism it’s important to see against the background of Hinduism out of which it grew
13-02: What are the 6 universal characteristics of religion?
Authority Ritual Speculation Tradition Grace Mystery
13-03: In Buddha’s time what had Hinduism done to the 6 universal characteristics?
Each of the 6 universal characteristics contributes importantly to religion but equally clog its works
13-04: How did Buddha respond to the 6 universal characteristics of religion?
Buddha preached a religion devoid of authority, ritual, tradition, supernatural, a religion that skirted speculation, intense self effort
13-05: What were the characteristics of “original” Buddhism?
Empirical Scientific Pragmatic Therapeutic Physiological Egalitarian Individualism
13-06: What does today’s sketch tell about the make-up of, and dating of, Mahayana scripture?
The earliest Mahayana scriptures were written in Sanskrit an ancient Indian language during the first century CE
13-07: What are the “two axes” of the family according to today’s sketch?
Vertical axis: running through generations from grandparents to parents to children
Horizontal axis: including members of the same generation; husband wife brother sister
13-08: What are the five most important relationship under heaven according the Confucianism?
Price and minister Father and son Husband and wife Elder and younger brothers Between friends
14-01: When where and to whom did Buddha first preached his doctrine of the Four Noble Truths?
When: after enlightenment
Where: Sarnath banars
Whom: 5 ascetics
14-02: What is the first noble truth? Explain.
Is that life is dukkha (suffering).
14-03: What were Buddhist views on having a good time and the enjoyment of good times?
“A supreme optimism prevails everywhere” Buddha thought that life was lived unfulfilling and filled with insecurity
14-04: What western thinkers have came to the same conclusion as Buddha? Give an example.
William Drummond: “Earths sweetest joy is but disguised pain”
Shelly: That unrest which men miscall delight
Albert Schweitzer: Only at quite rare moments have I felt really glad to be alive.
14-05: Life’s dislocation becomes glaringly apparent in what six identifiable moments?
Trauma of birth Pathology of sickness The morbidity of decrepitude The phobia of death To be tied to what one dislikes To be separated from what one loves
14-06. What does the term “skandas” mean? What are the “five skandas?”
Means "life components" body sensations thoughts feelings consciousness
14-07. What is the Second Noble Truth? Explain.
Tanah, it promotes desire, robs a person of selflessness, it’s the cause and its effect is Dukkha
14-08. What is the Third Noble Truth? How does it follow logically from the Second Noble Truth?
Buddha said “Dukkha and tannah can be ended” if you end Tanah(desire and the cause of sickness) you can end Dukkha
14-09. What is the purpose of the Fourth Noble Truth?
The fourth noble truth is the eightfold path, its purpose it to cross from earth to the beyond