Buddhist Beliefs Quotes

Question 1

Give a reference about Siddhartha’s life of luxury

Answer 1

Anguttara Nikaya - ‘delicately nurtured’

Question 2

Scripture that details Siddhartha’s encounter of the four sights

Answer 2

Jataka 75

Question 3

Quote that shows the ineffectiveness of Siddhartha’s ascetic life

Answer 3

‘it was to him like a time of intertwining the sky with knots’ - The Jataka, Vol.1, Page 67

Question 4

Quote that shows the Buddha’s dedication to reaching enlightenment

Answer 4

‘not until I attain the supreme Enlightenment will I give up this seat of meditation’ - Jataka, Vol.1, Page 71

Question 5

Quote showing the importance of the three jewels/refuges

Answer 5

‘To the Buddha for refuge I go, to the Dhamma for refuge I go, to the Sangha for refuge I go’

Question 6

Quote about dependent arising

Answer 6

‘All events and incidents in life are so intimately linked with the fate of others that a single person on his or her own cannot even begin to act’ - Dalai Lama

Question 7

Quote about the wave analogy for dependent arising

Answer 7

‘every wave is related to every other wave’ - Sogyal Rinpoche

Question 8

Quote about the first mark of existence - dukkha

Answer 8

‘what I teach is suffering and the cessation of suffering’ - Majjhima Nikaya, Vol.1, Page 140

Question 9

Reference about anicca - impermanence

Answer 9

Story of Kisa Gotami in the Therigatha

Question 10

Quote about the doctor analogy of the four noble truths

Answer 10

‘The truth of suffering is like a disease, the truth of origin is like the cause of the disease. the truth of cessation is like the cure of the disease, and the truth of the path is like the medicine’ - The Visuddhimagga, page 512

Question 11

Quote about the first noble truth - dukkha

Answer 11

‘The insight is simply… that there is this suffering without making it personal’ - Ajahn Sumedho

Question 12

Quote about the second noble truth - samudaya

Answer 12

‘it is this craving which leads to renewed existence ‘ - Samyutta Nikaya, Vol.5, Page 421

Question 13

Quote about third noble truth - nirodha

Answer 13

‘the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving’ - Samyutta Nikaya, Vol.5, Page 421

Question 14

Quote about the fourth noble truth - magga

Answer 14

‘But if any one goes to the Buddha, the Doctrine and the Order as a refuge, he perceives with proper knowledge the four noble truths… and the noble eightfold path leading to the cessation of suffering’ - Dhammapada, verses 190-1

Question 15

Reference to Buddha-nature (Mahayana)

Answer 15

Uttaratantra Shastra - metaphor of Buddha-nature being like honey surrounded by a swarm of bees

Question 16

A Bodhisattva Vow

Answer 16

‘However innumerable sentient beings are; I vow to save them’

Question 17

Quote about Sukhavati (the pure land)

Answer 17

‘rich in a great variety of flowers and fruits, adorned with jewel trees… frequented by flocks of bird with sweet voices’ - the larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra

Question 18

Quote about the 5 skandhas/aggregates

Answer 18

‘Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind
a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.’ Dhammapada Vol.2