Key Figures And Places

Question 1

Amitabha

Answer 1

A Buddha who is worshipped bu pure land buddhists. Repeating his name with devotion can lead to rebirth in the Pure Land

Question 2

Ananda

Answer 2

Ānanda is one of the most loved figures in Buddhism. He was known for his memory, erudition and compassion, and was often praised by the Buddha for these matters. He functioned as a foil to the Buddha, however, in that he still had worldly attachments and was not yet enlightened, as opposed to the Buddha.

Question 3

Ashoka

Answer 3

Emperor (273 to 236 BCE) who converted to bud and helped to spread it across his vast Indian empire and neighbouring countries

Question 4

Avalokiteshvara

Answer 4

The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, known in Chinese as Guanyin, is the embodiment of the virtue of compassion and became the most important deity in Buddhism around the sixth century C.E. Represented in different manifestations and throughout Asia, Avalokiteshvara is usually identified by a small seated Buddha depicted within his headdress. This figure’s relaxed posture and raised right leg indicate that it represents the Water-Moon (Shuiyue) avatar, one of many forms taken by this popular deity in which he is seated in his personal pure land or paradise. Known as Mount Potalaka, this perfected land was originally located on an island somewhere south of India, but in Chinese traditions, the island moved to a new location off the east coast of Zhejiang Province.

Question 5

Bodhidharma

Answer 5

Semi- legendary Indian meditation master (c. 6th century CE) who is credited with founding the chan school of Buddhism and the East Asian martial arts

Question 6

Bodhisattvva of compassion

Answer 6

In Mahayana one who strives for the fullest form of Buddha hood and for the liberation of all beings, bodhisattvas may be earthly or transcendent

Question 7

Budai

Answer 7

Budai, a tenth-century monk, was known for his laughing face and round stomach. Named after the cloth sack (budai) that he carries under his arm, he is believed to be the incarnation of Maitreya, the future Buddha, who helps common people in the mortal world.

Question 8

Dalai lama

Answer 8

Currently on 14th. Nobel laureate for peace and spiritual head of Bibetan Buddhists

Question 9

Guanyin/kannon

Answer 9

Chinese form of the heavenly Bohidattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, who eventually becomes depicted as a goddess

Question 10

Huineng

Answer 10

Dajian Huineng, also commonly known as the Sixth Patriarch or Sixth Ancestor of Chan, is a semi-legendary but central figure in the early history of Chinese Chan Buddhism. According to tradition he was an uneducated layman who suddenly attained awakening upon hearing the Diamond Sutra

Question 11

Kumarajiva

Answer 11

Kumārajīva was a Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary and translator from the Kingdom of Kucha. Kumārajīva is seen as one of the greatest translators of Chinese Buddhism. According to Lu Cheng, Kumarajiva’s translations are “unparalleled either in terms of translation technique or degree of fidelity

Question 12

Maitreya

Answer 12

The much anticipated future teaching Buddha, generally depicted as a heroic figure in a stately seated posture. Eventually, in china, he was depicted as Budai, a bald, fat, and jolly mon known as the laughing buddha

Question 13

Manjushri

Answer 13

Mañjuśrī, in Mahāyāna Buddhism, the bodhisattva (“Buddha-to-be”) personifying supreme wisdom. His name in Sanskrit means “gentle, or sweet, glory”; he is also known as Mãnjughoṣa (“Sweet Voice”) and Vāgīśvara (“Lord of Speech”).

Question 14

Mara

Answer 14

Mara, in Buddhism, is a malignant celestial king who tried to stop Prince Siddhartha achieving Enlightenment by trying to seduce him with his celestial Army and the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara’s daughters.

Question 15

Padmasambhava

Answer 15

Padmasambhāva (“Born from a Lotus”),[note 1] also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries).[1][2][3][4] According to some early Tibetan sources like the Testament of Ba, he came to Tibet in the 8th century and helped construct Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet.[3] However, little is known about the actual historical figure other than his ties to Vajrayana and Indian Buddhism.

Question 16

Prajapati

Answer 16

Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī or Pajapati was the foster-mother, step-mother and maternal aunt of the Buddha. In Buddhist tradition, she was the first woman to seek ordination for women, which she did from Gautama Buddha directly, and she became the first bhikkhuni

Question 17

Queen maya

Answer 17

Queen Māyā of Shakya (Sanskrit: मायादेवी, Pali: Māyādevī) was the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.

Question 18

Shakyamuni

Answer 18

Sage of the Shakya. Title for siddharth Gautama the historic bud, who is reharged as the founder of buddhism

Question 19

Siddhartha Gautama

Answer 19

Founder

Question 20

Xuanzang

Answer 20

Xuanzang, born Chen Hui / Chen Yi, colloquially also known as Hsiuen Tsang and by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mōkṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator

Question 21

Bodhgaya

Answer 21

In the state of Bihar, India. The Mahabodhu temple located there reputedly marked the spot where Siddhartha attained Buddhahoodl a descendent of the Bodhi tree under which Siddhartha meditated is the focal point of pilgrimage

Question 22

Kushinagara

Answer 22

Present day Kasia, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India; the place where the Buddha entered Parinirvana (further nirvana). Once a great pilgrimage site, the stupa reputed to have held his remains was destroyed before the seventh century

Question 23

Lumbini

Answer 23

In present day Nepal; the traditional birthplace of siddhartha and marked nearby by a stone column erected by the emperor Ashoka; near kapilavastu, capital of the ancient shakya kingdom

Question 24

Myanmar (Burma)

Answer 24

It is the most religious Buddhist country in terms of the proportion of monks in the population and proportion of income spent on religion.[5] Adherents are most likely found among the dominant Bamar people, Shan, Rakhine, Mon, Karen, and Chinese who are well integrated into Burmese society. Monks, collectively known as the sangha (community), are venerated members of Burmese society. Among many ethnic groups in Myanmar, including the Bamar and Shan, Theravada Buddhism is practiced in conjunction with the worship of nats, which are spirits who can intercede in worldly affairs.

Question 25

Nalanda university

Answer 25

Nalanda was a renowned mahavihara in ancient Magadha, India. Considered by historians to be the world’s first residential university and among the greatest centers of learning in the ancient world, it was located near the city of Rajagriha and about 90 kilometres southeast of Pataliputra

Question 26

Sarnath

Answer 26

Located near the sacred Hindu city of Banaras. A large stupa marks the spot where the Buddha delivered his First Sermon, an event traditionally understood as setting in motion of the wheel of the Dharma