Key Terms Flashcards
What is Adultery?
Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse
What is Divorce?
The act of legally ending a marriage
What is Cohabitation?
To live with another person in a sexual relationship without being married, or in a civil partnership
What is Commitment?
A sense of dedication and obligation to something or someone
What is Contraception?
Methods used to prevent a women from becoming pregnant during or after sexual intercourse
What is Gender Equality?
People of all genders enjoying the same rights and opportunities in all aspects of their lives
What are Responsibilities?
Actions or duties you are expected to carry out
What are Roles?
A position, status or function of a person in society, as well as the characteristics and social behaviour expected of them
What is Good?
Something that is considered morally right, beneficial and to our advantage
What is Evil?
Something that is considered extremely immoral, wicked and wrong
What is Forgiveness?
To grant pardon for a wrongdoing; to give up resentment and the desire to seek revenge against the wrongdoer
What is Free Will?
The ability to make choices voluntarily an independently. The belief that nothing is pre-determined
What is Justice?
Fairness; where everyone has equal provisions and opportunities
What is Morality?
Principles and standards determining which actions are right or wrong
What is Punishment?
A penalty given to someone for a crime or wrong they have done
What is Sin?
Deliberate immoral action, breaking a religious or moral law
What is Suffering?
Pain or distress caused by injury, illness or loss. Suffering can be physical, emotional/psychological or spiritual
What is Euthanasia?
Sometimes referred to as ‘Mercy killing’, The act of killing or permitting the death of a person who is suffering from a serious illness
What is Afterlife?
Life after death; the belief existence continues after physical death
What is Environmental Sustainability?
Ensuring that the demands placed on natural resources can be met without reducing capacity to allow all people and other species of animals, as well as plant life, to live well, now and in the future
What is Evolution?
The process by which different living creatures are believed to have developed from earlier, less complex forms during the history of the earth
What is Abortion?
When a pregnancy is ended so it doesn’t result in the birth of a child
What is Quality of life?
The extent to which life is meaningful and pleasurable
What is Sanctity of life?
The belief that life is precious or sacred. For many religious believers, only human life holds this special status
What is Soul?
The spiritual aspect of a being; that which connects someone to God. The soul is often regarded as non physical, and as living on after physical death, in an afterlife
What is Censorship?
The practice of supressing and limiting access to materials considered obscene, offensive or a threat to security. People may also be restricted in their speech by censorship laws
What is Discrimination?
Acts of treating groups of people, or individuals differently, based on prejudice
What is Extremism?
Believing in and supporting ideas that are very far from what most people consider correct or reasonable
What are Human Rights?
The basic entitlement of all human beings, afforded to them simply because they are human
What is Personal Conviction?
Something a person strongly feels or believes in
What is Prejudice?
Prejudging; judging people to be inferior or superior without cause
What is Relative Poverty?
A standard of poverty measured in relation to the standards of a society in which a person lives
ie living on less than X% of UK average income
What is Absolute Poverty?
An acute state of deprivation, whereby a person cannot access the most basic of their human needs
What is Social Justice?
Promoting a fair society by challenging injustice and valuing diversity. Ensuring that everyone has equal access to provisions, equal opportunities and rights
What is Anicca?
The impermanent nature of all things, everything is always changing
What are the 3 types of Anicca?
Change in living things
Change in non living things
Change in the mind
What is Anatta?
No independent or permanent self
What is Dukkha?
Suffering, all life is unsatisfactory
What are the 3 types of Dukkha?
Ordinary pain and suffering
Suffering caused by change
Suffering caused by attachment
What is the Lakshanas?
Collective term for the 3 universal truths, Anicca, Anatta, Dukkha
What are the Skhandas/Aggregates?
The 5 elements that make up a human being- Form, Sensation, Perception, Mental formations, Consciousness
- always changing, show there is no fixed self
What are the 4 noble truths?
Dukkha
Samudaya
Nirodha
Magga
(dead soldiers never move)
What is Dukkha in the 4 noble truths?
The truth of suffering
What is Samudaya?
Suffering is caused by tanha (attachment)
What is Nirodha?
Suffering can end
What is Magga?
The cure to end suffering, the middle way/8 fold path
What is the 3 fold way?
The way of mental training, the way of wisdom, the way of morality.
- 3 groups of the 8 fold path
What is Pratitya Samutpada?
The law of cause and effect: everything in the universe is caused, many of these causes are linked together in a web
What is Sunyata?
Mahayana concept that all things are empty. All things are made up of different parts, they have no essence that is their own
What is Renunciation?
When a Theravada monk promises to give up the world and live a life free from tanha/ the 3 poisons
What is Tanha?
Craving/Attachment
What are the 3 types of tanha?
Attachment to the senses
Attachment to being something your not
Attachment not to be something you are or you are experiencing
What is a Buddha?
The “awakened one”, an enlightened being who has abandoned the 3 poisons
What is Buddhahood?
The highest level of enlightenment in Mahayana Buddhism. To unlock Buddha Nature and wish for peace for all living beings
What is Tathagatagarba?
The Mahayana doctrine that states all sentient beings have the potential to unlock Buddhahood
What is Enlightenment?
A mind which is free from suffering
What is Nirvana?
A mind which is permanently free from suffering
What is Paranirvana?
A Mahayana festival celebrating the Buddha’s death and was no longer reborn
What is an Arhat?
Theravada term for someone who has destroyed the 3 poisons through following the 8 fold path. Only monks can achieve this, they will never be reborn again
What is a Bodhisattva?
An enlightened being in the state of Nirvana who delays their Paranirvana to help others free from suffering. They have a mind always driven by compassion
What is Ahimsa?
Non harm to all living beings
What are the 4 Brahma Viharas?
the 4 sublime states
- metta
- karuna
- upekkha
- mudita
What is Metta?
Loving kindness to all living beings.
What is Karuna?
Compassion
What is Upekkha?
Peace
What is Mudita?
Joy
What is the Dhammapada?
The collective sayings of the Buddha
What is Dana?
Giving
- ie to alms bowls of Monks
What is Punna?
Making merit
- ie dana
What are the Pancha Sila?
The 5 precepts
- 5 guidelines for living a good life
What are the 6 Paramitas?
the 6 perfections practiced by Mahayana Buddhists to become a Bodhisattva
- Wisdom
- Generosity
- Morality
- Patience
- Diligence
- Concentration
What is Samsara?
The continual cycle of death, birth and rebirth
What is the World of Samsara?
The world of suffering where creatures are continuously reborn
What is Karma?
Action
What is Rebirth?
Being reborn as a result of a sentient beings previous actions
What is Mediation?
Focusing the mind in order to achieve concentration, clarity, positive emotions and positive perception. (linked to the aggregates
What is Samatha?
Calming mediation which focuses on one thing only
ie kasina, breathing
Usually before Vipassana meditation
What is Mettabhavana?
Loving Kindness meditation, practiced to cultivate loving kindness towards all living beings
What is Vipassana?
“Insight” meditation enabling the individual to see the true nature of things.
Practiced by Theravada Buddhists
Concentrate on the body or its sensation
What is Vassa?
The rainy season before Kathina
- Theravada tradition
What is Kathina?
Theravada Festival to celebrate end of Vassa, robes are given to the monks
What is Omnibenevolent?
The state of being all loving and infinitely good- a characteristic often attributed to God
What is Omnipotent?
The all-powerful, almighty and unlimited nature of God.
What is the Trinity?
The three persons of God; God the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit
What is the Incarnation?
God becoming human in the form of Jesus
What is Atonement?
The belief that Jesus’ death on the cross healed the rift
between humans and God
What is the Resurrection?
The belief that Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday,
conquering death
What is a Sacraments?
An outward sign of an invisible and inward blessing by God.
For example; Baptism, Eucharist.
What is Evangelism?
Preaching of the gospel to others with the intention of converting others to the Christian faith
