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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the viewpoint of the Theravada Buddhist?
(a) It proposes a collective attempt to reach nirvana.
(b) It insists that the path to enlightenment is up to the individual.
(c) It teaches that only monks can reach enlightenment.
(d) It denies the idea of reincarnation.

2. What is the central characteristic of the Sikh?
(a) The Sikh seeks unity with God through money.
(b) The Sikh seeks unity with God through self denial.
(c) The Sikh seeks unity with God through love.
(d) The Sikh seeks unity with God through hard work.

3. How is the idea of heaven and earth viewed in Confucianism?
(a) Heaven and Earth in Confucianism are looked upon as a continuum
(b) Heaven is the abode of the ancesters and should be forgotten
(c) Heaven is the place where earthly questions are answered
(d) Heaven is ignored completely

4. What is the main departure of Tibetan Buddhism?
(a) Prayer wheels and magic bells
(b) It enables achieving nirvana within a single lifetime.
(c) Doing away with monks' robes
(d) No begging for food

5. Who is Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakya?
(a) The first Hindu.
(b) The author of the Hindu Vidas.
(c) The founder of Sikhism.
(d) The awakened one, the Buddha.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is credited as the originator of Taoism?

2. How did the Taoist church devise a way of harnessing higher power for human benefit?

3. What did the Buddha see as the downfall of men?

4. According to Hinduism who has the spiritual ideas of infinite being, infinite awareness, and infinite bliss?

5. The two men Huston Smith regards as having the greatest impact on the world as we know it today.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the gist of Philosophical Taoism?

2. Describe in one sentence the basic tenet of Hinduism.

3. How does Taoism look at the weak and the deformed?

4. What is the irony of Buddhist practice today?

5. Explain something about the Atman.

6. Explain how Huston Smith made his arbitrary decisions about what to include in his book.

7. Tell how one word came to epitomize Buddhism.

8. Describe briefly the character of Confucius.

9. Why is Zen Buddhism so difficult to define in words?

10. In what way is Buddhism a religion of introspection?

(see the answer keys)

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