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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. Why does the Dalai Lama say he would prefer hell to heaven?
(a) The devil will be an interesting creature to meet.
(b) He could solve more problems in hell.
(c) He has always liked the heat.
(d) He probably has some good friends there.

2. What key paradox of Buddhism does Abrams point out in the section titled Acceptance: The Only Place?
(a) We are only as trustworthy as our ancestors were.
(b) Sometimes the need for connection drives us to spend more time alone.
(c) We strive to be happy, but we often are sad.
(d) We need goals to grow as people, but we should not become overly attached to our own aspirations.

3. What does the Dalai Lama say is first necessary before one can bestow kindness on someone else?
(a) One must first learn to donate to charities.
(b) One must first learn to show kindness to one's family.
(c) One must first find God.
(d) One must first learn to show kindness to oneself.

4. What is the Dalai Lama's hall hung with?
(a) Tapestries that show scenes of Rome.
(b) Prayer pages.
(c) Bright thankgkas.
(d) Letters from followers.

5. What does Jinpa say is the true measure of spiritual development?
(a) How angry one is.
(b) How self-aware one is.
(c) How grateful one is.
(d) How one confront's one's own mortality.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of a world does Brother Steindl-Rast say a grateful world is?

2. What was the Dalai Lama disguised in when he fled from Tibet in 1959?

3. What is the dessert that Archbishop Tutu most enjoys?

4. Who does Archbishop Tutu say are usually the hardest for people to forgive?

5. Which primatologist believes that peace-making activities are extremely common in the animal kingdom?

Short Essay Questions

1. What decision regarding Archbishop Tutu's children created some tension and anguish between Tutu and his wife, Leah?

2. In Part IV, what does Abrams say is necessary in order for people to feel present in each moment?

3. In Part III, what does the Dalai Lama say happens when he prays to a certain statue in his home every morning?

4. In Part IV, what do Archbishop Tutu and the Dalai Lama emphatically agree that the willingness and ability to forgive are signs of in a person's character?

5. In Part IV, why does Archbishop Tutu say the ability to laugh at himself has served him well in life and allowed him to connect with people?

6. In Part III, in what way does the Dalai Lama say he considers himself a student at 80 years old?

7. In Part IV, what does Brother David Steindl-Rast say about the relationship between gratitude and happiness?

8. In Part III, what does Jinpa say is the true measure of spiritual development?

9. In Part IV, what does the Dalai Lama say he learned on his flight from Japan to San Francisco in sitting next to a mother with young children?

10. In Part IV, why did the Dalai Lama laugh so hard when a former Protestant militant in Belfast said the loyalists had always taught him Jesus was Protestant and not Catholic?

(see the answer keys)

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