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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Archbishop Tutu say is necessary for two friends to be able to joke easily with one another?

2. What does the Dalai Lama say the Buddha's first teaching is?

3. What does Archbishop say is the upside about China invading Tibet?

4. What does the Dalai Lama say is first necessary before one can bestow kindness on someone else?

5. What kind of perspective does the Dalai Lama urge his followers to try to take?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In Part III, what does Abrams's own father say after his terrible experience of traumatic brain injury?

4. In Part IV, what does Abrams explain as a core paradox of happiness?

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. In Part III, what does Abrams identify as two of the greatest sources of suffering in our lives?

9. In Part IV, what does Abrams identify as the so-called first pillar of the heart, and why is it so important?

10. In Part IV, who does Abrams cite as an inspiration of what real gratitude looks like, and what were this person's circumstances?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing Archbishop Tutu's feelings about his own relationship with his father. How does Tutu deal with his regret over his missed opportunity to speak with his father just before his father's death?

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance of the Tibetan Children's Village to both the Dalai Lama and to Tibetan culture in general? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

How does analytical meditation, as the Dalai Lama explains it, differ from meditation in general? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to support your conclusions.

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