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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. There are _____ Nikayas.
(a) Ninety-nine.
(b) Eleven.
(c) Fifty-five.
(d) Four.

2. When was W.C. Peppe digging on his estate in India?
(a) 1898.
(b) 1998.
(c) 1968.
(d) 1868.

3. One of the ancient and recurring images in Indian religious discourse is of _____.
(a) Eating the fruit of knowledge.
(b) Reading from written scripture.
(c) Sacrificial dance on the full moon.
(d) Crossing the ocean of existence.

4. The book looks at what is _____ in the three schools of Buddhist thought.
(a) Common.
(b) Extreme.
(c) Modern.
(d) Separate.

5. The religious tradition of Buddhism, at the time of the writing of the book, was followed by over _____ people.
(a) 2 billion.
(b) 100 million.
(c) 200 million.
(d) 20 million.

6. Some three months after the death of the Buddha, 500 arhats took part in a _____.
(a) Vedic sacrifice.
(b) Communial recitation.
(c) Fire ritual.
(d) Silent meditation.

7. What is the framework which underlies all later Buddhist thought called?
(a) Gautama.
(b) Abhidharma.
(c) Sramana.
(d) Boddhisatva.

8. One of the ten rules of training for a monk involves refraining from wearing _____.
(a) Belts.
(b) Jewelry.
(c) Hats.
(d) Cloaks.

9. The Mahayana likely began as a _____ movement.
(a) Minority monastic.
(b) Iconoclastic.
(c) Secret underground.
(d) Secular uprising.

10. Craving is understood to be the crystallization of _____.
(a) Disintegration.
(b) Detachment.
(c) Communicationt.
(d) Attachment.

11. What form of ritual was carried out at the death of the Buddha?
(a) Cremation.
(b) Mummufication.
(c) Embalming.
(d) Air sacrifice.

12. The Visuddhimagga is the Path of ____.
(a) Highest insight.
(b) Least resistance.
(c) Dependence.
(d) Purification.

13. How many days after the Bodhisattva was born did his mother die?
(a) Ten.
(b) Twelve.
(c) Seven.
(d) Three.

14. The aspect of change that makes the world a place of suffering is _____.
(a) Suddenness.
(b) Completeness.
(c) Impermanence.
(d) Orientation.

15. One of the ten rules of training for a monk involves refraining from false _____.
(a) Hope.
(b) Commitment.
(c) Advertising.
(d) Speech.

Short Answer Questions

1. Mahinda was a Buddhist monk who was the son of the emperor _____.

2. The author concentrates on sustained expositions of Buddhist _____.

3. The Bodhisattva was conceived on the _____ night of Asadha, or July.

4. Asoka, the great _____ king, was thought to have been consecrated 218 years after the death of the Buddha.

5. The five aggregates of _____ are suffering.

(see the answer keys)

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