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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. In a sutta in the Pali canon, the Buddha is said to have thirty-two _____.

2. An _____ is a being from a lower realm of existence in Buddhist cosmology.

3. All Buddhism knows the story of the ascetic, _____.

4. Atman is the Sanskrit word for self or _____.

5. A Tathagata teaches that _____ has a beautiful beginning, a beautiful middle, and a beautiful ending.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is bhavanga?

2. What is the wheel of becoming?

3. What did the Buddha say of the beginning of samsara?

4. What attitudes do the Mahayana sutras display toward the bodhisattva?

5. How does the sense of self spring from delusion?

6. How is faith compared to a gem and a stream in Buddhism?

7. What is the Buddhist view of faith on the cognitive and effective modes?

8. What does Nagasena tell the king about the self?

9. How are the thirty-one levels of existence classified? Who resides in these realms?

10. Why is stilling the mind an integral goal of Buddhist meditation?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain nirvana in Buddhism. What is this? How is it reached?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the written tradition of Buddhism. How did it come about? Compare it to the oral tradition.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the life of the Buddha. What sort of family did he come from? How did he become the Buddha?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 650 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample