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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Chondron describe our "fundamental energy"?
(a) As "essentially good."
(b) As "tender, wholesome and fresh."
(c) As "unpredictable, like a leaf on the wind."
(d) As "loving and generous at its very core."

2. What do vajrayana Buddhists claim is inherent in emotion?
(a) Hope.
(b) Wisdom.
(c) Love.
(d) The seeds of self-growth.

3. How do we begin to practice the four limitless qualities?
(a) We study the holy books with our spiritual teachers, and once we understand these qualities, we begin to meditate on them.
(b) We try to love ourselves by making sure we are as comfortable as possible, and then try to help others be comfortable as well.
(c) We must believe in our own potential, and we may begin by creating a slogan that states what we want to embody.
(d) We begin by wishing happiness for ourselves and our close circle, gradually widening the circle.

4. What does the author claim is the gift of understanding that uncertainty is part of life?
(a) Understanding that certainty is not necessary to find happiness.
(b) Knowing that even Nirvana is uncertain makes it all the more exciting for believers.
(c) Not believing that others can avioid uncertainty.
(d) Knowing that nothing can be counted on saves us from disappointment.

5. Why does the author encourage readers to question the "strategies of the ego"?
(a) To increase the hope in our lives.
(b) To connect to the Superego.
(c) To let our guard down and better understand others.
(d) To eventually change our behavior.

6. What are the four qualities of maitri?
(a) Hope, relaxation, aspiration, and generosity.
(b) Steadfastness, clear seeing, experiencing our emotional distress, and attention to the present moment..
(c) Frivolity, materialism, self-absorption, and disinterest in others.
(d) Our innate talents, meditation, generosity, and kindness.

7. What is the traditional aspiration used in formal maitri training?
(a) "May I and others enjoy happiness and the root of happiness."
(b) "There are no problems that I must solve."
(c) "May I create joy in my own life, and rejoice in the happiness that I see in the lives of others."
(d) "My life and my joy is my responsibility."

8. What are the three noble principles?
(a) Good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end.
(b) Meditate, exercise, and rest.
(c) Love, hope, and generosity.
(d) Confess your faults, move toward your fears, and release your expectations.

9. What did the Buddha say about our relationship to enlightenment?
(a) Enlightenment can be achieved by everyone.
(b) We are never separated from enlightenment.
(c) Only by releasing the goal of achieving enlightenment is it achieved.
(d) We can all achieve enlightenment through the same method.

10. According to Chodron, what two things do all those who set out on this path discover that we all have?
(a) Anxiety and attention problems.
(b) Neurosis and wisdom.
(c) Changing emotions and difficulty focusing.
(d) Difficulty in life and diminished hope for the future.

11. What does the author claim that lojong slogans or the slogans of Atisha can help us do?
(a) Remember wisdom at emotional moments.
(b) Become a true warrior.
(c) Learn to meditate in less time than any other method.
(d) Understand the nature of love.

12. What does the author claim that sitting meditation cultivates?
(a) Body aches.
(b) Loving-kindness.
(c) Fear.
(d) Freedom from emotion.

13. What does the author recommend that we do with our sorrow?
(a) Fully focus on it in order to verbalize it.
(b) Try to change it.
(c) Master it in order to eliminate it.
(d) Sit with it.

14. Which of the following does Chodron recommend?
(a) Do not expect applause.
(b) Do not eat food that will make your mind race.
(c) Relax slowly into meditation, and it will be less strenuous on your body.
(d) Remember only positive moments from the past.

15. What does tonglen literally mean?
(a) Love.
(b) Sending and taking.
(c) Materialism.
(d) Selflessness.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is maitri called in the Shamhala teaching?

2. Which of the two witnesses does Chodron say we should hold?

3. What does Chodron claim we cultivate through making aspirations?

4. What poet does the author quote as saying, "If I don't get a vision on Desolation Peak, then my name ain't William Blake."

5. How many steps does the aspiration practice for compassion have?

(see the answer keys)

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