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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What hope does Chodron write that we should abandon?
(a) Hope of growth.
(b) Hope of change.
(c) Hope of fruition.
(d) Hope of earning love.

2. What does the author cite Trungpa RInpoche as teaching?
(a) "Everything has meaning."
(b) "There is no cure for hot and cold."
(c) "Anger is natural, but not helpful."
(d) "Life is always best when you try to look on the bright side."

3. What advice did the author receive as a six year old?
(a) To have a clear mind by avoiding spicy foods.
(b) Not to listen to advice.
(c) To care for others in order to make her own life smoother.
(d) Not to let life harden her heart.

4. What is the main point of the formal practice of maitri?
(a) To uncover the ability to love without bias.
(b) To love freely and ask nothing in return.
(c) To give up our independence to join a community.
(d) To withdraw from the noise of our daily lives.

5. What does the author claim that bodhichitta training unlocks?
(a) Our feeling of happiness.
(b) Our own deepest needs.
(c) The four limitless qualities.
(d) Our innate ability to relax.

6. What are the lojong teachings for?
(a) Opening the heart.
(b) Finding a good feeling.
(c) Training the mind.
(d) Seeking spiritual guidance.

7. How does the author characterize meditation?
(a) As simple and fun.
(b) As the only path to a life free from suffering.
(c) As difficult but rewarding.
(d) As a great way to increase productivity,

8. What does Chodron claim is our relationship to reaching out to others?
(a) She writes that this is our natural inclination.
(b) She argues that there is no point in trying to do this.
(c) She claims that this is always hard work, and never natural for us.
(d) She writes that we can do it only with great effort.

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

10. What is the final step of the formal practice of maitri?
(a) Expanding our loving kindness to all others.
(b) Listening to our heart in total silence.
(c) Teaching others what we have learned.
(d) Understanding that our own perspective is limited.

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

12. Where does the title of the book come from?
(a) Buddha.
(b) A sacred scripture.
(c) A quote from Ghandi.
(d) A quote between a teacher and student.

13. What does Chodron claim is the most difficult step in any practice?
(a) "Having the guts to experiment."
(b) "Allowing ourselves to begin something new."
(c) "Listening to a teacher, and admitting that we do not know our own way."
(d) "Aknowledging that we are all churned up."

14. What helps teach us the four qualities of maitri?
(a) Anger.
(b) Hurt.
(c) Lessons from our past experience.
(d) Sitting meditation.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the author claim that lojong slogans or the slogans of Atisha can help us do?

2. How do we begin to practice the four limitless qualities?

3. What does the author claim Martin Luther King is an example of?

4. What is Maitri?

5. What does the author compare with the rawness of a broken heart?

(see the answer keys)

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