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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. Who are the two witnesses that Chodron writes about?

2. What does tonglen literally mean?

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

4. What does Chodron argue happens when we harm others?

5. Where does the title of the book come from?

Short Essay Questions

1. What image of maitri does Chodron use to explain the concept?

2. According to Chodron, what is our relationship with enlightenment?

3. Why does the author include an anecdote about finding her boyfriend "passionately embracing another woman"?

4. What are the lojong teachings?

5. What ways does Chodron write that meditation can be misused?

6. How did the nineteenth century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggest arousing compassion?

7. What is tonglen?

8. Why does Pema Chodron argue that most of us sow the seeds of our own suffering?

9. What do Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa have in common, according to Chodron?

10. What does Chodron write is the "foundation" of bodhichitta training?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

According to Chodron, what are the lojong slogans? How do they compliment the teachings in the other sections of the book? What are they used for? Which lojong slogan does the author describe in greatest detail?

Essay Topic 2

How does Chodron define joy? How does she suggest we cultivate it?

Essay Topic 3

Does the author present herself as an authority on the topic of Buddhism? How?

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