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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. What is the fifth step in the formal practice of maitri?

2. Who do we first practice Maitri on?

3. What does Chodron write we cannot do without loving-kindness for ourselves?

4. Where did Atisha Dipankara take the bodhichitta teachings?

5. What is the synonym for sitting mediation used by Chodron?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the four limitless qualities?

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

3. What are the three lords of materialism?

4. Under what conditions does the author claim that people can "train" to be a warrior?

5. What does the slogan "train in three difficulties" mean?

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

7. What does "of the two witnesses, hold the principal one" mean?

8. Chodron asserts that there are two options in life. The first is "to grow up and relate to life directly." What is the second?

9. What aspiration is used in the practice of loving-kindness?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does the author describe as an in between place? Why is this important?

Essay Topic 2

According to Chodron, what are the four limitless qualities? Why are they important? How are they cultivated? Does the author suggest which ones are most important?

Essay Topic 3

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

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