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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 does the author claim that bodhichitta training unlocks?

2. How does the author claim that aspirations and affirmations differ?

3. How does the author characterize meditation?

4. Who do we first practice Maitri on?

5. What does the author claim is the gift of understanding that uncertainty is part of life?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What are the three principles that the Buddha taught to be characteristic of human existence?

5. What do the vajrayana Buddhists believe about emotions?

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

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

8. What are the three lords of materialism?

9. What is tonglen?

10. What does Chodron compare to "tapping into a spring of living water that has been temporarily encased in solid rock"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

In The Places That Scare You, what do the terms maitri and tonglen mean? How does Chodron write that these are these cultivated?

Essay Topic 3

According to Chodron, there are five strengths. What are these? Why are they important for her?

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