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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What emotion does the author NOT list as one that is likely to arise when one feels that meditation is not going well?
(a) Self-loathing.
(b) Frustration.
(c) Awareness.
(d) Anger.

2. What do psychologists call the condition of "being stuck" in the natural human cycle of ultimately futile pleasure-seeking?
(a) The never-ending spiral.
(b) The hamster wheel.
(c) The great illusion.
(d) The hedonic treadmill.

3. In what year did the author attend his first silent meditation retreat?
(a) 1996.
(b) 2005.
(c) 2003.
(d) 1987.

4. What is the title of Chapter 2 of Buddhism is True?
(a) When Are Feelings Illusions?.
(b) Taking the Red Pill.
(c) Paradoxes of Meditation.
(d) The Alleged Nonexistence of Your Self.

5. The Buddha said that engagement is the product of a what?
(a) A feeling.
(b) A shame.
(c) A power.
(d) A lust.

Short Answer Questions

1. What emotion does the author say he feels when he is getting ready for a public speaking engagement?

2. In what decade were the famous series of experiments conducted by Benjamin Libet?

3. The author uses the example of his childhood experiences with the Tooth Fairy in order to demonstrate what concept?

4. What experiments are said to have "powerfully demonstrated the capacity of the conscious self to convince itself that it is calling the shots when it is not" (79)?

5. What does the author say is the only thought people have when eyeing a sugar doughnut?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author use the discussion of pain to illustrate his points about not-self?

2. What is witness consciousness, according to the author?

3. What is the author's view of the phenomenon of human feelings?

4. How does the author go about trying to depict the bliss he feels as a result of meditation?

5. Discuss the tendency of humans to engage in self-inflation.

6. To whom does the author recommend a meditation practice?

7. How does the author shine a spotlight on his own flaws and for what purpose does he do so?

8. Discuss the author's use of the anecdote regarding his tense jaw.

9. Discuss the author's discussion of a wandering mind.

10. How does the author use the example of bodily fluids in order to demonstrate the differences between Western Buddhism and Traditional Buddhism?

(see the answer keys)

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