What is a person called who renounces material comforts to live a self-disciplined life?
Ascetic
What is life filled with?
Suffering
What is the entire community of monks, nuns, and lay persons called?
Sangha
What is the Buddhist doctrine of "no soul" or "not self" that means permanent, unchanging, independent self does not exist, though people act as if it does?
Anatma
Where was Gautama's first sermon preached about the Four Noble Truths?
Sarnath
Who was the Trapist monk who attended a meeting of Buddhist and Catholic monks in Bangkok?
Thomas Merton
What is the Buddhist teaching that says liberation from samsara comes neither through severe ascetical practices nor through wild indulgences?
Middle Way
What is the most holy day of the year for Theravada Buddhists?
Visakha, "Buddha Day"
What is the Mahayana Buddhist text where Enlightenment is made available not only to monastics, but to all because of the great compassion of bodhisattvas?
Lotus Sutra
What is the process whereby the mind is cleared of all worldly concerns so that the person can concentrate on God?
Meditation
What empire controlled the Indian subcontinent from the 8th to 12th centuries?
Pala Dynasty
What is the authoritative Buddhism scripture of Theravada Buddhists?
Pali Canon
What empire ruled India with political peace and prosperity from 240 to 550 C.E.?
Gupta Dynasty
What is a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others called?
Bodhisattva
What is the spiritual goal for all Buddhists?
Nirvana
What Tibetan book contains the more popular scripture within Vajrayana Buddhism?
Book of the Dead
What religion was Siddhartha Gautama born into?
Hindu
Who was the Christian missionary in China?
Mateo Ricci
Who is the head lama of Tibetan Buddhism who was the spiritual and political leader of Tibet until its takeover by Chinese communist leaders?
Dalai Lama
What are the items of religious devotion, especially a piece of the body or personal items of an important religious figure called?
Relics
What are the early Buddhist scriptures called?
Tripitaka
What did Siddhartha see that his father tried to shield from him?
Four Sights 1. old age 2. illness 3. death 4. ascetic
Where is the traditional place of the death of Gautama?
Kushinara
What was originally small mounds made of stone or brick that housed relics of the historical Buddha called?
Stupas
Where did Siddhartha the Buddha arrive at enlightenment?
Bodhi Tree
What is the basic moral standard by which all Buddhists are to live by called?
Five Precepts
What is a reminder of what good conduct brings?
Incense
What are conservative monks called?
Sthaviras
What points to the impermanence of life?
Flowers
Who is the founder of Buddhism?
Siddhartha Gautama
What is the worship service to honor the deity held in homes and temples called?
Puja
What is an offering that dispels the darkness of delusion and ignorance?
Candlelight
Where can the story of Buddha's birth and attainment of Nirvana found?
Pitaka
What branch of Buddhism accommodates a greater number of people from all walks of life?
Mahayana Buddhism
What is a sign of purity?
Water
What are the towers in eastern Asia, usually with roofs curving upward; erected as temples or memorials called?
Pagodas
What is the prominent branch of Buddhism in Tibet?
Vajrayana Buddhism
In Theravada Buddhism, what refers to one who has attained Nirvana in their resent lifetime?
Arhat
In Tibetan Buddhism, what are the teachers and often heads of monasteries called?
Lamas
What is a sacred place for Theravada Buddhists?
Temples
What are liberal monks called?
Mahasanghikas
What is a monastic form of Buddhism?
Theravada
In Theravada Buddhism, where do men spend part of their lives?
Monasteries
What is the center of all Buddhist beliefs?
Four Noble Truths
What is the sacred geometric symbolic of the universe?
Mandala
What is in accordance with the laws of the cosmos and of nature?
Dharma
Who was the Christian missionary in Japan?
Francis Xavier
What literally means "to wake up"?
Buddha
Where was the 1893 World Parliament of Religions held?
Chicago
What word describes Hindu literature written in Sanskrit and concerned with ritual acts of body, speech, and mind?
Tantric
What Saint translated the life of Buddha?
Saint John of Damascus
What is the cause of suffering?
Desire
What two people have striking similarities?
Jesus and Siddhartha
What are the Four Noble Truths in order?
1. Life is filled with suffering. 2. The cause of suffering is desire. 3. To cease suffering, one must cease desiring. 4. The path to the end of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.
What kind of rituals are the most important in Buddhism?
Death Rituals
Experiential
Enlightenment, Nirvana
Mythical
Biography of the Buddha, stories and descriptions of the bodhisattva
Doctrinal
Middle Way, Four Noble Truths
Ethical
Five Precepts, Ideal of Compassion
Ritual
Mahayana acts of religious devotion and prayer to the bodhisattvas, chanting, and mandalas
Social
Sangha
Material
Bodhi Tree, Mandalas
Theravada Buddhism
- preserves close ties to the original teachings of Siddhartha - views Siddhartha as the ideal model to be imitated; he is man not a god; there is only one Buddha - limits nirvana to a select number of followers (mostly monks and nuns) - emphasizes wisdom (the arhat: a saint, having tasted nirvana only waits for death to achieve it fully) - one must attain enlightenment solely through one's own efforts - rejects many elements associated with religion - also known as the Lesser Vehicle
Mahayana Buddhism
- embrace changes adopting after the lifetime of Siddhartha - views Siddhartha as one of many Buddha's, as a savior, and often as a god - broadens nirvana to make it universal - that is, available to lay persons as well as monks and nuns - emphasizes compassion (the bodhisattva, having reached the doorway to nirvana, delays entering in order to care for others) - bodhisattva can help people along the path to enlightenment - accepts many religious elements - also known as the Great Vehicle
Vajrayana Buddhism
- also known as the Vehicle of the Diamond - followers believe that adherents can attain nirvana in this lifetime, here and now - homeland of Tibet (now claimed as the People's Republic of China) - prominent among the practices used to achieve enlightenment - mandalas: patterned icons that visually excite - Mudras: choreographed hand movements that draw on the energies of movement - Mantras: resonating chants that harness the spiritual potency of sound - Institution of Lamas: a hierarchy of clergy headed by he Dali Lama