Buddhism

Question 1

Buddha of the Mahayana Pure Land Schools

Answer 1

Amitabha/Amida (“Infinite Light”)

Question 2

Political and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and incarceration of Avalokiteshvara.

Answer 2

Dalai Lama

Question 3

Suffering, dissatisfaction, the first of the Four Noble Truths

Answer 3

Dukkha (“suffering”)

Question 4

The exemplar in the mainstream tradition, this enlightened being will reach nirvana at death

Answer 4

Arhat (“worthy one”)

Question 5

The Buddhist goal, variously understood as liberation from samsara, awakening from ignorance to insight, the attainment of Buddhahood, the realization of nirvana, and the elimination of suffering

Answer 5

Enlightenment

Question 6

An exemplar of compassion who vows to remain in the world to help other beings achieve enlightenment

Answer 6

Bodhisattva (“enlightenment being”)

Question 7

Teaching or law, one of the “Three Jewels”

Answer 7

Dharma (“teaching”)

Question 8

The Buddhist community, one of the Three Jewels

Answer 8

Sangha (“community”)

Question 9

Unsatisfactory cycle of birth, death, rebirth, and redeath

Answer 9

Samsara (“wandering”)

Question 10

Moral action and it’s consequences; the fuel that drives the cycle of life, death, and rebirth

Answer 10

Karma

Question 11

The goal of the Buddhist tradition; namely, the bliss of liberation from the suffering and ignorance of samsara

Answer 11

Nirvana (“blowing out’)

Question 12

A sacred text that includes teachings of the Buddha, said to be memorized by followers and later written down

Answer 12

Sutra (“thread”)

Question 13

Bodhisattva of compassion, also known as Guanyin (China), Kannon (Japan), and Chenrezig and Tara (Tibet)

Answer 13

Avalokiteshvara (“The Lord Who Looks Down”)

Question 14

A being who has achieved enlightenment.

Answer 14

Buddha (“awakened one”)

Question 15

Coming Buddha, currently residing in a heavenly realm but destined to return to earth

Answer 15

Maitreya

Question 16

Core Mahayana teaching that all things are interdependent and impermanent, empty of independent or essential nature

Answer 16

Shunyata (“emptiness”)

Question 17

Influential Indian philosopher of emptiness and founder of Buddhism’s “Middle Way” school

Answer 17

Nagarjuna

Question 18

Mahayana doctrine explaining why the Buddha taught different people, depending on the circumstances

Answer 18

Upaya (“skillful means”)

Question 19

Japanese meditation school, rooted in the Chan tradition of China, that emphasizes either “just sitting” or koan study

Answer 19

Zen

Question 20

Paradoxical word puzzle, typically utilized in the Rinzai Zen tradition, that calls forth a “solution” that eludes rational thinking

Answer 20

Koan

Question 21

Seated meditation in the Chan/Zen tradition

Answer 21

Zazen

Question 22

Buddhist branch popular in East Asia that takes rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha/Amida Buddha as its goal

Answer 22

Pure Land Buddhism

Question 23

Esoteric Indian texts and tradition, influential among Tibetan Buddhists, that describe and cultivate the worship of buddhas and bodhisattvas

Answer 23

Tantra

Question 24

Tibetan Buddhist term for teacher or guru

Answer 24

Lama

Question 25

Short verbal formulation used in chanting or meditation

Answer 25

Mantra

Question 26

Map of a buddha palace used in meditation and devotion, particularly in Tibetan Buddhism

Answer 26

mandala (“circle”)

Question 27

Modern form of Buddhism that emphasizes this worldly activism on behalf of those who are suffering

Answer 27

Engaged Buddhism

Question 28

“Intermediate state” between death and rebirth, important in Tibetan Buddhism

Answer 28

Bardo

Question 29

Early Buddhist branch, also called Vajrayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism, and Pali Buddhism

Answer 29

Mainstream Buddhism

Question 30

Early mainstream Buddhist branch now popular in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia

Answer 30

Theravada (“Way of the Elders”)

Question 31

Largest Buddhist branch, based on Indian sutras that emerged a few centuries after the Buddha’s death and distinguished by its doctrine that all sentient beings will eventually becomes buddhas

Answer 31

Mahayana (“Great Vehicle”)

Question 32

Mahayana Buddhist expression popular in Tibet and focused on secretive Tantric teachings and practices

Answer 32

Vajrayana

Question 33

Place of the Buddha’s awakening, in modern-day Bihar in northeastern India

Answer 33

Bodh Gaya

Question 34

Indian emperor and Buddhist sympathizer who promoted Buddhism and inter religious understanding

Answer 34

Ashoka