Buddhism

The Wheel Conquers India

1. King Ashoka came to power, conquered most of india, instituted thera Buddhism 2. held 3rd Buddhism council 3. conquest By Dharma (applying buddhism to political administrations 4. created stupas 5. Buddhism spreads by missionary

The wheel of Buddhism moves through South Asia

1. Monastics more important in SE Asia 2. Buddhism coexists with different religions in different social locations

Dependent Origination

1. Neither existence nor non-existence but Contingent Existence 2. Everything that arises interdepends on other factors 3. When composite qualities (Skandas) act together, they give the illusion of a unified soul or being

Mahayana (great Vehicle)

1. Sakyamuni isn't a real person 2. Dharma reveals Sakyamuni 3. Monasticism is not necessary for liberation 4. Bodhisattvas are emulated/venerated and grant karmic merit for prayer, devotion

What are the basic Doctrines

1. Theravada Buddhism (S/SE Asia) 2. Mahayana Buddhism (east Asia) 3. Vajarayana Buddhism (central America)

Buddhism in Central Asia and Japan

1. Tibetans have their own nature religion 2. four schools emerged and completed 3. 5th Dalai Lama unifies country 4. Accelerated Mahayana called Vajarayana

Theravada (way of the elders)

1. Vinaya (moral codes) 2. Sakyamuni is a natural, extraordinary human (he reveals Dharma) 3. one buddha at a time 4. Prayers are not to connect you to Sakyamuni but to progress you down the noble path 5. Vinaya required for liberation 6. Arhats are role models

the early Buddhist canon referred to as the Three Baskets consists of

1. Vinaya, rules of conduct mainly concerned with the regulation of the monastic order 2. Sutras, discourses purportedly spoken by the Buddha and sometimes by his immediate disciples 3. abhidharma, including scholastic treatises that codify and interpret the teachings attributed to the Buddha

Mahayana Theology

1. Zen reading 2. Sunyata 3. perfect Wisdom 4. perfect compassion

What are the 3 jewels?

1. buddha 2. dharma 3. sangha

according to Buddhism what 3 things can be achieved through meditation?

1. escape from cyclic existence 2. elimination of mental afflictions 3. clarity of perception

4 noble truths

1. everything in Samsara is subject to Dukka (sufferings) 2. Suffering arises from Trsna (cravings) and results in Karma 3. It is possible to end Dukka by ending Trsna 4. To end Trsna by means of the "noble eight fold path)

the five aggregates (skandha) to which the false notion of a soul is imputed are

1. form 2. feelings 3. discrimination 4. consciousness 5. compositional factors

Varayana "tantric Vehicle"

1. goal is to become Bodisatturas (both fierce and pacifistic) 2. third turning Dharmic Wheels 3. Thankas (visual icons of deities) 4. Cultivating Wisdom + Compassion

The anatomy of the Thai Stupa from the top down is

1. liberation 2. cosmic foces 3. mount meru 4. buddha relics 5. meditating human

Mahayana Buddhism (japan)

1. prince Shotoku becomes the early patronage figure and sutra commentator 2. Lotus Sutra becomes a part of japanese and Chinese Buddhism

What are two important aspects of the awakening of Mahayana faith

1. the presentation of the buddha matrix 2. the notion of one mind

How have Chinese temples been influenced by Buddhist monasteries? What about influences from nature?

The interior of Chinese temples have been influenced by Buddhist monasteries by the books (like monasteries, every temple will have a library) and by the abbot (head monk or nun). Some influences on Chinese temples from nature are gardens (most ancient Chinese temples have one) and the seven sacred mountains.

Name four external items commonly found outside Chinese Buddhist temples. What is the key symbolic motif used to identify Chinese temples as Buddhist?

The key symbolic motif used to identify Chinese temples as Buddhist is the lotus flower. Four common external items commonly found outside a Chinese Buddhist temple are a cast iron incense burner, a big iron bell, a pair of temple guardians and dragons

A person who recognizes that language is simply an interconnected system that relates to other words is able to

attain correct realization

The doctrine of ____________ from the discourse explaining the thought was central to the Yogacara school and also influential in other Mahayana countries

base consciousness

Name at least four common external stylistic elements of modern Chinese Buddhist temples. What is the key architectural structure used to identify Buddhist temples as Chinese?

big dipping roofs, symmetry, a main door at the top of a grand staircase, and big round columns are four common external stylistic elements of modern Chinese Buddhist temples. The key architectural structure used to identify Buddhist temples as Chinese is the pagoda tower.

Vesaka (buddha Day)

buddha's birthday

Uposatha

buddhist days of observance (Theravada perform once per week) (Mahayana perform 6 times per month)

Mandala

cosmogram

2nd council

criticism among bhikkus/bhikkunis leads to vessel council

the tantric practice of ______________ involves first creating a vivid image of a buddha in front of one and then visualizing the buddha as merging with oneself

deity yoga

The ____________ provides advice to rulers regarding how best to manage conflict that is an inevitable aspect of worldly affairs

discourse on the Realm of the Bodhisattva

Buddhas first public teaching is referred to as the __________ because it set in motion the Buddha's teaching career

discourse turning the wheel of doctrine

The Madhyamaka (middle way) school of Buddhist philosophy emphasizes the centrality of the

doctrine of emptiness

according to the Buddha following close examination the __________ should be adopted

doctrines that lead to positive results

Bodhisattvas

enlightened mind Grant karmic merit for prayers and devotion Take place of Gods/Goddess/Deities in other religions

according to Dogen's system, in the state of not thinking, a meditator

enters into a spontaneous awareness of reality

according to Viryavajras commentary on the Samputa Tantra, one should engage in the practices of the four levels of the use of desire in order to utilize the energy of desire as a force that can

eradicate mental afflictions

Mahasamgha Buddhism (China)

focuses more on household/everyday people (focus shifts to laity, away from monks/nuns)

Sangha

followers

Bodhi Nirvana

freedom from karmic creation/samsara

parinirvana

freedom from karmic effects

Monastics

full time devotees

What did the Buddha ask if his disciples before entering final nirvana?

he asked them to rely on the teachings they had already received

how does the Buddhist sage Nagasena convince king Milinda of the truth of the Buddhas teachings?

he uses the analogy of the chariot whose parts must be assembled to create the whole chariot

The Perfection of Wisdom texts from the Diamond Sutra contain many warnings against

holding too rigidly to doctrines

according to the doctrine of dependent arising, all the phenomena of the universe are

interconnected by relationships of mutual causality

the practice of skillful means (upaya-kausalya) involves adapting the Dharma to the

interests and proclivities of individual listeners

the early chinese translators of indian buddhist texts used a translation system termed _______ that used indigenous Daoist terminology

keyi

In India, liberation from samsara also meant

liberation from from expected social roles

dhoenam

lower parapet

What is a cornerstone of dogens system of meditative practice

meditating diligently in order to "drop off body and mind"

yogacara emphasizes the importance of ________________ practices

meditative

nispanna-krama

meditators invite buddhas to merge with them, a process that symbolically transforms them into buddhas

Utpatti-krama

meditators visualize buddhas in front of themselves

The _________ discourses constitute the largets section of the Pali canon and contain the widest variety of materials

minor (khuddaka)

Bhikkus

monks

Excerpts from the Hevajra-Tantra discuss the tantric idea that there is

no fundamental difference between cyclic existence and nirvana

One of the basic vows required of all tantric practitioners is a pledge

not to denigrate women

Bhikkuni

nuns

despite his initial reluctance, Buddha ordained women as nuns under the condition that

nuns must observe eight additional rules

according to hui neng, one becomes awakened when

one attains the state of no-thought

Material Artifact: Temple of the Emerald Buddha

only person who can touch or go up to Emerald Buddha is King of Thailand supa

what are the extremes that one may fall into while holding the belief that a being exists

permanence and nihilism

Arhats

person who has achieved almost complete Dharma

Tathagata

preaching a way of liberation from samsara (one who comes and goes, one who has a deep insight on life/liberation)

Mahayana Rituals

pure buddhism - (giving oneself to Amid buddha, makes sure you will be rebirth again Nichiren Buddhism - prayers are made to the lotus sutra Less Dana, More Pilgrimage, Stupas

Koan

riddles that cannot be answered by rational or discursive modes of thought

the buddha gained knowledge of the middle path by avoiding the two extremes of

sensual desire and self torture

What common elements will be found within the main shrine hall in a temple? What are Chinese Buddhist temple structures based on?

some common elements that will be found within the main shrine hall in a temple are a Buddha that sits on a lotus flower throne, incense, candles, flower and fruit offerings, and also the ceremony drums. The Chinese Buddhist temple structures are based on imperial palaces of ancient Chinese emperors

Theravada

south and south east asia

Zen reading

steal the mind, empty themselves from circle Dharmakia

Dharma

teachings

Hinayana (school of Buddhism)

their ideal is that the arhat, a being who overcomes all ties to the phenomenal world and so attains nirvana

Mahayana (school of Buddhism)

their ideal is the bodhisattva, a being who seeks to attain the state of Buddhahood in order to help other find the path to final happiness

tension between two buddhism groups

thera (elders) and Mahasamgha (great community)

Phenomena are said to be cognition only because

there is no substantial difference between subject and object

In a passage from the Perfection of Wisdom Discourse, Buddha explains to Subhuti that persons of the hearer vehicle train by disciplining only themselves and attaining nirvana by themselves, whereas the bodhisattva train

to benefit all the world

Buddha is a term derived from the Sanskrit root word budh, that means

to regain consciousness

ihanam

upper parapet

Supa

vertical column

one of the central practices of tantra is guru yoga, in which one

visualizes one's guru as a fully awakened buddha

Sariputra asks a young goddess who lives in Vimalakirti's house why she does not change from a women into a man. This question is based on the traditional Indian perception that

wisdom is associated with elder males

Vajrayana

Central Asia

The ____________ indicates that all phenomena are productions of mind and that everything is created by mind

Cloud of Jewels Discourse

Vipassana ('insight-form'

Continual focus on impermanence, anatman and dukkha. Instills 4 Noble Truths

according to Buddhist literature, the doctrine that states that beings lack an enduring self or soul is referred to as

anatman

the Buddha's disciples who had eradicated mental afflictions and transcended all attachments to mundane things were called

arhats

Tantric texts claim that the system of tantra skillfully uses _________ as aids to the path of liberation if the proper means are used

aspects of reality that cause bondage for some people

Sunyata

all skandas are empty of inherent essence or non-essence

Zazen

"Sitting Meditation"

Lotus Sutra (upaya)

(perfect compassion) Teaches that Buddha is the eternal nature of all things, 'father' of all things. Sakyamuni is but one kind/type. Teaches different paths to Dharma are for different people. Different Bodhisattvas teach all throughout different universes.

Heart Sutra (sunyata)

(perfect wisdom) Describes the experience of a Bodhisattva reaching liberation. Qualities have no inherent essence but still have a conventional reality. When one perfects wisdom, one sees from the true perspective beyond human convention.

What is true about the doctrines (dharmas) that are organized in the treatises of the Abhidharma section of the Pali canon.

1. Collections of dharmas change in every moment, and so all of reality is viewed as a an interconnected network of causation 2. collections of dharmas are the phenomena of experience

Triple body of Buddha (trikaya)

1. Dharmakaya - Unborn, spontaneous 2. Nirmanakaya - physical Buddhahood 3. Sambhogakaya - apperances across space and time

connected discourses (Samyutta-nikaya)

1. Five Aggregates ('skandas') collate innumerable qualities 2. No form, feeling or attribute is absolute, yet neither are they completely random 3. Karmically conditioned, they are perceived as a collective being, even though there is nothing there but individual momentary skandas

Buddhism is the _________ largest religion in the world

5th

The _________ is one of the shortest texts of the Perfection of Wisdom corpus

Heart of Perfect Wisdom Discourse

What features are usually absent from modern temples? What did China to do the Buddhism that traveled up from India?

Because modern temples are just one building some features that are absent from ancient temples are courtyards and gates. China applied its own cultural aspects to the Buddhism that traveled up from India by adding it's tie to nature, a axial hierarchy of the temple layout and the use of the imperial wooden halls

Where did Buddhism originate? Where did early Chinese Buddhists live?

Buddhism originated in India. Early Chinese Buddhists lived in extensive caves.

Vihara

Buddhist temple

What is the most important scripture in Theravada

Dhammapada (teaches restraints, mindfulness and moral wisdom)

Mahayana

East Asia

Who becomes the early patronage figure and sutra commentator in Japan

Emperor Shotoku

Samadhi ('one-point')

Focus on opposite of major mental attachment. Trains for steadiness and flexibility

What is considered one of the most famous Mahayana texts?

Lotus Sutra

Where were more important individual buildings placed in a temple complex? Where was the main Buddha Hall usually placed? What are pagodas?

More important individual buildings were placed at the back of the complex (the further you went in the more complex and grand the buildings got). The main Buddha hall was usually placed just after the second courtyard. Pagodas are monuments that held relics sacred to the Buddhist in the temple.

Besides all the Buddhas, deities, and saints, what 'non-Buddhist' shrines are often part of Buddhist temples?

Some non-Buddhist shrines that are often part of Buddhist temples are shrines to the ancestors of the faithful. 

What was the basic design of important ancient Chinese buildings? How were multiple buildings laid out together?

The Basic design of important ancient Chinese buildings were a wooden hall that was a symmetrical box with a door right in the middle. It was raised on a base, held up by wooden columns, held together by wooden brackets and had a large wooden roof. There were no nails used to hold the building together. Multiple buildings were laid out together by grouping these buildings into a courtyard along a north and south axis.

UPAYA

The Buddha teaches for different times, places, audiences. The point is to get different people to the same practical recognition of SUNYATA. So different teachings can even sound contradictory because they are intended for different people with different problems. But they are all relatively "real."

What is the most important difference between ancient and modern Buddhist temples? What feature fills modern temples and would have been at the climax of the ancient temple complex?

The most important difference between ancient and modern Buddhist temples is that today modern temples are one building that holds all the stuff that would have been in the different buildings in the ancient temple. The feature that fills modern temples and would have been at the climax of the ancient temple complex is the walls that have all the Buddhas that have ever been (called the hall of ten-thousand Buddhas in the ancient temple) 

Theravada Rituals

Vinara/wat = temple Dana= giving food/items to the monastic community monks chant short teachings meditation

what motivated the Buddha's quest for nirvana?

a concern with the unsatisfactoriness of cyclic existence

the four sights in Buddhism are

a sick person, an old person, a corpse and a world renouncing ascetic

Siddhartha Gautama (historical buddha)

the first prophet who emerges and is of the Sakya people (tries renouncing social life but doesnt work)