Transcript Test on Mahayana Buddhism - The Ecclesbourne School Online

Test on Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism
• 1. What does Mahayana mean?
• 2. How do Mahayana Buddhists
refer to Theravada Buddhists?
• 3. Between which centuries did
Mahayana probably emerge?
What makes Mahayana
distinct from Theravada?
• 1. When were the Buddhist Sutras written
down?
• 2.The ideal for a Theravada Buddhist is to
become an Arhat; What is now the ideal for a
Mahayana Buddhist?
• 3.Wisdom was always seen as the most important
virtue for a Theravada Buddhist; what is now
the equivalent for a Mahayana Buddhist?
• 4. What is ‘Upaya’?
• 5. Name two important Mahayana Schools.
The Mahayana Sutras
• 1. Why were they written? (Give two
reasons).
• 2. Where are they traditionally said to
have come from?
• 3. Name the four main types of Mahayana
writings.
• 4. Briefly explain the strange myth as to
how the Mahayana Sutras came into
being
The Ideal of the Bodhisattva
• 1. What is a ‘Pratyeka – Buddha’?
• 2. What is the Cravakayana Buddha?
• 3. Why did the Mahayana criticise the ideal of
the Arhat?
• 4. What does the Bodhisattva aim to do?
• 5. What does ‘Maha – karuna – citta’ mean with
reference to the Bodhisattva?
• 6. What does the word ‘‘Bodhisattva’ mean?
• 7. Why is the Bodhisattva ideal often seen as the
true middle way?
• 8. Why will the Bodhisattva not enter into final
nirvana?
How do you become a
Bodhisattva?
• 1. A Bodhisattva must first have
Bodhicitta – what is this?
• 2. What three qualities must be at
the heart of a Bodhisattva’s
mission?
• 3. Name the six Paramitas the
Bodhisattva perfects.
•
Equal emphasis on compassion
and wisdom and having faith
• 1. What does wisdom show according to
Mahayana?
• 2. What does compassion show according
to Mahayana?
• 3. What is faith called in Mahayana
Buddhism?
• 4. How did Mahayana become accessible
to a greater variety of people?
• 5. Which Buddha would you find residing
in the heavens in Mahayana Buddhism?
The Madhyamaka School
• 1. Who was the main teacher of the
Madhyamaka School?
• 2. When did he live?
• 3. What major Buddhist teaching that we
have previously learned about did he
focus on?
• 4. What is his teaching on ‘emptiness’
called?
• 5. What were his ‘two different levels of
awareness?
The Yogacara School
• 1. Who were the two main founders of
this School?
• 2. When did they live?
• 3. Why is this school sometimes called the
‘Cittamatra School’?
• 4. What does Yogacara place great
emphasis on?
• 5. The trikaya is a great philosophical
teaching of the Yogacara School. What
are the three components?