World of Buddhism Quiz: Knowing the religions of the world may be helpful to get on well with our neighbours in the global village. Here follows a quiz on the birth and rise of Buddhism.
Buddhism is a non-theistic religion (no belief in a creator god), also considered a philosophy and a moral discipline, originating in India in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. It was founded by the sage Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha l. c. 563 – c. 483 BCE) who, according to legend, had been a Hindu prince before abandoning his position and wealth to become a spiritual ascetic and, finally, an enlightened being who taught others the means by which they could escape samsara, the cycle of suffering, rebirth, and death.
Quiz: The World of Buddhism
- Question 1 of 10
1.
As what was Gautama Siddharta born?
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – a prince
He is supposed to have lived from 563 till 483 BC. He left his father King Shuddodana’s Palace in Kapilavastu when he was thirty.
- Question 2 of 10
2.
What’s the Buddhist term for the state of inner rest and spiritual insight which you reach after having finished the complete cycle of your reincarnations?
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – Nirvana
Mahayana is the Higher Vehicle ; atman, which is etymologically related to German Atem and Dutch adem (breath), means soul. Karma is somehow the sort of behaviour and actions that lead to a person’s reincarnation. To break through the eternal circle of reincarnations and to reach the happy state of tranquility that is called nirvana, one must break through one’s karma.
Note: though nirvana seems to be the more frequent English orthography, instances of nirwana are not unusual either.
- Question 3 of 10
3.
Where was Gautama Siddharta born?
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – in the Himalayas
Gautama was born as a member of an aristocratic family that ruled the small Kingdom of the Sakyas in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The exact place of birth is supposed to have been Lumbini. Kusinagara is where he died. Buddh Gaya is the place of his Enlightenment.
Sarnath is where he gave his first sermon. Sravasti, Vaisali, Rajagrha were other important places in the Buddha’s career.
- Question 4 of 10
4.
Which of these rulers added to the prestige and expansion of Buddhism by his conversion to that religion?
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – King Ashoka the Great of India
Ashoka ruled from 268 till 232 and converted himself to Buddhism in 269. There was no King Boddhisattva. “Boddhisattva” is the term used in Buddhism to describe somebody who spends his life on the salvation of others. The Emperors of Japan are not Buddhists.
- Question 5 of 10
5.
How old did ‘the Buddha’ Gautama Siddharta live to become?
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – 80
He is supposed to have lived from ca. 563 BC till 483 BC.
- Question 6 of 10
6.
As in most religions there are various trends and styles in Buddhism. Which of these types of Buddhism is incorrectly held by many people in the West to imply – by definition – the practice of sexual yoga as a road to spiritual enlightenment?
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – Tantric Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism is also called “Higher Vehicle” Buddhism and originated in the 2nd century AD. Tantric Buddhism dates back to 700 AD. The Theraveda Buddhism was a development from the 2nd Buddhist Council at Vaisali in 373 BC. The Sangha or Community of Monks split in two branches: the mahasanghikas and the more conservative shtaviras. From the views of the shtaviras, the Theraveda tradition was born.
One of the areas where the Theraveda style of Buddhism became very strong was Sri Lanka, especially from 1160 on when the Mahavihara Monastery’s supremacy over its old rival the Abhayagiri Monastery was definitely established.
- Question 7 of 10
7.
In 1959 the Tibetan Dalai Lama fled from Tibet to Dharamsala in __________________.
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – Northern India
The style of Buddhism that dominates in Tibet is Tantric Buddhism. The Dalai Lama was fleeing a Chinese invasion.
- Question 8 of 10
8.
Which of these places was the “birthplace” of Tibetan Buddhism?
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – Samye
Darjeeling is a centre for tea rather than for Buddhism. Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. Ganden is a very important monastery in the history of Tibetan Buddhism and was founded by the reformer Tsongkhapa in 1409. Samye was the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet (8th century). It was here that the great debate took place between Indian and Chinese Buddhism. Indian Buddhism was preferred. The Samye monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.
- Question 9 of 10
9.
On which of the Indonesian islands would you find the great Mahayana-Tantric temple of Borobudur?
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – Java
The Temple of Borobudur was built in the 9th century. Later, Islam took over as the ruling religion in what is now Indonesia.
- Question 10 of 10
10.
Among the most famous Buddhist Temples there is also the “Hindu-Buddhist” temple complex of Angkor Wat in _____________.
Correct
Wrong — Correct Answer – Cambodia
Angkor was the capital of the Khmer realm that had been founded by King Jayavarman II in 802. Hinduism was the state religion of the Khmers, and the Khmer Kings were seen as reincarnations of Shiva. Soon Buddhist and Hindu ideas got mixed up, and the Khmer Kings were also seen as reincarnations of Buddha. Khmer rule ended in the thirteenth century, and Theraveda Buddhism took over. In the 1970s the communist Red Khmer tried to destroy all forms of religion, which led to a civil war which caused some millions of casualties.
There is a political problem here. The land where Angkor Wat is situated is a bone of contention between Thais and Cambodians.The cause is the colonial policy of the French who had expanded the territory of Cambodia. When later a court ruling deemed the territory of Angkor Wat to be Thai, another court overturned that decision. The Thai are not happy with the present regulation.
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World of Buddhism Quiz: Historical Background
Hinduism (Sanatan Dharma, “Eternal Order”) was the dominant faith in India in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE when a wave of religious and philosophical reform swept the land. Scholar John M. Koller notes how, “a major social transformation from agrarian life to urban trade and manufacture was underway, leading to a questioning of the old values, ideas, and institutions” (46). Hinduism was based on acceptance of the scriptures known as the Vedas, thought to be eternal emanations from the universe which had been “heard” by sages at a certain time in the past but were not created by human beings.
The Vedas were “received” and recited by the Hindu priests in Sanskrit, a language the people did not understand, and various philosophical thinkers of the time began to question this practice and the validity of the belief structure. Many different schools of philosophy are said to have developed at this time (most of which did not survive), which either accepted or rejected the authority of the Vedas. Those which accepted the orthodox Hindu view and the resulting practices were known as astika (“there exists”) and those which rejected the orthodox view were known as nastika (“there does not exist”). Three of the nastika schools of thought to survive this period were Charvaka, Jainism and Buddhism.
Hinduism held the universe was governed by a supreme being known as Brahman who was the Universe itself and it was this being who had imparted the Vedas to humanity. The purpose of one’s life was to live in accordance with the divine order as it had been set down and perform one’s dharma (duty) with the proper karma (action) in order to eventually find release from the cycle of rebirth and death (samsara) at which point the individual soul would attain union with the oversoul (atman) and experience complete liberation and peace.
Charvaka rejected this belief and offered materialism instead. Its founder, Brhaspati (l. c. 600 BCE) claimed it was ridiculous for people to accept the word of Hindu priests that an incomprehensible language was the word of God. He established a school based on direct perception in ascertaining truth and the pursuit of pleasure as the highest goal in life. Mahavira (also known as Vardhamana, l. c. 599-527 BCE) preached Jainism based on the belief that individual discipline and strict adherence to a moral code led to a better life and release from samsara at death. The Buddha recognized that both of these paths represented extremes and found what he called a “middle way” between them.