Question 1 (1 point) What is true of Mahayana Buddhism in contrast to the Theravada?

The Mahayana places a role on the mystical figure of the bodhisattva, or a being who postpones enlightenment to awaken others first. The Theravada claim that there was only one Buddha, and what that historical Buddha taught is true. The Theravada claim that the Mahayana is too conservative; it failed to grow and expand with the new cultures with which expanding Buddhism made contact. The Theravada claim that the Mahayana is polluted by Hindu beliefs such as devotionalism to many gods. Interestingly, only the Theravada tradition teaches the no-self or anatman doctrine. The Mahayana claim they are nihilists for doing so. The Mahayana tends to be found in the northern Buddhist world and the Theravada is found in south and southeast Asia. Question 2 (1 point) What is true of the Mahayana View as found in the Vimalakirti Sutra? It demonstrates the superiority of the Elders Tradition (Theravada). It depicts a transgender scene that points out awakening (nirvana) is not gender-based. It places a figure from the Merchant class of the Hindu caste system as more insightful than Buddhas foremost monks (or beggars). It was the first Mahayana literature to be accepted as official by the Dalai Lamas. It reveals the Mahayana tradition as one wherein non-monks (beggars) and women played a large role in the movement. The tradition conceives of itself as a Great Vehicle in distinction from the Small Vehicle among which the modern Theravada are placed. Question 3 (1 point) Among the Mahayana thought traditions or philosophical traditions, what can we say of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way School?

It is a nihilistic tradition that denies nirvana is possible and one must accept life as it is. It declares that this world is only an illusion; there is nothing real going on whatsoever. It claims there are two truths in the world: a concealing truth and an ultimate truth. It focuses on the doctrine of sunyata, the emptiness or zeroness of all phenomena, along with the individual self or atman. The founder Asanga, maintained there are eight levels of consciousness; the Middle Way school maintains that consciousness is the one fact of the universe, without which there could be no existence. The founder Nagarjuna negated to infinity all possible distinctions among entities at the deepest level, even consciousness had no bounds and was thus not independently real. Question 4 (1 point)

Among the Mahayana thought traditions or philosophical traditions, what can we say of the Yogacara or Yoga Praxis School?

It agrees with the Madhyamaka tradition that the world is empty or zero with regard to seemingly independent, but not unrelated entities. It maintains that there are eight levels of consciousness, among these are the 7 levels of consciousness connected to the basal consciousness. Like all of classical Buddhism, the Yoga-Praxis school hold that what in the West is called simply mind definitely exists and unlike the other Buddhisms, exists apart from the body Among the arguments the Yoga-Praxis school gives for the primacy of consciousness, is the argument of the basal consciousness offered as the source for dreams, ego, rebirth. For the Yoga-Praxis school, the ego or self is a projection of the basal consciousness onto normal reality and built upon seeds of prior memory and lifetimes. The Yoga-Praxis school, as its name suggests, proposes the use of yoga postures primarily to attain awakening. Question 5 (1 point) What is true of East Asian forms of Buddhism in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam? These traditions are all part of the Mahayana division and emphasize the postponement of ones awakening for the sake of others. These traditions are primarily influenced by the Tantric tradition and are focused on the generation of powers contained by the body itself. These traditions are primarily influenced by the Meditation sect or Chan, a corruption of the Sanskrit dhyana or Meditation. The Chan schools follow more closely the Yoga-praxis school seen in the emphasis both place on the centrality of consciousness. The East Asian traditions follow the Dalai Lama as the principal spiritual authority. These schools blend martial arts traditions into their Buddhist thought and practice, notably seen in the founding of the Shaolin Chan school by Bodhidharma. Question 6 (1 point) What is true of the Zen sect? It is a corruption of the Chinese term Chan, which is itself a corruption of the Sanskrit dhyana or meditation. It is heavily influenced by the Dalai Lamas Tibetan Tantric or Vajrayana practice. It heavily blends Daoist modes of expression and practice as seen in the traditions of the Samurai and Shaolin traditions. It alone among the Mahayana traditions maintains the Theravada are correct to assert both that there is only one Buddha and that the individual pursuit of nirvana is more important than a larger, social ideal. The central teaching of this school is that life is essentially meaningless and one should accept this fact bravely. This sect served as a governing ideology of the Samurai tradition, which blended in many Confucian elements into its rule.

Question 7 (0.5 points) What is true of Happiness or Pure Land Buddhism? It maintained that the scholar alone could attain awakening through practice of the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. It served as a devotional path for the peasant, a pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die form of Buddhism, one might say. The principal Buddha Infinite Light (Sk. Amitabha) is thought to have once been human many trillion of years in the past. This tradition holds that the poor and uneducated are closer to the simplicity of Infinite Light Buddha than the pious and learned. This tradition has no real connection with Buddhism and is influenced mostly by the Christian belief in one God. The Happiness form of Buddhism holds that the individuals happiness is really the only thing that counts in this human existence. Question 8 (0.5 points) What can we say about the third major distinction of Buddhism, the Vajrayana or Diamond Vehicle also known as Tantric Buddhism?

This third division was never found in China, Korea or Japan. This Tantric path claims to be far faster for attaining awakening than the Theravada and Mahayana. The Tantric path attacks, even opposes the other Buddhist Divisions as false and wicked wrong paths. The Theravada view this path as intolerably focused on the body and sexual practice has no place in Buddhism. We can locate the Dalai Lamas and the many other reincarnating teachers in this division. This tradition employs mantras (chanted verses), mandalas (sacred images) and mudra (embodied gestures of the hands etc.) as the three practices to attain awakening in one lifetime. Question 9 (0.5 points) What is true of the Buddhism found in Central Asia: Tibet, Mongolia and Manchuria? These regions are dominated by the Chan or Meditation sect and deem consciousness the ultimate fact of the universe. These regions are included in what we call Han Chinese cultures. At times, these cultures overwhelmed and dominated China proper and disseminated Tantric Buddhism there. The principal spiritual authority for all these regions has historically been the Dalai Lamas of Tibet. Oddly, without exception, the religious masters of these regions opposed both Zen and Happiness Buddhism. This tradition, like the East Asian Buddhist traditions, incorporated martial arts into their Buddhist practices. Question 10 (0.5 points) What is true of the Tantric view of the body? Like the Buddha and the Theravada school, Tantrism asserts the body is, as Buddha called it, a filthy bag of pus and feces.

Tantric tradition was heavily influenced by Daoism and viewed the body as the principal source of the Way or Dao. Tantric or Vajrayana Diamond Vehicle tradition maintains that the body is comprised of seven subtle energy centers known as wheels or in Sanskrit, cakras. Tantric tradition views awakening as involving uniting the male and female energy channels ( nadi) into the central channel. Tantric tradition claims one can attain Buddhahood or awakening in ones very body and need not wait lifetimes of practice to do so. Among the practices of Tantric Buddhism, we find the ability to transfer ones consciousness into death, other living beings or even inanimate objects. Question 11 (2 points) Please match the main Buddhist traditions with the countries that practice primarily those traditions. Laos Tibet Thailand China Japan Mongolia Korea Vietnam Sri Lanka Burma 3. 1. Theravada or Elders Doctrine sects Chan/Dhyana/Meditation sects and "Happiness" or "Pureland sects. 2. Vajrayana or Tantric sects