Buddhism Questions

1. Siddhartha Gautama
2. Old age, disease, death, and an ascetic. The first three sights were penetrating lessons about the reality of suffering and the impermanent nature of life's pleasures. The fourth passing sight filled Gautama with elation and hope.
3. A healthy spiritual life depends on a healthy physical life.
4. He first experienced the First Watch (evening) he perceived his own previous lifetimes. During the Second Watch (middle of the night) he was able to perceive the deaths and rebirths of all living things. During the Third Watch (late night) he discovered the Four Noble Truths.
5. The sangha was the first Buddhist monastic community. Its members are consists of men and women from all walks of life.
6. Buddha, dharma, and sangha.
7. They both regard time as cyclical. They maintain that the universe is eternal. They both believe in samsara.
8. The Buddha dismissed philosophical speculation regarding the nature of the world as being useless for the tasks of winning salvation. He thought sacrificial rituals of devotion to gods were equally useless.
9. Anatta, anicca, and dukkha. Impermanence (anicca) cause human beings to be nothing (anatta), and if there is no self, then there is no need for one to suffer (dukkha) because desires are nonexistent if the self does not exist.
10. Anatta means there is no ultimate reality within, no essence, underlying existence, no eternal substratum that is truly real. It means there is no self. It relates to the concept of Atman because in Hinduism, the goal is to find Atman within and be absorbed in it, as opposed to anatta, which focuses on the idea of there being no self, therefore there is no need to find anything.
11. It is the transference of a bundle of energy, which is patterned according to one's karma. The nature of one's rebirth depends on the status of one's karma.
12. Precepts: 1. Do not take life 2. Do not take what is not given 3. Do not engage in sensuous misconduct.  4. Do not use false speech. 5. Do not drink intoxicants. Other 5: 6. Do not eat after noon. 7. Do not watch dancing or shows. 8. Do not use garlands, perfumes, or ornaments. 9. Do not use a high or soft bed. 10. Do not accept gold silver.
13. It can be translated into "suffering," "frustration," "dislocation," or "discomfort." Dukkha means that things in life are not where they should be, therefore one undergoes suffering due to the misplacement.
14. Tanha is "desire," "thirst," or "craving." We have desires because we are attached to the things, and when we are without those attachments we encounter suffering (dukkha) due to the detachment we face from our pleasures.
15. 1. Right views 2. Right intentions 3. Right speech 4. Right conduct 5. Right livelihood 6. Right effort 7. Right mindfulness 8. Right meditation
16. Buddhas are different from their followers because the do not need a model to provide teachings leading to their awakening. They are able to accomplish their liberation on their own.
17. An arhat is known as the "worthy one" who has become awakened, is forever transformed, having experienced, through the transcendent state of enlightenment.
18. The literal meaning of nirvana is "blowing out." It is hard to describe nirvana because it can;t be understood until it is experienced. The most that can be said is that it is the total cessation of suffering, and thus is absolute peace.
19. The three divisions are Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana.
20. Theravada follows the earlier texts, and thus tends to agree with the original teachings of the Buddha.
21. The literal meaning of Mahayana is the Great Vehicle. The name implies its superiority over Theravada Buddhism. It's the largest division pf Buddhism, claiming well over half the world's Buddhists.
22. Buddhist teachings prescribe shutting off the energy of desire to stop suffering.
23. The Dalai Lama is the head of the lamas institution. The role of acquiring the Dalai Lama is through rebirth. The lineage is believed to continue through the reincarnation of one Dalai Lama into the next. When the Dalai Lama dies, his successor is chosen through various mean such as supernatural things or more mundane things.
24. Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, Korea, and Tibet.