Buddhism Basics Quiz

The Buddha was born into a rich family and lived there until he was 29 years old. Then he left and went searching for spiritual enlightenment, leaving a young son and wife behind. For six years he learned from different teachers before developing his own method.

Buddha is an honorific title meaning "enlightened one." The original Buddha was Siddhartha Gautama. He was a monk and sage whose teachings Buddhism was founded on. Historians think he lived in ancient India at some point between 6th and 4th century B.C.

The Buddha emerged in Northeastern India from an emerging tradition of wandering ascetics. This group rejected the Vedic teachings of India and was starting to form a new counterculture.

Bodhi shares a name with the tree which the Buddha sat beneath in meditation when he achieved his perfect realization and transcendent wisdom. This tree was located at Bodh Gaya, India. Today, there is a tree there which is supposedly a descendant of the original.

The lotus flower is an important spiritual metaphor in Buddhism. It represents human consciousness, which grows up out of the mud, through the murky water and emerges on the surface of the water in pristine condition. Water beads on its petals, representing detachment.

Originally, in Asia, people revered the tiger as the king of the animal kingdom. Eventually, though, Africa's lion replaced the tiger. The Buddha's message was said to be like a lion's roar.

In Buddhism, there is an emphasis on impermanence: Nothing stays the same and everything changes. The universe is energy in constant flux. This realization helps Buddhists determine what to spend time doing or worrying about.

When the Buddha was young, he was raised in a palace and the world was hidden from him. He snuck out and saw sickness, old age and poverty all around and realized that human fate is basically unsatisfactory. This motivated him to leave home in search of the meaning of life.

When Buddhists meditate, they perceive sensation, thinking and other phenomena of the mind, but eventually realize there is no "self" that they can grab onto. There is just the perception of experience and the experience of perception.

Buddhism has about 360 million followers, which makes it the fourth largest religion worldwide. Christianity remains the largest religion in the world, followed by Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

The Buddha never wrote anything down, and his followers spread his teachings by word of mouth. Afterwards, the teachings spread across Asia and people began writing them down. There is no single Buddhism, but rather "Buddhisms," and each of the many traditions has its own assortment of texts.

Buddhists call Nirvana the "the blown out" state, like an extinguished candle or lamp, often comparing it to "a bucket with the bottom fallen out." They call it the end of illusion and the end of new karma, and many say it must be experienced firsthand to be grasped.

According to theologians, Buddha was born under a full moon amid a flourishing garden. As he entered the world, flower petals rained from the sky and the earth slowly shook.

Queen Maya dreamt of a baby white elephant that foretold that she would give birth to a great leader. As legend has it, she gave birth on a full moon. Today, Buddhists celebrate the birth during a week called Vesak, which typically takes place during the month of May.

Wealthy elite during Buddha's time would often wear a topknot, which is why theologians think he is often depicted with short hair. While there are many potential explanations for his short hair, it is often viewed as a component of asceticism.

Buddha's first teachings are called the Four Noble Truths. The Buddha said that people fall into suffering through error, and that by practicing discipline they can overcome the unhappiness it inevitably brings.

Dharma refers to the universal, unchanging facts of existence that apply to all individuals at all times. Buddhists also use the plural term, "dharmas," which refers to interrelated, empirical facts.

Jack Kerouac wrote "The Dharma Bums," a novel often cited as a work that inspired the Beat and Hippie cultures. In the mid-20th century, Buddhist influences made their way into American culture through the works of artists on the West Coast, especially San Francisco.

Zen emerged in Japan as an evolution of Chan, which prefigured it in China during the Tang Dynasty. Zen emphasizes meditation, assessment of life's true nature, and self-control. Its austerity and iconoclasm also make it a distinct iteration of Buddhism.

Buddhists highly value community. The Sangha consists of monks, nuns and other followers. In some traditions monks and nuns serve as mendicants, while the laity support them with alms.

While some later teachings of Buddhism theorize that women cannot achieve Nirvana, Buddha himself stated that women could indeed achieve enlightenment. Gautama Buddha ordained women as nuns soon after attaining enlightenment. The first Buddhist nun was his foster mother and aunt, Mahapajapati Gotami.

Monks and nuns maintain a strict vegetarian diet in order to help all living things. In some cases, Buddhist monks go to extreme lengths to avoid killing things, even allegedly going as far as to ensure they don't crush a single bug in their path.

The Dalai Lama's traditional residence lies in Lhasa, Tibet at the Potala Palace. Ten successive Dalai Lamas inhabited it thereafter. At 12,300 feet above sea level, it's the highest palace in the world.

Om is said to be a mystical symbol which is written as "ॐ." It signifies the essence of the ultimate reality, which Buddhists consider to be the primordial sound. In the Sanskrit scripture the "Bhagavad Gita," Krishna describes himself to Arjuna as "the syllable Om."

The path Buddha preached lied somewhere between self-indulgence and self-mortification. He thought that too much self-denial just weakened the body and mind, which wasn't useful. However, too much self-indulgence led to the same problem. Instead, he taught followers to seek the middle ground.

Buddha led a privileged life as a prince, which shielded him from the harsh realities of life. According to historical records, prophets sent his father a message that his son would either become a wealthy king or an excellent spiritual leader. His father preferred the first possibility and tried to guide his son toward the former life to no avail.

According to Buddha, speech serves as a form of action because it influences the future actions of others and of ourselves. True to Buddha form, he taught to say kind things and refrain from saying unkind things.

Zazen serves as a central aspect of the spiritual practice of Zen Buddhism. Monks spend a large portion of most days engaged in this practice, but even in Japanese workplaces many workers to take time out of their days for zazen.

Though the details pertaining to his death remain vague, theologians agree that Buddha lived a long life. In some accounts, he predicted his own death and willed it. In others, he fell victim to food poisoning.

In the Buddhist scripture the "Vinaya Pitaka," the Buddha tells his followers that they should keep their hair short and cut it when it reaches a length of two fingers width, or at least every two months.

Buddhism evolved to accommodate many different cultures across southeast Asia. In China, it blended with existing Taoist traditions and assumed a different character than it had in India.

Zen Buddhists call the circle the "Ensō," which has served as a favorite subject of Zen painters. These artists believe that only one with a high degree of realization can execute a perfect circle. Often, the artists do not fully close these circles, but instead leave them incomplete, which symbolizes the fundamental incompleteness of life.

Alexander the Great first met with Buddhists during his Eastward military expansion. In India, he invited them to Alexandria and instructed them to bring their teachings and set up schools.

As the Buddha approached enlightenment, Mara threw every trick in the book his way to stop him from realizing his goal. Apparently, Mara tempted the Buddha with visions of attractive ladies who may or may not have been his daughters.

You can find giant statues of the reclining Buddha all over Asia. These statues represent Buddha just before he enters Parinirvana, which is what happens after the death of one who has attained enlightenment. At 600 feet long, the Winsein Tawya Buddha in Mawlamyine, Myanmar is the largest reclining Buddha.