Exam Topics: REL 440/540 Buddhist Scriptures, Spring 2007

1. Who are: King Suddhodana, Queen Maya, Siddharta Gautama, Prajapati, Princess Yasodhara, Rahula, Sakyamuni Buddha?
2. Who are: King Bimbisara, Queen Vaidehi, Prince Ajatasatru, Devadatta, Ananda, Maugalyayana (Moggalana), and Sariputra?
3. What are: The Four Noble Truths, The Three Marks of Existence, The Three Jewels, The Three Baskets?
4. What are: Bodhisattva, upaya, form and emptiness?

4. There is a subtle relation between emptiness theory and the bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism. Emptiness/oneness implies that the true self of the Buddhist seeker is none other than the cosmos itself, and by implication all beings in the universe. How is Vimalakirti related to the bodhisattva ideal?

5. What is the social significance of Vimalakirti as the protagonist and of the Goddess as a key character in the Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti?

6. Why isn’t Vimalakirti able to cure himself if he is such a powerful bodisattva?

What is the relation between the bodhisattva ideal and emptiness theory?

7. What is the relation between Vaidehi, Bimbisara, and Amida (Amitabha) Buddha in the Sutra on Contemplation of Amitayus (Amida Buddha)?

8. Based upon the Sutra on Contemplation of Amitayus, what is the relation between Sakyamuni, Queen Vaidehi, and the status of sacred scripture?

9. What is the parable of the White Path in Shan-tao? What is Shan-tao’s view of nien-fo, literally "thinking of the Buddha,” but which is in fact the practice of saying or chanting the Name of Amida Buddha (Na-mo-a-mi-to-fo in Chinese; Namu Amida Butsu in Japanese).