Buddhism — Beliefs and Teachings
What's covered
Key facts
The "Wheel of Becoming" (bhavacakra) illustrates dependent arising and the realms of rebirth.
Amitabha is the Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism.
Rupa (form / body) is one of the five aggregates.
After years of practice Siddhartha attained enlightenment while meditating under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya.
The Dhamma is the Buddha's teachings — the truth that he discovered and taught.
The first sermon was preached at the Deer Park in Isipatana (Sarnath), near Varanasi.
Anatta means "no fixed self" — Buddhism denies a permanent, unchanging soul.
Nothing exists independently of conditions — all conditioned phenomena are interdependent.
An arhat is one who has reached nibbana following the Buddha's teaching.
Both Theravada and Mahayana agree there is no permanent self.
Sample questions
A taste of the 81 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What is the central claim of paticcasamupada?
- •Causes flow from a divine first mover
- ✓Nothing exists independently of conditions
- •Only living beings depend on causes
- •Only physical objects depend on causes
What is the Pure Land?
- •A literal kingdom in modern Japan
- •A meditation retreat in Tibetan caves
- ✓A realm where rebirth aids enlightenment
- •Original heaven for the most pious only
What is the Theravada view of human personality?
- •a Buddha-nature present in all beings, awaiting full awakening
- •a combination of mind and karma that dissolves at physical death
- •an eternal soul (Atman) reborn until it reaches nirvana
- ✓Five aggregates (skandhas) and no self
What is the First Noble Truth (Dukkha)?
- ✓life involves suffering and unsatisfactoriness
- •nirvana is the cessation of all suffering
- •suffering arises from craving and attachment
- •the path to end suffering is the Eightfold Path
Where was Siddhartha born?
- •Bodh Gaya, modern India
- •Kapilavastu, modern Nepal
- ✓Lumbini, modern Nepal
- •Varanasi, modern India
Which 'jewel' is the Dhamma among Buddhists?
- •The central jewel of the Eightfold Path
- •The first of Three Jewels
- ✓The second of Three Jewels
- •The third of Three Jewels
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