Mahayana Buddhism

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. The Madhyamaka ('Middle-Way') school of Mahayana Buddhism is regarded as the elucidation of the philsophy of which corpus of texts? Prajñaparamita sutras Tantras Tathagatagarbha sutras Abhidharma

2. Which of the following is NOT an English cognate of the Sanskrit words deriving from the root jña, e.g. vijñana ('consciousness') and prajña and jñana (both 'wisdom'). agnostic igneous ignorance gnosis

3. Finish the second line of the following verse. "Whatever is dependently co-arisen That is explained to be __________. That, being a dependent designation, Is itself the middle way." illusory false emptiness impermanence

4. The previous verse, from the XXIVth chapter of the "Mulamadhyamakakrika" (or "Madhyamakasatra"), is one of the most essential of the entire text. Who is the author of this seminal text? Nagarjuna Santideva Aryadeva Santaraksita

5. In modern scholarship, what hasn't Madhyamaka philosophy been interpreted as? Idealism Nihilism Kantian Idealism Deconstructionism

6. In the first chapter of his commentary on Nagarjuna's "Madhyamakasatra", Candrakirti criticizes his Buddhist compatriots Dignaga and Bhavaviveka. However Candrakirti does NOT rebuke Bhavaviveka for which of the following reasons? His method of argumentation His criticism of Buddhapalita His views on emptiness His love for logic

7. The doctrine of the two truths is distinctive of Madhyamaka philosophy. The two truths are paramarthasatya (ultimate truth) and samvrtisatya (universal truth). According to Candrakirti's analysis in "Prasannapada", there are three definitions of samvrti. Which of the following is NOT one of them? Concealment Convention Own-being Mutual dependency

8. According to a famous verse by Nagarjuna, emptiness mistakenly understood is not a good thing. He likens it to a spell mistakenly cast and what else? A snake wrongly grasped A meal improperly prepared and so poisonous Medicine wrongly administered Travelling through a gorge at night

9. According to Nagarjuna emptiness is NOT which of the following? The relinquishing of all views Dependent Origination The absence of essence Nonexistence

10. The Yogacara school of Mahayana philosophy, also know as Vijñanavada and Cittamatra, is often characterized as a Buddhist brand of what? Rationalism Skepticism Idealism Dualism

11. Which of the following is NOT one of the three natures according to Vasubandhu? Imagined nature (parikalpita) Buddha nature (tathagatagarbha) Dependent nature (paratantra) Perfected nature (parinispanna)

12. The perfected nature is which of the following? The absence of both the dependent nature and the imagined nature. The realization of buddha nature in the imagined nature. The coalescence of the buddha nature and dependent natures. The absence of the imagined nature in the dependent nature.

13. Which of the following figures is NOT commonly associated with Yogacara school of Buddhist philosophy? Sthiramati Jñanagarbha Dharmapala Maitreya

14. Although Yogacara is generally regarded as one form of idealism or another, it is also credited with the development of Buddhist logic as well as for having made major contributions to logic and epistemology in South Asia in general. However the two major figures associated with these developments are not Vasubandhu and Asanga. Who are they? Dharmapala and Sthiramati Bhavaviveka and Jñanagarbha Santaraksita and Kamalasila Dignaga and Dharmakirti

15. Santaraksita and his student Kamalasila, seminal figures in the reinvigoration of Buddhism in Tibet, are major figures in the synthesis of various schools of Indian Buddhist philosophy that would come to characterize Tibetan Buddhism. According to Tibetan doxography, what is the appropriate denotation of their position? Sautrantika-Svatantrika Madhyamaka Sautrantika-Yogacara Prasangika Madhyamaka Yogacara-Svatantrika Madhyamaka