Buddhism: God and Ultimate Reality | AQA A-Level Religious Studies (7062)

Buddhism: God and Ultimate Reality

65 questions
5 subtopics
Component 2: Buddhism, one religion of five
Component 2

Buddhism: how ultimate reality is understood and described.

Part of Component 2, sat only by students who take Buddhism as their chosen religion.

Sample questions from Buddhism: God and Ultimate Reality

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Theravada and Mahayana Views of the Buddha

According to Theravada Buddhism, how many Buddhas exist in the current age and what is the status of other Buddhas?

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Theravada Buddhism emphasises the historical Buddha as the only Buddha of this current age; previous and future Buddhas exist but are not currently accessible.
Theravada and Mahayana Views of the Buddha

What doctrinal development in Mahayana Buddhism arose from the concept that the Buddha manifests through different bodies or aspects?

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Mahayana Buddhism developed the concept that the Buddha has different bodies or aspects through which he manifests, leading to the Trikaya doctrine.
The Trikaya Doctrine

What does the name 'Dharmakaya' mean?

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Truth body or dharma body.
The Trikaya Doctrine

Define Nirmanakaya and explain its purpose.

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Nirmanakaya (transformation body or emanation body) is the physical, historical form in which a Buddha appears in the world to teach ordinary beings.
Anicca and the Three Marks of Existence

According to the teaching of anicca, how do conditioned things come into being?

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They arise dependent on causes and conditions.
Anicca and the Three Marks of Existence

Explain why understanding anicca is important for understanding dukkha.

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Attachment to impermanent things causes suffering because they inevitably change or pass away; recognising impermanence helps explain the origin of suffering.
Sunyata and the Two Truths

Which philosopher systematically developed the Mahayana doctrine of emptiness, and in which text?

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Nagarjuna, in his Mulamadhyamakakarika (Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way).
Sunyata and the Two Truths

What is conventional truth (samvrti-satya) in the two truths doctrine?

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It is the level of truth where phenomena appear to exist in ordinary experience.

The 5 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Theravada and Mahayana Views of the Buddha	Recall questions on the Theravada Buddha and whether he is worshipped, and on how the Mahayana view goes beyond the historical figure.	8
The Trikaya Doctrine	Recall questions on the three bodies of the Buddha and on what Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya each denote.	19
Anicca and the Three Marks of Existence	Recall questions on the meaning of anicca, the three marks of existence and how conditioned things arise and pass away.	8
Sunyata and the Two Truths	Recall questions on sunyata and the lack of svabhava, Nagarjuna's equation of emptiness with dependent origination, why emptiness is not nihilism, the two truths and the Heart Sutra.	12
Anatta and the Five Aggregates	Recall questions on the doctrine of no-self, the three marks of existence and the five aggregates.	18

Buddhism: God and Ultimate Reality is 65 of the 3,683 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.