Developments in Buddhist Thought | OCR A-Level Religious Studies (H573)

Developments in Buddhist Thought

218 questions
12 subtopics
Components 03 to 07: Developments in Religious Thought, one religion of five
Components 03–07

Component 06, one of the five Developments in Religious Thought options.

The Buddha and his world, the Three Jewels, rebirth and the marks of existence, the Four Noble Truths, meditation, the rise of Mahayana, and Buddhism in the modern West.

Sample questions from Developments in Buddhist Thought

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

The 12 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The Buddha: Siddhartha's life and intellectual context	Recall questions on Siddhartha's birth and upbringing, the four sights, the renunciation, asceticism and the Middle Way, the enlightenment and teaching career, Brahmanism and the Buddha's criticisms of it, the Sramanas and Jainism, and his life as a model today.	17
Taking refuge: the Three Jewels	Recall questions on the Three Refuges or Three Jewels, what taking refuge involves, the Buddha as refuge and not a god, dhamma as reality and as teaching, the monastic Sangha and lay Buddhists, Theravada and Mahayana understandings, and whether the Jewels are the heart of Buddhism.	14
Samsara, kamma and rebirth	Recall questions on samsara, the six realms and the wheel of samsara, rebirth without a permanent self, the three fires, kamma and karmic seeds and fruits, dependent origination and the twelve nidanas, and whether samsara should be read literally, psychologically or metaphorically.	19
The three marks of existence	Recall questions on anicca and its gross and subtle levels, dukkha and its three categories, anatta, eternalism and annihilationism, the chariot analogy in The Questions of King Milinda, the five khandhas, and whether Buddhism is pessimistic, optimistic or realistic.	19
The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path	Recall questions on the four noble truths and the doctor analogy, the first teaching in the deer park, arhats, tanha and the three kinds of craving, nirodha, nibbana with remainder and parinibbana, the eight factors and three sections of the path, and detachment.	23
Buddhist meditation	Recall questions on the purpose of meditation, samatha and vipassana practice and how they complement each other, mindfulness and its four foundations, personalised practice, the path factors that cover meditation, the jhanas, secular therapeutic uses, and whether meditation is too inward-looking.	17
The development of Mahayana Buddhism	Recall questions on the emergence of Mahayana, upaya, the bodhisattva, bodhicitta and the six paramitas, Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Maitreya, the parables of the burning house, the magic city and the hidden gem, the trikaya, and the bodhisattva compared with the arhat.	24
Madhyamaka and the perfection of wisdom	Recall questions on Nagarjuna and his method, the perfection of wisdom sutras and the Heart Sutra, sunyata and svabhava, why emptiness is not nihilism, dependent origination, the two truths, samsara and nirvana as not separate, and continuity with the Buddha's teaching.	17
Zen and Pure Land Buddhism	Recall questions on the origins of Zen, zazen, satori and koans, Zen's attitude to scripture, Rinzai and Soto Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, Amitabha and Dharmakara's vows, nembutsu, Jodo-shu and Jodo Shinshu, and whether Pure Land is an easy path.	19
Buddhism in the West	Recall questions on how Buddhism reached the West, its appeal and portrayal in the media, the Dalai Lama, adaptation to Western science and culture, Stephen Batchelor's Secular Buddhism and Paul Knitter's dual-belonging and the criticisms of each.	16
Engaged Buddhism and social activism	Recall questions on the origins and aims of Engaged Buddhism, Thich Nhat Hanh, interbeing and the fourteen precepts of the Order of Interbeing, arguments for and against activism, Buddhist action on the environment, injustice and war, and whether Buddhism is always peaceful.	16
Buddhism and gender	Recall questions on women's capacity for awakening, the founding of the order of nuns, the dragon king's daughter in the Lotus Sutra, the gurudharma, ordination in the Theravada tradition, eight precept women, the revival of full ordination, Thailand and Myanmar, and Sakyadhita.	17

Developments in Buddhist Thought is 218 of the 1,584 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.