Buddhism: Equality | Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B (1RB0)
Buddhism: Equality
- 89 questions
- 8 subtopics
- Buddhism, one religion of seven
- Paper 3
Buddhism: Equality is examined in Paper 3, Area of Study 3: Religion, Philosophy and Social Justice, if Buddhism is the religion studied for that area.
It covers Buddhist teaching on human rights, Buddhist attitudes to equality and the Lotus Sutra, Buddhist attitudes to religious freedom, Buddhist attitudes to prejudice and discrimination, Buddhist teaching on racial harmony, Buddhist attitudes to racial discrimination and the Dalai Lama, Buddhist attitudes to social justice and Buddhist attitudes to wealth and poverty.
Sample questions from Buddhism: Equality
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Buddhist teaching on human rights
How does upekkha support human rights?
Show the answer
Upekkha means seeing friend, stranger and enemy with equal regard. Human rights likewise apply to everyone, without favouritism. -
Buddhist attitudes to equality and the Lotus Sutra
What happens in chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra?
Show the answer
The eight-year-old daughter of the dragon king attains Buddhahood in an instant. The monk Sariputra had doubted that a female could become a Buddha. -
Buddhist attitudes to religious freedom
How did the Emperor Ashoka show respect for other religions?
Show the answer
Ashoka's twelfth rock edict urged people to honour other faiths as well as their own. Ashoka warned that condemning another's faith harms one's own. -
Buddhist attitudes to prejudice and discrimination
Why do Buddhists believe prejudice is wrong?
Show the answer
Every being wants happiness and fears suffering, just as we do. Anatta also shows that labels of race, class or religion describe no fixed self. -
Buddhist teaching on racial harmony
How does right speech support racial harmony?
Show the answer
Right speech avoids lies, divisive talk, harsh words and gossip. Divisive speech that sets one group against another is unskilful. -
Buddhist attitudes to racial discrimination and the Dalai Lama
How do Dhammapada 131–132 apply to racial discrimination?
Show the answer
The verses warn that harming others who seek happiness destroys one's own happiness. Racial oppression therefore harms the oppressor as well as the victim. -
Buddhist attitudes to social justice
What is the Sikshasamuccaya?
Show the answer
The Sikshasamuccaya is an eighth-century Mahayana text by Shantideva, gathering teachings on the bodhisattva's training. The title means "compendium of training". -
Buddhist attitudes to wealth and poverty
According to the Cula Kammavibhanga Sutta, why are some people born poor?
Show the answer
The sutta says a person who never gave food or help to others may be reborn poor. A generous person may be reborn wealthy.
The 8 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Buddhist teaching on human rights | Upekkha and how it supports rights, the International Network of Engaged Buddhists and its 1998 declaration on non-violence and human rights, situation ethics, the problems rights can bring, and Humanist arguments. | 11 |
| Buddhist attitudes to equality and the Lotus Sutra | The causes and harms of inequality, the dragon king's daughter and Devadatta in chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha and caste in the Sangha, Dr Ambedkar, and equality in Buddhist practice. | 11 |
| Buddhist attitudes to religious freedom | Toward a True Kinship of Faiths and the Dalai Lama on respecting other faiths, Ashoka's tolerance, Upali the Jain householder, the benefits and challenges of a multi-faith society, and non-religious challenges. | 11 |
| Buddhist attitudes to prejudice and discrimination | How prejudice differs from discrimination, the Sutta Nipata on clinging to one's own views, the Vasala Sutta, situation ethics, Buddhists who have suffered religious discrimination, and working against it. | 11 |
| Buddhist teaching on racial harmony | The Vaca Sutta and right speech, Western Buddhists working against racism, multi-ethnic communities in Britain, situation ethics, why Buddhism is itself multi-ethnic, and racism as a form of delusion. | 11 |
| Buddhist attitudes to racial discrimination and the Dalai Lama | Dhammapada 129 to 132 applied to racial discrimination, the ethnic discrimination Tibetans have faced, the Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize, his teaching on the oneness of humanity, and his refusal to hate the Chinese. | 11 |
| Buddhist attitudes to social justice | Unequal wealth in the world and unequal opportunity in the UK, the Sikshasamuccaya and its teaching, the Karuna Trust and the Tzu Chi Foundation, right livelihood, and situation ethics on social justice. | 11 |
| Buddhist attitudes to wealth and poverty | The causes of poverty in the UK and the world, the Cula Kammavibhanga Sutta on why some are born poor, dana and merit, whether wealth is wrong, and the four kinds of householder happiness. | 12 |
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.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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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.
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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.
Nearby topics
Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 5,266 questions with their answers.