Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought

What Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought covers

Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought is examined in A2 Unit 3, A Study of Religion — the Buddhism option, studied instead of the other five. It covers Zen, Pure Land and Nichiren in Japan, Buddhism and the challenge of science, secularisation, Stephen Batchelor and David Brazier and Debating Japanese Buddhism, science and the secular reading.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Zen, Pure Land and Nichiren in JapanRecall questions on koan practice and the need for a teacher, the nembutsu, self and other power, the degenerate age, Shinran's appeal, the daimoku, and Nichiren's fate.Open →
• Buddhism and the challenge of scienceRecall questions on the Kalama Sutta and its limits, traditional cosmology, rereading the realms of rebirth, the Dalai Lama's concessions and dialogue work, and scholarly warnings.Open →
• Secularisation, Stephen Batchelor and David BrazierBatchelor's background in the tradition, david Brazier's central claim about Buddhism and shared question that divides Batchelor and Brazier.Open →
• Debating Japanese Buddhism, science and the secular readingRecall questions on Japanese distinctiveness, whether chanting and koan practices are authentic, points of incompatibility with science, Western secular presentations, and religion or philosophy as a category.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought further

The same content, four other ways.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   From which earlier tradition does Japanese Zen descend?

   Model answer

   It descends from the Chan tradition of China, which was itself shaped by Indian meditation teaching.

2. 2

   Name the two main Zen schools in Japan and the teachers associated with them.

   Model answer

   Rinzai is associated with Eisai and Soto with Dogen, both of whom brought their lineages from China.

3. 3

   What is a koan?

   Model answer

   A koan is a paradoxical statement or question given by a teacher which cannot be solved by ordinary reasoning.

4. 4

   Give an example of a koan and explain the effect it is meant to have.

   Model answer

   Asking what the sound of one hand is offers nothing for the reasoning mind to grasp, and the exhaustion of that mind is what the practice is for.

5. 5

   Why does koan practice require a teacher?

   Model answer

   The student presents a response in private interview and the teacher judges whether it comes from insight or from cleverness, which the student cannot judge alone.

6. 6

   What does the nembutsu consist of, and what does it mean?

   Model answer

   It is the recitation of Namu Amida Butsu, an expression of homage and trust directed to the Buddha Amida.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought revision questions

What does Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought cover in WJEC A-Level Religious Studies?

4 subtopics: zen, pure land and nichiren in japan, buddhism and the challenge of science, secularisation, stephen batchelor and david brazier and debating japanese buddhism, science and the secular reading. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Buddhism: Historical Developments in Religious Thought organised?

By the WJEC 603-0277-X specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.