Buddhism

What Buddhism covers

Buddhism is examined in Paper 1, The study of religions — one of the two religions chosen from seven. It covers the life of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Three Marks of Existence, the human personality and human destiny, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and the Threefold Way, places of worship, puja and devotional practice, meditation: samatha, vipassana and visualisation, death, mourning and Buddhist festivals, kamma, rebirth, compassion and loving kindness and the five precepts and the six perfections.

The 10 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The life of the BuddhaStudents follow Siddhattha Gotama from his birth and sheltered palace life, through the Four Sights, the Great Renunciation and six years of asceticism, to the Middle Way, his Enlightenment and why his life matters to Buddhists.Open →
• The Dhamma and the Three Marks of ExistenceThese questions explain what Dhamma means and why it is one of the Three Refuges, dependent arising and its link to rebirth, and the Three Marks of Existence, including how Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists read anatta.Open →
• The human personality and human destinyStudents learn the Five Aggregates and how they support anatta, the Mahayana ideas of sunyata and Buddha-nature, the arhat and bodhisattva ideals, Buddhahood, and the Pure Land of Sukhavati and how it is reached.Open →
• The Four Noble TruthsThe subtopic covers each of the Four Noble Truths in turn, including the three types of dukkha, tanha and the Three Poisons, differing views of nibbana and parinibbana, the doctor analogy and the teaching of the Dhammapada.Open →
• The Eightfold Path and the Threefold WayThese questions set out the eight factors of the Eightfold Path and how they divide into sila, samadhi and panna, explain right speech, livelihood and mindfulness, and link the path to the Middle Way.Open →
• Places of worship, puja and devotional practiceStudents learn about temples, viharas and gompas, the Buddha rupa and its hand positions, shrine objects and their symbolism, puja at home and in the temple, and the use of chanting, mantras and malas.Open →
• Meditation: samatha, vipassana and visualisationThe subtopic explains the purpose of meditation, samatha and mindfulness of breathing, vipassana and zazen with the Soto and Rinzai approaches and koans, visualisation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and metta bhavana.Open →
• Death, mourning and Buddhist festivalsThese questions cover Theravada funerals and the transfer of merit, Japanese mourning customs and the butsudan, the Tibetan bardo and sky burial, the festivals of Wesak and Parinirvana Day, and retreats in Britain.Open →
• Kamma, rebirth, compassion and loving kindnessStudents learn what kamma is and why intention matters, skilful and unskilful actions, rebirth without a soul, karuna and metta and how they differ, the four brahmaviharas, and how kamma shapes the way Buddhists treat others.Open →
• The five precepts and the six perfectionsThe subtopic works through each of the five precepts and the extra precepts kept on special days, then the six perfections, including generosity, patience, energy and wisdom, and how an individual develops them.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Buddhism further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Anicca vs Anatta

  Anicca: impermanence in all things. Anatta: the absence of a fixed self in a person.

• Arhat vs Bodhisattva

  Arhat: the Theravada goal of personal nibbana. Bodhisattva: the Mahayana goal of Buddhahood for all.

• Nibbana vs Parinibbana

  Nibbana: the enlightenment an arhat reaches during life. Parinibbana: the final release at the death of an enlightened person.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What was the Buddha’s name before his Enlightenment?

   Model answer

   The Buddha was born Siddhattha Gotama, or Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit. Gotama belonged to the Shakya clan of northern India.

2. 2

   Where was the Buddha born, and roughly when did he live?

   Model answer

   Tradition places the birth at Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. Most historians date the Buddha’s life to the fifth century BCE.

3. 3

   Describe the life of luxury Siddhattha was given as a young man.

   Model answer

   Siddhattha’s father, King Suddhodana, raised him in palaces with every comfort. Servants kept sickness, old age and death out of the young prince’s sight.

4. 4

   Why did King Suddhodana keep his son inside the palace?

   Model answer

   A prophecy said the boy would become either a great king or a great holy man. Suddhodana wanted a royal heir and hid all suffering from him.

5. 5

   Name the Four Sights that Siddhattha saw outside the palace.

   Model answer

   Siddhattha saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse. The fourth sight was a holy man who had given up all possessions.

6. 6

   What did the first three of the Four Sights teach Siddhattha?

   Model answer

   Illness, old age and death come to every person, however rich or royal. Palace walls could not keep suffering away from Siddhattha for ever.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Buddhism revision questions

What does Buddhism cover in AQA GCSE Religious Studies A?

10 subtopics: the life of the buddha, the dhamma and the three marks of existence, the human personality and human destiny, the four noble truths, the eightfold path and the threefold way, places of worship, puja and devotional practice, meditation: samatha, vipassana and visualisation, death, mourning and buddhist festivals, kamma, rebirth, compassion and loving kindness and the five precepts and the six perfections. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Buddhism organised?

By the AQA 8062 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.