Download a printable version of the essay questions from Parts III-V

REL315: Buddhism
Exam Questions
Part III: Essay Question 1 (20 Points)
Write an essay-style response to one of the following two questions:
1A. Tiantai and Huayan: The Mutual Interpenetration of Things
The jeweled net of Sakra is also called Indra’s Net, and is made up of jewels. The jewels
are shiny and reflect each other successively, their images permeating each other over
and over. In a single jewel they all appear at the same time, and this can be seen in each
and every jewel. There is really no coming or going. Now if we turn to the southwest
direction and pick up one of the jewels to examine it, we will see that this one jewel can
immediately reflect the images of all of the other jewels. Each of the other jewels will do
the same. Each jewel will simultaneously reflect the images of all the jewels in this
manner, as will all of the other jewels. The images are repeated and multiplied in each
other in a manner that is unbounded. Within the boundaries of a single jewel are
contained the unbounded repetition and profusion of the images of all the jewels. The
reflections are exceedingly clear and are completely unhindered. (Sources of Chinese
Tradition, 473)
What do the individual jewels represent in the metaphor of Indra’s Net? What is the relationship
between the individual jewels and the net in its entirety? How is this “mutual interpenetration of
things without obstruction” related to Nagarjuna’s views on “emptiness” (sunyata) and the
relationship between “conventional” and “ultimate” truth? What are the implications of this
perspective with regard to the historical Buddha’s distinction between samsara and nirvana?
1B. Vajrayana: Esoteric/Tantric Buddhism
In [the Womb World] mandala, all kinds of Buddhas and deities are lined up together. If
we ask if only the very magnificent Buddhas are lined together, the answer is no. Only
the cosmic Buddha Dainichi Nyorai [a.k.a. Mahavairocana] in the center is one hundred
percent perfect. Many of the others surrounding it are deities from Indian folk religion.
On the very outer edges, a lot of snakes and demons have been included. Now each one
of them is an offshoot of Dainichi Nyorai. Each has some kind of special characteristic,
and each can become a Buddha by means of that special characteristic. What we find here
is a logic by which even something that is ninety-nine percent bad has a hundred percent
value by virtue of the one percent of the special characteristic it has.…Therefore there is
no such thing as leaving behind something that is ninety-nine percent bad. Because they
have a special characteristic in the amount of one percent, they are seen as an offshoot of
the one hundred percent that is Dainichi Nyorai. Such a world is woven into the mandala.
It is a way of thinking in which everything is embraced and every single special
characteristic is nourished. (Japanese Mandalas, 58)
Discuss the above passage in the context of the Esoteric claim that “ultimate reality can and
should be approached through sensory experiences—bodily through mudras, verbally through
mantras, and mentally through mandalas” (Japanese Mandalas, 34). How is this Esoteric
perspective related to the Tantric practices associated with Tibetan Buddhism?
Part IV: Essay Question 2 (20 Points)
Write an essay-style response to one of the following two questions:
2A. Nichiren: The Daimoku and the Gohonzon
Now is when the Bodhisattvas of the Earth will appear and establish in this country the
supreme object of worship [i.e. the gohonzon] on the earth which depicts Shakyamuni
Buddha of the essential teaching attending [the original Buddha]. This object of worship
has never appeared in India or China….Thus the revelation of the true object of worship
has been entrusted only to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. They have been waiting for the
right time to emerge from the earth and carry out the Lord Buddha’s
command....Showing the profound compassion for those ignorant of the gem of “the three
thousand worlds comprised in a single thought,” the Buddha wrapped it within the fivecharacter phrase [myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then adorned the necks of those
living in the Latter Day. (Sources of Japanese Tradition, 302-3)
Compare Nichiren’s practice of reciting the daimoku (namu-myoho-renge-kyo) with the Pure
Land recitation of the nembutsu (namu-amida-butsu)—a practice that he thoroughly criticized.
What is the significance of the fact that Nichiren placed the daimoku at the center of his mandala,
the gohonzon, at which one was to stare while chanting the daimoku? In the end, would you say
that Nichiren advocated “Self Power,” “Other Power,” or some combination of the two?
2B. “Self Power” and “Other Power”
Chan/Zen: Bodhidharma
A special transmission outside the scriptures,
Not founded on words and letters.
Directly pointing to a person’s mind,
One sees one’s nature and becomes a Buddha.
(Translated by Brian Hoffert; cf. Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience, 244)
Pure Land: Amitabha
When I realize supreme enlightenment, there will be sentient beings in other Buddha-lands
who, after hearing my name, dedicate their good roots to birth in my land in thought after
thought. Even if they have only ten such thoughts, they will be born in my land. (A Treasury
of Mahayana Sutras, 342-3)
Discuss the concepts of Self Power and Other Power with reference to the Chan and Pure Land
traditions of China. How did the relationship between Self Power and Other Power change with
the development of the Zen and Pure Land schools of Japan?
Part V: Essay Question 3 (20 Points)
Write an essay-style response to the following question:
Discuss the relationship between Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism, highlighting
the distinctive features of each as well as the unifying role of the Four Noble Truths, which
provide the foundational principles for all three.