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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The first time the author attended a week-long meditation retreat, he was allowed to speak how many times?

2. What is the English translation of the word anatta?

3. What is the English translation of the title of the Buddhist text called the Satipatthana Sutta?

4. What is the name of the professor of Psychology at Pennsylvania State University discussed by the author?

5. How many parts belong to the Path that "deeply committed Buddhists are supposed to tread" (48)?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author use the example of bodily fluids in order to demonstrate the differences between Western Buddhism and Traditional Buddhism?

2. Discuss the tendency of humans to engage in self-inflation.

3. Discuss the author's discussion of a wandering mind.

4. What does the author say about his own level of enlightenment and why?

5. How does the author use the example of the scar experiment?

6. How does the author go about trying to depict the bliss he feels as a result of meditation?

7. Discuss an example or anecdote used by the author to demonstrate the value of mindfulness mediation.

8. Discuss the author's purpose in using the example of Thich Quang Duc’s public self-immolation.

9. What is witness consciousness, according to the author?

10. What is the nature of the author's characterization of a meditation retreat?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What ultimate message is Robert Wright's book Buddhism is True sending about the nature and value of compassion?

Essay Topic 2

Read the List of Buddhist Truths included in the back of Robert Wright's book Buddhism is True. Write an essay explaining the connection between one of the Buddhist Truths and an example or anecdote provided by the author within the text.

Essay Topic 3

What messages does Robert Wright's book Buddhism is True send to the audience about the themes of isolation and outreach?

(see the answer keys)

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