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Buddhism: fun facts and quiz
The essentials in 7 ideas, with fun facts, an illustrated story and a quiz to see how much you know.
The essentials
The Buddha’s Life
Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince in Lumbini, in today’s Nepal, about 2,500 years ago. He left palace life to seek an end to suffering and, after meditating, became the Buddha.
Key fact
He is said to have reached enlightenment under a Bodhi tree.
The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha taught Four Noble Truths: life involves suffering; suffering comes from craving; it can end; and there is a path to end it.
Key fact
That path is called the Noble Eightfold Path.
Meditation
Meditation is central to many Buddhist traditions: training attention, often by focusing on the breath, to calm the mind and see clearly.
Key fact
Mindfulness practices popular today draw on Buddhist meditation.
Karma & Nirvana
Buddhists teach that actions shape future experience through karma, in a cycle of rebirth. Nirvana is release from that cycle and from suffering.
Key fact
“Nirvana” means “blowing out”, like a flame.
Branches of Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism is common in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia; Mahayana in China, Korea and Japan; and Tibetan Buddhism in the Himalayas.
Key fact
Zen is a Japanese form of Mahayana Buddhism.
The Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. The current, 14th Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since 1959.
Key fact
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Temples & Monks
Buddhist temples range from Myanmar’s golden Shwedagon Pagoda to Indonesia’s Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Many monks shave their heads and wear robes.
Key fact
Borobudur was built in the 800s.
Fun facts
Legend says the newborn Buddha took seven steps, and a lotus flower sprang up at each one.
The Buddha first taught the Four Noble Truths in a deer park at Sarnath, near Varanasi.
“Zen” comes, via Chinese “Chan”, from a Sanskrit word meaning meditation.
The rock band Nirvana took its name from the Buddhist idea.
Theravada means “teaching of the elders”.
“Dalai” is a Mongolian word meaning “ocean”, as in an ocean of wisdom.
Borobudur is decorated with over 2,500 carved stone panels.
Story: The Four Sights
The Four Sights
Prince Siddhartha grows up in a palace, where his father hides every sorrow from him. One day, he rides out with his charioteer, Channa.
He sees an old man, then a sick man, then a funeral. Channa explains: everyone grows old, falls ill and dies.
Last, he sees a calm wandering monk. Soon after, Siddhartha leaves the palace to find a way beyond suffering.
True or false?
Tap your answer to see if you got it, and why.
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Question 1 of 10
The Buddha was born a prince.
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True. He gave up a life of luxury.
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Question 2 of 10
The Four Noble Truths say that suffering can end.
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True. That’s the third truth.
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Question 3 of 10
Meditation is important in many Buddhist traditions.
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True. A core practice for monks and lay people.
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Question 4 of 10
Nirvana means release from suffering and rebirth.
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True. The goal of the Buddhist path.
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Question 5 of 10
Zen is a form of Buddhism.
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True. Part of the Mahayana tradition.
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Question 6 of 10
The 14th Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize.
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True. In 1989, for his peaceful campaign for Tibet.
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Question 7 of 10
Borobudur is in Indonesia.
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True. On the island of Java.
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Question 8 of 10
The Buddha reached enlightenment on a mountain top.
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False. Under a Bodhi tree, it is said.
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Question 9 of 10
The path to end suffering is called the Fourfold Path.
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False. It’s the Noble Eightfold Path.
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Question 10 of 10
Buddhist meditation always requires loud chanting.
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False. Much of it is silent.
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Buddhism, the Buddha, Four Noble Truths
- BBC Religions — Buddhism
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Borobudur Temple Compounds; Lumbini
- Nobel Prize — Peace 1989 (the 14th Dalai Lama)
- Pew Research Center — The global religious landscape
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Ashoka, bodhisattva, Xuanzang, koan, Ryōan-ji, Thich Nhat Hanh
- Plum Village — About Thich Nhat Hanh
