Dhammika Academy

Buddhism in English Level III

Take-Home Final Examination

Examination Starts: Monday, February 27th, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.

Examination Ends and Submits: Tuesday, August 28th, 2022 before 12:00 a.m.

Section I: Terminology
1. Translate from English into Khmer.
a) Liberation: !ររួចផុត(កទុក+
b) The Five Aggregates: ប-.ខន1
c) Volitional formation: ស3+ រ
d) Perception: ស45
e) To perform meritorious action: បំេពញកុសល
f) To commit unwholesome action: េធ<អ= េំ ព=?@កក់
g) To renounce the world: េចញបួស
h) The Perfection of Generosity: BនCរមី
i) The Perfection of Wisdom: ប45 Cរមី
j) The Perfection of Patience: ខនFិCរមី
2. Translate from Romanized-pāḷi into English.
a) Pariyatti: The stage of learning scripture.
b) Paṭipatti: The stage of practicing the teaching.
c) Buddhattha cariyā: The noble practice aiming at the becoming the fully
enlightened One who can beings from the suffering of Saṃsāra.
 d) Lokattha cariyā: The noble practice aiming at the welfare of all
beings.
e) Appamādena bhikkhave sampādetha: Bhikkhu, perform useful deed
carefully.
f) Manussattabhāvo dullabho: Rare is it to be born as a human being.
g) Saddhammassavanaṃ dullabhaṃ: Rare is it to be listen to the teaching of
the Buddha.
h) Saṅkhāra paccayā viññāṇaṃ: With volitional formations as
condition, consciousness comes to be.
i) Vedanā paccayā taṇhā: With feeling as condition, craving comes to
be.
j) Bhava paccayā jāti: With the existence as condition, birth comes to be.

Section II: Comprehension Question

1. What are the five daily routines of the Buddha? Briefly describe them one
by one.
=> The five daily routines of the Buddha
1. Early morning duty
In the early morning, He got up, cleaned his face and limbs. Then, he went
back to his fragrant chamber and enjoyed the blissful peace of Phalasamāpatti for a little
moment. At time for alms-round, the Buddha prepared his robes and went for alms-
round.
2. Afternoon duty
In the evening, he expounded the dhamma appropriate to the time and
situation to lay-devotees.
3. The duty of the first watch
 Approximately from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm, the bhikkhu from here and there
assemble to pay homage to the Buddha. The Buddha answered all their questions and
expounded the dhamma for the first watch of the night.
4. The duty of the middle watch
The middle watch was exclusively reserved for devas and brahmas from ten
thousand worlds. They approached to hear the Dhamma and put up questions which
they had previously pondered, and the Buddha answered them all.
5. The duty of the last watch
He surveyed people who are suitable for instruction.
2. What are the ten bases of meritorious actions (puññakiriyāvatthu)? Count
and classify them into three groups.
The ten bases of meritorious actions are:
1. Dāna - alms-giving
2. Sīla - morality
3. Bhāvanā - tranquility meditation and insight meditation
4. Apacāyana - reverence to elders and virtuous or holy people
5. Veyyāvacca - rendering service in wholesome deeds
6. Pattidāna - sharing merit
7. Pattānumodanā - rejoicing in others’ merit
8. Dhammassavana - listening to the Dhamma
9. Dhammadesanā - teaching the Dhamma
10. Diṭṭhijjukamma - straightening one’s view towards Kamma and its
result.
The above ten bases of meritorious action can be counted into three groups:
1. Dāna group - Dāna, Pattidāna, Pattānumodanā
 2. Sīla group - Sīla, Apacāyana, Veyyāvacca
3. Bhāvanā group - Bhāvanā, Dhammassavana,
Dhammadesanā, Diṭṭhijjukamma.
3. It is stated that 'Mindfulness is the key'. Explain this statement.

Mindfulness is compared with a doorkeeper who carefully check people who

are coming in and going out. When we have mindfulness in our daily life we know our
mind, our actions, and our intention every step. Mindfulness is like policemen who look
carefully for thieves. If there are no policemen, all thieves could whatever they want
without hesitation. The same with our mind, if don’t have mindfulness, our mind is not
stable as well.

4. Elucidate the meaning of the cessation formula (paṭiloma) in the doctrine of

Dependent Origination.

According to the noble teaching, if ignorance totally ceases, then dukkha will
totally cease, and liberation is attained. The chief aim of liberation is to get the total end
and complete cessation of ignorance. If ignorance ceases, then all links or chains are
broken. The cessation of ignorance is sufficient to stop all complex processes in the
stream life. The reverse order includes the truth of the cessation of suffering and the
path while the direct order includes the truth of suffering and its causes.

For instance, as a seed can produce endless tree branches, flowers, and fruits,
if it is destroyed, then all the effects will immediately stop. Being destroyed means the
complete destruction or burning up the seed. Likewise, none needs to completely
destroy or burn up the ignorance through insight wisdom, which can be gained through
the practice of Vipassanā meditation.
 It is wisdom that reveals the four noble truths. When ignorance is completely
destroyed or uprooted to replace with wisdom, all subsequent links of the dependent
origination will be destroyed as well.

Section III: Essay Writing

What have you learned from Buddhism in English Level III Course? Give your
reflection.
Have you ever learned something new? I have just finished an online-course
recently. That course was all about Buddhism in English. Having joined a class is good
even though that class was tough or stressed. Fairly soon, I will share my reflection about
what I have learned lately.
In the first lesson, I happened to study about introduction to the course. From
that lesson, I knew about the basic teaching of Buddhism. Moreover, I learned that
learning had good and bad side. For instance, some people learn the teachings for the
sake of gain and honor like robes, shelters and medicines. Some people want popularity.
This method of studying was identical to the wrong grasp of the poisonous snake. It was
said that for a person who learned the teachings for that purpose, it would be better for
him to sleep rather than learning. On the other hand, for some people who learned the
teachings for purpose of emancipation from the circle of existence. They learned the
teachings properly and then applied them for the practice which enabled them to obtain
the genuine peace and happiness. In addition, I happened to know that there were three
Cariyā of the Buddha. He practiced these three properly. The first Cariyā is the noble
practice aiming at the welfare of all beings. The second Cariyā is the noble practice
aiming at the welfare of his own relatives and races. The third Cariyā is the noble practice
aiming at becoming the fully enlightened Buddha who can save beings from the suffering
of Saṃsāra. Amazingly, I learned about five daily routines of Buddha. That was surprised
me, because our Supreme Buddha almost had no time for himself. He spent most of his
time mainly for all beings. That’s the reason he couldn’t live a long life.
After having finished the introduction, I learned about the law of cause and effect.
That lesson taught me to understand and think more carefully. Because everything
happened at least for a reason. Sometime, we didn’t see the cause, but we only saw the
results. Whenever you knew that everything had its own cause, you’d be more
reasonable than before. To me, I felt more reasonable, happy, and peaceful than the
time I hadn’t studied the law of cause and result. Once I saw something, it reminded me
of its cause. Moreover, I accepted what I had to get peacefully, because I understood
that it is the result of my action. I, however, forget my action intentionally. For those
who have narrow-minded, the main reason perhaps they have never known the law of
and result. If they learned this type of teachings, they should be open-minded.
Right after having finishing the above lesson, I was lucky enough to have studied
about Samatha and Vipassanā. Samatha is described as internal serenity of mind while
Vipassanā is described as the higher wisdom of insight into phenomena. From Samatha,
I knew how to control my mind. Especially, I could keep my stay focused. From
Vipassanā, I could get free from suffering especially mental suffering. Since all
conditioned phenomena are impermanent, so I didn’t have to attach to it too much. For
real, whatever is subject to arising is all subject to cessation. That means we can force
anything to stay the same; it must change no matter what. No powerful beings can
prevent it from happening, because it is the natural law. Even our Supreme Buddha
could not escape it.
The very last lesson of the course was the Doctrine of Dependent Origination. From
that lesson, I knew the way of one life formed. However, it was not easy to understand
that lesson, because that lesson was a higher level than I was. By having paid attention
enough, I still got something new from this lesson. For example, I knew the process of
birth and death.
In conclusion, the above opinion could not describe how wonderful that course
was, because I am just a beginner student. On the other hand, I could not catch all the
meaning of the lesson according to my low intelligent brain. However, I can say that
what I have learned, I will try use it in a better way in order to have both myself and my
society.