Q 01/05

Pew found Buddhists were the only major religious group whose numbers did what between 2010 and 2020?

A) Doubled

B) Rose fastest

C) Shrank

D) Stayed level

Answer · why

C) Shrank

Shrank: more people left Buddhism than joined it, and Buddhists are concentrated in slow-growing countries such as China and Japan.

Q 02/05

Where was the Buddha born?

A) Bodh Gaya, in present-day India

B) Taxila, in present-day Pakistan

C) Lumbini, in present-day Nepal

D) Kathmandu, in present-day Nepal

Answer · why

C) Lumbini, in present-day Nepal

Lumbini, in present-day Nepal: the emperor Ashoka later made a pilgrimage there and set up a stone pillar inscribed as marking the Buddha's birthplace...

Q 03/05

The Buddha was born into which community, governed by a small oligarchy or republic-like council?

A) The Maurya

B) The Licchavi

C) The Kuru

D) The Shakya

Answer · why

D) The Shakya

The Shakya: his father is described as an elected chief of the clan, rather than the king that later tellings made him.

Q 04/05

In legend, what did Queen Maya dream entered her side when the Buddha was conceived?

A) A golden deer with silver antlers

B) A lotus made of pure light

C) A white elephant with six tusks

D) A many-headed serpent

Answer · why

C) A white elephant with six tusks

A white elephant with six tusks: the legend adds that seers foretold the child would become either a great king or a great spiritual leader.

Q 05/05

What were the names of the Buddha's wife and son according to the early texts?

A) Maya and Ananda

B) Sujata and Nanda

C) Yasodhara and Rahula

D) Gopa and Devadatta

Answer · why

C) Yasodhara and Rahula

Rahula later joined the monastic order his father founded.