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Question

Read the following passage and answer the (four) items that follow:
Life responds to our intention. When we really want something to occur, life tends to move toward us, fulfilling our aspiration. If our intention is full if our energies are intensely directed toward the pursuit of a specific goal over time life not only responds, but does so rapidly, fulfilling that deepest aspiration. For example, when Albert Einstein began to focus all parts of his being mental, vital, and physical toward the pursuit of his goal of finding work to overcome his utterly destitute state as a young man, the possibility of working at the patent office moved toward him. When his intention became full, i.e., he crossed over a certain threshold of intensity demanded of life, the job became his. From that new post, he not only overcame his current predicament of acute poverty and misery, but it served as the platform through which he would develop papers that would change the course of science and the history of the world. From this, we see that there may be no greater means for success and accomplishment in life than our intention.
When we have clear knowledge of what we want to accomplish and our emotions fully support it, then our intention takes shape. If we then make a determined, persevering effort to carry out our heart's desire, we generate an irresistible power that quickly attracts it. If we look around, we will see that life is always responding to our intentions. In Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennett intensely desired to marry off her daughters to avoid a pending eviction of her family, and within a year, that is precisely what occurred (for three of them).
When Erin Brockovich directed all of her energies to getting out of her own desperate state of poverty, she quickly secured a job at a law office that not only lifted her out of misery, but became the springboard through which she would win the largest victim rights settlement in history. When we focus on accomplishing something, then our intention takes shape. When our intention is full, i.e., when we intensely want something to occur, and sustain that urge over time, life brings us what we want in spades. The Upanishads declare: "You are what your deepest desire is. As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny!' One interesting aspect of human aspiration or intention is that it can express itself at various levels, from a mild interest in a subject, to a desire to accomplish something, to the intense need to bring about our heart's desire. And yet, life can instantly respond to our intention at any of these levels, even to a passing fancy! As we see, even a passing fancy will attract corresponding response, as long as there is a modicum of interest involved. You have just thought about a subject you had not thought of for decades, and then two minutes later, there is discussion on that very topic on television! That is dramatic enough, but when you have never seen that subject referred to in a lifetime of TV-watching, then you know something profound is at work!

What are the requirements for life responding positively to our intention?

A
Our intention should be full.
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B
Our energies should be solely directed toward the aim
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C
Our intention should be scattered on various goals
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D
Both (a) and (b)
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Solution

The correct option is D Both (a) and (b)
As it is mentioned in the first paragraph that if our intention is full —if our energies are intensely directed toward the pursuit of a specific goal over time—life not only responds, but does so rapidly, fulfilling that deepest aspiration.

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Q. Read the following passage and answer the (four) items that follow:
After the enlightenment, the Buddha walked over one hundred miles to India's holy city of Benares. In a deer park near the city, he preached his first sermon to the five followers who had previously renounced him. This sermon formed the basis of his teaching from then on. He spoke about The Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths which came to the Buddha at the enlightenment revolve around the logical process of seeing life, seeing all actions, not as we wish to see them, but as they really are. The first truth is that life always incorporates suffering or Dukkha as it was called then. Dukkha has a broader meaning than suffering. It can be the feeling you experience when you encounter pain, old age, sickness, loss, or separation from loved ones, but it can also represent a general unsatisfied feeling. If you feel that your life is like pushing a supermarket trolley which always wants to go in a different direction, then that is Dukkha. In "The Vision of the Buddha" by Torn Lowenstein, the Buddha says, "What, monks, is the truth of suffering? Birth is suffering; decay, sickness, and death are sufferings. To be separated from what you like is suffering. To want something and not getting it is suffering. In short, the human personality, liable as it is to clinging and attachment brings suffering?” The second noble truth is that suffering in its broad sense, comes from desire, and specifically, desire for meeting our expectations and for self fulfillment as we see it. By desiring for ourselves rather than the whole, we will always have suffering. In the same way that a child wants a new toy and then, having achieved that, will long for yet another, we seek fulfillment of our desire, to then move on to another. All the time, our lives are only temporarily satisfied. So far, that is the bad news. In the language of many teenagers "life sucks." But Buddhism is a positive philosophy, and the next two noble truths give us an optimistic message. The third noble truth tells us that if our attachment to desire ends, so too will the suffering. Specifically if we change our perception and reduce our attachment to desire, suffering will also reduce. This is not intended to lead to a cancellation of the zest for life, but to an understanding of the nature of life and to controlling those desires which come from that lack of understanding. The fourth noble truth shows the way to the ending of suffering. The Buddha said that the way to cease suffering is to follow the middle way, the Noble Eightfold path. This provides the guidelines for day-to-day living. There is some analogy here with the Ten Commandments in Christianity, but the eightfold path is meant as a guideline rather than a strict rule. The Buddha reached this middle way after himself living the extremes of life. In his early years, he was surrounded by luxury, given access to all pleasures available at that time. In his search, he lived the opposite life, one where he deprived himself of even the essentials, and faced death. The Noble Eightfold path leads to a way, which embraces life and is neither indulgent nor austere. The Noble Eight-fold path is Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. When the Buddha gave this first sermon to the world, he is said to have set in motion the Wheel of the Law. And the wheel as a Buddhist symbol appears over and over again in Buddhist art, symbolizing the cyclic nature of existence.

According to the passage, which of the following are true?

  1. (iii) and (iv)
  2. All of the above
  3. None of the above
  4. (i) and (ii)
Q.

After the enlightenment, the Buddha walked over one hundred miles to India's holy city of Benares. In a deer park near the city, he preached his first sermon to the five followers who had previously renounced him. This sermon formed the basis of his teaching from then on. He spoke about The Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths which came to the Buddha at the enlightenment revolve around the logical process of seeing life, seeing all actions, not as we wish to see them, but as they really are. The first truth is that life always incorporates suffering or Dukkha as it was called then. Dukkha has a broader meaning than suffering. It can be the feeling you experience when you encounter pain, old age, sickness, loss, or separation from loved ones, but it can also represent a general unsatisfied feeling. If you feel that your life is like pushing a supermarket trolley which always wants to go in a different direction, then that is Dukkha. In "The Vision of the Buddha" by Torn Lowenstein, the Buddha says "What, monks, is the truth of suffering? Birth is suffering; decay, sickness, and death are sufferings. To be separated from what you like is suffering. To want something and not getting it is suffering. In short, the human personality, liable as it is to clinging and attachment brings suffering?” The second noble truth is that suffering in its broad sense, comes from desire, and specifically, desire for meeting our expectations and for self-fulfillment as we see it. By desiring for ourselves rather than the whole, we will always have suffering. In the same way that a child wants a new toy and then, having achieved that, will long for yet another, we seek fulfillment of our desire, to then move on to another. All the time, our lives are only temporarily satisfied. So far, that is the bad news. In the language of many teenagers "life sucks." But Buddhism is a positive philosophy, and the next two noble truths give us an optimistic message. The third noble truth tells us that if our attachment to desire ends, so too will the suffering. Specifically if we change our perception and reduce our attachment to desire, suffering will also reduce. This is not intended to lead to a cancellation of the zest for life, but to an understanding of the nature of life and to controlling those desires which come from that lack of understanding. The fourth noble truth shows the way to the ending of suffering. The Buddha said that the way to cease suffering is to follow the middle way, the Noble Eightfold path. This provides the guidelines for day-to-day living. There is some analogy here with the Ten Commandments in Christianity, but the eightfold path is meant as a guideline rather than a strict rule. The Buddha reached this middle way after himself living the extremes of life. In his early years, he was surrounded by luxury, given access to all pleasures available at that time. In his search, he lived the opposite life, one where he deprived himself of even the essentials, and faced death. The Noble Eightfold path leads to a way, which embraces life and is neither indulgent nor austere. The Noble Eight-fold path is Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. When the Buddha gave this first sermon to the world, he is said to have set in motion the Wheel of the Law. And the wheel as a Buddhist symbol appears over and over again in Buddhist art, symbolizing the cyclic nature of existence.

Q73. Which of the following is not in accordance with the passage?

1. Desires are the root cause of all our sufferings.

2. Dukkha is a huge reality of human life.

3. The eight fold path can guide us away from Dukkha.

4. Controlling our mindless desires can lead us away from Dukkha.


Q. Read the following passage and answer the (four) items that follow:
After the enlightenment, the Buddha walked over one hundred miles to India's holy city of Benares. In a deer park near the city, he preached his first sermon to the five followers who had previously renounced him. This sermon formed the basis of his teaching from then on. He spoke about The Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths which came to the Buddha at the enlightenment revolve around the logical process of seeing life, seeing all actions, not as we wish to see them, but as they really are. The first truth is that life always incorporates suffering or Dukkha as it was called then. Dukkha has a broader meaning than suffering. It can be the feeling you experience when you encounter pain, old age, sickness, loss, or separation from loved ones, but it can also represent a general unsatisfied feeling. If you feel that your life is like pushing a supermarket trolley which always wants to go in a different direction, then that is Dukkha. In "The Vision of the Buddha" by Torn Lowenstein, the Buddha says, "What, monks, is the truth of suffering? Birth is suffering; decay, sickness, and death are sufferings. To be separated from what you like is suffering. To want something and not getting it is suffering. In short, the human personality, liable as it is to clinging and attachment brings suffering?” The second noble truth is that suffering in its broad sense, comes from desire, and specifically, desire for meeting our expectations and for self fulfillment as we see it. By desiring for ourselves rather than the whole, we will always have suffering. In the same way that a child wants a new toy and then, having achieved that, will long for yet another, we seek fulfillment of our desire, to then move on to another. All the time, our lives are only temporarily satisfied. So far, that is the bad news. In the language of many teenagers "life sucks." But Buddhism is a positive philosophy, and the next two noble truths give us an optimistic message. The third noble truth tells us that if our attachment to desire ends, so too will the suffering. Specifically if we change our perception and reduce our attachment to desire, suffering will also reduce. This is not intended to lead to a cancellation of the zest for life, but to an understanding of the nature of life and to controlling those desires which come from that lack of understanding. The fourth noble truth shows the way to the ending of suffering. The Buddha said that the way to cease suffering is to follow the middle way, the Noble Eightfold path. This provides the guidelines for day-to-day living. There is some analogy here with the Ten Commandments in Christianity, but the eightfold path is meant as a guideline rather than a strict rule. The Buddha reached this middle way after himself living the extremes of life. In his early years, he was surrounded by luxury, given access to all pleasures available at that time. In his search, he lived the opposite life, one where he deprived himself of even the essentials, and faced death. The Noble Eightfold path leads to a way, which embraces life and is neither indulgent nor austere. The Noble Eight-fold path is Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. When the Buddha gave this first sermon to the world, he is said to have set in motion the Wheel of the Law. And the wheel as a Buddhist symbol appears over and over again in Buddhist art, symbolizing the cyclic nature of existence.

According to the passage, which of the following inferences can be drawn?
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