praj-17/QA-MCQ-Open-ended huggingface dataset:
Title: Buddhism
Context: According to the scriptures, soon after the parinirvāṇa (from Sanskrit: "highest extinguishment") of Gautama Buddha, the first Buddhist council was held. As with any ancient Indian tradition, transmission of teaching was done orally. The primary purpose of the assembly was to collectively recite the teachings to ensure that no errors occurred in oral transmission. In the first council, Ānanda, a cousin of the Buddha and his personal attendant, was called upon to recite the discourses (sūtras, Pāli suttas) of the Buddha, and, according to some sources, the abhidhamma. Upāli, another disciple, recited the monastic rules (vinaya). Most scholars regard the traditional accounts of the council as greatly exaggerated if not entirely fictitious.[note 36]Richard Gombrich noted Sariputta led communal recitations of the Buddha's teaching for preservation in the Buddha's lifetime in Sangiti Sutta (Digha Nikaya #33), and something similar to the First Council must have taken place to compose Buddhist scriptures.

question: Soon after the parinirvana of Gautama Buddha, what type of council was held? 

answer: Buddhist

question: Who was cousin of the Buddha? 

answer: Ānanda

question: What are the discourses of the Buddha called? 

answer: sūtras

question: Some sources say that discourse of who else were recited along with Buddha's? 

answer: abhidhamma
Title: Buddhism
Context: According to most scholars, at some period after the Second Council the Sangha began to break into separate factions.[note 37] The various accounts differ as to when the actual schisms occurred. According to the Dipavamsa of the Pāli tradition, they started immediately after the Second Council, the Puggalavada tradition places it in 137 AN, the Sarvastivada tradition of Vasumitra says it was in the time of Ashoka and the Mahasanghika tradition places it much later, nearly 100 BCE.

question: The Sangha began to break into separte factions after what council? 

answer: the Second

question: According to the Dipavamsa they started immediately after what council? 

answer: the Second Council

question: The Mahasanghika places the breakup at what time? 

answer: 100 BCE
Title: Buddhism
Context: The root schism was between the Sthaviras and the Mahāsāṅghikas. The fortunate survival of accounts from both sides of the dispute reveals disparate traditions. The Sthavira group offers two quite distinct reasons for the schism. The Dipavamsa of the Theravāda says that the losing party in the Second Council dispute broke away in protest and formed the Mahasanghika. This contradicts the Mahasanghikas' own vinaya, which shows them as on the same, winning side. The Mahāsāṅghikas argued that the Sthaviras were trying to expand the vinaya and may also have challenged what they perceived were excessive claims or inhumanly high criteria for arhatship. Both parties, therefore, appealed to tradition.

question: The major schism was between the Sthaviras and what other group? 

answer: Mahasanghikas

question: The Dipavamsa says that the losing party broke away in protest and formed what? 

answer: Mahasanghika

question: The Mahasanghikas argued that the Sthaviras were trying to expand what? 

answer: the vinaya
Title: Buddhism
Context: The Sthaviras gave rise to several schools, one of which was the Theravāda school. Originally, these schisms were caused by disputes over vinaya, and monks following different schools of thought seem to have lived happily together in the same monasteries, but eventually, by about 100 CE if not earlier, schisms were being caused by doctrinal disagreements too.

question: Who gave rise to the Theravada school? 

answer: Sthaviras

question: Monks following different schools of thought seem to have lived happily together in the same what? 

answer: monasteries

question: By the latest at around 100 CE, schisms were being caused by what type of desagreements? 

answer: doctrinal
Title: Buddhism
Context: Following (or leading up to) the schisms, each Saṅgha started to accumulate an Abhidharma, a detailed scholastic reworking of doctrinal material appearing in the Suttas, according to schematic classifications. These Abhidharma texts do not contain systematic philosophical treatises, but summaries or numerical lists. Scholars generally date these texts to around the 3rd century BCE, 100 to 200 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore the seven Abhidharma works are generally claimed not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of disciples and great scholars.[note 38] Every school had its own version of the Abhidharma, with different theories and different texts. The different Abhidharmas of the various schools did not agree with each other. Scholars disagree on whether the Mahasanghika school had an Abhidhamma Pitaka or not.[note 38]

question: What is a detailed scholastic reworking of doctrinal material called? 

answer: Abhidharma

question: The abhidharma texts do not contain treatises, but what? 

answer: summaries or numerical lists

question: The Abhidharma texts are from what time? 

answer: 3rd century BCE

question: There is a disagreement on whether a school had an Abhidhamma or not, which school is it? 

answer: Mahasanghika
Title: Buddhism
Context: Several scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, which are among the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras, developed among the Mahāsāṃghika along the Kṛṣṇa River in the Āndhra region of South India.

question: Which sutras are among the earliest Mahayana sutras? 

answer: Prajñāpāramitā

question: The Prajnaparamita sutras were developed along the krsna river in what region of South India? 

answer: Āndhra
Title: Buddhism
Context: The earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to include the very first versions of the Prajñāpāramitā genre, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya Buddha, which were probably written down in the 1st century BCE in the south of India. Guang Xing states, "Several scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā probably developed among the Mahāsāṃghikas in southern India, in the Āndhra country, on the Kṛṣṇa River." A.K. Warder believes that "the Mahāyāna originated in the south of India and almost certainly in the Āndhra country."

question: The earliest Mahayana sutra include the very first version of what genre? 

answer: Prajñāpāramitā

question: Texts concerning Aksobhya Buddha were written down in what century? 

answer: 1st century BCE

question: Author Warder believes that the Mahayana originated in the south of India in what area? 

answer: Āndhra
Title: Buddhism
Context: Anthony Barber and Sree Padma note that "historians of Buddhist thought have been aware for quite some time that such pivotally important Mahayana Buddhist thinkers as Nāgārjuna, Dignaga, Candrakīrti, Āryadeva, and Bhavaviveka, among many others, formulated their theories while living in Buddhist communities in Āndhra." They note that the ancient Buddhist sites in the lower Kṛṣṇa Valley, including Amaravati, Nāgārjunakoṇḍā and Jaggayyapeṭa "can be traced to at least the third century BCE, if not earlier." Akira Hirakawa notes the "evidence suggests that many Early Mahayana scriptures originated in South India."

question: The ancient buddhist site  in the lower Krsna Valley can be traced to at least what century BCE? 

answer: third

question: Evidence suggests that many Early mahayana scriptures originated in what part of India? 

answer: South
Title: Buddhism
Context: There is no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals, and later doctrines, for bodhisattvas. Initially it was known as Bodhisattvayāna (the "Vehicle of the Bodhisattvas"). Paul Williams has also noted that the Mahāyāna never had nor ever attempted to have a separate Vinaya or ordination lineage from the early schools of Buddhism, and therefore each bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī adhering to the Mahāyāna formally belonged to an early school. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage in East Asia, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda ordination lineage in Tibetan Buddhism. Therefore Mahāyāna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools. From Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in India often lived in the same monasteries side by side.

question: There is no evidence that Mahayana ever referred to a separate school of what? 

answer: Buddhism

question: The mahayana never tried to have separte what? 

answer: Vinaya

question: We know that both Mahayana and non Mahayana monks live in the same what? 

answer: monasteries
Title: Buddhism
Context: Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyāna teachings were first propagated into China by Lokakṣema, the first translator of Mahāyāna sūtras into Chinese during the 2nd century CE.[note 39] Some scholars have traditionally considered the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to include the very first versions of the Prajñāpāramitā series, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya Buddha, which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India.[note 40]

question: Most of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mhayana comes from what type of translations? 

answer: Chinese

question: The Mahayana teachings were first propagated into China by who? 

answer: Lokakṣema

question: The earliest Mahayana sutras included the very first versions of what series? 

answer: Prajñāpāramitā

question: Texts concerning Aksobhya Buddha were probably composed in what century BCE? 

answer: 1st
Title: Buddhism
Context: During the period of Late Mahayana Buddhism, four major types of thought developed: Madhyamaka, Yogacara, Tathagatagarbha, and Buddhist Logic as the last and most recent. In India, the two main philosophical schools of the Mahayana were the Madhyamaka and the later Yogacara. According to Dan Lusthaus, Madhyamaka and Yogacara have a great deal in common, and the commonality stems from early Buddhism. There were no great Indian teachers associated with tathagatagarbha thought.

question: What four types of thought developed during the period of late mahayna buddhism? 

answer: Madhyamaka, Yogacara, Tathagatagarbha, and Buddhist Logic

question: What was the latest thought type? 

answer: Buddhist Logic

question: In India the two main philosophical schools of the Mahayana were Madhyamaka and what else? 

answer: Yogacara
Title: Buddhism
Context: Buddhism may have spread only slowly in India until the time of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, who was a public supporter of the religion. The support of Aśoka and his descendants led to the construction of more stūpas (Buddhist religious memorials) and to efforts to spread Buddhism throughout the enlarged Maurya empire and even into neighboring lands—particularly to the Iranian-speaking regions of Afghanistan and Central Asia, beyond the Mauryas' northwest border, and to the island of Sri Lanka south of India. These two missions, in opposite directions, would ultimately lead, in the first case to the spread of Buddhism into China, and in the second case, to the emergence of Theravāda Buddhism and its spread from Sri Lanka to the coastal lands of Southeast Asia.

question: Buddhism may have spread quickly because of what Mauryan emperor? 

answer: Ashoka

question: The support of Asoka and his descendants led to what being built more? 

answer: stūpas

question: What does stupas mean in English? 

answer: Buddhist religious memorials
Title: Buddhism
Context: This period marks the first known spread of Buddhism beyond India. According to the edicts of Aśoka, emissaries were sent to various countries west of India to spread Buddhism (Dharma), particularly in eastern provinces of the neighboring Seleucid Empire, and even farther to Hellenistic kingdoms of the Mediterranean. It is a matter of disagreement among scholars whether or not these emissaries were accompanied by Buddhist missionaries.

question: Emissaries were sent to various countries to what direct from India? 

answer: west

question: Scholars disagree on whether emissaries were accompanied by Buddhist what? 

answer: missionaries

question: What were the emissaries used for? 

answer: to spread Buddhism
Title: Buddhism
Context: The gradual spread of Buddhism into adjacent areas meant that it came into contact with new ethnical groups. During this period Buddhism was exposed to a variety of influences, from Persian and Greek civilization, to changing trends in non-Buddhist Indian religions—themselves influenced by Buddhism. Striking examples of this syncretistic development can be seen in the emergence of Greek-speaking Buddhist monarchs in the Indo-Greek Kingdom, and in the development of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhāra. A Greek king, Menander, has even been immortalized in the Buddhist canon.

question: The gradual spread of Buddhism exposed it to a variety of influences including what civilization? 

answer: Persian and Greek

question: Who was the Greek king immortalized in Buddhist canon? 

answer: Menander
Title: Buddhism
Context: The Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BCE, to Sri Lanka and Thailand and Burma and later also Indonesia. The Dharmagupta school spread (also in 3rd century BCE) north to Kashmir, Gandhara and Bactria (Afghanistan).

question: The Theravada school spread south from india in what century BCE? 

answer: 3rd century

question: The Dharmagupta schol spread in what century to Kashmir? 

answer: 3rd century
Title: Buddhism
Context: The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China is most commonly thought to have started in the late 2nd or the 1st century CE, though the literary sources are all open to question.[note 41] The first documented translation efforts by foreign Buddhist monks in China were in the 2nd century CE, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin.

question: When was the first documented translation efforts by foreign Buddhist monks in China? 

answer: 2nd century CE
Title: Buddhism
Context: In the 2nd century CE, Mahayana Sutras spread to China, and then to Korea and Japan, and were translated into Chinese. During the Indian period of Esoteric Buddhism (from the 8th century onwards), Buddhism spread from India to Tibet and Mongolia.

question: Mahayana Sutras spread to China during what century? 

answer: 2nd century CE

question: What two countries after China was the Mahayana sutras spread? 

answer: Korea and Japan

question: When did Buddhism apread from India to Tibet? 

answer: 8th century onwards
Title: Buddhism
Context: By the late Middle Ages, Buddhism had become virtually extinct in India, although it continued to exist in surrounding countries. It is now again gaining strength worldwide. China and India are now starting to fund Buddhist shrines in various Asian countries as they compete for influence in the region.[web 20]

question: China and India are now starting to fund what type of shrines in various Asian countries? 

answer: Buddhist
Title: Buddhism
Context: Formal membership varies between communities, but basic lay adherence is often defined in terms of a traditional formula in which the practitioner takes refuge in The Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha), and the Sangha (the Buddhist community). At the present time, the teachings of all three branches of Buddhism have spread throughout the world, and Buddhist texts are increasingly translated into local languages. While in the West Buddhism is often seen as exotic and progressive, in the East it is regarded as familiar and traditional. Buddhists in Asia are frequently well organized and well funded. In countries such as Cambodia and Bhutan, it is recognized as the state religion and receives government support. Modern influences increasingly lead to new forms of Buddhism that significantly depart from traditional beliefs and practices.

question: What is the Dharma? 

answer: the teachings of the Buddha

question: What is the Sangha? 

answer: the Buddhist community

question: West Buddhism is often seen as exotic and what? 

answer: progressive

question: New forms of Buddhism are created because of what reason? 

answer: Modern influences
Title: Buddhism
Context: A number of modern movements or tendencies in Buddhism emerged during the second half of the 20th Century, including the Dalit Buddhist movement (also sometimes called 'neo-Buddhism'), Engaged Buddhism, and the further development of various Western Buddhist traditions.

question: When did a number of modern movement in Buddhism emerge? 

answer: second half of the 20th Century

question: What is the Dalit buddhist movement sometimes called? 

answer: neo-Buddhism
Title: Buddhism
Context: In the second half of the 20th Century a modern movement in Nichiren Buddhism: Soka Gakkai (Value Creation Society) emerged in Japan and spread further to other countries. Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a lay Buddhist movement linking more than 12 million people around the world, and is currently described as "the most diverse" and "the largest lay Buddhist movement in the world".[web 21]

question: What Buddhism emerged in the second half of the 20th century in Japan? 

answer: Nichiren Buddhism: Soka Gakkai

question: What does Soka Gakkai mean in English? 

answer: Value Creation Society

question: What Buddhist movement has linked more than 12 million people? 

answer: Soka Gakkai International

question: What is the largest Buddhist movement in the world? 

answer: SGI
Title: Buddhism
Context: Buddhism is practiced by an estimated 488 million,[web 1] 495 million, or 535 million people as of the 2010s, representing 7% to 8% of the world's total population.

question: What religion is practiced by an estimated 488 to 535 million people? 

answer: Buddhism
Title: Buddhism
Context: China is the country with the largest population of Buddhists, approximately 244 million or 18.2% of its total population.[web 1] They are mostly followers of Chinese schools of Mahayana, making this the largest body of Buddhist traditions. Mahayana, also practiced in broader East Asia, is followed by over half of world Buddhists.[web 1]

question: What country has the largest population of Buddhists? 

answer: China

question: How many Buddhists are in China? 

answer: 244 million
Title: Buddhism
Context: According to a demographic analysis reported by Peter Harvey (2013): Mahayana has 360 million adherents; Theravada has 150 million adherents; and Vajrayana has 18,2 million adherents. Seven million additional Buddhists are found outside of Asia.

question: How may adherents does Mahayana have? 

answer: 360 million

question: How many adherents does Thervada have? 

answer: 150 million

question: How many Buddists are outside of Asia? 

answer: Seven million
Title: Buddhism
Context: According to Johnson and Grim (2013), Buddhism has grown from a total of 138 million adherents in 1910, of which 137 million were in Asia, to 495 million in 2010, of which 487 million are in Asia. According to them, there was a fast annual growth of Buddhism in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and several Western European countries (1910–2010). More recently (2000–2010), the countries with highest growth rates are Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and some African countries.

question: How many Buddhists were there in 1910? 

answer: 138 million

question: How many Buddhists are there in 2010? 

answer: 495 million

question: How many buddhists are in Asia? 

answer: 487 million
Title: Buddhism
Context: Some scholars[note 44] use other schemes. Buddhists themselves have a variety of other schemes. Hinayana (literally "lesser vehicle") is used by Mahayana followers to name the family of early philosophical schools and traditions from which contemporary Theravada emerged, but as this term is rooted in the Mahayana viewpoint and can be considered derogatory, a variety of other terms are increasingly used instead, including Śrāvakayāna, Nikaya Buddhism, early Buddhist schools, sectarian Buddhism, conservative Buddhism, mainstream Buddhism and non-Mahayana Buddhism.

question: What does Hinayana mean in English? 

answer: lesser vehicle

question: What is used by Mahayana followers to name the early schools? 

answer: Hinayana
Title: Buddhism
Context: Not all traditions of Buddhism share the same philosophical outlook, or treat the same concepts as central. Each tradition, however, does have its own core concepts, and some comparisons can be drawn between them. For example, according to one Buddhist ecumenical organization,[web 23] several concepts common to both major Buddhist branches:

question: Each tradition has its own core what? 

answer: concepts

question: there are common concepts to both major buddhist branches according to what organization? 

answer: Buddhist ecumenical organization
Title: Buddhism
Context: Theravada ("Doctrine of the Elders", or "Ancient Doctrine") is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It is relatively conservative, and generally closest to early Buddhism. The name Theravāda comes from the ancestral Sthāvirīya, one of the early Buddhist schools, from which the Theravadins claim descent. After unsuccessfully trying to modify the Vinaya, a small group of "elderly members", i.e. sthaviras, broke away from the majority Mahāsāṃghika during the Second Buddhist council, giving rise to the Sthavira sect. Sinhalese Buddhist reformers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries portrayed the Pali Canon as the original version of scripture. They also emphasized Theravada being rational and scientific.

question: What is the oldest surviving Buddhist school? 

answer: Theravada

question: Where does the name theravada come from? 

answer: ancestral Sthāvirīya

question: Sinhalese buddhist reformer portrayed what Canon as the original version of scripture? 

answer: Pali Canon
Title: Buddhism
Context: Theravāda is primarily practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia as well as small portions of China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh. It has a growing presence in the west.

question: Where is there a growing presence of Theravada? 

answer: the west
Title: Buddhism
Context: Theravadin Buddhists believe that personal effort is required to realize rebirth. Monks follow the vinaya: meditating, teaching and serving their lay communities. Laypersons can perform good actions, producing merit.

question: What type of Buddhists believe that personal effort is required to realize rebirth? 

answer: Theravadin

question: Laypersons can perform good actions, producing what? 

answer: merit
Title: Buddhism
Context: Mahayana Buddhism flourished in India from the 5th century CE onwards, during the dynasty of the Guptas. Mahāyāna centres of learning were established, the most important one being the Nālandā University in north-eastern India.

question: What was the most important Mahayana centre of learning? 

answer: Nālandā University
Title: Buddhism
Context: Mahayana schools recognize all or part of the Mahayana Sutras. Some of these sutras became for Mahayanists a manifestation of the Buddha himself, and faith in and veneration of those texts are stated in some sutras (e.g. the Lotus Sutra and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra) to lay the foundations for the later attainment of Buddhahood itself.

question: Mahayana schools recognize all or part of what? 

answer: Mahayana Sutras

question: A few of the sutras for Mahayanists became a manifestation of who? 

answer: the Buddha

question: Faith in and veneration of Mahayana are stated in what sutras? 

answer: Lotus Sutra and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra