For this discussion board assignment, respond to one of the following prompts. In your post, aim for 250 words. You are not required to comment on other student posts but doing so will earn bonus points (see grading rubric below).
This discussion is worth 10 points. You will be graded as follows:
Describe the Four Sights that set the Buddha on his path from his palace to the road to awakening and beyond. How is the concept of impermanence related to these sights and to the Buddhist tradition more broadly?
Describe the Four Noble Truths. What do Buddhists mean when they say that life is suffering? What causes this suffering, and how can we escape it? Does this preoccupation with sufferings make Buddhists pessimists? Why or why not?

Buddhist exemplars include arhats, bodhisattvas, and buddhas. How are these beings similar and different? And how are they regarded by their respective communities? Consider their various traditions (mainstream and Mahayana), as well as their purposes and goals.

How did the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 change the religious landscape in the United States? In particular, how did post-1965 migrations of Buddhists to the United States change American Buddhism? How did they change American culture?

Like Buddhist teachings, Buddhist practices are intended to reduce suffering. How do practices such as meditation, chanting, and visualization attempt to reduce suffering?

Shortly before he died, the Buddha refused to appoint an individual successor and appointed the Buddhist community as a whole to succeed him instead. Why do you suppose he made that decision? How, in your view, did it affect later Buddhist history?