Buddhism And Its Impact On Western Asia - 1804 Words

Buddhism is one of the largest religions in the world with an estimated 500 million adherents located in all corners of the globe. Although Buddhism is practiced all around the world, the majority of Buddhists are centered in the Eastern, Southern and Central parts of Asia. It was founded in India in approximately 525 B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama. Although it was founded and first gained a foothold in India, Buddhism today is usually more associated with East Asian countries such as Korea and Japan. Given the diversity of the peoples of East Asia and their political systems, culture and language one might wonder what led to the expansion of Buddhism over such a large geographical area. Buddhism began spreading quickly to Eastern Asia as a†¦show more content†¦Release from this cycle is only achieved by attaining enlightenment, the ultimate goal for Buddhists. A Buddha is an all-knowing being who has reached that perfect state of transcendence in which the concepts of humanities greed, hate and delusion are exterminated. Another key aspect is that upon passing into nirvana, one is never subject to rebirth again. According to tradition, the founder of Buddhism was born in 563 B.C.E. Siddhartha left his palace, renouncing his wealth and status, to find the cause of suffering. After years of searching, he found his answer and went on to teach others. When he died, he attained nirvana, the release from earthly desires and suffering, and became the Buddha. The Buddha s teachi ngs were written down by his followers who spread his message. These texts are called sutras. A religion began to form and new branches of Buddhism were created. The introduction of Buddhism to Korea impacted the culture and politics of the region immensely. It fundamentally changed the way in which people interacted and how political actions was carried out. Buddhism was often used as a political tool by the ruling elites and the royal families. Before the spread and integration of Buddhism, a very important religion for the Korea people was Shamanism. Buddhism absorbed the myths,

Essay on Heroes of Celtic and Germanic Mythology - 3702 Words

Heroes of Celtic and Germanic Mythology Throughout the myths of the Celtic and Germanic peoples of northern Europe tales of epic heroes and their extraordinary deeds abound. These tales depict heroes performing a variety of incredible feats; many of which appear to be magical, superhuman, and, quite honestly, utterly impossible (e.g., wading across oceans, defeating armies virtually single-handedly, and other astounding exploits). Since the Celtic and Germanic tribes of antiquity inhabited neighboring lands and lived in close proximity to one another (as many of their modern descendants continue to do: i.e., in Great Britain), it is not surprising that they often established intimate relationships with each other via commerce,†¦show more content†¦Nonetheless, Beowulf displayed many characteristics, which are not unlike those exhibited by other legendary champions. Although Beowulf’s birth does not appear to have been divine or shrouded in mystery or magic, his lineage was noble since his mother was the daughter of the high Geatish king Hrethel. Furthermore, in his analysis of the Beowulf Legend Howell D. Chickering, Jr. suggests that Beowulf was a vessel, through which divine power operated. He claims that the appearance of the shining light as Beowulf decapitated Grendel’s mother was a manifestation of white magic and symbolized good triumphing over evil: The sword itself is destroyed in the process, its blade melting away in battle-icicles from the poisonous blood of the monster. Only the golden hilt remains, engraved with the legend of how God destroyed the race of giants in the Flood. This sequence suggests that Beowulf wins his underwater victory as an agent of Providence and in a manner that somehow resembles the cleansing of the earth by the Flood (274). Thus, in spite of his mortal birth and upbringing, albeit a noble and heroic upbringing, Beowulf may have eventually became an instrument of divinity. Beowulf unquestionably displayed the enhanced endurance that was so often a trait of the epic heroes of Celtic and Germanic lore. This endurance was evidenced byShow MoreRelatedSignificance And Significance Of Mythology1743 Words   |  7 PagesIn order to understand the importance and meaning of magic in mythology, it is helpful to try to understand why human cultures create myths. Mythology can refer to the collected myths of a group of people—their body of stories which they tell to explain nature, history, and customs—or to the study of such myths. As a collection of such stories, mythology is a vital feature of every culture. Various origins for myths have been proposed, ranging from personification of nature, personification of naturalRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Batman 1127 Words   |  5 PagesArthur Cotterell, author of The Illustrated A-Z Classic Mythology: The Legends of Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Norse and Celtic Worlds, described Loki by saying, â€Å"He was a mischief-maker, trickster, and shape-changer, and grew progressively more evil until the coming of Ragnarok, the end of the world.† Loki is only one of the many Norse gods and goddess, but he is the only one described as a trickster or evil god. In many cultures the mythologies often depict how actual people acted. Throughout history

Price and State Farm free essay sample

Defenders of Communist economic system may point out that consumers pay lower prices for certain good because the government imposes a limit on what producers may charge. Cite at least two other ways that consumers may be â€Å"paying† for these goods. * RENT CONTROL IN NEW YORK CITY: Rent control is a price ceiling on rent. When soldiers returned from World War II and started families (which increased demand for apartments), but stopped receiving military pay, many could not deal with the jumping rent. The government put in price controls, so soldiers and their families could pay the rent and keep their homes. However, this increased the quantity demanded for apartments and lowered the quantity supplied, meaning that available apartments were rapidly taken until none were left for late-comers. Price ceilings create shortages when producers are allowed to abdicate market share or go unsubsidized. * STATE FARM INSURANCE: A February  4, 2009 Wall Street Journal article stated, Last month State Farm pulled the plug on its 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Price and State Farm or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 2  million homeowner policies in Florida, citing the states punishing price controls State Farms local subsidiary recently requested an increase of 47%, but state regulators refused. State Farm says that since 2000 it has paid $1. 21 in claims and expenses for every $1 of premium income received. 3. 1 Production opportunity cost: After reviewing the statement, company managers are concerned about the loss on version Z and are considering ceasing production of that version. Should they do so? Why or why not? In my opinion they should continue the production of Version Z, the corporate overhead is a fix cost fallacy, it means that even if they do not produce anymore Version Z cans, their overhead is not going to be lower than 180,000. On the other hand if they stop the production of version Z cans, they will be losing the opportunity to bring 22. 500 to their profit, they will break even (0. 00) just with the production of Version X and Y. 3. 5 Evaluating Performance in a Small Business: Calculate accounting profit. What are the opportunity costs for the manager of being in this business relative to returning to his old job? What is the economic profit of the business? 1. Accounting profit equals total revenue minus all explicit costs Total Sales $1,000,000. Labor Cost 900,000. Salary 40,000. Acc. Profit $60,000. 2. Economic profit equals Accounting profits minus implicit costs Acc. Profit 60. 000. Forgone wages 70. 000. Forgone earning 6. 000. Econo. Profit $-16. 000 3. Opportunity cost: By opening his own home building company, this manager is giving away $16. 000 annually. He had a salary of $70. 000 and he was receiving $6. 000 of interest from his investment account. With his business he only has and accounting profit of $60. 000.

The Tenets of Behaviorism an Example by

The Tenets of Behaviorism Behaviorism is an approach which is often attributed to John Watson (Green, 2001). The said school dominated much of Northern American psychology during the 1920s until the 1960s (Green, 2001). Need essay sample on "The Tenets of Behaviorism" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Behaviorism can be viewed as a reaction to the prevailing views in psychology in 1913. During that time, psychology was regarded as the study of the mind. The method of introspection by a trained observer under controlled conditions was employed in order to study consciousness - then defined as the core phenomena of mind (Wozniak, 1997). Almost 25 years later, psychology shifted its focus: from being confined to the study of mental phenomena, it moved towards the study of behavior. Methods of analysis typically involved objective observations of behavioral data which varied as a result of experimental manipulation of stimulus conditions. Indeed, learning and memory were considered as the core phenomena of behavior (Woodworth, 1938 as cited from Wozniak, 1997). Although it has been instructive to view behaviorism as a singular school, nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, behaviorism consists of different approaches. For instance, Ivan Pavlov paved the way for the development of classical conditioning while B. F. Skinner, introduced operant conditioning. These approaches provide different explanations behind the processes which account for learning (Ormrod, 2004). Despite the different approaches within the paradigm; different behaviorists agree on the following tenets behind it. First, the principles behind learning should equally operate on different animal species and on different behaviors. Using the assumption that all humans and animals learn alike; behaviorist apply to human learning the principles which they have derived from their study of nonhuman species. Second, the learning process can be studied most effectively when one focuses on the stimuli and responses involved (Ormrod, 2004). Third, mental phenomena are excluded from psychological study because they could not be objectively measured (Mayer, 2007). Fourth, learning must involve a behavior change. Indeed, some behaviorists believe that learning could only be inferred if it involved a behavior change. Fifth, behaviorists believe that organisms are born as blank slates. Different environmental experiences account for the individual differences in organisms. Sixth, learning is l argely a function of environmental factors. Most learning is therefore assumed to occur beyond the individuals control. Lastly, behaviorists emphasize the value of parsimonious theories. Parsimonious theories account for simple as well as complex behaviors using the fewest learning principles (Ormrod, 2004). The said tenets thus provide the best contrasts between the behaviorist and functionalist schools of psychology. While behaviorism focuses on overt behaviors and emphasizes the use of objective methods in measuring learning and memory; functionalism focuses on mental processes and their relation to behavior. Introspection was the primary method used in order to study mental processes and the focus was shifted in examining how the systems within the mind interacted while it was functioning (Gordon, 1995). In essence, the behaviorist and functionalist paradigms provide two ways to understand psychology. While the behaviorists are right to point out that psychology should focus on behavior and should use scientific methods in its study; it should take into consideration that mental processes within the individual are also significant avenues of study as well. For instance, the functionalist paradigm is still prevalent in mainstream psychology in that modern psychology acknowledges the importance of looking at the process rather than the structure (Gordon, 1995). In fact, no argument is better to point out that both paradigms are valid approaches to the field other than the definition of psychology itself. After all, psychology is now defined as the scientific study of mental processes and behavior (Zimmer, 1999). References Gordon, Oakley. (1995). William James and Functionalism. A Brief History of Psychology. Green, Christopher (2001).Introduction to: Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it. John B. Watson (1913). Classics in the History of Psychology. Retrieved December 8, 2007, http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/intro.htm Mayer, Ronald. (2007). Unit 7 Behaviorism. Psychology 601: Theoretical Backgrounds in Psychology Homepage. Retrieved December 8, 2007, http://online.sfsu.edu/~psych601/unit7/671.htm Ormrod, Jeanne. (2004). Human Learning, 4th Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education,Inc. Wozniak, Robert. (1997). Commentary on Psychology as the Behaviorist View It John B. Watson (1913). Originally published as "Behaviorism," In Bringmann, W.G., Luck, H.E., Miller, R., Zimmer, Gene. (1999). The Definition of Psychology. Foundation for Truth in Reality.

Free Essays on I Witnessed

I witnessed a miracle About six years ago my parents and I realized how hard it is to nearly lose an immediate family member, someone we truly love. November 29, 1998 was a cold and rainy day in the small town of Splendora, Texas, my hometown. I was at my friend Amanda’s house that day watching movies when I first heard some terrible news. The telephone rang and it was for me. I thought to myself, â€Å"who could be calling me.† I knew that my mom was grocery shopping and my dad was at work, so I did not think it would be either of them. When I answered the phone I realized it was my mother, she sounded horrified, I knew something bad had happened. That was the moment I found out my older brother, Wade, had a deadly disease called bacterial meningitis. Earlier that morning my brother went to his friend Shaun’s house to go play video games. Later that afternoon my mom was grocery shopping when Wade called her and said he was not feeling well. So, my mom rushing through the store quickly finished her grocery shopping and immediately drove to Shaun’s house to go get my brother. When she arrived Wade slowly walked outside on the old wooden porch. At that moment mom realized how bad the situation really was. He looked as if were a walking zombie; he was so weak and stiff. He had large dark circles around his eyes that made him look very tired and restless. With all his might, he slid his feet one by one across the old porch trying to get to the car. My mom looking as terrified as any other mother would, she got out of the car to help him make it down the stairs safely. Wade struggling to walk down the stairs looked at my mom with his dark brown eyes and said in a soft sickly voice, â€Å"take me to the hospitalâ₠¬ . Raging through all the traffic, they rushed to the emergency room at Kingwood hospital. As soon as he arrived the nurses took his temperature, it was 106.2 degrees. They immediately took him in the back on a str... Free Essays on I Witnessed Free Essays on I Witnessed I witnessed a miracle About six years ago my parents and I realized how hard it is to nearly lose an immediate family member, someone we truly love. November 29, 1998 was a cold and rainy day in the small town of Splendora, Texas, my hometown. I was at my friend Amanda’s house that day watching movies when I first heard some terrible news. The telephone rang and it was for me. I thought to myself, â€Å"who could be calling me.† I knew that my mom was grocery shopping and my dad was at work, so I did not think it would be either of them. When I answered the phone I realized it was my mother, she sounded horrified, I knew something bad had happened. That was the moment I found out my older brother, Wade, had a deadly disease called bacterial meningitis. Earlier that morning my brother went to his friend Shaun’s house to go play video games. Later that afternoon my mom was grocery shopping when Wade called her and said he was not feeling well. So, my mom rushing through the store quickly finished her grocery shopping and immediately drove to Shaun’s house to go get my brother. When she arrived Wade slowly walked outside on the old wooden porch. At that moment mom realized how bad the situation really was. He looked as if were a walking zombie; he was so weak and stiff. He had large dark circles around his eyes that made him look very tired and restless. With all his might, he slid his feet one by one across the old porch trying to get to the car. My mom looking as terrified as any other mother would, she got out of the car to help him make it down the stairs safely. Wade struggling to walk down the stairs looked at my mom with his dark brown eyes and said in a soft sickly voice, â€Å"take me to the hospitalâ₠¬ . Raging through all the traffic, they rushed to the emergency room at Kingwood hospital. As soon as he arrived the nurses took his temperature, it was 106.2 degrees. They immediately took him in the back on a str...

A response to a book called the emergence of the church By A Patzia Essay

A response to a book called the emergence of the church By A Patzia - Essay Example As part of that background he describes Judaism as it was in first-century Palestine as well as describing what life was like in the rest the Roman empire in general with a well presented exposition of what the Bible says about the growth of Christianity. The early church gained new recruits and spread over a greater geographical despite official persecution after Rome was burnt down, and Nero blamed the Christians for doing so. The books sources are pretty strictly biblical: the Didache is dated at or beyond 100 (p.99), and discussed only at the fringe, and the clearly first-century ROTAS square. In terms of evidence about the development and the eventual emergence of the early church as a distinct religion that was able to spread throughout the Roman Empire not mentioning the ROTAS square is arguably a serious omission. The ROTAS stone was actually found buried in the remains of Pompeii, being buried under the vast amount of waste products produced by the disastrous volcanic eruption of AD 79, and does not figure in this book. The ROTAS stone gives details of the early Christian presence in Pompeii, though of course nobody actually survived the volcanic eruption. Even if not mentioned anywhere else in his book, Patzia does not go into detail about the stone when discussing whether or not there were first-century churches in the Italian peninsula outside of Rome. Although it is not surprising that Patzia would want to concentrate upon the early church’s beginnings in Rome given its later importance for the Christian religion.1 If description and discussion of what the Bible says about the early Church is what youre looking for, this is as good a book to choose as any other. If you want too find out about the emergence and also the development of the early church from non-biblical sources then buy, or burrow another book on the early church.2 The ambience is distinctly Fuller, and here and there this brings up

A paper which explores one particular issues or dimension of legal Essay

A paper which explores one particular issues or dimension of legal environment which directly impacts business - Essay Example The tax systems determine the competitiveness of any given business with similar businesses all over the world. There are numerous taxes that impact the business either directly or indirectly. These include income taxes, employment taxes (National insurance), corporation tax, capital gains tax, value added tax (VAT) (sales tax), excise duty, import duties, specialist taxes, and property taxes as well as business rates (Simister). The politicians all over the world have colluded to tinker the tax policies. This implies that as globalization is taking place and businesses expanding, the tax policies get complicated and there are more loopholes that impacts businesses both directly and indirectly. This paper discusses the taxes and the impacts they have accustomed on businesses either at local or global levels. The first impact of tax is on the profits of the business. At the federal level gains and profits are taxed. This affects the business’ overall profit since part of the profits is submitted to the government in the form of taxes. The businesses cannot expand because the businesses cannot expand or employ more people so as to improve on their outputs. For example, if a company makes a profit of one hundred thousand dollars and the tax rate is thirty percent then it means that three thousand dollars will go to the government as tax (Djankov, Ganser, McLiesh, Ramalho, and Shleifer 246). This cost, therefore, will be transferred to the product and services prices for the company to meet its objectives; as a result the business might fail to perform well due to reduced consumers demand. If tax rates are unfavorable in a given area or country, most businesses may fail to invest in the location thus reducing their abilities to expand (Yoshov and Brumbaugh 40) Secondly, tax rates affect the structure of a given business. A