Everyones day starts in the morning Essay

Everyone’s day starts in the morning and ends in the evening or night. It is very important to know when a person usually wakes up, eats or sleeps at night because these all activities affect the person’s biological clock. If a person is not following his/her daily routine, it can put the person in trouble. For example, if a baby is not sleeping when he/she is supposed to, she can have really badly next day. Not following a daily schedule can disrupt the sensations of your brain. There are two significant differences between working in the morning and in the evening, such as, changes of mood and behavior and changes in diet. The first difference of working in the morning and evening is the changes in person’s mood and behavior. Unlike evening workers, morning workers are more energetic and fresh-minded. Morning workers work more efficiently than evening workers because they have gotten enough sleep at night, so their body has recharged for the next morning. Moreover, working at sunrise helps the humans’ body to be productive. However, evening workers sometimes become lazy to do their job properly. Sometimes, they can’t focus on what they are doing because of irregular sleeping hours. Moreover, not having regular hours of sleep can cause a person to become depressed and mentally unstable. The second difference is the changes in person’s diet. Unlike the evening workers, morning workers usually have their breakfast before they start working. Then, they usually get hungry at noon because they have already burned the energy which they gathered from breakfast. So, that’s how their diets are regular. On the contrary, evening workers have time just to do their lunch. For instance, if a person is working from 7 pm to 6 am, he/she will sleep right after his/her working shift. Then, after waking up at noon, they get hungry and eat lunch. So, that’s how not having a breakfast or dinner will disrupt their diet. Disrupting a workers’ diet can cause them many unintended consequences. In conclusion, it is really difficult to change a person’s biological clock. There are many negative results of working in the evening. In addition, irregular working schedule make the day-to-day activities tougher to complete. A person can’t get enough time to do his/her day-to-day  activities. However, morning workers have the best productivity to do their job. Getting enough sleep at night and working at sunrise are two factors that give energy to morning workers. Changes in a person’s mood and behavior and changes in a person’s diet are two major differences of working in the morning and evening.

Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath Essay

Canterbury Tales is a story written by Geoffrey Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer was satirical with most of the characters in Canterbury Tales. The story tells about the journey of a group of pilgrims to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a Becket and the stories they tell along the way. The pilgrims are in a competition to see who can tell the best story. The host of the Tabard is in charge of the competition and giving a complimentary dinner to the winner with the best story. Each one of the pilgrims stories reveal a little about them, their personalities and their morals. The pilgrims include people like Chaucer himself, a Knight, a Prioress, a Monk, a Franklin, a Parson, the Wife of Bath and others. Most of the satires of these characters would be the same today as it was back then. For example, the Wife of Bath’s satire would remain the same today, but her occupation would be similar to that of the actress, Joan Collins; both have given out advice due to all of their experience and resolved issues with women in relationships. In the same way that Joan Collins gives advice to women, the Wife of Bath gave advice to women. Joan Collins is a British actress and author who normally plays an adulterous woman in movies and television shows. She writes books giving tips to love and life. Joan’s books include Love & Desire & Hate, The Joan Collins Beauty Book, and Joan’s Way: The Art of Living Well. The Wife of Bath is a slightly satirical character in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The Wife of Bath tells a story in Chaucer’s story; it tells of a Knight who was told to find the thing that women most desire. The Knight found the answer to be that women want to have sovereignty over their husbands and lovers. At the end of her tale, the Wife of Bath asked Christ to send women husbands who are â€Å"meek and young and fresh in bed,† (page 150). She wanted women to be able to have complete control over their husbands. The Wife of Bath places a curse on husbands who refuse to be controlled by their wives. Also, the two ladies, the Wife of Bath and Joan Collins, both have the same amount of experience in relationships and marriage. Even though she was married five times, Joan wrote in her autobiography that she â€Å"recounted entanglements with numerous Hollywood stars, near-stars, and others,† (â€Å"Joan Collins†). Like Joan Collins, the Wife of Bath married multiple times and gained wealth from all the marriages. The only difference between the two people, Joan and the Wife of Bath, is that Joan divorced her husbands and the Wife of Bath’s husbands died. So the Wife of Bath was widowed while Joan Collins was divorced. Among the many husbands that they had, Joan Collins and the Wife of Bath were two highly listened to ladies. Like the Wife of Bath stated, â€Å"[she] believes that having experience is the greatest authority, and since she has been married five times, she certainly considers herself an authority on the remedies of love.† (â€Å"Wife of Bath†). Even though neither woman had a long and lasting marriage, they gave out advice on relationship and love. Joan viewed love as something you have to work on because marriage is hard work and does not come easily. The Wife of Bath’s view was always for the woman to have the upper hand in a marriage. She believed they should be in control of their husband or lover at all times. She also stated that if a husband cannot confine to the will of his wife he should be cursed to death. The Wife of Bath’s satire in Canterbury Tales can be easily seen remaining today, due to all the similarities between Joan Collins and the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath was never a great role model for anyone to look up to but people listened to her anyways. All five of her marriages led people to believe that she knew what she was talking about. As she was back then, the Wife of Bath would still be the same person. She would still be a wealthy, flashy woman who did not have the best of luck with men. All in all, whether it is in the future or past, the Wife of Bath’s satire can exist. She was someone who liked to stand out and draw attention to herself. She loves superiority and control over other people, especially her husbands and lovers. Today, the Wife of Bath’s satire would be somewhat identical to the actress and author, Joan Collins. Completely as she was then, the Wife of Bath would exist today.

Reflection on the History & Systems of Psychology Essay

Pre-modern, modern and postmodern frames of reference have all helped shape important, contemporary psychological theories and issues. In this paper I will attempt, in a reflective manner, to walk through and revisit the areas we covered in course, the end aim being to gain a measure of insight into where the field of psychology stands today, particularly with regard to oppressive forms of ethnocentric monoculturalism. In terms of pre-modern perspectives, in the course we first discussed historical issues concerning the mind-body problem. I stated the nature of the relationship between body and mind and whether they are one and the same or two distinct substances, which is the center of the debate between monists and dualist. Descartes, the most well known dualist, argued for a separation of mind from soul and body. Also an interactionist, Descartes held the mind influenced the body as much as the body impacted the mind (Goodwin, 2009). Plato, his predecessor from antiquity, was also a dualist and an interactionist arguably, and believed the body and soul/mind were temporarily at one during life; each came from a completely different place, the body from the material world and the soul from the world of ideas. At the moment of death, the body withered away in time and space, the soul or mind returning to the world of forms and there realizing universal truths (Wozniak, 1992). Delving deeper into pre-modern views of the mind-body problem I touched upon Spinoza. Spinoza, a contemporary of Descartes, dismissed Descartes’ two-substance view in favor of what is called double-aspect theory (Wozniak, 1992). Double-aspect theories hold the view that the mental and the physical realms are varying aspects of the same substance. For Spinoza, that single substance is God, perceived as the universal essence or nature of everything in existence. In Spinoza’s view, there is no partition of mind and body, therefore. Instead they are of a single substance, in a pre-established coordination, reflecting the divine essence. In reflection, I continue to side with Spinoza and double-aspect theory in terms of pre-modern perspectives. I do believe that there is a pre-established coordination between mind and body that is reflective of the divine creation. â€Å"I am therefore I think† is my continued response to Descartes. In terms of modern perspectives in the course we examined the origins of psychology as a subject discipline. During the course I stated that psychology first appeared as a subject discipline in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt started a psychology lab in Germany at the University of Leipzig. The laboratory devoted itself to the analysis of conscious thought in its basic elements and structures, which was uncovered through a process of introspection (Gross, 1996). What differentiated this ‘new psychology’ at the time from philosophy was its use of measurement and control as well as its emphasis on the scientific method to study mental processes relevant to human consciousness. Due to his influence on Edward B. Titchener, Wundt’s frame of reference arguably helped give birth to structuralism. Indeed Wundt’s disciple, Titchener, is credited with developing and labeling structuralism in an 1898 paper called â€Å"The Postulates of a Structural Psychology (Goodwin, 2009). In the paper he compared and contrasted structuralism with functionalism, which he claimed infested most US universities, save Cornell where he was cultivating what would come to be  called the â€Å"the Cornell school of psychology.† Notwithstanding, Goodwin (2009) has stated that Titchener and the Cornell view of psychology was extremely narrow largely because of its insistence on introspection and due to Titchener’s attitude that his way was the only way, a position that often does not bode well in academia. In this vein and perhaps arrogantly so, Titchener, likened structuralism to anatomy, its purpose being analysis he surmised — whereas functionalism he likened to physiology, stating that functionalists examine how the mind is able to adapt one to his or her said environ ment, which to Titchener was a waste of time without a deep understanding of structure. As one needs to know the ins and outs of human anatomy before being able to fully delve into physiology, so thus was the  functionalist at a loss, in his view, without the ability to outline the structures of human consciousness via a highly difficult process of systematic, experimental introspection as stipulated by him in almost cult like exclusivity, which spawned criticism. Accordingly, his movement never gained the momentum it needed to win American hearts and minds, falling into the dustbin of history in favor of functionalism. Nevertheless, in spite of Titchener’s unpopularity in the US, his enduring contribution is that he helped create a place for the lab and experimental psychology in all colleges and universities with programs in psychology. While functionalists were also interested in looking at mental processes such as consciousness in so far as assessing human behavior in terms of how it aided people in adapting to ever-changing environments, they did not, unlike followers of Titchener, emphasize introspection (Goodwin, 2009). Psychologist James R. Angell, a follower of John Dewey, the founder of functionalism in America, became its most outspoken spokesperson, criticizing Titchener and drawing a sharp contrast to him in a 1907 popular paper called â€Å"The Province of Functional Psychology.† It was a damning response to Titchener’s 1898 paper. For Angell, the structuralist was  interested in the â€Å"what?† of conscious thought, whereas the functionalist psychologist wished to know the â€Å"how?† and â€Å"why?† of it, asking what is consciousness for? (Goodwin, 2009). This way of viewing psychology in terms of its practical applications, became an important influence in modern times, because it led to the study of topics such as developmental and abnormal psychology, in addition to examining the individual differences of mind, (which Titchener and the Cornell school remarkably had no interest in). When asking how psychology can be used to solve everyday problems in a practical way, we are taking from the functionalists and their movement. Perhaps the most prominent movement in the field of modern 20th century psychology was behaviorism. Behaviorism began essentially due to the work of Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov who did not consider himself a psychologist, but, rather a physiologist interested in the process of digestion in dogs, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1904 (the year B. F. Skinner was born) in Physiology and Medicine. In the course of his research, Pavlov observed that the dogs would often start salivating before any food being given to them, when they would see the food or the food’s container, or when they heard the footsteps of the lab assistant who was on his way to feed them. His observations led to the study to what we now call classical conditioning (Gross, 1996). The first attempt to apply Pavlov’s findings on conditioning to humans was made by John B. Watson in a dubious and arguably unethical experiment on a small boy named Albert, showing that the fear of rats can be deliberately induced (Watson and Rayer, 1920). The experiment served to popularize a new behavioral approach to psychology that would within a decade become the dominant force in America, Watson its founder, propagator and publicist (Goodwin, 2008). To the modernist Watson (1913), psychology is an objective natural science,  its theoretical goal the prediction and control of behavior. Wundt and Titchener’s view on introspection has no place in its methods, nor is consciousness addressed or studied. There is no marked borderline between people and animals. Due to Watson’s input and influence cats, dogs, rats, and pigeons became the major source of psychological data. As ‘psychological’ now meant ‘behavior’ rather than ‘consciousness,’ animals that were easier to study and whose environments could be more readily controlled could replace people as experimental subjects (Gross, 1966). B. F. Skinner, also a behaviorist and modernist, went steps further than Pavlov and Watson, casting behavior in a more interactive light. He made a distinction between respondent and operant behavior and argued that most animal and human behavior is not brought about in the way Pavlov and Watson indicated and surmised. Skinner, like Edward Thorndike before him, was interested in how animals operate on their environment and how this operant behavior brings about particular consequences that can determine the likelihood of that behavior being repeated. In experiments he used a variation of Thordike’s puzzle-box, a Skinner box, which was made for a rat or a pigeon to do things in, rather than escape from. Fundamentally, Skinner saw the learner as much more actively involved than did Pavlov or Watson, for whom behavior was due to stimuli, unconditioned stimuli before learning and conditioned stimuli after learning. In addition to behaviorism, modern views of psychology took twists and turns. As a reaction to both Titchener’s structuralism and Watson’s behaviorism, the Gestalt psychologists of the 1920s and 1930s in Germany and Austria were primarily concerned with perception and held that perceptions could not be deconstructed in the way that Wundt and Titchener wanted to do with thought, and that behaviorists had sought for with behavior. Their belief could be  succinctly stated as follows: ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ (Gross, 1996, p.3). The whole is essentially destroyed when you break down perception and behavior into parts, the Gestalt psychologists held. There are organizing principles of perceptual organization which were voiced by Gestalt’s founder Max Wertheimer. These principles are frequently highlighted in units on perception in general psychology textbooks and are as follows: the principle of proximity, the principle of similarity, the principle of continuation. All of the organizing principles have in common what is called the law of simplicity or what Gestaltists term Prà ¤gnanz. This refers to the tendency for perceptions to mirror reality as closely as possible (Goodwin, 2009). In the course I gave an example of gestalt thinking, which in reflection I would like to return to as it clearly remains in mind. I used the example of a bus stopping at a bus stop in one’s neighborhood. On a given day the bus stops at the same corner the person is accustomed to, and is recognized to be that bus. The person gets on, but has made a mistake. She did not realize that there was a route change that morning and the bus she took was numbered differently. What gives? Is it only a matter of not paying attention? In Gestalt inspired, top-down conceptually driven processing, we begin with one’s prior knowledge, motivations, expectations and beliefs. In the bus example, the inability to see and decipher or register a different number on the bus and get on it, means it was recognized it to be the customary bus due to top-down processing (Danner, 2009). If one were to notice the different bus number, however, that would entail bottom-up processing, because such processing is data driven. The different number is perceived in terms of information in the sensory input, in conjunction with top-down processing, revealing to the person that it is not the customary bus. Perhaps after realizing her mistake, the person in  the example will be more careful next time, thereby exercising more bottom-up processing. If Austria was home to some of Gestalt’s most prominent members and adherents, it was also home to Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Freudian psychoanalytic theory was the first to state the significance of innate drives and define abnormal and normal behavior in relationship to the role of the unconscious mind. Its importance is that the theory of personality popularized contextualizing human behavior in terms of the id, ego, and superego, notating development in five psychosexual stages. Each stage was marked by shifts in what Freud believed were the underlying modes of gratification: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital (Glassman, 2000). In reflection, I continue to find merit in Freud’s concept of stages for sure. I would still prefer to call them development stages, however, and not necessarily put a sexual meaning on them, as Freud and his supporters have done and continue to do. There is no need to detail the well-known limitations and criticisms of Freudian theory, which according to Glassman (2000) are its falsifiability, the great deal of emphasis put on case studies, and its cultural bias towards women. Regardless of such naysaying, his supporters would passionately argue for and be adamant about such a sexual narrative of the human person, which if not fodder, certainly has entertainment value. In fact, Freudian theory is fascinating to me largely due to the dramatic (almost cinematic) conflicts and challenges that mark each psychosexual stage. Perhaps the most well-known of these is the Oedipal conflict (which occurs in the so-called phallic stage). It was interesting to read that some analysts calle d the female variant, the Electra conflict, but Freud himself did not use the term (see Freud 1924). Perhaps the most attractive modern theory of personality, in my view, would belong to Carl Rogers. In Carl Roger’s theory, a person is the source of his  or her basic needs such as food and water. He or she is also the source of a growth motive which he called an actualizing tendency, which is an innate drive that is reflective of the desire to grow, to develop and to develop one’s capabilities (Glassman, 2000). It is the actualizing tendency that stimulates creativity, causing a person to seek out new challenges and skills that motivate healthy growth in one’s lifetime (Gross, 1996). According to Rogers (1961, but originally proposed in 1947): Whether one calls it a growth tendency, a drive towards self-actualization, or a forward moving direction tendency, it is the mainspring in life†¦ It is the urge which is evident in all organic and human life – to expand, extend, become autonomous, mature and develop. In reflection, I continue to feel that Roger’s influence and continuing popularity in the psychotherapeutic community give his theories merit. APA members have been asked which psychotherapist they believe to me the most influential figure in the field (Smith, 1982). In 2006, this survey repeated in the Psychotherapy Networker. In both surveys, Carl Rogers was the â€Å"landslide† choice. While this does not prove Rogers to be correct, certainly it gives his theory of motivation more credence than not, increasing its believability. Certainly, I feel influenced by Rogers as I move forward in my career. While Roger’s theory of an actualizing tendency and the overall nature of the client-centered approach may be controversial due to its allowance to let the client call the shots and as stated by Goodwin (2009) for its overemphasis on the the self at the expense of the importance of the community, in addition to being clearer what it was against than what it was for, it is nevertheless, a credible postulation in terms of its application in therapy and remains my preference over Freud. Accordingly, I continue to feel that all clients  innately wish to be successful in life and to be praised as contributors to their own selfactualization. They wish to expand their knowledge and achieve  higher levels of success beneath all the guises that seem otherwise. When clients are not performing to their fullest potential, praise and support can help ignite the actualizing tendency in a manner that would otherwise have remained dormant. When exploring postmodern views of psychology we have to inherently speak about cultural narratives and meta-narratives. What is psychology today and who defines it? What is psychology’s story, who told that story historically, and who gets to tell it today? When we look at psychology as a practice, historically and today, is important to bring to the fore the ethnocentric monocultural aspects that were oppressive to women and continue to be to minority groups in reinforcing white male Euro-American culture as the normative and desirable culture. Indeed, therapists and helping professionals should try to help deconstruct and unveil monoculturalism whenever it rears its despicable head. When oppressive forms such as heterosexism, ageism, gender and sexism come to the fore in therapy, for example, therapists should not reinforce them but try to encourage reflection on such prejudices with the aim being for the client to indentify for what it is – and to grow accordingly. The field of psychology itself is not immune but remains at risk to the debacle of monoculturalism. According to Yutrzenka, Todd-Bazemore and Caraway (1999) even though the data forecast that by 2050, ethnic minorities will make up over 50% of the US population, this quickly changing demographic has minimal effect on the number of ethnic minority psychologists. This is particularly true for Native Americans, who are far more underrepresented than any other ethnic body. Though the APA as stated by Goodwin (2009), is vigorously addressing this entire issue at present, with such efforts to be praised, still the legacy of ethnocentric monoculturalism is a stain on the profession, and will remain so until  significant numbers of minority psychologists abound. In spite of the barriers confronting them, women and minorities have made many notable, valuable and vital contributions to the field of psychology. During the course I discussed Eleanor Gibson who received the National Medal of Science in 1992 for a lifetime of research on topics dealing with the development of depth perception to the fundamentals involved in reading, faced discrimination while at Yale from psychologist Robert Yerkes who wanted no females in his lab (Goodwin, 2009). While she was able to get her PhD there under the guidance of the neobehaviorist Clark Hull, she unfortunately went on to experience difficulties at Cornell (where her husband had gained a position) forced into an unpaid research associate position in spite of winning competitive and prestigious research grants. As a result of these grants, however, she was able to carry out pioneering studies on depth perception with Richard Walk. When Cornell, home to Titchener’s legacy, removed its nepotism rules in 1966, only then did she become a full professor. Furthermore, as discussed in the course, African-Americans have also made outstanding contributions to psychology. Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark again come to mind in terms of their best known research titled Racial identification and preference in Negro children (Goodwin, 2009). In this research it was shown that black children showed a preference for white dolls over black ones when asked which they would like to play with and looked more like. The Clarks concluded, according to Goodwin (2009) that one insidious effect of racial segregation was its negative influence on African-American self-esteem. As a result of this research, in part, the Supreme Court was compelled to do the right thing and reverse the racist separate but equal doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education. The Clarks’ contribution to psychology and the contributions of other AfricanAmericans preceding them were not without struggle. Their mentor at Howard University, Francis Sumner faced huge obstacles when attempting to get a graduate degree and gain employment in academia. African-Americans have often had their basic intellectual abilities questioned (Goodwin, 2009). The legacy of white racism and of the field of psychology’s complicity by not taking a firmer stand until only recently is without question a significant reason why African-Americans remain heavily underrepresented in the profession, in spite of the gains made for women. 60 percent of doctorates in psychology are awarded to women today, while Native Americans as we discussed and African-Americans continue to be awarded a paltry percentage in turn. Such dismal figures have nothing to do with intelligence. We know that early intelligence tests were normed on just Caucasian, middle-class populations and only recently has such bias been addressed and perhaps abated. This also was the case for the MMPI personality tests as well. In the case of the MMPI, many of the original items became dated and according to Kassin (2008), to bring the test up to the 21st century and more postmodern views, new items were written in, and a more diverse cross-section of the US was sampled. The result of that updating is the newer 567-item version called the MMPI-2. In reflection, my guess is that similar advances have been made or are being considered in IQ testing as well; otherwise we would have to call into question whether biased IQ tests are valid for minority groups. Accordingly, great care should be taken when formulating test questions as well as interpreting the results of test-takers from different cultural groups and urban tribes. Fundamentally, it is crucial that test makers be made aware of cultural differences when putting together IQ test questions, as recommended for the MMPI (Church 2001). Exercising caution does not mean  minority groups are treated with kid gloves, but rather that a lens of understanding is in place — and that can come about as a result of the test makers and assessors informing themselves. Otherwise an IQ test’s validity for minority groups is at issue. Pre-modern, modern and postmodern frames of reference have all helped shape important, contemporary psychological theories and issues. Accordingly, I have attempted in a reflective manner to revisit the areas of psychology’s history we covered in course. If psychology as a profession is to continue to grow and develop, it will occur through a similar process of reflection, followed by action. It is important for psychology to know its origins, its history and respective story. However, in realization of the depth of ethnocentric monoculturalism, its leadership, particularly in the APA, must act on the call to bring about the inclusion of more minorities. Otherwise, the oppressive stain of monoculturalism shall abound and continue to blemish the profession we hold dear. References Angell, J.R. (1904). Psychology. New York: Holt. Church, A.T. (2001). Personality measurement in cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Personality, 69, 979-1006. Danner, N. (2011). Psychology: ORG5001 survey of psychology I. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions. Freud, S. (1924) A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. New York: Washington Square Press (reprinted 1952). Glassman, W (Ed.). (2000) Approaches to psychology. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Goodwin, C.J. (2009) A history of modern psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Gross, R. (Ed.). (1996) Psychology, the study of mind and behavior. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Kassin, S., (2008). Psychology in Modules: ORG 5002 Survey of psychology II. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing. Rogers, C.R. (1961) On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Smith, D. (1982) Trends in counseling and psychology. American Psychologist, 37, 802–809. Watson, J.B. (1913) Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 15877. Watson, J.B. & Rayneer, R. (1920) Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1-14. Wozniak,R. (1992) Mind and body: Renà © Descartes to William James. Retrieved from http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/INTRO_TEXT/Chapter%206%20MindBody/DUALISM.htm. Yutrzenka, B.A., Todd-Bazemore, E., & Caraway, S.J. (1999). Four winds: The evolution of culturally inclusive clinical psychology training for Native Americans. International Review of Psychiatry, 11, 129- 135. ProQuest: 43479524.

Summarize the argument of one philosopher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summarize the argument of one philosopher - Essay Example According to his explanation, this implies that to some people, the idea that God commands one not to do something will have a grave meaning or importance to their thinking that they will really have to consider that before coming to their conclusive decision. However, he is quick to add that the understanding of the idea one will have when deciding what is wrong or right does not serve the an answer to understanding what is morally right (p. 34). This means that a person should be made to understand why some things or actions are morally unacceptable rather than offering a template of do’s and don’ts as purported by the scriptures. The idea of morality is left vague and according to ethical relativism, this has been catapulted by the fact that morality is quite so relative and depends on other factors such as location, age or culture. An action that is acceptable in a given locality may be totally absurd in another geographic location hence calling the attention of what is morally right. According to Miller, to deeply understand ethical relativism which tries to explain whether there is a universal norm or what is considered universally correct. Therefore to conclude, an action can never be morally acceptable across all cultures or age groups. There are only moral norms that define or tie a certain group of people in a given society (p. 34). This forms the basis of moral relativism. However, as he explains, a norm may not be totally accepted in a society by all the members (p. 35). He uses abortion in the U.S. perspective to address this point. This makes moral relativism tough to understand. To address this confusion we agree that the rightness or wrongness of an action will be decided by other factors such as the harm they may inflict to someone’s physique or infringing on their privacy (p. 35). This is the basis of context sensitivity which explains the application or

BMKT611 Retailing Final Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

BMKT611 Retailing Final Assignment - Essay Example 3). Complicating matters, retailers are not only confronting the changing dynamics of the modern retail market, but are also confronting the economic challenges effecting consumer spending practices since the global financial crisis of 2009. Consumers have demonstrated a habit of unpredictable and frugal spending habits. Retailers are also affected in that they are increasingly confronting the challenges posed by increased fuel prices as well as inflation so that retailers are now concerned about reducing costs. In the meantime, retailers have to find innovative ways of remaining competitive (Mansoor & Jalal, 2011, p. 104). A review of the literature informs that in-store strategies continue to be a method by which retailers seek to differentiate their products and services from the competition. An emerging trend is a propensity to ensure that customers have an exciting and entertaining experience and consumers also expect convenience, options in merchandise at the right place, the r ight time and â€Å"at the right price† (Carpenter, Moore, & Fairhurst, 2005, p. 43). This report conducts a comparative analysis of the in-store strategies employed Primark and Forever 21in the UK. ... A SWOT analysis is conducted on each store with a view to identifying and analysing the weaknesses and strengths of the in-store strategies used. A Review of the Literature The forces of globalisation together with the ease with which new entrants can join the apparels’ industry have rendered apparels’ retailing a highly competitive market. Research studies indicate that the popular pricing strategy of the 1970s is no longer suitable for ensuring retailer’s competitive edge. More and more, consumers are committed to quality and competing in terms of sales lowers profit margins, compromises consumer loyalty, and increases â€Å"product imitation† (Bruer, Cassil, & Jones, 2005, p.1). The changing dynamics of the retail market is such that consumers are more informed and have far more choices than previously. As a result, retailers have experienced a shift in bargaining controls toward consumers. Facilitated by information technology, lowered barriers to trad e, consumers are increasingly aware of competitive products and will exhibit loyalty toward retailers that have the ability to excite and entertain them. In the meantime, consumers’ preferences and needs have â€Å"become more fragmented,† and more â€Å"difficult to understand and predict† (Kilduff, 2001, p. 2). A study conducted by Carre, Tilly and Holgate (2010) in two fiercely competitive retail markets in the US (food and electronics) demonstrate that a number of factors influence in-store strategies in the retail market. The study involved 16 case studies (8 in food and 8 in electronics) and involved 195 interviews with managers in human resources and operations. Research findings indicate that competitive strategies include increasing service, improving both

Bill Clinton's Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bill Clinton's Speech - Essay Example Within hours of this confessional breakfast, the internet was a flurry of activity. The news of the speech, and the opinions of this president by millions around the world was spread, and the net seemed to close on William Jefferson Clinton. In a 445-page document, all posted on the internet, Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel, had found Bill Clinton liable to impeachment on eleven counts involving perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and abuse of authority. This indictment was supported by an agonizing and scandalous telling of details. In the Paula Jones case, Clinton had denied, under oath, ever having had sexual relations with "that woman, Miss Lewinsky". Therefore, Mr. Starr has provided a lurid and sometimes funny account of Bill Clinton's "sexual encounters" with Monica Lewinsky, a 21-year-old intern at the White House. This section of the report revealed Clinton "as a middle-aged urchin, dangerously vulnerable, lacking judgment, self-control and integrity. Public attention worldwide has naturally centered on this section of the Starr Report." (Ahmad) The response to the President's speech, varied among the many religious communities of the United States. Several who were present told reporters later that they had been deeply moved by the president's speech Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the US National Council of Churches, the largest ecumenical organization in the country, described the temper of the audience as "deeply spiritual". She believed Clinton to be penitent. She also told reporters that even so she wasn't sure if the United States was "prepared to be led by a repentant sinner." (Herlinger) A well-known African American clergyman, James Forbes, senior minister of New York City's Riverside Church, said in a television interview following the address that "it felt like a real holy moment. There was not a single false note. Here is a man who has been anointed by grace and awaits restoration," said Forbes. (Herlinger) Clinton emphatically denied doing anything wrong, following the accusations that surfaced in early 1998. He clearly stated he had no "sexual contact" with a young White House intern. These accusations were made in the course of a civil lawsuit against then President Clinton, in an alleged act of sexual harassment occurring while he was governor of Arkansas. Clinton was accused of lying to a grand jury about his sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, the young intern. Having been caught in a series of lies about his personal affairs demanded a public response. That response took the shape of the "I have sinned" speech, delivered September 11, 1998, and one other delivered August 17, 1998. The September speech can be considered effective because it shifted the public focus in such a way that Clinton's character appealed to his audience. (Harris) Considering the two speeches to be Clinton's apologia to the American public several constants can be identified that contributed to the effectiveness, particularly the September speech. 1) Ethical appeals precede logical appeals; 2) Offensive remarks follow defensive remarks; 3) Most evidence appears in the middle third apologia; and 4) The argument resembles previously used arguments. A fifth constant more recently added to this list is an apologia ends with an appeal to

Ethics (David Hume and Kant) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethics (David Hume and Kant) - Essay Example Hume tries to anchor his definition of morals in human sentiments, he is seen to stray away into pure rhetoric. For example, Hume has said, â€Å"what is honourable, what is fair, what is becoming, what is noble, what is generous, takes possession of the heart, and animates us to embrace and maintain it† (4). In contrast to this he (Hume) claims that â€Å"what is intelligible, what is evident, what is probable, what is true procures only the cool assent of the understanding; and gratifying a speculative curiosity, puts an end to our researches† (4) These are not propositions supported by reason but only statements which have a subjective quality. Thus to question the role of reason, Hume is compelled to use arguments which themselves are based on reason and this could be considered as the greatest disadvantage of Hume while proving his theory. Kant adheres to an a priori moral principle based on pure reason while Hume derives his principle from a posteriori elements such as experience and observation. For Hume, virtue is created out of feelings but Cant contests this argument by saying that â€Å"in its Idea there is only one virtue; but in fact there is a multitude of virtues, made up of several different qualities†. In this manner, Kant is able to define the boundaries of his principle into a unified theory while Hume, by stressing upon experience, falls pray to a multitude of variations of virtue. Such kind of variations by which virtue as a moral value looses its very sense of purpose. To show the universality of his theory of reason, Kant has made a differentiation between a maxim and a moral law: A maxim is a subjective principle of acting, and must be distinguished from the objective principle, namely, the practical law. The former contains the practical rule determined by reason conformably with the conditio ns of the subject (often his ignorance or also his inclinations), and is therefore the principle in accordance with which the subject acts; but the law is the objective principle valid for every rational being, and the principle in accordance with which he ought to act, i.e.; an imperative (31). Here, it can be seen that what derives from Hume's theory are mere maxims which depends on the â€Å"conditions of the subject† while what Kant prescribes is beyond that. For example, if a person feels that she needs to steal because she has nothing to eat, and she is poor owing to no fault of hers, and also she sees that many others have more than what they need, then, according to Hume, her sentiment is not morally invalid. But Kant, by putting before us the universal moral principle that stealing is evil, in all circumstances, reveals a more solid ground. The danger of stealing, in this instance could be that though stealing of food by a person who has nothing to eat is somewhat ju stified, such an act may serve as a justification for more selfish and evil kinds of stealing. Here, the necessity for a universal principle rather than a maxim is very evident. It is based on a unique concept of freedom that Kant argues for a universal moral principle. For him, freedom is the ability to follow that universal moral p

Business Process Model & Notation (BPMN) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Process Model & Notation (BPMN) - Essay Example The clients and all other players are easily handled. However, to understand the effect of a BPMN process a real life example would be more effective. Business process modeling notation finds a professional real life application in the banking industry. Typical BPMN procedures follow three basic steps: the start event, the gateway and the end event (Allweyer et al. 16). In the event that a customer enters a bank to apply for a loan, the credit officer follows a set out procedure. The process would involve reviewing the client for eligibility then providing an application form. These two events constitute the start event. Secondly, after the client has filled the application, the banker follows a set criterion to study the application. The step here is the gateway. If the client qualifies for the loan, they are informed. The transaction then proceeds through to the end event where the money is disbursed. However, if the client fails the process returns to gateway and the client is notified of the decision. The management through a BPMN process already sets out all these procedures. Business process modeling notation sets out the procedures for engagement between an organization and its stakeholders. It serves to ensure all business transactions follow a well set out criteria and minimizes conflict (Allweyer et al. 90). The members within an organization also work within a set framework where information flows

Business - The Nature of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business - The Nature of Leadership - Essay Example The workplace should be meaningful that provides opportunities for all stakesholders. This meant power is distributed equitably in the business organization where the costs and benefits of doing business are shared by all. Ultimately, the vision of Christian based business should provide growth and development not only among those who are in the organization but also on the society at large. Chapter two deals with the formulation of an employment strategy that reflects Christian values that will overcome any form of injustice and discrimination. This differs from the traditional perspective of work in a way that a business run through faith views â€Å"work is a healing process† that seeks to reconcile and overcome past injustices. It affirms the diversity in the workplace and thrives on it as it looks at differences as assets rather than a liability. Part three talks about Christian leadership which is unique among different leadership styles because it focuses on servant lea dership. The overall plan or strategic plan of a business is being implemented through the use of servant leadership which inspires employees to focus on the bigger purpose of the organization. Ethics and moral leadership comes naturally which is lacking in today’s business leadership and desists from using manipulation to motivate employees and emphasizes true stewardship of a business. A management that is Christian centered is one that listens and truthful and values cultivation of communication as an essential element towards business success. While being truthful, Christian centered management is neither brash or harsh nor judgmental in conveying truths. Finally, â€Å"Business through the Eyes of Faith† translates the broader meaning of its principles into ethical practice on how it deals with its external stakeholders. It exegetes "business, as an institution, provides the opportunity to participate with God in the creation and distribution of God’s wealt h in God’s world " (pg. 195). It enforces it social contract theory to reconcile the business dilemma of making profits and calls on to exercise â€Å"its stewardship responsibility to God by managing businesses in ways that serve the needs of their communities† (pg. 208). It distinguishes what it produce by having the right criteria between wants and needs and treats the marketplace with honesty and competition where competition is viewed as a healthy competition rather than a guerilla warfare that abandons ethical propriety. Ultimately, business that is run through the eyes intends to make the world better by having a business that is less rapacious and more concerned and conscientious not only within its organization but also towards the society at large. Mere Christian Summary Clive Staples Lewis Book I. We as humans are created by some being who also dictates, through our conscience, how we  ought  to behave.   All of us are subjected of a Law of Nature whic h is present within us in a form of a conscience that provides us a common sense of what is right and what is wrong. Many of us fails to follow it because of our inordinate instinct but this Law can provide us a better instinct that will defeat our baser instincts which are often justified with our excuse of circuitous reasoning. The world is created with two opposing theories. The church posits that this Law is given to us by God through our consc

Economy Industry Company Analysis Research Paper

Economy Industry Company Analysis - Research Paper Example This growth has enabled the potential investors in bonds, stocks and other investing opportunities, to establish their investments tremendously in the country. The gross domestic price that was analyzed at the first quarter of the year shows that it has grown for about 1.3 percent. This is the best indication of the economic growth and I will advice Johnnie to do an investment in this country. Gross domestic products, is a technique used to show the economic growth and stability of any given country. In Australia where the Crown head quarters is found, had a gross domestic product of approximately 918 billion united states dollars, with a growth rate of 2.3 percent, and the income per person or per capita income of40,800 in the fiscal year 2011. The standard rate of interest in Australia was previously indicated at 4.25 Percent, which was determined by the Australian reserve bank of panel. The graph shows that the rates of interest of the year 2010 and 2009 had a drastic fall. It has also increased gradually and encounters small decrease recently. This is a clear indication that the Economy of Australia, and the performance of the currency is in its stage of recovery. The estimate is that it has a moderate increase in the near future as it is indicated by the tendency of the graph. Increase in the interest rates means that the investors will benefit from the consequential increase in the amount of dividends that they will receive1. Given the fact that Jonnie is looking for an investment that will last for ten years, This is a favorable time to invest in a booming company in Australia. This is because during this period, there is an economic recovery and such will lead to better economic performance of all the factors discussed above. The ten year bond in Australia has also jumped to reach 3.02 percent increase. For a potential investor like

Managing Waste Products from Dairy Factories in Greece Dissertation

Managing Waste Products from Dairy Factories in Greece - Dissertation Example Nutrients and proteins can also be extracted from wastewater for various business purposes. The question is what technology is effective in the treatment of dairy wastewater. Wastewater management, which includes treatment, is part of an effective environmental management system (EMS) which dairy factories should implement immediately at the start of the operation. In countries such as Greece, EMS implementation is not uncommon. This is so because, in the countryside where wastewater usually flows to rivers and adjoining bodies of water, wastewater has to be treated first before it has to be discharged. Environmental impact created by businesses, organizations and dairy factories has to be minimized in order to deliver sustainability for the next generation. An Environmental Management System is a way of addressing the impact on the environment by issuing guidance to organizations, businesses, and governments which maintain or regulate establishments that produce wastewater. An EMS a nswers the environmental compliance regulations and other relevant activities for environmental best practice. An EMS aims for sustainable development in the community, and minimize waste and hazardous materials. It is a set of rules and requirements that set up a policy for environmental promotion and can be effectively implemented through the guidelines set by ISO 14001. The International Standards Organization states that businesses should implement an EMS which carries out its environmental objectives in accordance with the legal and other significant requirements of the organization and the laws of the land. Wastewater treatment, to include reuse and recycle, is a best practice in line with ISO compliance. (Edwards, 2004) There are a number of methodologies in wastewater treatment that have been implemented by the dairy industry, but some problems in the methods have to be identified. This paper, therefore, will provide an in-depth analysis of some of the methods and technologi es available, along with a business model that can be created out of these methods. 1.1 Objectives The objectives of this paper are: 1.1.1 To analyse how Greek dairy factories, conduct wastewater treatment and reduce wastewater generation that leads to minimization of effluent-treatment costs, and how to extract proteins and nutrients from wastewater; 1.1.2 To analyse the business side of the treated wastewater, taking into consideration the business model that can be created from the nutrients and proteins extracted and separated from the wastewater; 1.1.3 To provide an in-depth analysis of the methods and technologies available so that clear recommendations can be provided. 2. Literature Review There has to be a holistic view of the various ways of waste production, including collection and treatment and subsequent disposal of wastewater. The treatment to be implemented would depend on what type of wastewater is produced by the dairy factory or pond. Wastewater comes from milk, bu tter, yogurt, ice cream and other varieties which may be composed of desserts. Initial planning of wastewater treatment plant includes the following aspects: 1.) The various data and information gathered from the field surveys should be put together, inputted into a database, and carefully studied; 2.) What type of wastewater collection and system will be implemented?

Enzyme used to break cell wall Essay Example for Free

Enzyme used to break cell wall Essay Aim To investigate the affect of Pectinase on the amount of juice produced from a stewed apple. I will investigate and explore the factors, which affect the rate at which juice is coming out of the stewed apple. There are many factors, which determine the rate at which reactions take place. The factors include temperature, concentration, surface area or pressure (if the substance is a gas) and a catalyst. However in this particular experiment I have chosen to investigate the rate of reaction when the concentration is the variable involved. Scientific Theories The theory of collisions Substances are made up particles. The particles in a particular substance can be atoms, ions or molecules. If two or more reactants collide with sufficient energy then a chemical reaction takes place producing a product. The particles must collide together hard enough to break the chemical bonds, kinetic energy is needed for this to occur. The initial energy or minimum energy that particles of reactants must have for them to react must have for them to react when they collide. The rate of reaction depends on how many reacting particles have this minimum energy. Heat is sometimes needed to start a reaction, which is referred to the activation energy. In many reactions often the products have less energy than the reactants. The more collisions and the harder the collisions between particles in a given time will result in the reaction speeding up. Temperature Faster collisions are only obtained by increasing the temperature. When the temperature is increased all the particles move quicker and collide more often. This will therefore speed up the rate of reaction. Surface Area (size of particles) If reactants are solid which is Magnesium in this particular experiment then if they are broken into smaller pieces this will increase the solids surface area. This will mean that the solution surrounding it in this case Hydrochloric acid will have more region to react on therefore creating more collisions between particles. This also will speed up the reaction. Concentration (or pressure if a gas) When a solution is made more concentrated which in this reaction will be to add more hydrochloric acid, which will mean there are more reactants to react with the magnesium therefore collisions are more likely. In gases though, increasing the pressure will mean the particles are more squashed up together consequently colliding more. This will speed up the rate of reaction. Catalyst This will speed up the reaction as it gives the reactants a surface to stick to where they can collide. Reactions only happen when particles collide with sufficient energy. From this theory as I am investigating the concentration of Pectinase we can say that if we increase the volume of Pectinase the rate at which the reaction takes place will increase, as the number of collision are more likely. Lock and Key Hypothesis Enzymes are substances that act as catalysts, in other words they increase the rate of reactions. Most enzymes are large protein molecules, with three-dimensional shapes. The substance with which the enzyme combines is known as the substrate. The reaction takes place on the surface of the enzyme called the active site. Enzyme molecules are usually very much larger than their substrates. The precise shape of the active site is important because it is complimentary to the shape of the substrate molecule, which fits into the active site, which is known as the lock and key mechanism. In this particular experiment the active site of the enzyme has a specific shape for the Pectin, which only it can fit into. The substrate is the pectin and the enzyme is the pectinase. In this specific experiment, we can say that if we increase the volume of Pectinase (the enzyme) the rate at which the pectin interacts with the active site of the enzyme will increase, therefore the rate at which the juice comes out of the stewed apple will also increase. Enzyme Activity 0i C 45i C Enzymes are usually damaged by temperatures above about 45i c, and as the graph shows, their activity drops off sharply when the temperature gets too high. Preliminary Work. In class we have performed a similar experiment involving the rate at which juice comes out of a stewed apple. However this time there were only two stewed apples, one solution contained the enzyme pectinase and the other without it. From doing this experiment, I found that the solution with Pectinase clearly produced more juice at a faster rate, than the solution without Pectinase. This proves that enzymes will greatly increase the rate of formation of the product. From doing that experiment I learnt a lot of things, which I would have to change in my final experiment, for example a more accurate measuring cylinder. Prediction. I predict that if I double the concentration of Pectinase, the rate at which the juice comes out of the stewed apple will also double. And the reaction time will be cut in half. This is because as the volumes of Pectinase will increases therefore there will be more Pectin interacting with the active site of Pectinase, therefore more cell walls will be breaking and more juice will be produced. Also, because of the simple concept that before particles can react they must collide, therefore there will be more particles in a smaller volume therefore collision between particles will be more likely and consequently the reaction will speed up. I can also predict that if I half the concentration of Pectinase, this will also half the rate at which the reaction takes place and the time taken for the reaction to take place will double. This is because the decreased number of particles also means that the chance of collision will also reduce. Therefore the time taken for the cell wall in the apple to break will decrease and result in less juice being produced over a certain period of time. I also predict that the amount 0of juice produced will be proportional to the time. Apparatus Pectinase (enzyme used to break cell wall) 4 100cmi beakers 10cmi measuring cylinder Stewed Apples (chopped up) Filer paper Water Stop- clock (to record the amount of juice being produced) Scale (used to measure the mass of the steed apples) Funnel Syringe Variables The variable, which will be changed in this experiment to alter the rate of reaction, is concentration. At least five readings are needed in order to draw a graph and to have significant amount of results, to prove he prediction. The concentration of Pectinase will change, as water will be added to dilute it. The total volume of Pectinase and water in each experiment will always be 5cmi making it a fair test. The table below shows the different concentrations used in the experiment Concentration of Pectinase Concentration of Water 5cmi 0cmi 4cmi 1cmi 3cmi 2cmi 2cmi 3cmi 1cmi 4cmi 0cmi 5cmi Plan The apparatus will firstly be collected and set up. The stewed apple will be weighed in a 100cmi beaker. The volume of Pectinase and water will be taken out of the container using a syringe. The Pectinase and water will be measured using a measuring cylinder (10cmi)

Tamadun Islam Dan Tamadun Asia

Tamadun Islam Dan Tamadun Asia Tamadun Islam Dan Tamadun Asia Pengenalan Agama Buddha ialah agama dan falsafah yang berasaskan ajaran Buddha ÅšÄ kyamuni (SiddhÄ rtha Gautama) yang mungkin lahir pada kurun ke-5 sebelum masihi. Agama Buddha menyebar ke benua India dalam 5 kurun selepas Baginda meninggal dunia. Dalam proses perkembangan agama Buddha, agama ini praktis telah menyentuh hampir seluruh benua Asia. Agama Buddha terus menarik orang ramai menganutnya di seluruh dunia dan mempunyai lebih kurang 350 juta penganut. Agama Buddha dikenali sebagai salah satu agama yang paling besar di dunia. Dalam dua ribu tahun yang seterusnya, agama Buddha telah menyebar ke tengah, tenggara dan timur Asia. Kini, agama Buddha telah dipaparkan sebagai tiga aliran utama, iaitu Theravada, Mahayana, dan Vajrayana (Bajrayana). Latar Belakang dan Kehidupan Buddha Menurut tradisi Buddha, tokoh historis Buddha Siddharta Gautama dilahirkan dari suku Sakya pada awal masa Magadha (546-324 SM), di sebuah kota, selatan pergunungan Himalaya yang bernama Lumbini. Sekarang kota ini terletak di Nepal sebelah selatan. Ia juga dikenal dengan nama Sakyamuni. Setelah kehidupan awalnya yang penuh kemewahan di bawah perlindungan ayahnya, raja Kapilavastu (kemudian hari digabungkan pada kerajaan Magadha), Siddharta melihat kenyataan kehidupan sehari-hari dan membuat kesimpulan bahawa kehidupan nyata, pada hakikatnya adalah kesengsaraan yang tak dapat dihindari. Siddharta kemudian meninggalkan kehidupan mewahnya yang tak ada ertinya lalu menjadi seorang pertapa. Kemudian Baginda berpendapat bahawa bertapa juga tak ada ertinya, dan lalu mencari jalan tengah (majhima patipada ). Jalan tengah ini merupakan sebuah kompromis antara kehidupan berfoya-foya yang terlalu memuaskan hawa nafsu dan kehidupan bertapa yang terlalu menyeksa diri. Di bawah sebuah pohon bodhi, Baginda berkaul tidak akan pernah meninggalkan posisinya sehingga menemui Kebenaran. Pada usia 35 tahun, Baginda mencapai Pencerahan. Pada saat itu Baginda dikenal sebagai Gautama Buddha, atau Buddha(secara harafiah: orang yang telah mencapai Penerangan Sempurna). Untuk 45 tahun selanjutnya, Gautama Buddha telah menyebarkan ajarannya tanpa berhenti di merata-rata tempat. Sejarah Buddhisme di Malaysia Sejarah Buddhisme di Malaysia boleh dibahagikan kepada 2 peringkat: 1. PERINGKAT AWAL: Pada awal kurun Masihi, seperti yang disebutkan oleh Dr. Coedes dalam bukunya, Indianized States of South East Asia, Warisan kebudayaan Orang India di Asia Tenggara dapat dibuktikan daripada corak kebudayaan yang terdapat di Semenanjung dan Tanah Besar Asia Tenggara; Bahasa Sanskrit telah menjadi ansur bahasa tempatan; dan unsur-unsur tradisi orang India masih terdapat di negara-negara yang bertukar kepada Islam. Tetapi Prof. D.G.E. Hall, dalam bukunya A History of South East Asia, percaya bahawa kebanyakan tradisi India telah mengubahsuai apabila bertentangan dengan tradisi tempatan, misalnya sistem kasta tidak pernah dipraktikkan di sini. Akan tetapi fakta ini tidak boleh dihapuskan iaitu aktiviti perdagangan dan perniagaan telah menarik ramai pedagang India datang berdagang di Asia Tenggara. Pedagang-pedagang ini membawa bersama kebudayaan, ugama serta kesenian mereka ke rantau ini. Banyak barangan yang digali dari tanah oleh ahli arkeologi membuktikan bahawa bahagian utara Tanah Melayu, iaitu Negeri Kedah, pernah dipengaruhi oleh kebudayaan awal Buddhisme. Pada pertengahan kurun ke 3 sebelum masihi, selepas Kausil Buddhis Ketiga, Maharaja Asoka telah menghantar dua orang Bhiksu, iaitu Ven. Sona dan Ven. Uttara datang ke rantau ini untuk menyebarkan agama Buddha. Pada kurun yang ke 5, Buddhisme telah berkembang dengan baik di Semenanjung Melayu. Exkavasi arkeologi bukan hanya terhad di Kedah sahaja, tetapi didapati di Kuala Selinsing, Tanjung Rambutan, Lembah Kinta, Bidor dan Sungai Siput di Perak, di Perlis dan juga di Pahang. Langkasuka merupakan sebuah negara Buddhis yang pertama, ia ditubuhkan pada kurun masihi ke 2 dan berpusat di Banjaran Gunung Jelai, kemudian ia mengembangkan kuasanya ke bahagian Selatan Negeri Thai. Pada kurun ke 7, Buddhisme Mahayana telah menjadi sistem Buddhisme yang lebih diterima oleh rakyat Semenanjung Tanah Melayu. Pada masa itu, Tanah Melayu berada di bawah kuasa Srivijaya, sebuah empayar Buddhis yang berpusat di Pulau Jawa. Agama Hindu telah mengalami kebangkitan semula di India pada kurun ke 10, maka Agama Buddha kehilangan sokongan yang diberi oleh istana serta golongan bangsawan. Kejatuhan pengaruhnya di India telah mempengaruhi kekuasaannya di Asia Tenggara. Pada akhir abad ke 12, empayar Srivijaya mengalami kejatuhan, begitu juga halnya dengan pengaruh Buddhisme. Pada awal kurun ke 10, Parameswara mendirikan Empayar Melaka. Apabila Parameswara dan Raja-Raja lain menganuti Agama Islam, agama tersebut telah menjadi agama utama di rantau ini. Sehingga abad ke 15, Islam telah berjaya mengambil alih kedudukan Buddhisme sebagai agama yang utama diterima oleh istana dan rakyat biasa, lantas Buddhisme di Tanah Melayu pada masa itu mengalami kemerosotan. Walaupun begitu, masih terdapat banyak peninggalan kebudayaan Buddhisme di Kedah, Perlis dan Kelantan akibat pengaruh Negeri Thai. Unsur-unsur Buddhisme masih terbukti dalam drama Menora dan wayang kulit. 2. PERINGKAT KOMTEMPORARI: Penghijrahan beramai-ramai orang China ke Tanah Melayu pada abad ke 17 merupakan arus ombak yang kedua. Pada masa itu, Buddhisme hanya merupakah upacara amalan yang penuh dengan kepercayaan dan kebudayaan Cina. Hanya pada tahun 1950, barulah terdapat penganut Buddha yang cuba meningkatkan status dan kedudukan Buddhisme. Dengan tertubuhnya banyak organisasi buddhis, termasuk YBAM (Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia) dan MBA (Malaysian Buddhist Association), maka wujudlah satu suasana yang baru yang menyatupadukan para Buddhis. Satu perkembangan lain yang penting ialah terdapatnya pengaliran masuk bentuk-bentuk Buddhisme yang dipengaruhi oleh kebudayaan-kebudayaan Thai, Sri Langka, Burma, Jepun dan Tibet. Ini telah membentuk Buddhisme di Malaysia yang pelbagai rupa bentuk. Cara-cara Perkembangan Buddhisme Di Malaysia 1. Membentuk Buddhisme Malaysia Buddhisme ialah agama yang tiada batasan negara dan kaum. Walau bagaimanapun, untuk menghadapi masalah taraf pemikiran dan budaya manusia setempat, Buddhisme muncul dalam rupa bentuk yang telah diubahsuaikan tetapi dasar Ajaran Buddha yang sama . Sifat fleksibilitinya telah menyebabkan Buddhisme yang disebarkan di pelbagai tempat muncul dengan rupa bentuk yang berlainan akibat persekitaran, kaum serta latar belakang kebudayaannya yang berlainan, di samping itu pula mereka dapat mengekalkan ajaran Buddha. Buddhisme yang mempunyai banyak ciri tempatan merupakan sifat Buddhisme yang unik dalam sejarah penyebarannya. Malaysia ialah negara yang merdeka, maka Buddhisme yang disebarkan di tempat ini mestilah mempunyai identiti yang bercorak Malaysia. Malaysia ialah negara bersifat majmuk, begitu juga halnya dengan Buddhisme yang disebarkan di negara ini. Sebahagian besar penganut Buddha di negara ini berketurunan Cina, maka aliran utama Buddhisme banyak dopengaruhi oleh Buddhisme dari sistem Bahasa Cina. Sementara itu Negeri Thai dan Sri Lanka, akibat kedudukan geografinya yang dekat dengan Malaysia, telah mempengaruhi Buddhisme Malaysia dengan Buddhisme sistem Bahasa Pali. Dalam beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini, terdapat pula pengaliran masuk Buddhisme sistem Bahasa Tibet dan hasil-hasil kajian akademik Buddhisme yang dilakukan oleh Jepun. Penyerapan bahagian-bahagian penting dari Buddhisme berbagai sistem bahasa dan membuangkan mana-mana ciri yang tidak sesuai dengan suasana di Malaysia, akan menjadikan Buddhisme Malaysia berbentuk majmuk. 2. Melatih pendakwah Buddhis tempatan Perkataan tempatan bermaksud negara kita, negeri ini atau persatuan Buddhis masing-masing. Kita amat memerlukan pendakwah Buddhis tempatan untuk menjalankan tanggungjawab penyebaran agama Buddha. Pada masa ini, Buddhisme di Malaysia berada di peringkat perkembaangan yang awal, kadar pertumbuhan dalam pengeluaran pendakwah terlatih adalah rendah jika dibanding dengan perkembangan luaran Buddhisme, ini akan menimbulkan banyak masalah kepada Buddhisme. Pengundangan pensyarah luar negeri ke Malaysia adalah perlu untuk meninggikan taraf kajian akademik dan pengaliran kebudayaan duahala, walau bagaimanapun, usaha melatih pensyarah tempatan adalah lebih diperlukan. Selain daripada itu, kita harus memikirkan keupayaan kita dari segi kewangan. Hanya kita yang paling memahami keadaan majmuk negara ini, dan Buddhisme yang kita perlukan ialah Buddhisme yang paling difahami oleh kita sendiri, lagipun kita harus berdikari dalam mengembangkan Buddhisme.Pada ketika ini, pandangan negatif bahawa segala- galanya yang berasal dari luar negeri adalah lebih baik berbanding dengan yang di sini. Pandangan ini mesti dikikis. Kita mesti memberi lebih banyak peluang dan galakan kepada para pensyarah tempatan. 3. Meningkatkan taraf kajian akademik Kita tidak boleh berhenti lama di suatu taraf kajian akademik. Jika ditinjau dari pelbagai sudut, kita harus mengakui bahawa taraf kajian akademik Buddhisme kita adalah rendah, dan kita bertanggungjawab untuk meninggikannya. Peningkatan taraf kajian akademik merupakan cara penting untuk meninggikan kedudukan Buddhisme, ia juga cara asas untuk menegak dan menguatkan kedudukan Buddhisme di sesuatu rantau da dunia ini. Kita harus menubuhkan pusat penyelidikan dan kajian Buddhisme serta melatih penyelidik- penyelidik sepenuh masa. Pada masa yang sama, individu- individu yang mempunyai keinginan untuk membuat penyelidikan dan kajian Buddhisme, haruslah sentiasa menjalani pendidikan kendiri untuk meningkatkan tarafnya sendiri. 4. Meninggikan kualiti kultivasi (cultivation) Sifat keseluruhan Buddhisme dapat ditunjukkan dalam konsep penyatuan teori dan amali. Teori dan amali adalah saling bergantungan dan saling menggenap antara satu sama lain. Hasil daripada penyelidikan, kita memperolehi pengetahuan secara teori, ia dapat memandu kultivasi. Dari segi amali pula, kita dapat mengetahui kebenaran sesuatu teori. Maka, teori dan amali mestilah digabungjalinkan. Peningkatan dalam kualiti kultivasi sudah semestinya penting. Kita harus menganjurkan lebih banyak kursus kultivasi umpamanya kem yang melakukan meditasi dan sebagainya. Persatuan-persatuan Buddhis di pelbagai tempat juga harus mementingkan amalan memberi penghormatan kepada Buddha sebagai satu cara kultivasi umpamanya perbuatan menyujud imej Buddha. Puja dan amalan mengaku kesilapan serta keinginan untuk memperbaiki kesilapan berkenaan harus selalu diadakan. Pusat Kultivasi harus ditubuhkan dengan mengundang seorang guru yang berpengalaman untuk menjalankan kursus-kursus kultivasi bagi jangka masa panjang dan pendek. 5. Mengadakan aktiviti terancang Pada masa sekarang, banyak aktiviti telah dijalankan oleh persatuan-persatuan Buddhis, tetapi, kita harap agar aktiviti-aktiviti yang hendak dijalankan itu, sama ada di peringkat kebangsaan, daerah, ataupun persatuan-persatuan masing-masing, akan mempunyai perancangan yang rapi. Hanya aktiviti-aktiviti yang terancang dengan rapi akan mencapai matlamat atau hasil yang dikehendaki. Pihak penganjur harus menyerap pengalaman orang lain serta menimbang keupayaan dan kehendak sendiri, seterusnya membuat perancangan rapi. Jika perlu, kita boleh mengadakan khemah kerja sebelum sesuatu aktiviti atau projek diadakan bagi melatih ahli-ahli jawatankuasa kerja, ini dapat membantu sesuatu aktiviti itu dijalankan secara terancang dan berjaya. 6. Kursus Latihan Yang Sistematik Kursus latihan Buddhisme di Malaysia telah mengalami kepelbagaian seperti pelajar-pelajar pusat pengajian tinggi ke guru, pelajar-pelajar sekolah menengah, dari penganut biasa ke pendakwah Buddhis, dari tahap rendah ke tahap tinggi, dari penyelidikan ke kultivasi, dari peringkat awal ke peringkat yang lebih mentap, semuanya kita perlu menyediakan kursus latihan tertentu untuk tujuan tersebut. Walaupun kita mempunyai pengalaman dan kepelbagaian aktiviti, tetapi dapat diperhatikan bahawa kursus-kursus yang kita adakan tidak diselaraskan secara sistematik. Ini perlu diperbaiki;terutamanya untuk meningkatkan taraf kajian akademik dan kualiti kultivasi. Kita perlu menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa khas untuk menyelaraskan kursus-kursus secara sistematik supaya ia dapat menunjukkkan ciri-ciri kesinambungan. Kursus-kursus itu juga perlu diubahsuai mengikut keperluan dan perubahan masyarakat. Untuk membentuk suatu era Buddhisme Malaysia yang baru, masa yang diperlukan agak panjang tetapi arah perkembangan mestilah jelas. Walaupun usaha kita belum menampakkan kejayaan yang jelas, tetapi sekurang-kurangnya kita telah mula melakukan sesuatu, sebagai usaha membuka jalan untuk generasi-generasi akan datang, supaya mereka dapat terus menyalakan cahaya kebenaran. Ciri-ciri universal buddha Alam semesta ini mempunyai ciri-ciri yang tersendiri . Ciri-ciri itu tetap wujud sama ada sedar atau tidak dan percaya atau tidak . Sebagai contoh , haba sentiasa dikaitkan dengan api . Ia merupakan satu ciri api . Sama ada percaya kenyataan di atas benar atau tidak , ciri itu tetap ada pada api . Kebenaran ini tidak dapat dinafikan . Manusia ialah salah satu daripada makhluk yang hidup dalam alam semesta ini . Kewujudan manusia juga tertakluk kepada ciri-ciri tertentu . Kehidupan manusia berkait rapat dengan ciri-ciri itu . Ciri-ciri itu ialah Anicca, Dukkha dan Anatta. Ini adalah tiga ciri universal mengenai kewujudan. Sungguhpun Buddha mengemukakan fakta ini, ia tidak bermakna Buddha yang menciptanya. Dengan PencerahanNya, Buddha telah dapat melihat dan menyedari hakikat ini. ANICCA Setiap benda tidak berkekalan — ia sentiasa tertakluk kepada pereputan dan perubahan . Begitu juga badan fizikal kita yang sentiasa berubah-ubah . Sekiranya kita mempunyai gambar foto yang diambil pada masa yang berlainan , maka dengan jelasnya ia menunjukkan bahawa kita sentiasa mengalami perubahan. Selain daripada itu , fikiran kita juga sentiasa berubah . Kalau tidak percaya , cuba kita duduk, tenangkan fikiran tanpa berfikir. Seribu satu macam fikiran akan timbul. Dalam sains , kita telah mempelajari bahawa benda-benda yang nampaknya tidak berubah seperti lautan, benua, matahari atau cakerawala, kesemuanya sentiasa berubah . Keadaan tidak kekal ini ialah ciri universal yang disebut Anicca dalam Pali. Bolehkah kita menyangsikan kebenaran ini dalam hidup ? Pemahaman ciri ketidakkekalan ini adalah amat penting. la menjalin perhubungan baik kita dengan orang lain. Umpamaannya apabila seseorang itu memarahi kita, kita harus sedar pada saat itu bahawa dia tidak senang hati. Tetapi keadaan ini tidak kekal. Jadi kita patut bertoleransi dengannya. Dengan pemahaman ciri ini juga, ia menunjukkan bahawa zaman muda-mudi, kesihatan badan, kemewahan kebendaan bahkan hidup itu adalah tidak kekal. Oleh itu, selagi kita masih muda dan cergas, kita patut menggunakan keadaan yang baik itu dengan sebaik-baiknya. Kita harus berusaha bersungguh-sungguh untuk mencapai kebahagiaan dan seterusnya Pencerahan. DUKKHA Dalam erti kata biasa, Dukkha diertikan sebagai kesengsaraan. Ia berlawanan dengan Sukkha yang bermaksud kebahagiaan. Walau bagaimanapun, perkataan ini membawa makna yang lebih dalam. la meliputi segala perasaan tidak puas. Sebenarnya, tidak susah untuk melihat kewujudan Dukkha di dunia ini. Apabila berjalan di dalam bandar, kita dapat melihat pengemis, yang tua atau muda, ada yang cacat anggota. Bukankah ini Dukkha? Yang paling jelas ialah keadaan di hospital. Di situ kita dapat membuktikan pada diri kita bahawa kesengsaraan merupakan satu perkara yang umum. Kita telah melihat bahawa segala yang terdapat di dunia ini tidak kekal. Ketidakkekalan juga merupakan satu punca Dukkha. Mengapa begitu? Biarlah kita menunjukkannya dengan satu contoh. Kekayaan, misalannya, merupakan satu perkara yang baik, begitu juga dengan pencapaian kebendaan, zaman muda-mudi, kesihatan badan, perhubungan baik dengan orang lain dan sebagainya, tetapi janganlah kita berpaut kepada kesemuanya itu. Sekiranya kita terlalu berpaut kepada apa yang kita anggap sebagai baik, menyeronokkan dan cantik, kita akan sengsara sebab kesemuanya tertakluk kepada perubahan. la tidak akan kekal selama-lamanya. Dukkha adalah satu ciri universal. Dengan memahaminya, seseorang dapat menghadapi kesengsaraan sebagai satu hakikat dalam hidup dan seterusnya berusaha untuk mengatasi kesengsaraan dengan mengikuti ajaran Buddha. ANATTA Selalunya orang beranggap bahawa terdapat satu aku di dalam kita. Aku itu adalah seperti satu roh yang kekal, benar dan unggul. Cuba fikirlah, sekiranya terdapat satu benda yang dipanggil aku yang kekal dan dapat kita kekalkan, maka kita seharusnya dapat kenal pastikannya. Tetapi adakah ini benar? Buddha telah mengatakan bahawa tiada satu benda yang kekal. Semua benda tertakluk kepada perubahan. Ini termasuklah kita sendiri. Jadi tidak ada satu roh yang kekal yang kita boleh anggapkan sebagai aku. Ini adalah ertinya Anatta. Sebenarnya apa yang dikatakan sebagai entiti aku dalam ayat Aku pergisekolah. ialah satu nama atau panggilan untuk satu kumpulan benda fizikal dan mental yang wujud dalam satu tubuh badan. Mungkin kita boleh menggunakan Proton Saga sebagai contoh. Sebenarnya apa yang dikatakan sebagai Proton Saga ialah satu himpunan benda seperti skru, tayar, enjin, kusyen, kaca dan sebagainya. Sekiranya dipisah-pisahkan, kita tidak dapat mencari suatu benda yang terpisah itu yang boleh dianggap sebagai Proton Saga. Hal yang sama adalah terjadi pada kita sebagai manusia. Anggapan bahawa terdapatnya satu aku dalam diri kita sebenarnya merupakan satu tanggapan yang palsu. Ini akan menyebabkan seseorang cuba untuk mempertahankan dengan habis-habisan sesuatu yang dianggap sebagai kepunyaannya seperti pendapatnya, hak miliknya dan lain-lain. Sebaliknya, kalau seseorang itu memahami dan sedar bahawa aku sebenarnya hanya merupakan satu nama panggilan untuk himpunan unsur-unsur fizikal dan mental yang sentiasa berubah, maka ia tidak akan berpaut kepada kesemuanya. Apa yang patut kita lakukan ialah berusaha supaya berkembang untuk menyempurnakan diri. Jadi, kita harus cuba bermurah hati dan berbelas kasihan terhadap semua makhluk dan tidak bersifat sombong. Ciri-ciri yang lain Kebebasan menyiasat Kebebasan menyoal dan menyelidik merupakan hak asasi setiap orang. Seseorang itu dibenarkan menyoal, menyelidik dan seterusnya membuat pilihan sendiri. Inilah ciri yang seharusnya ada dalam mempelajari agama Buddha. Jadi kita dapati Buddhisme tidak menyekat hak-hak kebebasan kita, umpamaannya kebebasan berfikir dan memilih. Malahan pula ia menggalakkan kita bertindak secara waras dan rasional, tidak dikongkong oleh tradisi serta kepercayaan karut atau wahyu. Akan tetapi kita mesti bertanggungjawab ke atas segala keputusan yang dibuat. Berdikari Sekiranya kita berasa lapar, kita mesti berusaha sendiri untuk mencari makanan dan memakannya. Orang lain tidak dapat makan untuk kita. Mereka hanya dapat menunjukkan di mana makanan itu dan bagaimana untuk mendapatkannya. Mungkin anda akan bertanya: Bagaimana jika saya duduk di atas kerusi sahaja dan menyuruh orang lain membawakan makanan kepada saya dan menyuapkannya ke dalam mulut saya. Bukankah saya tidak perlu berusaha? Ya, nampaknya apa yang anda katakan itu betul. Tetapi, cuba fikir dengan mendalam lagi. Adakah nasib anda begitu baik dan terdapat orang yang sentiasa bersedia untuk melayani anda seumur hidup? Biarpun terdapatnya orang yang sudi melayani anda tetapi kalau anda tidak berikhtiar untuk membuka mulut anda, mengunyah lalu menelan makanan yang disuapkan itu, anda tidak dapat menghilangkan kelaparan itu. Begitu juga jika kita hendak memperbaiki atau memajukan keadaan diri, kita mesti berusaha sendiri. Buddha memberitahu bahawa kitalah yang bertanggungjawab ke atas diri kita. Jadi kita patut berusaha dan berdikari. Berdikari Perbuatan dosa sendiri sengsara dirasai cegah dosa usaha diri Nibbana jelma suci Tiada pelindung luaran Tiada siapa yang mungkin Hayati ajaran kami Buddha penunjuk murni. Toleransi Selain daripada menghormati hak manusia untuk menyiasat dan memilih, Buddhisme juga menggalakkan sikap toleransi terhadap orang lain tanpa mengira warna kulit, agama atau kepercayaan. Manusia harus mengasihi antara satu sama lain. Kita mesti mempunyai sifat belas kasihan terhadap makhluk yang lain. Buddhisme mengajar kita supaya hidup dengan harmoni dalam masyarakat. Sekiranya manusia ingin hidup dengan bahagia dalam dunia ini maka ia harus menghormati orang lain serta mengambil berat tentang kebajikan orang lain. Ajaran-ajaran seperti ini amatlah penting dan sesuai untuk masyarakat yang berbilang kaum, berlainan agama dan bahasa. ‘Ehi-Passiko Ertinya Datang dan melihat, janganlah datang dan mempercayai. Ini merupakan salah satu ciri istimewa dalam ajaran Buddha. Mungkin kita boleh menggunakan satu contoh untuk menunjukkan hal ini. Katakan memberitahu bahawa terdapat sebiji permata di dalam genggaman. Soalan yang akan anda tanya ialah:sama ada anda boleh mempercayai saya atau tidak. Oleh sebab anda belum melihat permata itu dengan mata anda sendiri, kepercayaan anda akan bergantung kepada sejauh mana saya dapat meyakinkan anda. Tetapi sekiranya saya melepaskan tangan saya, soal percaya atau tidak tidak timbul lagi, sebab anda telah dapat melihat permata itu wujud atau tidak. Begitu juga dalam Buddhisme, anda dijemput datang untuk mencari kebenaran Buddhisme dan bukanlah datang dan mempercayainya. Buddhisme dengan hidup Ajaran Buddha berhubung rapat dengan kehidupan kita. Dalam dunia yang serba moden ini pun, ia tetap praktikal. Pada peringkat yang paling asas, Buddhisme mengajar kita cara untuk menghadapi keadaan yang baik ataupun sebaliknya. Dengan mengamalkan ajaran-ajaran Buddha, kita dapat menjalin hubungan yang baik dengan orang lain. Pada peringkat yang tinggi, Buddhisme mengajar kita bagaimana melatih pemikiran kita untuk menghadapi cabaran hidup serta memahami makna hidup yang benar. Buddhisme menunjukkan cara untuk menamatkan kesengsaraan. Sekiranya kita mengikuti jalan yang telah ditunjukkan maka kita akan memperoleh kesejahteraan ini. Sungguhpun Buddhisme merupakan satu agama yang wujud sejak lebih daripada 2,500 tahun yang lalu, tetapi dalam zaman moden ia tetap sesuai dan diperlukan dalam kehidupan kita. Dengan mengamalkan ajaran Buddha, kita dapat memperbaiki hubungan kita dengan keluarga serta masyarakat. Dengan ini kebahagiaan dan keharmonian akan muncul. Selain daripada itu, ia memberi peluang untuk kebahagiaan kerana ia menunjukkan cara untuk menghapuskan kesengsaraan. Riwayat hidup Buddha merupakan satu pendorong untuk seseorang membentuk sikap berdikari, menegakkan tanggungjawab moral, toleransi, belas kasihan dan kebijaksanaan. Pendek kata, Buddhisme dapat memperkayakan hidup seseorang serta menjadikannya lebih bermakna dalam dunia nyata ini. Perbezaan antara agama Hindu dan Buddha Agama Hindu dan agama Buddha adalah dua agama yang berbeza. Perbezaan utama adalah bahawa Buddhisme merupakan agama atheistic, bererti mereka tidak percaya pada Tuhan, manakala Hindu mempunyai tuhan yang berbeza. Oleh sebab itu, mereka memiliki sedikit berbeza upacara yang mereka lakukan. Hindu biasanya menyediakan makanan kepada Tuhan pada setiap pagi. Selain itu, agama Hindu tidak memiliki pendiri, sesuai dengan isi agama diwahyukan kepada ulama, tetapi dalam waktu kuno, mereka juga mengatakan bahawa agama selalu ada dan akan mengamalkan. Buddhisme memiliki pendiri agama, iaitu Siddharta Gautama. Hinduisme datang ke sekitar 4000 tahun yang lalu. Manakala Buddhisme datang semasa sekitar 2500 tahun yang lalu. Perilaku mereka ketika mereka datang ke kuil Hindu dan untuk jatuh atau dagoba Buddha juga menpunyai berbeza. Bagi agama Hindu, yang ada di setiap candi dewa mereka untuk dikorbankan. Agama Buddha memiliki atau abu jenazah dari rahib terkenal, atau Buddha sendiri. Mereka berjalan mengelilingi bangunan hanya untuk mendapatkan kuasa penyembuhan. Penganut Buddha mementingkan perayaan tiga upacara Buddha yang utama, iaitu kelahiran, pendidikan, dan kematiannya. Manakala penganut agama Hindu merayakan pesta yang lebih banyak dan tidak mementingkan sesetengah upacara sahaja. Kedua-dua agama Hindu dan Buddha mengadakan upacara ketika seorang anak dilahirkan, tetapi mereka sedikit berbeza. Buddhisme mengambil baru lahir ke biara di mana rahib sing anak dan beri nama. Ketika seorang anak dilahirkan sebagai Hindu dan menjadi ayah, hari yang sama, memasukkan cincin emas terhadap anak bibir dan berkata: Mei hidup Anda adalah sebagai mahal sebagai emas. Akan tergantung pada baik pemikiran, ucapan, dan melakukan perbuatan-perbuatan.† Agama Hindu memiliki dua upacara lainnya yang kurang dirayakan oleh penganut Buddha. Salah satu adalah haircut upacara, ia datang kebanyakan anak laki-laki dan berarti antara 1 dan 5 tahun, mereka harus mencukur kepala mereka dan dengan lubricated yoghurt dari sapi. Hal ini dilakukan untuk mencuci diri setiap karma buruk dari kehidupan sebelumnya. Yang kedua adalah upacara suci thread upacara, ini hanya berlaku untuk Castes tinggi, dan ini sebagai salah satu jenis konfirmasi. Anak harus berjanji untuk tidak berhubungan seks se belum menikah, untuk memenuhi tugas-tugas mereka kepada tuhan, orang tua dan guru agama mereka. Sebagai bukti janji menempatkan persten yang terjalin melalui kawat bahu kiri , kemudian ke gantung secara diagonal di seluruh dada dan di bawah tangan kanan. Setelah upacara termasuk anak sebagai orang dewasa. Terkait dengan ini, ada semacam konfirmasi juga dalam Buddhisme. Ianya adat agar anak laki-laki lanjut dalam biara ketika mereka mencapai remaja, perempuan adalah hal yang sama, tetapi ketika sebuah biara. Ketika seorang penganut Hindu mendekati kematian, dia ingin mengunjungi situs kudus. Dia meninggalkan keluarganya dan menjadi rahib. Sebaiknya semua, ia ingin ada abu-Nya tersebar di sungai Ganges suci.Penganut Buddha yang ingin menghabiskan akhir minggu di biara. Ini disebabkan oleh mereka berfikir bahawa saat kematian dapat menjadi mendapat penerangan. Untuk mencapai pencerahan dalam Buddhisme, harus hidup dalam dan berkonsentrasi monasteries semua kehidupan mereka untuk mencapai nirvana. Hindu ada hanya empat tahapan yang harus mereka melalui, mereka juga harus hidup kehidupan yang baik. Persamaan antara agama Hindu dan Buddha Terdapat juga beberapa kesamaan antara kedua-dua agama. Kedua-dua agama percaya reinkarnasi, bahawa kita dilahirkan kembali dalam tubuh yang lain. Menurut agama Hindu, yang di dalam jiwa manusia dari sapi sambil menunggu sebuah tubuh. Ia adalah salah satu alasan mengapa ia sangat sakral. Kedua-dua agama juga percaya bahawa ada jalan keluar dari siklus ini, tetapi ada jalan mereka sedikit berbeza. Hindu memiliki dokumen ertinya, pengetahuan, jalan, jalan umum dan didedikasikan drill jalan. Mereka juga memiliki dua aturan bahawa setiap orang harus hidup, mencedera apapun atau membunuh makhluk hidup dan menunjukkan kasih kepada semua ciptaan. Buddha masyarakat yang hidup setelah delapan jalur jalan dimana delapan melambangkan sebuah roda. Mereka memiliki empat macam kebenaran, kebenaran tentang penderitaan, kebenaran mengenai asal usul penderitaan, kebenaran mengenai bantuan dari penderitaan dan kebenaran dari delapan jalur. Dari segi geografi pula, kedua-dua agama memiliki kedudukan mereka di Asia. Buddhisme telah menyebar ke termasuk Tibet, Cina, Korea, Jepang dan lain-lainnya. Hinduisme pula memiliki akar di India dan sekitarnya. Kedua-dua agama Hindu dan Buddha,selepas seseorang mati, ahli keluarga mereka akan menggunakan cara pembakaran mayat. Hindu berdandan yang mati dalam pakaian bagus sebelum mereka membakar dia, gigi anak yang tertua. Mereka lebih memilih untuk menerima semua mereka abu tersebar di Ganges pada personon tidak di Ganges menyebarkan abu di sungai terdekat. Penganut Buddha pula dibakar dengan upacara tertentu. Rahib, teman dan ahli keluarga akan termasuk dalam upacara. Kesimpulan Buddha adalah benar sama rata kepada semua. Setiap lapisan masyarakat tidak kira kaya atau miskin, semuanya dianggap sama rata dalam mata Buddha. Agama Buddha tidak mengabaikan agama lain atau mengutuk agama lain sebagai agama jahat. Dalam ajaran agama Buddha, kenyataan dan ilmu yang diajar bukannya perintah yang mestinya dituruti. Sesiapa yang tidak faham boleh mengemukakan soalannya dan soalan ini akan dijelaskan sehingga mencapai kefahamannya. Buddha pernah berkata: Keraguan yang besar akan mendapat lebih banyak pengajaran, keraguan yang sedikit akan mendapat pengajaran yang sedikit, manakala jika tiada keraguan, maka tiada pengajaran yang boleh dicapai. Lampiran Patung Sidharta Gautama di Candi Borobudur Indonesia. Tempat penyembahan umat buddha di Jepun Patung emas Sidharta Gautama di Filiphina Rujukan 1. http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agama_Buddha 2. http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejarah_agama_Buddha 3. http://wapedia.mobi/id/Buddhisme 4. http://www.slideshare.net/katherine0111/agama-buddha-2047661 5. http://dhamma-bm.tripod.com/am/sejarah.htm 6.http://wapedia.mobi/id/Sejarah_agama_Buddha?t=4. 7.http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:fe_ATowMUWAJ:images.fazaly.multiply.multiplycontent.com/attachment/0/So-PAQoKCJEAAAyqlHw1/zTugas%2520Sejarah.docfzl.doc%3Fnmid%3D277222991+sejarah+agama+buddhacd=200hl=enct=clnkgl=my

Personal Plan What Are Your Personal Goals English Language Essay

Personal Plan What Are Your Personal Goals English Language Essay Setting a plan for future is the most powerful process of thinking about our future and motivating ourselves to achieve our dreams and bringing them to reality. The process of setting goals helps us to choose where we want to be in our life, what we want in our life, and what steps we need to take in our life to achieve our goals as we have planned. Personal plan is the most important step we need to take it. Personal plan helps us to move forward towards our career hunting for a job, to start our own business, and also our future with our family. Therefore, I have set some plans to achieve my goals. I believe that how big we think, big we dream, and big we plan, thats how big we achieve our goals in our life. I always think hard and long about my future. Peter Druckers quote the best way to predict the future is to create it, is one of my favorite quote which give me the strength and reason to create my plans for my better future. So with this inspiration I always imagine my future from since I was a kid. By imagining my life fifteen years from now, one of my plan and dream is to get married to guy who loves me a lot, who cares for me and my family, giving respect to all, who is well settled and also who will always stands beside me my happiness and unhappiness. Trust and understanding are one of the main important things which I would like to give importance in my married life. Currently I am not in a relationship but I would like to have someone in my life who will fill my whole life with colors of happiness. I would get married to a guy of my dream and would be living with him for my life time. As I am from an Indian family I would like to marry to an Indian guy. I believe in joint family system so, I would like to live in a joint family after my marriage with my husband and his family. Joint family helps us to keep strong bond relationship between each other in family, which keeps unity and also gives us support during any necessity. Joint family teaches children to respect our elder and the ability to sacrifice what they want in life. I would like to have two children, one girl and one boy and want to be the best mom for my kid. I dont want to put my kids in babysitting as they dont take care as one family member or a mother takes for their children. I would like to work from 7:00 am until 3:00 pm, as I would be back at home when my kids are back at home from school. Spending time with the family is very necessary to keep family happy. I would also like to spend my weekends with my family and would like to go out with them and cooking some specials foods for my family as cooking is one of my favorite hobbies. Spending time with childrens is so important because if we do not spend time with children then they are going to feel neglected and nobody is giving them importance nor nobody loves them. This type of feelings forces children to do wrong things and divert them in wrong path. Therefore, I would like to provide environment of unity, love and peace to my children. Spending time with husband is also as important as appending time with children to run our marriage life smoothly. Currently I am busy with my studies and job so I couldnt take care of my health, but I would like to gain some weight by maintaining my figure as I am married now and would like to maintain my health as in other ways too. I would like to work out every day for an hour in future which I am not able to maintain my schedule in present. I would like to improve in sex from 18 years of life. I would like to have some enough money that I can take care of my family and fulfill wants of my family. I would like to buy my own house where I would be living happily with my family and would also like to save money around $75000 in my account by deducting all expenses such as car insurance, mortgage, bills for other utilities, my childrens expenses, and our other daily expenses. What are your Career Goals? Currently I am pursuing my undergraduate education in accounting, finance, and MIS concentration and planned to graduate with 150 credits by January 2011 and take my bachelor degree. I would like to be paid at list 55000 per year at entry level job with some experience of internship. While continuing the job at firm I would also like to take my CPA license. I would like to complete my bachelor degree and get my CPA license. In present I dont have full time job but I would like to have a full time job from where I could achieve all my dreams. After finishing my studies I planned to work in a fast growing accounting and finance firm where my skills and knowledge would be challenged daily in a corporate environment. My career goal is to except the ever challenging corporate environment to develop myself. I am an independent and a responsible person. I would like to start my career with big four firm or either a rapid growing industries of accounting and finance. As I am still beginning my career I would go for any position of accounting and finance available in the firm because that position might be a stepping stone to our success, but I would most prefer the government job. Government jobs provides a wide range of benefits like insurance, retirement, social security, thrift saving plan, leave and holidays, recruitment bonus and many more. Government jobs provide insurance for care and life based on options which includes the family insurance in it. Government jobs provides several others options of savings similar 401k plan, provides paid 13 days sick leave each year and paid vacation leave each year depending on number of years of service. Also one of the other benefits is that we are given upto 25% of basic pay before entering on duty. I more prefer to work in a government company as they have more benefits and I would like to work in an auditing department as it has wide range of area such as forensic auditing, sales auditing, external auditing, internal audi ting, and many more. I am also interested in learning SAP FICO, which is used for finance and controlling. Many different fields such as Senior Financial Analyst, Financial Analyst, Senior Accountant, Staff Accountant, Cost Accountant, Financial Analyst Accountant, and CFO are required to have knowledge about SAP FICO. Media salary for job for the person with the SAP FICO skill starts from $46208 for staff accountant and highest $99157 for CFO according to rating by pay scale (Salary Survey for Skill: SAP SAP Financial Accounting and Controlling (SAP FICO) (United States)) . I would like to be CFO of a company and help the firm achieves its goal. One of my goal is to add the greatest quantity of worth to the company where I am working in a shortest amount of time. I would like to build the great confidence among my coworkers towards me and also would like to work at a place where people understand the meaning of team work. I like to work in firm where coworkers will be helpful and caring. A strategic plan for your future? I have planned my personal and career goals and I try to achieve it according to my goals. I believe that if we need succeed in our life, setting goals is one of the most important goals towards success. To accomplish our goals we can just say I want to do this today and expect to be done. Goals setting a process where we actually need a real hard work to achieve our goal. As I mentioned earlier in career goals that I want to become CPA within 5 years from now. So to accomplish my goal I would be working hard for my CPA exams and additional I would be doing full time job. I also planned to get married in five years, so to accomplish my personal goal of getting married within 5 years I need to first get myself settled and would like to be in relationship after finishing my bachelor degree. I would be enjoying my married life and spending time with my husband. I would like to start my own CPA firm within 10 years from now. Experience and knowledge are the two most important objectives necessary to start our own business. So I decide to work in any government firm or public firm and gain some experience and then start my own business. I would also like to take my MBA degree before starting my own business. To start my own business investment is the most important factor to be made in business. Therefore I would like to have an investment of around at least $60000 in my business, because new business needs some time to settle in market. To accomplish my goal of starting business and taking my MBA degree I have to work hard and need to be more organized. While doing my business and studies I have to make sure to spend time with my family too. I would be doing my business and would like to buy a motel within 20 years from now. I would also like to investment my money more in property and would like to give it on rent so that we can also have side income by sitting at home. I would also like to do invest my money in stocks. I would like to develop my business as fast as possible. I would hire some people for my business as I couldnt be there at different places at a same time. I have all kind of experience now but still I would like to get continuously update with ever changing technologies. So I would like to get training and experience in new upcoming technologies within the 20 years from now. A new technology makes our work easier and faster, for example computer. So its so important to get knowledge in new upcoming technologies. I would be 66 years old after 35 years. I have achieved everything in my life as I planned. I would like to get retired from job and would like to concentrate on my business. I would help my son to get knowledge of our business as he would be the one who will be taking care of it. I would like to buy one house in Anaheim, in southern California because love that city. It has maintained parks and trees on the roadways. I would be still investing my money in stocks by spending most of my time with my family. Now I have developed in money and home from 18 areas of my life. A Strategic plan B for your future.? Some of my imagination changed as I grew up, some of them are already achieved and some of them are still too accomplished. For example, when I was a kid if somebody asks me what I want to become in future then my answer was doctor, but now my answer changed as I grew up. Although some of my personal goals are still same as I planed when I was a kid. Goals should be planned in a smart way. Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.-William Ellery Channing. We always plan ahead of time but sometimes still it fails to work according to what we planned our personal and career goals. We dont know what our future is going to be so we need to always plan solutions with the goals. We face many thorns in our life and so we have to pass through these thorns with the courage and strength to achieve our goals. As I have planned doing MBA after 10 years from now, but I am not sure whether I am going to accomplish my goal or not, as I am going to be busy with my married life and children. I would tradeoffs some of the spending time with my family to earn my MBA degree. If I am not able to get my MBA degree I would like to take online classes and complete my MBA degree by sitting at home and by giving enough time to my family too. MBA is very important for me as I want to open my own business. So before starting any business, knowledge of administrating business is so important to keep our business running on smooth basis on todays competiting environment. Next goal is to get a job in government firm but I am not sure as I am going to achieve my goal or not due to the competitive environment. So in option if I dont get any government job I would like to work in a private or public firm where my skills will be practiced in a daily competitive environment. I would like to work in a big four firm and will achieve my goals. I would not let affect my goals due to any obstacles in my personal goals and career goals. I have planned my goals in such a SMART way that would not lead any mislead to my goals. I have divided my goals by keeping some gap between my each goal so that there will be not much chance to achieve it.