Emergence Of The Buddha Essay

A). Outline the social, political and religious background from which Buddhism emerged. (10) Buddhism is one of the major religious traditions of the human race today. Buddhism was influenced by many different cultures over the thousands of years. This essay will outline the social, political and religious issues surrounding the background and the emergence of Buddhism in Indian Society. â€Å"In the 1920’s archaeological excavations of the ancient cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa in North West India revealed the existence of an urban civilisation. This is called the Indus Valley Civilisation.† (Buddhism Dominique Side) The background from which the Buddha emerged from stretched as far back as C2700 in a place called the Indus Valley. This was the first sign of civilisation to live on the Indian subcontinent. People were attracted to the Indus Valley because of the of the River Indus. The River provided a good source of vegetation; there was also flat land, stones and trees. The Indus Valley was an Egalitarian society, which meant that everybody living inside the society were all equal and they worshipped both Gods and Goddesses. They believed and worshiped in Brahman, who they believed was the most looked up to and modest God. Archaeologists found statues with engraved scriptures of Gods and Goddesses on; the finding of these pots is where it is believed that the Religion began, although there were never any findings of temples to prove this. â€Å"Artefacts show it’s Religion to be related to the forces of nature†¦ the worship of a mother Goddess, sacred trees and fertility symbols.† (Buddhism Dominique Side) The valley was believed to have been a strong central government and to have two main political centres, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. The Indus Valley civilisation began to move out, many people today still believe this was because of a natural migration. After the civilisation of the Indus Valley had left, Aryans then began to set up home on their land. Aryans were nomadic; they travelled around a lot, never staying in one place for very long. They brought animals with them and built up a strong military. They were thought to be good at building and carpentry. The official religion of the Aryan conquerors of India is referred to as the Vedic religion after their holy books or Vedas (knowledge). The priests of this religion were known as Brahmans or Brahmins and are often mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures. The Aryans were unquestionably tough people, military strong, and they were fierce and war like. Their culture was oriented around warfare, and they were very good at it. The Aryans were a new start in the Indian culture; they adopted almost nothing of Harappan culture. They built no cities, no states, no granaries, and used no writing. â€Å"†¦They worshipped a pantheon of gods and were mostly connected with forces of the natural world, especially those powers on which humans were dependent.† (Buddhism Denise Cush) The Indian caste system began to develop and the civilisations were placed into the category that they belonged too. â€Å"Each mans duty was to follow the profession suitable for his social class.† (Buddhism Dominique Side) Even today the values of the caste system are held strongly, it has kept a sense of order and peace among the people. The caste consists of six different levels, and as a pyramid starting from the highest and working down. The highest being the Brahman, then Kshatriya, Valishya, Shudra, Harijans and the Untouchables. Within each of these levels are the actual â€Å"castes† within which people are born, married and die into. They all have their own place among each other and accept that it is the way to keep society from disintegrating to chaos. The system has worked well for Indian people and still has a major role in modern India. The Aryan society was patrocol, which means it was all male. It was now no longer an egalitarian society. Indus Valley people and Aryans began to mix, which is how the Indo-Aryans were formed, this was the beginning of Hinduism, which was a mixture of Indo and Aryan beliefs and practices. From these two religions they made a relationship and formed the Indo- Aryan people. â€Å"Like a mighty river, created from mainly tributaries that fed it, Hinduism is an amalgamation of the beliefs of the many people who settled in India in ancient times.† (A beginners guide to Buddhism, Gillian Strokes) People now did not sacrifice animals for their religion but would now give gifts to their God called offerings; these would consist of flowers and vegetables. The Indo Aryans did not have or worship a holy scripture, however they did have Vedic hymns that were sang and collected, and which were later written down in the â€Å"Veda†. This means they have a cultural importance. They also worshipped a pantheon of gods. They believed in the highest form of God, the Brahman who was the highest level of the caste system. There was an amalgamation of Indo and Aryans that became the religion Hinduism. Women now did not have any power; men now did everything, women were now considered inferior to men. As a belief in the caste system, you were only allowed to marry within your level of the caste system. The political organisation was hierarchical and centralised. Kingdoms varied in size and kings were no more than village leaders. Some people believe that Hinduism began with the Indo-Aryans, while others believe that it began with the Indus population. Hinduism has no founder and no single moment of beginning. The emergence of Buddhism was now falling into place. Hinduism is the largest religion of India. The religion is based on prayers and believes in many gods and goddesses. However, one God named Brahman was more significant than the others. There were special priests known as Brahmin who were used to help you worship this special God, they helped to channel people’s faith. Asceticism defined as the practice of self-disciple, voluntary undertaken, in order to achieve a higher or spiritual ideal began. People didn’t agree with Brahman priests, they wanted to live a simple life in the forest. Hinduism also believes in reincarnation, this is rebirth – the cycle of life. It consists of Birth, Life, Death and Rebirth; you undergo the cycle over and over again. It is thought that if you live a good life you will be born into a better caste in your next life. You will achieve good karma if you do your duty well which is determined by the caste you are born into. Good karma means a good next life and bad karma means a bad next life. The only way to get out of the cycle is to have continuous good rebirths, which means you will enter Nirvana. All these backgrounds lead to the emergence of Buddhism in some way. Ascetics would move away to the forests and leave all their family and objects behind, even the idea of the caste system. They wanted peace of mind and to achieve enlightenment. The best way to do this was to meditate. They also wanted to get out of the life cycle and achieve Nirvana. Siddhartha Gautama was an ascetic, he was born a Hindu but wanted to escape the life cycle. He emerged as the Buddha after achieving enlightenment and people began to follow his way of life. Political aspects were that people did not use the caste system and also rejected social and political values. They wanted an egalitarian society where everyone was equal and treated with the same amount of respect. â€Å"One of the effects of these changes was the creation of new professions, such as state officials and traders, which had no place in ancient caste system.† (Buddhism Dominique Side) Therefore in conclusion I can see how Buddhism has emerged over thousands of years and that Buddhism now does not have any thing in common with the earliest religion found. Buddhism needed the other religions to be in place in order for it to exist and without the other religions; it might not have existed today. I think Buddhism has become the fairest religion, as it believes in equality. Therefore it has adapted out of the many religions that came before it. B). â€Å"The Buddha turned his back on all the Religious teaching of his age.† Assess this view (10) Buddhism is an Eastern Religion that is over two thousand years old. Buddhism as a religion was influenced by this historical context. The origins of Buddhism are closely connected with the origins of Hinduism. Buddhists don’t believe in a God they just worship the highest in the caste system, the Brahmin. The Buddha is a highly respected person in the Buddhists Society. Buddhism is an amalgamation, an adaptation of Religions over time. This part of the essay requires assessing the view of how the Buddha turned or didn’t turn his back on the religious teachings of his age. The Buddha lived and taught in the Northeast India about 2,500 years ago and the development of the Religion was influenced by this historical context. He lived for around eighty years, somewhere between the 4th and 6th centuries BCE. Siddhartha Gautama developed most of his ideas for Buddhism from Hinduism. He changed and developed them to suit his new religion. He took some but changed them. He was born a Hindu and born into the Kshatriya Caste. He became an ascetic. I believe that the Buddha turned his back on his religious teachings for an important reason; therefore I believe this is because he wanted to get himself out of the life cycle. The Buddha wanted to go to the forests to meditate and reach Nirvana. The Buddha did not want his teachings to be taken as something sacred in itself, but as a means to an end. He made it clear that any teachings, including his own were not to be accepted without noticing but with faith and reverence, but should not be tested out in experience. The Buddhism religion was not just something to believe in or discuss, but something to try out to see if it worked. When you have tried it out it could make you a better person or takes you nearer to your spiritual goal. Siddhartha Gautama did turn his back on the previous teachings are the Caste system; the Caste system was a very important part of the social and religious life within India and Hinduism. When Prince Siddhartha went to find enlightenment he forgot all about the ideas of the caste system even though he was born into a good Varna. The Buddha’s invitation was to come and see for yourself, join him in his meditation to reach Nirvana. The Buddha wanted to get out of the cycle of; life, death and rebirth and be enlightened to discover a new life. He didn’t completely want to get rid of rebirth; he wanted to incorporate it into Buddhism. He believed in renunciation, which is what the ascetics believed in. They renounced with the Buddha to the forest. They gave up there existence. The Buddha did not want to pray to Brahman anymore, he wanted to break away from the priestly religion and become personal. Men and women both did this. Personal is being spiritual instead of Religious. The Buddha also incorporated Karma into Buddhism because it’s still the action needed for rebirth. He couldn’t change that. He did turn his back on the caste system though as it was seen as a social class factor and not needed for the religion, as everyone was equal for him. The economic developments destabilised the Brahminical order. Prince Siddhartha still believed in the ideas of rebirth and the cycle of life, but came up with a way of escaping the circle.

Economics Article Commentary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics Article Commentary - Essay Example The author compares East Asian markets like South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore which have grown under the control of their respective governments. Even the US markets which promote free trade have some participation of the government. Market liberalisation has resulted in adverse effects on the poor in the developing countries. In such countries, agriculture is the main occupation of majority of population. Agriculture sector allows the import of cheap products in the local markets. Small scale farmers of the developing countries like Ghana, Kenya are not able to sell their produce in their own countries and have to pay more for the farm needs. Free trade gives far more powers to the traders outside the country who make sure that in addition to the cheaper imports of their own products, exports of the country are bought at cheaper prices which eventually hits the local agriculture sector. This results in the exploitation of the poor farmers. Small scale farmers are losing their lands to richer sections of the society. Liberalisation is forcing gender inequality and unemployment. Market liberalisation is also affecting the environment. Earlier crops were grown according to soil types and climate. There was a vast diversity of the crops grown all round the year and in different regions. While now the concentration is on the growth of the cash crops fit for the export. Crops that are suitable for export are grown on a large scale affecting the environment conditions resulting from soil degradation and extensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. As government does not interfere, all the support offered by the government to the small scale farmers is also lost such as subsidies, agricultural research, price control and so on. Free trade also hampers the self-sufficiency of a nation on its own production. Traders establish monopoly in the local markets.For overcoming this problem, governments should have selective intervention in the markets. As mentioned earlier East Asian markets like South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore have benefited from the participation of government in controlling and managing the markets. Government decides the policies and restrictions such as investment tariffs and various taxes to be imposed on the foreign trade in order to protect the domestic trade and attain maximum benefit from the international commerce. Governments tend to maintain price stability and balanced growth keeping in mind the interests of every section of the society. Some of the steps the governments can take are: open an d fund government banks, promote savings, subsidised credit for the industries, investment in technological developments, promotion of export and protection from imports that can affect domestic produce. Governments provide aid to small scale farmers and declining industries. The main focus lies in the capital accumulation and labour literacy. The administration should selectively intervene to control the inflation. Public and private sectors must be able to share the information. Extensive exports and huge foreign investments regulated by government can boost up the economy. These are the steps taken by the governments of East Asian countries that resulted in their miraculous growth. US markets also support free trade but government plays an important role as well. Agriculture sector needs aids from the government and US government provides financial

Tuberculosis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tuberculosis - Essay Example But it is also to be remembered that not all types of tuberculosis are infectious. It is only the TB of lungs which spreads like common cold to other people. Couple of decades ago, TB was considered a dreaded disease, as there was no cure for it, but now TB is a fully curable, provided it can be detected in time. The modern lifestyle and the manner in which we treat our environment are stated to be the biggest reasons for the emergence of newer cases of Tuberculosis. The latest WHO report1 on the disease indicates that, there were an estimated 9.2 million new cases of TB in 2006. The danger of infection keeps growing if the disease is left untreated. The micro-bacteria known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis is known as the most prominent as the one causing the disease. Starting from lungs, gradually the disease can spread even to the central nervous system, if it remains untreated for longer period. Some other micro-bacteria causing the disease include; Mycobacterium microti, Mycobacterium canetti, Mycobacterium africanum and Mycobacterium bovis. Weaker immunity system helps in easier entry of the germs inside the human body. Prolonged coughing, coughing up blood, chest pain, fever are some of the common symptoms of the disease, but it has also been found that sometimes, the immune systems, 'walls-off' the TB bacilli, which can help the bacteria to lie dormant for years. In such cases the person need to initiate medication for preventing the TB from becoming active. And if the infected person is not treated for longer periods, the chances of spreading disease to a healthy person increase. In fact such prolongation can also result in other complications. Therefore it is advised that a person must consult the doctor, if following symptoms are found; A bad cough lasting for about 3 weeks or longer The person suffers from undue and unintended weight losses Coughing up continues for longer period or blood oozes out during coughing. Persons suffers from weakness or fatigue If there is prolonged fever. There are symptoms of Night sweats White blood cells, though accounting for less than 1 percent of total blood volume, play a key role in strengthening the immune system of our body. The blood comprises of six kinds of white blood cells namely: Neutrophils, Eosinophils, Basophils, Monocytes, Macrophages, and Lymphocytes. Each of them has a specific role in strengthening the defence mechanism of the human body. Monocytes is the most important WBC types playing a leading role in preventing the Tuberculosis (Nagel and Frey, 2007). With the help of a process called phagocytosis, Monocytes and Macrophages help in protecting the body by engulfing and digesting the bacteria, dead cells or other similar foreign matter. TB can in general be divided into primary and secondary TB. Primary Tuberculosis occurs in previously unexposed, un-sensitized people and such patients are in the danger of developing latent infection. On the other hand secondary TB comes up in patients who have been infected with the germs earlier and previous ly sensitized. Even years after the infection, such a stage might develop, if due care is not taken by the individual. If the initial symptoms are ignored and once the Tuberculosis becomes active, it tends to become incurable and leads to certain death of the individual. Tuberculosis is stated to

US Economic Policy Impact on Asian Economies Research Paper

US Economic Policy Impact on Asian Economies - Research Paper Example m the recession trap, the Federal Reserve undertook the policy of Quantitative Easing, since the value of bond price and interest rate in the market is inversely related. The high demand for fixed assets by the central bank had lowered the market interest rate in the economy of U.S. Thus, with the help of Quantitative Easing, the financial reserves available with the commercial banks increased and the banks could offer the accumulated reserves to the potential investors in the economy. Ultimately, the tool of Quantitative Easing helped to recover the economy of U.S. from the recessionary stage. However, it had been claimed by the U.S. government that the level of Quantitative Easing would reduce if the U.S. economy had generated a productive growth in the market. In the month of May 2013, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, had finally declared to taper quantitative easing (Eichengreen, 2011). As a result of this business decision undertaken by the Federal Reserve, the long term interest rates in U.S. increased and the foreign domestic stock market level declined to some extent. There were many public officials who claimed to defer the quantitative policy, but the Federal Reserve claimed that it was crucial for U.S. to rise from it’s near-zero interest rate trap. As the first step directed to end the Quantitative Easing, the Federal Reserve had lowered the bonds purchase in the economy. This resulted in lowering the demand for fixed assets in the market, thereby leading to the rise in the interest rate of the economy. However, presently, as a result of this initiative undertaken by the Federal Reserve, the demand for Dollar has significantly increased in the world market. This is because Dollar is a flexible currency and has a high value in the market... This research paper concentrates on the impact of U.S. economic policies on the Asian economies in recent years, following the financial crisis. After globalization, the state of commercial and non-commercial affairs of the different countries had become highly integrated with each other. The changing U.S. economic policy had negatively influenced the Asian countries initially, in the long run, the Asian nations will benefit from the U.S. growth. After the tapering of quantitative easing, investors who invest money in different economies fear that in future the supply of dollar would reduce in the market. This is the reason for which many investors, who had invested money in the different equity markets of several Asian economies, have started to withdraw these funds and reinvest them in the U.S. assets. The public authorities of a nation must forecast the long-term benefits of an economic policy instead of simply concentrating on the short run factors. History has proved that the growth of the developed nations has carved the path of evolution for the developing nations. Thus, the Asian countries should consider the long-term perspective and enhance its transactional relations with U.S. Despite the short run negativities, the changes in the U.S. economic policies have bestowed many benefits to the Asian nations. The rising investments of the Asian investors in the U.S. market have augmented the business competences and efficiencies of the domestic markets of the Asian economies

Arab Nationalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Arab Nationalism - Essay Example Quite simply stated, the Arab conquest of the region gave birth to the Arab World, to the notion of Arab unity and to the Arab peoples themselves. It took a diverse group of people and gave them a common language, culture, religion and, over time, a common identity. It is, thus, that the Arab conquest of the region stands out as one of the most significant turning points in the history of the Middle East and, indeed, the roots of Arab Nationalism can be directly traced to it (Hitti, 1943). Arab nationalism, tracing its roots to the Moslem conquest of north Africa and the Levantine, has survived over the millennia due to a complex set of historical and political circumstances. The concept of the Arab nation and of Arab nationalism is based on historical circumstances which have a strong psychological appeal. As argued by Karsh (2001) in "Misunderstanding Arab Nationalism," this concept represents the historical successes, and power that the Arabs had achieved when they were united as a single empire from the eleventh to the nineteenth century. Since the collapse of that Empire, however, the Arabs have achieved little and have, indeed, devolved into twenty-two third world nations which have little, if any, political and economic influence over world affairs (Karsh, 2001). Indeed, until recently, there was hardly a country in the Arab World which was not colonized and whose sovereignty was not in question. Even today, and despite the supposed collapse of colonialism, many of the Arab countries remain under the political, economic and military domination of Western powers. Iraq is occupied; Sudan suffers political and economic sanctions; parts of Lebanon and Syria are occupied by Israel and, most of Palestine has been lost, and the remainder is under Israeli occupation. As Baram (2003) contends, as they look at their present, the Arab people increasingly realise the extent of their weakness and tend to connect their present situation to their division, even as they relate their past glory to their historic unity. Comparisons between their past and present maintain the dream of Arab unity and ensure that the concept of Arab nationalism remains alive. Hence, if Arab nationalism is rooted in history, it also has its roots in the current reality of the Arab nations and populations. The psychological appeal and popularity of Arab nationalism are reflected in the ideologies that emerged from the Arab World following the collapse of colonialism. These ideologies, such as Baathism and Nasserism, were based upon the concept of pan-Arabism and Arab Unity. Baathism, developed in Syria in the 1930s as a specific response to the weakness of the Arab nation and their status as colonized countries (Baram, 2003). Baathism was based on the argument that the Arabs shared a common language, history, and culture making them one people. Accordingly, the natural condition for the Arabs was unity and strength and the unnatural condition was division and weakness (Baram, 2003). The significant point about Baathism is not just that it became the official ideology of Arab countries like Syria and Iraq, but that it was extremely popular among the Arab masses. Another popular ideology in the Arab World, Nasserism, emerged in the 1950s and similarly argued that Arab unity was the goal that all Arab countries should work to reach. As a matter of fact, it is possible to argue that the

Uchina Guchi Preservation as a Viable Language Research Paper

Uchina Guchi Preservation as a Viable Language - Research Paper Example This statistics has left many researchers across the globe active on the possibility of some of the languages becoming extinct. Extinction of languages is a threat to any society that uses or which the language belongs to. These researches have led a revelation that there are several languages that are no longer inexistence due to certain reasons related to the original speakers, as well as, the authority that ruled the speakers. An example of the most affected languages is Uchina Guchi. Without the language, communication in the Islands would be literary shunned. Communication is the core and fundamental tool on which progress rely. Without communication, people will not conduct business. There would be no exchange of ideas. There will be no learning or education. These reasons prompt for the preservation of Uchina Guchi language as an important and viable language. Statistically, the languages remained are roughly about 5,800. This leaves an important question: how can 5% of the world population speak 5,800 languages? Further research depicts that two-thirds of the 5,800 languages are in great danger of extinction. The research also shows that in every two weeks, one of the two-thirds of the languages become extinct. The danger of such losses never goes unnoticed. Many of the indigenous minority language speakers struggle to retain their mother tongues. The same is true with the Ryukyu Islands, which is situated between Taiwan and Kyushu. One of the languages that face the dangers of becoming extinct is the UchinaGuchi language, also known as the Okinawan language. Okinawa is one of the endangered languages of the Ryukyu Islands. The UNESCO (United Nation Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) recognizes six languages spoken by the Ryukyu Island dwellers. The languages are, Kanigami, Amami, Uchinaa, Miyako, Yonaguni, and Yaeyama. According to the UNESCO, The most endangered languages in the list are

Career Plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Career Plan - Research Paper Example Therefore, I have decided to become an instructor of computer science. As far as qualification requirements are concerned, I possess the 4 years degree in computer science all what is required to get a job as an instructor of computer science in a post-secondary school. I have researched a lot about this profession and have come to know that teaching computer science to post-secondary level students can be a good choice for me from all aspects. I have studied all those factors that a person evaluates when deciding whether to adopt a profession or not. Let us discuss some of the most important factors that play a valuable role in ensuring success in an individual’s professional career as an instructor of computer science. Job Hours Job hours mean the total number of hours an employee spends on job per week. I have researched this factor and have come to know that a computer science instructor spends 12 to 16 hours per week on job. As Locsin states, â€Å"most have flexible sch edules such as 12 to 16 hours of classes a week, three to six hours of student consultation, and then planning and research time†. Such amount of time can help a person get enough time for getting more knowledge related to his/her professional field. Moreover, I would have plenty of time for student consultation. There is also a 2-month break every summer adding to the charm of this job. Looking at this aspect of this job, I would say that I have made a right decision to become a commuter science instructor, as I would get the time to spend with my friends and family while earning a god amount of money per year. Therefore, considering the factor of job hours, I would say that I have made a right decision because I would get some time for my personal interests while fulfilling my job responsibilities. Salary Salary is one of the most important factors that play their role when deciding whether to adopt a profession or not. I have researched this factor and have come to know tha t post-secondary computer science instructors earn $75,000 to $95,000 per year on average. It also depends on experience. For example, a fresh instructor earns 45,000 to 55,000 per year. On the other hand, an instructor having a 3 to 4 years teaching experience earns a big amount of money per year. I believe that such pay scales are fair enough for a person to live a high standard life in the United States. I have also contacted a few of my relatives and friends who re already in the profession of teaching. According to them, computer science instructors have a good choice of jobs for them, as computer science is a rapidly growing field of study. They also told me that the annual salaries of computer science instructors get more increment as compared to the salaries of other instructors. Therefore, looking at the salary factor I would say that instructor of computer science can live a high standard life because of high salary and flexible job hours. Job Satisfaction Job Satisfaction is another important factor to study when deciding whether to adopt a profession or not. I have researched this factor and have come to know that post-secondary computer science instructors are generally satisfied with their jobs. The reason is again the combination of flexible job hours and salary structure. Every person likes to have a good salary package along with reduced job hours. My friends