Ethics in Noble Truth and Eightfold Path Essay

In this paper I will be discussing the concept of the four noble truths and eightfold path within the Buddhist religion. The four noble truths do not give concrete answers to metaphysical questions, unlike other religions. Buddhism teaches human existence is imperfect and the four noble truths are a guide to help steer away from suffering. The four noble truths are important to Buddhist ethics in that they are the way to nirvana and enlightenment. The first noble truth is life is suffering. To live means to suffer and since it is human nature, no one is perfect in any shape or form. While we develop, we inevitably have to endure physical and psychological suffering sooner or later. Each of us, no matter how rich or poor, is going to get sick, grow old, and die. Nothing is permanent, nothing can permanently satisfy us. â€Å" Any aspect of life, no matter how seemingly pleasant, already has the seeds of the suffering that is a common denominator of all human experience† (Young) This is because things change and pass away; everything and everyone we love will someday pass away. The Buddha also taught the reason behind the suffering that individuals experience. The second noble truth is suffering is caused by craving. â€Å"We suffer because our craving leads us to become attached to things or people and deluded as to the real nature of our situation in life (Young). † As long as we are unable to detach of moral pleasures, we will experience suffering. One must learn to overcome these greed, aversion, hatred, jealousy, etc. These conditions are always in hand with society, family, and within one’s self. Recognizing and understanding the second noble truth gives way to the freedom from suffering. The third noble truth is cessation of suffering. It is the complete fading-away and extinction of this craving, its forsaking and abandonment, liberation from it, detachment from it†(welsh). This may be the most significant of all the noble truths, as it reassures us that true happiness is possible. When individuals give up useless cravings and learn to live each day to the fullest, enjoying what each day brings with no expectations, they are able to live a free life. Nirvana arises when an individual becomes free of all sufferings, and eliminates cravings. When an individual is able to attain nirvana, they are able to move on to the next noble truth. The forth noble truth is the means to liberation. This noble truth teaches how to remove all suffering from your life, and explains the various levels of achieving such. So, first of all, in order to gain the good qualities, we need to work on creating all the different conditions that will make those qualities emerge. To develop the various insights of meditation and real wisdom, we need to develop great faith and confidence in the validity and usefulness of that wisdom. Buddhist needs to change their habits so that they have the ability to do all the necessities to make insight and wisdom emerge. Therefore, there are many factors and conditions we must generate within our life that will bring about our happiness. The guide to peace and the end suffering is the eightfold path. The eightfold path is a guideline to ethical teachings and growth of an individual. The goal is to free believers from attachments and ultimately leads to understanding. â€Å" â€Å"Everyone should attempt to live by the eightfold path, and (theoretically) enlightenment is open to anyone, regardless of caste, gender, or whether lay or ordained. † Young. The Eightfold Path consists of three components: wisdom (prajna ): (1) right views and (2) right intention; morality (sila ): (3) right speech, (4) right conduct, and(5) right livelihood; and concentration (samadhi ): (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness, and (8) right concentration. (Deal). The eightfold path is the way to avoid self-denial and self-indulgence considered the middle way. The first step in the eightfold path is the right view, which falls under the category of wisdom. The right view means understanding the four noble truths and grasping the nature of objects and ideas. Right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. The second step, which also falls under the component of wisdom, is correct intention. This refers to abandoning one’s own thoughts and desires. This is the step of the eightfold path that one must give up selfish attitudes that lead to more suffering and replace them with the opposite. â€Å"The point is not to nattached from oneself to a particular person but with a caring attitude, but to practice a â€Å"universal goodwill† young† The third step is correct speech. This means to tell the truth, to speak friendly and to talk only when necessary. †Man’s speech must be the truth, his conversation must be edifying and he must not engage in scandal gossip. One should take control with one’s word not only for the sake of truth but to demonstrate control and discipline. † Right speech can be seen as an ethical conduct in Buddhism. The forth step in the eightfold path is that of correct conduct. Young mentions that unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. â€Å" Not taking life, not stealing and not having sexual intercourse† (Van Voorst). It is important in Buddhism to concentrate on actions that will help the well beings of others. The fifth step is the right means to livelihood. This path represents earning an honest living. An occupation that is against the other steps of the eightfold path is in return against right livelihood. One should acquire only by legal means, not by illegally; one should acquire it peacefully, without coercion or violence; one should acquire it honestly, not by trickery or deceit; and one should acquire it in ways which do not entail harm and suffering. † (Bodhi) Selling of weapons would be an example of wrong in this religion as the consequences of weapons can cause harm to others. The sixth step in the eightfold path is right endeavor. This step is very important, as it is a necessity to put a conscious effort in what we do. Without right effort less would be able to get achieved. â€Å" Avoiding any sort of unwholesome action that will have a negative karmic influence, and pursuing beneficial deeds. †(Young) being aware of your own mind and not to have a mind that is diluted. This brings us to our next step, the seventh step, which is right mindfulness. This step in the eightfold path refers to the ability to see things without any delusions. â€Å" Right mindfulness refers to the deep, ultimately non-dual, understanding of the body, feelings, mind, and experienced things†(Koller. In the step being consciously aware of all that is that is going on with ones mind and body. Van Voorst states, â€Å" To remain focused on the body in and of itself- he is fervent, aware and mindful- putting away the greed and distress of the world. This step helps to actively observe and control our thoughts. The eighth step in the eightfold path is correct meditation. Once at the stage nirvana is at hand and, in a flash of intuition that state of final bliss dawns† (Young) This step leads to developing a deep insight into reality and the ability to be able to apply levels of concentration regularly. We see by the study of the noble truths and the eightfold path that Buddhist put great emphasis on the practices that they follow in order to reach nirvana. The noble truths and the eightfold path are essentially the ethics of the religion. The foundation of the path is moral virtue. Buddhist ethics is concerned with the practices that contribute to a believer to act in ways that help rather then harm. By following the noble truths and the eightfold path Buddhist are able to reach the goal of nirvana and non-attachment.

Controlling Chaos

Eric Santana Controlling Chaos There is a common understanding that growth in any aspect of the economy is a grand concept. However, when growth begins to start spreading out in such a manner that it becomes uncontrollable, there is an inherent issue. Such is the case in David Carle’s essay â€Å"Sprawling Gridlock†. Carle mentions several pervading issues and problems with the rapid growth and spread of Southern California, and outlines measures taken against the expansion.Carle’s resolve and purpose of this essay is to describe and illustrate the issue of the uncontrolled spread of urbanization, and the relation of this rapid growth to the quality of life of its inhabitants. Carle outlines rapid, spread out growth for problems such as traffic congestion, land developers putting pressure on land owners, and the accountability of citizens, businesses, and developers in financing the repairs to this damaged infrastructure.According to Carle, the traffic congestion that was consuming Southern California through the 1990’s was becoming a nightmare that threatened the livelihood of all of its participants. â€Å"Road Rage† was born and was the result of creeping, gridlocked freeways that frustrated commuters spent hours in getting from point A to point B. The spread, development, construction, and growth of urbanized communities along these freeways compounded and multiplied the severity of these congested motorways. This was costing two billion dollars in wasted time and petrol.The correlation between these motorways and the urbanized spread began in the early 1900’s. Back then, the Pacific Electric trolley cars carried more than one hundred million passengers over around one thousand miles of track. The independence an automobile represented appealed to citizens and soon changed the way they commute from â€Å"mass-transit† to â€Å"rapid-transit†. This change begun with the construction of the Arroyo Seco P arkway in 1940 (the first motorway opened in California and connected Downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena).Through 1996, California became paved with over one hundred seventy thousand miles worth of roads. However, the rapid growth and urbanized spread of Southern California did not construct fast enough to keep up with the growing mass of commuters. Solutions such as freeway widening created construction that worsened gridlock initially, created improved congestion once completed, and created a new gridlock after a couple years of growth catching up to transit. This inefficiency and spread gridlock of the Southern California motorways had an unprecedented effect on the quality of life of its citizens.Not only were the half-million hours they spent every day in their commutes having a fiscal effect, but a psychological effect as well. Not only was this evident in the increased number (and methods) of road rage incidents, but also in the manner that the time spent in traffic denied th em their personal independence. The countless hours citizens spent sitting or crawling in traffic made them feel trapped as though they were entirely limited of all ability to control their journey; the very concept that attracted Southern Californians away from timetabled mass-transit, to the complete freedom of the automobile.This growth and spread of urbanized Southern California did not only effect the commutes of their citizens, but it also effected the development pressures of their land. One of the largest population growths of Los Angeles occurred between 1970 to 1990. The forty-five percent increase in population correlated into a three hundred percent increase in developed land area. This increase of population, innovations of the motor ways, the State Water Project, and air conditioning gave birth to fastest growing cities in California (the cities on the outskirts of the Greater Los Angeles area).The spike in the population of these cities created increased pressures on land owners by land developers. The uncontrolled growth and spread of urbanization lead to estates and lands being bought out and developed. The psychological pressures and aesthetic discrepancies these land developers were created had a profound effect on the quality of life of citizens. The example Carle uses to describe the detriment on the quality of life of citizens by developers is the Warne family. The Warne family had owned orange groves on their (undeveloped) land since the 1960’s.After the passing of Henry and Ellen Warne, land developers began placing severe pressures on the descendants of the family. Land developers were already constructing â€Å"planned residential communities† outside their ranch, and were doing everything they could to purchase the last bit of land from the Warne descendants. To compound the pressures they were already facing, estate taxes were to be due that would require the descendants to pay fifty-five percent of the estates total v alue. These state taxes and land development pressures led to several farmers and land-owners having to sell their land (that soon became more developed urbanized â€Å"sprawl†). Although the Warne’s eventually were not forced to have their precious orange groves destroyed and developed, nine acres of land they owned and designated as strawberry fields were completely eradicated by developers. The method in which this land was zoned by the city created a value surpassing millions of dollars, and allowed their estate tax debts to be paid.This example illustrates an extraordinary effect on the quality of life that uncontrolled spread of urbanization manifested. The pressures by land developers and estate taxes not only lowered the quality of life for the land owner, but also for the citizens stuck in gridlock and all urbanized Southern California. The urbanized sprawl and planned residential communities replaced the open space and farmland. In the extreme developed sprea d and gridlock, those large open spaces were like sanctuaries to the urbanized mind.The effect this had on the quality of life was that uncontrolled urbanization was everywhere, and was inescapable. Aesthetically pleasing views of natural land became no longer present in the communities of Southern California, and created a psychological void of â€Å"nature† in the urbanized mind of its citizens. Beyond the physical appeal and traffic congestion, the sprawl was having a negative effect upon air pollution and endangered species as well. Finally, coalitions began deciding that developers, businesses, and citizens must start being accountable in financing repairs to this damaged infrastructure.After California was declared the most urbanized state in the nation, the publication of Beyond Sprawl: New Patterns of Growth to Fit the New California was released in 1995. In this publication, there was a call to arms for â€Å"smarter growth† in developing areas and communities . It also called for the redevelopment of some already developed business and residential districts as well as encourages high-density inhabitance. Beyond Sprawl illustrated that the expenses of public services and infrastructure are hardly ever paid by development profits or taxes incurred to new businesses and residents.This meant that all development that spread out around Southern California had to start financing the marginal costs imposed in the area. The publication figured schools, sewage systems, transportation facilities, water systems and other municipal systems into the equation of calculating infrastructure costs. The total cost of infrastructure repair according to Beyond Sprawl was $24,500 for each new single-family residence; an unrealistic solution to solving the urbanized problems.Accordingly, accumulating additional tax payers to pay into the subsidy pool was the only logistic method of sustaining the subsidization of infrastructure repair and growth. The effect t his would have on the quality of life of individuals in a community would mean less encouragement to engage in government planning and decision making processes due to the distribution of costs. This publication eventually led up to the 1987 growth control initiative on the Orange County ballot.This initiative was forged by citizens to put limits and control on urbanized growth, but was defeated when special interests opposition spent 2. 5 million dollars to defeat the campaign. The effect this had on the quality of life was quite negative because no growth controls were able to get implemented, and nobody could be accountable for financing infrastructure repairs and growth. The effects of the uncontrolled growth and urbanized spread of Southern California are greatly impacted upon its inhabitants.They range from unbearable traffic congestion (wasted time, money, and freedom), to total loss of any natural scenery (open space and farmland destroyed for development). From the species of animals that have become endangered do to these developments, to the pressures of special interest developers upon honest, hard-working land owners. All of these effects have greatly deteriorated and relinquished the quality of life that the citizens of Southern California once moved here to attain. A literal sprawling gridlock has a substantial effect on all aspects of urbanized life.From birth to adolescence, adolescence to adulthood, and adulthood to an elderly age, the urbanized spread influences all aspects of life. During adolescence, an individual growing up in a sprawling gridlock is influenced by the distance and time they must travel to do necessary activities (such as education, recreation, medical attention etc. ). The individual is influenced by the travel they must complete to achieve their tasks. When in route, they do not see open spaced, natural land. They see miles upon miles of pavement and urbanization. This may have a detrimental ffect upon their psyche as th eir minds process the artificial scenery of sprawled gridlock. This urbanized spread influences raising a family by limiting the number of activities a family may do. Due to the incredible gridlock that congested freeways create, families have less opportunity to go new places and do new things. This creates a barrier between families and the outside world. Without the ability to have leisurely outings as a family, the quality of life for that family is dramatically less than that of a family living outside of the urbanized sprawl.Likewise in building a community, the sprawled gridlock limits the possibilities in having a thriving, happy community. Without the ability or land to build and maintain parks, a community is nothing more than a large spread of houses. There is no way for a community to assemble or have recreational activities in the wake of these negative effects. Land developers and sprawling gridlock completely consumed everything, and left nothing more for communities to share. This extremely hinders the building of a happy community.Overall the sprawling gridlock is a complete determent and contradiction to a high quality life of its inhabitants. One may not be able to engage in complete personal freedom and independence if one is caught living in â€Å"the sprawl†. From the congested freeways to the concrete jungle, one cannot escape from the effects of rapid urbanization. The relationship between unregulated urbanized growth and the quality of the life for its inhabitants is a sprawled gridlock indeed.

Strategic leadership skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

Strategic leadership skills - Essay Example Though as a leader, a person possesses authority due to the position occupied relative to the followers, attractiveness of a leader is more than status or authority. Leaders who demonstrate concern and care for others within the organisation tend to be attractive to followers and hence gain positive attention (Brown and Trevino 597). Such credibility enhances the effectiveness of such a leader being a role model to the followers within an organisation creating shared values, and furthermore enhances trustworthiness, especially if they practice the values they have set. In a business environment where ethicality can be lost amidst messages of higher performance and the bottom-line, value led leaders also focus on frequently communicating on ethicality in business dealings. Not only does such a leader set high ethical standards for others but also bid by such ethical values. Analysing leadership theories that overlap the ethical and value based approach to leadership, it can be noted t hat authentic, spiritual and transformational leadership theories strongly advocated and focus on concern for others within the organisation integrity and ethics in decision making, role modelling, and emphasizes on values, vision and intellectual stimulation as core and critical in effective value based strategic leadership. An organisation’s regulatory, legal or ethical requirements also play a critical role on strategies adopted by leaders. In this case, DoT is governed by a number.... This implies that a leader needs to be clear on the values that they champion, and they need to clearly and effectively communicate this value to the key stakeholders in a manner that it is meaningful to them. Furthermore, strategic leaders ensure that their actions align with their espoused values. In deed Lichtenstein (2) found in their research that a leader’s values had a stronger impact on the performance of an organisation than did their age, tenure, education or experience. Though as a leader, a person possesses authority due to the position occupied relative to the followers, attractiveness of a leader is more than status or authority. Leaders who demonstrate concern and care for others within the organisation tend to be attractive to followers and hence gain positive attention (Brown and Trevino 597). Such credibility enhances the effectiveness of such a leader being a role model to the followers within an organisation creating shared values, and furthermore enhances trustworthiness, especially if they practice the values they have set. In a business environment where ethicality can be lost amidst messages of higher performance and the bottom-line, value led leaders also focus on frequently communicating on ethicality in business dealings. Not only does such a leader set high ethical standards for others but also bid by such ethical values. Analysing leadership theories that overlap the ethical and value based approach to leadership, it can be noted that authentic, spiritual and transformational leadership theories strongly advocated and focus on concern for others within the organisation integrity and ethics in decision making,

The Portfolio of Current Issues in Risk Management Assignment

The Portfolio of Current Issues in Risk Management - Assignment Example Warren Buffett is a respected billionaire investor in the United States and major shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational conglomerate financials and investment company. According to Buffett, â€Å"it takes 20 years to build a positive reputation and only five minutes to destroy it† (Rushe 2011, p.1). The article describes a black eye incident that has potentially damaged the credibility and reputation of Berkshire Hathaway amid a resignation scandal occurring on the back of questionable securities sales by an insider manager. The article insinuates that conversations between Buffett and David Sokol, an executive leader, provided insider trading knowledge to Sokol, leading to public and governmental scrutiny and investigation. Adding more enquiry to this situation is the fact that Sokol suddenly resigned from his position, which could indicate there is something to hide in the securities transactions in question. Personal Commentary Why is this relevant for risk man agement and ensuring reputational risk management for the organisation? For some organisations, the brand and its reputation in key target markets is one of the most fundamental competitive advantages sustained by the organisation. Especially true in saturated markets where public and private investments are traded in highly-publicised media, businesses require a differentiated brand name that is considered credible and adheres to the principles defined by corporate social responsibility. It is only when consumers become attached and loyal to a brand that they will begin expelling personal and social resources to supporting and defending the brand against negative criticism (Aron, Aron and Smollan 1992; Muniz and O’Guinn 2001). The situation involving Berkshire Hathaway reminds the risk management professional to carefully monitor and control the activities of internal staff members. Since this is an organisation that has much scrutiny by a variety of stakeholders and importa nt shareholders, the organisation cannot afford for representatives of the business to damage brand reputation. According to the lectures, the brand reputation of a business should be considered just as paramount as traditional risk management activities. Farris et al. (2010) reminds us that the use of a customer satisfaction metric is a vital tool in monitoring business reputation and securing brand reputation. This article seems to reinforce the importance of showing transparency and accountability as part of corporate social responsibility especially when the internal activities and investment selections of a major holdings company can be observed by a global mass market audience. Under Kantian deontology, the highest good comes from duty. For example, a merchant attempts to build a good reputation simply to ensure profitability. However, this is not a moral good since it does not stem from social duty toward others (Bowie 1999). When assessing risks or establishing a risk evalua tion tool, it is necessary to consider how the stakeholder and customer will view business actions. They will either attribute actions to moral and ethical behaviour or witness trust reduced in the corporate integrity of the business. Corporate social responsibility must be a major factor in setting up a risk management model to keep a positive reputation and avoid public scrutiny. Student’s Name: Review No.: 1 Source of article: Is your culture a risk factor? Business and Society Review 111(3) Author’

Examining a Business Failure Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Examining a Business Failure - Research Paper Example The problem that could have been predicted was the lack of coordination among the different arms of the company and the expected results at a time when the company was under a lot of pressure to perform and match up to its main competitor, General Motors. With this in mind, then decision-making and leadership would have played a crucial role in ensuring that the company knew what was coming in terms of expectations of success or failure. In addition to decision-making and leadership, the company was also shifting from one tradition of centralization, where all the decisions were made in one place, and by one person, to a system that allowed each branch to make its own decisions. The decision-making and leadership theory would have allowed the leadership of the company to see that the former director micromanaged the whole company according to his wishes and expectations. As a result, decentralization of the company’s command led to loss of communication between central managem ent and the subsidiaries as their managers were expected to make their own decisions. The explanation for this is the breakdown in communication and lack of anticipation for future developments in terms of making changes in organizational behaviour without feasibility study, but based on the management structure of another competitor. The bureaucracy theory can also be applied in the failure of Chrysler LLC in relation to predicting its potential failure and explanation for its failure. This is evident in that micromanagement of the company stands for s a non-standard form of bureaucracy, where the manager decided everything to be done in Chrysler LLC. This is to mean that nothing could take place without his knowledge, and the director who followed the founder of Chrysler LLC made the decisions and issued them as directives, where there was no order to feasibility. The director became the final authority directing every step of the company to an extent of reverting to the centraliz ed management style that had been discarded for the decentralized style. Bureaucracy could have predicted the eminent failure by the director’s impulsive directives to match the needs of the market and carve a name for themselves to overthrow General Motors (Sheppard, 2001). The main cause of failure in Chrysler LLC can be attributed to the organizational structure and management, where the largest portion of the blame lies with management. This is because the management failed to consider most of the factors, especially the long term, which is in its mandate to ensure that the company’s long-term goals are taken care of to an extent that, predictions into the future of the company can be made. In addition, the management contributed the largest part in the back and forth struggles to change the organizational structure, where the organizational structure is sucked in as a contributor. Organizational structure caused the failure of Chrysler LLC by losing grip of the le adership structures such that leadership was concentrated on a few people

Writing Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Writing Assignment 2 - Essay Example The article also aimed to establish a pattern of communication between different types of groups. The study conducted by Kurz focused more on the â€Å"discussions between in-group dyads about an out-group, or a member of an out-group† (Kurz, 2009. p. 894). Technically, what Kurz wanted to achieve in his study is to understand the dynamics of communications within a given group and how this dynamics affect the individuals within and outside of the group. According to Kurz, â€Å"the prevalence of stereotypical descriptions in discussions of out-groups within in-group dyads may stem from a desire to affirm shared beliefs about the out-group†(Kurz, 2009. p. 893). In the article, Kurz described stereotyping as a means for the individual to gain favor within the group. By surveying the various communication stereotypes, the author hoped to identify useful means of communication that individuals and groups can use to gain favors from each other. In conducting the research, Kurz relied on the dyad and group discussion paradigms to get the data and other information that he needed. He also tried to investigate the ways on how narratives of group members are reproduced among the other members of the group and used effectively. In drawing his hypothesis, Kurz relied on a study of related literature that points out that those narratives about group members when communicated to other members tend to be â€Å"stripped of stereotype inconsistent information (SI), with stereotype consistent (SC) information being retained† (Kurz, 2009, p. 895). Accordingly, the stereotype consistency bias can be attributed to the communication process by which the information passes from one person to another rather than a result of general memory biases (Wigboldus, et al, 2005). In other words, as the message from an outside source is repeated within the group and is passed from one group member to another, the message now takes

Do the courts (judges) make policy Should they Essay

Do the courts (judges) make policy Should they - Essay Example This has made it possible to make rulings that are up to the time, and work in favor of the situation at hand. Judicial activism should exist in order to allow courts make decisions without fear of reprisal or reprimand from policy makers, who tend to pass the buck whenever things are tough. It is sometimes difficult to put the blame on judges once they make a ruling on certain cases, especially after being thrown some of the hardest choices in legislations they sometimes have to contend with. Policy makers are always quick to spinelessly punt the courts with the toughest legislations hoping that they might make decisions to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, they are the first individuals to criticize and chastise the courts for their efforts whenever things go awry. The formulation of ambiguous legislation in most areas of the United States is what leads individuals to believe that judicial activism should exist in order to bring some sanity to the justice system. It is my belief that the courts (judges) make policy in a bid to shed some light on some of the ambiguous statutes that exist (Taylor, 2009). This paper will examine how judicial activism is exhibited in most courts, and how this aids the judicial system in its everyday functions. Every time a judge makes decisions based on the ambiguous statutes passed by the legislature, or gives contradicting facts about certain issues, the court (judge) is said to be engaging in judicial activism. For every defendant that is sent to trial, judicial activism comes into play. The truth of the matter is courts, especially courts of appeal, deal with numerous and countless ambiguous legislations. This means that in the passing of judgment, it may be next to impossible to pinpoint which area exactly the law should be implemented, and how it should be applied (Stone, 2012). In most cases, there is a lot to interpret, which means that judges have to make the call on what