Buddhism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Buddhism - Research Paper Example Gautama Buddha also introduced the concept of Nirvana, which stated that after doing all the good deeds possible, a person would achieve the highest level of eternal happiness. Buddhism can be categorized into Theravada and Mahayana and is spread over the countries including Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Japan and other eastern nations in the Asian continent. The branch of Vajrayana is mainly practiced in Tibet and Mongolia, making Buddhism the most practiced religion in the region of Asia. â€Å"Estimates of Buddhists worldwide vary significantly depending on the way Buddhist adherence is defined. Lower estimates are between 350–500 million† (Lopez). The fundamentals of Buddhist customs, cultures and practices are ritually based on the Three Gems, the Buddha, the teachings and the society. â€Å"Taking refuge  in the triple gem has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhistà ¢â‚¬  (Padmasambhava, Kontrul and Kunsang). There are other different practices in the religion of Buddhism too. These particularly include moral principles, support of society and the community, putting aside the luxurious manner of life and adapting to the type of the life that Gautama Buddha lived. It also promotes the personal development through the development of the mind and meditating whenever required. Furthermore, there is preferment of achieving a higher level of wisdom and intelligence by gaining of the worldly and the divine knowledge, especially, the teachings of Gautama Buddha, conducting a thorough study of the manuscripts and devoting one’s self to the cause of the welfare of others. With these Gautama Buddha had aspired for an ideal society, for he believed that practicing his beliefs would not only lead to a peaceful and a harmonious society, but also ensure that there are no violations of human rights. If the history of the religion of Buddhism is brought under philosophical analysis, it would become evident that Buddhism had its roots embedded in the religious status quo of India, at that time, which is believed to be a few years before the birth of Christ. During this period, the Indian regions as well as other countries of Asia were mired by the social differences. There also existed tumult on the end of the religion, since India was divided into the caste system, which was a major result of social divide in the country.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It was challenged by numerous new  ascetic  religious and philosophical groups and teachings that broke with the Brahmanic tradition and rejected the authority of the  Vedasand the  Brahmans† (Warder).   Looking at the inspiration from where the religion of Buddhism commenced, it is obvious that Gautama Buddha too gave up his life in order to achieve the aforementioned eternal peace and happiness, which he termed as Nirvana. After seeing the cruelty and injustice in the society, â€Å"G autama was determined to complete his spiritual quest. At the age of 35, he famously sat inmeditation  under a  sacred fig  tree — known as the  Bodhi tree  Ã¢â‚¬â€ in the town of  Bodh Gaya, India, and vowed not to rise before achieving  enlightenment. After many days, he finally destroyed the  fetters  of his mind, thereby  liberating himself  from the  cycle of suffering and rebirth, and arose as a  fully enlightened being. Soon thereafter, he attracted a band of followers and instituted a  monastic order. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his life teaching

The US financial crisis of 2008 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The US financial crisis of 2008 - Essay Example It is not easy to identify the precise cause of the crisis. There were a number of factors that contributed to the crisis. The combination of the diverse factors led to a toxic potent mix that eventually reached a tipping point in September 2008, heralding the beginning of the full-blown financial crisis. The causes of the crisis can be divided into two. In the first group, there are long term structural problems within the US economy. These were deeper latent issues that existed for some time with seemingly no ill effects to the economy. The first was too much debt. From 1980 to 2007, the total debt per person in the country rose from just below US $ 4 000 to around US $ 30 000 (Federal debt per person US 1). The perception that the housing market had perfect price inelasticity fuelled the debt accumulation. Americans using the value of their homes for refinancing believed the value of their homes will continue rising without affecting the demand for housing. This debt levels were t oo high for a healthy economy. The looming structural deficits also played a role. Medicare and Social Security off-balance sheet debt was likely to increase the US insolvency, reducing investor confidence on the country. The US has had trade deficits consistently for some time. The deficits are mostly because of the dollar having a reserve currency status and undervaluing of the Chinese Yuan. This led to the decline of the US export industry, and the dependent manufacturing base. Internal deficits mirror the external trade deficit. The government cannot borrow indefinitely, and the large internal deficits contributed to the crisis (Jickling 2). The rating agencies had a hand in the crisis. The market relies excessively on the ratings given by the rating agencies. Laws and regulations that allow the use of ratings as a basis for permissible investments buttress this dependence. However, the rating agencies have a poor regulatory framework. The rating agencies are an oligopoly and, d id not provide accurate rating assessments. Some of the AAA ratings given to the subprime mortgage-backed securities were later downgraded to junk status. Rating agencies' failure was due to use of poor economic models, conflicts of interest and poor oversight. The US tax code was also a contributory factor. The tax code is inefficient and has complex rules. It also has tax expenditure subsidies exploited by the suave Wall Street operators. Another factor leading to the outbreak of the financial crisis is deregulation of the financial sector and the markets. The SEC in 2004 liberalized the net capital rule. Consequently, investment bank holding companies were free to run extremely high leverage ratios (Jickling 3). The SEC's Consolidated Supervised Entities meant to police the largest investment banks was an ineffective voluntary program. Other laws, for example, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) give financial institutions carte bl anch to undertake risky transactions that were unregulated in a vast scale. The laws placed too much faith in self-regulation and robustness of the market. By 2007, most financial institutions had accumulated large debts with dubious credit worthiness. The deregulation led to the invention of spurious financial instruments that enriched the financial sector at the expense of everybody else. In this category, the