Personal Narrative- Meditation
Perhaps, like me, you have wondered how you might best contribute to helping save the world. There are so many problems evident around the world that need attention, but which are most urgent? Which people are the most needy? Where is the worst suffering, the most oppression? Where is the earth being damaged most? There is no shortage of strife around us needing attention. At the same time, we can wonder what it is we have to offer the people of the world. What talents, what time, what commitment? What can I do? Sometimes these considerations are so perplexing that we become paralysed and do not act at all.
One method that helps sort through life’s options and indicates the best course of action for us is meditation, although this is usually done indirectly. The meditation that I have been taught emphasizes the gradual development of both wisdom and skilful activity for the purpose of helping all living beings. One must have wisdom to know how to act, and one must be skilful in carrying out these actions. One without the other will produce less than satisfactory results. Incidentally, skilful activity in this context is a synonym for compassion. So, basically, the idea is to act with compassion based on wisdom.
One of the first purposes of meditation is to see our own mind. When beginning meditation, people are often taught the technique of watching one’s breath. This method has the effect of ‘taking a breather’, literally allowing our usual random and wild thoughts to settle naturally. With the settling comes more and more clarity of mind. With clarity comes a glimpse into how our thoughts are influenced by our emotions and how our emotions arise. With a better understanding of how we op...
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...evere: it can be gentle, according to your own nature, but it really should be regular and committed. As I suggested earlier, shop around and find a genuine teacher: one who lives the qualities of wisdom and compassion, one who is genuinely advanced on the path and not just talking a good game, seeking students for their own ego gratification.
The notions I have mentioned here are not original; they are abundantly present in all our wisdom traditions. My own chosen path is Tibetan Buddhism. Again, I am grateful to the living masters of this tradition willing to teach their well-developed methods for progress along the path. The best answer I’ve heard to the perennial question “What is the meaning of life?” comes from His Holiness the Dalai Lama: “To be happy and to be useful.”
Comrades, to the ramparts! May all beings benefit from our efforts, large and small!
The debate of abortion continues to be a controversial problem in society and has been around for many decades. According to Jone Lewis, “In the United States, abortion laws began to appear in the 1820’s, forbidding abortion after the fourth month of pregnancy” (1). This indicates that the abortion controversy has been debated far back into American history. Beginning in the 1900’s, legalized abortion became a major controversy. In 1965, all fifty states in the United States banned abortion; however, that was only the beginning of the controversy that still rages today (Lewis 1). After abortion was officially banned in the United States, groups such as the National Abortion Rights Action League worked hard on a plan to once again legalize abortion in the United States (Lewis 1). It wasn’t until 1970 when the case of Roe (for abortion) v. Wade (against abortion) was brought...
Cohen, L. E. & Felson, M. (1979). “Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activities approach,” American Sociological Review 44:588-608.
Harris, Kathleen. “Work and Welfare Among Single Mothers in Poverty.” The American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 99 Sept. 1993. 317-52.
The screening process is rigorous and applicants must have all supporting documentation to their claims such as paystubs, among other for...
Sangiorgio, Chiara. "The Death Penalty And Public Information On Its Use." International Review Of Law, Computers & Technology 25.1/2 (2011): 33-41. Computer Source. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Simon, Mallory. “Fast Fact: Breaking Down the Current State of Death Penalty.” CNN.com. Turner Broadcasting System, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
Every woman should have the right to decide whether or not she is going to terminate her pregnancy. Regardless of the circumstances, it should be her right to chose what she wants to do with her body. Deciding on going through with the procedure is very hard. The only way to decided whether or not abortion should be legal is by voting. But even if people vote whether the vote against or for abortion, does it make it right? Who gets to decided if its right? The women or the politicians? “I'm going to vote no,” says Ralph Wermers, an Air Force retiree. “It's a woman's right to make up her mind. It's not politicians who can make that decision for a woman.” Woman’s rights have come a long way. From not being able to have their voices heard to being able to vote. If we have the right to going the military and fight for our country, then we should be able to decide what is and isn’t right f...
When analyzing both sides of the abortion issues, it is evident that both sides provide both strong and weak arguments. Abortion will always be a controversial issue in society and there will always be disputing sides to the matter. Each person must make their own decisions based on their beliefs and factual evidence. Both sides must learn to be open-minded to the other side and learn to respect the fact that they have different thoughts and views.
... (2004). Contemporary Perspectives on the Psychology of Attitudes (Rev ed.). Florence, KY: Psychology Press.
Even though the United States has ruled abortions to be legal, there is still controversy. One may say that this is a growing problem in our country. However, for every problem there should be a solution. Erika Bachiochi argues that: “The state's suppression of a woman's right to choose [was] simply a perpetuation of the patriarchal nature of our society...To free women from [the] gender hierarchy, women must have a right to do what they please with their bodies” (22). She says that women have always been suppressed of their rights, and men believe that they have more power than women. Bachiochi, as well as many other women, believe that they should have choice over something as simple as their own bodies. Having a right to their bodies helps make women feel free from the idea that men are superior to women. Women have always been told how to act in society, but when it comes to abortion they believe that their voices should be heard. If women have no other right, at least let them have a right over their own bodies. The solution may be simple, but getting there may not be so easy. On this issue Eileen McDonagh proposes that, “The right...
The cost of the Death Penalty is highly expensive. A case to put someone in jail costs on average two million three hundred thousand dollars on average while to put an inmate in jail for forty years cost on average seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars (Friedman 11). In Texas the death penalty cost three times more money than putting an inmate in the highest security level in a jail for forty years (4). It also takes time for a death penalty case to be processed and a convict to be sentenced to the death penalty. Then it takes more time for the state to act and to administer the death penalty to people on death row. On average it takes ten to twenty years to execute a convicted criminal on death row (Friedman 11). Costs could be lowered by shortening the appeal process but this would only increase the risk of executing an innocent person.
The routine activities theory is a logically consistent theory. Cohen and Felson defined the concepts they used, and the proposals they hoped to convey. Their proposal was as they defined that for a crime to occur you needed three elements (motivated offender, suitable target, and lack of a capable guardian), and that when those three elements come together to form routine activities. (Akers, 35). Each element is defined by Cohen and Felson and if one of the elements is not there then a crime will not occur. Although the logical consistency is generally great, the definition of motivated offender is too broad. However, it is not clear about who the motivated offender is. It could be a person who is already inclined to commit a crime or someone who is at the right place at the right time and given the opportunity.
Eiser,J and Van der Plight,J (1988) Attitudes and Decisions: New essential Psychology:.Channel Islands:The Guernsey Press Co
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (2005). A life-course view of the development of crime. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,602(1), 12-45.
The death penalty has always been and continues to be a very controversial issue. People on both sides of the issue argue endlessly to gain further support for their movements. While opponents of capital punishment are quick to point out that the United States remains one of the few Western countries that continue to support the death penalty, Americans are also more likely to encounter violent crime than citizens of other countries (Brownlee 31). Justice mandates that criminals receive what they deserve. The punishment must fit the crime. If a burglar deserves imprisonment, then a murderer deserves death (Winters 168). The death penalty is necessary and the only punishment suitable for those convicted of capital offenses. Seventy-five percent of Americans support the death penalty, according to Turner, because it provides a deterrent to some would-be murderers and it also provides for moral and legal justice (83). "Deterrence is a theory: It asks what the effects are of a punishment (does it reduce the crime rate?) and makes testable predictions (punishment reduces the crime rate compared to what it would be without the credible threat of punishment)", (Van Den Haag 29). The deterrent effect of any punishment depends on how quickly the punishment is applied (Workshop 16). Executions are so rare and delayed for so long in comparison th the number of capitol offenses committed that statistical correlations cannot be expected (Winters 104). The number of potential murders that are deterred by the threat of a death penalty may never be known, just as it may never be known how many lives are saved with it. However, it is known that the death penalty does definitely deter those who are executed. Life in prison without the possibility of parole is the alternative to execution presented by those that consider words to be equal to reality. Nothing prevents the people sentenced in this way from being paroled under later laws or later court rulings. Furthermore, nothing prevents them from escaping or killing again while in prison. After all, if they have already received the maximum sentence available, they have nothing to lose. For example, in 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court banished the death penalty. Like other states, Texas commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment. After being r...