Zen Description Essays - Nondualism, Yogacara, Buddha-nature

Zen Description What is "Zen" It is a conservative view of some, that the world is a very strange place. Once upon a time, four men and a woman all wished they could meet the perfect person. Each in his or her own way received a message to be at a certain bar at a time and at the third stool from the left, the perfect person would be sitting. The woman got there early, and sat down in the fourth seat to wait. As the time grew closer, she decided it wouldn't hurt to "freshen up" and popped into the bathroom. Just as the door to the bath room closed, the first man a Priest, came in. He looked wildly around the room for a second, and then gazed toward the third seat. Seeing no one there, a look of relief crossed his face. "Thank you, Lord! I fell to a temptation to sin. And you allowed me to see the error of my ways." he muttered. Just as the priest was leaving, the second man a Buddhist, came in. He looked serenely around the room for a moment, the then gazed upon the third seat. Seeing no one there, a look of amazement crossed his face. "Thank you, Lord! I failed to realize the nature of things. And you allowed to see the error of my ways," he muttered. Just as the Buddhist was leaving, the third man a Zen Poet, came in. He slowly look around the room, and the gazed toward the third seat. Seeing no one there, he sighed. And went to sit at the third seat of the bar. Just after the Poet had sat down, the fourth man stumbled in. He looked right at the third seat. Seeing the poet, a look of horror crossed his face. "I'm not gay! I'm not gay! he muttered as he stumbled back out the door. Just as the fourth man left, the woman returned. Seeing the poet, she wondered, "This is the perfect guy?" Uncertain, she sat down at her seat and began to talk to him. The question of "What is Zen?" is the best answer to itself. The common sense point of view that it's a sect of Buddhism based upon the Buddha's mythic "Flower Sutra" is not wrong. Many point toward that exchange as the start of what is Zen. A more scientific view might be to consider Zen as a societal extension of Bodhidharma's four assertions. This is not incorrect either. At this moment, I think the best view is to consider Zen as the skillful means of skillful means. Those who have come to intuitively understand the Buddha's enlightenment use it. Seeing directly into their answer, they see the source of their self-nature, and seek to share the vision with anyone who requests it. We can talk of the various schools and their ways of demonstrating the fundamental truth of reality. But such talk is really only the construction of a gate for those of an intellectual bent. The essence of Zen is nothing more or less than directly perceiving the world around us without the blinders of our own thoughts and opinions. Reach into that moment of understanding, and all of Zen flows forth. Pause for a moment to believe it, and all the oceans of the world turn into deserts. The western mind likes metaphors as points. Recently, I remembered one that was told to me long ago. I will relate it, in hopes that it might shed some light upon this serious issue. The essence of Zen is much like the nature of any computer system. When you get right down to it, "It's all zeros and ones!" See the Zeroes and ones as you like. Try to understand where the software ends, and the hardware begins. Try to follow the chain of history of ideas. Look into the various events, which led to the reception of this essay. All these people, things and events are a useful, if you want to understand the device known as a computer. All their events, people and things are useless, if you don't care about it. Either way, it all comes down to a pattern of zeros and ones interacting with other patterns of zeroes and ones. To see into the essence of the problem of Zen, just ask ten people what computer's are and how they work. Most people will admit, they don't know. A few will offer very different distortions of it,

Muscular Dystrophy essays

Muscular Dystrophy essays Muscular Dystrophy is a genetic disease characterized by weakness and degeneration of the skeletal or voluntary muscles which control movement. The muscles of the heart and other involuntary muscles can be affected and a few forms involve other organs as well. The major forms of muscular dystrophy are myotonic, duchenne, becker, limb-girdle, distal and emery-dreifuss. Duchenne most commonly affects children and myotonic most commonly affects adults. Some cases may be mild and very slowly progressive, while others may have a more marked progression of muscle weakness, functional disability and loss of ambulation. The life expectancy depends on the degree. For example, with duchenne, death usually occurs in the late teens to early twenties. Symptoms are different in each type of muscular dystrophy. For example, duchenne symptoms begin between ages 2 and 4. The child falls frequently due to weakening of leg muscles and has difficulty getting up from the ground. The child will also have trouble running or walking normally. The calf muscles gradually enlarge as the legs become weaker and there is weakness in arm and neck muscles. By age 12 most patients are unable to walk and are limited to a wheelchair. As the illness progresses, there is also an abnormal curvature of the spine. They also suffer from mental impairment or heart problems. In myotonic dystrophy there is an abnormally prolonged muscle contraction. It can develop in birth or early adulthood. It affects the hands, wrists, and tongue. There is also wasting of facial muscles, neck muscles and muscles of the wrists, fingers, and ankles. The tongue and throat muscles cause speech problems and difficulty swallowing. If the diaphragm and chest muscles are involv ed there may be breathing problems. There is no specific treatment for any of the forms of muscular dystrophy and no cure. The patients are given a healthy meal plan to help them avoid obesity because it could cause...

Managing Communication Knowledge and Information Essay

Managing Communication Knowledge and Information - Essay Example The department focuses on integrating operations and supply chain strategy with a firm’s operations capabilities. This involves decisions that relate to the design of the processes and infrastructure needed to support these processes. Process design includes selecting the appropriate technology, sizing the process over time, determining the role of inventory in the process, and locating the process (Schultz, 2011, pg, 49). The infrastructure decisions involve the logic associated with the planning and control systems, quality assurance and control approaches, work payment structure, and organisation of system quality assurance and control approaches, work payment structure and organisation of operations and supply chain functions. This department’s operations capabilities can be viewed as portfolio best suited to adapt to the changing product and or service needs of a firm’s customers. Starbucks’ location strategy-its clustering of 20 or more stores in each urban hubwas viewed as enhancing the experience both in creating a local â€Å"Starbucks buzz’’ and in facilitating loyalty by Starbucks’ customers. Starbucks’ analysis of sales by individual store found little evidence that closely located Starbucks stores cannibalized one another’s sales. Recognizing that convenience of location was critical to driving sales; Starbucks began adding drive-through windows to some of its stores and locating stores specifically to capitalize on drive-through customers (Miles & Friedman, 2006, pg. 100). For this reason, the manager requires information to do with the corporate social responsibility (Phillip & Freeman, 2010, pg. 33). This implies that the manager requires understanding what the community around as well as the consumer perceives of the products from the company. In addition, the management in this department requires information on employee perception on the decisions being undertaken in the company. This will ensure that operations are efficient and therefore, the supply chain is up to date. As such, the manager is supposed to