Buddhism In America Essays - Spirituality, Mindbody Interventions

Buddhism In America The stresses and intensity of modern American society have influenced many people to adopt and adapt the principles of Buddhism and other Eastern religions. Some recent statistics from the US department of Health and Human Services show that 75% of the General Population experiences at least "some stress" every two weeks (National Health Interview Survey). Half of those experience moderate or high levels of stress during the same two-week period. It is common knowledge that stress can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, and other illnesses in many individuals. Stress also contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction, and other harmful behaviors. It was reported that tranquilizers, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications account for one fourth of all prescriptions written in the US each year. With so many mental health problems, it is almost reassuring that Eastern religions are steadily growing. Buddhism On The Move Eastern religions have been practiced in Asia and the Subcontinent for thousands of years longer than Christianity. Buddhism, a main religion of Asia has been practiced in Tibet for Millennia. Buddhism, Zen and Hindu were first introduced to the western world in 1893 at the World Religions Conference in Chicago. The Dalai Lama represented Buddhism and D.T. Suzuki represented Zen. However, Eastern religions went relatively ignored until 1959, when the Chinese invasion of Tibet left 1.3 million Tibetans dead and 6,000 Buddhist monasteries destroyed. Tibetan refugees escaped to bordering countries and some fled farther to the US and Europe. Those who fled remembered how the Buddha taught his enlightened disciples to continue to spread his teachings. "With the Chinese Invasion of Tibet, it was as if a dam had burst; suddenly Tibetan wisdom began to flow freely down from the roof of the world and to the West...and there to fulfill the prophecy come Westerners looking for guidance and eager to develop their own spiritual lives and transplant the flowering tree of enlightenment to their own lives."(Das, 29) The first westerners to begin to adopt Eastern principles were often people on the fringes of society or in the avant-garde of the arts, literature, and philosophy. The beatniks in the 50's, the Hippies in the 60's and 70's. Evidence of eastern thought in the writings of Jack Kerouac, Hippies ? George Harrison and the Beatles studying with the Maharishi Mahesh Yoga. Richard Albert turned his name to Baba Ram Das. In our society today, it seems like everyone knows someone into Eastern religion. From businessmen to politicians to celebrities individuals are joining meditating groups while still maintaining ties to their traditional faiths to "wet their feet" in more satisfying and less materialistic lives. "At retreats you're likely to find yourself sitting next to a stockbroker or a therapist or a retired social worker who may or may not claim to be Buddhist."(Wood, 3) "Unlike the rush of mostly younger Americans to Buddhism that occurred in the 1950's and 1960's, the new ranks include a larger percentage of seekers over 50"(Wood, 2). Now in the West we see many variations of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Zen, such as Mahayana, Pali, and Vajpareena. Our new, multi-religious land that combines Eastern and Western religion can be described as "the scientific West arriving at something like the fusion of the Confucian cultivation of virtue through the bonds of family and community, Taoist laissez-faire and yearning for nature, and Buddhist compassion for man's need for Nirvana."(Layman, 80) We have adapted religions in many ways to fit our lives. "Buddhism in America is characterized by great diversity, with both conservative and liberal trends within the same sect and denomination of course, differences in furnishings and hairstyles are superficial, and are either tangential or irrelevant to the Buddhist system of beliefs and basic way of life. But fundamental and widespread changes in American Buddhism are occurring. Its priests and adherents are recognizing that Buddhism must be shown to have relevant approaches to the problems which plague American Society. Accordingly, sermons and lectures delivered by the clergy are making less use of illustrations recounted by ancient Buddhist saints and are becoming more applicable to everyday living in modern American society."(Layman, 32) As a result, "The ancient religion of Buddhism grows even stronger roots in a new world, with the help of the movies, pop culture, and the politics of repressed Tibet." (Van Biema, 1) Because of the inroads that eastern religions have made in our country there is an increase in personal reform via retreats, "sanghas" ? a circle of friends who regularly meditate together, and self-help groups. We are

Electricity Safety Research Paper Example

Electricity Safety Research Paper Example Electricity Safety Paper Electricity Safety Paper Essay Topic: City Lights 1. Introduce electricity.  2. Why is electricity dangerous? a) Relationship between current and voltage.   b) How a person completes a circuit.  3. Why is electricity useful?  4. How can you avoid accidents?  5. How can you help someone who got a shock?  6. How do we practice safety at home and school?  At home electricity runs the lights, television, toaster and more. Electricity is a form of energy. Energy is power, the power to do and move things, and to make things work. Electricity is made up of atoms. An atom centre includes at least one proton and neutron. At many a least one electron travels around the centre of the atom at a huge amount of speed. The movement of electrons produces electricity. There are many ways of finding electricity or getting electrified. There are also many kinds of electric types, for example static electricity. To learn about static electricity you have to learn about the nature of matter. In other words, what is all the stuff around us made of?  If you walk across a rug, and reach for the doorknob you will receive a static electric shock. Or, if you come inside from the cold, pull off your hat and all your hair stands on end. You will also receive an electric shock. The movement of electricity is very dangerous. If electricity travels through you, you could easily, seriously get hurt or even die. Electricity can travel through you, if you touch an electric circuit and the ground at the same time; you become electricitys easiest path.  You can avoid these kinds of accidents by keeping all electrical appliances away from water. This is because water is a great conductor of electricity. Another way to avoid is to make sure your hands are dry when you are about to anything electrical. An additional way to avoid electrical accidents is to not use water when putting out an electrical fire. However you should use a multipurpose fire extinguisher. A current is the flow of electrons. A voltage calculates how much energy the light bulb takes up, by calculating the energy before it reaches the bulb and after. The relationship between a current and a voltage is that both calculate electrons but in a different way. A current calculates the flow of electrons. However a voltage calculates the amount of electronic energy the bulb takes up.  For electricity to travel where we need it to travel, there must be a complete circuit of electricity. A circuit is like a circle. To complete a circuit you first need to connect one end of each wire to the light bulb base. Then you tape one free wire end to each end of the battery. In this experiment you need a cell battery, a volt light bulb, a light bulb base, masking tape, and a strand copper wire. Electricity is useful as I have written before that it runs the lights, television, toaster, and more. Its hard to even imagine what your life would be like without it. The more you know about how electricity works. The better you can keep yourself, your friends, and your family safe!  You receive an electric shock when an electric current enters your body. You can help someone when they get a shock in many ways. You can help someone who gets an electric shock by either shutting off the source of electricity if you can without hurting yourself. You can use a non-conducting object like a wooden broom if you need to break the connection between the person and the current. After you get that person no longer in contact with the current, check the persons breathing. If its rapid, irregular, or stopped, have someone else call emergency. If the person is fine look for burned skin, if he/she has no burned skin it could still be deep and painful in the inside.  You can practice safety at home by replacing frayed wires, when you are outside, especially after a storm, watch out for broken poles and downed wires, and make sure appliances are turned off when not in use. You can also practice safety at school by teachers teaching you. You could also practice safety at school by keeping a fair distance away from fire or electricity or even electric wires while doing an experiment and it is not turned off. Bibliography www.sciencemadesimple.com.