Friday, August 21, 2020

Primordial Sound Meditation Essay

Donna Miesbach opens the talk inquiring as to whether anybody takes an interest in reflection. Her insight starts for her at 17 years old. The energy she produces when training early stage sound reflection is obvious with the conversation she leads. Useful about Dr. Deepka Chopa making the Vedic custom of India accessible and ready to peruse to numerous individuals. Bringing contemplation again into society. Contemplation can be depicted as entering a condition of complete mindfulness. Reflection is about oneself; you with your brain. A spot you can satisfy your motivation, get on top of your spirit, no pressure, nervousness or dread. Reflection mitigates pressure and assists with recollecting self completeness. It restores the phones to wake up, unwinds the physical, mental and vitality body, presents quietness, delight and lucidity all while carrying equalization to each everyday issue. Contemplation is expressed as a three stage process. The premise begins with our perspective.; numerous contemplations animate and stress our passionate, mental, vitality and physical bodies. The â€Å"meditation station† portrays the typical perspective of not being ordinary however strange with impacts of getting tangible boosts that respond in uncontrolled manners. Additionally that our considerations can be contradicting of one another, contemplations that bring warm, cuddly, loosened up feelings can likewise start dread, tension and distrustfulness. An apparatus used to progress through reflection is Mantra, characterized as â€Å"man=mind† and â€Å"tra=instrument† so all in all † Instrument of the mind† The initial step of reflection is dealing with our brain, to think. All impacts are legitimately or in a roundabout way in every aspect of the body and psyche. Fixation got from the Latin words â€Å"To† † Center or fixed focus point† offers mental impact and mental imaging, taking a gander at the word in general can be additionally characterized as † bring to a typical point.† and the â€Å"act or condition of bringing to a fixed point or focus†. With fixation you are bringing the most elevated types of vitality, force and powers to a center point , shielding it from dissolving over different territories. Centered fixation can be hard to accomplish with current way of life, obligations of family, work, school, plans, arrangements all associate to keep the brain fretful. With the obstructions of twirling contemplations, applying the control of deliberate consideration and practicing self will are critical to encourage ones control of consideration and will . Working on focusing on fixation, you gain the experience to practice your will to simply be observer to any diverting contemplations that populate; rather than utilizing creative mind or fantasies in lieu of focusing on the object of your reflection. So basically the objective in the main territory of contemplation is to think, give un constrained consideration and spotlight on one item whether it’s a customized mantra, a colloquialism, serenade or real article. The following stage trained is psyche and body association and hushing of the brain most popular as Meditation. In contemplation the consideration is whole, easy, a consistent progression of focus. The engaged consideration is likewise applied to the object of reflection and the condition of contemplation that starts further and more profound focus which at that point broadcasts genuine information, all inclusive mindfulness and can start to reestablish harmony. You become associated with sentiments, sensations and everything associated with that object. Best cited is Albert Einstein † Everything known to man is comparative with everything else† This profound fixation and association at last carries your contemplation to interface you to everything; joining your article and your psyche. The last advance of reflection happens in the condition of examination and extreme cognizance. The experience of not being aware of simply our body and contemplations yet being a piece of the universe and universe. Some infer it is a bequest and predetermination to adjust to this condition of acknowledgment, truth, cognizance and ecstasy. You become associated with the universe as it is associated with you in a basic, unconstrained activity. Nothing is constrained, what happens is what should occur. Reflection takes practice. Generally speaking persistence and comprehension to achieve the most profound type of contemplation expects you to have the capacities of concentrating on an article, dismiss undesirable/ridiculous considerations not identified with the item, elevating the ability to controlled musings, the ability to stop them, perception to isolate ones self from considerations, and everything is done to ace and accomplish a quiet psyche. This underground government of reflection alludes to the quiet psyche as an amazing encounter. A quiet psyche is identified with being caution and delicate to environmental factors, humane towards others, expelling hurtful ideas from the brain, decisions, dismissal, contempt, outrage, desire and any manner of thinking that is suggesting one of being enclosed by ones own disarrays. Early stage sound intercession is best clarified as a recuperating practice. Experience inward harmony and it helps oneself to remember our substance, improves motivation, empathy, love, wellbeing, eagerness and inventiveness in day by day living and relations. Early stage sounds comprise of fundamental, basic sounds and vibrations from nature. Mantras are early stage sounds that are delineated from the Vedic science, which decide the specific sound or vibrations created utilizing the date, time and area of a people birth. Whenever utilized effectively to impact the calming of the psyche, you can fall into reflection simpler and quicker. The mantra guides you from levels of grouped idea exercises, to finish quiet. You are not, at this point influenced by interior uproar and can in-order to valid, and tranquil consciousness of the universe. This permits the brain, physical body and vitality arrange that bolsters and supports the physical body capacity to work at most extreme viability. Mantra extends contemplation, it favors our lives with the universe ,gives genuine educated abundance of the spirit, gives a guide to elevated mindfulness and clears, unwinds, and revives the body.. There are numerous sorts, structures and methods of reflection. All contemplation types have the capacity to reestablish physical, mental and enthusiastic self prosperity. The way that we utilize generally 5% of our brains validates the significance of unwinding past the hecticness and ciaos. Other contemplation can incorporate strolling, basic, care, venture, vibrational and focal channel reflection, all procedures permit anybody to consolidate and fit into their way of life. The errands of the current day demand that individuals are progressively human doings with the steady sentiment of waiting be accomplishing something or heading off to some place, continually doing. We should allude ourselves as â€Å"human beings† so it consolidates the significance of consideration, focus, self harmony and we are only creatures; here to be!

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

How to Write a Reflective Essay Outline

How to Write a Reflective Essay Outline A reflective essay is one of the most common papers students have to write during their educational years. Even though this task may sound like an easy one, it is actually not quite so, as exploring your own thoughts and feelings on a particular event, topic, or your personal experience is indeed challenging. If you have ever been assigned to write this type of essay, you know what it means! While to describe something and reflect on it seems to be much less complicated than to prove your point of view in a persuasive essay, the truth is that such an assignment requires deep insight and really good critical thinking and writing skills. After all, you will never get a high grade, if your writing is disorganized, uninteresting, or aimless. This is exactly why you need a reflective essay outline. However, before we provide you with some useful tips on how to write a reflective essay outline, let’s first find out why you actually need it and how it can be used! Writing a good reflective essay outline is like creating a roadmap that can help you organize your thoughts and stay focused on the main idea of your work. Moreover, if you create a plan for your essay and write down all its major points and important details beforehand, it will subsequently save much your time and improve the efficiency. Therefore, if you want to compose a logically structured paper able to bring you an A, a reflective essay outline is a must have. Besides, it is the best way to stay on the right track and to ensure that nothing relevant is omitted. Now as you know the importance of writing a good reflective essay outline, it’s high time to learn how to actually create and structure it. Guide on writing a good reflective essay outline 1. Pick a topic. Since a reflective essay is all about analyzing your personality, life, or certain experience, to pick the right topic for your writing is very important. In fact, this choice is rather limited if compared to most other essay types and includes only those topics related to yourself, events in your life, and your surroundings. However, it does not mean that you should write about the first thing that comes to your mind. Think carefully in order to choose the topic that is interesting not only to your but also to your reader. 2. Build a thesis statement. Even though a reflective essay does not require from you to include any evidence or proven facts to support its main idea, you still need a thesis statement. After all, this piece of writing is still an academic paper and, therefore, has to be meaningful to the reader. Moreover, if you want your work to be interesting, make sure your thesis is arguable and can be discussed. 3. Write an outline for the introduction part. Once the topic is chosen, and the thesis statement is built, you are ready to create your reflective essay outline. Obviously, you should start with the introduction part. This will be your first paragraph, so do your best to make it truly eye-catching. There are several major things to include in your outline: ? a good hook to attract the attention; ? some background information on your topic explaining your choice; ? your thesis statement to introduce the main idea of your writing. 4. Write an outline for the body part. Since writing a good reflective essay outline means to properly structure all the main points, to follow certain rules is crucial, especially when it comes to the body part. So what to pay your attention to? First of all, whatever your topic, keep everything in chronological order. This will help your reader better understand what you are writing about. Second, you are required not only to describe a certain event or experience but also to explore its impact on you. In general, you need to include the following points in your outline: ? the description of the certain event; ? its positive or negative impact on you; ? analysis of the described event, its effect, and your feelings. 5. Write an outline for the conclusion part. The concluding paragraph of your essay should bring all the information written in the body together. Moreover, you need to restate your thesis in order to underline your opinion and reflections on the described event or experience. Include these major points in your reflective essay outline to use them later in writing. Now as know how to write a reflective essay outline, you are ready to actually start writing your paper. Stick to the major points you have written down, and your final essay is guaranteed to be logical, interesting, and effective. Start early, be confident in your skills, and you are sure to succeed!

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Why Art often Symbolizes Death - 691 Words

Death has captured the mind very early on and since then it has driven us to create some of the most powerful images in the world. In this essay I am going to discuss why art often symbolizes death and some of the complex ways in which art represents death. In Jericho in 1950 Cecil Western, a British Archeologist discovered decorated skulls with a reconstructed nose and shells as eyes for a replacement. The skulls were discovered in walls of homes and they had been placed in specially made alcoves. Since that discovery, other decorated skulls have been found in the Middle East and Asia and some tribes also in South East Asia still practice this today. Humans are the only creatures that understand the inevitability of our own death. Psychologists understand that the way to overcome the fear of death is by creating images of our ancestors, Professors Solomon and Greenberg have done experiments with 2 groups of students. They used subliminal images so the students will thinks of death. They then showed the groups images of dead celebrities. The subjects were chose to look at pictures and those that were made to think about death wanted to look at these images for longer a time.In Jericho, in the 1st millennia BC, the average life expectancy was 24 years old. The prospect of Death was terrifying to them and these artistic representations would have allowed them to keep their ancestors alive. Reassurance, however, is only half of story. Some have used images of death forShow MoreRelatedThe Snake Goddess1440 Words   |  6 Pagesevident that The Snake Goddess plays a significant role in Minoan art, religion and society (Witcombe). Discovered in 1903, by British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, at The Temple Repositories, The Snake Goddess dates back to approximately 1600 BCE (Evans 495). Today little is known about the actual representation of the faà ¯ence figurine, however evidence supports that The Snake Goddess symbolizes fertility, holiness, and life and death (Flamee). The most prominent way The Snake Goddess represents fertilityRead MoreEssay on To Autumn1390 Words   |  6 Pages John Keats, an English Romantic poet, is considered one of the most beloved of all English poets. His work is known for sensuous descriptions of the beauty of nature and deep philosophic questions that it often brought up. This can be observed in his six odes written in 1819. The complexity and profundity behind the poems are the reason that they are considered to be among Keats greatest works, although the last ode composed in the sequence, â€Å"To Autumn† seems to stand out from the others. â€Å"To Autumn†R ead MoreRene Dali s The First Days Of Spring1457 Words   |  6 PagesWhen people think of surrealism, they usually imagine various objects and ideas twisted into something unimaginably arbitrary. Of course, almost all artwork is subjective, but surrealism can be especially difficult to grasp. Often, surrealist paintings look too random and abstract to have any meaning; it may even seem that the artist disregarded intelligence. However, surrealist work signifies many aspects of the artist’s unconscious thoughts. Salvador Dali’s, The First Days of Spring, is categorizedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Bridge Over A Pond Of Water Lilies 1651 Words   |  7 Pagespainting. 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The religious aspects of the culture of the people in Chauvet can be represented as well as their potential fear to the outside world or even interest in the animals that surrrounded them. Within the panther panel the emotion and aggression in theRead MoreProcedures And The Afterlife, Ancient Egypt1686 Words   |  7 Pagesbegin to get a better picture as to how these ideas affected almost all aspects of their ancient culture, and indeed had impacts on neighboring cultures. I will take a look at what aspects of their religious mythology lead them to these traditions and why its observation was so key to their society. I will then approach much of this essay through the lens of Humanities. We will look at several artifacts that show us the about of craftsmanship and detail needed to continue their quest to the afterlifeRead MoreThe Beauty Of Art And Human Expression1328 Words   |  6 PagesWhat is art? As a child most of us are taught to believe that anything can be art. That the beauty of art and human expression is in the eye of the beholder. As we grow up we begin to understand that art is more than a bunch of cluttered finger-painted fingerprint Thanksgiving turkeys hanging on the fridge or macaroni picture frames. We begin to understand that art in our native cultures has many functions. Art serves as an expressive outlet for individuals to use as means to convey symbolism oftenRead MoreAncient Egypt And The Egyptian Society967 Words   |  4 Pageswas brought into the marriage. It is not known why these rights existed for women, especially during this time period. Women could even become p haraoh. Nowhere else in the ancient world did something like this exist. The women bore and raised the children. They were basically responsible for all of the more usual or domestic related relationships, while the men taught their growing boys about the world and their own trade. 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Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The House On Mango Street Essay On Poverty - 1031 Words

Most children have an idea of a potential career path by the time they are very young. Often times their career goals are influenced by the adults they see on a regular basis, which is why a plethora of small children want to be school teachers or doctors. But what about children who do not have the privilege of being around academically successful-or even employed-adults? From where do they receive academic reinforcement? This poses the question; how does growing up in extreme poverty shape the morals and goals of a person? In the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Esperanza is raised in a poverty stricken neighborhood with few positive role models in her life. In the few scenes school is mentioned,†¦show more content†¦This makes Esperanza cry in regards to her embarrassment about her living situation. 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Aa brief point in the story, Esperanza does in fact gain an older friend named Sally. Unfortunately, Sally betrays Esperanza by abandoning her at a city carnival. As a result of being alone and vulnerable, Esperanza is sexually assaulted by an older man. Esperanza later ponders nerve wracking questions such as why Sally left her, why she lied to her, and why she let her be assaulted if they were truly friends (101). TheShow MoreRelatedThe House on Mango Street Persuasive Essay927 Words   |  4 PagesName The House on Mango Street Persuasive Essay Esperanza’s New Home I would like to nominate Esperanza Codero and her family for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Esperanza is a young Latino girl who is around the age of thirteen; Esperanza lives in a place called Mango Street, which is a very poor neighborhood, with her family in a nearly broken down house in which everybody has to share a room. 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The internal development includes the emergence of a network of â€Å"houses† and â€Å"mansions† as the collective units of the movement,10 of a world view or ideology encoded in a variety of symbols, and of collective ritual activities, which initiate and conï ¬ rm individuals in the principles of Rastafari. With regard to the

An Assessment of the Impact of Mortgage and Non-Mortgage Loans Free Essays

Toby Clark a senior financial analyst in MINTEL comments â€Å"There is a major need for financial education and for a drive to prompt borrowers to take a fresh look at their debts. Without a detailed understanding of exactly how much they owe and what rates they are paying, it is easy to see how the situation could spiral out of control†. This statement clearly highlights the position of the average British consumers as far as their mortgage and non-mortgage debts are concerned. We will write a custom essay sample on An Assessment of the Impact of Mortgage and Non-Mortgage Loans or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is observed by the report from MINTEL that the British consumers who have outstanding mortgage debts have a better control on the amount of their outstanding than the non-mortgage debt consumers. When the mortgage holders were asked to estimate the amount of the outstanding loan they could estimate the figure at ? 92,200 which matched with the estimation of ? 95,000 made by Bank of England and mortgage lenders. There are different purposes for which the consumers obtain mortgage and non-mortgage loans. The purposes also differ between different income earners. The high income earners borrow for paying a house, buying a second home or for paying the university or school fees of their children. Whereas the low income earners have totally different purposes of taking the loans like bringing up their children; paying their tax bills or meeting their regular commitments. Irrespective of the purpose for which the loans are taken the loans do have an impact on the financial soundness of the borrowers. On few occasions and for few consumers the loans become handy to take care of their financial struggle but in most of the cases the loans have had adverse impact only on the lives and finances of the consumers. Especially when the average consumer does not even know the extent of their debts the impact would be still worse. â€Å"Many debt problems are caused by poor decision making, with taking on more debt to pay back what debt you already have not always a wise move, according to the free and impartial debt advice organisation Debt Free Direct. † (Linkroll) In most of the cases the consumers get in to debt traps either due to poor decision making or not being accurately able to assess the impact the debts have on their financial capabilities and standing. This includes the decisions of debt consolidation. Quite often consumers think that debt consolidation is the best solution for solving their debt problems which will only aggravate the burden to the already debt trapped consumers. The loan burden on the borrowers is made to increase by the actions of the lenders also. Luring the customers in tot taking additional loans with the intention of just increasing their lending activities and without assessing the capabilities of the borrowers to pay back the loans often take the borrowers to a point of no return. â€Å"A number of Britons report that their debt problems are causing them difficulties in other areas of their life, according to a new study. In research carried out by R3 – the Association of Business Recovery Professionals – one out of six consumers are said to be unable to manage with repayments on secured loans and credit cards†. (Loan Arrangers) With this background I intend to make an analytical study of the British Loan Market and its impact on the average British consumers. In the process I also intend to study the kinds of mortgage and non-mortgage loans available to the consumers in the UK. 1. 1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This study has among other things the following central objectives: 1. Studying the psychological and economical reasons for the British consumers getting in to the debt trap. 2. Analytical study of the impact of the various loans on the lives and financial wellbeing of the average consumers – including mortgage and non-mortgage loans. 3. Studying the role of the banks and other lending institutions on extending the debt burden of the average British consumer 1. 2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study by undertaking a detailed research in the subject tries to find plausible answers for the following research questions: 1. What are the prime reasons that make the British consumers to get into the debt trap? 2. What are the major impacts that the mortgage and non-mortgage loans have on the lives of the average British consumers? 3. What are the different ways that an average British consumer can manage the debts effectively? 1. 3 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION In order to present a comprehensive paper I intend to divide the paper into the different chapters. While chapter 1 introduces the subject matter of the study to the readers along with stating the research objectives and questions, chapter 2 makes a detailed review of the available literature on the subject of the impact of debts on the British consumer. Chapter 3 makes a detailed presentation of the research methodology adopted by this study for conducting the research. In chapter 4 I have included the findings of the research and a detailed discussion on the analysis of the findings. Concluding remarks recapitulating the issues discussed in the paper and few suggestions which will enable the British consumer to manage his debts are included in the chapter 5. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW CAPM, Bonds, Securities, Economics, Finance This chapter presents a detailed review of the available literature on the debt creation by the British consumers and the impact of such debt creation on the bond and securities market, on the finance and monetary policy and economic situation of the country apart from the life styles and financial status of the individual consumers. 2. 1 IMPACT OF DEBT CREATION ON BOND AND SECURITIES MARKET: A latest report from Bloomberg. com says â€Å"European 10-year bond yields held near a three-month low as an Australian hedge fund filed for bankruptcy protection on losses related to a slump in U. S. home loans, prompting speculation global economic expansion will slow. † (Lukanyo Mnyanda, 2007) There has been a widespread skepticism about the future of the bond market because of the higher levels of failure in the sub prime mortgage repayments. This phenomenon has also been felt in the UK which is evident from the statement of the credit rating firm Standard Poor. â€Å"Standard Poor’s said business conditions for securities firms are worse than in the second half of 1998 when trading revenue slumped 31 percent after Russia’s debt default. Revenue from investment banking and trading could fall 47 percent in the final six months of this year, the ratings company said. † (Lukanyo Mnyanda, 2007) 2. 1. 1USE OF OPTIMIZING MODELS IN THE CONTEXT OF CONSUMER DEBT: On the basis of micro economic foundations there are certain models that analyse the likely economic consequences of structural changes in the economy. Though in general these models help the analysts to comment upon microeconomic foundations, sometimes these models are found inappropriate for analyzing such consequences. â€Å"This is because their parameters are generally complicated functions of an economy’s technology, institutions and government policy, and the preferences of economic agents. Subsequent changes in any of these structural characteristics would mean that those parameters, and hence the relationships between key economic variables, would be expected to change. † (Bank of England) However the optimizing models enable the analysis of the deep structural relationship which is dependent upon the individual variables in relation to the economic shocks and their identification. The optimizing models â€Å"describe the intertemporal optimisation problems facing economic agents. They often try to capture the interactions between the different types of agent in the economy (consumers, firms, government, foreign sector), each of which is assumed to solve well-defined dynamic optimisation problems, subject to certain informational and technological constraints. These models can be used to analyse how economic agents might optimally respond to various demand and supply shocks that have or might hit the economy, or to changes in the structure of the economy. Equally, they can be used to examine likely explanations for observed patterns of behaviour in the data. † (Bank of England) These models are useful in †¢ Modeling consumer behaviour including consumer spending †¢ Applications to financial markets †¢ Analysis of the labour market †¢ Analysis of the role of money One of such models being widely used is the CAPM which can provide useful insights into the reasons behind the financial market changes. However there is a serious limitation of this model is that it does not perform well in the empirical tests. 2. 2 IMPLICATION OF THE RISE ON THE HOUSEHOLD DEBT ON THE MONETARY POLICY: It is observed that the increase in the household debt in the UK over the last three decades was the result of the continued increase in the owner-occupied buildings and the number of mortgages created as a proportion of the total households. The rise in the prices till the time of the sub prime mortgage issue was also because of this increased private ownership of the houses. However it is interesting to note that the increase in the household debt didn’t have much impact on the consumption growth. This was due to the fact that the households were focused on the accumulation of financial assets during the recent past. â€Å"Finally, while it is possible that higher levels of debt may make household consumption more sensitive to interest rate changes, this may easily be offset simply by moderating these same changes. † (Stephen Nickell) While there was some contraction in the economies of US and Germany, the UK economy remained strong during the year 2001. There was a significant relaxation in the monetary policies of the country during this period and hence the UK economy witnessed an increase in the domestic demand though the situation was different with the world economy which was weak and was suffering a fall in investments. The increase in the domestic demand made the overall growth rate of the economy positive. However some of the economists were of the view that such a growth in the UK GDP as against the widespread recession in other developed countries was possible only at certain implied costs. For Example in an article in ‘The Observer’ dated 27th March 2005 Fred Harrison noted that â€Å"Encouraged by low interest rates, people went on a spending spree. They reduced savings and extracted equity from their homes to fuel a consumption boom† A similar view was expressed by Hamish McRae in his article in the ‘The Independent’ stated â€Å"What is, however, clear is that the credit-fuelled spending boom is, one way or another, coming to an end†. (The Independent dated 16th March 2005). Hence it was observed that booming consumption resulted in a rapid expansion of debt. Thus there has been a significant increase in the debt to income ratio which was a matter of serious concern to the analysts and the financial economists. In this context Philip Thornton made the following remark in the ‘The Independent’ issue dated 30th July 2003 â€Å"Britons piled on an all-time record amount of debt last month, triggering fears that consumers have embarked on an unsustainable borrowing binge that will end in a crash reminiscent of the early 1990s† 2. 2. 1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INCOME, CONSUMPTION AND HOUSEHOLD DEBTS: Generally it is assumed that the macroeconomic policies of the UK government had resulted in a house price bubble coupled with a boom of the consumer spending. Thus the economy got missed out from the impact of the global recessionary trends. However Stephen Nickell argues that over the period 2000 to 2003 which was supposed to be the consumption boom the average quarterly consumption growth was only 0. 77 percent very similar to the average consumption rate of 0. 72 percent that was existed over the last twenty five years. The consumption rate was also below the average consumption rate in the previous period 0f 1996 to 1999. â€Å"From 1998 to the end of 2003, the proportion of post-tax income that was consumed was relatively flat, hardly evidence of a debt fuelled consumption boom. Nevertheless, mortgage equity withdrawal (MEW) plus unsecured credit growth rose from around 2% of post-tax household income in 1998 to over 10% in 2003. So there was indeed a significant rise in the rate of household debt accumulation from 1998 to 2003 despite the fact that the ratio of consumption to post-tax income remained stable throughout. † (Stephen Nickell) With this argument the author proceeds to state the majority of mortgage equity withdrawal leads to increased financial assets accumulation and not to increased consumption. Further it is also argued that there is a strong relationship between the aggregate secured debt accumulation and aggregate financial asset accumulation especially in a period of rapidly spiraling house prices. Similarly there is no strong relationship between the factors of aggregate consumption growth and debt accumulation. In that case the following will be the effect of the household debt on the monetary policy. 2. 2. 2 HIGHER LEVELS OF DEBT AND MONETARY POLICY: May et al (2004) observed â€Å"In 1975, household debt was around 38% of household post-tax income. By 2004, this had risen to around 125%. Currently, over four-fifths of household debt is secured on property, ie. consists of mortgages, and around 95% of all household debt is held by mortgagors. † As already stated the important factor causing the rise in the household debt was the increase in the number of owner-occupied buildings and the proportion of the houses carrying a mortgage. Another factor that contributed the increase in secured debts is the change in the mode of financing by leaving the front end loading of the repayment of mortgages. Such a method of financing has lead to higher loan to income ratios. It also resulted in higher mortgages relative to income. Based on these basic premise there are three arguments that can be support the view that the household debt is a predominant factor in the determination of the monetary policies. 1. The first argument is based on the concept that the there will be significant impact on the bahaviour of the economy due to shocks if there is a high level of household debts. As observed by Griffiths commission â€Å"Debt is a time-bomb which could be triggered by any number of shocks to the economy at any time† (The Griffiths’ Commission, 2005, Executive Summary). Though any adverse economic shock will have the impact on the employment and the consumption levels, higher levels of debts will make the conditions worse. â€Å"The excessive debt may still induce greater precautionary saving and a larger drop in consumption. Overall, it is hard to tell whether higher debt levels will generate a significant additional cut back in consumption which cannot be modified by easier monetary policy† 2. The second argument is based on the possibility that the there may be a cut in the consumption due to the sudden realization of the debtors about the real interest on the debts and their extent of exposure to the debts in spite of their efforts to reduce the level of debts. This will create severe macro economic problems leading to large scale adjustments in the monetary policies. However this argument is countered by indicating that the inexperience of the secured debt holders being young and there may be occasions that these people may behave in an irrational way to reduce the consumption. But such phenomenon can not be identified with a majority of debts. 3. The third argument was based on the fear that with more number of people the more will be the trouble when there is a collapse in the housing market. This fear has become true presently with housing boom bubble exploding. â€Å"If house prices fall by 30 or 40 per cent, more people with mortgages means more people in negative equity. Of course, the consequences of this depend to some extent on the behaviour of lenders. If the mortgage debt continues to be treated as secured, even though some is not, then debt service costs remain unchanged. So a lot will then depend on the collateral damage associated with the collapse in the housing market and what caused it in the first place. The issue is, if some disaster happens in the housing market, does the fact that more people have mortgages make the consequences very much worse? So much worse, indeed, that monetary policy should be used to discourage individuals from taking out mortgages. † 2. 3 DIFFICULTIES OF CONSUMERS BECAUSE OF DEBT CREATION – AN OVERVIEW According to a research conducted by R3 – the Association of Business Recovery Professionals one out of six consumers find it difficult to manage the repayment of their secured loans and credit card payments. â€Å"Of those struggling the most with their day-to-day finances, 21 per cent of respondents were reported to have encountered debt problems as a result of becoming ill, with a third (33 per cent) highlighting redundancy as the source of their monetary difficulties. † (Secured Loan News) Educational loans taken for higher studies form a major proportion of debts to be repaid by the 50 percent people in the age group of 18 – 24 years. The same is the case with one third of the people in the age group of 25 – 34 years still struggling to settle the loans taken for their educational purposes. A study carried out by Abbey in early 2007 showed that the British consumers had to pay ? 48. 7 billion by way of unexpected bills and charges over the previous year. On an average 79 percent of the British people have spent money on unbudgeted things and the average cost of such spending is estimated at ? 1375. Some of the issues identified with the debt creation in the UK are: ? The personal lending figures stood at ? 1,318 billion as of July 2007 signifying that the British consumers are indebted on an average twice as the citizens of other European Countries. The people with serious debt management problem are estimated at 7 to 9 million Britons. ? A majority of the people have no savings or definite plans for savings to meet any unexpected future expenditure. A proportion of less than 50 percent of the people only have made adequate provisions for meeting the exigencies of a drop in their income level or other serious financial difficulties. ? Some important statistics indicate that a substantial proportion of the population suffer from serious financial worries and resultant stress due to the increase of their debt burden. These statistics show that â€Å"74% of British couples find money the most difficult subject to talk about; 32% lie to their partners about how much they spend on credit cards; 35% are kept awake at night worrying about their finances†. ? According to the estimate from Bank of England around 50 percent of the people who have identified their debts as a serious burden on them belong to the lower income groups. It is the case with those people who live in the housing provided by the loca authorities are likely to live in debt burden at two times the average person has. ? Debts being burdensome on their own are also responsible for several other social problems and debt and these problems are interdependent on each other in terms of their cause and effect. Groups of people like those out of work, school dropouts, people from single parent families or unemployed parents are more likely to have serious debt management problems. 2. 4 REASONS FOR DEBT CREATION Consumers obtain loans for different purposes. Similarly people in different income groups and different strata of life opt for secured and unsecured loans for various purposes depending on their life styles and needs for different purposes. The main reasons cited for increase in the debts of the consumers is the increased availability of the loans, overspending and the desire to ‘buy instantly’ doing major purchases like purchase of cars or spending on a foreign vacation. The debt management problems of majority of the British consumers have arisen due to these and other reasons most of which are emotional spending. However why people get into serious debt problem is a very complicated question to find the answers there for. Though there are several factors responsible for leading the consumers to severe debt problems the following are some of the major causes that create a ‘debt trap’ for the British consumers: 2. 4. 1EASY AVAILABILITY OF DEBT: In recent years the economy of the country was doing extremely well resulting in lower rates of inflation, low interest rates and low levels of unemployment. This economic buoyancy there had been an increased demand for the credit and the cost of such credit was low. The highly competitive financial services industry had been innovative to find many a number of products to suit the needs of various strata of people. â€Å"Today over 400 mainstream financial institutions compete fiercely to satisfy consumer demand. † (Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach) In this background it can be said that the easy availability of credit was the main reason for the creation of more debts by the average consumer. 2. 4. 2 DIFFERENT TACTICS OF THE LENDERS TO ATTRACT THE PEOPLE Although the banks do not explicitly solicit or lure the vulnerable people to sell their financial services products, the products themselves have been so designed in addition to the lending practices of the banks to target the vulnerable people. Such practices include â€Å"aggressive marketing; a lack of transparency in calculating the cost of borrowing; undue care in lending and a lack of data-sharing. † (Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach) Though it cannot be said that the banks and other lending institutions purposely target the vulnerable people â€Å"customers are often enticed into over-borrowing with disastrous consequences; research evidence suggests there is a strong correlation between serious indebtedness, drug and alcohol addictions and family breakdown. † (Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach) This often leads to a situation where the vulnerable people stand the chances of more likely to get into serious debt problems. 2. 2. 3 LOW FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES It is observed out of a poll conducted in the year 2004 that 33 percent of the people in the UK are not confident enough to handle money issues and only 30 percent of them even knew the basic interest calculations which forms the basis financial intelligence. If this is kind of financial knowledge that an average British consumer has then there is no doubt that such people may not be in a position to make sound financial decisions concerning their personal finances including availing of secured and unsecured loans. Such lack of financial knowledge will make them drown in serious financial struggle as a result of unmanageable debts they have contracted. 2. 4. 4 LACK OF SAVING CULTURE: The trend of today’s Britain is ‘buy now and pay later’ as against the traditional way of living of saving money to buy assets. This has seriously disturbed the saving habit of the people over the period of time. In the current scenario more than 50 percent of the British pensioners make a cut on their other needs to settle their annual fuel bills. The decline in the habit of saving is one of the main reasons for the increased debt problems. Unless the saving habit of the people change drastically the situation of debt problems is likely to grow into greater magnitude. 2. 4. 5 MATERIALISTIC ATTITUDE OF THE MODERN SOCIETY The attitude of the society towards borrowing and its effects on life has considerably changed over the last few decades. Credit is no more considered as dangerous as it was perceived once upon a time. Now it is considered as more neutral and beneficial to the society. With this change in the attitude people have become more materialistic to obtain loans to buy the things irrespective of the need for such things in their lives. This is evident from the buying habits of British consumers exhibited in the following section. In one of the surveys conducted by Abbey, the financial service provider, it is learnt that â€Å"Britons have spent more than ? 169 billion on items that they rarely, if at all, use. Overall the average consumer has paid out some ? 3,685 through unnecessary objects, which could consequently impact upon their ability to handle their day-to-day finances. † (Secured Loan News) The survey also revealed that half of all consumers own an expensive clothing item which they wear only occasionally and over 35 percent of them have unworn shoes. â€Å"However, women were reported to be driving pointless fashion spending. Some 58 per cent of females were said to have unused garments, with this figure falling to 45 per cent for footwear. Meanwhile, spending on such products accounted for 45 and 23 per cent respectively among men. † (Secured Loan News) Electronic items, computer game console or video cameras and cooking equipments, repeated purchase of fine china items, exercise equipments, beauty gadgets that are not frequently used are some of the other items on which the British consumers spend their money and create debts for themselves. â€Å"However, financial problems could be particularly increased for those 288,000 people who have bought a second home in Britain which they claim to make little use of, which as a result may see them to struggle to make secured loan repayments. † (Secured Loan News) 2. 5 LEVEL OF CONSUMER CREDIT There has been a steady growth in the consumer lending in the period during the 1990s to early 2000s. But the growth has been sluggish after the climb in the last decade. According to the statistics released by Datamonitor â€Å"unsecured Loans and borrowing via other forms of consumer credit fell by 4. 5 per cent over the course of last year (2006) to ? 207. 8 billion†. (Secured Loan News) Maya Imberg the financial service analyst from Datamonitor says â€Å"A weaker labour market, combined with high consumer debts and weakened consumer confidence, meant that consumers cut down considerably on spending and aimed to repay more of their debts over 2006. † The study also indicated that the debt outstanding for an average customer stood at ? 4,522 in Consumer credit debt for the year 2006, which is against the ? 4,510 recorded for the year 2005. This outstanding debt figure was corroborated by the statistics released by the financial charity Credit Action which estimated the debt due by an average Briton at ? 4,550 by way of debts obtained on unsecured personal loans, credit cards, overdrafts and other forms of borrowing. This amount was estimated as at the end of March 2007. Credit Action has compiled the following statistics on the UK personal debt as on 1st of September 2007 which is alarming: ? â€Å"Total UK personal debt at the end of July 2007 stood at ? 1,355bn. The growth rate increased to 10. 1% for the previous 12 months which equates to an increase of ? 117bn. ? Total secured lending on homes at the end of July 2007 stood at ? 1,140bn. This has increased 11. 0% in the last 12 months. ? Total consumer credit lending to individuals in July 2007 was ? 214bn. This has increased 5. 3% in the last 12 months. ? Total lending in July 2007 grew by ? 10. 3bn. Secured lending grew by ? 9. 2bn in the month. Consumer credit lending grew by ? 1. 1bn. ? Average household debt in the UK is ? 8,856 (excluding mortgages). This figure increases to ? 20,600 if the average is based on the number of households who actually have some form of unsecured loan. ? Average household debt in the UK is ? 56,000 (including mortgages). ? Average owed by every UK adult is ? 28,550 (including mortgages). This grew by ? 210 last month. ? Average outstanding mortgage for the 11. 8m households who currently have mortgages is ? 96,560 ? Average interest paid by each household on their total debt is approximately ? 3,700 each year (this equates to 9% of take home pay). ? Average consumer borrowing via credit cards, motor and retail finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured personal loans has risen to ? 4,515 per average UK adult at the end of July 2007. ? Britain’s personal debt is increasing by ? 1 million every 4 minutes. † (Credit Action) A pictorial representation of the growth in the UK personal debt is depicted below How to cite An Assessment of the Impact of Mortgage and Non-Mortgage Loans, Papers

Friday, April 24, 2020

The Divine Life Church

Religion plays important role in life of people. Even though, there are people who do not have faith in God, they still continue believing in something. Moreover, there is an opinion that most of the religions are alike because they have basic similarities in beliefs.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Divine Life Church specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is not true. Each religion, each church has many differences and one of the main purposes of sociology in religion is to consider those differences with specific peculiarity, all the beliefs are considered as true ones. It is impossible to refer to scientific methods without being sure that the true aspects are explored. At the same time, the main issue of religion is faith which cannot be scientifically proven. To make sure that the sociology of religion is scientifically grounded, the beliefs of different churches and confessions are considered as true issues. Thus, the sociology of religion is able to apply various concepts and theories to the problems. However, there is no specific system in interpreting the approaches to the religions. The main idea of our discussion is to consider the Divine Life Church from different angles, apply various theories and consider some sociological concepts in relation to this community. Observation of the Divine Life Church Specific division of religion organizations exists in the modern world, such as churches, cults and sects. The difference between them is slight, however it exists. Therefore, church is a body for those who have particular faith. Sect is defined as a small group of believers who pursue similar beliefs of a dominant religion, however, some specific novel concepts are noticed. Cult is something similar to the sect in the relation to the religious patterns, but cults are not referred to dominant religions (Johnstone 78). Using the definitions considered in Johnstone the Di vine Life is a church as it is open for all and serves its parishioner, giving them particular faith, similar to the dominant religion, without specific newly adopted concepts. The Divine Life Church is opened for both men and women, therefore, there are no specific roles concerning women, either at home or in church. All people are considered as equal, and according to the church principles â€Å"recognizing the divinity in all beings, Swami has opened the order to both men and women, married and unmarried; its purpose is to inspire the life of spiritual ministry† (Divine Life Church of Baltimore n.p.) Children in the Divine Life Church The Divine Life Church has a Sunday school which invites all children from infancy up to 12 years old to visit its classes. The lessons at this school deliver the philosophical message the Church wants children to know. However, the lessons are held is absolutely different from ordinary schools manner.Advertising Looking for research pap er on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thus, children are encouraged to play games, experiment with different things, draw or perform other art tasks, play in drama, introduce their music skills, participate in gardening, and allow â€Å"the divinity of each child to unfold in an atmosphere of unconditional love† (Divine Life Church of Baltimore n.p.) Rational Choice Theory Considering my personal choice of the religious ideas and values in the Divine Life Church on the basis of the rational choice theory, it is important to check the meaning of the theory and the ways it should be implemented. Therefore, according to Hamilton the rational choice theory is considered in different ways. Checking the meaning of the rational choice theory presented in Hamilton, it may be stated that the theory is usually explained as an organized religion. One more opinion about this theory is that applying it the â€Å"reli gious participation is increased by religious pluralism and decreased by religious monopoly† (Hamilton 191). Thus, it may be concluded that basing on this theory the participation of the religiosity is measured by means of participation in the church affairs. Considering the Divine Life Church and applying the rational choice theory to it, we may conclude that it is properly organized and pluralized. We mean that honoring all paths to God, the Divine Life Church follows the principles and canons of various religious teachings, such as Buddhism, Judaism, Jesus, Hinduism, Taoism, etc. The main idea of the Divine Life Church community is to unite these confessions, but also show that hey all are unique (Divine Life Church of Baltimore n.p.). Personal Perception from the Attended Worship Service I visited the Divine Life Church Sunday morning service which was opened to everyone. The main elements of that service were as follows, a short silent group meditation which included univ ersal prayers and an inevitable attribute of any meditation, a hymn. A hymn was sang without incidental music. Singing a hymn seems to be the main tradition for those who attended Sunday services as nothing particular happened. The next stage of the services the lecture of spiritual founder and preceptor of the Divine Life Church, Swami Shankarananda who dwelt upon a universal spiritual theme, as for me, stressing on the necessity to live in accordance with the God’s rules, fair principles, with great faith and nurturing world brotherhood. The service began at 11 am (the doors to the church were opened from 10.30 am) and lasted for 3 hours. Paying attention to people who was in the church, I can say that nothing particular was noticed. There were simple people of the middle class of age between 35 and 70. These people wore simple closes, everyday haircuts. I did not notice luxury jewelry or expensive cars. I noticed that the service was recorded. While talking to people, Swam i Shankarananda used a microphone to make sure that everyone hears him.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Divine Life Church specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The lecture Swami held was perfectly trained and presented. Some parts were stressed, the since between the ideas made people think over the expressed opinion. Moreover, Swami joked and laughed to make sure that people enjoyed his lecture. The lecture was inspiring as having left it I wanted to help people, to make sure that I live in accordance with God rules. During the lecture Swami Shankarananda was alone and it seemed that he did not require any help. It was a great moments, as it showed the self-sufficiency of the preceptor. In conclusion, it should be stated that I liked the general atmosphere of the service, people were kind and pleasant. At the same time, the whole service reminded a perfectly acted drama where the main character perform s a monologue. There was no discussion, the audience was not involved in the communication. The main idea of the lecture was interesting, however if the audience was involved, people would be able to express their concerns and get an appropriate advice. The problem of God rules and world brotherhood may be discussed perpetually and the ability to participate in the discussion might explain some specific issues. Works Cited Divine Life Church of Baltimore, n.d. Web. Johnstone, Ronald L. Religion in society: a sociology of religion. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006. Print. Hamilton, Malcolm B. The sociology of religion: theoretical and comparative perspectives. Oxford: Routledge, 2001. Print. This research paper on The Divine Life Church was written and submitted by user Jerimiah Weber to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.