The Meaning of Silence and Meditation - 999 Words

Christian spiritual writings are texts that help us connect to our spirituality and they also hold various themes or messages. Some recurring themes that have been uncovered from a number of texts are; meditation, silence, connecting to God and spirituality. Two themes that are fundamental are silence and meditation. In meditation we find silence difficult but this is a factor that we need to work on because it is very important. A hypothesis has been created that will assist in critiquing and evaluating four Spiritual Writings in their attempt to finding the mystery of God. Contemporary Christian spirituality writings suggest that deep meditation and silence are fundamental to us in order to search for the mystery of God. The next four paragraphs will talk about for authors and the articles they have created. These articles will be evaluated on their attempt to explain that silence and meditation, help us search for the mystery of God. The four authors that will be critiqued are Lau rence Freeman, Cynthia Bourgeaults, John Main and Richard Rohr. The first resource was created by Laurence Freeman. He has created 2 articles that talk about the Silence of the Soul and The First Sight: The Experience of Faith. In both of his texts Laurence Freeman writes about how silence is fundamental to finding God and that meditation is how we can connect with God. He believes that many people are afraid of silence, which restricts their connection with God. Laurence Freeman is a CatholicShow MoreRelatedImportance Of Silence And Silence1143 Words   |  5 Pagessilence. It is a sign language. It is the language of the body. It is the language of suggestion. There may come a time when a disciple may not be permitted to see the guru for a period of time during which he or she may slowly, learn to read the language of silence. Then when the disciple himself is in the position of a teacher, because of the subtle way that he has learned to observe his guru, he or she can then easily observe and interpret those who are much less than the guru, wh ose body movementsRead MorePrayer By Thomas Keating, Contemplative Prayer1515 Words   |  7 Pagesused by St. Paul in the Epistles to represent the knowledge of God proper to those who love Him.† Then the Greek Fathers (i.e., Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Gregory of Nyssa) adopted the word theoria (meaning the intellectual vision of truth) and combined its meaning with the meaning of the Hebrew word da’ath. Da’ath according to Keating â€Å"Is the kind of experiential knowledge that comes through love.† The combination of both words resulted in the Latin word contemplatio, which was handedRead MoreEssay about Knowing God: Mysticism in Christianity and Other Religions1579 Words   |  7 Pagesrole that mysticism and experience should have in Christianity. Non-Christian Religions Buddhism In Buddhism, one seeks salvation from pain, which is caused by desire; so one seeks a state of absence from desire. This is achieved through meditation and the Noble Eightfold Way of mental and moral discipline: right views, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. It is a timeless state, and is spoken of as becoming Brahman and entering into Nirvana. TheRead MoreReflective Essay On Meditation1711 Words   |  7 PagesMeditation Meditation can be used as a way for stress relief, a form of reflection, or just to spend time with God and speak to him. Most people see meditation as a way to have time to themselves, relax, and think about nature, life, or God. According to Foster, the purpose of meditation is to have focus on faithfulness and obedience for Jesus. A person’s challenge of achieving absolute meditation is overcoming the obstacles of the devil. This means ignoring the distractions around you such as;Read MoreThe Theory Of Spiritual Disciplines Essay1613 Words   |  7 Pagestouching the inner sprit of one another and transcending to something larger in which growth, healing and energy are more likely to be experienced (Thorne, 2003). Some of the most effective spiritual disciplines practiced by counsellors such as prayer, meditation, mindfulness and self-exploration are discussed in the following. Apart from the mentioned reasons underpinning the development of spiritual disciplines by couns ellors, each of these disciplines highly benefits the counsellor’s wellbeing and theRead MoreYog Yoga And Yoga1370 Words   |  6 PagesIn addition to meditation, yoga is also an important practice in Hinduism as well as in Tibetan Buddhism. Yoga is used as a means to enlightenment and has influenced other religious and spiritual practices throughout the world. The Bhagavad Gita and the Yogasutra are some of the scriptures that establish the basis for yoga. The four main types of yoga are Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Raja Yoga. Yoga helps gain a mastery over the body and mind and can lead to the knowledge ofRead MoreThe Ritual At A Buddhist Temple Essay1394 Words   |  6 Pagesgender-related religious theory. The ritual I attended was at a Buddhist temple named West End Buddhist Temple in Mississauga. It was based on meditation led by a monk, the male instructor. It started with a story of Buddha, the divine figure of the religion, followed by a set of instructions and pieces of advice by the monk. This was accompanied with a guided silent meditation session. It ended with chants and prayers to god and the divine, Buddha. The ritual had several parts which explicitly or indirectlyRead MoreReligion Of Buddhism : Buddhism963 Words   |  4 Pagesreligious experience opened my mind to what was to occur in the next hour and a half of the meeting. As we proceeded to sit down in the room a volunteer welcomed everyone for attending the meeting in a calm relaxing tone. He spoke about the true meaning of shin Buddhism while banging on an instrument that is called the Bell Gatha which represents the voice of Buddha. Then he proceeded to start the practice part of our meeting. During this section, we did an opening prayer to remember our intentionRead MoreBuddhism : Buddhism Vs. Christianity1247 Words   |  5 PagesRUNNING HEAD: Journey 3 Buddhism vs. Christianity Brianna M. Stutheit George Fox University We can define rituals as repeated actions that provides us with meaning and significance. Symbols are a small unit of a ritual. Both rituals and symbols play an active role in religion. According to Clifford Geertz, religion can be defined as â€Å"a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long lasting moods and motivations in both men and women by formulating conceptions of generalRead MoreDigital Transformation : High Tech Or Human Touch?1239 Words   |  5 Pagesallowing to use discernment or analytical abilities, it also disintegrate our personality making us sometimes too much ego or selfie (The Internet of Me) driven making us loose vision of a holistic life view. After placing a debate above on the real meaning of the human being behind the devices, we want to always emphasize very clearly that technology is useful. Technology is beautiful. Nothing more than that: The word technology comes from two Greek words, transliterated techne and logos. Techne means

How far has the EU come since the Treaty of Rome (1957) Free Essays

Introduction â€Å"The European Union has come a long way from the Treaty of Rome 1957. Citing relevant Treaty and Case Law, consider the impact of enlargement on the original principles of the Treaty of Rome.† The European Union (EU) was originally set up with the aim of uniting and stabilising the European countries to avoid wars and hostilities amongst them. We will write a custom essay sample on How far has the EU come since the Treaty of Rome (1957)? or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Treaty of Versailles, which was intended to ease conflict between France and Germany after the First World War, had failed, leading to the rise of Nazism. In a speech made famous by Winston Churchill in Zurich 1947, he suggested building a United States of Europe as an attempt to restore the quality of living and to reconcile the warring countries, â€Å"Our constant aim must be to build and fortify the strength of the United Nations Organization. Under and within that world concept we must recreate the European Family in a regional structure called, it may be, the United States of Europe. And the first practical step would be to form a Council of Europe†. It was therefore, in 1950 after the Second World War, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, together with the research and plans formed by the French politician Jean Monnet, suggested integrating Europe’s coal and steel industries, known also as the ‘Schuman plan’. This idea was formed with the intention of helping economic recovery and removing competition between France and Germany. So, in 1951 the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty (ECSC Treaty) was created (also known as the Treaty of Paris) and the European Coal and Steel Community began to unite European countries politically and economically in order to secure peace. Alongside France and Germany, the Benelux Union and Italy joined, thereby creating a supranational authority and removing any trade restrictions between them. The UK had at this point declined to join this union as they were more inclined to lean towards its friendship with the United States of America. The six original members and founders were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In 1957 the ECSC’s six members decided to evolve other areas of their economies, signing the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the European Economic Community (EEC). This was signed in Rome on the 25th March 1957, which then came into force on the 1st January 1958. The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) was signed at the same time and is therefore also known to be part of the Treaty of Rome. This agreement allowed them to cooperate in the development of the use of atomic energy. The members also began to remove trade barriers and allowing goods to move freely within the member states and establishing a ‘common market’. The primary source of EU law is the EU’s treaties. The Treaty on European Union (TEU), which was signed in Maastricht on the 7th February 1992, entered into force on the 1st November 1993. The Maastricht Treaty, as it is commonly referred to, created the EU based upon the earlier treaties and introduced the idea of EU citizenship. By adding a new structure with three â€Å"pillars† based on the executive, the judiciary and the legislature, the central pillar would be joined by the second pillar covering foreign policy and national security and a third pillar to cover justice and home affairs. This created a political as well as an economic objective and renamed the EEC to the EC, reflecting the change of importance within the organization. The Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on the 2nd October 1997, entered into force on the 1st May 1999. It modified and renumbered the EU and EC Treaties. The Treaty of Amsterdam changed the articles of the Treaty on European Union, which was identified by letters A to S, into numerical form. The Treaty of Nice signed on the 26th February 2001, and entered into force on the 1st February 2003, dealt principally with restructuring the institutions so that the Union could operate competently after its enlargement to 25 Member States. This Treaty of Nice, the former Treaty of the EU and the Treaty of the EC have been merged into one consolidated version. The most recent treaty was the Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed in Rome in October 2004 by the leaders of the EU and sent to all member states for approval. Its main objectives were to make the EU more democratic and meeting expectations for high standards of ‘accountability, openness, transparency and participation’[2]. It was also created to make the EU more efficient and able to tackle the issues today, such as climate change and security. Although sanctioned by most of the EU countries, French and Dutch voters rejected it and as a result, the reform process was suspended for 18 months, until a reform treaty was negotiated. This was eventually signed by EU heads of state and government in Lisbon in December 2007. The European Union is open to any European country that wishes to join, as long as they fulfil certain criteria, known as the Copenhagen criteria. The country must be democratic, have a market economy and posses the necessary capacity to handle the obligations of membership. To help unite and bring them together the EU has created a single market and a single currency, and its responsibilities now range from economic and social policies to foreign and security policy. We know that the original members of the EU were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. They were closely followed by Denmark, Ireland, and United Kingdom in 1973. Between 1981 and 1995 a further six countries joined, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Finland and Sweden. In 2004, 10 new countries entered the EU, making the enlargement from 15 to 25, the biggest in the Union’s history. These countries included Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slo vakia and Slovenia. This allowed the EU to extend the stability and prosperity of EU citizens further into central and Eastern Europe. Bulgaria and Romania became EU members in January 2007, taking the current total to 27 member states. The single market is the heart of today’s Union. This has taken several years to achieve, as many new laws were needed to remove the barriers that prevented free trade and free movement. This was finally achieved in 1993. This single market is a valuable defence against economic crisis as it prevents policies in which countries try to pass problems on to their neighbours, instead of confronting the issues themselves. Through a joint recovery plan, the EU is better able to control the financial sector, create sustainable jobs and protect the interests of the citizens. The foremost objectives of EC Treaty and its law are the ‘Four Freedoms’. The free movement of persons, the free movement of services, the free movement of goods and the free movement of capital. Since the 2004 enlargement, the internal market is in terms of population, the largest single trading bloc in the world. Article 14(2) of the EC Treaty states that â€Å"the internal market shall comprise an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured in accordance with the provisions of this treaty†[3]. The free movement of goods is considered to be a central part of the EC Treaty, but there are barriers that affect this. These are, physical barriers, which involve stopping and checking goods passing through borders, fiscal barriers, which are taxes imposed on goods, and the most significant barrier, the technical. Technical barriers are quantitative restrictions and measures having an equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions. This is dealt with in the treaty under Article 28, 29 and 30. ‘Quantitative restrictions’ are not defined in the EC Treaty but can be found in case law, such as Greddo v Ente Nazionale Risi (Case 2/73) [1973] ECR 865. ‘Measures having equivalent effect to a quantitative restrictions’ are also undefined in the treaty but can be interpreted using case law, seen in the case of Procureur du Roi v Dassonville (Case 8/74) [1974] ECR 837. The Dassonville case is highly important and has been used in most cases involving ‘measures equivalent to quantitive restrictions’ in Article 28 as a key definition. Another important use of case law is what is known as the Cassis de Dijon principle. In the case of Cassis de Dijon (Case 120/78) [1979] ECR 649, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) was powerless to amend the provisions of Article 30, therefore creating a set of derogations that could be pleaded instead of Article 30. As more countries join the EU, the difficulty arises in having to decide where to draw the Union’s boundaries, culturally, politically and geographically. The EU institutions have proved their worth, but they must be modified to cope with the enlargement of the Union and the increasing number of tasks for which it is responsible. Europe must not only concentrate on its own development but also welcome globalisation. The Treaty of Rome is no longer enough to cover all the issues that arise with enlargement, as different countries will have different needs. The use of case law and the development of other Treaties will help support the original founding ideas of the Treaty of Rome and continue to ensure that the countries of Europe will exist happily together and develop the relationships with each other and the rest of the world. Bibliography and Referencing Online resources http://www.globalgateway.org.uk/default.aspx?=1454 http://www.europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/about-eu/member-countries/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/pol/enlarg/index_en.htm http://www.europeanhistory.about.com/od/europeanunion/European_Union.htm http://www.peshawar.ch/varia/winston.htm Library resources MARTIN, J and TURNER, C (200?) EU Law 2nd Edition FOSTER, N (2008) EU Law Directions, New York: Oxford University Press BERRY, E and HARGREAVES, S (2007) European Union Law 2nd Edition, New York: Oxford University Press KENT, P (2009) European Union Law 5th edition, London: Sweet Maxwell STOREY, T and TURNER, C (2008) Unlocking EU Law 2nd Edition, London: Hodder Education How to cite How far has the EU come since the Treaty of Rome (1957)?, Essay examples

Poetry and Personal Response

Poetry and Personal Response- Thumbprint Essay Thumbprint Each of us imprints our own mark into the world, and no one is quite like us. In the poem, Thumbprint by Eve Merriam, she discusses the theme of how each of us Is unique, and that no one will ever be exactly Like us. She uses alliteration and metaphors to demonstrate her theme. I have reached a part in my life where I accepted my uniqueness. The poem Thumbprint reveals the celebration of being a unique individual. Merriam illustrates the thumbs separateness by using alliteration In whorls, whirls, wheels These Images show us how the thumbprint Is unique to Itself, and allows the reader to actually picture It. Merriam also uses metaphor to compare the speakers emotions of happiness and sadness to the words of my own sun and rain. She wants to show how she is in charge of her own emotions. Thumbprint is actually an extended metaphor because the thumbprint Is compared with the Individuality of the person. A person has a thumbprint that identifies who they are, and at the same time, it shows how each of us is different. As Merriam states, it is mine alone and this emphasizes the sense of pride she feels for her distinctive qualities . The poem illustrates the speakers celebration of her life. Like the poet, I have examined my life, and now I value my differentiates. It was not always this way because when I was younger, I felt badly that I didnt fit in. I wanted to be part of the crowd, even though in my heart I did not share the same interests. When I went away this summer, I finally realized that It was okay to be yourself. I no longer feel like a follower trying to keep up with the In crowd, for I now follow my own Interests. For the first time in my life although it has only been 17 years long, I really treasure my separateness, and I value my life experience and do things for myself as am unique. This poem tells us that we are all unique, but most people In society Just follow In the crowd and do not really consider themselves as something unique. Merriam Is trying to tell us that thats okay, and to be you. But unfortunately with media and publicity it is hard, they make you think that you have to look like that to fit in but you don. The media controls all age groups and the younger you learn to be you the better. There are poems after poems and books after books that tell you to be you but nothing really over rides the media. Although when I was little I remember ready the book Your wearing THAT to school? about a little hippo that was so excited to start school with her new skirt but her friend who started school last year said no because she wouldnt fit in. Do you have to fit in? Can you not be yourself and wear what you want even in kindergarten. In conclusion Eve Merriam has the right outlook on life. She knows to be herself because If you do not be yourself than no one will now you because there Is no one 1 OFF because you want to fit in and be a part of the popular kids but if you fake who you are now after high school youll find a new group of friends and have to fake a whole you. Be you. Be unique!