Impact Of Colonization On Hauora Maori

Impact Of Colonization On Hauora Maori Tikanga, coming from the Maori word tika which means true or correct, has a wide range of meanings culture, custom, ethic, etiquette, fashion, formality, lore, manner, meaning, mechanism, method, protocol, style. It can also be described as general behaviour guidelines for daily life and interaction in Maori culture. It is generally taken to mean the Maori way of doing things and commonly based on experience and learning that has been handed down through generations. It is based on logic and common sense associated with a Maori world view. Kawa is the word used to describe the protocol or sequence of events which occur on the Marae particularly those related to formal activities such as pohiri, speeches and mihimihi, as well as working with Maori health providers and Maori committees who have Iwi and Hapu reps. Stratified Random Sampling In a stratified sample the sampling frame is divided into non-overlapping groups or strata, e.g. geographical areas, age-groups, genders. A sample is taken from each stratum, and when this sample is a simple random sample it is referred to as stratified random sampling. Outcome 2 Task 2.1 Random Sampling A simple random sample gives each member of the population an equal chance of being chosen. One way of achieving a simple random sample is to number each element in the sampling frame (e.g. give everyone on the Electoral register a number) and then use random numbers to select the required sample. Random numbers can be obtained using a calculator, a spreadsheet, printed tables of random numbers, or by the more traditional methods of drawing slips of paper from a hat, tossing coins or rolling a dice. Quota Sampling In quota sampling the selection of the sample is made by the interviewer, who has been given quotas to fill from specified sub-groups of the population. For example, an interviewer may be told to sample 50 females between the age of 45 and 60. There are similarities with stratified sampling, but in quota sampling the selection of the sample is non-random. Systematic Sampling In systematic sampling, the researcher first randomly picks the first item or subject from the population. Then, the researcher will select each nth subject from the list. The procedure involved in systematic sampling is very easy and can be done manually. The results are representative of the population unless certain characteristics of the population are repeated for every nth individual, which is highly unlikely. Task 2.2 The researcher should take into account tikanga and kawa when doing Maori research. He should know how to interview the participants without causing cultural offence. It is very important that the researcher develops a cooperative working relationship with local iwi and hapu. The researcher should remember that the Maoris always give their time and effort when they take part in something. So it would be a good idea to give them an acknowledgment for this. For example, the researcher could bring food to offer to the participants or give them financial reward for taking part in the research being conducted. Maoris believe in establishing, maintaining and nurturing reciprocal and respectful relationships. For Maori, the notion of relationships is a core value. The way that Maori interact with each other and the world around them is all based on the notion of inter-connectedness and the nurturing of reciprocal relationships. So it is very important for the researcher to respect their culture as well as establish a good relationship with the participants and their whanau. A big consideration for Maori researchers is their role as an insider or an outsider of the community they intend to research. Whether you are a member of the community under research will dictate how participants relate to you, what they will disclose, how they will engage, where they will engage, and their level of comfort in participating. Whether you are an insider or an outsider will also impact on your own perceptions of what is happening, and on the analysis of the data being retrieved so the material gathered from the research should be used carefully, appropriately and correctly. After conducting the research, the information should then be shared to the participants and their whanau. Also, before reporting pertinent data gathered from Maori participants, the researcher should ask permission from them first and their whanau. Outcome 3 Task 3.1 Maori Regional Tauranga iwi and hapÃ…Â « continued to lose significant amounts of land after 1886, notably through Crown purchasing, public works, pressures caused by actual and potential rates debt, and the processes of urbanisation and subdivision. The tangata whenua could ill afford to lose any land at all, and the scale of the loss has compounded the prejudice they suffered from the raupatu and its aftermath. Particularly disappointing was the lack of adequate protection or assistance for those groups that were left landless or nearly so. Even where Maori managed to retain land, they faced considerable difficulty trying to develop it. To a large extent, the cause of this was the land tenure and administration system imposed by the Crown on Maori owners. Along with their loss of land, Tauranga Maori suffered reduced access to and use of traditional resources from the rivers, sea, and forests of Tauranga Moana. The intensification of economic activity and the accelerating pace of urban development often led to degradation and pollution of those environments. Alongside that, development has endangered the cultural heritage of Tauranga Maori: despite some protections, many sites of cultural, spiritual, and historical importance have been modified or even destroyed. Where their environment and cultural heritage are concerned, the tangata whenua have had to fight hard to maintain even a faint shadow of the tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga they exercised at the time the Treaty was signed. Maori National The history of Maori grievance over Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi dates back to the 1840s. As early as 1849 Ngai Tahu chiefs complained about the methods used in purchasing their lands. Around 1860, Maori still held onto most of their land, except for a few areas, particularly Wellington, Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay and parts of Northland. The 1860s saw confiscations of millions of hectares by the government and large areas of land lost through the effect of the Native Land Court. On 5 May 1863, Premier Alfred Domett sent a memorandum to Governor George Grey, proposing that Maori in a state of rebellion have their lands confiscated as a punishment. At first confiscation was intended to be relatively restricted, but it gradually became more and more elaborate. Land was confiscated both from tribes who had rebelled against the government, and those who had fought as government allies. It was envisaged that military settlers would be placed on confiscated land. Confiscations under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 and its amendments took place in South Auckland, Waikato, Tauranga, Ã…Å’pÃ…Â tiki-WhakatÄ ne, Taranaki, and the MÃ…Â haka-Waikare district in Hawkes Bay. Confiscations also took place in Poverty Bay under separate legislation. The period between 1890 and 1920 saw a boom in government land purchases, despite Maori protests. By 1937, very little land was left in Maori ownership. Maori were devastated by the effects of land confiscations, disease, and poverty. They also suffered discrimination in areas such as health, welfare, housing, military service, and sport. The pakeha laws and governance have excluded Maori from their land and culture and also afforded only marginal opportunity for Maori to participate in the economy or governance. Other Indigenous Native Americans Regional Indigenous peoples of California were Native Americans who lived in California before colonialism. This group covered much the same area as present day California. They survived mainly on plant food including grasses and acorns. Along the coast they supplemented their food with fish and seafood, and in the interior with animals such as deer and rabbits. They lived in villages of about 100 people, not always related. Because the villages contained people who were unrelated, there was a form of society with relationships between villages. Europeans first came to this area in 1542, and missions were established soon after. The missions would become the dominant economic force in Spanish colonial Alta California. By 1803 the population of nominally converted Native Americans was about 20,000. Using Native American labour, the Franciscans were developing the missions into physically impressive places with stone and abode buildings. The missionaries had legal custody of Native American people who had gone or been taken to the missions and regulated their lives in every detail. They were forced to labour in the mission fields, shops, and kitchens and took care of the thousands of cattle the missions owned. During this time the Native Americans had their land taken from them by force, and thousands were needlessly massacred. Although there are still groups present in the area today, much of their cultural identity has been lost. Native Americans National Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European Colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worst. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture. A side effect of the Europeans greed and attitude is that they could take anything they saw. A determined effort was made to completely suppress the Native culture. This active suppression took many forms. Certain tribes were freely supplied with guns, so that they could wipe out their neighbours. Old problems between tribes were brought back into the open, causing wars. The army and many settlers treated the Natives as nothing more than pests to be got rid of. Laws were introduced that banned certain ceremonies, forced the children into the European education system, and tied whole groups to land that was useless and could not sustain them. The intention was to deny them of their cultural identity, which has the same effect as wiping them out. Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to the Native Americans until the Europeans brought these diseases over time to them. This triggered the largest population decline in all recorded history. Fifty percent of the Native American population had died of disease within twenty years. They also brought guns, alcohol and horses. The effect of these was to change the way of life for the Native Americans. Horses and guns changed their way of hunting for food. Since the cultural groups had been based on their method of subsistence, changing this changed the groupings. Some major groups moved. Once they started to move fights over territory broke out. Groups who had had plenty of food, now didnt have enough. Task 3.2 Maori Customs Before colonization, Maori had their own unique identity. Tribes of Maori were called iwi and everybody belonged to one. Customs and protocols of the people influenced their way of thinking and way of living. Visiting tribes followed their hosts tikanga if they wished to return home safely and be welcomed for a return visit. By the mid 1860s, the Crown introduced legislation which began to enforce the growing assimilation attitude, with the Colonisers wanting Maori to be absorbed into the new colonial culture, and so the wearing away of the Maori people began. The mana of the Maori was weakened with the loss of a major part of their sense of belonging. Their customs and traditions were being compromised as the language was diminishing. The less Maori language was used, the less the transfer and understanding of qualities that Maoris used to value. Hapu and iwi almost become nonexistent because tribes struggle to stay together. Many sub-tribes go back to the larger tribe and some become a forgotten people. Lifestyle Maori early settlements were often at harbours or the mouths of rivers close to the sea, with good access to fishing and shellfish grounds. There was extensive hunting of seals and the large flightless bird, the moa. Increasingly Maori developed horticulture. With careful techniques, often involving the use of stone walls, and fire embers to warm soils, they succeeded in establishing several plants, especially the kumara (sweet potato). They also turned inland, and over several generations encountered the great forests. It moved from being largely maritime to one which, in certain places, was dominated by trees and bird life. Cannibalism was a feature, as was polygamy. Technology was limited to tools made of naturally occurring materials such as pounamu (the South Islands greenstone) and tuhua (obsidian); flax was used for weaving and other purposes. There was extensive trade in these goods, usually in the form of gift exchange. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, New Zealand became a British colony. This saw a great increase in the number of British migrants coming to New Zealand. Many had their passage paid for by colonial companies. The systematic colonial settlement of New Zealand was largely based on the ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who believed the colonial settlements should be modelled on the structures of British society. Many New Zealand cities and towns were established and populated in this way. These settlements were intended to be civilised and self-sufficient, with small farmers cultivating their land, and living in peace with the native people. After the first European whalers and traders came to New Zealand, Maori lifestyle in some areas changed dramatically, and never returned to the way it was. One of the most popular commodities the Maoris were interested in trading for were muskets. As Maoris had no long-range weapons, muskets were a valuable asset to tribes. The introduction of muskets made inter-tribal wars far more dangerous, especially if it was a tribe with muskets against a tribe without. Language Maori had a language unique to any other country in the world. The Maori language, te reo, is described as a taonga of the Maori people, a special possession or treasure. Although there were slight differences in the dialects among different tribes, the messages and meanings were never lost. Proverbs and genealogy were passed through prayers, chants and songs. However, due to colonization English has been imposed as the mainstream language, causing a loss of the indigenous language. Initially, te reo was widely spoken by the Europeans particularly in interaction with Maori and by both Maori and European children. In the early 1860s, colonisers became the dominant population and English became the primary language. The Crowns effort to assimilate their own culture had laws which imposed te reo to be confined to Maori communities. Speaking in Maori was officially discouraged and Maoris were punished for speaking their own language. Schooling was enforced, first in te reo for Maori but by 1910, in English only. It was then suppressed either formally or informally so that young Maoris would be able to assimilate with the wider pakeha-dominated community. By the 1920s only a few private schools still taught Maori grammar as a school subject. Many Maori parents encouraged their children to learn English and even to turn away from other aspects of Maori custom. Increasing numbers of Maori people learnt English because they needed it in the workplace or places of recreation such as the football field. Korero Pakeha (Speak English) was seen as essential for Maori people. This led to the decline of Maori speakers. Spiritual Health Mori had their own spiritual beliefs. There was a belief that humans were part of nature the forests, seas and waterways. People saw themselves in a sacred relationship with the natural world, and the exploitation of natural resources was conducted under strict regimes of tapu (sacredness) and mana (spiritual authority) administered by tohunga (priests). They believed in a supreme being and also that each area of the universe was under the guardianship of a caretaker. Colonisation by Europeans had a significant effect on traditional Maori healing. Tohunga had limited ability to combat the diseases brought by Europeans. Though Western medicine was also relatively ineffectual at the time, this failure still strongly affected Maori confidence in tohunga. Some pakeha missionaries attributed the spread of disease to a lack of Christian faith. As their own healers appeared impotent, many Maori accepted this explanation and turned to Christianity. Over time, the whare wananga (schools of higher learning) which had trained tohunga started to close. The tradition of the tohunga declined. Psychological Health The significance of whakapapa according to tikanga Maori, whakapapa is the glue that binds whanau, hapu and iwi together. Knowledge of ones whakapapa is a vital aspect of being Maori. It has been pointed out that whakapapa defines both the individual and kin groups, and governs the relationships between them. It confirms an individuals membership and participation rights within her or his kin groups. Traditionally every adult person was expected to know and to be able to trace descent back to the tribal ancestor, or back to at least the common ancestor after whom the group with whom one lived was named. The rights and claims that an individual could make to the resources of the group she or he related to, or identified with depended on such knowledge. When the Europeans came, family structures became dysfunctional. Oppression of Maori culture was predominant. The colonisers denied the Maori their whakapapa which is one of the worst things to happen to a Maori. This led to trauma and abuse and neglect of the Maoris especially the children who were often separated from their whanau. Physical Health Evidence suggests that Maori life expectancy at the time of Captain James Cooks visits to New Zealand (between 1769 and 1777) was higher than that in Britain. Maori may have had a life expectancy at birth of more than 30, compared with less than 30 for people in Britain. After European contact, however, there was a major decline in Maori life expectancy. By 1891 the estimated life expectancy of Maori men was 25 and that of women was just 23. Between 1840 and 1891 disease and social and economic changes had serious negative effects on Maori health and a significant impact on the population. Tribal dislocation from the traditional Maori environment was brought about by the land wars and the large-scale land confiscations that followed. There was widespread loss of land through purchase and the operation of the Native Land Court, and new patterns of land use and economic activity. Maori changed housing styles, water supplies, sanitation and diet. These affected standards of health usually for the worse. Very large increases in the European population during this period meant Maori across the country were continuously exposed to new diseases. Many Maori children died in their first year of life, often from pneumonia and respiratory infections. In addition, many adults and older children suffered from epidemics of viral disease and typhoid fever, as well as from tuberculosis, a chronic disease that often ended fatally. Relatively high death rates combined with low birth rates saw a rapid decline in the Maori population between 1840 and 1878, with a slower decline from 1878 to 1891. Between 1840 and 1891 the Maori population may have halved. The population continued to decline until the century was nearly over. There were humanitarian responses to Maori health decline. The earliest providers of medical care were the missionaries. Government hospitals were set up in a few places for Maori in the 1840s. As the non-Maori population grew, hospitals became increasingly pakeha-dominated institutions, built and administered by the local settler communities. Many Maori were suspicious of hospitals for cultural reasons, and were deterred from entering them by fees. From the 1840s the government subsidised a number of doctors (native medical officers) to provide medical care for any Maori who could not afford to pay for treatment. Other Indigenous Group Native Americans Customs In North America the continuous interactions with Europeans lead to mutual trading. Native Americans received European manufactured goods: cloth, beads, steel, guns etc. in exchange for animal hides. Native Americans became dependent upon European trading which in turn forced Native Americans to alter their cultural structure. They moved from a socialist egalitarian society to that with a class distinction, a disparity between that of the proletariat in the form of the Native American and that of bourgeoisie, in the form of the European. As a result of the increased demand in Europe for American animal hides, both Europeans and Native Americans began hunting more animals than they needed to sustain themselves in order to gain more material possessions. Consequently, some Native Americans began practicing polygamy in order to have the women cure the excess of hides that the men had hunted. Many of the Native Americans had no such concept of land ownership. Native belief essentially held that the land was a gift from the creator, to be used in common by all of the society for survival and sustenance. In many native societies, no single individual owned the land and no legal institution existed to exclude certain classes of persons from the land. Land ownership, then, was a fluid concept, especially among the nomadic tribes who moved from area to area with the seasons of the year. The native peoples lived off the land. They did not practice wholesale extraction of resources such as timber, fish, and wildlife as did their European contemporaries. In part this was because the land could sustain their small populations and because their needs were relatively simple by European standards of their day. By contrast, the European settlers wanted the creature comforts to which they had been accustomed in Europe. These comforts included commercially manufactured food, clothing, furniture, and so on. Additionally, the new settlers needed to transfer as much wea lth as possible, and as quickly as possible, from the New World to their mother countries. Lifestyle Before they were colonized, lifestyle depended largely on the type and amount of food available, and how easily people could move around. The size of individual groups within each area was limited by the amount of food available and the ability to store food. Native Americans took the roles of farmers, gatherers, fishermen, and hunters as the changing seasons and their environments required. They usually lived in relatively small villages, but large towns were common where resources could support them. They lived day-to-day in social systems resembling extended families and were governed mainly by tradition. People in the east and in the river valleys of the Plains, in continuity with the Woodland tradition, depended mainly on farming. Along the Pacific coast, people relied on fishing, and sometimes whaling, and in the south on acorns, in continuity with the societies of the Archaic period. In the arid country between Rockies and the Sierra Nevada, small groups travelled from resource to resource within huge territories, surviving by maintaining an exquisite knowledge of their environments. When the Europeans came, they re-introduced horses to the Native Americans. This greatly impacted their lifestyle. This new mode of travel made it possible for them to expand their territories, exchange goods with other neighbouring tribes and easily capture game for their food. However, there were instances wherein the Natives were herded onto reserves rather than permitted to freely hunt and wander around their traditional homelands. Language There were almost a thousand languages spoken in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans. In addition, these languages showed tremendous variety between one another. A trio of individuals from three areas a hundred miles apart might very likely have been completely unable to communicate by speech. There was, however, a sign language used in some areas to allow communication between those of different tribes. The spoken languages were neither primitive nor simple and many had grammars as complex as those of Russian and Latin. None of the native languages of America had a writing system until the arrival of Europeans. The arrival of European culture was not kind to the indigenous cultures of the Americas. The population of the native civilizations of the current territory of the United States fell from about 20 million to the present level of less than 2 million. Beyond the shrinking size of the ethnic populations, the languages have also suffered due to the prevalence of English among those of Native American ancestry. Most Native American languages have ceased to exist or are spoken only by older speakers. Spiritual Health The Native Americans believed in the Great Spirit. The Native Americans believed the Great Spirit had power over all things including animals, trees, stones, and clouds. The earth was believed to be the mother of all spirits. The sun had great power also because it gave the earth light and warmth. The Native Americans prayed individually and in groups. They believed visions in dreams came from the spirits. The medicine man or shaman was trained in healing the sick and interpreting signs and dreams. http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00019/11.gif When the Europeans came, many Christian missionaries tried to force Native American people to abandon traditional religious beliefs and practices. Missions were introduced, and Natives were aggressively encouraged to convert to Christianity. Christian missionaries would sometimes launch attacks on Native American religious institutions when forcing them to convert to Christianity did not work. These harmful attacks destroyed their beliefs. Most of the groups had had some form of ancestral worship and this enforced change in religion altered their culture identity. Also, when the European settlers took over land traditionally belonging to the Native Americans, this meant they were dispossessed of their own lands. For a culture that was linked inextricably to the land, it was a real tragedy to be separated from their spiritual roots. Psychological Health The Native Americans had never experienced anything like the deadly diseases before that wiped out almost half of their population. Soon after, they began to question their religion and doubted the ability of shaman to heal. They came to believe that Europeans had the power to kill or give life. Native Americans experienced trauma as a result of colonization. Physical Health Native Americans knew a lot about healing and natural medicine. The medicine included herbs but also spirits. Native Americans believed that people should live in harmony with the nature and you heal by returning people to that harmony. Most of the tribes had special medicine men and women who did the healing. Sometimes they are called shamans. They used lots of different herbs to heal. These herbs were often fixed as tea, but sometimes they were burned and the smoke was a healer. They also did cleansing or purification. They did this most often in the sweat lodge. This lodge is like sauna. They were small houses in which they burned cedar or willow. They were burned over the stones which would get hot. Then they would throw water on to make steam. Native Americans believed that the smoke and steam will clean them off diseases. Native Americans also had lots of ceremonies that were about healing. While they may seem strange, these traditions kept Native Americans healthy for centurie s. Europeans brought diseases against which the Native Americans had no immunity. Influenza, smallpox, measles, and typhus fever were relatively harmless to the European settlers, but these diseases wiped out huge numbers of American Native Americans. Not only did diseases cause a problem, but the introduction of new foods also caused problems. Foods containing wheat and sugar resulted in heart disease and obesity among the Native Americans. Europeans seeds and plants which were brought to North America spread and took over native habitat. Not only did these lead to the extinction of some species of native flora, but the break in the food chain also affected the native animals of North America. This in turn upset the balance of plants and animals on which the Native Americans relied for their food and other needs. Task 3.3 Maori Contemporary Issues In 2008 Treaty Negotiations Minister Michael Cullen signed a deed of settlement with seven central North Island tribes, transferring ownership of over $400 million worth of state forest land and accumulated rentals. The agreement contains only financial redress, on account against comprehensive settlements to be negotiated with each tribe. The agreement is the largest to date by financial value, at NZ$196 million worth of forest land in total (including the value of the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu share). In addition, but not counted by the government as part of the redress package the tribes will receive rentals that have accumulated on the land since 1989, valued at NZ$223 million. As of July 2008, there have been 23 settlements of various sizes. Settlements generally include financial redress, a formal Crown apology for breaches of the Treaty and recognition of the groups cultural associations with various sites. In November 2008, Chris Finlayson, a Wellington based lawyer with experience in Treaty claims, was appointed Minister for Treaty Negotiations following the National Party victory in the 2008 election. As well as the much publicized land and financial compensation, many of these later settlements included changing the official placenames. The Maori Fisheries Amendment Act 2011 has amended the Maori Fisheries Act 2004. It enables the transfer of Mandated Iwi Organisation status and fisheries settlement assets from an existing Mandated Iwi Organisation to another separate entity of the same iwi, and exempts the asset transfer from the protective provisions of the Act that would require their sale. It requires that fisheries settlement assets (being income shares in Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd and fisheries settlement quota) held by an iwi must be held by a Mandated Iwi Organisation. Previously, if an iwi attempted to transfer the fisheries settlement assets to another separate entity of the same iwi, protective provisions of the Maori Fisheries Act required sale of the assets to the highest eligible bidder from other Mandated Iwi Organisations and Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Ltd. It enables the transfer of the status of a Mandated Iwi Organisation (MIO), and all fisheries settlement assets held by that MIO and its subsid

Lotus Versus Zen Buddhism

William Bettley 4/3/2013 Cul 260 Prof. Grohe Zen (or Chan) and Lotus Buddhism A Comparison Essay Buddhism, like many other major religions has expanded past a simple definition. There are a large number of regions that practice this astronomically large religion, and throughout the years since its introduction to the world it has developed a large number of ways to practice the belief system. The sect with the largest number of temples in Japan is Zen Buddhism, the second largest number belong to the Lotus, or Nichiren Sect.Zen, being the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character Chan, falls into a much larger sect of Buddhism, with many different branches; this paper will look into the Japanese Zen branch and the Soto-Zen branch. These branches will be compared to the almost exclusively Japanese sect of Buddhism, Nichiren. The Nichiren sect, that borrows its name from its founder, is an extremely large sect of Buddhism whose main sutra is the Lotus Sutra. The Nichiren sect of Buddhism is any denomination of Buddhism that derives its beliefs from the teachings of the ancient Japanese teacher Nichiren. Nichiren is comprised of more than forty different independent religious institutions. Nichiren, originally a monk of the Tendai doctrine did not see himself as the creator of a sect, nor did he give his followers a name. It was in his death that his teachings, based on the Lotus Sutra, were denominated to be the Lotus sect of Buddhism† (Buswell Vol. 2). The largest of the Nichiren branches has its largest temple in Yamanashi and is called Nichrenshu. â€Å"Nichiren adopted the Tiantai School doctrine of reality as three thousand realms in a single thought to explain the theoretical basis upon which ordinary people can reach Buddhahood.He found this single thought doctrine not as an access from meditation, but as concrete manifestations from the three great secret dharmas. He derived these three secret dharmas from the latter half of the Lotus Sutra, or the origin teachings, thus these three secret dharmas became the core of his teachings. † (Buswell Vol. 2) The Daimoku, or name, is the Myohorengekyo or name of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren believed this to embody the essence of all Buddhist teachings. He felt that all that Buddha is and was and ever will be can be embodied in a practitioner through the faith and chanting of this name.He felt that through reciting this mane, the essence of the Buddhist teaching can be transferred to the practitioner in a moment of faith. This was the first dharma of lotus teaching. As with most major religions, and religious sects, there is an identifying object. The Lotus sect of Buddhism is no different. The second dharma of Lotus teaching was the honzon, or object of worship. During Nichiren’s lifetime he developed a calligraphy Mandala, an example of which you can see above. This is an example of the item of worship you would bear reverence to in this sect of Buddhism, and this can be found in every Lotus Buddhist temple.Namu Myohorengekyo is inscribed down the center, and to the left and right are inscribed the names of Buddha, along with the representatives of the assembly of the Lotus Sutra. The third dharma is the most controversial. The kaidan is to some a platform of belief, while to others it is a physical thing. By definition it is a platform loosely described in Nichiren’s writings. It is more definitely an ordination platform. In the esoteric sense it means that wherever one embraces the Lotus sutra is the Buddha land.There is not much to say about this but to say that Nichiren has mixed reviews on what he believed this to be. â€Å"Zen is the Japanese pronunciation of the Japanese character Chan† (Buswell Vol. 2). This was one of the first quotes in my paper, and allows us to look at Zen in a different light. While it remains the Zen school of Buddhism in Japan, it is a branch of the Chan school of Buddhism, thus to look at Zen, you mu st first see Chan. This section will look into both the Japanese Zen Buddhism, and the Soto Chan Buddhism.Japanese Zen Buddhism is almost exactly like the original Chan School, because it took upon itself Chan concepts in Japanese style. There is not much of a difference between the Chan School and central Buddhist practice, and thus I will not look deeply into it. One of the primary notable things about the Zen school is that it, much like other schools, incited much violence between the schools because of a difference of views. Soto Chan Buddhism takes as its main concept that one is already Buddha, and to take up the mantle, you must sit in meditation without the attempting to become Buddha.This is interesting and much different from what we have learned prior in this paper. Most schools of Buddhism do not see themselves already being Buddha, and most strive to achieve Buddhism, and that takes a huge parting path from original Buddha teachings. Thus far in this paper we have brok en down many branches of Buddhism schools and how they differ in belief. That being the target of the paper would imply that this is the end, but I must make a few additional remarks. In Buddhism one strives to achieve enlightenment. In that cause Buddhism is different from many religions.It takes a walk away from heaven, and strives towards the land of Buddha. But like many other religions there is discrepancy, and thus there is conflict. That does not mean that Buddhism is bad, just normal. There is much more depth this paper could look into, but doing so would make this a Buddhism paper, and not just the cores of the sects I am looking into. To see more of how this paper applies to Buddhism, would much improve the knowledge of the coherency of this paper. References Buswell, Robert E. Encyclopedia of Buddhism Vol. 1 Macmillan Reference USA. 004 PP, 134-135 Buswell, Robert E. Encyclopedia of Buddhism Vol. 2 Macmillan Reference USA. 2004 PP, 595-598, 293 Princeton EDU Nichiren Budd hism, Author Unknown, https://www. princeton. edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Nichiren_Buddhism. html Yusa, Michiko. Japanese Religious Traditions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print. All images belong to their original owners and no profit will be made from their inclusion in this paper. Any profit from this paper will be distributed to the owners of the original image holders at their request.

Employee Empowerment Essay

1.0 Introduction Employee Empowerment is not something that you simply declare you will initiate and expect that the program will be successful.   It requires good management programs for it to succeed.   This piece purports to show how team building as a management program can be used to make employee empowerment a success. Employee empowerment should be understood to mean a situation where everyone can take action to enhance his/her work, either in personal or organizational terms, and not just delegation of job authorities to job holders.   The essence of employee empowerment is to develop leadership skills (Lashley , 2000). 2.0 Case study Using an organizational culture framework, this case study examines the critical preconditions necessary for employee empowerment and highlights how the multiple cultures within one public bureaucracy differently impacted their implementation. Serve, a large human service organization, initiated an employee empowerment program that contradicted and thus collided with many elements of its overall organizational culture. Despite the best intentions of the organizational leaders, upper management support, and opportunities for participatory decision making, the organization could not foster the critical preconditions needed for employee empowerment. Leaders had difficulty expanding the employees’ power and promoting member inclusion. Concurrently, most employees rejected these new opportunities for control and distrusted the leader’s intentions. Yet, despite the widespread rejection of these empowerment initiatives, most employees described their work lives as empowering the piece discusses how a localized empowerment endeavor may be a more appropriate and feasible focus for public bureaucracies seeking to initiate greater staff empowerment. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between individuals and their environments, and how this interaction affects the empowerment process in light to the whole team building exercise. 2.1 Management Program that could be used in addressing the problem To avoid such instances like the one mentioned above, team building as strategy can be used. Team building refers to improving team performance by developing team working skills by using any appropriate method.   Effective team building and employee motivation fit together.   Successful organizations are not involved in team building as an end to itself but rather because with effective team building employee motivation increases and organizational results are achieved. (Cherney, 2002). 3.0 Review of the research With Adams Associates, enjoyment increased team building effectiveness.   Team building is a tool for employee motivation.   All teams go through very predictable phases.   Knowing and understanding these phases gives leadership the confidence to continue in the team building even when during one of the phases, the employee motivation appears to be declining. A prime example of utilizing and effectively using the method of team work is through a workshop duly created for the purpose of enhancing skills of the employee, creating a spirit of team building, showing how to address conflict management, teaching problems solving skills and enhancing quality management techniques with team work, there is better understanding of the different leadership styles as well as inclination of and empowerment of employees (.Modern Management, 2003). Communication also, as one of the most vital and important methods of any relationship has been observed to lead to a truly cohesive and effective means of accomplishing goals of the organization.   One of the prime examples practiced by a number of organizations includes a morning chat before commencing actual work.   This morning exchange of ideas not only gives impetus to the overall objectives of the organization, they also provide a sense of motivation and empowerment for the numerous tasks and activities that will face the employees during the course of the long working day ahead of them. Though this morning exchange of ideas and sharing of information may not take long, the little time together provides a sense of responsibility amongst team members and leads the team to bring out new ideas that may assist other team members in their course of their day’s normal routine work.   It also allows employees to reinforce ground rules that have already been established by the organization, as well as lead to a truly satisfying and enjoyable working environment. Another important way of enhancing employee empowerment via team building is through enhancing leadership skills among employees.   Good leadership qualities are similar to good parenting. The object is thus to create an environment where employees not only enjoy to utilize their own strengths, but as members of a team also ensure that they become effective and contributing members of the respective organizations. In case of any changes, the workers must be involved or else they will fight progress (Chien, 2004).   In an empowered organization people should not expect to be told what to do but they should know what to do.   There is therefore need to support and stimulate the people co-operate to overcome functional barriers and work to eliminate fear within their team (Hand 1994:25). Research findings concerning self-managed teams have been largely positive.   Proponents claim that self-managed work teams are effective because they empower employees to make decisions that affect their lives.   Thus these teams radically change the way that employees value and think about jobs.   Other benefits associated with self managed teams include greater flexibility to respond to market changes and competitive pressures. 3.1 Companies that have experienced various degrees of success Let us now see why some companies seem so successful while others do not.   Microsoft’s success can be attributed tot heir work place environment, empowerment of employee ideas and their employee benefits.   A motivated work force, coupled with a well built team causes a team of motivated people to work towards accomplishing their goals. In order to achieve its goals, Microsoft hires not only graduates who the company believes will contribute by bringing in fresh innovation and ideas for the upcoming generation.   After hiring these employees, the company ensures that these employees are always focussed and are giving their full potential in delivery of services. Eastman Kodak, a company concerned with developing, manufacturing, marketing imaging products and service for consumers has adapted a Kodak and lean cross-dock projects to oversee that the company is successful.   Lean cross-docks create an environment of empowerment by enabling any cross-dock employee to top and seek help to fix problems.   Employees training encourage empowerment by providing the rationale for why processes are performed in a specified manner.   This not only enhances their employee’s understanding of operations but also facilitates operational improvements. It also practices respect for workers starting with worker safety.   Employee safety is particularly critical at cross-dock because of the fast-faced, high volume material flow.   Respect for workers is also communicated by seriously considering employee suggestions for improvement and reviewing them in a timely manner (Child et al, 1994). In pursuing the opportunity, Kodak used the expertise of Tran freight; a lean-dock specialist.   The team then developed projects objectives based on thorough discussions with Kodak managers.   The objectives included creation of employee-empowered, team oriented in problem solving among others and team building was also at the core of these objectives.   This success enabled Kodak to expand the number of plants and supplies involved in the lean cross-dock operation. With the above two examples, it is evident that team building is crucial for employee empowerment to be a success.   For team building to thrive, the executive leadership needs to clearly communicate its expectations for the team performance and expected outcome.   The team members should understand why the team was created.   The organization on its part needs to demonstrate consistency of purpose in supporting the team with required resources. The members also ought to understand the context.   That is why they are participating on the team.   They should understand how the strategy of using teams will help the organization attain its communicated business goals.   Over and above all, the members should define their team’s importance to the accomplishment of corporate goals and understand where its work fits in the total context of the organization goals, principles and visions. For good team building, the members need to have the desire to participate in the team. The feeling that team mission is important should be entrenched in each and every one of them.   They should perceive that service as valuable to the organization and to their own career, anticipate recognition for their contributions and expect their skills to grow and develop on the team. The management also needs to enhance clarity about the priority of the tasks of the team members.   The organization is required to provide business information regularly.   The team members also need to communicate clearly and honestly with each other and bring diverse opinions to the table as ways of addressing necessary arising conflicts. If these suggestions are not adhered to employee empowerment in an organization is doomed to fail.   These are however not the only reason why employee empowerment fails.   Other reasons are explained herein. Firstly, there is lack of a clear definition of empowerment by managers.   Managers need to clarify such issues as what decisions can be made in their absence by the employees, without their permission or oversight. Secondly, the top management sometimes defines the decision making authority and boundaries with staff but then micromanage the work of employees.   This is majorly because the managers do not trust the staff to make good decisions.   If the staff members know this, they will craftily make decisions on their own and hide the results or come to the manager for everything because they do not know what they really can control (Bateman & Snell, 1999). Sometimes, managers abdicate all responsibility and accountability for decision making when reporting staff for instance is blamed or punished for failures, mistake and less optimum results, they flee from empowerment.   This failure to publicly support decisions and stand behind the employees makes them feel deserted.   As a company’s resource therefore, employees need to be organized forcefully enough to achieve the objectives.   A critical feature of successful teams is that they are invested with a significant degree of empowerment or decision making authority. Equally important, employee empowerment changes the manager’s mindset and leaves them with more time to engage in broad based thinking, visioning and nurturing.   This intelligent and production division of duties between visionary leaders, focusing on emerging opportunities and empowered employees, running the business until day to day provides for a well managed enterprise with strong growth potential. To sum it all up, there are a few things that need to be done for successful employee empowerment as relates to team building.   The top management needs to realize that its behaviour must change too.   They should not expect employees to confidently begin solving problems and making improvements unless they see that the executive group will support it and do it themselves.   Infact, employees will not even bother trying unless they see evidence that top people mean it (Zoglio, 1997). A clear goal needs to be set since groups of employees with no experience working together on business issues will not know where to start.   Focus should be on the real work effort.   Remember, empowerment works best when employees have an important compelling business-related goal such as saving the company from bankruptcy, being the low cost, high quality leader in their field. 4.0 Conclusion For employee empowerment to be a success therefore in any organization, team building is a critical component.   This is because it will ensure commitment which is the foundation for synergy in groups, contribution, effective communication, and co-operation and will also deal effectively with conflict management.

Bilingual Language Education Policy And The English As A...

This paper presents a gap between current foreign language education policy and the English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching practices in addressing intercultural communication objectives in Vietnam. Although the current Vietnamese foreign language education policy advocates the intercultural communication aims, intercultural language teaching and learning has not yet been applied in foreign language classrooms. The findings from interviews, class observations and document analysis show that foreign language teachers mainly focus on developing learners’ linguistic performance rather than their intercultural competence because current policy statements about pedagogies and content of intercultural language teaching have not been explicitly expressed and communicated to foreign language teachers. The author suggests a bottom-up policy making process in which policy-makers and language teachers should both involve in addressing the pedagogy of intercultural language teaching. This article contributes greatly to the new research area of policy-practice relationship in intercultural language learning and teaching in Vietnam, especially in the current trend of Vietnamese education reform; hence it should be accepted with minor revisions in the International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning. In fact, this article is coherent and well informed with data from the author’s original research. It presents valuable findings and suggestions which have not been reported previouslyShow MoreRelatedBilingual Education System in China Essay1005 Words   |  5 Pagesin today’s world that bilingual education is becoming one of the most significant issues in the sphere of global education. In comparison with the status of bilingual education (BE) in China, a great deal more is known about its development in countries of Europe and North America (Feng 2007, vii). 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