On the first four chapters, Ray’s met two people whom he called Dharma Bums. The old bum whom he met in the gondola during his trip from Los Angeles and Japhy a young scholar from Oregon whom he seen interest in Buddhism and have a great poetic skills. I Meeting the old bum in gondola reminds him about the practice of charity in Diamond Sutra. He realizes that during the time he was practicing his religious devotion he is not being true to what he knew and said. In addition, he felt that he was a wanderer seeking for the true teaching of Buddhism. On the other hand, he observed a lot during his meeting with Japhy. He thinks that his knowledge and belief is insincere or pointless due to what he is doing.
This takes place in the Florida Keys up to Miami. It is placed in modern day time. This story happens in the summer.
In chapter 2, of Essentials of the U.S Health Care System, Shi and Singh both talk about focusing on determinants to improve health. Having adequate health insurance for everyone is a great start to improving one’s health, but the bigger issue is addressing the needs of the people who have low income or the needs for different ethnic groups. In the documentaries, Bad Sugar, Becoming American, Collateral Damage and In Sickness and In Wealth, they all touched on social determinants. It did not matter if you lived in the United States, a third world country or a reservation, they all expressed a need the can better their health.
Rayber tries, as Mason does, to implant his ideas within Francis. “Both Rayber and Mason direct the explosive force of their actions toward Francis, being lost themselves. Their struggle to survive decimates their nephew” (Paulson 106). Rayber condemned the violent act that Mason committed, taking Francis and Rayber both away from reality, but Rayber committed the violent act of trying to drown his own son. Rayber and Mason both use Francis and Bishop as a way to keep the loneliness away. “O’Connor, though, draws a parallel between them by making both men evangelical zealots” (Paulson 102). Rayber is skeptical of religion and Mason has a religious fervor.
Many people have a feeling of unfulfillment at some point in their lives. They feel that they are not living life to the fullest, and make drastic changes in order to reach that feeling of true fulfillment. This feeling is usually manifested as a “mid-life crisis,” which is when middle-aged people face a major shift of identity and self-confidence, causing them to act out and buy sports cars and have affairs with younger women in order to feel younger and more fulfilled. However, these feelings of unfulfillment can be manifested in other ways. In Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha and the movie Into the Wild, the main characters, Siddhartha and Chris McCandless, have these same feelings and make major life changes in order to reach complete happiness
Focusing often on the Zen Buddhist beliefs of Ray, Kerouac’s character in The Dharma Bums, and Japhy, Ray’s best friend and spiritual mentor, the book often loses itself in pondering the meanings of life. Kerouac not only broaches the Zen Buddhist beliefs on the various issues, but also touches on how Christians, Taoists, and Muslims see the same issues. All this is affected in the dry, down to earth style of writing Kerouac became famous for.
The novel Makes Me Wanna Holler discusses the problems of the black Americans from an insider’s prospective. When I say black Americans, I mean from the cultural issues, fatherhood, family, and how blacks working class families are anything, but lazy. Nathan recalls his troubled childhood, rehabilitation while in prison, and his success with the Washington Post. The novel helped me understand the mindset of black males and why some choose to be affiliated with gangs. Additionally, I learned that bouncing back from a hardship time help you regain strength because Nathan went threw a lot. However, I did not relate to the novel, but I understood the concept of it. The title of this book speaks out loud about the inner struggle that he encounter.
Timber Hawkeye is the author of Buddhist Boot Camp. Timber is a very spiritual man of Buddhism and wishes to create happiness throughout all eyes of the public. Timber received an education degree in religion from an unknown university. He has traveled to many destinations of spirituality (Facebook). One of the most famous and well-known places he has traveled is to go and see Tibetan Lama (also known as the Buddhist guru). Timber explains how he asks "With all due respect, I don't believe the Buddha ever intended for his teachings to get THIS complicated!" (pg. 7). Tibetan Lama then says "The Buddha didn't do this! The Tibetan culture did; this is their way. Why don't you try Zen? I think you'd like it!" (pg.7). Since then, Timber has created a new outlook on his life and has begun to be grateful for everything that has been prospered in his life.
Buddhism is considered as one of the leading religions throughout the world today. In order for a Buddhist to follow the religion, there are certain set of guidelines that one has to follow to gain a better life, but most people have other factors that they have to face along this path. The story, “The Journey of One Buddhist Nun” by Sid Brown, is an account of a Thai woman, Maechi Wabi, who entered a spiritual life along with life struggles and outside influences. According to Brown, Wabi faced many challenges along the way to liberation and two challenges she faced most are the gender and socioeconomic issues which she overcame during her spiritual journey.
Escaping poverty was one of the themes of “A Raisin in the Sun.” The family’s chance of escape becomes a reality when a $10,000 check arrives in the mail. Everyone is wanting to spend their money for their own dream, each with their own way of escaping poverty. Walter believes that investing all the money into the liquor store will put the family higher in the ranks while earning them more income, therefore they would no longer be poverty-stricken. He believes money is everything and wants his family to have the best. This can be seen when he tells his son, “[without even looking at his son, still staring hard at his wife] In fact, here’s another fifty cents…Buy yourself some fruit today – or take a taxicab to school or something!” (pg 1.1.59).
The first sentence of the chapter “Whites” explains the relationship between different ethnic groups and the Caucasian. Otsuka phrases the relationship by stating, “We settled on the edges of their towns, when they would let us” (Otsuka, 2011, p. 23). This sentence explains a strong sense of discrimination even before World War II; such as, hanging signs expressing great detest toward the Japanese living in their counties. This made the women experience moving from one farm to the next picking different vegetables and fruits that belong to ‘them’ until the whites didn’t need them anymore, then they were forced to move on until they find somewhere new they were needed by them. This was very different from the letters they had read about the
For centuries Buddhists have contemplated the meaning of life and their ultimate goal to achieve enlightenment. In J.D Salinger’s short story “Teddy”, the reader is quick to discover that the main character Teddy is wise and philosophical due to his belief of his past lives, and his desire to reach his final enlightened state. The symbols that Salinger introduces in this story are the portholes that allow the reader an insight into the multitude of thought processes that take place in Teddy’s mind. Through orange peels and apples of logic, readers learn a vast variety of knowledge about Teddy.
Armstrong, Karen. Buddha. New York: Lipper/Penguin, 2004. 66-98. Print.
When the tale of Melibee ended, the Host said that he'd give up a barrel of ale to have his wife hear the tale of Prudence and her patience, for she is an ill-tempered woman. The Host asks the narrator his name, and attempts to guess his profession perhaps a sexton or other such officer, or a wily governor. The Monk will tell the next tale, a series of tragedies.
In the novel, The Buddha in the Attic, the women traveling to America face hardships they could have never imagined. The girls mentioned in the novel do not have names, and are only depicted by the way they were brought up in their home country of Japan. The absence of a proper narrator gives the reader a more intimate feeling and the ability to make a deeper connection with the women. Additionally, the period when the novel is set, before the Pearl Harbor bombing, gives the reader an insight on how the women will be effected in America. In The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, the women are joined together and separated by the way they were raised in Japan and the way that they are treated in America by those whom they serve.
Thelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire. Monk is the second most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington, which is particularly remarkable as Ellington composed more than a thousand pieces, whereas Monk wrote about seventy. Thelonious Sphere Monk was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and was the son of Thelonious and Barbara Monk. Thelonious Monk and his family moved to New York City when he was four years old. He started playing piano when he was around five. In his early teens, Monk found his first job touring as an accompanist to an evangelist. While he toured with the evangelist he would