Towards understanding the dynamics of transformation in spiritual psychology with particular reference to Buddhist teachings

My thesis brings into conversation, Buddhist spiritual teachings with the medieval contemplative Christian understanding and modern ontological thoughts, to investigate the dynamic characteristics of spiritual transformation. The thesis explores the following questions: Is there a spiritual journey? To what extent the journey itself is the transforming energy? To whom is transformation happening? How do we become the truth uncovered? Have we always been living in a ‘plenum’ with respect to the Buddha nature teaching? Is the Buddha and his teachings revolutionary agents of continuous transformation. Does the spiritual path focus on the cultivation of a Nirvanic-mind only, what about the body? My conversations revealed the following: That it is possible to become aware that conditioned thoughts are thinking the person. That it is possible for the conditioned (klesha) mind to become aware of its own Nirvanic mind-nature. A deluded mind uncovers its own wisdom nature by practising an unconstructed knowing. Thus, the enlightened mind perfects ‘objectless awareness’ and encounters reality as wisdom itself. The transformative power of failure is a yoga and as such it is perfected in the Bodhisattva vow to save all beings. Central to sustaining the spiritual path is to have a question such as ‘Is what I am doing what God is doing’. Life and the spiritual path are unpredictable; the unpredictable challenges the mind’s tendencies to conceptualize experience. The body holds the unpredictable energy of the disowned, which relates to as ‘flashing’ energies in the body. Transformation is the recognition of the first pure moment of awareness which also recognizes that goodness is at the heart of all things. The liberating doctrine is that everything is open (empty) and unbounded thus all matter is redemptive and as such we are always in the realm of truth

Reserve Requirements Survey

Banks have a private motive to hold some level of cash and liquid reserves, but the negative externalities of bank runs create a public interest in setting a regulatory level higher than the privately optimal level. We can think of such reserve requirements (RRs) as the original form of liquidity regulation. In this paper, we focus on 14 cases in which central banks adjusted RRs after crises hit, typically to deal with liquidity shortages in the banking system. We observe that RR adjustments have several advantages in a crisis: (1) such changes require little process, and the change for banks can be quick; (2) stigma concerns may be much lower than with emergency lending operations; (3) RRs can be used to fine-tune incentives for holding various types and maturities of assets; and (4) RR easing can complement a central bank’s other liquidity support programs

Blanket Guarantees Survey

This paper surveys 10 blanket guarantee (BG) programs across 13 Key Design Decisions. The defining characteristics of these programs in terms of their inclusion in our BG series are (a) that they guaranteed a broader range of liabilities beyond deposit accounts and (b) that the guarantees covered existing liabilities in addition to newly issued ones. Each case represents an effort to eliminate creditors’ incentive to withdraw funding from institutions by guaranteeing that the funding will be paid back even if the institutions are unable to do so themselves. The main themes that emerge are: (a) the inability of blanket guarantees to address underlying problems without complementary liquidity support and restructuring measures; (b) the importance of credibility, particularly as related to the amount of liabilities guaranteed relative to fiscal resources; (c) the need to address the moral hazards that a blanket guarantee creates, by restricting banks’ behavior during the acute phase of a crisis—for example, through interest-rate caps or bans on aggressive marketing—and by promising to increase official supervisory oversight as the crisis extends into its chronic phase; (d) the importance of effective communication; and (e) the importance of clear political support for a program that represents potentially substantial fiscal costs, which authorities may be unable to quantify at the time of the announcement

An exploration of the impact of celebrity on the HIV/AIDS pandemic

The framework we present in this article separates into three generations the celebrity/personality involvement in the AIDS movement that has been steadily building momentum over the past 25 years. We analyze the celebrification of HIV/AIDS and the role of the media in the process. We contend the relationship between celebrity, the public and HIV/AIDS is multipurpose: celebrities maintain a positive public presence between projects while allowing themselves and their supporting fans to feel good about taking on and affecting a meaningful cause. Celebrities are vehicles and embodiments of concern that act as proxies for their various audiences. And this is their power–celebrities are embodiments of their audiences. The awareness that celebrities have brought to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has resulted in better treatment for victims and increased government support for medical research, and yet has also distracted the public’s attention from the scope of the epidemic. It is the third generation of celebrities who are refocusing efforts on worldwide prevention and a cure for HIV/AIDS

Book Reviews

The Hebrew God: Portrait of an Ancient Deity Lang, Bernhard New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002 Reviewed By Bill T. Arnold A Marginal Jew, vol. 3, Companions and Competitors Meier, John P New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, 2001 Reviewed By Mattie Greathouse The Gospel of Mark: A Soda-Rhetorical Commentary Witherington, Ill, Ben Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2001 Reviewed By Greg Carey After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity. Trans. Doug Scott Voli, Miroslav Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1998 Reviewed By Howard A. Snyder The Literary Structure of the Old Testament: A Commentary on Genesis-Malachi Dorsey, David A. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999 Reviewed By Joel H. Hunt Make the Old Testament Live: From Curriculum to Classroom Hess, Richard S., and Cordon J. Wenham, editors Eerdmans, 1998 Reviewed By Joel H. Hunt Christology Schwarz, Hans Grand Rapids : William B. Eerdmans, 1998 Reviewed By Greg Carey New Testament History: A Narrative Account Witherington, Ben Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001 Reviewed By Ruth Anne Reese The Omphalos and the Cross: Pagans and Christians in Search of a Divine Center Ciholas, Paul Macon : Mercer University Press, 2003 Reviewed By Michael Harstad Participating in God: Creation and Trinity Powell, Samuel M. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003 Reviewed By James Holsinger Judges. Interpretation Commentary Series McCann, J. Clinton Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 2002 Reviewed By Victor H. Matthews Clark H. Pinnock: Journey Toward Renewal: An Intellectual Biography Callen, Barry L Published in Cooperation with The Wesleyan Theological Society. Nappanee, IN: Evangel Publishing House, 2000 Reviewed By Howard A. Snyder Radical Christianity: The Believers Church Tradition in Christianity\u27s History and Future Callen, Barry L Nappanee, IN: Evangel Publishing House, 1999 Reviewed By Howard A. Snyder The Unity Movement Vahle, Neal Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press, 2002 Reviewed By Steven Tsoukala

Survey of Resolution and Restructuring in Europe: Pre- and Post-BRRD

This paper surveys 19 case studies of bank resolutions and restructurings across 15 Key Design Decisions. It focuses on interventions that occurred in Europe both in the years leading up to the adoption of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) in 2014 (when many jurisdictions were constrained by a lack of legal authority) and in the years after the BRRD was in place. The main themes that emerge are: (a) the need for resolution and restructuring to eliminate uncertainty about an institution’s solvency by closing it, recapitalizing it, or merging it with a healthier institution; (b) the importance of effective valuation in achieving this result; (c) the necessity of clarity in the treatment of creditors; and (d) the value of a credible bail-in tool to incentivize creditors to agree to solutions outside of resolution