Thursday, January 23, 2020

Siddhartha - symbolism of the river :: essays research papers

Throughout the pilgrimage of Siddhartha’s life, he went through many different stages. In the beginning, we meet Siddhartha, The Brahmin’s Son. Siddhartha was very intelligent, but wanted to learn more. His mind was not full, and his soul was not at peace. He decided to become a Samana in order to fill his mind and set his soul at peace. He had a goal to become completely empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow. He had the idea that if he could completely lose Self, he would be content. During his time with the Samanas, Siddhartha heard about Gotama, the Buddha, and became distrustful of teachings and decided to leave the Samanas with the belief that what they could teach him was not good enough. He had to learn things for himself by experiencing them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After listening to Gotama’s teachings, Siddhartha had an awakening. He thought, â€Å"The reason why I do not know anythng about myself, the reason why Siddhartha has remained alien and unknown to myself is due to one thing, to one single thing—I was afraid of myself, I was fleeing from myself.† He realized that he was seeking Brahman and wished to destroy himself rather than finding and getting to know himself. This awakening set Siddhartha onto another stage in his journey. During the beginning of this stage, Siddhartha saw things in a completely new way. He saw the sun rise and the stars for the first time. Siddhartha came upon a beautiful young woman, who very much helped lead him into the next step of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Siddhartha believed that he loved her and that she loved him. She led him into thinking that he would be happy if he had money, nice clothes, and her. Siddhartha became a successful merchant and loved money. He believed that with money, he could have what he wanted. After all, was it not money that got him Kamala in the first place? The money that had gotten Siddhartha what he wanted began to destroy him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Siddhartha began to think that this world of the riches he had become accustomed to was nothing but a game, as was the love he felt for Kamala. This belief led him into the next stage of his pilgrimage. Siddhartha believed that there was nothing left for him in life, and he wanted to end it, but from somewhere in his soul he heard the holy word Om and his soul suddenly, once again, was awakened.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Finance Essay

These policies are characterized by a combination of risk and return, and can have from a conservative to an aggressive profile. The three types of working capital policies most recommended and used are: Aggressive Policy, Average Policy, and Conservative Policy. The aggressive policy working capital management focuses on maintaining current assets amounts at minimum levels, which is reflected in the total asset turnover higher, with a higher margin. This policy emphasizes the aspect of returns on risk-return decision. This policy is the highest risk policy but with more funds to reinvest in the company or usiness. According to Kulkarni (2011) â€Å" it is a high risk arrangement though, because, should your creditor come asking for money, and for some reason, you don’t have enough money to pay them off, you might end up having to sell a costly asset to pay off your debt to them. † (Kulkarni, A. 2011 , Working Capital Policy, 9). The matching policy working capital mana gement leaves a person with cash available to reinvest in his company or business. This policy entails a medium level risk and with this policy the business assets matched business liabilities. According to Kulkarni (2011) â€Å"this policy works in an arrangement where the current assets of the business are used perfect to match the current liabilities. It is a medium risk proposition and requires a good amount of attention. † (Kulkarni, A. 2011 , Working Capital Policy, 6). A conservative policy working capital management focuses on maintaining a high liquidity, as well as other accounts assets, as inventories and accounts receivable, which is very expensive, because they remain idle resources that eventually become unproductive, with slow rotation of assets due to the large investment in current assets. This policy emphasizes the minimization of risk, as opposed to maximizing yields that is not risk to be sure liquidity. A conservative policy may be best for people who want to keep low risks. According to Kulkarni (2011) â€Å"This is the policy with the lowest risk, but it reduces the money used in increasing the production† (Kulkarni, A. 2011 , Working Capital Policy, 11). Recommended Policy The working capital policy recommended for Lawrence Sports is the matching policy, more commonly referred to as the moderate approach. The working capital is funded by short and long term borrowing, equity financing or a combination of them. It is vital for the company to balance the risk and return of financing. The moderate approach falls in between the two other polices described above and is the most balanced. This enables Lawrence Sports to balance its risk and returns. Furthermore, it finances short term debt with temporary assets while permanent and fixed assets are financed by long term debt and equity sources (Zeepedia, n. d. ). A moderate approach gives Lawrence Sports the ability to maintain the relationships necessary to continue business, balance the working capital to still create a profit, and repay what is owed to the bank. Figure 1. Different Policies Regarding the Level of Investment in Working Capital demonstrates how the Moderate Approach compares with the others in terms of the level of investment in working capital (Watson ;amp; Head, 2012, p. 72). Risk It is important for a company to choose the best working capital policy, one that features a level of risk the company can handle. Team C decisions about working capital management are being driven by the intrinsically related priority of risk management. Team C’s aim is to minimize the risk of insolvency while maximizing the return on the assists (Dixon, 1991). Teams C choose the matching working capital policy because it entails a medium level of risk and it will also leave Lawrence Sports with more cash to reinvest in the business. Lawrence Sports will keep low levels of working capital so that they can employ the funds more productively elsewhere like purchasing more goods or more machinery. It is a relatively amount of risk balanced by a relatively moderate amount of expected return. The best level of working capital would be the one in which a balance is achieved between risk and efficiency which also requires continuous monitoring to maintain proper level in various components of working capital, i. e. , cash receivables, inventory and payables, etc. Contingencies A contingency is an unexpected event or situation that affects the financial health, professional image, or market share of a company. It is usually a negative event, but can also be an unexpected windfall such as a huge order. Anything that unexpectedly disrupts a company’s expected operation can harm the company even if the disruption is because of a windfall (Duff, 2013). In the case of Lawrence Sports there should be a contingency plan in place in the event product is damaged or lost either in transit or by some unforeseen event. Another contingency plan Lawrence Sports should consider is a cash reserve to cover accounts receivable loses if Mayo defaults on invoice credits. In this case vendor defaults affect bottom line but in turn Lawrence would not have to borrow money from Gartner and avoid high interest rates. For Lawrence to recover from such an incident Lawrence Sports needs to use its working capital to cover the costs so that funds are not continuously incurred on the bank loan. In order for Lawrence Sports to raise the capital to cover a contingency plan Mayo would have to relinquish all sales to Lawrence Sports, payments to Gartner will have to be stretched out further and Murray would lose working capital and halt operations because Lawrence Sports payments would be differed even longer. These hefty decisions are all apart of risk management and can negatively affect business relations.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Epicurus His Philosophy of Pleasure

Wisdom hasnt come a step further since Epicurus but has often gone many thousands of steps backwards.​Friedrich Nietzsche About Epicurus Epicurus (341-270 B.C.) was born in Samos and died in Athens. He studied at Platos Academy when it was run by Xenocrates. Later, when he joined his family on Colophon, Epicurus studied under Nausiphanes, who introduced him to the philosophy of Democritus. In 306/7 Epicurus bought a house in Athens. It was in its garden that he taught his philosophy. Epicurus and his followers, who included slaves and women, secluded themselves from the life of the city. The Virtue of Pleasure Epicurus and his philosophy of pleasure have been controversial for over 2000 years. One reason is our tendency to reject pleasure as a moral good. We usually think of charity, compassion, humility, wisdom, honor, justice, and other virtues as morally good, while pleasure is, at best, morally neutral, but for Epicurus, behavior in pursuit of pleasure assured an upright life. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without living pleasantly. Whenever any one of these is lacking, when, for instance, the man is not able to live wisely, though he lives honorably and justly, it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life.Epicurus, from Principal Doctrines Hedonism and Ataraxia Hedonism (a life devoted to pleasure) is what many of us think of when we hear Epicurus name, but ataraxia, the experience of optimal, enduring pleasure, is what we should associate with the atomist philosopher. Epicurus says we should not try to increase our pleasure beyond the point of maximum intensity. Think of it in terms of eating. If youre hungry, theres pain. If you eat to fill the hunger, you feel good and are behaving in accordance with Epicureanism. In contrast, if you gorge yourself, you experience pain, again. The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain. When such pleasure is present, so long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together. Satiation According to Dr. J. Chander*, in his course notes on Stoicism and Epicureanism, for Epicurus, extravagance leads to pain, not pleasure. Therefore we should avoid extravagance. Sensual pleasures move us towards ataraxia, which is pleasing in itself. We should not pursue endless stimulation, but rather seek out enduring satiation. All desires that do not lead to pain when they remain unsatisfied are unnecessary, but the desire is easily got rid of, when the thing desired is difficult to obtain or the desires seem likely to produce harm. The Spread of Epicureanism According to The Intellectual Development and Spread of Epicureanism, Epicurus guaranteed the survival of his school (The Garden) in his will. Challenges from competing for Hellenistic philosophies, notably, Stoicism and Skepticism, spurred Epicureans to develop some of their doctrines in much greater detail, notably their epistemology and some of their ethical theories, especially their theories concerning friendship and virtue. Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure. The caretaker of that abode, a kindly host, will be ready for you; he will welcome you with bread, and serve you water also in abundance, with these words: Have you not been well entertained? This garden does not whet your appetite; but quenches it. Anti-Epicurean Cato In 155 B.C., Athens exported some of its leading philosophers to Rome, where Epicureanism, in particular, offended conservatives like Marcus Porcius Cato. Eventually, however, Epicureanism took root in Rome and can be found in the poets, Vergil (Virgil), Horace, and Lucretius. Pro-Epicurean Thomas Jefferson More recently, Thomas Jefferson was an Epicurean. In his 1819 Letter to William Short, Jefferson points up the shortcomings of other philosophies and the virtues of Epicureanism. The letter also contains a short Syllabus of the doctrines of Epicurus. Ancient Writers on the Topic of Epicureanism EpicurusDiogenes LaertiusLucretiusCiceroHoraceLucianCornelius NeposPlutarchSenecaLactantiusOrigen Sources David John Furley Epicurus Whos Who in the Classical World. Ed. Simon Hornblower and Tony Spawforth. Oxford University Press, 2000. Hedonism and the Happy Life: The Epicurean Theory of Pleasure, www.epicureans.org/intro.html Stoicism and Epicureanism, moon.pepperdine.edu/gsep/ class/ethics/stoicism/default.html