Green hemp smoothie, hemp protein berry muffins, and precious iced coffee

A little while ago, I almost posted a tweet along the lines of writing a cookbook is like being lowered slowly into a pit full of spiders. I stopped short of sending it out, not wanting my mom worry too much about what the NYC subway system is like these days.

Whatexactly that means I couldnt tell you: only except that Im in deep. Writing my 8th book in 10 years of cookbook-mongering, I still sometimes feel like Im exploring a damp, vast cavern guided only by the flicker of a cheap lighter and a vague memory of a map I glimpsed for a few minutes before stumbling around that old cookbook writing labyrinth.

And what isthis dark writing landscape? Its a crazy pile of recipe research, writing, grocery shopping (never ending it seems), testing, and writing it all again. With rapidly advancing deadline in August. So little time and so many recipes to visualize, write out, test, re-write, test again (if necessary). And then theres all the other stuff I need to write, such as readable and entertaining headnotes or ingredient descriptions. Dont even get me started about the mad dash to the finish line that is food photography.

Im not in it totally alone. I have an amazing recipe-ninja assistant and a small special-opts task force I emotionally lean on daily. While Im sure there are some cookbook authors happily typing and cooking away on desert (or please yes dessert) islands, I cannot create without the loving support of some precious humans/cats/dogs/goat.

The name of my new book is Protein Ninja: after all these years, my publisher at last has allowed me to have ninja in the title of a book. It only took writing a best-selling book about salad with samurai in the title name first. My inner 12-year old is raising a katana high for victory.

What is Protein Ninja? A (hopefully) impossible to live without recipe collection of things I eat every day: muffins, scones, cookies, pancakes, soups, stews, salads, collard wraps, spreads and dips for toast or vegetables or fruits, granola, and smoothie bowls that Id easily just as eat for dinner as for breakfast.

The uniting thread for these recipes is a boosted protein content from either the addition of vegan, unflavored protein powders or a fusion of whole foods: beans, nuts, tofu, seitanthe usual suspects. There will likely be a touch of nutritional analysis, but not too much. Remember kids, Im a not a doctor, just a lady who loves to create piles of dirty dishes in the kitchen.

These recipes are written in between the breathing moments of a full time job, hitting the gym, going to hardcore punk shows, meditation, and connecting with some humans and animals Im rather fond of. And if Im lucky, sleep. But there are some really cool things Im discovering too! Im having fun baking again after over a year of salad making. Im refining my cookbook writing work-flow, something that is always evolving anyway every time I hit the manuscript treadmill. And Ive truly enjoyed exploring some of these new vegan basic protein powdershemp, brown rice, peawhich I believe most any vegan can learn to love when properly prepared.

Alight, my morning caffeine slap is hitting my nervous system and its time to hit the pavement for a morning run. Hope youve savored this little update, stay tuned for more.

Continued here:

Bestselling author of the Veganomicon, Salad Samurai ...

IndiaExpansion of Buddhism

The Buddha was a charismatic leader who founded a distinctive religious community based on his unique teachings. Some of the members of that community were, like the Buddha himself, wandering ascetics. Others were laypersons who venerated the Buddha, followed certain aspects of his teachings, and provided the wandering ascetics with the material support that they required.

In the centuries following the Buddhas death, the story of his life was remembered and embellished, his teachings were preserved and developed, and the community that he had established became a significant religious force. Many of the wandering ascetics who followed the Buddha settled in permanent monastic establishments and developed monastic rules. At the same time, the Buddhist laity came to include important members of the economic and political elite.

During its first century of existence, Buddhism spread from its place of origin in Magadha and Kosala throughout much of northern India, including the areas of Mathura and Ujjayani in the west. According to Buddhist tradition, invitations to the Council of Vesali (Sanskrit: Vaishali), held just over a century after the Buddhas death, were sent to monks living throughout northern and central India. By the middle of the 3rd century bce, Buddhism had gained the favour of a Mauryan king, Ashoka, who had established an empire that extended from the Himalayas in the north to almost as far as Sri Lanka in the south.

To the rulers of the republics and kingdoms arising in northeastern India, the patronage of newly emerging sects such as Buddhism was one way of counterbalancing the political power exercised by Brahmans (high-caste Hindus). The first Mauryan emperor, Chandragupta (c. 321c. 297 bce), patronized Jainism and, according to some traditions, finally became a Jain monk. His grandson, Ashoka, who ruled over the greater part of the subcontinent from about 268 to 232 bce, traditionally played an important role in Buddhist history because of his support of Buddhism during his lifetime. He exerted even more influence posthumously, through stories that depicted him as a chakravartin (world monarch; literally a great wheel-rolling monarch). He is portrayed as a paragon of Buddhist kingship who accomplished many fabulous feats of piety and devotion. It is therefore very difficult to distinguish the Ashoka of history from the Ashoka of Buddhist legend and myth.

The first actual Buddhist texts that are still extant are inscriptions (including a number of well-known Ashokan pillars) that Ashoka had written and displayed in various places throughout his vast kingdom. According to these inscriptions, Ashoka attempted to establish in his realm a true dhamma based on the virtues of self-control, impartiality, cheerfulness, truthfulness, and goodness. Although he promoted Buddhism, he did not found a state church, and he was known for his respect for other religious traditions. He sought to maintain unity in the Buddhist monastic community, however, and he promoted an ethic that focused on the laypersons obligations in this world. His aim, as articulated in his edicts, was to create a religious and social milieu that would enable all children of the king to live happily in this life and to attain heaven in the next. Thus, he set up medical assistance for human beings and beasts, maintained reservoirs and canals, and promoted trade. He established a system of dhamma officers (dhamma-mahamattas) in order to help govern the empire. And he sent diplomatic emissaries to areas beyond his direct political control.

Ashokas empire began to crumble soon after his death, and the Mauryan dynasty was finally overthrown in the early decades of the 2nd century bce. There is some evidence to suggest that Buddhism in India suffered persecution during the Shunga-Kanva period (18528 bce). Despite occasional setbacks, however, Buddhists persevered, and before the emergence of the Gupta dynasty, which created the next great pan-Indian empire in the 4th century ce, Buddhism had become a leading if not dominant religious tradition in India.

During the approximately five centuries between the fall of the Mauryan dynasty and the rise of the Gupta dynasty, major developments occurred in all aspects of Buddhist belief and practice. Well before the beginning of the Common Era, stories about the Buddhas many previous lives, accounts of important events in his life as Gautama, stories of his extended life in his relics, and other aspects of his sacred biography were elaborated on. In the centuries that followed, groups of these stories were collected and compiled in various styles and combinations.

Beginning in the 3rd century bce and possibly earlier, magnificent Buddhist monuments such as the great stupas at Bharhut and Sanchi were built. During the early centuries of the 1st millennium ce, similar monuments were established virtually throughout the subcontinent. Numerous monasteries emerged too, some in close association with the great monuments and pilgrimage sites. Considerable evidence, including inscriptional evidence, points to extensive support from local rulers, including the women of the various royal courts.

During this period Buddhist monastic centres proliferated, and there developed diverse schools of interpretation concerning matters of doctrine and monastic discipline. Within the Hinayana tradition there emerged many different schools, most of which preserved a variant of the Tipitaka (which had taken the form of written scriptures by the early centuries of the Common Era), held distinctive doctrinal positions, and practiced unique forms of monastic discipline. The traditional number of schools is 18, but the situation was very complicated, and exact identifications are hard to make.

About the beginning of the Common Era, distinctively Mahayana tendencies began to take shape. It should be emphasized, however, that many Hinayana and Mahayana adherents continued to live together in the same monastic institutions. In the 2nd or 3rd century the Madhyamika school, which has remained one of the major schools of Mahayana philosophy, was established, and many other expressions of Mahayana belief, practice, and communal life appeared. By the beginning of the Gupta era, the Mahayana had become the most dynamic and creative Buddhist tradition in India.

At this time Buddhism also expanded beyond the Indian subcontinent. It is most likely that Ashoka sent a diplomatic mission to Sri Lanka and that Buddhism was established there during his reign. By the beginning of the Common Era, Buddhism, which had become very strong in northwestern India, had followed the great trade routes into Central Asia and China. According to later tradition, this expansion was greatly facilitated by Kanishka, a great Kushana king of the 1st or 2nd century ce, who ruled over an area that included portions of northern India and Central Asia.

By the time of the Gupta dynasty (c. 320c. 600 ce), Buddhism in India was being influenced by the revival of Brahmanic religion and the rising tide of bhakti (a devotional movement that emphasized the intense love of a devotee for a personal god). During this period, for example, some Hindus practiced devotion to the Buddha, whom they regarded as an avatar (incarnation) of the Hindu deity Vishnu, and some Buddhists venerated Hindu deities who were an integral part of the wider religious context in which they lived.

Throughout the Gupta and Pala periods, Hinayana Buddhists remained a major segment of the Indian Buddhist community. Their continued cultivation of various aspects of Buddhist teaching led to the emergence of the Yogachara school, the second great tradition of Mahayana philosophy. A third major Buddhist tradition, the Vajrayana, or Tantric tradition, developed out of the Mahayana school and became a powerful and dynamic religious force. The new form of text associated with this tradition, the tantras, appeared during the Gupta period, and there are indications that distinctively Tantric rituals began to be employed at this time as well. It was during the Pala period (8th12th centuries), however, that the Vajrayana tradition emerged as the most dynamic component of Indian Buddhist life.

Also during the Gupta period, there emerged a new Buddhist institution, the Mahavihara (Great Monastery), which often functioned as a university. This institution enjoyed great success during the reign of the Pala kings. The most famous of these Mahaviharas, located at Nalanda, became a major centre for the study of Buddhist texts and the refinement of Buddhist thought, particularly Mahayana and Vajrayana thought. The monks at Nalanda also developed a curriculum that went far beyond traditional Buddhism and included much Indian scientific and cultural knowledge. In subsequent years other important Mahaviharas were established, each with its own distinctive emphases and characteristics. These great Buddhist monastic research and educational institutions exerted a profound religious and cultural influence not only in India but throughout many other parts of Asia as well.

Although Buddhist institutions seemed to be faring well under the Guptas, Chinese pilgrims visiting India between 400 and 700 ce discerned a decline in the Buddhist community and the beginning of the absorption of Indian Buddhism by Hinduism. Among these pilgrims was Faxian, who left China in 399, crossed the Gobi, visited various holy places in India, and returned to China with numerous Buddhist scriptures and statues. The most famous of the Chinese travelers, however, was the 7th-century monk Xuanzang. When he arrived in northwestern India, he found millions of monasteries reduced to ruins by the Huns, a nomadic Central Asian people. In the northeast Xuanzang visited various holy places and studied Yogachara philosophy at Nalanda. After visiting Assam and southern India, he returned to China, carrying with him copies of more than 600 sutras.

After the destruction of numerous Buddhist monasteries in the 6th century ce by the Huns, Buddhism revived, especially in the northeast, where it flourished for many more centuries under the kings of the Pala dynasty. The kings protected the Mahaviharas, built new centres at Odantapuri, near Nalanda, and established a system of supervision for all such institutions. Under the Palas the Vajrayana form of Buddhism became a major intellectual and religious force. Its adherents introduced important innovations into Buddhist doctrine and symbolism. They also advocated the practice of new Tantric forms of ritual practice that were designed both to generate magical power and to facilitate more rapid progress along the path to enlightenment. During the reigns of the later Pala kings, contacts with China decreased as Indian Buddhists turned their attention toward Tibet and Southeast Asia.

With the collapse of the Pala dynasty in the 12th century, Indian Buddhism suffered yet another setback, from which it did not recover. Although small pockets of influence remained, the Buddhist presence in India became negligible.

Scholars do not know all the factors that contributed to Buddhisms demise in its homeland. Some have maintained that it was so tolerant of other faiths that it was simply reabsorbed by a revitalized Hindu tradition. This did occur, though Indian Mahayanists were occasionally hostile toward bhakti and toward Hinduism in general. Another factor, however, was probably much more important. Indian Buddhism, having become primarily a monastic movement, seems to have lost touch with its lay supporters. Many monasteries had become very wealthy, so much so that they were able to employ indentured slaves and paid labourers to care for the monks and to tend the lands they owned. Thus, after the Muslim invaders sacked the Indian monasteries in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Buddhist laity showed little interest in a resurgence.

In the 19th century Buddhism was virtually extinct in India. In far eastern Bengal and Assam, a few Buddhists preserved a tradition that dated back to pre-Muslim times, and some of them experienced a Theravada-oriented reform that was initiated by a Burmese monk who visited the area in the mid-19th century. By the end of that century, a very small number of Indian intellectuals had become interested in Buddhism through Western scholarship or through the activities of the Theosophical Society, one of whose leaders was the American Henry Olcott. The Sinhalese reformer Anagarika Dharmapala also exerted some influence, particularly through his work as one of the founders of the Mahabodhi Society, which focused its initial efforts on restoring Buddhist control of the pilgrimage site at Bodh Gaya, the presumed site of the Buddhas enlightenment.

Beginning in the early 20th century, a few Indian intellectuals became increasingly interested in Buddhism as a more rational and egalitarian alternative to Hinduism. Although this interest remained limited to a very tiny segment of the intellectual elite, a small Buddhist movement with a broader constituency developed in South India. Even as late as 1950, however, an official government census identified fewer than 200,000 Buddhists in the country, most of them residing in east Bengal and Assam.

Since 1950 the number of Buddhists in India has increased dramatically. One very small factor in this increase was the flood of Buddhist refugees from Tibet following the Chinese invasion of that country in 1959. The centre of the Tibetan refugee community, both in India and around the world, was established in Dharmshala, but many Tibetan refugees settled in other areas of the subcontinent as well. Another very small factor was the incorporation of Sikkima region with a predominantly Buddhist population now in the northeastern part of Indiainto the Republic of India in 1975.

The most important cause of the contemporary revival of Buddhism in India was the mass conversion, in 1956, of hundreds of thousands of Hindus living primarily in Maharashtra state who had previously been members of the so-called Scheduled Castes (also called Dalits; formerly called untouchables). This conversion was initiated by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a leader of the Scheduled Castes who was also a major figure in the Indian independence movement, a critic of the caste policies of Mohandas K. Gandhi, a framer of Indias constitution, and a member of Indias first independent government. As early as 1935 Ambedkar decided to lead his people away from Hinduism in favour of a religion that did not recognize caste distinctions. After a delay of more than 20 years, he determined that Buddhism was the appropriate choice. He also decided that 1956the year in which Theravada Buddhists were celebrating the 2,500th year of the death of the Buddhawas the appropriate time. A dramatic conversion ceremony, held in Nagpur, was attended by hundreds of thousands of people. Since 1956 several million persons have joined the new Buddhist community.

The Buddhism of Ambedkars community is based on the teachings found in the ancient Pali texts and has much in common with the Theravada Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. There are important differences that distinguish the new group, however. They include the communitys reliance on Ambedkars own interpretations, which are presented in his book The Buddha and His Dhamma; the communitys emphasis on a mythology concerning the Buddhist and aristocratic character of the Mahar (the largest of the Scheduled Castes); and its recognition of Ambedkar himself as a saviour figure who is often considered to be a bodhisattva (buddha-to-be). Another distinguishing characteristic of the Mahar Buddhists is the absence of a strong monastic community, which has allowed laypersons to assume the primary leadership roles. During the last several decades, the group has produced its own corpus of Buddhist songs and many vernacular books and pamphlets that deal with various aspects of Buddhist doctrine, practice, and community life.

The first clear evidence of the spread of Buddhism outside India dates from the reign of King Ashoka (3rd century bce), whose inscriptions show that he sent Buddhist missionaries to many different regions of the subcontinent as well as into certain border areas. Ashokan emissaries were sent to Sri Lanka and to an area called Suvarnabhumi, which many modern scholars have identified with the Mon country in southern Myanmar (Burma) and central Thailand.

According to Sinhalese tradition, Buddhism took root in Sri Lanka soon after the arrival of Ashokas son, the monk Mahinda, and six companions. These monks converted King Devanampiya Tissa and much of the nobility. King Tissa built the Mahavihara monastery, which became the main centre of the version of Theravada Buddhism that was ultimately dominant in Sri Lanka. After Tissas death (c. 207 bce), Sri Lanka was ruled by kings from South India until the time of Dutthagamani (10177 bce), a descendant of Tissa, who overthrew King Elara. Dutthagamanis association with Buddhism clearly strengthened the religions ties with Sri Lankan political institutions.

In the post-Dutthagamani period, the Mahavihara tradition developed along with other Sri Lankan monastic traditions. The Sinhalese chronicles report that, in the last half of the 1st century bce, King Vattagamani called a Buddhist council (the fourth in the Sinhalese reckoning) at which the Pali oral tradition of the Buddhas teachings was committed to writing. The same king is said to have sponsored the construction of the Abhayagiri monastery, which eventually included Hinayana, Mahayana, and even Vajrayana monks. Although these cosmopolitan tendencies were resisted by the Mahavihara monks, they were openly supported by King Mahasena (276303 ce). Under Mahasenas son, Shri Meghavanna, the tooth of the Buddha was taken to the Abhayagiri, where it was subsequently maintained and venerated at the royal palladium.

During the 1st millennium ce the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka coexisted with various forms of Hinduism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Vajrayana Buddhism. As Buddhism declined in India, it underwent a major revival and reform in Sri Lanka, where the Theravada traditions of the Mahavihara became especially prominent. Sri Lanka became a Theravada kingdom with a sangha that was unified under Mahavihara leadership and ruled by a monarch who legitimated his rule in Theravada terms. This newly constituted Theravada tradition subsequently spread from Sri Lanka into Southeast Asia, where it exerted a powerful influence.

In early modern times Sri Lanka fell prey to Western colonial powers. The Portuguese (15051658) and the Dutch (16581796) seized control of the coastal areas, and later the British (17941947) took over the entire island. Buddhism suffered considerable disruption under Portuguese and Dutch rule, and the higher ordination lineage lapsed. In the 18th century, however, King Kittisiri Rajasiah (174781), who ruled in the upland regions, invited monks from Siam (Thailand) to reform Buddhism and restore the higher ordination lineages.

During the late 18th and 19th centuries, the monastic community in Sri Lanka was divided into three major bodies. The Siam Nikaya, founded during the reform of the late 18th century, was a conservative and wealthy sect that admitted only members of the Goyigama, the highest Sinhalese caste. The Amarapura sect, founded in the early 19th century, opened its ranks to members of lower castes. The third division, the Ramanya sect, is a small modernist group that emerged in the 19th century. In addition, several reform groups were established among the laity. These groups include the important Sarvodaya community, which was founded by A.T. Ariyaratne. This group has established religious, economic, and social development programs that have had a significant impact on Sinhalese village life.

Since Sri Lanka gained its independence from the British in 1947, the country has been increasingly drawn into a conflict between the Sinhalese Buddhist majority and the Tamil Hindu minority. In the late 20th century this conflict escalated into a vicious civil war. Many Sinhalese, including a significant number of monks, closely associated their Buddhist religion with the political agenda and anti-Tamil violence of the more militant Sinhalese nationalists. Other Buddhist leaders, however, tried to adopt a more moderate position and to encourage a negotiated solution that would reestablish the kind of peaceful coexistence that had characterized Sri Lankan politics through the greater part of the islands long history. But a cease-fire signed in 2002 did not have the hoped-for effect, and it was abandoned a few years later. The Tamil Tigers ultimately were defeated in 2009.

The peoples of Southeast Asia have not been mere satellites of the more powerful Indian and Chinese civilizations. On the contrary, the cultures that arose in these three vast areas might better be thought of as alternative developments that occurred within a greater Austroasiatic civilization, sometimes called the Asia of the monsoons. The transmission of Buddhism and Hinduism to Southeast Asia can thus be regarded as the spread of the religious symbols of the more-advanced Austroasiatic peoples to other Austroasiatic groups sharing some of the same basic religious presuppositions and traditions.

In Southeast Asia the impact of Buddhism was felt in very different ways in three separate regions. In two of these (the region of Malaysia/Indonesia and the region on the mainland extending from Myanmar to southern Vietnam), the main connections have been with India and Sri Lanka via trade routes. In Vietnam, the third region, the main connections have been with China.

Although some scholars locate the Suvarnabhumi (Land of Gold), to which Ashokan missionaries were supposedly sent, somewhere on the Malay Peninsula or in Indonesia, this is probably not accurate. It is certain, however, that Buddhism reached these areas by the early centuries of the 1st millennium ce.

With the help of the monk Gunavarman and other Indian missionaries, Buddhism gained a firm foothold on Java well before the 5th century ce. Buddhism was also introduced at about this time in Sumatra, and by the 7th century the king of Srivijaya on the island of Sumatra was a Buddhist. When the Chinese traveler Yijing visited this kingdom in the 7th century, he noted that Hinayana was dominant in the area but that there were also a few Mahayanists. It was also in the 7th century that the great scholar from Nalanda, Dharmapala, visited Indonesia.

The Shailendra dynasty, which ruled over the Malay Peninsula and a large section of Indonesia from the 7th century to the 9th century, promoted the Mahayana and Tantric forms of Buddhism. During this period major Buddhist monuments were erected in Java, including the marvelous Borobudur, which is perhaps the most magnificent of all Buddhist stupas. From the 7th century onward, Vajrayana Buddhism spread rapidly throughout the area. King Kertanagara of Java (reigned 126892) was especially devoted to Tantric practice.

In the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia, as in India, Buddhism gradually lost its hold during the first half of the 2nd millennium ce. In some areas Buddhism was assimilated to Hinduism, forming a Hindu-oriented amalgam that in some places (for example in Bali) has persisted to the present. In most of Malaysia and Indonesia, however, both Hinduism and Buddhism were replaced by Islam, which remains the dominant religion in the area. In modern Indonesia and Malaysia, Buddhism exists as a living religion primarily among the Chinese minority, who in the early 21st century constituted about one-quarter of the population and were recognized by the constitution as Buddhist. There is also a small non-Chinese community of Buddhists that is concentrated in the vicinity of Borobudur.

A second area of Buddhist expansion in Southeast Asia extends from Myanmar in the north and west to the Mekong delta in the south and east. According to the local Mon and Burman traditions, this is Suvarnabhumi, the area visited by missionaries from the Ashokan court. It is known that Buddhist kingdoms had appeared in this region by the early centuries of the 1st millennium ce. In Myanmar and Thailand, despite the presence of Hindu, Mahayana, and Vajrayana elements, the more-conservative Hinayana forms of Buddhism were especially prominent throughout the 1st millennium ce. Farther to the east and south, in what is now Cambodia and southern Vietnam, various combinations of Hinduism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Vajrayana Buddhism became prevalent. Throughout much of the history of Angkor, the great imperial centre that ruled Cambodia and much of the surrounding areas for many centuries, Hinduism seems to have been the preferred tradition, at least among the elite. In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, however, the Buddhist King Jayavarman VII built a new capital called Angkor Thom that was dominated by both Mahayana and Vajrayana monuments, which represent one of the high points of Buddhist architecture.

In mainland Southeast Asia, as in Sri Lanka, a Theravada reform movement emerged in the 11th century. Drawing heavily on the Theravada heritage that had been preserved among the Mon in southern Myanmar, as well as on the new reform tradition of Sri Lanka, this revival soon established the Theravada tradition as the most dynamic in Myanmar, where the Burmans had conquered the Mon. By the late 13th century, the movement had spread to Thailand, where the Thai were gradually displacing the Mon as the dominant population. During the next two centuries, Theravada reforms penetrated as far as Cambodia and Laos.

The preeminence of Theravada Buddhism continued throughout the area during the remainder of the premodern period. The arrival of the Western powers in the 19th century brought important changes. In Thailand, which retained its independence, a process of gradual reform and modernization was led by a new Buddhist sect, the Thammayut Nikaya, which was established and supported by the reigning Chakri dynasty. In the 20th century reform and modernization became more diversified and affected virtually all segments of the Thai Buddhist community.

Two late 20th-century Buddhist groups, Santi Asoke (founded 1975) and Dhammakaya, are especially interesting. Santi Asoke, a lay-oriented group that advocates stringent discipline, moral rectitude, and political reform, has been very much at odds with the established ecclesiastical hierarchy. The Dhammakaya group has been much more successful at gathering a large popular following but has also become very controversial because of its distinctive meditation practices and questions concerning its care of financial contributions from its followers.

In the other Theravada countries in Southeast Asia, Buddhism has had a much more difficult time. In Myanmar, which endured an extended period of British rule, the sangha and the structures of Buddhist society have been seriously disrupted. Under the military regime of General Ne Win, established in 1962, reform and modernization were limited in all areas of national life, including religion. With the suppression of the pro-democracy movement in the late 1980s, the countrys military rulers used their support of a very traditional form of Buddhism to legitimize their highly repressive regime. Nevertheless, in the second decade of the 21st century, both government restrictions on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and rules regarding political participation were eased, and the future of Buddhism seemed destined for change. In Laos and Cambodia, both of which suffered an extended period of French rule followed by devastation during the Vietnam War and the violent imposition of communist rule, the Buddhist community has been severely crippled. Beginning in the 1980s, however, it showed increasing signs of life and vitality. In Laos it was recognized by the government as a part of the national heritage, and in Cambodia it was even given the status of a state religion.

There are indications that Vietnam was involved in the early sea trade between India, Southeast Asia, and China, and it is quite probable that Buddhism reached the country via this sea route near the beginning of the 1st millennium ce. The northern part of what is now Vietnam had been conquered by the Chinese empire in 111 bce and remained under Chinese rule until 939 ce. Hinayana and Mahayana traditions spread into the two Indianized states, Funan (founded during the 1st century ce) and Champa (founded 192 ce). The long-term development of Buddhism in Vietnam, however, was most affected by Zen and Pure Land traditions, which were introduced from China into the northern and central sections of the country beginning in the 6th century ce.

The first dhyana (Zen; Vietnamese thien), or meditation, school was introduced by Vinitaruchi (Vinitaruci), an Indian monk who had gone to Vietnam from China in the 6th century. In the 9th century a school of wall meditation was introduced by the Chinese monk Vo Ngon Thong. A third major Zen school was established in the 11th century by the Chinese monk Thao Durong. From 1414 to 1428 Buddhism in Vietnam was persecuted by the Chinese, who had again conquered the country. Tantrism, Daoism, and Confucianism also filtered into Vietnam at this time. Even after the Chinese had been driven back, a Chinese-like bureaucracy closely supervised the Vietnamese monasteries. The clergy was divided between those who were highborn and Sinicized and those in the lower ranks who often were active in peasant uprisings.

During the modern period Mahayana traditions in northern and central Vietnam have coexisted with Theravada traditions from Cambodia in the south. Rather loosely joined together, Vietnamese Buddhists managed to preserve their traditions through the period of French colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries. During the struggle between North and South Vietnam in the 1960s and early 70s, many Buddhists worked to achieve peace and reconciliation, though they met with little success; to protest the South Vietnamese regime of Ngo Dinh Diem, some Buddhist monks turned to self-immolation. Under the communist regime that has ruled the reunited country since 1975, conditions have been difficult, but Buddhism has persisted. Reports since the late 1980s indicated signs of vitality despite serious government limitations on Buddhist activities.

Buddhism, according to Tibetan tradition, was introduced into Tibet during the reign of King Srong-brtsan-sgam-po (c. 627c. 650). His two queens were early patrons of the religion and were later regarded in popular tradition as incarnations of the female Buddhist saviour Tara. The religion received active encouragement from Khri-srong-lde-btsan, in whose reign (c. 755797) the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet was built at Bsam-yas (Samye), the first seven monks were ordained, and the celebrated Tantric master Padmasambhava was invited to come from India. Many legends surround Padmasambhava, who was a mahasiddha (master of miraculous powers); he is credited with subduing the Bon spirits and demons (the spirits and demons associated with the indigenous religion of Tibet) and with subjugating them to the service of Buddhism. At the time, Chinese Buddhist influences were strong, but it is recorded that a council held at the Bsam-yas monastery (792794) decided that the Indian tradition should prevail.

Following a period of suppression that lasted almost two centuries (from the early 800s to the early 1000s), Buddhism in Tibet enjoyed a revival. During the 11th and 12th centuries many Tibetans traveled to India to acquire and translate Buddhist texts and to receive training in Buddhist belief and practice. With the assistance of the renowned Indian master Atisa, who arrived in Tibet in 1042, Buddhism was established as the dominant religion. From this point forward Buddhism penetrated deeply into all aspects of Tibetan life, and it became the primary culture of the elite and a powerful force in affairs of state. One of the great achievements of the Buddhist community in Tibet was the translation into Tibetan of a vast corpus of Buddhist literature, including the Bka-gyur (Translation of the Buddha Word) and Bstan-gyur (Translation of Teachings) collections. The Bka-gyur contains six sections: (1) Tantra, (2) Prajnaparamita, (3) Ratnakuta, a collection of small Mahayana texts, (4) Avatamsaka, (5) Sutras (mostly Mahayana sutras, but some Hinayana texts are included), and (6) Vinaya. The Bstan-gyur contains 224 volumes with 3,626 texts, divided into three major groups: (1) stotras (hymns of praise) in one volume, including 64 texts, (2) commentaries on tantras in 86 volumes, including 3,055 texts, and (3) commentaries on sutras in 137 volumes, including 567 texts.

A major development in the history of Tibetan Buddhism occurred in the late 14th or early 15th century, when a great Buddhist reformer named Tsong-kha-pa established the Dge-lugs-pa school, known more popularly as the Yellow Hats. In 1578 representatives of this school converted the Mongol Altan Khan, and under the Khans sponsorship their leader (the so-called third Dalai Lama) gained considerable monastic power. In the middle of the 17th century, the Mongol overlords established the fifth Dalai Lama as the theocratic ruler of Tibet. The succeeding Dalai Lamas, who were regarded as successive incarnations of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, held this position during much of the remainder of the premodern period, ruling from the capital, Lhasa.

The fifth Dalai Lama instituted the high office of Panchen Lama for the abbot of the Tashilhunpo monastery, located to the west of Lhasa. The Panchen Lamas were regarded as successive incarnations of the buddha Amitabha. Unlike the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama has usually been recognized only as a spiritual ruler.

Throughout much of Tibetan history, many of the great monasteries were controlled by aristocratic abbots who were able to marry and pass along their monastic possessions to their sons. Monks were often warriors, and monasteries became armed fortresses. The Manchus in the 18th century and subsequently the British, the nationalist Chinese, and the Chinese communists have all tried to exploit the division of power between the Panchen and Dalai lamas for their own ends. In 1959, after the Dalai Lama fled to India, the Chinese communists took over his temporal powers.

In the period since 1959, Tibetan refugees have set up a major centre in Dharmshala in northern India and have been dispersed to many different places, including India, Europe, Canada, and the United States. These exiles have made great efforts to preserve as much of their Buddhist tradition as possible and to spread Tibetan Buddhist teachings in the lands where they have settled.

In their own country Tibetan Buddhists have suffered periods of destructive attacks and severe persecution, especially but not exclusively during the Cultural Revolution. In the late 20th century, repression by Chinese authorities lessened somewhat, and a sense of normalcy was restored. Nevertheless, many Tibetan Buddhists remained strongly nationalistic, and their relationship with China continued to be very tense.

Tibetan Buddhism has exerted a strong influence on neighbouring areas and peoples. Most important in this regard was the conversion of the Mongol tribes to the north and east of Tibet. There are some indications that Buddhism was present among the Mongols as early as the 4th century, but sources for this early period are scarce. It is clear, however, that during the 13th century close relationships developed between the Mongol court in China and some Tibetan Buddhist leaders. Kublai Khan became a supporter of Tibetan Buddhism. Kublai Khans Tibetan advisers helped to develop a block script for the Mongolian language, and many Buddhist texts were translated from Tibetan into Mongolian. In general, however, the religion failed to gain widespread popular support during this period.

In 1578 a new situation developed when the Altan Khan accepted the Dge-lugs-pa version of the Tibetan tradition and supported its spread among his followers at all levels of Mongol society. Over the centuries the Mongols developed their own very rich Buddhist traditions. Mongolian scholars translated a large corpus of texts from Tibetan, and they produced their own sophisticated original texts. The Mongols based their Buddhist doctrine, practice, and communal organization on Tibetan models, but they developed and adapted them in distinctive ways.

Between 1280 and 1368 China was part of the Mongol empire, and the Mongols established their variant of Tibetan Buddhism in China. When they no longer held power in China, they preserved their Buddhist traditions in their homeland areas. During much of the 20th century, Mongolian Buddhism was severely undermined by the communist regimes that ruled in Mongol areas in the Soviet Union, in Mongolia itself, and in China. Pressures against the Buddhist Mongol communities eased in the late 20th century, and by the early 21st century a resurgence of Buddhist institutions and practices had begun.

Tibetan Buddhism has exerted a considerable influence in the Himalayan areas situated along Tibets southern border. In Nepal Buddhism interacted with both India and Tibet. Although there is evidence that suggests that the Buddha was born in the southern part of the area that is now Nepalat Lumbini, about 15 miles (24 km) from Kapilavatthu (Kapilavastu)Buddhism seems to have been actively propagated only later, probably under Ashoka. By the 8th century Nepal had fallen into the cultural orbit of Tibet. A few centuries later, as a result of the Muslim invasions of India, both Hindus (such as the Brahmanic Gurkha aristocracy) and Buddhists took refuge in the country. The Tibetan influence on the Himalayan tradition is indicated by the presence of Tibetan-style prayer wheels and flags. The Indian heritage is especially evident in the caste system that embraces Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. In the late 20th century a significant Theravada reform movement took root among the Newari population. The adherents of this movement, who have important connections with Theravada practitioners in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, oppose the maintenance of traditional caste distinctions.

In Bhutan a Tibetan lama introduced Buddhism and a Tibetan style of hierarchical theocracy in the 17th century. Buddhism practiced in Bhutan has been influenced by the Tibetan Bka-brgyud-pa sect, which has stressed the magical benefits of living in caves and has not enforced on its clergy the discipline of celibacy. Buddhism in Bhutan, like Buddhism in Nepal, is coming into increasing contact with modernizing forces that are beginning to undermine many of its traditional practices.

Buddhists have always recognized the importance of community life, and over the centuries there has developed a distinctive symbiotic relationship between monks (and in some cases nuns) and the lay community. The relationship between the monastics and the laity has differed from place to place and from time to time, but throughout most of Buddhist history both groups have played an essential role in the process of constituting and reconstituting the Buddhist world. Moreover, both the monastics and the laity have engaged in a variety of common and complementary religious practices that have expressed Buddhist orientations and values, structured Buddhist societies, and addressed the soteriological and practical concerns of individuals.

The sangha is the assembly of Buddhist monks (and in some contexts nuns) that has, from the origins of Buddhism, authoritatively studied, taught, and preserved the teachings of the Buddha. In their communities monastics have been responsible for providing an example of the ideal mode of Buddhist life, for teaching Buddhist principles and practices to the laity, for generating and participating in basic ritual activities, for offering fields of merit that enable lay members of the community to improve their spiritual condition, for providing protection against evil forces (particularly though not exclusively supernatural forces), and for maintaining a variety of other services that have varied over time and place. In exchange for their contributions, the monastics have received veneration and support from the laity, who thereby earn merit, advance their own well-being, and contribute to the well-being of others (including, in many cases, the ancestors of the living).

Besides serving as the centre of Buddhist learning, meditation, ritual activity, and teaching, the monastery offers the monk or nun an opportunity to live apart from worldly concerns, a situation that has usually been believed necessary or at least advisable in order to follow the path that leads most directly to release.

According to scholars of early Buddhism, at the time of the Buddha there were numerous mendicants in northeastern India who wandered and begged individually or in groups. They had forsaken the life of a householder and the involvement with worldly affairs that this entails in order to seek a pattern of belief and practice that would meaningfully explain life and offer salvation. When such a seeker met someone who seemed to offer such a salvific message, he would accept him as a teacher (guru) and wander with him. The situation of these mendicants is summed up in the greeting with which they met other religious wanderers. This greeting asked, Under whose guidance have you accepted religious mendicancy? Who is your master (sattha)? Whose dhamma is agreeable to you?

According to early Buddhist texts, the Buddha established an order of male monastics early on in his ministry and outlined the rules and procedures for governing their common life. These texts also report that later in his career he reluctantly agreed to a proposal made by his aunt Mahapajapati and supported by his favourite disciple, Ananda, to establish an order of nuns. The Buddha then set down rules and procedures for the order of the nuns and for the relationship between the order of nuns and the order of monks. (In the discussion that follows, the emphasis will be on the order of monks.)

The various mendicant groups interrupted their wanderings during the rainy season (vassa) from July through August. At this time they gathered at various rain retreats (vassavasa), usually situated near villages, where they would beg for their daily needs and continue their spiritual quest. The Buddha and his followers may well have been the first group to found such a yearly rain retreat.

After the Buddhas death his followers did not separate but continued to wander and enjoy the rain retreat together. In their retreats the Buddhas followers probably built their own huts and lived separately, but their sense of community with other Buddhists led them to gather at the time of the full and new moons to recite the patimokkha, a declaration of their steadfastness in observing the monastic discipline. This occasion, in which the laity also participated, was called the uposatha.

Within several centuries of the Buddhas death, the sangha came to include two different monastic groups. One group, which retained the wandering mode of existence, has been a very creative force in Buddhist history and continues to play a role in contemporary Buddhism, particularly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. The other, much larger group gave up the forest life and settled in permanent monastic settlements (viharas); it is the earliest truly cenobitic monastic group about which any knowledge exists.

There appear to be two major reasons for the change in the mode of living of most Buddhist monks. First, the Buddhas followers were able, through their common loyalty to the Buddha and his teachings, to build up a certain coherent organization. Second, as acts of piety, the laity gave gifts of land and raised buildings in which the followers of the Buddha might live permanently, assured of a supply of the staples of life and also able to fulfill the Buddhas directive to minister to the laity. In this manner small viharas were established in northeastern India and adjoining areas into which Buddhism spread.

Already in the period prior to the reign of King Ashoka, the Buddhist monastic community had become a strong, widely dispersed religious force. The support of Ashoka encouraged further expansion, and in the post-Ashokan period the number, wealth, and influence of the monasteries increased. As Buddhism continued to develop, many kinds of monastic centres were established throughout India, several of which received lavish support from royal courts or from wealthy merchants, who were among the strongest supporters of Buddhism. Among the most interesting centres were the magnificent cave monasteriesfor example, at Ajanta and Ellorawhich contain some of the greatest examples not only of Buddhist art but of Indian art more generally. Perhaps the most influential monasteries were the great university-like mahaviharas that developed somewhat later in northeastern India.

In all Buddhist countries monasteries served as centres of teaching, learning, and outreach. Different types of monastic establishments developed in particular areas and in particular contexts. In several regions there were at least two types of institutions. There were a few large public monasteries that usually functioned in greater or lesser accord with classical Buddhist norms. There were also many smaller monasteries, often located in rural areas, that were much more loosely regulated. Often these were hereditary institutions in which the rights and privileges of the abbot were passed on to an adopted disciple. In areas where clerical marriage was practicedfor example, in medieval Sri Lanka, in certain Tibetan areas, and in post-Heian Japana tradition of blood inheritance developed.

The transformation of the sangha from a group of wandering mendicants, loosely bound together by their commitment to the Buddha and his teachings, to monks living closely together in a permanent monastery necessitated the development of rules and a degree of hierarchical organization. It appears that the earliest organization within Indian monasteries was democratic in nature. This democratic character arose from two important historical factors. First, the Buddha did not, as was the custom among the teachers of his time, designate a human successor. Instead, the Buddha taught that each monk should strive to follow the path that he had preached. This decision placed every monk on the same footing. There could be no absolute authority vested in one person, for the authority was the dhamma that the Buddha had taught. Second, the region in which Buddhism arose was noted for a system of tribal democracy, or republicanism, that had existed in the past and was preserved by some groups during the Buddhas lifetime. Within this tradition each polity had an elected assembly that decided important issues.

This tradition, which was consonant with the antiauthoritarian nature of the Buddhas teaching, was adopted by the early sangha. When an issue arose, all the monks of the monastery assembled. The issue was put before the body of monks and discussed. If any solution was forthcoming, it had to be read three times, with silence signifying acceptance. If there was debate, a vote might be taken or the issue referred to committee or to arbitration by the elders of a neighbouring monastery. As the sangha developed, a certain division of labour and hierarchical administration was adopted. The abbot became the head of this administrative hierarchy and was vested with power over monastic affairs. In many countries there developed state-controlled hierarchies, which enabled kings and other political authorities to exert a significant amount of control over the monks and their activities.

The antiauthoritarian character of Buddhism, however, continued to assert itself. In China, for instance, the abbot referred all important questions to the assembled monks, who had elected him their leader. Similarly, in Southeast Asian countries there has traditionally been a popular distaste for hierarchy, which makes it difficult to enforce rules in the numerous almost-independent monasteries.

As the Buddhist sangha developed, specific rules and rites were enacted that differ very little in Buddhist monasteries even today. The rules by which the monks are judged and the punishments that should be assessed are found in the vinaya texts (vinaya literally means that which leads). The Vinaya Pitaka of the Theravada canon contains precepts that were supposedly given by the Buddha as he judged a particular situation. While in many cases the Buddhas authorship may be doubted, the attempt is made to refer all authority to the Buddha and not to one of his disciples. The heart of the vinaya texts is the patimokkha, which became a list of monastic rules.

Ideally, the patimokkha is recited by the assembled monks every fortnight, with a pause after each one so that any monk who has transgressed this rule may confess and receive his punishment. While the number of rules in the patimokkha differs in the various schools, with 227, 250, and 253, respectively, in the Pali, Chinese, and Tibetan canons, the rules are essentially the same. The first part of the patimokkha deals with the four gravest sins, which necessarily lead to expulsion from the monastery. They are sexual intercourse, theft, murder, and exaggeration of ones miraculous powers. The other rules, in seven sections, deal with transgressions of a lesser nature, such as drinking or lying.

In the Theravada countriesSri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laosthe Buddhist monastic community is composed primarily of male monks and novices (the order of nuns died out in the Theravada world more than a millennium ago, and contemporary efforts to reestablish it have met with only minimal success), white-robed ascetics (including various types of male and female practitioners who remain outside the sangha but follow a more or less renunciatory mode of life), and laymen and laywomen. In some Theravada countries, notably in mainland Southeast Asia, boys or young men were traditionally expected to join the monastery for a period of instruction and meditation. Thus, the majority of men in these areas were (and to a lesser extent still are, especially in Myanmar) directly involved with the monastic ethos. This practice has fostered a high degree of lay participation in monastic affairs.

In the Mahayana and Vajrayana countries of China and Tibet, there was traditionally a stage of one year before the aspirant could become a novice. This was a year of probation, during which the aspirant did not receive tonsure and remained subject to governmental taxation and service while receiving instructions and performing menial tasks within the monastery. At the end of this period, the aspirant had to pass a test, which included the recitation of part of a well-known sutrathe length depending upon whether the applicant was male or femaleand a discussion of various doctrinal questions. In China usually only those who were of exceptional character or who were affiliated with the government progressed beyond the novice stage.

According to vinaya rules, entry into the sangha is an individual affair that depends on the wishes of the individual and his family. In some Buddhist countries, however, ordination was often under the control of the state, which conducted the examinations to determine entry or advancement in the sangha. In certain situations ordination could be obtained through the favour of high officials or through the purchase of an ordination certificate from the government. At times the government engaged in the selling of ordination certificates in order to fill its treasury.

The life of a Buddhist monk originally involved wandering, poverty, begging, and strict sexual abstinence. The monks were supposed to live only on alms, to wear clothes made from cloth taken from rubbish heaps, and to possess only three robes, one girdle, an alms bowl, a razor, a needle, and a water strainer for filtering insects from drinking water (so as not to kill or imbibe them). Most Buddhist schools still stress celibacy, though some groups, particularly in Tibet and Japan, have relaxed the monastic discipline, and some Vajrayana schools have allowed sexual intercourse as an esoteric ritual that contributes to the attainment of release. In all schools, however, begging has become merely a symbolic gesture used to teach humility or compassion or to raise funds for special purposes. Also, the growth of large monasteries has often led to compromises on the rule of poverty. While the monk might technically give up his property before entering the monasterythough even this rule is sometimes relaxedthe community of monks might inherit wealth and receive lavish gifts of land. The acquisition of wealth has often led to the attainment of temporal power. This factor, in addition to the self-governing nature of Buddhist monasteries and the early Buddhist connection with Indian kingship, has influenced the interaction of the sangha and the state.

Buddhism is sometimes inaccurately described as a purely monastic, otherworldly religion. In the earliest phases of the tradition, the Buddha was pictured as a teacher who addressed not only renouncers but lay householders. Moreover, although he is not depicted in the early texts as a social reformer, the Buddha does address issues of social order and responsibility. Perhaps the most famous early text on this topic is the Sigalovada-sutta, which has been called the householders vinaya.

Throughout their history Buddhists have put forth varying forms of social ethics based on notions of karmic justice (the law that good deeds will be rewarded with happy results while evil deeds will entail suffering for the one who does them); the cultivation of virtues such as self-giving, compassion, and evenhandedness; and the fulfillment of responsibilities to parents, teachers, rulers, and so on. Moreover, Buddhists have formulated various notions of cosmogony, cosmology, and soteriology that have provided legitimacy for the social hierarchies and political orders with which they have been associated. For the most part, Buddhism has played a conservative, moderating role in the social and political organization of various Asian societies, but the tradition has also given rise to more radical and revolutionary movements.

Over the course of Buddhisms long history, the relationship between the Buddhist community and state authority has taken many forms. The early Buddhist sangha in India appears to have been treated by Indian rulers as a self-governing unit not subject to their power unless it proved subversive or was threatened by internal or external disruption. Ashoka, the king whose personal interest in Buddhism contributed to the religions dramatic growth, appears to have been applying this policy of protection from disruption when he intervened in Buddhist monastic affairs to expel schismatics. He came to be remembered, however, as the Dharmaraja, the great king who protected and propagated the teachings of the Buddha.

In Theravada countries Ashokas image as a supporter and sponsor of the faith has traditionally been used to judge political authority. In general, Buddhism in Theravada countries has been either heavily favoured or officially recognized by the government. The sanghas role in this interaction, at least ideally, has been to preserve the dhamma and to act as spiritual guide and model, revealing to the secular power the need for furthering the welfare of the people. While the sangha and the government are two separate structures, there has been some intertwining; monks (often from elite families) have commonly acted as governmental advisers, and kingsat least in Thailandhave occasionally spent some time in the monastery. Moreover, Buddhist monastic institutions have often served as a link between the rural peoples and the urban elites, helping to unify the various Theravada countries.

In China Buddhism has been seen as a foreign religion, as a potential competitor with the state, and as a drain on national resources of men and wealth. These perceptions have led to sharp persecutions of Buddhism and to rules curbing its influence. Some of the rules attempted to limit the number of monks and to guarantee governmental influence in ordination through state examinations and the granting of ordination certificates. At other times, such as during the early centuries of the Tang dynasty (618907), Buddhism was virtually a state religion. The government created a commissioner of religion to earn merit for the state by erecting temples, monasteries, and images in honour of the Buddha.

In Japan Buddhism experienced similar fluctuations. From the 10th to the 13th century, monasteries gained great landed wealth and temporal power. They formed large armies of monks and mercenaries that took part in wars with rival religious groups and in struggles for temporal power. By the 14th century, however, their power had begun to wane. Under the Tokugawa regime in the 17th century, Buddhist institutions were virtually instruments of state power and administration.

Only in Tibet did Buddhists establish a theocratic polity that lasted for an extended period of time. Beginning in the 12th century, Tibetan monastic groups forged relationships with the powerful Mongol khans that often gave them control of governmental affairs. In the 17th century the Dge-lugs-pa school, working with the Mongols, established a monastic regime that was able to maintain almost continual control until the Chinese occupation in the 1950s.

During the premodern period the various Buddhist communities in Asia developed working relationships of one kind or another with the sociopolitical systems in their particular areas. As a result of Western colonial incursions, and especially after the establishment of new political ideologies and political systems during the 19th and 20th centuries, these older patterns of accommodation between Buddhism and state authority were seriously disrupted. In many cases bitter conflicts resultedfor example, between Buddhists and colonial regimes in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, between Buddhists and the Meiji reformers in Japan, and between Buddhists and many different communist regimes. In some cases, as in Japan, these conflicts were resolved and new modes of accommodation established. In other cases, as in Tibet, strong tensions remained.

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Buddhism - Historical development | Britannica.com

Published:23rd March, 2015

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Firstly I believe that we need to understand what motivation is before we can understand why there are lots of motivational theories.

Motivation' comes from the Latin word movere, meaning to move' (kreitner R., kinicki A., Buelens M., 2002, p: 176) which means as fact, need, emotion and organic state which encourages a person to take an action.

A person's performance at work is affected by several individual factors (Personality, attitudes and beliefs, motivation, perception) but in particular, by Motivation. The dictionary defines motivation as the reason why somebody does something or behaves in a particular way (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, 2000, p1128). Many theorists over the years starting from the industrial revolution have analysed what makes workers work harder. This essay will illustrate why there are multiple theories of motivation I will be looking at two theories Maslow's hierarchy and Hertzberg's two factor theories to try to determine why there is a need to have so many theories of motivation.

Many organisations face difficulties when trying to motivate their staff. If the employees are motivated the company is likely to be more successful. To be able to understand motivation and the way it works, we have to understand human nature itself, managers also need to understand the work effort motivation cycle as to not loose there staff to more exciting rewarding and satisfying roles else were.( French, R., et al, 2008, Organizational Behaviour p157) There has to be effective management and leadership to motivate staff. Many companies believe that pay is the prime motivator; however people may want to exceed, receive acknowledgment for there efforts, they may want to feel a part of a group and also want to feel a heightened sense of worth at the workplace. This is where empowerment plays a very important part in a company's progression. ( French, R., et al, 2008, Organizational Behaviour. p 156)

Empowerment is the process by which managers delegate power to employees to motivate greater responsibility in balancing the achievement of both personal and organisational goals.

(Ref.- Chapter 4: Motivation and Empowerment page 184French, R. ,et al, 2008, Organizational Behaviour. Chichester: Wiley)

By empowering employees this will make the staff more satisfied, productive and motivated throughout their working hours. Throughout the years many theorists have tried to explain what motivation is by designing theories describing how managers should stimulate their staff. (French, R. et al.,2008, Organizational Behaviour pp157-159)

There are two main types of motivation theories content and process theories, the content theories look at the needs that individuals have, it includes 4 component theories: Maslow's hierarchy of needs model, Alderfer's modified need hierarchy model, McClelland's achievement motivation theory and Herzberg's two-factor theories. The Process Theories are a understanding of the thought process that influence behaviour. The major process theories of motivation include Vroom's expectancy theory, goal-setting theory, and reinforcement theory and Adams' equity theory. (French, R et al, 2008 Organizational Behaviour p160)

Abraham Maslow has a structure which he has called the hierarchy of needs. There are five basic needs, which people are supposed to uphold. These are physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization. (French, R et al, 2008 Organizational Behaviour p161)

Physiological needs are food, drink, shelter and sex, Safety needs are the security and protection from physical and emotional harm. Social needs refer to a need for love. That means a person will strive for good relationships with people and a place within there group. .(Wilson, F M(2004) Organizational Behaviour and work)

The needs that Maslow has at the bottom of the pyramid are based on basic needs concerned with survival or lower order needs, and these must be satisfied before a person can go to the next level on the hierarchy of needs until self actualization which Maslow argued that although everybody is able to, not many reach this level. (Wilson, F M (2004) Organizational Behaviour and work)

While Maslow's theory seems to make sense at first, there is little to show that a strict hierarchy works in every day working life. In fact research contradicts the order of needs because in some cultures they tend to put social needs before any other need. Maslow's hierarchy also has trouble explaining cases such as the starving artist where a individual will neglect there physical needs to gain a spiritual need. Maslow also suggests that one need is satisfied at a time where there is no evidence this is true.

In all motivation theories there are always advantages and disadvantages, Maslow has been critical of his theory himself, in a statement he said: My motivation theory was published 20 years ago and in all that time nobody repeated it, or tested, or really analyzed it or criticised it. They just used it, swallowed it whole with only the minor modification

Ref- Wilson, F.M (2004). Organisational behaviour and work. Oxford University press, page146 (Lowry 1982:6

Clayton Alderfer proposed the ERG theory, which is very similar to Maslow's theory, it also describes needs as a hierarchy. The letters ERG stand for three levels of needs: Existence, Relatedness, and Growth. This theory is based on the work of Maslow, so it has a lot which is similar with it but it also differs in some important aspects.

He argues that Maslow's theory is not flexible and as a result of this people may become frustrated as they are not able to move to the next stage. Alderfer has minimized Maslow's 5 level theories into 3 levels; this theory is more flexible as people are able to go up and down the hierarchy if their needs keep changing.

(French, R et al, 2008 Organizational Behaviour p160)

Fredrick Herzberg's hygiene-motivation theory, Frederick Hertzberg put forward the idea that certain factors in the workplace cause job satisfaction, while others lead to dissatisfaction, he proposed the 'Two Factor theory' of human motivation in the workplace, he believed that man has two sets of needs one as an animal to avoid pain and the second as a human being to grow psychologically. Hertzberg believes that the growth or the motivator factors such as achievement, the work its self, responsibility and advancement are the primary cause of job satisfaction.

Hygiene factors the dissatisfiers using the term "hygiene" are considered maintenance factors that are to avoid dissatisfaction but by themselves do not provide satisfaction company policy, administration, supervision interpersonal relationships, working conditions salary status and security.

Hertzberg used two open ended questions tell me about a time when you felt exceptionally good about your job.' and tell me about a time when you felt exceptionally bad about your job'.Herzberg analysed a diverse range of employees twelve different investigations informed the theory.( Herzberg et al 1959,. Wilson, F M(2004) Organizational Behaviour and work)

There have been many criticisms of this theory one being some researchers have used other methods and have not been able to confirm the theory there for the theory is said to be method-bound as only Hertzberg's original method is able to support the theory. Other critics found it to be too convenient that Hertzberg's theory fits so neatly into two boxes, intrinsic contributing to job satisfaction and extrinsic to dissatisfaction. In the study by Ewan (1963) found that sometimes the hygiene factor, dissatisfies acted as satisfiers and satisfiers, motivators caused both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. (Wilson, F M(2004) Organizational Behaviour and work)

Looking briefly at the most well known motivational theories David McClelland Need for Achievement Theory proposed that an individual's specific needs are acquired over time and are shaped by a persons life experiences. Most of the needs can be classed as achievement, affiliation, or power. A person's motivation in a certain job is influenced by these three needs. McCelland believed that having the right resources available such as raw materials, time, having the right skills to do the job and also having the necessary support to get the job done like supervisor support, or correct information on the job, McCelland believed that even if two of the three were met that there would still not be positive motivation and all three must be met to achieve positive motivation. (French, R et al, 2008 Organizational Behaviour pp163- 165)

The expectancy theory of motivation is by Victor Vroom. Victor Vroom is very different to Maslow and Hertzberg, Vroom focuses on outcomes not on needs. Expectancy is the belief that more effort will lead to better performance.

(French, R et al, 2008 Organizational Behaviour pp172- 174)

Looking closely at the theories of motivation I believe that there are multiple theories of motivation as there is neither a right or wrong theory all seem to out line the basics of motivation weather it is in a hierarchy or set in two boxes we all have a need for the basics in life plus achievement, recognition and we all would be happier and more motivated to work in better conditions, I believe that a person has each one of these needs at or maybe many at a time so there for many theories are essential to get a wider knowledge of motivation and how to motivate an individual at work.

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Behavioristic approaches to motivation

The behavioristic approach examines how motives are learned and how internal drives and external goals interact with learning to produce behaviour. Learning theorists have taken a somewhat more global perspective when studying motivation than researchers using the biological approach. These researchers have regarded motivation as one component out of several that combine to cause behaviour. Thus, for example, one major theory regards learning and motivation as combining multiplicatively to determine behaviour. Among the behavioristic approaches, three concepts are especially prominent: drive, learned motives, and incentives.

Although in many respects Freuds psychoanalytic theory of behaviour was a drive theory, the term drive was first used by Robert S. Woodworth, an American psychologist, in 1918. The concept of drive is closely tied to the concept of homeostasis. It was assumed that drive would be triggered when internal conditions changed enough to be detected and to initiate the motivational changes that amounted to drive. Thus it was assumed that some tissue need within the body would instigate drive, which would, in turn, instigate behaviours aimed at reducing the drive. According to this sort of analysis, energy depletion would lead to a hunger drive, which would in turn lead to food-seeking behaviours. Drive, then, would serve to energize appropriate behaviours, either innate or learned, which would effect a lowering of the need state of the individual.

The most extensive theoretical model of drive was developed by Clark Hull in the 1940s. Hull argued that drive is general in nature and that various motives such as hunger, thirst, or sex may add to the overall drive level of an individual. Since drive was regarded as the instigator of behaviour, increases in drive level were expected to lead to increases in activity. According to Hulls model, drive is directed by what he termed drive stimuli. These internal stimuli were thought to be different for different motives and to direct the activity of an individual in ways appropriate for the particular motive state present. Thus, for example, a hungry person might go to the refrigerator seeking food because drive stimuli linked with hunger had been associated with responses of obtaining food from the refrigerator in the past.

Finally, Hull suggested that learning itself depends upon adequate drive. Responses were thought to be strengthened when followed by drive or drive-stimulus reduction. If drive or drive stimuli were not reduced, then learning would not occur.

Hulls drive theory generated a tremendous body of research, but the model of motivation he evolved was not more effective than others in explaining behaviour. For example, studies showed that increases in activity that occur when subjects are deprived depend largely on the species of the subject and the manner in which the activity is tested. Some species do not become more active when deprived, and changes in activity that are apparent when one type of apparatus is used (e.g., a running wheel) are not seen when other types of apparatus (e.g., a stabilimeter cagefor measuring caged animal activity) are used. Furthermore, drive stimuli, the proposed directional mechanism in Hulls model, have proved to be very elusive, and it is not clear that under normal circumstances their presence, if they exist, is crucial to the direction of behaviour. Finally, several studies have shown that learning can occur under circumstances that would seem to preclude any reduction in drive or drive stimuli. Since Hulls model tied learning to a reduction in drive, these studies pose a problem. Although explicit theoretical models of drive have not proved to be any better at explaining motivation than other approaches, the drive concept, in general, would seem to have some validity if only because people often express their subjective feelings of motivation in terms that suggest they are driven. In particular, the drive concept would often seem to apply to feelings associated with human sexual motivation. The drive theory no longer has wide acceptance in the motivational field.

One of the most significant contributions that the learning approach has made to the study of motivation is its emphasis on the ability of individuals to learn new motives. It has been demonstrated that new motives may be acquired as a result of three learning techniques: classical, instrumental, and observational learning.

In classical conditioning, also called Pavlovian conditioning, a neutral stimulus gains the ability to elicit a response as a result of being paired with another stimulus that already causes that response. Such learning situations can then lead to changes in motivated behaviour. Pavlov, for example, showed that dogs would develop what appeared to be neurotic behaviour if they were required to make finer and finer discriminations between stimuli in a classical conditioning discrimination experiment. The dogs became motivated to avoid the experiment room, were restless during the experimental session, and sometimes bit the apparatus. The neurosis developed when the dogs were no longer able to discriminate between the two stimuli presented to them. Later researchers have noted that this motivational change may have resulted from a lack of predictability or control on the part of the animal rather than from the classical conditioning process per se.

In 1920 the American psychologists John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner demonstrated the development of an emotional response in a young boy using classical conditioning techniques. The presentation of a white rat was paired with the striking of a steel bar, which induced fear in the little boy. After only a few pairings, the white rat became capable of inducing fear responses similar to those produced by striking the bar. This early demonstration of learned emotional responses has suggested to psychologists that many human motives may result from the accidental pairing of events. It has been proposed that some fears, phobias, taste aversions, and even eating problems can result from classical conditioning.

The second type of learning technique is instrumental learning, or conditioning, also called operant conditioning. In this type of conditioning a response is followed by some consequence which then changes the future probability of that response. For example, instrumental conditioning appears to be one way in which aggressive motivation can be changed. If an aggressive response by one child toward another child is followed by some positive event such as the aggressor getting to play with a desired toy, then the motivation to behave aggressively can be expected to increase in the future. Furthermore, through a process called conditioned reinforcement, neutral stimuli associated with a reinforcer can become reinforcers in their own right. These stimuli can then be used to motivate behaviour. Perhaps the most common example of a conditioned reinforcer is money. A piece of paper with numbers and intricate drawings on it can motivate all sorts of behaviour if that paper has previously been associated with important reinforcers such as food, clothing, sex, and so forth. Money is in effect a token of the things it can buy. Psychologists have used different types of tokens as rewards to implement reinforcement, and token economies, involving the principles of conditioned reinforcement, have been successfully used to alter behaviour in schools, institutions, and hospitals (see below Applications in society).

In the third type of learning technique, observational learning, or modeling, a new behaviour is learned simply by watching someone else behave. In a very real sense, such learning is the ability to profit from anothers successes or mistakes. This type of learning is important because the learning can occur without an individual ever having to perform the behaviour. Thus, watching another child put a finger in an electrical outlet and get shocked is often enough to keep the observing child from behaving the same way. Similarly, noticing that friends do well in school because they study hard may be a sufficient stimulus to motivate students. Albert Bandura, an American psychologist, proposed, and provided a wealth of support for, the observational learning of aggression in humans. He showed that young children will mimic the aggressive responses they see performed by adults. Such aggressive responses can potentially be learned by observation of violent acts on television or in movies or by reading or hearing about violent behaviour. If the observed violent acts are further perceived to lead to desired goals, then the observed aggressive behaviours may be utilized at some future date by the observer.

Research indicates that persons also learn their societys rules of sexual conduct through observation. These sexual values are taught in part by parents, clergy, political leaders, books, movies, and television. Although the learning is often indirect, people nevertheless learn how to express their sexuality. The rules for sexual behaviour in a given culture appear to be learned during adolescence. In monkeys, social isolation impairs sexual functioning. Although isolated monkeys seem to have adequate sexual motivation, the lack of appropriate social skills results in inappropriate behaviours. Thus, learning would appear to be a significant factor in normal sexual behaviour. It is generally thought that certain sexual preferences are also learned, by one technique or another. In one experiment a boot fetish was established in three males by pairing pictures of boots with pictures of nude women (at the conclusion of the experiment the fetish was extinguished). Such a demonstration would seem to indicate that some sexual preferences are learned.

One area within the study of human motivation that has proved fruitful is research on incentives. Incentive motivation is concerned with the way goals influence behaviour. For example, a person might be willing to travel across the city to dine at a special restaurant that served a favourite dish. On the other hand, that same person might not be willing to travel the same distance to eat an ordinary frankfurter. The two meals have different incentive values and motivate behaviour to differing degrees.

It is often assumed that the stimulus characteristics of the goal are what produce the goals motivating properties. Thus, the taste, smell, and texture of one food would motivate behaviour better than these qualities in another food. Unlike drives, which were thought to be innate, incentives are usually considered to be learned. An individual is not born preferring one goal over another, but rather these preferences develop as new goals are experienced. Incentive motivation is not restricted to goals associated with the primary motives of hunger, thirst, sex, or avoidance of pain. Indeed, one of the most important aspects of this type of motivation is that any goal one seeks can motivate behaviour. For example, the goal of obtaining a high-paying job could serve as a strong motivator for studying hard in school. Goals serving as incentive motivators do not even need to physically exist at the time they activate behaviour, such as might be the case for someone who is motivated to get high grades now in order to eventually get into medical school.

Theoretical explanations of incentive motivation have ranged from mechanical stimulus-response approaches based on classical conditioning to cognitive approaches emphasizing the learning of expectancies, as discussed in the section below. Several theories have emphasized the role of predictive cues in the development of incentive motivation. Researchers concerned primarily with human motivation have suggested that much of human behaviour can be understood as being directed toward specific goals.

Cognitive theories of motivation assume that behaviour is directed as a result of the active processing and interpretation of information. Motivation is not seen as a mechanical or innate set of processes but as a purposive and persistent set of behaviours based on the information available. Expectations, based on past experiences, serve to direct behaviour toward particular goals.

Important concepts of cognitive motivation theory include expectancy-value theory, attribution theory, cognitive dissonance, self-perception, and self-actualization.

According to expectancy-value theory, behaviour is a function of the expectancies one has and the value of the goal toward which one is working [expressed as B = f(E V)]. Such an approach predicts that, when more than one behaviour is possible, the behaviour chosen will be the one with the largest combination of expected success and value. Expectancy-value theory has proved useful in the explanation of social behaviours, achievement motivation, and work motivation. Examination of its use in achievement motivation can serve to represent the various types of expectancy-value motivations.

Achievement was initially recognized as an important source of human motivation by the American psychologist Henry Murray in the late 1930s. Although Murray identified achievement motivation as important to the behaviour of many people, it was the American psychologists David McClelland and John Atkinson who devised a way of measuring differences in achievement motivation. These researchers used Murrays Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a series of ambiguous pictures about which people were asked to write stories (as a determination of personality traits), to measure differences in achievement motivation. Using a technique known as content analysis, the stories were scored for achievement imagery. Based on a substantial body of research, a theoretical model was developed that rested upon the fundamental concepts of expectancy and goal value.

The expectancy-value model of achievement motivation proposes that the overall tendency to achieve in a particular situation depends upon two stable motivesa motive for success and a motive to avoid failureand the subjective evaluation of the probability of success in the situation. The motive for success is regarded as a relatively stable personality characteristic by the time adulthood is reached. Ones motive for success is believed to result from learning in prior achievement situations where the individual has performed successfully. Thus, someone who has, for the most part, had successful experiences in the past is thought to be highly achievement-oriented. The motive to avoid failure is also assumed to be relatively stable by adulthood and represents the compilation of those prior instances where achievement behaviours were unsuccessful. It is argued that someone who has made many unsuccessful attempts in achievement situations will develop a strong motive to avoid failure.

Since almost everyone has experienced both successes and failures during development, the theory assumes that each person has differing degrees of both motivation for success and motivation to avoid failure. These two motivations are opposing tendencies, and as a result the difference in strength between the two will determine whether a given individual is an achiever or not. People with high motivation for success and low motivation to avoid failure will be achievement-oriented, while people with strong motivation to avoid failure and weak motivation for success will try to avoid most achievement situations if possible.

The expected probability of success in a particular achievement situation is also important in this achievement theory. The theory predicts that persons highly motivated for success will tend to choose to participate in achievement situations that they judge to be moderately difficult, while the theory also predicts that people highly motivated to avoid failure will tend to choose tasks that they judge to be either very easy or extremely difficult. The choices made by people either highly motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure differ because of the differing value of easy, moderate, and difficult goals for these two types of people. The model mathematically predicts that goals that require moderate effort to achieve will have the greatest value for persons highly motivated for success. Stated another way, high achievers want to obtain goals that are difficult enough to have some value but not so difficult as to be impossible or so easy as to be worthless. Persons with strong motivation to avoid failure believe they are likely to be unsuccessful. For this reason, the theory predicts that they would prefer easy tasks where success is likely or tasks so difficult that little embarrassment would ensue if they fail.

Attempts to test these predictions have met with mixed results. Some studies have found that people scoring high in motivation for success do often choose tasks that they consider moderately difficult, while other studies have failed to find such results. Also, persons scoring high in motivation to avoid failure do sometimes choose very easy tasks, as the theory predicts, but often do not choose very difficult tasks as also predicted. Clearly much research remains to be done before the models accuracy in predicting achievement behaviour can be judged.

A second major approach to achievement motivation rejects the expectancy-value formulation and analyzes instead the attributions that people make about achievement situations. In general, attribution theory concerns how people make judgments about someones (or their own) behaviourthat is, the causes to which they attribute behaviour. Considerable research has found that people typically attribute behaviour either to stable personality characteristics, termed dispositions, or to the situations that were present at the time the behaviour occurred.

In regard to achievement behaviour, the attributions of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck are argued to be especially important in determining future achievement motivation. For example, when a person is successful at a task and attributes that success to ability, that person is likely to approach new achievement situations in the future. Similarly, if the success was attributed to an intense effort, future achievement behaviour would depend upon a willingness to expend such effort in the future. Task difficulty appears to be judged from social norms. If most people are unsuccessful at a task, it is judged to be difficult, and, if most people are successful, the task is judged to be easy. The attribution of success to task difficulty therefore, would be expected to modify future achievement behaviour. If success was judged to be due to the fact that the task was very easy, future achievement behaviour would not be expected to change much; however, success in a task judged to be very difficult might prompt a person to expand the range of tasks he or she is willing to attempt. Ascriptions of luck in an achievement task would also influence future achievement behaviour. Basically, luck is assumed when a person expects to have no control over the outcome in the task. Success attributed to luck is not expected to increase future achievement behaviour much, nor would failure attributed to bad luck be expected to decrease it much.

Research on the attributions people make in achievement-related situations suggests that the four causal ascriptions mentioned above and perhaps other ascriptions as well can best be understood as falling along three dimensions: locus, stability, and controllability. Locus refers to the location, internal or external, of the perceived cause of a success or failure. Ability and effort, for example, are seen as internal dispositions of a person, while task difficulty and luck are situational factors external to the person. Stability refers to how much a given reason for success or failure could be expected to change. Ability and task difficulty are stable and therefore not expected to change much, while effort and luck are unstable and could therefore change dramatically over time. Controllability refers to how much control the individual has over the events of the situation. Causes such as effort are considered to be controllable, whereas luck is uncontrollable.

One of the most popular cognitive approaches to the study of motivation has been the theory of cognitive dissonance, first systematically studied by the American psychologist Leon Festinger. This theory proposed that people attempt to maintain consistency among their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours. According to this theory, a motivational state termed cognitive dissonance is produced whenever beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours are inconsistent. Cognitive dissonance is considered to be an aversive state that triggers mechanisms to bring cognitions back into a consistent relationship with one another. Much of the research on cognitive dissonance has centred around what happens when attitudes and behaviours are inconsistent. This research suggests that behavior inconsistent with ones beliefsif there is insufficient justification for the behaviourwill often bring about modification of those beliefs. Suppose, for example, that a person is required to undergo a stressful initiation in order to join a select group. After undergoing this initiation the person discovers that becoming a member of the group does not provide the satisfaction originally expected. Such an outcome should produce cognitive dissonance because the behaviours required and the current belief about the group are inconsistent. As a result, the theory suggests that motivation will be triggered to bring the dissonant elements back into a consistent relationship. The behaviour cannot be changed because it has already occurred; the belief, on the other hand can be changed. Under these conditions dissonance theory predicts that the persons attitude will change and that he will actually come to believe that he likes the group more. Several studies have supported this prediction.

Cognitive dissonance approaches have not gone unchallenged. An alternative approach, known as self-perception theory, suggests that all individuals analyze their own behaviour much as an outside observer might and, as a result of these observations, make judgments about why they are motivated to do what they do. Thus, in the example above, self-perception theory would argue that the person, in observing his own behaviour, assesses the effort involved and decides that the initiation was endured because he really wanted to be a member of this group. Dissonance theory and self-perception theory are not necessarily mutually exclusive; several studies suggest that both processes can and do occur but under different conditions.

Cognitive motivational approaches have also explored the idea that human motivation is heavily influenced by a need for competence or control. Although there are several varieties of these theories, most have in common the idea that human behaviour is at least partially motivated by a need to become as much as one can possibly become. One example of this approach is the self-actualization theory of Abraham Maslow previously mentioned.

Maslow has proposed that human motivation can be understood as resulting from a hierarchy of needs. These needs, starting with the most basic physiological demands, progress upward through safety needs, belonging needs, and esteem needs and culminate in self-actualization. Each level directs behaviour toward the need level that is not being adequately met. As lower-level needs are met, the motivation to meet the higher-level needs becomes active. Furthermore, as an individual progresses upward, it becomes progressively more difficult to successfully fulfill the needs of each higher level. For this reason Maslow believed that very few people actually reach the level of self-actualization, and it is a lifelong process for the few who do.

Based on his observations of individuals he believed to be self-actualized, including historical figures such as the U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, Maslow outlined a cluster of 14 characteristics that distinguish self-actualized individuals. Summarized, these characteristics define individuals who are accepting of themselves and others, are relatively independent of the culture or society in which they live, are somewhat detached but with very close personal ties to a few other people, and are deeply committed to solving problems that they deem important. Additionally, self-actualized individuals intensely appreciate simple or natural events, such as a sunrise, and they sometimes experience profound changes that Maslow termed peak experiences. Although difficult to describe, peak experiences often involve a momentary loss of self and feelings of transcendence. Reports of peak experiences also include the feeling of limitless horizons opening up and of being simultaneously very powerful, yet weak. Peak experiences are extremely positive in nature and often cause an individual to change the direction of his or her future behaviour. Maslow believed that everyone is capable of having peak experiences, but he believed that self-actualized persons have these experiences more often.

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Motivation - Behavioristic approaches to motivation ...

The goal of Buddhism is a state of lasting, unconditional happiness known as enlightenment.

To bring us to this state, Buddhism points us tolasting valuesin this impermanent world, and gives us valuable information about how things really are. Through understanding the law ofcause and effect,using practical tools like meditationto gain insight and develop compassion and wisdom, we all of us can tap into our potential to realize the ultimate goal ofenlightenment.

If we really pay attention, we can see that everything in the outside world is changing. Quickly like a candle flame or slowly like a mountain, even the most solid things change. They have no truly permanent essence.

Our inner world of thoughts and feelings is in the same state of constant change.The more we realize how everything is impermanent and dependent on many conditions, the healthier a perspective we can keep on our lives, our relationships, possessions, and values focusing on what truly matters.

If everything comes and goes, is there anything that stays? According to Buddhism,the only thing that is always present is the awareness in which all these experiences and phenomena appear. This awareness is not only timeless but also inherently joyful.

To recognize this timeless awareness here and now means to become enlightened, and it is the ultimate goal of Buddhism.

Buddhism inspires us to take responsibility for our own lives, without moralizing, by understanding cause and effect (karma). Just like gravity, the law of karma functions, everywhere and all the time.

Buddha explained in great detail how we shape our future through our thoughts, words and actions. What we do now accumulates good or bad impressions in our mind. Knowing this gives us great freedom and puts us back in control of our lives. Karma is not fate. We can choose not to do harmful actions, and thus avoid creating the causes of future suffering. To sow the the seeds for good results, we engage in positive actions.

Through Buddhistmeditation, we can also remove the negative impressions already accumulated in our mind from former actions.Once we see how much suffering comes from simply not understanding cause and effect, we naturally develop compassion for others.

In Buddhism, compassion and wisdom go together. Practicing meditation regularly,we get morespace in our mind, and distance from difficult thoughts and feelings. This allows us to see that everyone has the same basic problems as us, and we strengthen our compassionate wishto try to do something to help others.

When we act from compassion, focusing on others rather than ourselves, we get better feedback from the world. The disturbing emotions that we all have, like anger, pride, attachment, and jealousy, loosen their grip. Where there is space that we dont instantly fill with our own concerns any more, wisdom has a chance to appear spontaneously.

Thus, wisdom and compassion grow and support each other on the path.

The Buddha wasspecial because he was the first person to attain full enlightenment in recorded history. But there is no essential difference between the Buddha and us. We all have a mind, and we can all attain liberation and enlightenment by working with our minds.Our body, thoughts, and feelings are constantly changing. Buddhism views them as empty empty of any lasting essence, meaning that they are no basis for a real, separate ego or self. The state of liberation comes when we not only understand this intellectuallybut experience it in a deep, lasting way. With no solid ego we stop taking things personally. We gain an enormous space for joyful development, without the need to react to every negative emotion that comes by.

Enlightenment is the ultimate goal in Buddhism. All positive qualities especially joy, fearlessness, and compassion are now fully perfected. Here, our awareness is all-encompassing, and not limited in any way.With no confusion or disturbance in our minds, we benefit others spontaneously and effortlessly.

If youre interested in getting to know more about Buddhism,you can visit a Buddhist center near you, or continue readingabout what it means to be a Buddhist.

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What is Buddhism? A short introduction for beginners

Sunday, July8

Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.Matt. 24:36.

Jesus said those words while he was on earth. But Christ has been empowered in heaven to wage war against Satans world. (Rev. 19:11-16) Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that Jesus now knows when Armageddon will occur. We, however, do not know. It is imperative that we stay watchful until the tribulation occurs. Yet, the timing of that event has never been uncertain to Jehovah. He has determined exactly when the end will come. He is counting down the time to the start of the great tribulation, and its start will not be late! (Hab. 2:1-3) How can we be sure of this? Jehovahs prophecies have always been fulfilled right on time! We can be certain that Jehovahs promise of deliverance through the great tribulation will not fail us either. However, if we want to survive the destruction of this system, we must keep on the watch. w16.07 2:4-6

Peter said to him: Even if all the others are stumbled, I will not be.Mark 14:29.

At a critical moment, the apostles abandoned Jesus. Peter had earlier stated that even if the others did that, he would not. (Mark 14:27-31,50) Nevertheless, when Jesus was being taken into custody, all the apostlesincluding Peterabandoned him. Peter repeatedly denied even knowing Jesus. (Mark 14:53, 54, 66-72) However, Peter showed remorse, and Jehovah continued to use him. Had you been a disciple then, would Peters actions have affected your loyalty to Jehovah? Today, will you recognize that Jehovah may allow time for repentance on the part of wrongdoers and that he will ultimately correct the wrongs and act in a just way? On the other hand, sometimes those who have been guilty of serious sins reject Jehovahs mercy and are unrepentant. In such situations, will you have confidence that Jehovah will in time judge such wrongdoers, perhaps removing them from the congregation? w16.06 4:8, 9

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father ... comfort your hearts and strengthen you.2Thess. 2:16, 17, ftn.

A great blessing that comes to us through Jehovahs undeserved kindness is comfort for a distressed heart. (Ps. 51:17) To Christians in Thessalonica, who were experiencing persecution, Paul wrote the words found in todays text. How comforting it is to be aware of the loving care that we receive from Jehovah because of his generous kindness! As sinners, on our own we would have no hope. (Ps. 49:7,8) But Jehovah provides us with a wonderful hope. Jesus promised his followers: This is the will of my Father, that everyone who recognizes the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life. (John 6:40) Yes, the hope of eternal life is a gift, a wonderful expression of Gods undeserved kindness. Paul, who certainly appreciated that fact, said: The undeserved kindness of God has been manifested, bringing salvation to all sorts of people.Titus 2:11. w16.07 3:14, 15

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Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY - JW.ORG

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Lighting One lived up to its 2018 convention theme, Be MORE, as the organization hosted its annual awards reception June 19 at the Marriott City Center in downtown Dallas. Gregg Garofalo, President of Lighting One, received the Guiding Light Award...

Focus Industries Inc., based in Lake Forest, Calif., has welcomed Pamala Wishard as its new Product Manager. Wishard will assume responsibility of all product line development with the support of CEO/Sales Director, Stan Shibata. With...

LIGHTFAIR International (LFI) set a record at McCormick Place in Chicago May 6-10, with a significant increase in registration over last year. The show featured 600exhibitors including 66 first-time exhibiting companies and 136...

PORT 68 will unveil a new showroom in Atlantas AmericasMart for the upcoming International Gift and Home Furnishings Market, July 10-16.The Chicago-based producer is moving up the corridor in AmericasMarts Building 1 to area 14 E-22...

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enLIGHTenment - The Lighting Industry Trade Publication

1931-1990

The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was the spiritual leader of the Rajneeshee religious sect headquartered at Rancho Rajneesh in the Central Oregon desert from 1981 to 1985. He attracted hundreds of thousands of red-clad followers from around the world, known as sannyasins. These followers, mostly educated and affluent, followed Rajneesh's teachings which he argued did not reject but rather built on, other religions. Described by reporter David Sarasohn as a combination of Eastern mysticismand the Western human potential movement, the Rajneesh believed that meditation and sexual exploration were essential to spiritual enlightenment.

Born Rajneesh Chandra Mohan in 1931, Rajneesh grew up in Kuchwada in central India. In 1955 he earned a masters degree in philosophy and taught at two universities until 1966. In 1974 he founded an ashram (commune) in Poona (Pune), India where his success as a spiritual leader began. On July 10, 1981, his assistant Ma Anand Sheela, the president of the Rajneesh Foundation International, purchased the 64,000 acre Big Muddy Ranch straddling Wasco and Jefferson Counties in Central Oregon. The Bhagwan renamed it Rancho Rajneesh and moved there in August 1981.

The Rajneeshee developed the city of Rajneeshpuram, whose population was estimated between 2,000 and 3,000 in 1983 and 1984. They also planned a communal farm on the property. As the population of sannyasins increased, so did local resistance. Reports surfaced that Rajneesh was exercising mind control techniques on his followers. To the suspicion of the residents of the nearby town of Antelope, he owned fleets of Rolls Royce cars and private jets, while sannyasins on the commune labored 12 hours each day without monetary compensation. A lengthy struggle between the Rajneesh and their neighbors erupted, attracting the attention of the international press. On September 13, 1985 Sheela, his assistant, fled the commune for Europe amid criminal charges.

Despite Rajneesh's attempts to distance himself from Sheela, the commune collapsed, and on October 28, 1985, he too fled. Arrested when his jet refueled in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rajneesh was tried in Portland on charges of immigration fraud. Immediately after his trial on November 14, Rajneesh left for India and changed his name to Osho. He spent the rest of his life in several countries including Greece and Uruguay. He died on January 19, 1990 in Poona, India where his followers still operate an ashram.

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Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh - Oregon History Project

Two types of training fall under the umbrella of sales training. The first is teaching the basic mechanics of saleshow to sell in the general sense, with an emphasis on the best sales techniques for your industry or customer base. The second type is company-specific trainingaddressing details about your products and services, the sales process that your team uses, and the tools and resources used by your company.

Every salesperson, no matter how experienced, can benefit from both types of sales trainingbecause learning how to sell is an ongoing process. Salespeople always have new strategies and new technologies to learn in order to sell effectively.

When you bring a new salesperson on board, the priority will be to completecompany-specific training. Unless your new employee is a rank beginner, that person will have at least a basic grasp of the mechanics of selling. However, its likely the new salesperson wont know much about your company's products or how the company's sales process works.

The easiest way to get started is to sit the new salesperson down with your customer service team. The customer service people are intimately familiar with your products and know what existing customers like the mostor the least. Let the new salesperson listen in on a few customer service calls, and give the new hire access to as much documentation about the products as possible. Documentation ranges from user guides to brochures to your websites.

Once familiar with your product line, partner the new person up with an experienced member of the sales team. Listening to phone calls and riding along on appointments gives a new employee an idea of how the process works. Just experiencing one salefrom beginningto endcan have a lasting impact.

If your new salesperson demonstrates weaknesses in a particular area (for example, she is great at getting appointments but chokes at the close) then it's time for some basic training. You can either train internally (that is, do it yourself or assign a senior salesperson) or externally (for example, signing your new employee up for formal training such as a sales training class).

Internal training is cheaper and you can customize it to your employee's needs, but it's time-consuming. It can end up costing you more in the long run if your best salespersonspends valuable time doing the training instead of making sales. An alternative is to combine both approaches: sign the new employee up for an external class, then arrange for that person to practice internally by arranging role-playing sessions or sending him out on appointments.

Regarding seasoned salespeople, any time you add a new product or service, all of your salespeople need to know about it, not just the novices.

Use Empathy. Any good salesperson is a good problem-solver. If a salesperson puts themselves in their prospect's shoes, there's a good chance they'll understand the prospect's problemand hopefully, a problem the prospects not aware of. A good salesperson has the ability to look ahead. They can say to a prospect, "Down the road (in two or three months from now) you're going to encounter a problem with XYZ."Once you identify a problem the customer wasn't aware of (and you offer a solution), you become valuable.

Craft a Script. Make sure your sales force has a solid foundation to stand on.Meaning, without sounding like a robot, make sure your team knows the basics of what they're selling. You want their script, so to speak, to become second nature when talking to a customer. This way, they're not bogged down with having to remember the background information and can focus on the specific needs of the particular client.

Identify the Bad Customer. Spotting the tell-tale signs of a customer who's window shopping or the chronic complainer who'll just end up returning the product is important. Two red flags that you can pass on to your salespeople include prospects who are rude during the sales process (and aren't worth the aggravation) and needy prospects that'll email you five times a day (and aren't worth the time). Help your salespeople spot the bad customers so they can focus on selling to the good customers because they're the ones that will keep your sales numbers up.

Overcoming Fear. Especially when it comes to less experienced salespeople, you need to help them overcome fear. For starters, most people have a fear of rejectionand rejection comes with every sales job. Let your salespeople know that they will get rejecteda lot. And remember, even the most social people have a fear of public speaking. To help prepare them, have each member of your team practice making presentations to other sales members so they (slowly) overcome their fear of performance.

Here's a round-up of the most common formats for delivering sales training:

Courses.The typical course format, either in person or online, is a great way to transfer your sales knowledge to teammates. Also, the course format allows your salespeople to do their training on a schedule that works for them while allowing you to keep track of their progress.

In-person workshops.Short in-person workshops break up the work day and are a good way to build excitement surrounding your ongoing sales training.

Hiring outside consultants.If you have too many people to train, or you cant deliver effective in-house training, it's time to look at hiring an outside consultant to come in and do the training. An experienced consultant can add a lot of value based on a wealth of experience, valuable market information, and the ability to customize your sales tools. It can also help you get buy-in by bringing in an expert.

Conferences.Conferences allow employees to learn from proven leaders and get a pulse on whats trending in your market. Conferences also present the opportunity to engage your entire team so that everyone gets the benefit of attending industry training.

Internal team testing.Sometimes the best way to learn is by being thrown into the deep end. Conducting an audit of past sales cycles, both successful and unsuccessful, is a great way to train a salesperson by using real-world applications.

Field training feedback is key.Most talent development happens in the field. However, the analysis and feedback a salesperson receives after a call are what resonates. If you emphasize listening to clients and understanding client needs in a real sales situation and then provide specific feedback (good and bad), you'll impact a person's ability to sell.

Use e-learning to educate.If your sales team doesnt know your product front to back, even the best listeners will fall short in closing a sale. Salespeople, especially new recruits, need to understand product details to boost their confidence when selling. With sufficient product training, they can identify specific client issues and understand products details well enough to position the product as the perfect solution.

E-learning allows sales teams to brush up on their product knowledge wherever they are. Through online videos and modules, you can also track progress to ensure that everyone has viewed the necessary materials.

Try micro-learning.Salespeople are just like everyone else: in general, they cant retain a huge amount of information at one time.

Most multiday sales training events are essentially a waste of money because participants suffer from something called the MEGO effect (my eyes glaze over). Keep all training sessions short and pace them out so that employees have time to absorb and test them.

Reward specific achievements.Salespeople are driven by goals (probably more so than other employees), which makes an achievement-based training program another excellent option.

However, don't generalize your team's success. A much more effective sales training technique is totell people they are doing a good jobbecause they exceeded their quarterly goal by a certain percentage or to recognize their performance in closing a particularly difficult sale.

Share success stories.According to the National Business Research Institute, employee attitude affects40 to 80 percentof customer satisfaction.

High employee engagement and morale has a direct impact on the bottom line. Sharing mutual successes also instills a sense of unity in your salespeople and encourages them to work harder and smarter.

Read this article:
Top Techniques and Tips for Training Salespeople

Every individual person has different motivations for working at a job. The reasons for working are as individual as the person. But, all people work because the workplace provides something that you need from work. The something that you obtain from your work impacts your morale, yourmotivation, and the quality of your life.

Here are thoughts about employee motivation, what people want from work, and how you can help employees attain what they need for their work motivation.

Some people work for their love of the work; others work for personal and professional fulfillment. Other people like to accomplish goals and feel as if they are contributing to something larger than themselves, something important, an overarching visionfor what they can create. Some people have personal missions they accomplish through meaningful work.

Others truly love what they do or the clients they serve. Some like the camaraderie and interaction with customers and coworkers. Other people like to fill their time with activity. Some workers like change, challenge, and diverse problems to solve. As you can see, employee motivation is individual and diverse.

Whatever your personal reasons for working, the bottom line, however, is that almost everyone works for money. Whatever you call it: compensation, salary, bonuses, benefits or remuneration, money pays the bills. Money provides housing, gives children clothing and food, sends teens to college, and allows leisure activities, and eventually, retirement. Unless you are independently wealthy, you need to work to collect a paycheck.

To underplay the importance of money and benefits as motivation for people who work is a mistake. It may not be their most significant motivatoror even the motivational factor they'd first mention in a conversation but earning a living is a factor in any discussion about employee motivation.

Fair benefits and pay are the cornerstones of a successful company that recruits and retains committed workers. If you provide a living wage for your employees, you can then work on additional motivation issues. Without the fair, living wage, however, you risk losing your best people to a better-paying employer.

In fact, research from Watson Wyatt Worldwide in "The Human Capital Edge: 21 People Management Practices Your Company Must Implement (or Avoid) to Maximize Shareholder Value," recommends, that to attract the best employees, you need to pay more than your average-paying counterparts in the marketplace. Money provides basic motivation.

Surveys and studies dating back to the early 1980s demonstrate that people want more from work than money. An early study of thousands of workers and managers by the American Psychological Association clearly demonstrated this.

Managers predicted that the most important motivational aspect of work for people they employed would be money. Instead, it turned out that personal time and attention from the manager or supervisor was cited by workers as most rewarding and motivational for them at work.

In a "Workforce" article, "The Ten Ironies of Motivation," reward and recognition guru, Bob Nelson, says, "More than anything else, employees want to be valued for a job well done by those they hold in high esteem." He adds that people want to be treated as if they are adult human beings who think, makes decisions, tries to do the right thing, and don't need a caretaker watching over their shoulders.

While what people want from work is situational, depending on the person, his needs and the rewards that are meaningful to him, giving people what they want from work is really quite straightforward. People want:

Employees want people who don't perform fired; in fact, failure to discipline and fire non-performers is one of the most demotivating actions an organization can takeor fail to take. It ranks on the top of the list next to paying poor performers the same wage as non-performers in deflating motivation.

Additionally, the authors found that a disconnect continues to exist between what employers think people want at work and what people say they want for motivation. "Employers far underrate the importance to employees of such things as flexible work schedules or opportunities for advancement in their decision to join or leave a company.

"That means that many companies are working very hard (and using scarce resources) on the wrong tools," say Pfau and Kay. People want employers to pay them above market rates. They seek flexible work schedules. They want stock options, a chance to learn, and the increased sharing of the rationale behind management decisions and direction.

You have much information about what people want from work. Key to creating a work environment that fosters motivation are the wants and needs of the individual employees. The most significant recommendation for your takeaway is that you need to start asking your employees what they want from work and whether they are getting it.

With this information in hand, you'll be surprised at how many simple and inexpensive opportunities you have to create a motivational, desirable work environment. Pay attention to what is important to the people you employ for high motivation and positive morale. When you foster these for people, you'll achieve awesome business success.

Read more from the original source:
What People Want From Work for Motivation