This week, I want to touch on a couple of topics that didnt make the cut in AGE OF DECEIT 2: Alchemy and the Rise of the Beast Image but are nonetheless extremely important.Today I want to tackle Androgyny and the Antichrist.

The Merriam-Webster defines Androgynous as quote:

1. having the characteristics or nature of both male and female

2. neither specifically feminine nor masculine

3. having traditional male and female roles obscured or reversed. [1]

Many occult traditions posses an obscure and twisted interpretation of the Biblical accounts of creation and cosmology. The various threads of alchemical cosmologies fall right in line, in particular regarding the creation of Adam and Eve. Here is how the late Bill Cooper, conspiracy theorist and author ofBehold a Pale Horse, described the alchemical traditions of the creation process and the occult worldview that prevails the elite initiates.

Those who have studied the writings of the ancient alchemist have always been much mystified by what is said about the Philosophers Stone, and the process of transmuting the base metals into gold. These claims have naturally given rise to great deal of grand speculation. And as we are standing within the threshold of a new age, when this precious jewel with all of its power will be evolved and possessed by a considerable number of people, we feel that it is important to divest the subject of all the mysteries that surrounds it and speak in plain terms concerning the matter.

We are taught that in the beginning, God created heaven and earth. The whole universe in fact. And we understand that this great creative force, expresses itself either as will or imagination. By imagination, the great architect of the universe, must first have visualized everything as it was first created and then by his will, the physical atoms were marshaled into this matrix of thought. Thus, gradually bringing this universe into manifestation, as designed by its creator. Nor is it this process complete, but will continue until the whole has become perfect, as originally designed.

The divine hierarchies that have carried out the plan of the great creator also use the same dual creative force when fashioning the crystal and the mineral, the leaf of the plant, or the shape of the animal. Man, the spirit has a like creative power, and has through ages under the guidance of gods, plural, learned to build bodies of increasing value as instruments for his expression. But his pilgrimage through matter was undertaken for the purpose of making him an independent creative intelligence and to attain that end, it was necessary that he should, at the proper time, be emancipated from the guardianship of the gods, so that he might learn to create, not only for himself, but also to aid and to teach others in the great school of life.

During the course of his evolution, man has become more and more enlightened concerning the mystery of life, but nevertheless, it is only a few hundred years ago when life and liberty were endangered by the expression of opinions in advance of the commonly accepted views. It was for this reason, that the alchemist, who had studied more deeply than the majority, were forced to embody their teaching in highly allegorical and symbolical language. Their teaching concerning the spiritual evolution of man and their use of the terms salt, sulfur, mercury, and azoth, so mystifying to the masses, were nevertheless, rooted in cosmic truths, highly illuminating to the initiate. The students of the Rosicrucian teachings who had learned how the world came into being and the process of gradual creation should have no difficulty in properly understanding every part of the alchemist language.

We know in the first place, that there was a time when man in the making was a hermaphrodite, male-female, and able to create from himself. And we remember also, that at that time he was like the plant in other respects. His consciousness was like that which we posses in dreamless sleep, and which was possessed by the plant. The vital energy which he absorbed into his body was used solely for the purpose of growing until the time of propagation came, when a new budding body was cast off to grow also. For the emancipation of humanity from this negative condition, one half of the creative force was turned upward under the direction of the angels for the purpose of building a larynx and a brain, that man might learn to create by thought as do the divine hierarchies and express the creative thought and words. Thus, man ceased to be a physically hermaphrodite and became uni-sexual. He could no longer create from himself physically, nor psychically, as do the Elohim, the male-female hierarchies, in his image who were originally made. And so he occupies in the present time, an unenviable, intermediate position between the plant and the god. At the time one half of the human sex force was diverted for the purpose of building the brain, men were helpless and lacking in knowledge of how to overcome conditions and had no outside help, and given the race, must have died out. Therefore angels from the moon, who were guardians of mankind, herded the sexes together in great temples at times when the interplanetary lines of force were propitious to propagation, and thus they perpetuated the race. It was also proposed that when the brain had been completed, the Lords of Mercury, elder brothers of our present humanity, who excelled in intelligence should teach us how to use the mind and to make it truly creative. Thus by the work of these two great hierarchies, we were raised from unconsciousness to the first stage of creative intelligence; from plant to god. [2]

Now I would like to clarify that these are not Bill Coopers beliefs. He was merely speaking from the perspective of the modern alchemist and occultist. What should be obvious to anyone who has studied the occult in any measure, is that the story always reflects the Luciferian Doctrine; that is to say, Satan was responsible for freeing mankind from the clutches of the evil god Yahweh and his prison, the Garden of Eden. The alchemical account is simply more elegant and detailed yet still retains many interesting attributes from angels, Elohim, and hierarchies from Mercury and the Moon. But for this post, my focus is on the idea that humanity prior to our current state was a hermaphrodite, male-female, and how that perspective fuels the modern transhumanist movement, and furthermore, shapes the potential identity of the Antichrist.

We have seen a steady and healthy attack on the traditional family in the last century. While issues within the traditional or even better, the Biblical sense of family has always been at stake, it seems modern culture and society have ramped up in contemporary America, first with the womens rights movement, and now with the cultural support of homosexuality. Let me be very clear here that I dont think womens rights is necessarily evil or satanic. However, I do think it was a huge chink in the armor when it came to the traditional sense of family. Like any view, extremism is harmful and destructive, but even women I know, such as my wife, believe that the rise in divorce, and the decline of masculinity in America has a direct correlation with the over-empowerment of women in society and the advent of freedom of choice. But a second leg to this attack is homosexuality.

I have friends who are homosexual and consider themselves transgender, and I sincerely love them as fellow image bearers of God. Please understand that my opinions and comments here on homosexuality are at the cultural and societal level and not an attack on any individual. But it is true that the rise in homosexuality, or at least the acceptance of it, has been a huge detriment on the traditional family model. And before I get thumping on the Bible, lets look at this from a very practical, natural sense. Society and the human race is built on the function of the male and female mating and producing children. If the cycle stops, the human race goes extinct. With this in mind, one can claim that homosexuality is unnatural from the naturalist perspective. But because of our broken society, gay couples have had the opportunity to raise foster children, or even better, with the advent of technology, have had the capacity to create their own progeny with the help of test tubes. And while the topic of homosexuality is highly debated, especially amongst the religious and anti-religious camps, my goal here it to tie this all back to alchemy and the mystical traditions that stem back from antiquity.

Given these cultural breakdowns in the gender line, its no surprise to mention that androgyny is nothing new for someone like myself who was born on the dawn of the generation labelled Millennials. The music and entertainment industry has been notorious for blurring the lines between gender for decades. Michael Jackson, Bret Michaels, David Bowie, Adam Lambert, Boy George, Marylin Manson, just to name a few, are male musicians who all had their image bear the resemblance of being in touch with their feminine side. Then you have Lady Gaga, Grace Jones, Annie Lennox, Patti Smith, and K.D. Lang just to name a few female rock stars who resembled a more masculine look. So given the climate regarding gender ambiguity, where are we headed, especially in light of transhumanism?

There are at least three reasons to suspect that gender is on its way out.

Firstly, the trend towards increasing insistence on choosing the socially-constructed aspects of ones genderwhether it concerns sexual orientation, how to dress, what kind of roles to play in society, how we refer to ourselves (and insist on being referred to by others, or whateverseems set to continue, at least in the developed world.

Secondly, surgical techniques enabling de facto alteration of our biological gender, at least at the macroscopic level, are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are thus enabling increasing alignment of our (apparent) biological gender with our wishes.

Thirdly, and most radically, we may be on the verge of being able to tinker massively with our DNA, with the result that even at the genetic level we might find ourselves able to blur the boundaries between male (XY) and female (XX), to a far greater extent than nature has done for us.

And once gender becomes a matter of choice, rather than of natures providence, there is no reason why there should be only two, three or even four of them. And once gender splinters, like political parties and religious denominations, into categories that are limited only by the human imagination, the term gender seems likely to become increasingly inappropriate as a description of reality. [3]

Can you imagine a society where gender is simply a choice? Anything goes! With the scientific and technological power that is behind transhumanism, such a world is right around the corner. And that means your children, and their children will be facing a culture and a society who champions freedom of choice which will enable them to choose their gender, should they decide to practice their freedoms. Whats even more alarming is that the alchemical translation of the creation of Adam and Eve will most certainly be used as a way to justify these choices as something the church at large can accept. Heres the logic. They will bring up Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

The traditional interpretation is that God created man, or humanity, in His image and that the humanity He created was male and female. But the alchemical interpretation sees this as avid proof that Adam was androgynous. This brings up many fascinating theological questions and points of discussion such as Will there be gender in heaven? or Is God androgynous? Such a questions deserve its own posts, but for now, I simply want to show that with good demonic logic, one can twist the Biblical account to promote an androgynous origin to humanity.

Certainly after seeing the potential direction of gender given transhumanism, the thought of the Antichrist being androgynous is not at all crazy. But the main question would be, Is there Biblical support for this statement? and the quick answer is yes. Daniel 11:37 is the verse that raises the possibility of the Antichrist being androgynous.

Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.

For the traditional prophecy scholar, it might seem absurd to picture a gender-bender Antichrist figure who would captivate the world so much that he would bring false peace to Israel by warring the neighboring nations with the people screaming, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? (Revelation 13:4). But given this passage, the possibility exists. We know that the Antichrist will compare himself to all other gods, and God Himself claiming to be above them all (Isaiah 14). So in essence, his own worship of himself, or herself, will be greater than anything else. And while the reality of the Antichrist being androgynous is in some aspects trivial and irrelevant to the overall fulfillment of Bible Prophecy, thinking about this also made me ponder a couple of other possibilities.

First, if the Great Deception that LA Marzulli and others always talk about is true, then the Antichrist might be a Nephilim, or perhaps present him/herself as the Alien Savior. If that scenario were to play out, then androgyny would make perfect sense because this alien being would not be identified by gender, as we fallen humanity are cursed with, but to us would be to us a god; a spiritually evolved being who would confirm all the traditions of the ancient mysteries.

The second possibility, given the work of author Peter Goodgame and his writings The Giza Discovery, would be that the Antichrist will be the Nimrod figure that we read about in Genesis 10. The potential connection I want to highlight here is that one of the gods worshiped in ancient Egypt is Akhenaton, whom is pictured in todays blog image. This figure was touted as a male, but represented with wide hips like a female making his gender ambiguous. There are other Egyptians gods such as Thoth whose gender was also undefined. But the point is, if the rendering of Revelation 13:3 and Revelation 17:10 are correct by Mr. Goodgame, then perhaps the Antichrist will be the resurrection of an ancient Egyptian god, perhaps Akhenaton, or another figure whose gender is ambiguous.

These ideas obviously deserve a far deeper study, but for todays post, I simply wanted to highlight the Trials of Transhumanism and in particular the topic of Androgyny and the Antichrist. I hope you were able to pick up on the severity and urgency of the times we are living in given the circumstances we face. I believe it is important to discuss these issues and raise awareness regarding them, because not only might it help someone experiencing an identity crisis concerning their gender, but more importantly, we can save souls.

I want to end today with this passage spoken by Jesus that I have read and mentioned many times regarding these end times, but nevertheless, gives me chills every time.

Sources

[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/androgynous

[2] Bill Cooper, Hour of the Time: Episode 733: Spiritual Alchemy, November 2, 1995

[3] http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/wicks20120315

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About the author: Im a Christian media producer focused on making thought provoking and informative content. I love to study various issues relating to Bible Prophecy and the current world climate. My goal is to learn by teaching and to create a community of informed truth seekers, and to be salt and light in this often confusing world that we live in.

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The Trials of Transhumanism: Androgyny and the Antichrist

Did you know that the word transhuman literally means beyond human?

All over the world, scientists and intellectuals are joining the transhumanism movement. Those that adhere to this philosophy believe that the time has come for us to use technology to take control of our own evolution. By doing so, they believe that we can give ourselves superhuman powers and radically extend our lifespans. Right now, the most popular movie in America is Avengers: Age of Ultron, and in recent years we have watched films about mutants and superheroes become some of Hollywoods biggest moneymakers. But transhumanists believe that we will soon be able to literally turn ourselves into such superheroes as technology continues to increase at an exponential rate. And once we have superhuman powers and superhuman intelligence, they are convinced that we will eradicate all sickness, disease, poverty and war. Many of them actually believe that we will be able to achieve immortality and establish a utopia on Earth just a few decades from now. In other words, we wont need a God because we will have become our own gods.

At the core of the transhumanist movement is an unshakable faith in the inevitable technological progress of humanity. Yes, there are some transhumanists that have doubts, but for most transhumanists the solution to all of our problems is more technology. If you are not familiar with transhumanism, the following is a really good definitionthat I recently came across

Transhumanism is a cultural and intellectual movement promoting the aim of transforming the human condition fundamentally by developing and making available technologies to enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capabilities. Transhumanist thinking studies the potential benefits and hazards of emerging technologies that could overcome basic human limitations. It also addresses ethical matters involved in developing and using such technologies. Some transhumanists predict that human beings may eventually transform themselves into beings with such greatly expanded abilities that they justify a state of being known as posthuman.

Transhumanists want to help humans live much longer, and they also want to dramatically increase the quality of those lives. Ultimately, most transhumanists are fully convinced that they will be able to defeat death altogether. The following is a short excerptfrom an ExtremeTech article

One of the core concepts in transhumanist thinking is life extension: Through genetic engineering, nanotech, cloning, and other emerging technologies, eternal life may soon be possible. Likewise, transhumanists are interested in the ever-increasing number of technologies that can boost our physical, intellectual, and psychological capabilities beyond what humans are naturally capable of (thus the termtranshuman). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), for example, which speeds up reaction times and learning speed byrunning a very weak electric current through your brain, has already been used by the US military to train snipers. On the more extreme side, transhumanism deals with the concepts of mind uploading (to a computer), and what happens when we finally craft a computer with greater-than-human intelligence (the technological singularity).

So would you like to live forever armed with superhuman powers?

The most famous transhumanist in the world, Ray Kurzweil, actually believes that he is going to be able to do that. But first he has to stay alive long enough for the technologies that he believes are coming to be developed. So Kurzweiltakes 150 supplements a day in an attempt to keep his body in peak condition

The youthful 65-year-old currently takes 150 supplements a day, which he argues is the first bridge.

The idea is to build enough bridges to ensure the body holds out long enough for life-lengthening technology to come into its own.

He has likened the biology of the body to computer software and believes we are all out of date.

Kurzweil is absolutely convinced that if he can just stretch his life out long enough that technologies that will enable him to achieve immortality are right around the corner. In fact,in a piece that he wrote for CNN he expressed his belief that our medical technologies will be a million times more powerful than they are today just two decades from now

Health and medicine is now an information technology and is therefore subject to what I call the law of accelerating returns, which is a doubling of capability (for the same cost) about each year that applies to any information technology.

As a result, technologies to reprogram the software that underlie human biology are already a thousand times more powerful than they were when the genome project was completed in 2003, and will again be a thousand times more powerful than they are today in a decade, and a million times more powerful in two decades.

So will he be right?

We will just have to wait and see.

For a long time, many in the transhumanist movement (including Kurzweil) have been pointing to a time period between 2030 and 2050 during which they believe something remarkable will happen. They believe that during that time period something known as the singularity will occur. As technology increases at an exponential rate, they believe that artificial intelligence will begin to greatly surpass human intelligence at some point, and that humanity will merge with this new super intelligence. Once that happens, they believe that the world will change in ways that we cannot even comprehend today

Kurzweil and his followers believe that a crucial turning point will be reached around the year 2030, when information technology achieves genuine intelligence, at the same time as biotechnology enables a seamless union between us and this super-smart new technological environment. Ultimately the human-machine mind will become free to roam a universe of its own creation, uploading itself at will on to a suitably powerful computational substrate. We will become essentially god-like in our powers.

Does that sound good to you, or does it sound frightening?

Other transhumanists are not quite as optimistic as Kurzweil and his followers. Just consider what Max Tegmark, the author of Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality, had to say about what life will be like after the singularity

After this, life on Earth would never be the same. Whoever or whatever controls this technology would rapidly become the worlds wealthiest and most powerful, outsmarting allfinancial markets, out-inventing and out-patenting all human researchers, and out-manipulating all human leaders. Even if we humansnominally merge with such machines, we might have no guarantees whatsoever about the ultimate outcome, making it feel less like a mergerand more like a hostile corporate takeover.

Even some of the most prominent scientists in the world are skeptical of what an ultra-powerful artificial intelligence would mean for the future of humanity. The following is an excerpt from an article co-authored by Stephen Hawking

Looking further ahead, there are no fundamental limits to what can be achieved: there is no physical law precluding particles from being organized in ways that perform even more advanced computations than the arrangements of particles in human brains. An explosive transition is possible, although it may play out differently than in the movie: as Irving Good realized in 1965, machines with superhuman intelligence could repeatedly improve their design even further, triggering what Vernor Vinge called a singularity and Johnny Depps movie character calls transcendence. One can imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand. Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all.

But despite these reservations from many in the scientific community, many transhumanists are pushing ahead as hard as they can. Many of them are absolutely convinced that what they are doing will bring a new golden age to this planet. Just consider the words oftranshumanist Zoltan Istvan

Despite this, people continue to worry that technology and science that make our species more transhuman will be used to create a deeper divide in society for the haves and have-nots. Those worries are unfounded. A close examination of the issues show that transhumanist technology and science liberates us, brings us better health, and has improved the living standards of all people around the world. If you value liberty, equality and progress, it makes sense to embrace the coming age of transhumanism.

Doesnt that sound wonderful?

And there are even some transhumanists that couch their hopes and dreams for the future in religious terminology. For example, transhumanist Mark Pesce is fully convinced that transhumanism will allow ordinary humans to become as gods

Men die, planets die, even stars die. We know all this. Because we know it, we seek something morea transcendence of transience, translation to incorruptible form. An escape if you will, a stop to the wheel. We seek, therefore, to bless ourselves with perfect knowledge and perfect will; To become as gods, take the universe in hand, and transform it in our imagefor our own delight. As it is on Earth, so it shall be in the heavens. The inevitable result of incredible improbability, the arrow of evolution is lipping us into the transhuman an apotheosis to reason, salvation attained by good works.

That is some pretty strong stuff.

So what do you think about all of this? Please feel free to join the discussion by leaving a comment below

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Transhumanism: An Attempt To Use Technology To ... - Infowars

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In Indian religions and Indian philosophy, moksha (Sanskrit: moka), also called vimoksha, vimukti and mukti,[1] means emancipation, liberation or release.[2] In the soteriological and eschatological sense, it connotes freedom from sasra, the cycle of death and rebirth. In the epistemological and psychological sense, moksha connotes freedom, self-realization and self-knowledge.[4]

In Hindu traditions, moksha is a central concept[5] and included as one of the four aspects and goals of human life; the other three goals are dharma (virtuous, proper, moral life), artha (material prosperity, income security, means of life), and kama (pleasure, sensuality, emotional fulfillment).[6] Together, these four aims of life are called Pururtha in Hinduism.[7]

The concept of moksha is found in Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. In some schools of Indian religions, moksha is considered equivalent to and used interchangeably with other terms such as vimoksha, vimukti, kaivalya, apavarga, mukti, nihsreyasa and nirvana.[8] However, terms such as moksha and nirvana differ and mean different states between various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.[9] The term nirvana is more common in Buddhism,[10] while moksha is more prevalent in Hinduism.[11]

Moksha is derived from the root mu(n)c (Sanskrit: ), which means free, let go, release, liberate.[12][13] In Vedas and early Upanishads, the word mucyate (Sanskrit: )[12] appears, which means to be set free or release - such as of a horse from its harness.

The definition and meaning of moksha varies between various schools of Indian religions.[14] Moksha means freedom, liberation; from what and how is where the schools differ.[15] Moksha is also a concept that means liberation from rebirth or sasra. This liberation can be attained while one is on earth (jivanmukti), or eschatologically (karmamukti,videhamukti). Some Indian traditions have emphasized liberation on concrete, ethical action within the world. This liberation is an epistemological transformation that permits one to see the truth and reality behind the fog of ignorance.[web 1]

Moksha has been defined not merely as absence of suffering and release from bondage to sasra, various schools of Hinduism also explain the concept as presence of the state of paripurna-brahmanubhava (oneness with Brahma, the One Supreme Self), a state of knowledge, peace and bliss.[16] For example, Vivekachudamani - an ancient book on moksha, explains one of many meditative steps on the path to moksha, as:

| ||||

Beyond caste, creed, family or lineage, That which is without name and form, beyond merit and demerit, That which is beyond space, time and sense-objects, You are that, God himself; Meditate this within yourself. ||Verse 254||

Moksha is a concept associated with sasra (birth-rebirth cycle). Samsara originated with new religious movements in the first millennium BCE.[web 1] These new movements such as Buddhism, Jainism and new schools within Hinduism, saw human life as bondage to a repeated process of rebirth. This bondage to repeated rebirth and life, each life subject to injury, disease and aging, was seen as a cycle of suffering. By release from this cycle, the suffering involved in this cycle also ended. This release was called moksha, nirvana, kaivalya, mukti and other terms in various Indian religious traditions.[18]

Eschatological ideas evolved in Hinduism.[19] In earliest Vedic literature, heaven and hell sufficed soteriological curiosities. Over time, the ancient scholars observed that people vary in the quality of virtuous or sinful life they lead, and began questioning how differences in each persons puya (merit, good deeds) or pp (demerit, sin) as human beings affected their afterlife.[20] This question led to the conception of an afterlife where the person stayed in heaven or hell, in proportion to their merit or demerit, then returned to earth and were reborn, the cycle continuing indefinitely. The rebirth idea ultimately flowered into the ideas of sasra, or transmigration - where ones balance sheet of karma determined ones rebirth. Along with this idea of sasra, the ancient scholars developed the concept of moksha, as a state that released a person from the sasra cycle. Moksha release in eschatological sense in these ancient literature of Hinduism, suggests van Buitenen,[21] comes from self-knowledge and consciousness of oneness of supreme soul.

The meaning of moksha in epistemological and psychological sense has been variously explained by scholars. For example, according to Deutsche, moksha is transcendental consciousness, the perfect state of being, of self-realization, of freedom and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self".[22]

Moksha in Hinduism, suggests Klaus Klostermaier,[23] implies a setting free of hitherto fettered faculties, a removing of obstacles to an unrestricted life, permitting a person to be more truly a person in the full sense; the concept presumes an unused human potential of creativity, compassion and understanding which had been blocked and shut out. Moksha is more than liberation from life-rebirth cycle of suffering (samsara); Vedantic school separates this into two: jivanmukti (liberation in this life) and videhamukti (liberation after death).[24] Moksha in this life includes psychological liberation from adhyasa (fears besetting ones life) and avidya (ignorance or anything that is not true knowledge).[23]

Moksha is, in many schools of Hinduism according to Daniel Ingalls,[15] a state of perfection. The concept was seen as a natural goal beyond dharma. Moksha, in the Epics and ancient literature of Hinduism, is seen as achievable by the same techniques necessary to practice dharma. Self-discipline is the path to dharma, moksha is self-discipline that is so perfect that it becomes unconscious, second nature. Dharma is thus a means to moksha.[25]

Samkhya school of Hinduism, for example, suggests one of the paths to moksha is to magnify one's sattvam.[26][27] To magnify one's sattvam, one must develop oneself where one's sattvam becomes one's instinctive nature. Dharma and moksha were thus understood by many schools of Hinduism as two points of a single journey of life, a journey for which the viaticum was discipline and self training.[27] Over time, these ideas about moksha were challenged.

Dharma and moksha, suggested Nagarjuna in the 2nd century, cannot be goals on the same journey.[28] He pointed to the differences between the world we live in, and the freedom implied in the concept of moksha. They are so different that dharma and moksha could not be intellectually related. Dharma requires worldly thought, moksha is unworldly understanding, a state of bliss. How can the worldly thought process lead to unworldly understanding, asked Nagarjuna?[28] Karl Potter explains the answer to this challenge as one of context and framework, the emergence of broader general principles of understanding from thought processes that are limited in one framework.[29]

Adi Shankara in 8th century AD, like Nagarjuna earlier, examined the difference between the world one lives in and moksha, a state of freedom and release one hopes for.[30] Unlike Nagarjuna, Shankara considers the characteristics between the two. The world one lives in requires action as well as thought; our world, he suggests, is impossible without vyavahara (action and plurality). The world is interconnected, one object works on another, input is transformed into output, change is continuous and everywhere. Moksha, suggests Shankara,[23] is that final perfect, blissful state where there can be no change, where there can be no plurality of states. It has to be a state of thought and consciousness that excludes action.[30] How can action-oriented techniques by which we attain the first three goals of man (kama, artha and dharma) be useful to attain the last goal, namely moksha?

Scholars[31] suggest Shankaras challenge to the concept of moksha parallels those of Plotinus against the Gnostics, with one important difference:[30] Plotinus challenged Gnostics that they have exchanged anthropocentric set of virtues with a theocentric set in pursuit of salvation; Shankara challenged that the concept of moksha implied an exchange of anthropocentric set of virtues (dharma) with a blissful state that has no need for values. Shankara goes on to suggest that anthropocentric virtues suffice.

Vaishnavism is one of the bhakti schools of Hinduism and devoted to the worship of God, that sings his name, anoints his image or idol, and has many sub-schools. Vaishnavas suggest that dharma and moksha cannot be two different or sequential goals or states of life.[32] Instead, they suggest God should be kept in mind constantly to simultaneously achieve dharma and moksha, so constantly that one comes to feel one cannot live without Gods loving presence. This school emphasized love and adoration of God as the path to salvation and release (moksha), rather than works and knowledge. Their focus became divine virtues, rather than anthropocentric virtues. Daniel Ingalls[32] calls Vaishnavas position on moksha as similar to Christian position on salvation, and the school whose views on dharma, karma and moksha dominated the initial impressions and colonial era literature on Hinduism, through the works of Thibaut, Max Mller and others.

The concept of moksha appears much later in ancient Indian literature than the concept of dharma. The proto-concept that first appears in the ancient Sanskrit verses and early Upanishads is mucyate, which means freed, released. It is the middle and later Upanishads, such as the Svetasvatara and Maitri, where the word moksha appears and begins becoming an important concept.[15][33]

Kathaka Upanishad,[34] a middle Upanishadic era script dated to be about 2500 years old, is among the earliest expositions about sasra and moksha. In Book I, Section III, the legend of boy Naciketa queries Yama, the lord of death to explain what causes sasra and what leads to liberation.[35] Naciketa inquires: what causes sorrow? Yama explains that suffering and sasra results from a life that is lived absent-mindedly, with impurity, with neither the use of intelligence nor self-examination, where neither mind nor senses are guided by ones atma (spirit). Liberation comes from a life lived with inner purity, alert mind, led by buddhi (reason, intelligence), realization of the Supreme Self (purusha) who dwells in all beings. Kathaka Upanishad asserts knowledge liberates, knowledge is freedom.[36][37] Kathaka Upanishad also explains the role of yoga in personal liberation, moksha.

Svetasvatara Upanishad, another middle era Upanishad written after Kathaka Upanishad, begins with questions such as why is man born, what is the primal cause behind the universe, what causes joy and sorrow in life?[38] It then examines the various theories, that were then existing, about sasra and release from bondage. Svetasvatara claims[39] bondage results from ignorance, illusion or delusion; deliverance comes from knowledge. The Supreme Being dwells in every being, he is the primal cause, he is the eternal law, he is the essence of everything, he is nature, he is not a separate entity. Liberation comes to those who know Supreme Being is present as the Universal Spirit and Principle, just as they know butter is present in milk. Such realization, claims Svetasvatara, come from self-knowledge and self-discipline; and this knowledge and realization is liberation from transmigration, the final goal of the Upanishad.[40]

Starting with the middle Upanishad era, moksha - or equivalent terms such as mukti and kaivalya - is a major theme in many Upanishads. For example, Sarasvati Rahasya Upanishad, one of several Upanishads of the bhakti school of Hinduism, starts out with prayers to Goddess Sarasvati. She is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, learning and creative arts;[41] her name is a compound word of sara[42] and sva,[43] meaning essence of self. After the prayer verses, the Upanishad inquires about the secret to freedom and liberation (mukti). Sarasvatis reply in the Upanishad is:

It was through me the Creator himself gained liberating knowledge, I am being, consciousness, bliss, eternal freedom: unsullied, unlimited, unending. My perfect consciousness shines your world, like a beautiful face in a soiled mirror, Seeing that reflection I wish myself you, an individual soul, as if I could be finite!

A finite soul, an infinite Goddess - these are false concepts, in the minds of those unacquainted with truth, No space, my loving devotee, exists between your self and my self, Know this and you are free. This is the secret wisdom.

Moksha concept, according to Daniel Ingalls,[15] represented one of many expansions in Hindu Vedic ideas of life and afterlife. In the Vedas, there were three stages of life: studentship, householdship and retirement. During Upanishadic era, Hinduism expanded this to include a fourth stage of life: complete abandonment. In Vedic literature, there are three modes of experience: waking, dream and deep sleep. The Upanishadic era expanded it to include turiyam - the stage beyond deep sleep. The Vedas suggest three goals of man: kama, artha and dharma. To these, Upanishadic era added moksha.[15]

The acceptance of concept of moksha in Hinduism was slow. Several schools of Hinduism refused to recognize moksha for centuries, considered it irrelevant.[15] The Mimamsa school, for example, denied the goal and relevance of moksha well into the 8th century AD, till the arrival of Mimamsa scholar named Kumarila.[45] Instead of moksha, Mimamsa school of Hinduism considered the concept of heaven as sufficient to answer the question: what lay beyond this world after death. Other schools of Hinduism, over time, accepted the Moksha concept and refined it over time.[15]

It is unclear when core ideas of samsara and moksha were developed in ancient India. Patrick Olivelle suggests these ideas likely originated with new religious movements in the first millennium BCE.[web 1] Mukti and moksha ideas, suggests J. A. B. van Buitenen,[21] seem traceable to yogis in Hinduism, with long hair, who chose to live on the fringes of society, given to self-induced states of intoxication and ecstasy, possibly accepted as medicine-men and sadhus by the ancient Indian society.[15] Moksha to these early concept developers, was the abandonment of the established order, not in favor of anarchy, but in favor of self-realization, to achieve release from this world.[46]

In its historical development, the concept of moksha appears in three forms: Vedic, yogic and bhakti forms. In Vedic period, moksha was ritualistic.[21] Moka was claimed to result from properly completed rituals such as those before Agni - the fire deity. The significance of these rituals was to reproduce and recite the cosmic creation event described in the Vedas; the description of knowledge on different levels - adhilokam, adhibhutam, adhiyajnam, adhyatmam - helped the individual transcend to moksa. Knowledge was the means, the ritual its application. By middle to late Upanishadic period, the emphasis shifted to knowledge, and ritual activities were considered irrelevant to attainment of moksha.[48]Yogic moksha[21][49] replaced Vedic rituals with personal development and meditation, with hierarchical creation of the ultimate knowledge in self as the path to moksha. Yogic moksha principles were accepted in many other schools of Hinduism, albeit with differences. For example, Adi Shankara in his book on moksha suggests:

| ||||

By reflection, reasoning and instructions of teachers, the truth is known, Not by ablutions, not by making donations, nor by performing hundreds of breath control exercises. ||Verse 13||

Bhakti moksha created the third historical path, where neither rituals nor meditative self-development were the way, rather it was inspired by constant love and contemplation of God, where over time results a perfect union with God.[21] Some Bhakti schools evolved their ideas where God became the means and the end, transcending moksha; the fruit of bhakti is bhakti itself.[51] In the history of Indian religious traditions, additional ideas and paths to moksha beyond these three, appeared over time.[52]

The words moksha, nirvana and kaivalya are sometimes used synonymously,[53] because they all refer to the state that liberates a person from all causes of sorrow and suffering.[54][55] However, in modern era literature, these concepts have different premises in different religions.[9]Nirvana, a concept common in Buddhism, is the realization that there is no self nor consciousness; while moksha, a concept common in many schools of Hinduism, is acceptance of Self, realization of liberating knowledge, the consciousness of Oneness with all existence and understanding the whole universe as the Self.[56] Nirvana starts with the premise that there is no Self, moksha on the other hand, starts with the premise that everything is the Self; there is no consciousness in the state of nirvana, but everything is One unified consciousness in the state of moksha.[56]

Kaivalya, a concept akin to moksha, rather than nirvana, is found in some schools of Hinduism such as the Yoga school. Kaivalya is the realization of aloofness with liberating knowledge of ones self and union with the spiritual universe. For example, Patanjalis Yoga Sutra suggests:

, |

After the dissolution of avidya (ignorance), comes removal of communion with material world, this is the path to Kaivalyam.

Ancient literature of different schools of Hinduism sometimes use different phrases for moksha. For example, Keval jnana or kaivalya ("state of Absolute"), Apavarga, Nihsreyasa, Paramapada, Brahmabhava, Brahmajnana and Brahmi sthiti. Modern literature additionally uses the Buddhist term nirvana interchangeably with moksha of Hinduism.[55][56] There is difference between these ideas, as explained elsewhere in this article, but they are all soteriological concepts of various Indian religious traditions.

The six major orthodox schools of Hinduism have had a historic debate, and disagree over whether moksha can be achieved in this life, or only after this life.[58] Many of the 108 Upanishads discuss amongst other things moksha. These discussions show the differences between the schools of Hinduism, a lack of consensus, with a few attempting to conflate the contrasting perspectives between various schools.[59] For example, freedom and deliverance from birth-rebirth, argues Maitrayana Upanishad, comes neither from the Vedanta schools doctrine (the knowledge of ones own Self as the Supreme Soul) nor from the Samkhya schools doctrine (distinction of the Purusha from what one is not), but from Vedic studies, observance of the Svadharma (personal duties), sticking to Asramas (stages of life).[60]

The six major orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy offer the following views on moksha, each for their own reasons: the Nyaya, Vaisesika and Mimamsa schools of Hinduism consider moksha as possible only after death.[58][61] Samkhya and Yoga schools consider moksha as possible in this life. In Vedanta school, the Advaita sub-school concludes moksha is possible in this life,[58] while Dvaita and Visistadvaita sub-schools of Vedanta tradition believes that moksha is a continuous event, one assisted by loving devotion to God, that extends from this life to post-mortem. Beyond these six orthodox schools, the heterodox schools of Hindu tradition, such as Carvaka, deny there is a soul or after life moksha.[62]

Both Smkhya and Yoga systems of religious thought are mokshastras, suggests Knut Jacobsen, they are systems of salvific liberation and release.[63] Smkhya is a system of interpretation, primarily a theory about the world. Yoga is both a theory and a practice. Yoga gained wide acceptance in ancient India, its ideas and practices became part of many religious schools in Hinduism, including those that were very different from Smkhya. The eight limbs of yoga can be interpreted as a way to liberation (moksha).[63][64]

In Smkhya literature, liberation is commonly referred to as kaivalya. In this school, kaivalya means the realization of purusa, the principle of consciousness, as independent from mind and body, as different from prakrti. Like many schools of Hinduism, in Smkhya and Yoga schools, the emphasis is on the attainment of knowledge, vidy or jna, as necessary for salvific liberation, moksha.[63][65] Yogas purpose is then seen as a means to remove the avidy - that is, ignorance or misleading/incorrect knowledge about one self and the universe. It seeks to end ordinary reflexive awareness (cittavrtti nirodhah) with deeper, purer and holistic awareness (asamprjta samdhi).[64][66] Yoga, during the pursuit of moksha, encourages practice (abhysa) with detachment (vairgya), which over time leads to deep concentration (samdhi). Detachment means withdrawal from outer world and calming of mind, while practice means the application of effort over time. Such steps are claimed by Yoga school as leading to samdhi, a state of deep awareness, release and bliss called kaivalya.[63][65]

Three of four paths of spirituality in Hinduism. Each path suggests a different way to moksha.

Yoga, or mrga, in Hinduism is widely classified into four spiritual practices.[67] The first mrga is Jna Yoga, the way of knowledge. The second mrga is Bhakti Yoga, the way of loving devotion to God. The third mrga is Karma Yoga, the way of works. The fourth mrga is Rja Yoga, the way of contemplation and meditation. These mrgas are part of different schools in Hinduism, and their definition and methods to moksha.[68] For example, the Advaita Vedanta school relies on Jna Yoga in its teachings of moksha.[69]

The three main sub-schools in Vedanta school of Hinduism - Advaita Vedanta, Vishistadvaita and Dvaita - each have their own views about moksha.

The Vedantic school of Hinduism suggests the first step towards moka begins with mumuksutva, that is desire of liberation.[23] This takes the form of questions about self, what is true, why do things or events make us happy or cause suffering, and so on. This longing for liberating knowledge is assisted by, claims Adi Shankara of Advaita Vedanta,[70]guru (teacher), study of historical knowledge and viveka (critical thinking). Shankara cautions that the guru and historic knowledge may be distorted, so traditions and historical assumptions must be questioned by the individual seeking moksha. Those who are on their path to moksha (samnyasin), suggests Klaus Klostermaier, are quintessentially free individuals, without craving for anything in the worldly life, thus are neither dominated by, nor dominating anyone else.[23]

Vivekachudamani, which literally means Crown Jewel of Discriminatory Reasoning, is a book devoted to moksa in Vedanta philosophy. It explains what behaviors and pursuits lead to moksha, as well what actions and assumptions hinder moksha. The four essential conditions, according to Vivekachudamani, before one can commence on the path of moksha include (1) vivekah (discrimination, critical reasoning) between everlasting principles and fleeting world; (2) viragah (indifference, lack of craving) for material rewards; (3) samah (calmness of mind), and (4) damah (self restraint, temperance).[71] The Brahmasutrabhasya adds to the above four requirements, the following: uparati (lack of bias, dispassion), titiksa (endurance, patience), sraddha (faith) and samadhana (intentness, commitment).[69]

The Advaita tradition considers moksha achievable by removing avidya (ignorance). Moksha is seen as a final release from illusion, and through knowledge (anubhava) of one's own fundamental nature, which is Satcitananda.[72][note 1] Advaita holds there is no being/non-being distinction between Atman, Brahman, and Paramatman. The knowledge of Brahman leads to moksha,[75] where Brahman is described as that which is the origin and end of all things, the universal principle behind and at source of everything that exists, consciousness that pervades everything and everyone.[76] Advaita Vedanta emphasizes Jnana Yoga as the means of achieving moksha.[69] Bliss, claims this school, is the fruit of knowledge (vidya) and work (karma).[77]

The Dvaita (dualism) traditions define moksha as the loving, eternal union with God (Vishnu) and considered the highest perfection of existence. Dvaita schools suggest every soul encounters liberation differently.[78] Dualist schools (e.g. Vaishnava) see God as the object of love, for example, a personified monotheistic conception of Shiva or Vishnu. By immersing oneself in the love of God, one's karmas slough off, one's illusions decay, and truth is lived. Both the worshiped and worshiper gradually lose their illusory sense of separation and only One beyond all names remains. This is salvation to dualist schools of Hinduism. Dvaita Vedanta emphasizes Bhakti Yoga as the means of achieving moksha.[79]

The Vishistadvaita tradition, led by Ramanuja, defines avidya and moksha differently from the Advaita tradition. To Ramanuja, avidya is a focus on Self, vidya is focus on a loving God. Vishistadvaita school argues that other schools of Hinduism are creating a false sense of agency in individuals, which makes the individual think oneself as potential or self-realized God. Such ideas, claims Ramanuja, decay to materialism, hedonism and self worship. Individuals forget Ishvara (God). Mukti, to Vishistadvaita school, is release from such avidya, towards the intuition and eternal union with God (Vishnu).[80]

Among the Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta schools of Hinduism, liberation and freedom reached within ones life is referred to as jivanmukti, and the individual who has experienced this state is called jivanmukta (self-realized person).[81] Dozens of Upanishads, including those from middle Upanishadic period, mention or describe the state of liberation, jivanmukti.[82][83] Some contrast jivanmukti with videhamukti (moksha from samsara after death).[84] Jivanmukti is a state that transforms the nature, attributes and behaviors of an individual, claim these ancient texts of Hindu philosophy. For example, according to Naradaparivrajaka Upanishad, the liberated individual shows attributes such as:[85]

Balinese Hinduism incorporates moksha as one of five tattwas. The other four are: brahman (the one supreme god head, not to be confused with Brahmin), atma (soul or spirit), karma (actions and reciprocity, causality), samsara (principle of rebirth, reincarnation). Moksha, in Balinese Hindu belief, is the possibility of unity with the divine; it is sometimes referred to as nirwana.[87][88]

In Buddhism the concept of liberation is Nirvana. It is referred to as "the highest happiness" and is the goal of the Theravada-Buddhist path, while in the Mahayana it is seen as a secondary effect of becoming a fully enlightened Buddha (Samyaksambuddha).

In Jainism, moksa and nirvana are one and the same.[55][89] When a soul (atman) achieves moksa, it is released from the cycle of births and deaths, and achieves its pure self. It then becomes a siddha (literally means one who has accomplished his ultimate objective). Attaining Moksa requires annihilation of all karmas, good and bad, because if karma is left, it must bear fruit.

The Sikh concept of mukti (moksha) is essentially that of jivan mukti, the one attainable in ones lifetime itself. Sikhism rejects the idea of considering renunciation as the vesture of a jivan mukta. Contrast with it, for example, the Jain view according to which The liberated persons have to lead a mendicants life, for, otherwise, they cannot keep themselves free from karma (G. N. Joshi: Atman and Mokhsa. Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, 1965, p.260).

Jivan mukti itself brings one to the brink of videha mukti (incorporeal emancipation) which is freedom not from the present body, but from any corporeal state hereafter. It spells for the mukta a final cessation of the weals and woes of the cycle of birth-death-birth (janam-maran). This ultimate mukti is a continuation of jivan mukti, going on after the shedding away of the corporeal frame to the final absorption into the One Absolutethe blending of light with Light (joti jot samana).

The Sikh mukti is positive concept in two important ways. First it stands for the realization of the ultimate Reality, a real enlightenment (jnana). The mukta is not just free from this or that, he is the master of sense and self, fearless (nirbhai) and devoid of rancor (nirvair), upright yet humble, treating all creatures as if they were he himself, wanting nothing, clinging to nothing.

In Sikhism, one rises from the life of dos and don'ts to that of perfection a state of "at-one-ment" with the All-self. Secondly, the mukta is not just a friend for all, he even strives for their freedom as well. He no longer lives for himself, he lives for others.

Excerpt from:
Moksha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Employment is a relationship between two parties, usually based on a contract where work is paid for, where one is the employer and the other is the employee.

An employee contributes labor and expertise to an endeavor of an employer and is usually hired to perform specific duties which are packaged into a job. An Employee is a person who is hired to provide services to a company on a regular basis in exchange for compensation and who does not provide these services as part of an independent business.

Employer and managerial control within an organization rests at many levels and has important implications for staff and productivity alike, with control forming the fundamental link between desired outcomes and actual processes. Employers must balance interests such as decreasing wage constraints with a maximization of labor productivity in order to achieve a profitable and productive employment relationship.

The main ways for employers to find workers and for people to find employers are via jobs listings in newspapers (via classified advertising) and online, also called job boards. Employers and job seekers also often find each other via professional recruitment consultants which receive a commission from the employer to find, screen and select suitable candidates. However, a study has shown that such consultants may not be reliable when they fail to use established principles in selecting employees.[1] A more traditional approach is with a "Help Wanted" sign in the establishment (usually hung on a window or door[2] or placed on a store counter).[3] Evaluating different employees can be quite laborious but setting up different techniques to analyze their skill to measure their talents within the field can be best through assessments.[4] Employer and potential employee commonly take the additional step of getting to know each other through the process of job interview.

Training and development refers to the employer's effort to equip a newly hired employee with necessary skills to perform at the job, and to help the employee grow within the organization. An appropriate level of training and development helps to improve employee's job satisfaction.

Employee benefits are various non-wage compensation provided to employee in addition to their wages or salaries. The benefits can include: housing (employer-provided or employer-paid), group insurance (health, dental, life etc.), disability income protection, retirement benefits, daycare, tuition reimbursement, sick leave, vacation (paid and non-paid), social security, profit sharing, funding of education and other specialized benefits. Employee benefits improves the relationship between employee and employer and lowers staff turnover.

Organizational justice is an employee's perception and judgement of employer's treatment in the context of fairness or justice. The resulting actions to influence the employee-employer relationship is also a part of organizational justice.

Employees can organize into trade or labor unions, which represent the work force to collectively bargain with the management of organizations about working, and contractual conditions and services.

Usually, either an employee or employer may end the relationship at any time. This is referred to as at-will employment. The contract between the two parties specifies the responsibilities of each when ending the relationship and may include requirements such as notice periods, severance pay, and security measures.

Wage labor is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer, where the worker sells their labor under a formal or informal employment contract. These transactions usually occur in a labor market where wages are market determined.[5][6] In exchange for the wages paid, the work product generally becomes the undifferentiated property of the employer, except for special cases such as the vesting of intellectual property patents in the United States where patent rights are usually vested in the original personal inventor. A wage laborer is a person whose primary means of income is from the selling of his or her labor in this way.

In modern mixed economies such as that of the OECD countries, it is currently the dominant form of work arrangement. Although most work occurs following this structure, the wage work arrangements of CEOs, professional employees, and professional contract workers are sometimes conflated with class assignments, so that "wage labor" is considered to apply only to unskilled, semi-skilled or manual labor.

Wage labour, as institutionalised under today's market economic systems, has been criticized,[7] especially by both mainstream socialists and anarcho-syndicalists,[8][9][10][11] using the pejorative term wage slavery.[12][13] Socialists draw parallels between the trade of labour as a commodity and slavery. Cicero is also known to have suggested such parallels.[14]

The American philosopher John Dewey posited that until "industrial feudalism" is replaced by "industrial democracy," politics will be "the shadow cast on society by big business".[15]Thomas Ferguson has postulated in his investment theory of party competition that the undemocratic nature of economic institutions under capitalism causes elections to become occasions when blocs of investors coalesce and compete to control the state.[16]

Australian Employment has been governed by the Fair Work Act since 2009.[17]

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) is an association of national level with its international reputation of co-operation and welfare of the migrant workforce as well as its approximately 1200 members agencies in collaboration with and support from the Government of Bangladesh.

In the Canadian province of Ontario, formal complaints can be brought to the Ministry of Labour. In the province of Quebec, grievances can be filed with the Commission des normes du travail.

Pakistan has Contract Labor, Minimum Wage and Provident Funds Acts. Contract labor in Pakistan must be paid minimum wage and certain facilities are to be provided to labor. However, the Acts are not yet fully implemented.[citation needed]

India has Contract Labor, Minimum Wage, Provident Funds Act and various other acts to comply with. Contract labor in India must be paid minimum wage and certain facilities are to be provided to labor. However, there is still a large amount of work that remains to be done to fully implement the Act.[citation needed]

In the Philippines, private employment is regulated under the Labor Code of the Philippines by the Department of Labor and Employment.

In the United Kingdom employment contracts are categorised by the government into the following types:[18]

In the United States, the standard employment relationship is considered to be at-will, meaning that the employer and employee are both free to terminate the employment at any time and for any cause, or for no cause at all. However, if a termination of employment[19] by the employer is deemed unjust by the employee, there can be legal recourse to challenge such a termination. Unjust termination may include termination due to discrimination because of an individual's race, national origin, sex or gender, pregnancy, age, physical or mental disability, religion, or military status. Additional protections apply in some states, for instance in California unjust termination reasons include marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation or medical condition. Despite whatever agreement an employer makes with an employee for the employee's wages, an employee is entitled to certain minimum wages set by the federal government. The states may set their own minimum wage that is higher than the federal government's to ensure a higher standard of living or living wage for those who are employed. Under the Equal Pay Act of 1963 an employer may not give different wages based on sex alone.[20]

Employees are often contrasted with independent contractors, especially when there is dispute as to the worker's entitlement to have matching taxes paid, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance benefits. However, in September 2009, the court case of Brown v. J. Kaz, Inc. ruled that independent contractors are regarded as employees for the purpose of discrimination laws if they work for the employer on a regular basis, and said employer directs the time, place, and manner of employment.[21]

In non-union work environments, in the United States, unjust termination complaints can be brought to the United States Department of Labor.[22]

For purposes of U.S. federal income tax withholding, 26 U.S.C. 3401(c) provides a definition for the term "employee" specific to chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code:

"For purposes of this chapter, the term employee includes an officer, employee, or elected official of the United States, a State, or any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or any agency or instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing. The term employee also includes an officer of a corporation."[23] This definition does not exclude all those who are commonly known as 'employees'. Similarly, Lathams instruction which indicated that under 26 U.S.C. 3401(c) the category of employee does not include privately employed wage earners is a preposterous reading of the statute. It is obvious that within the context of both statutes the word includes is a term of enlargement not of limitation, and the reference to certain entities or categories is not intended to exclude all others.[24]

Labor unions are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries in the United States. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and federal level.

Most unions in America are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the AFL-CIO created in 1955, and the Change to Win Federation which split from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Both advocate policies and legislation on behalf of workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics. The AFL-CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues.

According to Swedish law,[25] there are three types of employment.

There are no laws about minimum salary in Sweden. Instead there are agreements between employer organizations and trade unions about minimum salaries, and other employment conditions.

There is a type of employment contract which is common but not regulated in law, and that is Hour employment (swe: Timanstllning), which can be Normal employment (unlimited), but the work time is unregulated and decided per immediate need basis. The employee is expected to be answering the phone and come to work when needed, e.g. when someone is ill and absent from work. They will receive salary only for actual work time and can be in reality be fired for no reason by not being called anymore. This type of contract is common in the public sector.

Young workers are at higher risk for occupational injury and face certain occupational hazards at a higher rate; this is generally due to their employment in high-risk industries. For example, in the United States young people are injured at work at twice the rate of their older counterparts.[26] These workers are also at higher risk for motor vehicle accidents at work, due to less work experience, a lower use of seatbelts, and higher rates of distracted driving.[27][28] To mitigate this risk those under the age of 17 are restricted from certain types of driving, including transporting people and goods under certain circumstances.[27]

High-risk industries for young workers include agriculture, restaurants, waste management, and mining.[26][27] In the United States, those under the age of 18 are restricted from certain jobs that are deemed dangerous under the Fair Labor Standards Act.[27]

Youth employment programs are most effective when they include both theoretical classroom training and hands-on training with work placements.[29]

Those older than the statutory defined retirement age may continue to work, either out of enjoyment or necessity. However, depending on the nature of the job, older workers may need to transition into less-physical forms of work to avoid injury. Working past retirement age also has positive effects, because it gives a sense of purpose and allows people to maintain social networks and activity levels.[30]

Employment is no guarantee of escaping poverty, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that as many as 40% of workers as poor, not earning enough to keep their families above the $2 a day poverty line.[31] For instance, in India most of the chronically poor are wage earners in formal employment, because their jobs are insecure and low paid and offer no chance to accumulate wealth to avoid risks.[31] According to the UNRISD, increasing labor productivity appears to have a negative impact on job creation: in the 1960s, a 1% increase in output per worker was associated with a reduction in employment growth of 0.07%, by the first decade of this century the same productivity increase implies reduced employment growth by 0.54%.[31] Both increased employment opportunities and increased labor productivity (as long as it also translates into higher wages) are needed to tackle poverty. Increases in employment without increases in productivity leads to a rise in the number of "working poor", which is why some experts are now promoting the creation of "quality" and not "quantity" in labor market policies.[31] This approach does highlight how higher productivity has helped reduce poverty in East Asia, but the negative impact is beginning to show.[31] In Vietnam, for example, employment growth has slowed while productivity growth has continued.[31] Furthermore, productivity increases do not always lead to increased wages, as can be seen in the United States, where the gap between productivity and wages has been rising since the 1980s.[31]

Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute argue that there are differences across economic sectors in creating employment that reduces poverty.[31] 24 instances of growth were examined, in which 18 reduced poverty. This study showed that other sectors were just as important in reducing unemployment, as manufacturing.[31] The services sector is most effective at translating productivity growth into employment growth. Agriculture provides a safety net for jobs and economic buffer when other sectors are struggling.[31]

Scholars conceptualize the employment relationship in various ways.[32] A key assumption is the extent to which the employment relationship necessarily includes conflicts of interests between employers and employees, and the form of such conflicts.[33] In economic theorizing, the labor market mediates all such conflicts such that employers and employees who enter into an employment relationship are assumed to find this arrangement in their own self-interest. In human resource management theorizing, employers and employees are assumed to have shared interests (or a unity of interests, hence the label unitarism). Any conflicts that exist are seen as a manifestation of poor human resource management policies or interpersonal clashes such as personality conflicts, both of which can and should be managed away. From the perspective of pluralist industrial relations, the employment relationship is characterized by a plurality of stakeholders with legitimate interests (hence the label pluralism), and some conflicts of interests are seen as inherent in the employment relationship (e.g., wages v. profits). Lastly, the critical paradigm emphasizes antagonistic conflicts of interests between various groups (e.g., the competing capitalist and working classes in a Marxist framework) that are part of a deeper social conflict of unequal power relations. As a result, there are four common models of employment:[34]

These models are important because they help reveal why individuals hold differing perspectives on human resource management policies, labor unions, and employment regulation.[35] For example, human resource management policies are seen as dictated by the market in the first view, as essential mechanisms for aligning the interests of employees and employers and thereby creating profitable companies in the second view, as insufficient for looking out for workers interests in the third view, and as manipulative managerial tools for shaping the ideology and structure of the workplace in the fourth view.[36]

Literature on the employment impact of economic growth and on how growth is associated with employment at a macro, sector and industry level was aggregated in 2013.[37]

Researchers found evidence to suggest growth in manufacturing and services have good impact on employment. They found GDP growth on employment in agriculture to be limited, but that value-added growth had a relatively larger impact. The impact on job creation by industries/economic activities as well as the extent of the body of evidence and the key studies. For extractives, they again found extensive evidence suggesting growth in the sector has limited impact on employment. In textiles however, although evidence was low, studies suggest growth there positively contributed to job creation. In agri-business and food processing, they found impact growth to be positive.[37]

They found that most available literature focuses on OECD and middle-income countries somewhat, where economic growth impact has been shown to be positive on employment. The researchers didn't find sufficient evidence to conclude any impact of growth on employment in LDCs despite some pointing to the positive impact, others point to limitations. They recommended that complementary policies are necessary to ensure economic growth's positive impact on LDC employment. With trade, industry and investment, they only found limited evidence of positive impact on employment from industrial and investment policies and for others, while large bodies of evidence does exist, the exact impact remains contested.[37]

The balance of economic efficiency and social equity is the ultimate debate in the field of employment relations.[38] By meeting the needs of the employer; generating profits to establish and maintain economic efficiency; whilst maintaining a balance with the employee and creating social equity that benefits the worker so that he/she can fund and enjoy healthy living; proves to be a continuous revolving issue in westernized societies.

Globalization has effected these issues by creating certain economic factors that disallow or allow various employment issues. Economist Edward Lee (1996) studies the effects of globalization and summarizes the four major points of concern that affect employment relations:

What also results from Lees (1996) findings is that in industrialized countries an average of almost 70 per cent of workers are employed in the service sector, most of which consists of non-tradable activities. As a result, workers are forced to become more skilled and develop sought after trades, or find other means of survival. Ultimately this is a result of changes and trends of employment, an evolving workforce, and globalization that is represented by a more skilled and increasing highly diverse labor force, that are growing in non standard forms of employment (Markey, R. et al. 2006).

Workplace democracy is the application of democracy in all its forms (including voting systems, debates, democratic structuring, due process, adversarial process, systems of appeal) to the workplace.[39]

When an individual entirely owns the business for which they labor, this is known as self-employment. Self-employment often leads to incorporation. Incorporation offers certain protections of one's personal assets.

Workers who are not paid wages, such as volunteers, are generally not considered employed. One exception to this is an internship, an employment situation in which the worker receives training or experience (and possibly college credit) as the chief form of compensation.

Those who work under obligation for the purpose of fulfilling a debt, such as an indentured servant, or as property of the person or entity they work for, such as a slave, do not receive pay for their services and are not considered employed. Some historians suggest that slavery is older than employment, but both arrangements have existed for all recorded history. Indenturing and slavery are not considered compatible with human rights and democracy.

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Employment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Society" is a creation of the minds of those who inhabit it; it always has been and always will be. Thus, we have always been and will always be empowered to change society for the better.

"Even Tibetan masters are beginning to realize, if you want real devotion and focus, you have to look to the nuns," Tenzin Palmo says.

Many scholars, marked by the schism between Christianity and postmodernity, respond by exploring other spiritualities. Would it not be easier to simply return to Christian spirituality? This is, after all, the spirituality that shaped the West. All westerners still carry it inside, even if in a hibernated version.

Paolo Gambi

Scrittore, mental coach, giornalista. Presidente di Agape Coaching

At first thought, money seems like a simple concept. But what is its role in different faith traditions?

This morning the chapter I was reading is called "Nonagression and the Four Maras." It talks about the night in which Buddha was to attain enlightenment and he sat under a tree.

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Buddhism: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News

2015 PENSION PAYCHECK SCHEDULE

August pension checks will be mailed on Thursday, August 27th and direct deposits will be made on Monday, August 31st as scheduled. To download the complete 2015 Pension Paycheck Schedule Click here!

Click here for Retirement Percentage Chart

Members can calculate their own retirement benefit estimate using the above Retirement Percentage Chart. Information on how benefits are calculated can be found in our Retirement Benefit Guide beginning on page 14.

Last year, the Department of Higher Education received a favorable ruling from the Internal Revenue Service regarding implementation of Section 60 of the state's Pension Reform Act of 2011, thus providing the opportunity to re-evaluate choice of retirement plans: the ORP or the Massachusetts State Employee's Retirement System (MSERS). Please click on link for more information ORP Information

Please direct your ORP queries to the ORP email box: ORP@bhe.mass.edu

**NEW** ORP ADVISORY - MAY 2014

Click here to view the MSERS ORP Seminar Presentation file size 1MB

PLEASE NOTE: Employees of the Massachusetts State Retirement Board cannot, and are not authorized to, advise you in any manner as to which plan is better suited for you. Please carefully review all materials that were mailed to you by the DHE. Certain plan provisions under the MSERS may not be applicable to transferring ORP participants.

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un enganchado que hice con msica para clases. Espero les guste. Las canciones (editadas) son las siguientes:

Crystal Lake - Handzup Motherfuckers Cansis vs. Spaceship - Trip To Paradise (Club Mix) Dj Hyo - Bye Mi Amor (Extended Mix) Spikes & Slicks - Stay With Me (Raindropz! Sunshine Remix) Kimz - Du Er Dama Mi (Chris.M Remix) Rednex - Cotton Eye Joe (Dj Splash Remix) Glee - Don't Stop (M & Ace Bootleg Mix) Base X Fred L. - Hey Remember (Megastylez Remix) Dan_Winter - Party Jump (DJ THT Ced Tecknoboy Bootleg Mix) Oliver Twist feat. Dave BLD - Coca Cola (Hands Up Extended) Avril Lavigne - What The Hell (Dale & Harms Bootleg Mix) Antares - Whenever You Want Me (Basslouder Remix 2k9) DJ Tomuca - Halkan Lepkedek '11 (Peets! vs Casino Royale Remix) Nivek Tek Featuring Carol Hahn - A Little Respect (SuperSoundZ Inc Club Mix)

Lo pueden escuchar completo y descargar desde aqu: http://www44.zippyshare.com/v/4700482...

Originally posted here:
Msica para Aerobics 2013 / Aerobics Music 2013 (147-160 ...

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3 new Rick Hanson interview tracks are now available for you to listen to. # 16 is called 100...

3 new Rick Hanson interview tracks are now available for you to listen to. # 13 is called Legititmate...

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Enlightenment.Com - Enlightenment Reboot