scholarly journals Initiations in the Burmese Ritual Landscape

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière

Abstract In Buddhist Burma, a variety of ritual has been found pertaining to quite differentiated aspects of religion. This rich ritual landscape remains under-examined due partly to the Buddhist-studies bias of most of the scholars looking at religion in Burma. In this paper, I develop comparative analysis of a class of ritual, namely that of initiation, in three components of Burmese religion: Buddhist monasticism, Buddhist esotericism, and spirit worship. At least from the present analytic perspective, the three components considered could be taken as encompassing the entire Buddhist religious sphere in Burma. Looking at initiation rituals in these three ‘paths’ is a means of understanding how they frame contrasting kinds of differently valued religious practice, and of showing that, although not often discussed, rituals do matter in Burma because they help to distinguish categories of action according to their relative religiosity. By doing so, I aim to give a sense of the real diversity of the Burmese ritual landscape, which until recently was rarely taken into account, and to contribute to the on-going debate in the field of Buddhist studies on what could be encapsulated as the question of Buddhism and spirit cults in Southeast Asian Theravada.

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (13) ◽  
pp. 1569
Author(s):  
Jesús Montejo-Gámez ◽  
Elvira Fernández-Ahumada ◽  
Natividad Adamuz-Povedano

This paper shows a tool for the analysis of written productions that allows for the characterization of the mathematical models that students develop when solving modeling tasks. For this purpose, different conceptualizations of mathematical models in education are discussed, paying special attention to the evidence that characterizes a school model. The discussion leads to the consideration of three components, which constitute the main categories of the proposed tool: the real system to be modeled, its mathematization and the representations used to express both. These categories and the corresponding analysis procedure are explained and illustrated through two working examples, which expose the value of the tool in establishing the foci of analysis when investigating school models, and thus, suggest modeling skills. The connection of this tool with other approaches to educational research on mathematical modeling is also discussed.


Der Staat ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-396
Author(s):  
Shu-Perng Hwang

Angesichts des markanten Aufstiegs des Rechtspopulismus in den vergangenen Jahren drängt sich die Frage immer wieder auf, ob oder inwiefern das Parlament den eigentlichen Volkswillen (noch) vertreten kann, und wie im Zeitalter der Globalisierung und Digitalisierung der eigentliche Volkswille überhaupt festzustellen und effektiv durchzusetzen ist. In dieser Hinsicht steht das Vertrauen in die Fähigkeit des Parlaments, den wahren Volkswillen herauszubilden und zu artikulieren, erneut vor großen Herausforderungen. Durch eine vergleichende Analyse zwischen den Demokratietheorien Böckenfördes und Kelsens zeigt der vorliegende Beitrag, weshalb und inwiefern das weitverbreitete Verständnis des Volkswillens und dessen Rolle in der parlamentarischen Demokratie gerade vor dem heutigen Hintergrund eine kritische Besinnung verdient. Es wird argumentiert, dass gerade in demokratischer Hinsicht nicht die Suche nach dem „wahren Volkswillen“, sondern nach wie vor die Gewährleistung der Menschen- bzw. Grundrechte der Einzelnen und insbesondere der Minderheiten von zentraler Bedeutung sein soll. In view of the spread of right-wing populism in recent years, the question as to how the will of the people is to be ascertained and expressed has attracted much attention in constitutional scholarship. In particular, the issue of whether or to what extent the parliament is (still) capable of representing and demonstrating the will of the people has been repeatedly discussed and debated. Through a comparative analysis of Böckenförde’s und Kelsen’s democratic theories, this article critically examines the problems of the widespread understanding of the will of the people as a real-empirical existence and its significance for the realization of democracy. Accordingly, it points out why and in what sense the reference to the so-called real will of the people would undermine rather than promote democracy. This article concludes by arguing that, precisely for the sake of democracy, what is crucial is not to determine what the “real will of the people” is, but rather to guarantee the freedom of the individual and especially of the minorities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhida CHEN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has, on various occasions, concluded treaties on behalf of its Member States. This raises some interesting questions: is ASEAN entitled to enter into treaties on behalf of its Member States; and if so, what should be the status of ASEAN and its Member States vis-à-vis the other party to the treaty? The issue is not one of whether the ASEAN Member States have consented to such a practice—it must be assumed that they have. Instead, the real issue is whether such treaty-making practice can and should be valid under international law, even if the Member States have consented for ASEAN to conclude these treaties on their behalf. This paper will argue that, under international law, ASEAN is entitled to conclude treaties on behalf of its Member States.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gulbir Singh ◽  
Vivek Bhatnagar ◽  
Rajeev Gupta ◽  
Gautam Kumar

Purpose of Study: The purpose of the study is to carry out the comparison of traditional learning and e-learning with reference to university education. Methodology: A comparative analysis method that has been selected to fulfill the purpose of the study. The research data has been collected by various sources internet, previous research studies published in the Journal, universities which offer different technical and nontechnical programs .and further analyzed by in-depth understanding approach. Result: The outcome of this study will show the effect of e-learning in the current era. As we have compared e-learning with traditional learning and the result shows us that e-learning has filled the gap between the universities and the real-life industries' demands. Main finding: The result of this study showed that e-learning is the need of the present era in order to fulfill the gap between the universities and the real-life industries' demands. Additionally, e-learning based courses will have more impact and provide more skill and exposure to students as compared to traditional learning mode. Implications/Applications: This article can help the different universities and students to introduce more e-learning courses in their curriculum and they can fill the real-time industries' demands. Novelty/originality of the study: Our research can ensure that e-learning has a huge impact on our students and can help to increase the skills and exposure of them according to the current demands.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Miguel ◽  
José Lucas ◽  
Sónia Melo ◽  
Madalena Pereira ◽  
Clara Fernandes ◽  
...  

This research work aims to study the influence of the fabrics in the wear performance of clothing. For this, an experimental work was developed with two fabric samples having the same weight/m2, one single and another double, and a jacket prototype. Through a comparative analysis of the mechanical properties, very interesting results was obtained in the evaluation and characterization of the two fabrics performance in designing the same jacket, namely the drape and the corresponded aesthetic fabrics behaviours during wear. The structural characteristics and mechanical properties of each fabric were introduced into Marvelous Designer Version 8 software to simulate the virtual draping of fabrics in a skirt. The analysis of the drape profile of each fabric given by the software and the drape of the real fabrics evaluated in laboratory indicates, coherently, that the double fabric falls less than the single, but in a more harmonious way, what evidence the close links between technology and design of fashion products. Keywords: Fabrics design, Fabrics mechanical properties, Clothing drape, Real and simulated drape


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-26
Author(s):  
Khayal Iskandarov ◽  
Piotr Gawliczek

The Russo-Georgia war in 2008 and the conflict in Ukraine in 2014 galvanized the countries, which are namely squeezed between NATO and Russia into considering their strategies again. The paper examines Russia’s efforts to maintain its influence in its “near abroad” in the face of NATO’s enlargement. It principally focuses on identifying the challenges particular countries face as obstacles to NATO accession. The arguments raised in the paper prove that, the primary reasons of Russia-Georgia War and Ukraine conflict are associated with these countries’ NATO aspiration. An argument regarding the Alliance’s reluctance to actively engage in partner nations is also presented. The objective of the study is to consider the repercussions of NATO aspiration and introduce the real prospects of cooperation with NATO. The research methods primarily used in the book are comparative analysis and synthesis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 323
Author(s):  
Antonio Contreras ◽  
Juan J. Muñoz-Perez ◽  
Francisco Contreras ◽  
Gregorio Gomez-Pina ◽  
Veronica Ruiz-Ortiz ◽  
...  

The southwestern coast of Spain is in a tidal zone (mesotidal) which causes the equilibrium profile to be developed in two different sections: the breakage section and the swash section. These two sections give rise to the typical bi-parabolic profile existing in tidal seas. The existence of areas with reefs/rocks which interrupt the normal development of the typical bi-parabolic profile causes different types of beach profiles. The objective of this article is designing an easy methodology for determining new formulations for the design parameters of the equilibrium profile of beaches with reefs in tidal seas. These formulations are applied on 16 profiles to quantify the error between the real profile data and the modelling results. A comparative analysis is extended to the formulations proposed by other authors, from which it is found that better results are obtained with the new formulations.


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