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== '''[[Economics]]''' ==
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The term '''economics'''  refers both to an intellectual discipline and to a profession.
==Footnotes==
 
The intellectual discipline of economics is an attempt to gain an  understanding of  the processes that govern the production, distribution  and consumption of [[wealth (economics)|wealth]], and to use that understanding to assist in the prediction of the consequences of economic activities. It uses the methodology of [[science]]  and can be considered to be a science insofar as it produces testable propositions (see [[/Tutorials#Economics as a science|economics as a science]]), although some branches of the subject are widely considered to be normative (see [[/Tutorials#Normative economics|normative economics]]). Like other sciences, it is subject to a continuing process of revision.
 
The profession of economics includes academics<ref>For a light-hearted look at the life of an academic economist, see Axel Leijonhufvud's ''Life among the Econs''[http://www.kysq.org/diss/LifeamongtheEcon.pdf]</ref>  who construct, develop and teach economic theory,  and practitioners who use economic theory  to make forecasts or to advise upon political, commercial and regulatory decisions. Its most influential application is to the management of the economy. Mistaken decisions in that context can do more damage than in most others.
 
===The methodology of economics===
The traditional methodology of economics has been  first to formulate a theory, and then to examine how far it provides  operationally useful conclusions. Its pioneers have often adopted an  [[instrumentalism|instrumentalist]] approach:  basing  a theory on arbitrary axioms - such as consistently rational human behaviour - and then advocating its acceptance solely  on the grounds that it had  provided  operationally useful results. That methodology has  proved to be vulnerable to changing conditions, however, and there  has recently been a tendency to move away  from an exclusively axiom-based  approach  towards a greater recognition  of  observed behaviour.  Among the  techniques that have been coming into use for that purpose are those of [[Philosophy of economics#Behavioural economics|behavioural economics]] and [[neuroeconomics]].
 
''[[Economics|.... (read more)]]''
 
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Latest revision as of 09:19, 11 September 2020

Paramhansa Yogananda circa 1920.

Paramhansa Yogananda (5 Jan 1893–7 Mar 1952) was one of the first Indian teachers from the Hindu spiritual tradition to reside permanently in the West, and in particular, he was the first to teach yoga to Americans. He emphasized the universality of the great religions, and ceaselessly taught that all religions, especially Hinduism and Christianity, were essentially the same in their essence. The primary message of Yogananda was to practice the scientific technique of kriya yoga to be released from all human suffering.

He emigrated from India to the United States in 1920 and eventually founded the Self-Realization Fellowship there in Los Angeles, California. He published his own life story in a book called Autobiography of a Yogi, first published in 1946. In the book, Yogananda provided some details of his personal life, an introduction to yoga, meditation, and philosophy, and accounts of his world travels and encounters with a wide variety of saints and colorful personalities, including Therese Neumann, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Luther Burbank, and Jagadis C. Bose.

Paramhamsa, also spelled Paramahamsa, is a Sanskrit title used for Hindu spiritual teachers who have become enlightened. The title of Paramhansa originates from the legend of the swan. The swan (hansa) is said to have a mythical ability to sip only the milk from a water-and-milk mixture, separating out the more watery part. The spiritual master is likewise said to be able to live in a world like a supreme (param) swan, and only see the divine, instead of all the evil mixed in there too, which the worldly person sees.

Yogananda is considered by his followers and many religious scholars to be a modern avatar.

In 1946, Yogananda published his Autobiography of a Yogi. It has since been translated into 45 languages, and in 1999 was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of spiritual authors convened by Philip Zaleski and HarperCollins publishers.

Awake: The Life of Yogananda is a 2014 documentary about Paramhansa Yogananda, in English with subtitles in seventeen languages. The documentary includes commentary by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, among others.[1][2]

Footnotes

  1. Wikipedia has an article about the 2014 documentary film.
  2. The IMBd filmography database has a full cast list and other details about the 2014 documentary film.