My life with the eightfold path

The eightfold path is one of the major components of Buddhism. It describes how a good Buddhist should act, and what he/she should be aware of. Although I am not a Buddhist, there are many parts of the eightfold path, along with other components of the religion itself, that I strongly agree with. One of the terms of the eightfold path that I fell really apples to my life is that a human should have right speech. This to me does't mean that I should speak in proper grammar or in a certain language, but that before I speak I should think about what I am saying and how it will effect the people around me or the person it was directed towards. This leads into the other component I strongly agree with, which is to have right mindfulness. To me, this means that you process the things people are saying before you take offence. I feel that it is important to know what the persons intentions were when processing his or her thoughts. The last component I feel really should be a part of every human beings life to to give right effort into everything that you do. This to me means that you need to approach every situation with an open mind, and be ready to give your full effort in order to get the best out of what life has to offer. These are the principals that I feel really apply to my life, and that I try and incorporate into everything that I do.

The story behind the Taj Mahal

Long ago in India, there was a prince named Kurram. Kurram lived the life of an average prince, he was educated in the arts. sciences, mathematics, and other subjects. He was a skilled hunter and had a quick and eager man. One day while shopping in the market, his eye was caught by a girl named Arjumand. It was love at first sight, and he knew that she would be the woman he would marry. Although she wasn't a princess, the royal court saw the love in Kurram's eyes, and allowed the marrage. They were soon thrown one of the most elegant weddings anyone had ever seen. The king loved Arjumand so much, that he decided to bestow the honor of a knew name on her. He called her Mumtaz Mahal, or jewel of the palace.The couple lived happily married for many years, and Mumtaz Mahal gave birth to many children. Kurram loved his kids like he loved his wife. He would buy little balls full if sand, water,and air to teach them about the elements, and strings of gems to teach them about the planets. At night, he would sit by their bedside and tell them stories to lull them to sleep. Unlike many other Indian rulers, who often married many wives, he stayed loyal to Mumtaz Mahal . Like his love, Kurram's army's were unstoppable. He charged into many unknown lands, and conquered anyone who crossed his path. And every time he returned, Mumtaz Mahal was always there to greet him. As he set out for what would soon be another victory, Mumtaz Mahal approached him and begged him to take her. Announcing she was pregnant, Kurram decided to let her come along. Kurram's troops fought hard everyday, and in the midst of the battle, Kurram recived news, Mumtaz had given birth to a baby girl. He was told by the physician that she was weak, and she must rest. That night, Kurram was summoned by a messenger. Mumtaz was dying. As the couple wept, Mumtaz managed to mumer her final words to her husband. Se wanted the world to know of their love, and Kurram promised that he would do everything in his power to make it so. Kurram was heartbroken. He didn't eat or drink for eight days straight, and spent every moment agonizing over the loss of his beloved Mumtaz. One night, he dreamed of her in an illuminant white walled palace. When he woke, he knew what to do. Kurram sent messengers all over the world to fetch the greatest architects, caligraphers, and artists to his court. He sent for marble, jade, crystal, lapis and luzili, coral and gems from countries hundreds of miles away. "The tomb must be perfect, like heaven and earth combined." After many years, the tomb was finished. "It is more then beautiful, it is as perfect as our love." Exclaimed Kurram. The Building was called the Taj Mahal, He dreamed that someday when he died, there would be an identical tomb made of black marble constructed across from this to hold his body. "Then, our hearts will finally be at peace." But soon, his son Arangze took over, locking his father away to not create competition. Kurram knew that his black tomb would never be built. A great sadness took over him, but then he remembered why the Taj Mahal had been built. He knew that he had fulfilled his final promise to his beloved Mumtaz Mahal, and eight years later, he died a happy man.

Reflection on Elevation Map

How do physical features, climate and elevation relate to each other? When working on this project, I noticed several things about how the physical features, climate, and elevation relate to each other. What was really prominent to me, was the fact that the higher the elevation was, the colder that climate would be.Especially on the mountains or lower into the valleys, you could see that there was an obvious difference.

What conclusions can you draw? (Think about natural resources, climate/weather, and human settlement.) From this, I can conclude that higher land and more elevated parts of a country will have a colder climate, such as the climate on a mountain or an elevated Plataea. And that the lower parts of a country, valleys, and the average parts where there are typically bigger cities, such as New Dheli, will have the warmer and more livable climates.

Lost City of Mohenjo Daro

Located in the present day country of Pakistan lies one of the most mysterious cities to ever fall, Mohenjo Daro. It thrived from about 2500 to 1900 B.C., but then was abandoned and left as a ghost town. Scientists have suggested that maybe the soil lost its fertility or there were earthquakes that left the people without food to face starvation. But according to the quality of the artifacts found, these people were in no debt, and survived off of a surplus. Along with the reason of its abandonment, we still do not understand it;'s written language, and we still haven't found evidence of a government or religion. There are no obvious temples or shrines, and we still haven't found a building that suggests that there was a central seat of power.

The city was found in 1911, and several excavations were held in the 1920's through the 1940's. Scientists have found that this was an extremely advanced city. It was a fairly large city, and very advanced. It was built on a hill to prevent floods from the nearby Indus river, and it was one of the only cities of its time to have a sewerage system. It was obvious by the artifacts found that it was a fairly wealthy city, thriving in wealth and trade. Many scientists, archaeologists, and historians have studied every inch of this city, and we still have no idea what happened to make the majority of the cities population leave. It reaches some kind of obvious archaeological fruition about 1900 B.C.," Said Jonathan Mark Kenoyer. "What drives that, nobody knows."

Shiva- The destroyer

Although this was probably a popular choice, I chose to reflect on Shiva, the god of destruction. It is a strong belief in the Hindu religion that in order for something to be born, or re-born, something first has to die. This is where the popular term "When one door opens, another door closes" probably comes from. Shiva is the god who takes and recycles the soul. Shiva is worshiped because a large part of Hindu beliefs is that when you die, your soul is reincarnated, or else enlightened. You live another life, either in a higher rank or a lower one. People can rank as high as enlightenment, or else a royal, and as low as an animal or a poor man. Shiva is the God who takes life away, but also the God who reincarnates the soul.

Phypsical environment of Egypt

In your own words using examples from any unit studied this year, how did the physical environment affect the development of civilizations?: A great example to answer this question would be the way the Nile effected Egypt. The Nile river effected the religion, trade, economy, government, food and surplus, and society of the entire country. Having a River means that you can sail to places, which is faster transport then walking or taking caravan, which wasn't possible because the wheels would sink into the sand. This allowed people to travel farther, faster, therefore exploring other countries, and arranging for trade like lumber, herbs, precious jewels, and other luxuries. Having a strong trade rout, means that you will be making more money. With the new source of income, Egypt could thrive on wealth. Another thing that the Nile effected was the food and surplus. The Nile is full of something called silt, which is a natural fertilizer. When the Nile flooded, it fertilized the ground, which helped grow plant. Food wasn't a problem and starvation wasn't a problem. It effected the government because not only did it supply more money and more trade routes for the people, but it also allowed the pharaohs to live in richer environments. The last major thing it effected was the religion in ancient Egypt. The Nile had a major effect on the whole country and people worshiped it in return. They believed it was sacred and believed that the good Hapi was the god of the Nile. In order to keep a god surplus, trade, or income off of the river, festivals and prayers, and temples were built in his honor to keep him happy and to keep the river plentiful. The Nile had a mojor effect on many of the key components that made the people of Egypt strong warriors, emperors, conquerors and other positions of power. The Nile has shaped the way we determine ancient Egypt and continues to shape the countries wealth today. It plays a major part in both the history and the present day part of Egypt.

Egypt Unit reflection

When reflection on the Egypt unit, there are three characteristics of the learner profile that I feel we really applied to this unit. The first one is obviously that we were great thinkers during this unit. This is a characteristic that I feel applies to everything we do in school , but really stood out while I was reflection. We had to think in depth and deal with questions like "How did the Nile River effect the development of ancient Egypt?" These questions weren't blunt, and had us thinking in a variety of different ways. An example of a project where I feel like I thought the most would be the Art project. In order to begin, we had to analyze many different types of Egyptian art. We all interpenetrating it in different ways, and could try and think and understand how other people were interpenetrating it. Approaching situations like that allowed us to think in many different ways.
The next characteristic of the learner profile that stood out to me was that we had to be risk takers and approach different situations head on. AN example of a project where we had to approach an unusual situation would be the section of ancient Egypt project where we had to give a presentation in front of the class. For a lot of people, this is a really uncomfortable and un- nerving situation. But we approached it confidently and did our best to communicate all that we had learned during the project. Another example of the work we did that displays the risks we take would be the Day along the Nile blog post. We had to write a creative composition and then read it out to the class. This is a situation that could have made even the best writer feel uncomfortable. Those of us who did share exposed ourselves and even though we were uncomfortable, stuck through to get a good mark.
The next attribute that really stood out to me during this unit is that we were all caring and respectful during this unit. We were learning about another culture, and while during it we didn't make snide remarks or insults about the new traditions we were learning about. A project I feel that really showed our respect to ancient Egypt would have been, once again, the Egypt presentations. Not only were we showing respect for other culture, but for our classmates as well.
As well as exhibiting attributes of the learner profile, we also exhibited the core values of the Approaches to Learning categories. Two of the ATL's that really stood out to me were that we were both collaborative and communicative. We had to work in groups on the mapping project, and partnered projects usually tend to get tricky. Although I feel that we did a very good job working together for a grade. While presenting all ofour projects, it was important to be clear and presise in order to make sure everyone understood. This si where we were the most communicative and really exhibited the ATL's.
This unit was one of my favorite, not only because of what we were learning, but because of ow we were challenged. It brought out some of the best parts of bth the learner profile, and the ATL's. It was a rally fun unit and I look forward to learning about India.