علی جعفری

SUBJECT & OBJECTIVES : This research explored the concept of human perfection through the lenses of Ibn Arabi’s Mysticism and Theravada Buddhism Mysticism. The aim was to create a dialogue between Buddhism and Ibn Arabi's mysticism, and to shed light on the similarities and differences in their perspectives on human perfection. METHOD & FINDING : This research presented a comparative research study of the profound mystical teachings of Ibn Arabi, a renowned Sufi mystic, and Theravada Buddhism, the oldest existing school of Buddhism. The study examined the nature of self, the significance of the spiritual journey, and the role of love  in both traditions. This study found that in the approach of the perfect human from Ibn Arabi's viewpoint, a individual achieves unity with the divine; While Theravada Buddhism seeks human perfection through the attainment of the Arhat, a liberated being free from suffering and ignorance. CONCLUSION : The study offered a comprehensive understanding of human perfection from Ibn Arabi's and Buddhist mystical perspectives, and revealed that both traditions challenge the conventional understanding of self and advocate for a transcendent perspective that seeks to realize the ultimate reality of existence. The study also showed that both traditions have different metaphysical and ontological assumptions, as well as different methods and practices of meditation and contemplation. Finally, concluded that the comparative study of Ibn Arabi’s Mysticism and Theravada Buddhism Mysticism can enhance dialogue and understanding, as well as provide insights into the nature of human existence.

Although theoretical and empirical literature regarding the stylized facts shows evidence of their correlations to herding behavior in financial markets, the causes of such phenomena are still unknown. Using an agent-based model strengthened by the competition co-evolution algorithm (STGP) technique, this study provides laboratory evidence on capital market dynamics and analyses the behavioral foundations of stylized facts such as fat tails, leverage effects, and volatility clustering. The simulated stock markets consist of two groups; the “Best agents”, which are a small portion of artificial agents, and the “Residual agents”, which are the main group of artificial agents. The best performance in terms of breeding fitness returns is the main feature of the “Best agents”. More, the size of the “Best Agents” group is specified as 2.5%, 5%, 10% &20% of the total population size. An agent-based model consists of two portions, a two thousand population of trader agents that each has its decision-making strategy, and a virtual market that creates the trading strategies. Then the model evolved step by step using a feed with real quotes of the financial instruments by Adaptive Modeler. A training period is considered 2500 bars (started in November 2003), and the test period started in December 2013. The observation shows that the herding behavior in the price series created by the “Residual agents” is less than the “Best agents” series. Therefore, the greater diversity of trade strategies as the genetic differences of artificial agents leads to less herding. The observations exhibit that the volatility clustering, leverage effects, and nonlinear dependence are more likely to experience in the price series generated by “Best gents”. Furthermore, observations indicate that if the population is well diversified in terms of trading strategies, the efficiency of the market increases.