In Buddhism, Dhyna (Sanskrit) or Jhna (Pali) is a series of cultivated states of mind, which lead to a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhii-sati-piirisuddhl)." It is commonly translated as meditation, and is also used in Hinduism and Jainism. Dhyana may have been the core practice of pre-sectarian Buddhism, but became appended with other forms of meditation throughout its development.

According to Henepola Gunaratana, the term "jhana" is closely connected with "samadhi", which is generally rendered as "concentration". The word "samadhi" is almost interchangeable with the word "samatha", serenity.[4]

In the suttas samadhi is defined as mental one-pointedness.[4]Buddhaghosa explains samadhi etymologically as:

... the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object... the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered (Vism.8485; PP.85).[4]

In the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices which lead to the development of serenity. In this sense, samadhi and jhana are close in meaning. Nevertheless, they are not exactly identical. Samadhi signifies only one mental factor, namely one-pointedness, while the word "jhana" encompasses the whole state of consciousness.[4]

Samadhi also covers another type of concentration, namely "momentary concentration" (khanikasamadhi), "the mobile mental stabilization produced in the course of insight contemplation of the passing flow of phenomena."[4]

The Pli canon describes eight progressive states of jhna. Four are called meditations of form (rpa jhna), and four are formless meditations (arpa jhna).

There are four stages of deep collectedness which are called the Rupa Jhna (Fine-material Jhna). For each Jhna are given a set of qualities which are present in that jhana:[5]

Beyond the four jhnas lie four attainments, referred to in the early texts as aruppas. These are also referred to in commentarial literature as immaterial/the formless jhnas (arpajhnas), also translated as The Formless Dimensions, in distinction from the first four jhnas (rpa jhnas). In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word "jhna" is never explicitly used to denote them, they are instead referred to as yatana. However, they are sometimes mentioned in sequence after the first four jhnas (other texts. e.g. MN 121 treat them as a distinct set of attainments) and thus came to be treated by later exegetes as jhnas. The immaterial attainments have more to do with expanding, while the Jhanas (14) focus on concentration. The enlightenment of complete dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth jhna is transcended.

The four formless jhanas are:

Although the "Dimension of Nothingness" and the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception" are included in the list of nine Jhanas taught by the Buddha, they are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path. Noble Path number eight is "Samma Samadhi" (Right Concentration), and only the first four Jhanas are considered "Right Concentration". If he takes a disciple through all the Jhanas, the emphasis is on the "Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions" rather than stopping short at the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception".

The Buddha also rediscovered an attainment beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, Nirodha-Samapatti, the "cessation of feelings and perceptions".[5] This is sometimes called the "ninth jhna" in commentarial and scholarly literature.[6][7]

The time of the Buddha saw the rise of the ramaa movement, ascetic practitioners with a body of shared teachings and practices.[full citation needed] The strict delineation of this movement into Jainism, Buddhism and brahmanical/Upanishadic traditions is a later development.[full citation needed]

According to Bronkhorst, the practice of the four dhyanas may have been an original contribution by Gautama Buddha to the religious practices of ancient India in response to the ascetic practices of the Jains. According to Wynne, the attainment of the formless meditative absorption was incorporated from Brahmanical practices,[pageneeded] These practices were paired to mindfulness and insight, and given a new interpretation.[pageneeded] The stratification of particular samdhi experiences into the four jhnas seems to be a Buddhist innovation.[pageneeded] It was then borrowed and presented in an incomplete form in the Mokadharma, a part of the Mahbhrata. Kalupahana argues that the Buddha "reverted to the meditational practices" he had learned from ra Klma and Uddaka Rmaputta.

Thomas William Rhys Davids and Maurice Walshe agreed that the term samadhi is not found in any pre-Buddhist text. Samadhi was first found in the Tipiaka and not in any pre-Buddhist text. It was later incorporated into later texts such as the Maitrayaniya Upanishad.[13] But according to Matsumoto, "the terms dhyana and samahita (entering samadhi) appear already in Upanishadic texts that predate the origins of Buddhism".[note 2]

The Mahasaccaka Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 36, narrates the story of the Buddha's awakening. According to this story, he learned two kinds of meditation, which did not lead to enlightenment. He then underwent harsh ascetic practices with which he eventually also became disillusioned. The Buddha then recalled a meditative state he entered by chance as a child:[pageneeded]

I thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?' Then following on that memory came the realization: 'That is the path to Awakening.'

In the Mahasaccaka Sutta, dhyana is followed by insight into the four noble truths. The mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight" is probably a later addition.[pageneeded] Originally the practice of dhyana itself may have constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, since in this state all "pleasure and pain" had waned.[pageneeded] According to Vetter,

[P]robably the word "immortality" (a-mata) was used by the Buddha for the first interpretation of this experience and not the term cessation of suffering that belongs to the four noble truths [...] the Buddha did not achieve the experience of salvation by discerning the four noble truths and/or other data. But his experience must have been of such a nature that it could bear the interpretation "achieving immortality".

Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development, under pressure of developments in Indian religious thinking, which saw "liberating insight" as essential to liberation.[pageneeded] This may also have been due to an over-literal interpretation by later scholastics of the terminology used by the Buddha, and to the problems involved with the practice of dhyana, and the need to develop an easier method.

Alexander Wynne attempted to find parallels in Brahmanical texts to the meditative goals the two teachers claimed to have taught, drawing especially on some of the Upanishads and the Mokshadharma chapter of the Mahabharata.

The suttas describe how the Buddha learned meditative practices from two teachers, Uddaka Ramaputta and Alara Kalama. Alex Wynne argues that Uddaka Ramaputta belonged to the pre-Buddhist tradition portrayed by the Buddhist and Brahmanic sources, in which the philosophical formulations of the early Upanishads were accepted, and the meditative state of "neither perception nor non-perception" was equated with the self. Wynne further argues that the goal of Alara Kalama was a Brahminical concept. Evidence in the Chandogya Upanishad and the Taittiriya Upanishad suggests that a different early Brahminic philosophical tradition held the view that the unmanifest state of Brahman was a form of non-existence. According to Wynne it thus seems likely that both element and formless meditation was learned by the Buddha from his two teachers, and adapted by him to his own system.[note 3]

It appears that in early Brahminic yoga, the formless spheres were attained following element meditation. This is also taught as an option in the early Buddhist texts. The primary method taught to achieve the formless attainment in early Buddhist scriptures, on the other hand, is to proceed to the sphere of infinite space following the fourth jhna.[30]

Wynne claimed that Brahminic passages on meditation suggest that the most basic presupposition of early Brahmanical yoga is that the creation of the world must be reversed, through a series of meditative states, by the yogin who seeks the realization of the self. These states were given doctrinal background in early Brahminic cosmologies, which classified the world into successively coarser strata. One such stratification is found at TU II.1 and Mbh XII.195, and proceeds as follows: self, space, wind, fire, water, earth. Mbh XII.224 gives alternatively: Brahman, mind, space, wind, fire, water, earth.

In Brahmanical thought, the meditative states of consciousness were thought to be identical to the subtle strata of the cosmos. There is no similar theoretical background to element meditation in the early Buddhist texts, where the elements appear simply as suitable objects of meditation. It is likely that the Brahmanic practices of element-meditation were borrowed and adapted by early Buddhists, with the original Brahmanic ideology of the practices being discarded in the process.

On this point, it is thought that the uses of the elements in early Buddhist literature have in general very little connection to Brahmanical thought; in most places they occur in teachings where they form the objects of a detailed contemplation of the human being. The aim of these contemplations seems to have been to bring about the correct understanding that the various perceived aspects of a human being, when taken together, nevertheless do not comprise a 'self'. Moreover, the self is conceptualized in terms similar to both "nothingness" and "neither perception nor non-perception" at different places in early Upanishadic literature.

The latter corresponds to Yajnavalkyas definition of the self in his famous dialogue with Maitreyi in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and the definition given in the post-Buddhist Mandukya Upanishad. This is mentioned as a claim of non-Buddhist ascetics and Brahmins in the Pacattaya Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 102.2).[37] In the same dialogue in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya draws the conclusions that the self that is neither perceptive nor non-perceptive is a state of consciousness without object. The early Buddhist evidence suggests much the same thing for the state of "neither perception nor non-perception". It is a state without an object of awareness, that is not devoid of awareness. The state following it in the Buddhist scheme, the "cessation of perception and sensation", is devoid not only of objectivity, but of subjectivity as well.

The Brahmanical texts cited by Wynne assumed their final form long after the Buddhas lifetime. The Mokshadharma postdates him.[27]

The Buddhist tradition has incorporated two traditions regarding the use of jhana.[pageneeded] There is a tradition that stresses attaining insight (bodhi, prajna, kensho) as the means to awakening and liberation. According to the Theravada tradition dhyana must be combined with vipassana, which gives insight into the three marks of existence and leads to detachment and "the manifestation of the path".

But the Buddhist tradition has also incorporated the yogic tradition, as reflected in the use of jhana, which is rejected in other sutras as not resulting in the final result of liberation. One solution to this contradiction is the conjunctive use of vipassana and samatha.[43] In Zen Buddhism, this problem has appeared over the centuries in the disputes over sudden versus gradual enlightenment.[pageneeded]

Schmithausen notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[pageneeded][pageneeded] Schmithausen discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas, to which Vetter adds a fourth possibility:

According to the Theravada-tradition, the meditator uses the jhna state to bring the mind to rest, and to strengthen and sharpen the mind, in order to investigate the true nature of phenomena (dhamma) and to gain insight into impermanence, suffering and not-self.[citation needed] According to Nathan Katz, the arahant is aware that the jhanas are ultimately unsatisfactory, realizing that the meditative attainments are also anicca, impermanent.[47]

Contemporary scholars have discerned a broader apllication of jhana in historical Buddhist practice. According to Alexander Wynne, the ultimate aim of dhyana was the attainment of insight, and the application of the meditative state to the practice of mindfulness. According to Frauwallner, mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects. According to Frauwallner, this may have been the Buddhas original idea. According to Wynne, this stress on mindfulness may have led to the intellectualism which favoured insight over the practice of dhyana.

According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four rupa-jhanas describes two different cognitive states: "I know this is controversial, but it seems to me that the third and fourth jhanas are thus quite unlike the second."[note 4] Alexander Wynne further explains that the dhyana-scheme is poorly understood. According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as sati, sampajno, and upekkh, are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states, whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects:

Thus the expression sato sampajno in the third jhna must denote a state of awareness different from the meditative absorption of the second jhna (cetaso ekodibhva). It suggests that the subject is doing something different from remaining in a meditative state, i.e. that he has come out of his absorption and is now once again aware of objects. The same is true of the word upek(k)h: it does not denote an abstract 'equanimity', [but] it means to be aware of something and indifferent to it [...] The third and fourth jhna-s, as it seems to me, describe the process of directing states of meditative absorption towards the mindful awareness of objects.[note 5]

According to some texts, after progressing through the eight jhanas and the stage of Nirodha-Samapatti, a person is liberated.[5] According to some traditions someone attaining the state of Nirodha-Samapatti is an anagami or an arahant.[53] In the Anupadda sutra, the Buddha narrates that Sariputta became an arahant upon reaching it.[54]

The emphasis on "liberating insight" alone seems to be a later development, in response to developments in Indian religious thought. Vetter notes that such insight is not possible in a state of dhyana, since discursive thinking is eliminated in such a state. He also notes that the emphasis on "liberating insight" developed only after the four noble truths were introduced as an expression of what this "liberating insight" constituted. In time, other expressions took over this function, such as prattyasamutpda and the emptiness of the self.

Both Schmithausen and Bronkhorst note that the attainment of insight, which is a cognitive activity, can't be possible in a state wherein all cognitive acitivy has ceased. According to Vetter, the practice of Rupa Jhana itself may have constituted the core practice of early Buddhism, with practices such as sila and mindfulness aiding to its development. It is the "middle way" between self-mortification, ascribed by Bronkhorst to Jainism, and indulgence in sensual pleasure. Vetter emphasizes that dhyana is a form of non-sensual happiness. The eightfold path can be seen as a path of preparation which leads to the practice of samadhi.

According to the contemporary Vipassana-movement, the jhna state cannot by itself lead to enlightenment as it only suppresses the defilements. Meditators must use the jhna state as an instrument for developing wisdom by cultivating insight, and use it to penetrate the true nature of phenomena through direct cognition, which will lead to cutting off the defilements and nibbana.[citation needed]

According to the later Theravda commentorial tradition as outlined by Buddhagoa in his Visuddhimagga, after coming out of the state of jhna the meditator will be in the state of post-jhna access concentration. In this state the investigation and analysis of the true nature of phenomena begins, which leads to insight into the characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self arises.[citation needed] According to Richard Shankman, the sutta descriptions of jhna practice explain that the meditator does not emerge from jhna to practice vipassana but rather the work of insight is done whilst in jhna itself. In particular the meditator is instructed to "enter and remain in the fourth jhna" before commencing the work of insight in order to uproot the mental defilements.[61][note 6]

A meditator should first master the lower jhnas, before they can go into the higher jhnas. According to Nathan Katz, the early suttas state that "the most exquisite of recluses" is able to attain any of the jhnas and abide in them without difficulty.[47] According to Sujiva, there are five aspects of jhna mastery:[63]

According to the Pli canon commentary, access/neighbourhood concentration (upacra-samdhi) is a stage of meditation that the meditator reaches before entering into jhna. The overcoming of the five hindrances[note 7] mark the entry into access concentration.[citation needed] Access concentration is not mentioned in the discourses of the Buddha, but there are several suttas where a person gains insight into the Dhamma on hearing a teaching from the Buddha.[note 8][note 9]

According to Tse-fu Kuan, at the state of access concentration, some meditators may experience vivid mental imagery,[note 10] which is similar to a vivid dream. They are as vivid as if seen by the eye, but in this case the meditator is fully aware and conscious that they are seeing mental images. According to Tse-fu Kuan, this is discussed in the early texts, and expanded upon in Theravda commentaries.[65]

According to Venerable Sujivo, as the concentration becomes stronger, the feelings of breathing and of having a physical body will completely disappear, leaving only pure awareness. At this stage inexperienced meditators may become afraid, thinking that they are going to die if they continue the concentration, because the feeling of breathing and the feeling of having a physical body has completely disappeared. They should not be so afraid and should continue their concentration in order to reach "full concentration" (jhna).[66]

Mahyna Buddhism includes numerous schools of practice. Each draw upon various Buddhist stras, philosophical treatises, and commentaries, and each has its own emphasis, mode of expression, and philosophical outlook. Accordingly, each school has its own meditation methods for the purpose of developing samdhi and praj, with the goal of ultimately attaining enlightenment.

In China, the word dhyna was originally transliterated with Chinese: ; pinyin: chnn and shortened to just pinyin: chn in common usage. In Chinese Buddhism dhyna may refer to all kinds of meditation techniques and their preparatory practices which can be used to attain samadhi. The word chn became the designation for Chan Buddhism (Korean Seon, Zen). The word and the practice of meditation entered into Chinese through the translations of An Shigao (fl. c. 148180 CE), mainly the Dhyna sutras, which were influential early meditation texts.

Dhyna is a central aspect of Buddhist practice in Chan. Nan Huai-Chin:

Intellectual reasoning is just another spinning of the sixth consciousness, whereas the practice of meditation is the true entry into the Dharma."[68]

According to Sheng Yen, meditative concentration is necessary, calling samdhi one of the requisite factors for progress on the path toward enlightenment.[69]

B. Alan Wallace holds that modern Tibetan Buddhism lacks emphasis on achieving levels of concentration higher than access concentration.[70][71] According to Wallace, one possible explanation for this situation is that virtually all Tibetan Buddhist meditators seek to become enlightened through the use of tantric practices. These require the presence of sense desire and passion in one's consciousness, but jhna effectively inhibits these phenomena.[70]

While few Tibetan Buddhists, either inside or outside Tibet, devote themselves to the practice of concentration, Tibetan Buddhist literature does provide extensive instructions on it, and great Tibetan meditators of earlier times stressed its importance.[72]

Hindu texts later used that term to indicate the state of liberation. According to Walshe, citing Rhys Davids, this is not in conformity with Buddhist usage:[73][pageneeded]

its subsequent use in Hindu texts to denote the state of enlightenment is not in conformity with Buddhist usage, where the basic meaning of concentration is expanded to cover meditation in general.[13][pageneeded]

But according to Vetter, the practice of dhyana may have been the original liberating practice in Buddhism.[pageneeded]

There are parallels with the fourth to eighth stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, as mentioned in his classical work, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,[74] which were compiled around 400 CE by, taking materials about yoga from older traditions.

Patanjali discerns bahiranga (external) aspects of yoga namely, yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and the antaranga (internal) yoga. Having actualized the pratyahara stage, a practitioner is able to effectively engage into the practice of Samyama. At the stage of pratyahara, the consciousness of the individual is internalized in order that the sensations from the senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell don't reach their respective centers in the brain and takes the sadhaka (practitioner) to next stages of Yoga, namely Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (mystical absorption), being the aim of all Yogic practices.[78]

The Eight Limbs of the yoga sutras show Samadhi as one of its limbs. The Eight limbs of the Yoga Sutra was influenced by Buddhism.[79][80] Vyasa's Yogabhashya, the commentary to the Yogasutras, and Vacaspati Misra's subcommentary state directly that the samadhi techniques are directly borrowed from the Buddhists' Jhana, with the addition of the mystical and divine interpretations of mental absorption.[81][not in citation given] However, it is also to be noted that the Yoga Sutra, especially the fourth segment of Kaivalya Pada, contains several polemical verses critical of Buddhism, particularly the Vijnavda school of Vasubandhu.[82]

The suttas show that during the time of the Buddha, Nigantha Nataputta, the Jain leader, did not even believe that it is possible to enter a state where the thoughts and examination stop.[83]

There has been little scientific study of these mental states. In 2008, an EEG study found "strong, significant, and consistent differences in specific brain regions when the meditator is in a jhana state compared to normal resting consciousness".[84] Tentative hypotheses on the neurological correlates have been proposed, but lack supporting evidence.[85]

See the rest here:
Dhyna in Buddhism - Wikipedia

Registration for this course is now closed.Click here to see our other courses!

NOTIFY ME

OF UPCOMING COURSES

We respect your privacy. Your information will never be sold, nor shared without your permission.

An Immersive Journey Into

Peruvian Earth Regenerative Healing & Ceremonial Arts With Renowned Peruvian Shamanic Healer and Transpersonal Psychologistdon Oscar Miro-Quesada

17-week Live Video & Audio Training Starts Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Its clear to anyone with eyes that planet Earth is hurting. Our people. Our ecosystems. Even Pachamama herself. They are all sending out signals of very real distress.

As someone who is sensitized to the plight of our planet, you are no doubt troubled by what youre witnessing.

How, you ask, can you be of highest service in helping shift humanity into a new, earth-honoring possibility?

The answer begins with realizing your own gifts as a shamanic practitioner someone who is able to work with energies, intentions, and the spirits of nature.

Developing your shamanic skill set empowers your own humble acts of service, fueled by the natural forces and energies of Pachamama.

Thats how YOU begin to offer the sacred medicine our world desperately needs through simple acts of wisdom, kindness, and heartfelt ritual mastery of shamanic forces and powers.

You walk a path of profound beauty, imagination, myth and ritual... in which you fall deeply in love with the winged ones, swimmers, crawlers, and the 4-leggeds, listen as much as you speak and heal with your presence as much as with your words.

You become one of the courageous 2-leggeds heeding the call to a life of reverence for the Earth, Great Mother of the human family.

Its particularly valuable now that we draw from the wisdom of traditional Andean people, who know themselves as Runa, Children of Pachamama, Mother Earth.

They understand we live on a planet where gods, goddesses, and myths are alive in the landscape. Its all part of Mother Earths multi-layered divinity revealed through the beauty and magnificence of her physical body.

Aware that Earths landscape is a sacred geography, traditional Andean peoples see life as an act of loving presence and reverence in partnership with All Our Relations. As humans, we are beholden to respect the wisdom ways of Mother Nature and beautify our world for future generations.

This ecological path of shamanic wisdom is governed by a universal law known as Santu Kamachi Qelqa our Dharma, our lifes purposeful mission as two-legged children born from the generosity of Pachamamas dreaming womb.

To gracefully embody the spirit of this living wisdom, we must first learn to heal our human estrangement from the sacred dimensions of life, restore our essential wholeness, and reclaim our Truth that aligns our lives with Love.

In this way, we prepare ourselves as evolutionary catalysts in service to healing the heart of Gaia-Pachamama.

The Reverence, Ritual & Renewal Advanced Program will apprentice participants in long-forgotten shamanic rituals related to the proper ceremonial activation of sacred powers and spirit bridges into Pachamamas subtle energy body.

Called Seqe an, "spirit pathways," by Perus ancestral wisdom keepers, the ritual sustenance of this luminous planetary matrix is considered a vital human contribution for maintaining Mother Earths health as well as a means of informing the evolution of all sentient life on Earth.

Ancient temples and sacred ceremonial sites around the world are like hyperspace portals or multi-dimensional wormholes from astrophysics. They are outward, visible signs of an invisible, numinous order.

Called a waka ("earthen sanctuary"), these repositories of sacred power play a part in the human effort to define the cosmos, name the divinity or higher principle behind it, and experience the interdependence of self, culture, and nature.

As ancestrally sanctioned places of veneration, every natural landscape shrine, revered pilgrimage destination, stone cairn, and artful ceremonial offering sustains the complex web of our collective spiritual heritage upon Pachamama.

By performing the earth-honoring rituals you will learn in this advanced Universal Shaman course you gain access to multiple dimensions of Being, helping you understand your essential Self through a direct experience of the sacred in life.

You will dramatically empower our human re-membering as a united planetary family with a common origin in the starlight of the cosmos.

don Oscar has distilled the cosmology of his kamasqa and Paqokuna ancestors into ritual practices that enhance your path of healing service to Pachamamas sacred web of life.

If you recognize the truth in the above description and the calling in your bones to be of shamanic service, we invite you to join our global community to engage in Earth-regenerative and soul-restorative practices passed down by our Andean ancestors.

Reverence, Ritual & Renewal offers an unparalleled opportunity to receive shamanism teachings never before shared in a virtual setting, from Peruvian curandero and great lover of life, don Oscar Miro-Quesada.

don Oscar is one of the leading lights in 21st century shamanism, pioneering this modern, yet ancient path. He speaks humbly from his heart in a way that anyone can recognize as the voice of the soul. He creates rituals that draw from his Peruvian Pachakuti tradition that also weave in the wisdom of other peoples.

He teaches us how to live in new-but-ancient ways: connected with the daily blessings of life, filled with love and committed to acts of precise shamanic service.

The stories from don Oscars life are truly miraculous, and yet, his demeanor is humble and filled with gentle laughter.

Hes a respected kamasqa curandero and altomisayoq adept from Peru, as well as co-author of Lessons in Courage: Peruvian Shamanic Wisdom for Everyday Life. Hes also Fellow in Ethnopsychology with the Organization of American States and a United Nations Invited Observer to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

don Oscars advanced studies in modern psychology have given him the tools to understand the common threads of shamanic teachings and weave them together into a more integrated framework. He blends ancient traditions with modern evolutionary understandings to create a holistic, integral synthesis.

This results in a unique and beautiful gift to you: a chance for you to harvest the most important insights, practices and perspectives from millennia of shamanism to integrate them with modern psychological and spiritual teachings, and to apply it all to living your highest potential.

If you want to go deep into the wisdom held within indigenous shamanic traditions, but are unable to spend months in remote rain forests or mountaintops, this 17-week virtual apprenticeship is your best opportunity to be in weekly communion with a powerful spiritual teacher who is bringing together relevant and essential wisdom for our modern lives.

You will gain a unique exposure to Peruvian Pachakuti practices that are designed for healing yourself and the larger world.

Youll participate in distance-healings to help detoxify and purify lands and communities in distress as well plus don Oscar will guide you in the fascinating work of accessing the healing energy of sacred sites throughout the world.

Ancient temples and sacred ceremonial sites are like hyperspace portals, which don Oscar describes as outward and visible signs of an invisible, numinous order.

These waka (earthen sanctuaries) are repositories of sacred power, which play a part in the common human effort to define the cosmos; name the divinity or higher principle behind it; and unite self, culture, and nature.

The rule of no realm is mine... But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail in my task if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bare fruit and flower again in days to come. For I too am a steward. Did you not know? Gandalf, from The Lord of the Rings (1954-55) J. R. R. Tolkien

don Oscar will be live streaming video of selected teaching sessions deepening your connection with him and the community and increasing the potency to his wisdom transmissions. This live video connection will be easy to use and is designed to increase your learning and transformation.

Course sessions are on Wednesdays at Noon Pacific.

Each weekly LIVE teaching and training session will build harmoniously upon the next, to give you a complete, holistic understanding of the shamanic tools, practices and principles.

This advanced apprenticeship is specifically designed to apprentice you in long-forgotten rituals related to the proper ceremonial activation. Through these rituals, youll harness and bring forth a host of sacred healing powers and spirit bridges into Pachamamas subtle energy body.

Called Seqe an, spirit pathways, by Perus ancestral wisdom keepers, the ritual sustenance of this luminous energetic planetary matrix is considered a vital human contribution for maintaining Mother Earths healthful physicality as well as a means of spiritually in-forming the evolution of all sentient life.

Note: If you have not experienced Oscars Universal Shaman teachings before, youre welcome in this advanced training; however, you must build a basic mesa as a mandatory prerequisite before the course begins. Instructions are supported by a video teaching and also outlined in the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition (PMT) Basics Guide, which are both included in your registration.

MODULE I: The Andean Cosmovision

Wisdom Transmission: Historical overview and legendary mythic insights about the ever-present lived experience of Creation as a soul animated sphere of interdependent relationships and balanced dualism sustained by the principle of sacred reciprocity known as Ayni.

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated visionary sojourn through the multiverse of Perus perennial shamanic wisdom.

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on gratitude inspired sacrificial obeisance to Pachamamas ancestrally venerated spirit pathways and natural landscape shrines.

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated visionary process for the spatio-ritual embodiment of earthen sanctuaries revered by Perus kamasqa wisdom traditions.

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on the importance of internalizing our external perception of elemental reality as a transpersonal springboard in fulfillment of our souls destiny.

Ritual Demonstration: The PMT Pachamama Renewal Process

(No Class December 27)

Youre encouraged to use the session time to apply what youve been learning. Engage in the practice of the PMT Pachamama Renewal Process (preferably outdoors and barefoot) a minimum of three times before our next class. Youll receive ongoing support from the sanctioned teachers and don Oscar on the online community group.

MODULE II: Travels Behind the Veil

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on the nature of Sombra, or Causal/Higher Mental Body, as understood and used within the northern coastal and central highland curandersimo traditions of Peru, focused on influencing the temporal dimension in our shamanic healing work.

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated ritual befriending and willing of ones Sombra in shamanic healing service.

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on the nature of the Ensueo, or Astral/Higher Imaginal Body, as understood and used within the northern coastal and central highland curandersimo traditions of Peru, focused on influencing the spatial dimension in our shamanic healing work.

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated ritual evocation and projection of the Ensueo process in shamanic healing service.

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on the nature of the Desdoblamiento, or Aetheric/Source Sentience Body, as understood and used within the northern coastal and central highland curandersimo traditions of Peru, focused on influencing the higher vibrational matter/energy dimension in our shamanic healing work.

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated conscious soul releasement ritual for encounter with shamanic healing alliances beyond our physicality.

Youre encouraged to use the session time to apply what youve been learning. Select the apprenticed skill you most resonate with in this module and engage its ritual use a minimum of three times before our next class. Make sure to keep a journal of your experiences for sharing with others who selected the same skill. Youll receive ongoing support from the sanctioned teachers and don Oscar on the online community group.

MODULE III: A Labor of Love

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on traditional highland Andean views and practices related to the importance of providing prayerful nourishment to our shamanic spirit helpers.

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated visionary sojourn to meet and offer obeisance to the Tirakuna, the protectors and watchers of natural places of shamanic power.

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on understanding the mystical dynamics at play when establishing relationships of trust and service with the ancestral Paqokuna landscape deities through the sacred ritual use of Mamakuka (Coca leaves).

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated story of the legendary origin and ritual shamanic use of the three leaf coca kintu as an embodiment of Andean ethos.

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on the shamanic wisdom behind the creation and traditional use of three distinct ceremonial approaches to living in balanced soul relationship with Mother Natures unseen spiritual powers.

Ritual Demonstration: A Pachakuti Mesa Tradition inspired despacho ritual to serve as sanctified earth honoring nourishment and gratitude offering to Pachamama.

Youre encouraged to use the session time to apply what youve been learning and engage in your own PMT inspired despacho ritual(s). Youll receive ongoing support from the sanctioned teachers and don Oscar on the online community group.

MODULE IV: Our Shamanic Self

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on the millenary origins and contemporary adaptation of a ceremonial art for shamanic cultural unification known as the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition Link Up Ritual.

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated guided practice of the PMT Wednesday Link Up Ritual.

Wisdom Transmission: Initiation into the the pre-Columbian Andean mythic knowledge contained within the prayerful ritual creation of a sacrosanct stone cairn known as an apacheta for releasing our human burdens as well as connecting our shamanic service to the will of our apukuna.

Ritual Demonstration: A Pachakuti Mesa Tradition based ritual for the creation and shamanic sustenance of a personal apacheta.

Wisdom Transmission: Teachings on the shamanic pilgrimage as both vision quest and rite-of-passage aligned with the perennial wisdom traditions born of Perus highland Paqokuna shaman-priesthood.

Imaginal Journey: A don Oscar facilitated Viaje con Sombra visitation to ones primary regional sacred landscape shrine or Apu to receive a bestowal of kamasqa (creative shamanic power) in soul awakening service to your Shamanic Self.

Youre encouraged to use the session time to apply what youve been learning. Engage in the creation and consecration of a personal apacheta as preparation for our final class. Youll receive ongoing support from the sanctioned teachers and don Oscar on the online community group.

A Pachakuti Mesa Tradition inspired ritual alignment with the harmonizing powers and evolutionary forces of the Andean Cosmos, followed by a wisdom integrative soul nourishing Q&A live sharing with don Oscar.

In alignment with the traditional manner in which Peruvian shamanic teachings are conveyed from teacher to student, don Oscar requests that all course participants be open and receptive to his ever evolving and emergent style of teaching.

To maximize your lived integration of this very valuable corpus of millennial wisdom practices, make an effort to be fully present in the moment and witness the shamanic soul medicine being offered, trusting you will be able to revisit the details as needed via the recordings and transcripts.

Youll be expected to have assembled a basic Pachakuti Mesa by our first class session following the instructions in the PMT Basics Guide found in your Pachakuti Mesa Tradition Basics Toolkit which is included in your registration for the course. To ensure you have enough support to have your mesa assembled before the course begins, youll be invited to attend a video orientation call which will also be available as a recording on your Course Homepage.

Youll need to gather certain ceremonial items over the 17 weeks to deepen your personal ritual space. Materials can be found, purchased, or lovingly gathered from the earth. Supplies will be engaged during class sessions and also applied during each practicum week. In addition, to receive the most benefit from this program and the powerful practices youll be initiated into, youll be encouraged to spend at least 30 minutes outside of class time each week in transformative practice.

Some of the Supplies Youll Need to Participate in the Course:

don Oscar will provide more detailed instructions about gathering your supplies upon your registration in the course.

In addition to don Oscars transformational 17-week live virtual training, youll receive these powerful training sessions and bonus materials. These bonuses will complement what youll learn in the course and take your initiation and work with your mesa to an even deeper level.

Yola Dunne, Chelsea, Qubec

Steve Guettermann, Montana

Eve B., Switzerland

The course arrived synchronistically to me, I needed re-equilibrium for my elements and a way to gain spiritual mastery on my own. More confidence and healing the shadows. A purifying fire and deeper contact with my divine Self. Just shine and get in contact with Source! Bendiciones! May I remember, experience, and be! Begoa, Catalonia, Spain

My whole life has changed. Im absolutely more present and aware of the magic that surrounds us. It is no accident that I found the shamanic path and ultimately don Oscar and his teachings. It has been a blessed re-membering of who I am and a call to action. Anonymous

The course was exactly what I needed, I wanted to enrich and expand healing techniques, applicable in occasional healing sessions provided for friends and myself. I did not need to ask any questions, all mine were asked by other participants and so fully and amazingly elaborated on by don Oscar. Im so happy to be living a new beginning with Pachakuti Mesa in my space. THANK YOU! Malgosia Urbanowicz, Burlington, Vermont

The benefits of this and other courses with don Oscar have been to bring me into peace in my soul and allow me to be more fully who I am. I am more centered and draw my energy from Pachamama and Source rather than from others. My connection with the unseen world grows and deepens as does my connection with the galactic energies... The joy of this course goes on and on! Miriam, Syracuse, New York

I received so many healings, dreams and energetic shifts in all aspects of my being and walking my spiritual path. So much wonderful knowledge imparted and imbued. Thank you! Shaun Ryan, Los Angeles

don Oscars teaching were heartfelt, and profoundly strengthening at the spirit level. I was so excited to tune in each week and feel the love that accompanies this sacred work. This course offered me the opportunity to be fully engaged with my soul purpose, while focusing my action and intent through the ritual of the mesa. Astraea, Perth, Western Australia

I have taken many classes with don Oscar, in person and with The Shift Network. This class, even though the material was not new to me, still raised my vibration and elevated my light body. His transmissions come through clearly and I feel them. The feeling lasts for days. Amejo Amyot, Saratoga Springs, New York

Follow this link:
Reverence, Ritual & Renewal with don Oscar Miro-Quesada ...

Business literature is packed with advice about worker motivationbut sometimes managers are the problem, not the inspiration. Here are seven practices to fire up the troops. From Harvard Management Update.

by David Sirota, Louis A. Mischkind, and Michael Irwin Meltzer

Most companies have it all wrong. They don't have to motivate their employees. They have to stop demotivating them.

The great majority of employees are quite enthusiastic when they start a new job. But in about 85 percent of companies, our research finds, employees' morale sharply declines after their first six monthsand continues to deteriorate for years afterward. That finding is based on surveys of about 1.2 million employees at 52 primarily Fortune 1000 companies from 2001 through 2004, conducted by Sirota Survey Intelligence (Purchase, New York).

The fault lies squarely at the feet of managementboth the policies and procedures companies employ in managing their workforces and in the relationships that individual managers establish with their direct reports.

Our research shows how individual managers' behaviors and styles are contributing to the problem (see sidebar "How Management Demotivates")and what they can do to turn this around.

Three key goals of people at work To maintain the enthusiasm employees bring to their jobs initially, management must understand the three sets of goals that the great majority of workers seek from their workand then satisfy those goals:

To maintain an enthusiastic workforce, management must meet all three goals. Indeed, employees who work for companies where just one of these factors is missing are three times less enthusiastic than workers at companies where all elements are present.

One goal cannot be substituted for another. Improved recognition cannot replace better pay, money cannot substitute for taking pride in a job well done, and pride alone will not pay the mortgage.

What individual managers can do Satisfying the three goals depends both on organizational policies and on the everyday practices of individual managers. If the company has a solid approach to talent management, a bad manager can undermine it in his unit. On the flip side, smart and empathetic managers can overcome a great deal of corporate mismanagement while creating enthusiasm and commitment within their units. While individual managers can't control all leadership decisions, they can still have a profound influence on employee motivation.

The most important thing is to provide employees with a sense of security, one in which they do not fear that their jobs will be in jeopardy if their performance is not perfect and one in which layoffs are considered an extreme last resort, not just another option for dealing with hard times.

But security is just the beginning. When handled properly, each of the following eight practices will play a key role in supporting your employees' goals for achievement, equity, and camaraderie, and will enable them to retain the enthusiasm they brought to their roles in the first place.

Achievement related1. Instill an inspiring purpose. A critical condition for employee enthusiasm is a clear, credible, and inspiring organizational purpose: in effect, a "reason for being" that translates for workers into a "reason for being there" that goes above and beyond money.

Every manager should be able to expressly state a strong purpose for his unit. What follows is one purpose statement we especially admire. It was developed by a three-person benefits group in a midsize firm.

This statement is particularly impressive because it was composed in a small company devoid of high-powered executive attention and professional wordsmiths. It was created in the type of department normally known for its fixation on bureaucratic rules and procedures. It is a statement truly from the heart, with the focus in the right place: on the endspeoplerather than the meanscompleting forms.

Stating a mission is a powerful tool. But equally important is the manager's ability to explain and communicate to subordinates the reason behind the mission. Can the manager of stockroom workers do better than telling her staff that their mission is to keep the room stocked? Can she communicate the importance of the job, the people who are relying on the stockroom being properly maintained, both inside and outside the company? The importance for even goods that might be considered prosaic to be where they need to be when they need to be there? That manager will go a long way toward providing a sense of purpose.

2. Provide recognition. Managers should be certain that all employee contributions, both large and small, are recognized. The motto of many managers seems to be, "Why would I need to thank someone for doing something he's paid to do?" Workers repeatedly tell us, and with great feeling, how much they appreciate a compliment. They also report how distressed they are when managers don't take the time to thank them for a job well done yet are quick to criticize them for making mistakes.

Receiving recognition for achievements is one of the most fundamental human needs. Rather than making employees complacent, recognition reinforces their accomplishments, helping ensure there will be more of them.

A pat on the back, simply saying "good going," a dinner for two, a note about their good work to senior executives, some schedule flexibility, a paid day off, or even a flower on a desk with a thank-you note are a few of the hundreds of ways managers can show their appreciation for good work. It works wonders if this is sincere, sensitively done, and undergirded by fair and competitive payand not considered a substitute for it.

3. Be an expediter for your employees. Incorporating a command-and-control style is a sure-fire path to demotivation. Instead, redefine your primary role as serving as your employees' expediter: It is your job to facilitate getting their jobs done. Your reports are, in this sense, your "customers." Your role as an expediter involves a range of activities, including serving as a linchpin to other business units and managerial levels to represent their best interests and ensure your people get what they need to succeed.

How do you know, beyond what's obvious, what is most important to your employees for getting their jobs done? Ask them! "Lunch and schmooze" sessions with employees are particularly helpful for doing this. And if, for whatever reason, you can't immediately address a particular need or request, be open about it and then let your workers know how you're progressing at resolving their problems. This is a great way to build trust.

4. Coach your employees for improvement. A major reason so many managers do not assist subordinates in improving their performance is, simply, that they don't know how to do this without irritating or discouraging them. A few basic principles will improve this substantially.

First and foremost, employees whose overall performance is satisfactory should be made aware of that. It is easier for employees to accept, and welcome, feedback for improvement if they know management is basically pleased with what they do and is helping them do it even better.

Space limitations prevent a full treatment of the subject of giving meaningful feedback, of which recognition is a central part, but these key points should be the basis of any feedback plan:

Equity related5. Communicate fully. One of the most counterproductive rules in business is to distribute information on the basis of "need to know." It is usually a way of severely, unnecessarily, and destructively restricting the flow of information in an organization.

Good communication requires managers to be attuned to what employees want and need to know; the best way to do this is to ask them! Most managers must discipline themselves to communicate regularly. Often it's not a natural instinct. Schedule regular employee meetings that have no purpose other than two-way communication. Meetings among management should conclude with a specific plan for communicating the results of the meetings to employees. And tell it like it is. Many employees are quite skeptical about management's motives and can quickly see through "spin." Get continual feedback on how well you and the company are communicating. One of the biggest communication problems is the assumption that a message has been understood. Follow-up often finds that messages are unclear or misunderstood.

Companies and managers that communicate in the ways we describe reap large gains in employee morale. Full and open communication not only helps employees do their jobs but also is a powerful sign of respect.

6. Face up to poor performance. Identify and deal decisively with the 5 percent of your employees who don't want to work. Most people want to work and be proud of what they do (the achievement need). But there are employees who are, in effect, "allergic" to workthey'll do just about anything to avoid it. They are unmotivated, and a disciplinary approachincluding dismissalis about the only way they can be managed. It will raise the morale and performance of other team members to see an obstacle to their performance removed.

Camaraderie related7. Promote teamwork. Most work requires a team effort in order to be done effectively. Research shows repeatedly that the quality of a group's efforts in areas such as problem solving is usually superior to that of individuals working on their own. In addition, most workers get a motivation boost from working in teams.

Whenever possible, managers should organize employees into self-managed teams, with the teams having authority over matters such as quality control, scheduling, and many work methods. Such teams require less management and normally result in a healthy reduction in management layers and costs.

Creating teams has as much to do with camaraderie as core competences. A manager needs to carefully assess who works best with whom. At the same time, it is important to create the opportunity for cross-learning and diversity of ideas, methods, and approaches. Be clear with the new team about its role, how it will operate, and your expectations for its output.

Related to all three factors8. Listen and involve. Employees are a rich source of information about how to do a job and how to do it better. This principle has been demonstrated time and again with all kinds of employeesfrom hourly workers doing the most routine tasks to high-ranking professionals. Managers who operate with a participative style reap enormous rewards in efficiency and work quality.

Participative managers continually announce their interest in employees' ideas. They do not wait for these suggestions to materialize through formal upward communication or suggestion programs. They find opportunities to have direct conversations with individuals and groups about what can be done to improve effectiveness. They create an atmosphere where "the past is not good enough" and recognize employees for their innovativeness.

Participative managers, once they have defined task boundaries, give employees freedom to operate and make changes on their own commensurate with their knowledge and experience. Indeed, there may be no single motivational tactic more powerful than freeing competent people to do their jobs as they see fit.

See the latest issue of Harvard Management Update.

by David Sirota, Louis A. Mischkind, and Michael Irwin Meltzer

There are several ways that management unwittingly demotivates employees and diminishes, if not outright destroys, their enthusiasm.

Many companies treat employees as disposable. At the first sign of business difficulty, employeeswho are usually routinely referred to as "our greatest asset"become expendable.

Employees generally receive inadequate recognition and reward: About half of the workers in our surveys report receiving little or no credit, and almost two-thirds say management is much more likely to criticize them for poor performance than praise them for good work.

Management inadvertently makes it difficult for employees to do their jobs. Excessive levels of required approvals, endless paperwork, insufficient training, failure to communicate, infrequent delegation of authority, and a lack of a credible vision contribute to employees' frustration.

Reprinted with permission from "Stop Demotivating Your Employees!" Harvard Management Update, Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2006.

Read the original here:
Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation - HBS Working ...

All 20 cryptocurrencies hit record highs, broker/dealers continue to pay for North Dakota fraud and cannabis expected to boom in the next...

The Los Angeles-based money manager is starting an investment advisor called Mortgage Opportunities Capital.

New limits in the bill would bar cryptocurrency owners from deferring capital gains taxes when trading one type...

Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter.

Maximizing gains is fine, but minimizing regrets counts for a lot too.

Bitcoin tops FAANG as the most searched financial term, market torpedos for 2018 and tax reform might not bring in international revenue.

The GraniteShares Bitcoin ETF and the GraniteShares Short Bitcoin ETF would trade on the Cboe BZX exchange.

Bonds and equities in developing countries will continue to streak ahead, outpacing their developed-nation peers into next year, according to a Bloomberg survey.

The economic picture has been brightening for some time, but it is the supply outlook that truly threatens Treasuries going...

If the cryptocurrency crashes, big deal. But if speculators went into debt, look out.

Like developing countries forgoing landlines for smartphones, young investors are passing over mutual funds for ETFs, says...

View original post here:
Investment | Wealth Management

There are no traffic jams when you go the extra mile.~Zig Ziglar

more

Go as far as you can see:when you get thereyoull be able to see further.~Zig Ziglar

more

You have made some mistakes,and you may not be where you want to be,but that has nothing to do with your future.~Zig Ziglar

more

You never know when a momentand a few sincere wordscan have an impact on a life.~Zig Ziglar

more

A negative thinker sees difficulty in every opportunity.A positive thinker sees an opportunity in every difficulty.~Zig Ziglar

more

If you are not willing to learn,no one can help you. If you are determined to learn,no one can stop you.~Zig Ziglar

more

You are the only person on earthwho can use your ability.~Zig Ziglar

more

Anything worth doingis worth doing poorlyuntil you learn to do it well.

~ Zig Ziglar

more

Failure is a detour,not a dead-end street.

~ Zig Ziglar

more

If you go out looking for friends,youre going to find they are very scarce.If you go out to be a friend,youll find them everywhere.~ Zig Ziglar

more

F-E-A-R has two meanings:Forget Everything And RunorFace Everything And Rise.The choice is yours.~Zig Ziglar

more

Thought for the Day

Expect the best.Prepare for the worst.Capitalize on what comes.

~ Zig Ziglar(1926-)

more

Thought for the Day

The more you recognize and express gratitudefor the things you have, the more things you will haveto express gratitude for.

~ Zig Ziglar(1926-)

more

Thought for the Day

Building a better you is the first stepto building a better America [World].

~ Zig Ziglar(1926-)

more

Thought for the Day

You can have everything in lifethat you wantif you just give enough other peoplewhat they want.

~ Zig Ziglar(1926-)

more

Thought for the Day

It was characterthat got us out of bed,commitmentthat moved us into action,and disciplinethat enabled us to follow through.

~ Zig Ziglar

more

Thought for The Day

What you get by achieving your goalsis not as important as what you becomeby achieving your goals.

~ Zig Ziglar

More here:
Zig Ziglar Quotes | Thought for Today

Investment Calculator

Photo credit: iStock/samxmeg

Whether you're considering getting started with investing or you're already a seasoned investor, an investment calculator can help you figure out how to meet your goals. It can show you how your initial investment, frequency of contributions and risk tolerance can all affect how your money grows. We'll walk you through the basics of investing, tell you about different risks and considerations and then turn you loose. Ready to put your money to work?

Investing lets you take money you're not spending and put it to work for you. Money you invest in stocks and bonds can help companies or governments grow, and in the meantime it will earn you compound interest. With time, compound interest takes modest savings and turns them into serious nest eggs - so long as you avoid some investing mistakes.

You don't necessarily have to research individual companies and buy and sell stocks on your own to become an investor. In fact, research shows this approach is unlikely to earn you consistent returns. The average investor who doesn't have a lot of time to devote to financial management can probably get away with a few low-fee index funds.

The closer you are to retirement, the more vulnerable you are to dips in your investment portfolio. So what's an in investor to do? Conventional wisdom says older investors who are getting closer to retirement should reduce their exposure to risk by shifting some of their investments from stocks to bonds.

Photo credit: iStock/Linda Hides

In investing, there's generally a trade-off between risk and return. The investments with higher potential for return also have higher potential for risk. The safe-and-sound investments sometimes barely beat inflation, if they do at all. Finding the asset allocation balance that's right for you will depend on your age and your risk tolerance.

Say you have some money you've already saved up, you just got a bonus from work or you received money as a gift or inheritance. That sum could become your investing principal. Your principal, or starting balance, is your jumping-off point for the purposes of investing. Most brokerage firms that offer mutual funds and index funds require a starting balance of $1,000. You can buy individual equities and bonds with less than that, though.

Once you've invested that initial sum, you'll likely want to keep adding to it. Extreme savers may want to make drastic cutbacks in their budgets so they can contribute as much as possible. Casual savers may decide on a lower amount to contribute. The amount you regularly add to your investments is called your contribution.

You can also choose how frequently you want to contribute. This is where things get interesting. Some people have their investments automatically deducted from their income. Depending on your pay schedule, that could mean monthly or biweekly contributions (if you get paid every other week). A lot of us, though, only manage to contribute to our investments once a year.

When you've decided on your starting balance, contribution amount and contribution frequency, your putting your money in the hands of the market. So how do you know what rate of return you'll earn? Well, the SmartAsset investment calculator default is 4%. This may seem low to you if you've read that the stock market averages much higher returns over the course of decades.

Photo credit: iStock/kutaytanir

Let us explain. When we figure rates of return for our calculators, we're assuming you'll have an asset allocation that includes some stocks, some bonds and some cash. Those investments have varying rates of return, and experience ups and downs over time. It's always better to use a conservative estimated rate of return so you don't under-save.

Sure, you could count on a 10% rate of return if you want to feel great about your future financial security, but you likely won't be getting an accurate picture of your investing potential. That, my friend, would lead to undersaving. Undersaving often leads to a future that's financially insecure.

The last factor to consider is your investment time frame. Consider the number of years you expect will elapse before you tap into your investments. The longer you have to invest, the more time you have to take advantage of the power of compound interest. That's why it's so important to start investing at the beginning of your career, rather than waiting until you're older. You may think of investing as something only old, rich people do, but it's not. Remember that most mutual funds have a minimum initial investment of just $1,000?

Its a good idea not to wait to start putting your money to work for you. And remember that your investment performance will be better when you choose low-fee investments. You don't want to be giving up an unreasonable chunk of money to fund managers when that money could be growing for you. Sure, investing has risks, but not investing is riskier for anyone who wants to accrue retirement savings and beat inflation.

Read the rest here:
Investment Calculator | SmartAsset.com

Connect

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. . All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and/or its affiliates.

Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. .

View post:
Investing - Ultimate Guide to Retirement - Money Magazine ...

Of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment.[1] Investors generally buy gold as a way of diversifying risk, especially through the use of futures contracts and derivatives. The gold market is subject to speculation and volatility as are other markets. Compared to other precious metals used for investment, gold has the most effective safe haven and hedging properties across a number of countries.[2]

Gold has been used throughout history as money and has been a relative standard for currency equivalents specific to economic regions or countries, until recent times. Many European countries implemented gold standards in the latter part of the 19th century until these were temporarily suspended in the financial crises involving World War I.[3] After World War II, the Bretton Woods system pegged the United States dollar to gold at a rate of US$35 per troy ounce. The system existed until the 1971 Nixon Shock, when the US unilaterally suspended the direct convertibility of the United States dollar to gold and made the transition to a fiat currency system. The last currency to be divorced from gold was the Swiss Franc in 2000.[citation needed].

Since 1919 the most common benchmark for the price of gold has been the London gold fixing, a twice-daily telephone meeting of representatives from five bullion-trading firms of the London bullion market. Furthermore, gold is traded continuously throughout the world based on the intra-day spot price, derived from over-the-counter gold-trading markets around the world (code "XAU"). The following table sets out the gold price versus various assets and key statistics at five-year intervals.[4]

Like most commodities, the price of gold is driven by supply and demand, including speculative demand. However, unlike most other commodities, saving and disposal play larger roles in affecting its price than its consumption. Most of the gold ever mined still exists in accessible form, such as bullion and mass-produced jewelry, with little value over its fine weight so it is nearly as liquid as bullion, and can come back onto the gold market.[11][12] At the end of 2006, it was estimated that all the gold ever mined totalled 158,000 tonnes (156,000 long tons; 174,000 short tons).[13] The investor Warren Buffett has said that the total amount of gold in the world that is above ground could fit into a cube with sides of just 20 metres (66ft)[14] (which is roughly consistent with 158,000 tonnes based on a specific gravity of 19.3). However, estimates for the amount of gold that exists today vary significantly and some have suggested the cube could be a lot smaller or larger.[by whom?]

Given the huge quantity of gold stored above ground compared to the annual production, the price of gold is mainly affected by changes in sentiment, which affects market supply and demand equally, rather than on changes in annual production.[15] According to the World Gold Council, annual mine production of gold over the last few years has been close to 2,500 tonnes.[16] About 2,000 tonnes goes into jewelry or industrial/dental production, and around 500 tonnes goes to retail investors and exchange-traded gold funds.[16]

Central banks and the International Monetary Fund play an important role in the gold price. At the end of 2004, central banks and official organizations held 19% of all above-ground gold as official gold reserves.[17] The ten-year Washington Agreement on Gold (WAG), which dates from September 1999, limited gold sales by its members (Europe, United States, Japan, Australia, the Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund) to less than 500 tonnes a year.[18] In 2009, this agreement was extended for a further five years, but with a smaller annual sales limit of 400 tonnes.[19] European central banks, such as the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank, have been key sellers of gold over this period.[20]

Although central banks do not generally announce gold purchases in advance, some, such as Russia, have expressed interest in growing their gold reserves again as of late 2005.[21] In early 2006, China, which only holds 1.3% of its reserves in gold,[22] announced that it was looking for ways to improve the returns on its official reserves. Some bulls hope that this signals that China might reposition more of its holdings into gold, in line with other central banks. Chinese investors began pursuing investment in gold as an alternative to investment in the Euro after the beginning of the Eurozone crisis in 2011. China has since become the worlds top gold consumer as of 2013.[23]

It is generally accepted that the price of gold is closely related to interest rates. As interest rates rise, the general tendency is for the gold price, which earns no interest, to fall, and vice versa. As a result, the gold price can be closely correlated to central banks[clarification needed] via their monetary policy decisions on interest rates. For example, if market signals indicate the possibility of prolonged inflation, central banks may decide to raise interest rates, which could reduce the price of gold. But this does not always happen: after the European Central Bank raised its interest rate slightly on April 7, 2011, for the first time since 2008,[24] the price of gold drove higher, and hit a new high one day later.[25] Similarly, in August 2011 when interest rates in India were at their highest in two years, the gold prices peaked as well.[26]

The price of gold can be influenced by a number of macroeconomic variables.[27] Such variables include the price of oil, the use of quantitative easing, currency exchange rate movements and returns on equity markets.[27]

Gold, like all precious metals, may be used as a hedge against inflation, deflation or currency devaluation. As Joe Foster, portfolio manager of the New York-based Van Eck International Gold Fund, explained in September 2010:

The currencies of all the major countries are under severe pressure because of massive government deficits. The more money that is pumped into these economies the printing of money basically then the less valuable the currencies become.[30]

Deutsche Bank's view of the point at which gold prices can be considered close to fair value (on 10 October 2014)[31]

Jewelry consistently accounts for over two-thirds of annual gold demand. India is the largest consumer in volume terms, accounting for 27% of demand in 2009, followed by China and the USA.[32]

Industrial, dental and medical uses account for around 12% of gold demand. Gold has high thermal and electrical conductivity properties, along with a high resistance to corrosion and bacterial colonization. Jewelry and industrial demand have fluctuated over the past few years due to the steady expansion in emerging markets of middle classes aspiring to Western lifestyles, offset by the financial crisis of 20072010.[33]

In recent years the recycling of second-hand jewelry has become a multibillion-dollar industry. The term "Cash for Gold" refers to offers of cash for selling old, broken, or mismatched gold jewelry to local and online gold buyers. There are many websites that offer these services.

However, there are many companies that have been caught taking advantage of their customers, paying a fraction of what the gold or silver is really worth, leading to distrust in many companies.[34]

When dollars were fully convertible into gold via the gold standard, both were regarded as money. However, most people preferred to carry around paper banknotes rather than the somewhat heavier and less divisible gold coins. If people feared their bank would fail, a bank run might result. This happened in the USA during the Great Depression of the 1930s, leading President Roosevelt to impose a national emergency and issue Executive Order 6102 outlawing the "hoarding" of gold by US citizens. There was only one prosecution under the order, and in that case the order was ruled invalid by federal judge John M. Woolsey, on the technical grounds that the order was signed by the President, not the Secretary of the Treasury as required.[35]

The most traditional way of investing in gold is by buying bullion gold bars. In some countries, like Canada, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, these can easily be bought or sold at the major banks. Alternatively, there are bullion dealers that provide the same service. Bars are available in various sizes. For example, in Europe, Good Delivery bars are approximately 400 troy ounces (12kg).[36] 1 kilogram (32ozt) are also popular, although many other weights exist, such as the 10oz, 1oz, 10g, 100g, 1kg, 1Tael, and 1Tola.

Bars generally carry lower price premiums than gold bullion coins. However larger bars carry an increased risk of forgery due to their less stringent parameters for appearance. While bullion coins can be easily weighed and measured against known values to confirm their veracity, most bars cannot, and gold buyers often have bars re-assayed. Larger bars also have a greater volume in which to create a partial forgery using a tungsten-filled cavity, which may not be revealed by an assay. Tungsten is ideal for this purpose because it is much less expensive than gold, but has the same density (19.3 g/cm).

Good delivery bars that are held within the London bullion market (LBMA) system each have a verifiable chain of custody, beginning with the refiner and assayer, and continuing through storage in LBMA recognized vaults. Bars within the LBMA system can be bought and sold easily. If a bar is removed from the vaults and stored outside of the chain of integrity, for example stored at home or in a private vault, it will have to be re-assayed before it can be returned to the LBMA chain. This process is described under the LBMA's "Good Delivery Rules".[37]

The LBMA "traceable chain of custody" includes refiners as well as vaults. Both have to meet their strict guidelines. Bullion products from these trusted refiners are traded at face value by LBMA members without assay testing. By buying bullion from an LBMA member dealer and storing it in an LBMA recognized vault, customers avoid the need of re-assaying or the inconvenience in time and expense it would cost.[38] However this is not 100% sure, for example, Venezuela moved its gold because of the political risk for them, and as the past shows, even in countries considered as democratic and stable, for example in the USA in the 1930s gold was seized by the government and legal moving was banned.[39]

Efforts to combat gold bar counterfeiting include kinebars which employ a unique holographic technology and are manufactured by the Argor-Heraeus refinery in Switzerland.

Gold coins are a common way of owning gold. Bullion coins are priced according to their fine weight, plus a small premium based on supply and demand (as opposed to numismatic gold coins, which are priced mainly by supply and demand based on rarity and condition).

The sizes of bullion coins range from one-tenth of an ounce to two ounces, with the one-ounce size being most popular and readily available.[40]

The Krugerrand is the most widely held gold bullion coin, with 46million troy ounces (1,400 tonnes) in circulation. Other common gold bullion coins include the Australian Gold Nugget (Kangaroo), Austrian Philharmoniker (Philharmonic), Austrian 100 Corona, Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, Chinese Gold Panda, Malaysian Kijang Emas, French Napoleon or Louis d'Or, Mexican Gold 50 Peso, British Sovereign, American Gold Eagle, and American Buffalo.

Coins may be purchased from a variety of dealers both large and small. Fake gold coins are common and are usually made of gold-plated lead.[citation needed]

Gold rounds look exactly like gold coins but they have no currency value.[41][42] They range in similar sizes as gold coins and come in 0.05 troy ounce all the way up to 1 troy ounce. Unlike gold coins, gold rounds have no additional metals added to them for durability purposes and do not have to be made by a government mint, which allows the gold rounds to have a lower overhead price as compared to gold coins. On the other hand, gold rounds are not as collectible as gold coins.

Gold exchange-traded products may include exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs), and closed-end funds (CEFs), which are traded like shares on the major stock exchanges. The first gold ETF, Gold Bullion Securities (ticker symbol "GOLD"), was launched in March 2003 on the Australian Stock Exchange, and originally represented exactly 0.1 troy ounces (3.1g) of gold. As of November 2010, SPDR Gold Shares is the second-largest exchange-traded fund in the world by market capitalization.[43]

Gold Exchange-traded products (ETPs) represent an easy way to gain exposure to the gold price, without the inconvenience of storing physical bars. However exchange-traded gold instruments, even those that hold physical gold for the benefit of the investor, carry risks beyond those inherent in the precious metal itself. For example, the most popular gold ETP (GLD) has been widely criticized, and even compared with mortgage-backed securities, due to features of its complex structure.[44][45][46][47][48]

Typically a small commission is charged for trading in gold ETPs and a small annual storage fee is charged. The annual expenses of the fund such as storage, insurance, and management fees are charged by selling a small amount of gold represented by each certificate, so the amount of gold in each certificate will gradually decline over time.

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are investment companies that are legally classified as open-end companies or unit investment trusts (UITs), but that differ from traditional open-end companies and UITs.[49] The main differences are that ETFs do not sell directly to investors and they issue their shares in what are called "Creation Units" (large blocks such as blocks of 50,000 shares). Also, the Creation Units may not be purchased with cash but a basket of securities that mirrors the ETF's portfolio. Usually, the Creation Units are split up and re-sold on a secondary market.

ETF shares can be sold in basically two ways. The investors can sell the individual shares to other investors, or they can sell the Creation Units back to the ETF. In addition, ETFs generally redeem Creation Units by giving investors the securities that comprise the portfolio instead of cash. Because of the limited redeemability of ETF shares, ETFs are not considered to be and may not call themselves mutual funds.[49]

Gold certificates allow gold investors to avoid the risks and costs associated with the transfer and storage of physical bullion (such as theft, large bid-offer spread, and metallurgical assay costs) by taking on a different set of risks and costs associated with the certificate itself (such as commissions, storage fees, and various types of credit risk).

Banks may issue gold certificates for gold that is allocated (fully reserved) or unallocated (pooled). Unallocated gold certificates are a form of fractional reserve banking and do not guarantee an equal exchange for metal in the event of a run on the issuing bank's gold on deposit. Allocated gold certificates should be correlated with specific numbered bars, although it is difficult to determine whether a bank is improperly allocating a single bar to more than one party.[50]

The first paper bank notes were gold certificates. They were first issued in the 17th century when they were used by goldsmiths in England and the Netherlands for customers who kept deposits of gold bullion in their vault for safe-keeping. Two centuries later, the gold certificates began being issued in the United States when the US Treasury issued such certificates that could be exchanged for gold. The United States Government first authorized the use of the gold certificates in 1863. On April 5, 1933 the US Government restricted the private gold ownership in the United States and therefore, the gold certificates stopped circulating as money (this restriction was reversed on January 1, 1975). Nowadays, gold certificates are still issued by gold pool programs in Australia and the United States, as well as by banks in Germany, Switzerland and Vietnam.[51]

Many types of gold "accounts" are available. Different accounts impose varying types of intermediation between the client and their gold. One of the most important differences between accounts is whether the gold is held on an allocated (fully reserved) or unallocated (pooled) basis. Unallocated gold accounts are a form of fractional reserve banking and do not guarantee an equal exchange for metal in the event of a run on the issuer's gold on deposit. Another major difference is the strength of the account holder's claim on the gold, in the event that the account administrator faces gold-denominated liabilities (due to a short or naked short position in gold for example), asset forfeiture, or bankruptcy.

Many banks offer gold accounts where gold can be instantly bought or sold just like any foreign currency on a fractional reserve basis.[citation needed]Swiss banks offer similar service on a fully allocated basis. Pool accounts, such as those offered by some providers, facilitate highly liquid but unallocated claims on gold owned by the company. Digital gold currency systems operate like pool accounts and additionally allow the direct transfer of fungible gold between members of the service. Other operators, by contrast, allows clients to create a bailment on allocated (non-fungible) gold, which becomes the legal property of the buyer.

Other platforms provide a marketplace where physical gold is allocated to the buyer at the point of sale, and becomes their legal property.[citation needed] These providers are merely custodians of client bullion, which does not appear on their balance sheet.

Typically, bullion banks only deal in quantities of 1000 ounces or more in either allocated or unallocated accounts. For private investors, vaulted gold offers private individuals to obtain ownership in professionally vaulted gold starting from minimum investment requirements of several thousand U.S.-dollars or denominations as low as one gram.

Derivatives, such as gold forwards, futures and options, currently trade on various exchanges around the world and over-the-counter (OTC) directly in the private market. In the U.S., gold futures are primarily traded on the New York Commodities Exchange (COMEX) and Euronext.liffe. In India, gold futures are traded on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) and Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).[52]

As of 2009 holders of COMEX gold futures have experienced problems taking delivery of their metal. Along with chronic delivery delays, some investors have received delivery of bars not matching their contract in serial number and weight. The delays cannot be easily explained by slow warehouse movements, as the daily reports of these movements show little activity. Because of these problems, there are concerns that COMEX may not have the gold inventory to back its existing warehouse receipts.[53]

Outside the US, a number of firms provide trading on the price of gold via contract for differences (CFDs) or allow spread bets on the price of gold.

Instead of buying gold itself, investors can buy the companies that produce the gold as shares in gold mining companies. If the gold price rises, the profits of the gold mining company could be expected to rise and the worth of the company will rise and presumably the share price will also rise. However, there are many factors to take into account and it is not always the case that a share price will rise when the gold price increases. Mines are commercial enterprises and subject to problems such as flooding, subsidence and structural failure, as well as mismanagement, negative publicity, nationalization, theft and corruption. Such factors can lower the share prices of mining companies.

The price of gold bullion is volatile, but unhedged gold shares and funds are regarded as even higher risk and even more volatile. This additional volatility is due to the inherent leverage in the mining sector. For example, if one owns a share in a gold mine where the costs of production are $300 per ounce and the price of gold is $600, the mine's profit margin will be $300. A 10% increase in the gold price to $660 per ounce will push that margin up to $360, which represents a 20% increase in the mine's profitability, and possibly a 20% increase in the share price. Furthermore, at higher prices, more ounces of gold become economically viable to mine, enabling companies to add to their production. Conversely, share movements also amplify falls in the gold price. For example, a 10% fall in the gold price to $540 will decrease that margin to $240, which represents a 20% fall in the mine's profitability, and possibly a 20% decrease in the share price.

To reduce this volatility, some gold mining companies hedge the gold price up to 18 months in advance. This provides the mining company and investors with less exposure to short-term gold price fluctuations, but reduces returns when the gold price is rising.

Investors using fundamental analysis analyze the macroeconomic situation, which includes international economic indicators, such as GDP growth rates, inflation, interest rates, productivity and energy prices. They would also analyze the yearly global gold supply versus demand.

The performance of gold bullion is often compared to stocks as different investment vehicles. Gold is regarded by some as a store of value (without growth) whereas stocks are regarded as a return on value (i.e., growth from anticipated real price increase plus dividends). Stocks and bonds perform best in a stable political climate with strong property rights and little turmoil. The attached graph shows the value of Dow Jones Industrial Average divided by the price of an ounce of gold. Since 1800, stocks have consistently gained value in comparison to gold in part because of the stability of the American political system.[54] This appreciation has been cyclical with long periods of stock outperformance followed by long periods of gold outperformance. The Dow Industrials bottomed out a ratio of 1:1 with gold during 1980 (the end of the 1970s bear market) and proceeded to post gains throughout the 1980s and 1990s.[55] The gold price peak of 1980 also coincided with the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan and the threat of the global expansion of communism. The ratio peaked on January 14, 2000 a value of 41.3 and has fallen sharply since.

One argument follows that in the long-term, gold's high volatility when compared to stocks and bonds, means that gold does not hold its value compared to stocks and bonds:[56]

Bullish investors may choose to leverage their position by borrowing money against their existing assets and then purchasing gold on account with the loaned funds. Leverage is also an integral part of buying gold derivatives and unhedged gold mining company shares (see gold mining companies). Leverage or derivatives may increase investment gains but also increases the corresponding risk of capital loss if/when the trend reverses.

Some of the economic mechanics of gold have been compared to those of cryptocurrencies. For example, they are both scarce, fungible and do not come attached to debt. Nick Szabo created a digital currency call "bit gold" that mimicked some features of gold.[57]

Some cryptocurrencies and services are backed by gold.[58]

Gold maintains a special position in the market with many tax regimes. For example, in the European Union the trading of recognised gold coins and bullion products are free of VAT. Silver and other precious metals or commodities do not have the same allowance. Other taxes such as capital gains tax may also apply for individuals depending on their tax residency. U.S. citizens may be taxed on their gold profits at 15, 23, 28 or 35 percent, depending on the investment vehicle used.[59]

Gold attracts a fair share of fraudulent activity. Some of the most common to be aware of are:

View post:
Gold as an investment - Wikipedia

Buddhism in Japan has been practiced since its official introduction in 552 CE according to the Nihon Shoki[1] from Baekje, Korea, by Buddhist monks.[2][3]Buddhism has had a major influence on the development of Japanese society and remains an influential aspect of the culture to this day.[4]

In modern times, Japan's most popular schools of Buddhism are Pure Land Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism and Zen. As of 2008, approximately 34% of the Japanese identify as Buddhists and the number has been growing since the 1980s, in terms of membership in organized religion. However, in terms of practice, 75% practice some form of Buddhism (compared with 90% practicing Shinto, thus most Japanese practice both religion to some extent (Shinbutsu-shg)).[5] About 60% of the Japanese have a Butsudan (Buddhist shrine) in their homes.[6]

The arrival of Buddhism in China is ultimately a consequence of the first contacts between China and Central Asia, where Buddhism had spread from the Indian subcontinent. These contacts occurred with the opening of the Silk Road in the 2nd century BCE, following the travels of Zhang Qian between 138 and 126 BCE. These contacts culminated with the official introduction of Buddhism in China in 67 CE. Historians generally agree that by the middle of the 1st century, the religion had penetrated to areas north of the Huai River in China.[7]

According to the Book of Liang, which was written in 635, five Buddhist monks from Gandhara traveled to Japan in 467. At the time, they referred to Japan as Fusang (Chinese: ; Japanese pronunciation: Fus), the name of a mythological country to the extreme east beyond the sea:[8]

Fusang is located to the east of China, 20,000 li (1,500 kilometers) east of the state of Da Han [, "China"] (itself east of the state of Wa in modern Kansai region, Japan). (...) In former times, the people of Fusang knew nothing of the Buddhist religion, but in the second year of Da Ming of the Song Dynasty (467), five monks from Kipin [Kabul region of Gandhara] travelled by ship to Fusang. They propagated Buddhist doctrine, circulated scriptures and drawings, and advised the people to relinquish worldly attachments. As a result the customs of Fusang changed.

Although there are records of Buddhist monks from China coming to Japan before the Asuka Period, the "official" introduction of Buddhism to Japan is dated to 552 in Nihon Shoki[9] when King Seong of Baekje (, now western Korea) sent a mission to the Emperor Kinmei that included Buddhist monks or nuns together with an image of Buddha and a number of sutras to introduce Buddhism.[3][10] The powerful Soga clan played a key role in the early spread of Buddhism in the country. Initial uptake of the new faith was slow, and Buddhism only started to spread some years later when Empress Suiko openly encouraged the acceptance of Buddhism among all Japanese people.

According to legend, in Japan in 552, there was an attempt to destroy a tooth relic, one of the first of Buddhas to arrive in the country; it was hit by a hammer into an anvil; the hammer and anvil were destroyed but the tooth was not.[11] On January 15, 593, Soga no Umako ordered relics of Buddha deposited inside the foundation stone under the pillar of a pagoda at Asuka-dera.[12]

In 607, in order to obtain copies of sutras, an imperial envoy was dispatched to Sui China. As time progressed and the number of Buddhist clergy increased, the offices of Sj (archbishop) and Szu (bishop) were created. By 627, there were 46 Buddhist temples, 816 Buddhist priests, and 569 Buddhist nuns in Japan.

The initial period saw the six great Chinese schools, called Nanto Rokush (, lit. the Six Nara Sects) in Japanese, introduced to the Japanese archipelago:

These schools centered around the ancient capitals of Asuka and Nara, where great temples such as the Asuka-dera and Tdai-ji were erected respectively. These were not exclusive schools, and temples were apt to have scholars versed in several of the schools. It has been suggested that they can best be thought of as "study groups". The Buddhism of these periods, known as the Asuka period and Nara period was not a practical religion, being more the domain of learned priests whose official function was to pray for the peace and prosperity of the state and imperial house. This kind of Buddhism had little to offer the illiterate and uneducated masses, and led to the growth of "peoples priests" who were not ordained and had no formal Buddhist training. Their practice was a combination of Buddhist and Daoist elements and the incorporation of shamanistic features of indigenous practices. Some of these figures became immensely popular, and were a source of criticism towards the sophisticated academic and bureaucratic Buddhism of the capital.

The Late Nara period saw the introduction of Tangmi (Esoteric Buddhism, Japanese mikky) to Japan from China by Kkai and Saich, who founded Shingon Buddhism and the Tendai school, respectively.

During the Heian period the capital was shifted from Nara to Kyoto. Monasteries became centers of powers, even establishing armies of Shei, warrior-monks.

Shinto and Buddhism became the dominant religions, maintaining a balance until the Meiji-restoration.

The Kamakura period was a period of crises in which the control of the country moved from the imperial aristocracy to the samurai. In 1185 the Kamakura shogunate was established at Kamakura.

This period saw the introduction of the two schools that had perhaps the greatest impact on the country: the schools of Pure Land Buddhism, promulgated by evangelists such as Genshin and articulated by monks such as Hnen, which emphasize salvation through faith in Amitbha and remain the largest Buddhist sect in Japan (and throughout Asia); and Zen, promulgated by monks such as Eisai and Dgen, which emphasize liberation through the insight of meditation, which were equally rapidly adopted by the upper classes and had a profound impact on the culture of Japan.

Additionally, it was during the Kamakura period that the influential monk Nichiren began teaching devotion to the Lotus Sutra. Eventually, his disciples formed their own school of Nichiren Buddhism, which includes various sects that have their own interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. Nichiren Buddhism established the foundation of Japanese Buddhism in the thirteenth century. The school is known for its sociopolitical activism and looks to reform society through faith.[16]

In the Muromachi period, Zen, particularly the Rinzai school, obtained the help of the Ashikaga shogunate and the Emperor of Japan, and accomplished considerable development.

After the Sengoku period of war, Japan was re-united in the AzuchiMomoyama period. This decreased the power of Buddhism, which had become a strong political and military force in Japan. Neo-Confucianism and Shinto gained influence at the expense of Buddhism, which came under strict state control.[17] Japan closed itself off to the rest of the world. The only traders to be allowed were Dutchmen admitted to the island of Dejima.

New doctrines and methods were not to be introduced, nor were new temples and schools. The only exception was the baku lineage, which was introduced in the 17th century during the Edo period by Ingen, a Chinese monk. Ingen had been a member of the Linji school, the Chinese equivalent of Rinzai, which had developed separately from the Japanese branch for hundreds of years. Thus, when Ingen journeyed to Japan following the fall of the Ming dynasty to the Manchu people, his teachings were seen as a separate school. The baku school was named after Mount Huangbo (Chinese: ; pinyin: Hungb shn; Japanese pronunciation: baku shan), which had been Ingen's home in China. Also notable during the period was the publication of an exceptionally high quality reprint of the Ming-era Tripiaka by Tetsugen Doko, a renowned master of the baku school.[17]

With the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the new government adopted a strong anti-Buddhist attitude, and a movement to eradicate Buddhism and bring Shinto to ascendancy arose throughout the country due to the strong connections of Buddhism to the Shoguns.

During the Meiji period (18681912), after a coup in 1868, Japan abandoned its feudal system and opened up to Western modernism. Shinto became the state religion. Within the Buddhist establishment the Western world was seen as a threat as well as a challenge to stand up to.[19][20] Buddhist institutions had a simple choice: adapt or perish. Rinzai and Soto Zen chose to adapt, trying to modernize Zen in accord with Western insights, while simultaneously maintaining a Japanese identity. Other schools, and Buddhism in general, simply saw their influence wane. The edict of April 1872 ended the status of the buddhist precepts as state law and allowed monks to marry and to eat meat.[21] This "codification of a secularized lifestyle for the monk coupled with the revival of the emperor system and development of State Shinto were fundamental in desacralizing Buddhism and pushing it to the margins of society".[22]

Japanese identity was being articulated in Nihonjinron, the "Japanese uniqueness theory". A broad range of subjects was taken as typical of Japanese culture. D. T. Suzuki contributed to the Nihonjinron by taking Zen as the distinctive token of Asian spirituality, showing its unique character in the Japanese culture.[23]Nichirenism was one particular expression of Japanese Buddhist nationalism.

During World War II, almost all Buddhists temples strongly supported Japan's militarization.[24][25][26][27][28][29] In contrast, a few individuals such as Ichikawa Haku,[30] and Gir Senoo were targeted, and the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, a Nichiren lay believers' organization, was ultimately banned by military authorities. During the 1940s, "leaders of both Honmon Hokkeshu and Sokka Gakkai were imprisoned for their defiance of wartime government religious policy, which mandated display of reverence for state Shinto."[31][32][33]

Post World War II, there was a high demand for Buddhist priests who glorified fallen soldiers, and gave funerals and posthumous names, causing a strong revival.[34][citation needed] However, due to secularization and materialism, Buddhism and religion in general, continued to decline.[need quotation to verify]

Japan has seen a growth in post war movements of lay believers of Buddhism[citation needed] and a decline in traditional Buddhism in the 20th century, with roughly 100 Buddhist organizations disappearing every year.[35][36] As of 2008 approximately 34% of the Japanese identify as "Buddhists" and the number has been growing since the 1980s, as Buddhists were 27% in 1984.

Still, around 90% of Japanese funerals are conducted according to Buddhist rites.[37] "In 1963 Tamamuro Taijo coined the term Funeral Buddhism that came to be used to describe traditional Buddhism in Japan as the religion engaged in funerary rites and removed from the spiritual needs of people".[38]

Contrary to the ritualistic practice of traditional Buddhism, a revived modern form of Nichiren Buddhism led by lay believers Soka Gakkai grew rapidly in the chaos of post war Japan [33] from about 3000 members in 1951 to over 8 million members in 2000,[39] and has established schools, colleges and a university, as well as cultural institutions.[40] A study about the reason for the growth in lay believers and increased engagement in society attributes the cause to Nichiren teachings of social responsibility: In the tradition of Nichiren Buddhism, however, we find the Lotus Sutra linked to a view of social responsibility that is distinctive.[41] According to an academic study, lay believers of Buddhism offer an alternative view of Japan where their form of Buddhism would form the religious foundation of a peaceful and psychologically and materially enriched society [42]

In the post-Meiji, pre-WWII period, there were officially 13 schools and 56 branches (ja:) of traditional Buddhism (i.e., those not established in modern times). The official schools included three from the Nara period, two from the Heian period (Tendai and Shingon), four Pure Land schools, three Zen schools (Rinzai, St and Obaku), and Nichiren. During the war, this was halved to 28 branches, but the law enforcing this was repealed following the end of the war, allowing former branches to return. Further, since then, many groups have split off from existing branches.[citation needed]

625: Introduced into Japan. The Tattvasiddhi school (, Jjitsu-sh) (formerly known as the *Styasiddhi) is considered to be an offshoot of the Bahurutya, an Indian Sautrntika school of Nikaya Buddhism; however, the Tattvasiddhi's position was also close to that of the Sthavira nikya. They were distinguished by a rejection of abhidharma as not being the words of the Buddha. It was introduced to Japan as Jjitsu in 625 by the monk Ekwan of Goryeo. In Japan, it was classified as one of the three approaches of East Asian Mdhyamaka instead of a separate lineage. East Asian Mdhyamaka (, Sanron-sh) was one of the six Nara sects (, Nanto Rokush).

654: Dsh introduces East Asian Yogcra (, Hoss). Yogcra is based on an early Indian philosophy by masters such as Vasubandhu. Practices of this lineage are also known as "consciousness-only" since they teach that all phenomena are phenomena of the mind. The East Asian Yogcra school of Buddhism was founded by Xuanzang (, Jp. Genj) in China c. 630 and introduced to Japan in 654 by Dsh, who had travelled to China to study under him.[45] The Discourse on the Theory of Consciousness-Only (, Jyuishiki-ron) is an important text for the Hoss school.

This school was transmitted to Japan in the 7th century. Literally: Three-Discourse School; a Madhyamaka school which developed in China based on two discourses by Nagarjuna and one by Aryadeva. Madhyamaka is one of the two most important Mahayana philosophies, and reemphasizes the original Buddhist teachings that phenomena are neither truly existent or absolutely non-existent, but are characterized by impermanence and insubstantiality.

736: Bodhisena introduces the Kegon (Huayan or Avatasaka) school to Japan. The Kegon school was founded by Dushun (, Dojun) c. 600 and was introduced to Japan by the Indian monk Bodhisena in 736. The Avatamsaka Sutra (Kegon-ky ) is the central text for the Kegon school. The Shin'yaku Kegonky Ongi Shiki is an early Japanese annotation of this stra.

753: Jianzhen (Chinese: ) introduces the Rissh (Ritsu or vinaya school) to Japan. Founded by Doxun (, Jp. Dosen), China, c. 650First Introduction to Japan: Jianzhen, 753. The Ritsu school specialized in the Vinaya (the monastic rules in the Tripitaka). They used the Dharmagupta version of the vinaya which is known in Japanese as Shibunritsu ()

The Kusha-sh () was one of the six schools of Buddhism introduced to Japan during the Asuka and Nara periods. Along with the Tattvasiddhi school (Jjitsu-sh) and the Rissh, it is a school of Nikaya Buddhism, which is sometimes derisively known to Mahayana Buddhism as "the Hinayana".

A Sarvastivada school,[47] Kusha-sh focussed on abhidharma analysis based on the "Commentary on the Abhidharmakoabhaya" () by the fourth-century Gandharan philosopher Vasubandhu. The school takes its name from that authoritative text.

807: Saich introduces the Tendai (Tiantai) school to Japan. Known as Tiantai () in China, the Tendai school was founded by Zhiyi (, Jp Chigi) in China, c. 550. In 804 Saich () traveled to China to study at the Tiantai teachings, at Mount Tiantai. However, before his return he also studied, and was initiated into, the practice of the Vajrayana, with emphasis on the Mahavairocana Sutra. The primary text of Tiantai is Lotus Sutra (Hokke-ky ), but when Saich established his school in Japan he incorporated the study and practice of Vajrayana as well.

816: Kkai founds Shingon Buddhism (, Shingon-sh). One of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan today and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, it originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. Known in Chinese as the Tangmi, these esoteric teachings would flourish in Japan under the auspices of a Buddhist monk named Kkai (), who traveled to Tang China in 804 as part of the same expedition as Saich. In the capital he studied Tangmi and Sanskrit and received initiation from Huiguo. On returning to Japan, Kkai eventually managed to establish Shingon as a school in its own right. Kkai received two lineages of teachingone based on the Mahavairocana Tantra (, Dainichiky) and the other based on the Vajrasekhara Sutra (, Kongchky).

The word "Shingon" is the Japanese pronunciation of Zhnyn "True Words",[48] which in turn is the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word "mantra".[49]

1175: Hnen introduces Pure Land Buddhism to Japan.

Jdo-sh was founded by Hnen (), 1175Japanese name: , "Pure Land"Major Influences: Chinese Jingtu Zong ( "Pure Land school"), TendaiDoctrine: NianfoPrimary Text: Longer Sukhvatvyha Stra (Muryju-ky )

Jdo Shinsh was founded by Shinran (), 1224Japanese name: , "True Pure Land"Major Influences: Jdo-sh, TendaiDoctrine: nembutsu no shinjin ("nianfo of true entrusting", that is, saying nianfo is a declaration of faith in Amida's salvation plan for the individual rather than a plan for salvation.)Primary Text: Longer Sukhvatvyha Stra (Muryju-ky )

Ji-sh was founded by Ippen (), 1270Japanese name: or , "Time"Major Influences: Jdo-shDoctrine: NembutsuPrimary Text:

The Yz-Nembutsu school was founded by Rynin (), 1117Japanese name: Doctrine: sokushitsu j (,)Primary Text: Avatamsaka Sutra (Kegon-ky )Lotus Sutra (Hokke-ky )

Several variants of Zen's practice and experiential wisdom () were separately brought to Japan. Note that Zen influences are identifiable earlier in Japanese Buddhism, esp. cross-fertilization with Hosso and Kegon, but the independent schools were formed quite late.

1191: Eisai introduces the Rinzai school to Japan. Founder: Linji Yixuan (), China, c. 850Chinese name: Linji school (), named after founderFirst Introduction to Japan: Eisai (), 1191Major Influences: East Asian Yogcra, KegonDoctrine: zazen (, "sitting meditation"), especially kan (, "public matter") practicePrimary Texts: Transcendental Wisdom Sutras aka Prajnaparamita (), incl. Heart Sutra

1227: Dgen introduces the St (Caodong school) to Japan. Founders: Caoshan (, Jp. Sosan) and Dongshan Liangjie (, Jp. Tosan), China, c. 850Chinese name: Caodong (), named after its foundersFirst Introduction to Japan: Dgen (), 1227Major Influences: Tendai, East Asian Yogcra, KegonDoctrine: zazen (, "sitting meditation"), especially shikantazaPrimary Texts: Transcendental Wisdom Sutras aka Prajnaparamita (), incl. Heart Sutra

1654: Ingen introduces the baku (Huangbo) school to Japan.Founder: Ingen (), Japan, 1654Japanese name: , named for the mountain where the founder had lived in ChinaMajor Influences: Rinzai schoolDoctrine: kyzen-itchi (, "Unity of Sutras and Zen")Primary Texts: Transcendental Wisdom Sutras aka Prajnaparamita (), incl. Heart Sutra

The Fuke-sh was founded by Puhua ()First introduction to Japan: Shinchin Kakushin (), 1254Major Influences: Rinzai schoolAbolished: 1871

1253: Nichiren (: "Sun-Lotus") expounds his teachings. Nichiren Buddhism split into several denominations after the death of Nichiren in 1282. The Nichiren Fuju-fuse-ha sub-sect of Nichiren Buddhism was abolished in 1669 and legalised again in 1876.Today's Nichiren Buddhism is represented by traditional-oriented schools such as Honmon Butsury-sh, Nichiren-sh and Nichiren Shsh and more recent movements like the Soka Gakkai, Rissh Ksei Kai, Reiykai and Nipponzan-Myhji-Daisanga. See Nichiren Buddhism for a more complete list.

Major Influences: TendaiPrimary Texts: Lotus Sutra (: Myh Renge Ky; abbrev. : Hokke-ky), treatises and letters by Nichiren.Mantra: Nam(u) Myh Renge Ky ()

Japanese culture maintained an uneasy relation to Buddhist culture. While the Chinese culture was admired, Buddhism was also regarded as a strange influence.

During the Kamakura (11851333) and Muromachi (13361573) Buddhism, or the Buddhist institutions, had a great influence on Japanese society. Buddhist institutions were used by the shogunate to control the country. During the Edo (16001868) this power was constricted, to be followed by persecutions at the beginning of the Meiji-restoration (18681912). Buddhist temples played a major administrative role during the Edo period, through the Danka or terauke system. In this, Japanese citizens were required to register at their local Buddhist temples and obtain a certification (terauke), which became necessary to function in society. At first, this system was put into place to suppress Christianity, but over time it took on the larger role of census and population control.

In Japan, Buddhist art started to develop as the country converted to Buddhism in 548. Some tiles from the Asuka period (shown above), the first period following the conversion of the country to Buddhism, display a strikingly classical style, with ample Hellenistic dress and realistically rendered body shape characteristic of Greco-Buddhist art.

Buddhist art became extremely varied in its expression. Many elements of Greco-Buddhist art remain to this day however, such as the Hercules inspiration behind the Nio guardian deities in front of Japanese Buddhist temples, or representations of the Buddha reminiscent of Greek art such as the Buddha in Kamakura.[b]

Various other Greco-Buddhist artistic influences can be found in the Japanese Buddhist pantheon, the most striking being that of the Japanese wind god Fjin. In consistency with Greek iconography for the wind god Boreas, the Japanese wind god holds above his head with his two hands a draping or "wind bag" in the same general attitude.[c] The abundance of hair has been kept in the Japanese rendering, as well as exaggerated facial features.

Another Buddhist deity, Shukongshin, one of the wrath-filled protector deities of Buddhist temples in Japan, is also an interesting case of transmission of the image of the famous Greek god Heracles to East Asia along the Silk Road. Heracles was used in Greco-Buddhist art to represent Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha, and his representation was then used in China and Japan to depict the protector gods of Buddhist temples.[d]

The artistic inspiration from Greek floral scrolls is found quite literally in the decoration of Japanese roof tiles, one of the only remaining element of wooden architecture throughout centuries. The clearest ones are from the 7th century Nara temple building tiles, some of them exactly depicting vines and grapes. These motifs have evolved towards more symbolic representations, but essentially remain to this day in many Japanese traditional buildings.[e]

Soga no Umako built Hk-ji, the first temple in Japan, between 588 to 596. It was later renamed as Asuka-dera for Asuka, the name of the capital where it was located. Unlike early Shinto shrines, early Buddhist temples were highly ornamental and strictly symmetrical. The early Heian period (9th10th century) saw an evolution of style based on the mikky sects Tendai and Shingon Buddhism. The Daibutsuy style and the Zenshy style emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century.

Although its date and practices vary region to region, the Bon Festival is celebrated primarily in Japan and in communities with large Japanese diaspora communities. It is believed that the spirits of the dead return to earth for three days and visit the family shrines or graves. It is customary to clean the graves and to hold family reunions.

More:
Buddhism in Japan - Wikipedia

Hi Bedros-

My name is Adriel Yapana, and I'm an independent personal trainer.

As soon as I got your "Close Clients" video, I watched everything from beginning to end, absorbed the recommended strategies and took plenty of notes. I especially liked the included diagrams and the mentoring group brainstorm segment which was most helpful for me in formulating my own sales communication, I realized where I needed to work on myself, both verbal and written, and also the best use of my time with the prospect.

I like to choose the right tools to get the job done right and in this product, I've learned the right closing tools and how to use them. It's a must for every trainer.

To make a long story short, I recently got back in an environment where I have to close my own personal training packages. Unlike before where I was sent clients sold on a training package already and all I had to do was train them. I had to teach myself how to create my own leads and close my own clients.

Let me tell you, I studied and honed my skills the first week and the second week, I applied the strategies to my prospects.

Well, I revived my business the moment I used my new closing skills... I closed 2 big package programs: one a 12-month commitment of 5 sessions a week and the other, a 6-months package of multiple sessions a week. The skills I've learned from this product made an impact on my income instantly and I'm loving it!

As fitness professionals, we all get trained with these educational, sometimes mandatory fitness certifications to change bodies. This video should be a must for everyone who wants to get certified in "closing bodies," that is, your prospects!

Thanks again Bedros!

Original post:
Close Clients