information on India - Religions in India

Buddhism evolved in India. There were periods in India's past when Buddhism was dominant in India. Today less then 1% of India's population is Buddhist. Buddhism has more followers in countries east of India. Buddhism was established in about 500 BC. Buddhism began with a prince called Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha belonged to an aristocratic family. As a prince he had lot of wealth. He never left his palace. At some point Siddharta began to leave his palace and behold for the first time poverty, sickness and misery. After seeing this Siddharta lost interest in his spoiled life and left his palace forever and gave his rich personal belongings to the needy. He joined a group of ascetics who were searching for enlightenment. In those days people searching for enlightenment believed that this could be gained only by people who were capable of resisting their basic needs. These people almost did not eat anything and almost starved themselves to death. Siddharta also adopted this path of searching enlightenment. But at some point he came to a conclusion that this was neither the way towards enlightenment nor the spoiled life he had as a prince was the right path towards enlightenment. According to him the right path was somewhere in the middle and he called it the 'middle path'. In order to focus on his enlightenment search, Buddha sat under a fig tree and after fighting many temptations he got his enlightenment. In his region 'enlightened' people were called Buddha. And so Siddharta was named Buddha. According to Buddha's theory life is a long suffering. The suffering is caused because of the passions people desire to accomplish. The more one desires and the less he accomplishes the more he suffers. People who do not accomplish their desirable passions in their lives will be born again to this life circle which is full of suffering and so will distant themselves from the world of no suffering - Nirvana. To get Nirvana, one has to follow the eight-fold path which are to believe right, desire right, think right, live right, do the right efforts, think the right thoughts, behave right and to do the right meditation. Buddhism emphasis non- violence. Buddha attacked the Brahmanic custom of animal slaughtering during religious ceremonies. Religiously the Buddhists are vegetarians. But a strong narrative in India claims that Buddha, died because he ate a sick animal. Buddhism does not have a God, nor is it atheistic. Many Buddhists keep images of Buddha. Buddha is not seen as the first prophet of the religion, but as the fourth prophet of the religion. There are two main doctrines in Buddhism, Mahayana and Hinayana. Mahayana Buddhist believe that the right path of a follower will lead to the redemption of all human beings. The Hinayana believe that each person is responsible for his own fate. Along with these doctrines there are other Buddhist beliefs like 'Zen Buddhism' from Japan and the 'Hindu Tantric Buddhism' from Tibet. Zen Buddhism is a mixture of Buddhism as it arrived from India to Japan and original Japanese beliefs. The Hindu Tantric Buddhism is a mixture of Indian Buddhism and original Tibetian beliefs which existed among the Tibetians before the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet, among it magic, ghosts and tantras (meaningless mystical sentences).

Buddhism Plain and Simple

View post:
Buddhism - Tripod.com

Types: show 8 types... hide 8 types... Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism

one of two great schools of Buddhist doctrine emphasizing a common search for universal salvation especially through faith alone; the dominant religion of China and Tibet and Japan

one of two great schools of Buddhist doctrine emphasizing personal salvation through your own efforts; a conservative form of Buddhism that adheres to Pali scriptures and the non-theistic ideal of self purification to nirvana; the dominant religion of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand and Laos and Cambodia

a Buddhist doctrine that includes elements from India that are not Buddhist and elements of preexisting shamanism

a Buddhist doctrine that enlightenment can be attained through direct intuitive insight

a form of Buddhism emphasizing mystical symbolism of mantras and mudras and the Buddha's ideal which is inexpressible

doctrine of enlightenment as the realization of the oneness of one's self and the visible world; combines elements of Hinduism and paganism including magical and mystical elements like mantras and mudras and erotic rites; especially influential in Tibet

an offensive name for the early conservative Theravada Buddhism; it died out in India but survived in Sri Lanka and was taken from there to other regions of southwestern Asia

one of the main traditions of Mahayana Buddhism; holds that the mind is real but that objects are just ideas or states of consciousness

See the article here:
Buddhism - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

Question: "What is Buddhism and what do Buddhists believe?"

Answer:

Buddhisms founder, Siddhartha Guatama, was born into royalty in India around 600 B.C. As the story goes, he lived luxuriously, with little exposure to the outside world. His parents intended for him to be spared from the influence of religion and protected from pain and suffering. However, it was not long before his shelter was penetrated, and he had visions of an aged man, a sick man, and a corpse. His fourth vision was of a peaceful ascetic monk (one who denies luxury and comfort). Seeing the monks peacefulness, he decided to become an ascetic himself. He abandoned his life of wealth and affluence to pursue enlightenment through austerity. He was skilled at this sort of self-mortification and intense meditation. He was a leader among his peers. Eventually, his efforts culminated in one final gesture. He indulged himself with one bowl of rice and then sat beneath a fig tree (also called the Bodhi tree) to meditate till he either reached enlightenment or died trying. Despite his travails and temptations, by the next morning, he had achieved enlightenment. Thus, he became known as the 'enlightened one' or the 'Buddha.' He took his new realization and began to teach his fellow monks, with whom he had already gained great influence. Five of his peers became the first of his disciples.

What had Gautama discovered? Enlightenment lay in the middle way, not in luxurious indulgence or self-mortification. Moreover, he discovered what would become known as the Four Noble Truths1) to live is to suffer (Dukha), 2) suffering is caused by desire (Tanha, or attachment), 3) one can eliminate suffering by eliminating all attachments, and 4) this is achieved by following the noble eightfold path. The eightfold path consists of having a right 1) view, 2) intention, 3) speech, 4) action, 5) livelihood (being a monk), 6) effort (properly direct energies), 7) mindfulness (meditation), and 8) concentration (focus). The Buddha's teachings were collected into the Tripitaka or three baskets.

Behind these distinguishing teachings are teachings common to Hinduism, namely reincarnation, karma, Maya, and a tendency to understand reality as being pantheistic in its orientation. Buddhism also offers an elaborate theology of deities and exalted beings. However, like Hinduism, Buddhism can be hard to pin down as to its view of God. Some streams of Buddhism could legitimately be called atheistic, while others could be called pantheistic, and still others theistic, such as Pure Land Buddhism. Classical Buddhism, however, tends to be silent on the reality of an ultimate being and is therefore considered atheistic.

Buddhism today is quite diverse. It is roughly divisible into the two broad categories of Theravada (small vessel) and Mahayana (large vessel). Theravada is the monastic form which reserves ultimate enlightenment and nirvana for monks, while Mahayana Buddhism extends this goal of enlightenment to the laity as well, that is, to non-monks. Within these categories can be found numerous branches including Tendai, Vajrayana, Nichiren, Shingon, Pure Land, Zen, and Ryobu, among others. Therefore it is important for outsiders seeking to understand Buddhism not to presume to know all the details of a particular school of Buddhism when all they have studied is classical, historic Buddhism.

The Buddha never considered himself to be a god or any type of divine being. Rather, he considered himself to be a way-shower' for others. Only after his death was he exalted to god status by some of his followers, though not all of his followers viewed him that way. With Christianity however, it is stated quite clearly in the Bible that Jesus was the Son of God (Matthew 3:17: And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased) and that He and God are one (John 10:30). One cannot rightfully consider himself or herself a Christian without professing faith in Jesus as God.

Jesus taught that He is the way and not simply one who showed the way as John 14:6 confirms: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me. By the time Guatama died, Buddhism had become a major influence in India; three hundred years later, Buddhism had encompassed most of Asia. The scriptures and sayings attributed to the Buddha were written about four hundred years after his death.

In Buddhism, sin is largely understood to be ignorance. And, while sin is understood as moral error, the context in which evil and good are understood is amoral. Karma is understood as nature's balance and is not personally enforced. Nature is not moral; therefore, karma is not a moral code, and sin is not ultimately immoral. Thus, we can say, by Buddhist thought, that our error is not a moral issue since it is ultimately an impersonal mistake, not an interpersonal violation. The consequence of this understanding is devastating. For the Buddhist, sin is more akin to a misstep than a transgression against the nature of holy God. This understanding of sin does not accord with the innate moral consciousness that men stand condemned because of their sin before a holy God (Romans 1-2).

Since it holds that sin is an impersonal and fixable error, Buddhism does not agree with the doctrine of depravity, a basic doctrine of Christianity. The Bible tells us man's sin is a problem of eternal and infinite consequence. In Buddhism, there is no need for a Savior to rescue people from their damning sins. For the Christian, Jesus is the only means of rescue from eternal damnation. For the Buddhist there is only ethical living and meditative appeals to exalted beings for the hope of perhaps achieving enlightenment and ultimate Nirvana. More than likely, one will have to go through a number of reincarnations to pay off his or her vast accumulation of karmic debt. For the true followers of Buddhism, the religion is a philosophy of morality and ethics, encapsulated within a life of renunciation of the ego-self. In Buddhism, reality is impersonal and non-relational; therefore, it is not loving. Not only is God seen as illusory, but, in dissolving sin into non-moral error and by rejecting all material reality as maya (illusion), even we ourselves lose our selves. Personality itself becomes an illusion.

When asked how the world started, who/what created the universe, the Buddha is said to have kept silent because in Buddhism there is no beginning and no end. Instead, there is an endless circle of birth and death. One would have to ask what kind of Being created us to live, endure so much pain and suffering, and then die over and over again? It may cause one to contemplate, what is the point, why bother? Christians know that God sent His Son to die for us, one time, so that we do not have to suffer for an eternity. He sent His Son to give us the knowledge that we are not alone and that we are loved. Christians know there is more to life than suffering, and dying, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10).

Buddhism teaches that Nirvana is the highest state of being, a state of pure being, and it is achieved by means relative to the individual. Nirvana defies rational explanation and logical ordering and therefore cannot be taught, only realized. Jesus teaching on heaven, in contrast, was quite specific. He taught us that our physical bodies die but our souls ascend to be with Him in heaven (Mark 12:25). The Buddha taught that people do not have individual souls, for the individual self or ego is an illusion. For Buddhists there is no merciful Father in heaven who sent His Son to die for our souls, for our salvation, to provide the way for us to reach His glory. Ultimately, that is why Buddhism is to be rejected.

.

Read more:
What is Buddhism and what do Buddhists believe?

One app for a healthier you

Access a rich set of tools and content for all your health needs. Find 1000+ exercise and workout videos, nutritional and medical references, and a symptom checker to look up conditions and diets to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

DETAILED TRACKERS

Run Tracker: Record your time, distance, pace and calories burned while you run, bike and do other outdoor activities. Turn on GPS to map your route. Diet Tracker: Add foods from a database of over 300 thousand to log your daily calorie intake. Calculate your calorie target and use it to set your calorie goal. Count calories and lose weight. Cardio Tracker: Track your cardio training and analyze progress over time

COMPREHENSIVE CONTENT Read premium curated health & fitness content from some of the worlds most reputable sources, including FatSecret, Harvard Health Publications, Cengage, Healthline, and more.

WORKOUT VIDEOS Watch over 300 workout videos and over 900 exercise, strength, yoga and Pilates videos, including hundreds of follow-along videos you can do at home.

MEDICAL REFERENCE Enter symptoms to see possible health conditions with the Symptom Checker. Discover more about the human anatomy through the interactive 3D Human Body. Learn about drugs (US only), treatments, and common medical procedures.

EASY NAVIGATION Swipe left or right to read the next article. Tap the menu to explore workouts, diets, body map and more.

Some features may not be available in all markets.

Terms of Use: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/microsoft-services-agreement

Read the original:
MSN Health & Fitness- Workouts - Android Apps on Google Play

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.

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.[2] 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 forth the gold price versus various assets and key statistics on the basis of data taken with the frequency of five years:[3]

Like most commodities, the price of gold is driven by supply and demand including demand for speculation. However unlike most other commodities, saving and disposal plays a larger role 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 and is thus potentially able to come back onto the gold market for the right price.[10][11] 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).[12] 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).[13] 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 (demand), rather than changes in annual production (supply).[14] According to the World Gold Council, annual mine production of gold over the last few years has been close to 2,500 tonnes.[15] About 2,000 tonnes goes into jewelry or industrial/dental production, and around 500 tonnes goes to retail investors and exchange traded gold funds.[15]

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 percent of all above-ground gold as official gold reserves.[16] The ten-year Washington Agreement on Gold (WAG), which dates from September 1999, limits gold sales by its members (Europe, United States, Japan, Australia, Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund) to less than 500 tonnes a year.[17] European central banks, such as the Bank of England and Swiss National Bank, were key sellers of gold over this period.[18] In 2009, this agreement was extended for a further five years, but with a smaller annual sales limit of 400 tonnes.[19]

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.[20] In early 2006, China, which only holds 1.3% of its reserves in gold,[21] 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. It has since become the worlds top gold consumer as of 2013.[22] India has recently purchased over 200 tons of gold which has led to a surge in prices.[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 as interest rates dip, for gold price to rise. As a result, gold price can be closely correlated to central banks via the monetary policy decisions made by them related to interest rates. For example if market signals indicate the possibility of prolonged inflation, central banks may decide to enact policies such as a hike in interest rates that could affect the price of gold in order to quell the inflation. An opposite reaction to this general principle can be seen after the European Central bank raised its interest rate on April 7, 2011 for the first time since 2008.[24] The price of gold responded with a muted response and then drove higher to hit new highs one day later.[25] A similar situation happened in India: In August 2011 when the interest rate were at their highest in two years, the gold prices peaked as well.[26]

It has in fact been found that 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]

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 has 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 amount of second-hand jewelry being recycled has become a multi-billion dollar industry. The term "Cash for Gold" refers to a service for people to earn cash by selling their 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.

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.

Gold rounds look exactly like gold coins but they have no currency value. 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.[41]

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 which 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.[42][43][44][45][46]

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.[47] 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.[47]

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 which 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.[48]

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.[49]

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).[50]

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.[51]

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 due to their fundamental differences. 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.[52] 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.[53] 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:[54]

As with stocks, gold investors may base their investment decision partly on, or solely on, technical analysis. Typically, this involves analyzing chart patterns, moving averages, market trends and/or the economic cycle in order to speculate on the future price.

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.[55]

Some cryptocurrencies and services are backed by gold.[56]

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.[57]

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

See the rest here:
Gold as an investment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A zen (avagy zen buddhizmus) a mahjna buddhizmust kvet iskolk sszefoglal japn elnevezse[forrs?]. Eredetileg Indiban gyakoroltk dhjna (dhyna, ) nven, ami Knban csan () nven vlt ismertt, majd innen terjedt tovbb Koreba, Japnba, s Vietnamba. A zenben klnleges hangslyt kap a zazen nven ismert lmeditci. Habr sok kvetje testi-szellemi gyakorlsnak tartja, a zent sokan vallsnak, illetve filozfiai rendszernek tekintik[forrs?].

A zen gykerei egszen az indiai buddhizmusig vezetnek vissza, br ott nem kpezi a buddhizmus egy nll gt. Neve a meditci szanszkrit megfeleljbl ("dhyna" () szrmazik. Ez a sz a knai nyelvbe gy kerlt be, mint chn (, egyszerstett ; magyar ejtse s gyakori rsa: csan). Ksbb, Koreban a szon, Vietnamban a thin, mg Japnban a zen nevet kapta. (Megjegyzend, hogy a csan, szon, thien, s zen pusztn a kzs knai karakter klnbz kiejtsei. Tantsaik ugyan tbb pontban is klnbzhetnek, de alapelveik azonosak.)

A hagyomny szerint a zen alapjait Knban rakta le egy indiai buddhista szerzetes, Bdhidharma (Japnban Daruma Daisi, Knban Da mo; Bdhidharma a Csola-dinasztia harmadik hercege volt, a Kanchipuram dli rszt ural szak-indiai Csola-g leszrmazottja). A hagyomny szerint Ksjapnak, Buddha tantvnynak 28. reinkarncija volt. A korai forrsok szerint i. sz. 520 krl hajzott a dl-knai Liang kirlysgba, ahol kinyilatkozta, hogy az nz cllal vghez vitt jcselekedetek haszontalanok a megvilgosods (lsd mg: bodhi) elrshez. Ezek utn egy Lojang melletti kolostorba vonult szak-Knban, ahol a legenda szerint kilenc vet tlttt meditcival egy sziklafal eltt. Tantvnyokat csak ezutn fogadott. Ksbb a knai Henan provincia Deng Feng megyjben hunyt el, a Sung-hegy Saolin Templomban ().

Ksbb Knban tanul koreai szerzetesek vittk tovbb hazjukba a csant, amit addigra mr titatott a knai taoizmus s kisebb rszben a konfucianizmus(Konfuciusnak kzel 2000 letvitelre vonatkoz szablya aztn sok modern llamalakulatnak is az alapja lett). Koreban a seon (ejtsd: szon) nevet kapta (amit nyugaton nha hibsan soenknt is emltenek).

A csan, a szon, s a zen elklnlten fejldtt hazjukban, s mra mindegyiknek nll identitsa alakult ki. Ugyan Knban, Koreban, Japnban, s msutt is a csaldfk kzvetlenl Bdhidharmtl erednek, vitathatatlanul kialakultak hitbeli s gyakorlati klnbsgek.

A japn rinzai zen filozfus, Szuzuki Daiszecu megfogalmazsban a gyakorls clja a szatori (Kens), azaz a megvilgosods. Ami azonban az indiai buddhistktl igazn megklnbztette a knai, koreai, s japn zen buddhistkat, az a gykeresen klnbz letmdjuk volt. Indiban fennmaradt a kolduls szoksa, mg Knban a trsadalmi krlmnyek egy kolostori rendszer kialakulst segtettk el, amiben az apt s a szerzetesek egyarnt htkznapi feladatokat vgeztek. Ilyen volt a fldmvels, csols, ptszet, hztarts, adminisztrci, s a gygyts gyakorlsa. Kvetkezskppen a zen ltal keresett megvilgosodsnak meg kellett felelnie a mindennapok okozta frusztrci tmasztotta elvrsoknak.

Az els zen ptrirkk:

Napjainkban a rinzai, a szt, s az baku iskola ltezik Japnban. A rindzai iskola szellemi alapjait a knai Linji (japnul Rindzai) tette le, amit aztn 1191-ben Eiszai honostott meg Japnban. A szt iskolt Eiszai tantvnya, Dgen hozta ltre, a knai csao-tungot alapul vve. Az baku iskolja pedig a 17. szzadban jelent meg, egy Ingen nev knai szerzetes kzvettsvel.

Nhny kortrs japn zen tant, mint Harada Daiun s Szuzuki Sunrj, les kritikval illetik a japn zent, mert szerintk az nem ms, mint res ritulk rendszere, nagyon kevs olyan kvetvel, aki elrte a megvilgosodst. lltsuk szerint napjainkra majdnem mindegyik japn templom aprl fira szll csaldi vllalkozss vlt, ahol a pap feladatai nagyrszt a temetsek levezetsre korltozdnak[forrs?].

Egyes japn zen szektkat s tantkat a msodik vilghborban kicscsosod japn militarista nacionalizmusban vllalt tevkenysgrt is rt kritika.[1]

A zen a buddhizmus egyik ga, s mint ilyen, gykerei mlyen Buddha tantsig nylnak, knai fejldsre utalnak azonban taoista s konfucianista vonsai. A zen g nmagt a Buddha Szv Iskolnak nevezi, s leszrmazst egszen Buddhig vezeti vissza. Gyakran a sztrk mindennapi recitlsa sorn felsoroljk az iskola tadsi vonalt, felsorolva az sszes dharma st, s a zent tovbbad tantkat.

A zen a buddhizmus szaki gnak, a mahajnnak a rsze[forrs?]. Ebbl addan szmos ponton klnbznek szoksai, gyakorlatai a dli thravda ghoz kpest.

A zen nyitottsgnak ksznheten a nem buddhistk krben is npszerv vlt, klnsen zsin kvl. Mivel a zennek nem ltezik hivatalos kormnyz testlete, szinte lehetetlen brmilyen hiteles leszrmazsi gat is eretneknek minsteni. Az alapelv az, hogy brmilyen hiteles zen iskolnak vissza kell tudnia vezetnie tantinak leszrmazst Japnba, Koreba, Vietnamba, vagy Knba.

Read more from the original source:
Zen Wikipdia

Zen (v ntin chan, ve vietnamtin thien, v korejtin sn, v sanskrtu dhjna) je oznaen pro odno mahjnovho buddhismu, vzniklou v 5. stolet v n. Podle tradinho pbhu pinesl zen do ny indick mnich Bdhidharma roku 520, v n zen prosperoval a do doby dynastie Ming (13681643), kdy zaaly vznikat rozdly mezi rznmi kolami buddhismu. Pozdji se zen rozil do dalch zem, zejmna ve 12. a 13. stolet do Japonska. Sem piel zen v podob sekty Rinzai a sekty St. Svou spontnnost a psnost se kola Rinzai stala brzy nboenstvm samuraj a vedla ke kultu vlenka. Pvodn sanskrtsk vraz dhjna (), oznaujc soustedn spovn, byl do ntiny pevzat v podob chan (meditace), z eho se vyvinulo japonsk ten zen.

Stoupenci zenu asto uvdj mnoho odlinost zen-buddhismu od tzv. tradinch kol buddhismu, kter je mon rozdlit na oblast teorie, morlky a praxe. Nsledujc strun shrnut m nejen ukzat zkladn znaky, kter zen odliuj od ostatnch kol, ale i opan stanoviska, kter ukazuj, e tvrzen rozdly nemus bt vdy tak zsadn:

Misti ranho zenu nezanechali dn psemn zznamy, protoe byli proti jakmukoli psemn pedvanmu vdn.

Vyznavai zenu zdrazuj nalezen pravdy skrze probuzen. Nalezen pravdy probh formou meditace (zazen), zpravidla vsed. Vem kolm je spolen pohrdn studiem text. Domnvali se, e Buddhova nauka v intelektulnch spekulacch je nepoznateln a oznaovali kosmologie za nesmysl, kter odvd od probuzen. Podle jejich chpn m kad povahu buddhy a me ji uskutenit meditac a uvaovnm o sob.

Zen, jak se s nm dnes setkvme v japonskch klterech koly Rinzai i koly St, klade velk draz na zazen. Tomuto vcviku je vnovno mnoho hodin denn a velk dleitost se pikld sprvnmu dren tla a sprvnmu dchn. Praktikovat zen znamen provdt za-zen, k emu kola Rinzai pidv jet sanzen periodick nvtvy u roi, pi kterch k pedkld svoje een koanu.

Paralely k poekadlm zenu lze vidt v tantrick psni Sarahy z 10. stolet.

Jestlie je to ji zjevn, k emu meditace? A jestlie je to skryt, m lovk jenom temnotu. Mantry a tantry, meditace a soustedn, to ve je jen zleitost sebeklamu. Nezneiujte kontemplac mylenku, kter je ve sv podstat ist, nbr pebvejte v blahu sebe samch a pestate s tm trpenm. A vidte cokoliv, je to vpedu, vzadu, ve vech deseti smrech. Prv dnes dopuste, aby v mistr uinil konec sebeklamu! Pirozenost nebe je pvodn jasn, ale samm hlednm se pohled zatemn.

Tradin je uvdno tchto 6 nskch patriarch zenu:

en-siou (Shenxiu) (jap.: Din) 605? 706 (est patriarcha chanu podle tzv. severn koly)

Rozdlen kol na severn a jin viz Tribunov stra

Read more here:
Zen Wikipedie

We offer multiple service packages and pricing levels designed for businesses at different stages. If you like what you get and we know you will sign up for one of our monthly plans. If for any reason you decide not to continue using 1&1, we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can cancel your service and receive a refund as long as you cancel before the 30-day trial ends. The amount you pay for your plan depends on both your contract term and billing cycle. You can visit this page to look at each package in detail, but here's a quick summary of which plans tend to work for which kinds of businesses:

Basic Only the essentials Our basic plan provides you with a mobile-friendly free website, storage for your website files and databases, and email addresses using your domain name. Our website templates include text and layouts unique to your industry. We also integrate your website with social media, provide analytics to help you understand your traffic, and provide Google Maps integration so that people can find your company. - Good for: Businesses that are just getting started, or people who take care of SEO, email marketing, and social media on their own.

Plus The basics plus helpful marketing tools With our Plus plan you can add a document viewer and event calendar to your website design. You also get powerful marketing tools, including 1&1 Social Media Center, 1&1 Email Marketing Manager, and 1&1 SEO Spotlight. 1&1 SEO Spotlight helps you track your SEO performance and provides tips for improving your site's optimization, but it's not a professional SEO consultation. If you need professional SEO guidance, sign up for our Premium package. - Good for: Companies that want to integrate Twitter and Facebook with their websites, and companies that want to utilize email marketing. Also, companies that use private SEO services or prefer to handle SEO on their own.

Premium Comprehensive SEO assistance The Premium plan comes with not only the features of the Plus plan, including social media and email marketing tools, but also a professional SEO consultation. This package maximizes your chances of improving your search engine rankings so that customers can easily find you online. - Good for: Businesses that are serious about improving search rankings, incorporating email marketing, and getting social with their customers. Also, customers that want to put all of their marketing tools in one easy-to-use location. Are you ready to build a website and take your small business to the next level? Sign up for a plan.

Read more here:
Create a website | How to make a website with 1&1's ...

LATEST NEWS

Artists who work in oils, watercolors, graphic arts, photography and 3-dimensional art work are invited to apply for a one-month, one person show at the Freeport Memorial Library in 2016-2017. The deadline for submission of an application with CD-Rom with ten images, or ten 8x10 photographs is February 5, 2016. Click on thelink above for more information.

The Nassau Public Libraries Mobile application, which is currently available for Apple and Android devices, is available for download free of charge. The app provides a user-friendly interface for patrons to take advantage of all that the Library offers through their personal smartphone or tablet.

Users have the ability to search for materials, view events and programs, find additional information, reserve musuem passes, or select the research button to be directed to online resources and homework help.

To download the free app, visit your app store and search for Nassau Public Libraries Mobile.

Freeport Memorial Library cardholders 18 years of age or older may now borrow one of five Roku Streaming Sticks. A Roku Streaming Stick is a device that, when plugged into a televisions HDMI port, allows the user to stream a selection of movies and television programs over the users WiFi. Roku Streaming Sticks may be borrowed for 7 days, and may not be renewed. Users may not purchase or add additional content. Click here for a list of movies and TV series accessible through the Library's Roku Streaming Sticks.

The Library now offers access to a new online learning tool called Lynda.com. This service contains over 5,000 different courses on a variety of technical, creative, and business topics taught by experts in their fields. Courses can be viewed from your computer, as well as on your tablet or your phone after downloading and installing a free app.

SALVATION ARMY HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR

Freeport Memorial Library Director Ken Bellafiore with LibraryTrustee George Boulukos as Mr. Boulukosreceives the Humanitarian of the Yearaward at the 27thAnnual FreeportSalvation Army Civic Dinner for his currentvolunteer work with the National BoyScouts of America, his past positionas a Freeport School District Trustee, and his current position as Freeport MemorialLibrary Trustee.

The Freeport Memorial Library can now accept book donations in our new book drop from Better World Books. This book drop is located near the rear entrance of the Library. The books are sold, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Friends of the Library.

Please note that this book drop is for donations only; do not return Library materials in this book drop.

See the original post here:
Freeport Memorial Library Online - Home

Your cookies seem to be disabled. Setting preferences will not work until you enable cookies in your browser.

Guide to Kissimmee Vegan Restaurants, Vegetarian Restaurants, Natural Foods, & Health Food Stores.

407-966-4664

Mon-Thu 11:00am-8:00pm, Fri-Sat 11:00am-10:00pm, Sun 11:00am-8:00pm

Serves meat, veg options available. Part of buffet-style salad bar chain restaurant. Features a large salad bar plus soups, breads, pizza, and desserts. Inexpensive.

407-507-3900

Tue-Sun 11:30am-11:00pm

Serves meat, veg options available. Has a large vegetarian menu with vegan options. Wheelchair accessible. Accepts credit cards. Moderate.

407-846-7454

Now Open: Mon-Sat 9:00am-8:30pm, Sun 11:00am-5:30pm

Market with several locations. Stocks a large selection of vitamins, supplements, herbs, health & beauty products, food and beverages. Has a deli.

Once-a-month update on the latest veg related news, global restaurant and travel highlights, plus giveaways!

Voted "Best Vegetarian Restaurant Guide" on the Internet, this is the place to find good vegan restaurants & healthy food! HappyCow was created to assist in making healthy vegetarian food available to all wherever possible. These Kissimmee vegetarian and vegan restaurant listings are primarily from you, the users, and some maybe arbitrary, outdated, or incomplete. If you are a local to Kissimmee, FL and know of any places (vegetarian restaurants Kissimmee) that are not included here please add them. HappyCow and its creators claim no responsibility for any information that might be inaccurate in any way.

Go here to see the original:
Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants, Healthy, Organic, Kissimmee ...