The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011.
As well as touring the United Kingdom the schedule included the three crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and also the Republic of Ireland.
The traditional lighting ceremony took place on 10 May at the Temple of Hera, Olympia, home of the Ancient Olympic Games. The torch travelled around Greece, arriving at the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens on 17 May for the handover ceremony.
The UK torch relay lasted 70 days, with 66 evening celebrations. About 8,000 people carried the torch a total distance of about 8,000 miles (12,800 km), starting from Land's End in Cornwall. The route was widely reported as designed in such a way as to ensure that the Torch came within 10 miles of 95% of the UK population. A wide range of people carried the torch around the country, mostly sports men and women, military figures and other local heroes from towns and cities across the UK. A number of celebrities, musicians and actors also held the flame on its journey, including Doctor Who star Matt Smith, Patrick Stewart, Jamie Oliver, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders (jointly), Rupert Grint, James McAvoy, Mel C, British/Irish boy band The Wanted, dance troupe/Britain's Got Talent winners Diversity and long time TV presenter, dancer, singer and comedian Sir Bruce Forsyth. The torch had a day outside of the United Kingdom in Dublin on 6 June (as well as visits to the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man). The relay focused on national heritage sites, locations with sporting significance, key sporting events, schools registered with the Get Set School Network, green spaces, biodiversity, 'Live Sites' (locations with large screens), local festivals, and other events.
Following a three-month tour by LOCOG, local authorities submitted ideas to regional government and LOCOG by May 2010. However some counties such as Somerset declined to put forward ideas citing potential costs of up to £300,000.
The start date for the Relay was announced on 26 May 2010, as were the three presenting partners: Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung. The nomination campaign for torchbearers was announced on 18 May 2011 and called 'Moment to Shine'.
On 16 May a British Airways Airbus A319, with custom gold livery and named "The Firefly", flew from Heathrow to Athens to collect the flame. On 18 May the aircraft flew as flight BA2012 from Athens to RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall. The flame was not extinguished during flight, having been classified as a 'ceremonial flame' by the Civil Aviation Authority, but was kept in four Davy lamps secured in a cradle firmly fixed to seats in Row 1. There was enough smokeless fuel to last 30 hours.
HRH The Princess Royal, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Lord Coe, and David Beckham were among 80 invited guests, along with a group of teenagers: rugby player Dennis Coles from East Ayrshire representing Scotland, hockey player Chloe Brown from Bangor representing Northern Ireland, athlete Sean White from Swansea representing Wales, hockey player Georgia Higgs from Cornwall, and Sakinah Muhammad from Hackney representing London.
After an overnight stay at RNAS Culdrose, members of 771 Naval Air Squadron took the Flame to Land's End by Sea King helicopter. There the Olympic Cauldron was lit. Olympic sailing star Ben Ainslie ran the first leg of the relay.
In the summer of 2010, the Design Council were commissioned to prepare the design brief and begin the search for a design for the Torch and related relay artifacts. With more than 800 designers interested in the project, a short list of 22 was presented to Locog. 6 were selected to present designs the selection being made a few months later. The winning design came from Barber Osgerby, led by Edward Barder and Jay Osgerby.
Their design of the 2012 Olympic Torches was made of two aluminium alloy skin, perforated by 8,000 holes to represent the 8,000 torchbearers who would carry the flame. Technically the holes also helped to dissipate heat without it being conducted down the handle, and provided extra grip.
The three Olympic values – respect, excellence and friendship.
The three elements of the Olympic motto – faster, higher, stronger.
The three Olympic Games hosted by the United Kingdom (1908, 1948 and 2012).
The tri-vision of the 2012 Summer Olympics – sport, education and culture.
The gold of the torches represented the qualities of the Olympic flame – brightness and warmth. The torch stands 80 centimetres (31 in) high, weighing 800 grams (1.8 lb). To realise this award-winning design, TECOSIM (an engineering company) was responsible for the research, engineering and technical development of the torch and associated relay items including the celebration cauldrons. Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) was used to simulate various scenarios that the torch might encounter during the relay, from environmental conditions to physical damage. Torch bearer safety was of prime importance at all times, so TECOSIM completed rigorous physical testing to validate the design. It was tested to withstand all likely weather conditions, from high winds to rain and snow at altitude utilizing the BMW Climatic Windtunnel in Munich as well as in field-testing. Production of the torches started towards the end of 2011.
LOCOG, together with sustainability partner and sponsor EDF Energy, committed in 2009 to provide a "low-carbon fuel solution for the flames of the Olympic torch and the cauldron". When the torch was unveiled on 8 June 2011, London 2012's chairman Sebastian Coe admitted the failure of the initiative, as "In simple terms, we didn't quite get there ... We just ran [out] of time and we tried very hard to do it". The final design of the torch used a "tried and tested formula" of butane and propane.
The progress of the Olympic Torch rapidly gave the lie to the idea that people would not show an interest in the event, or indeed the assertion that certain sections of society might stay away. As local and national media around the country reported, crowds proved to be diverse, overwhelmingly good-natured, unprecedently noisy and appreciative, and above all large. Around 3000 people were said to have been at Land's End to send the Torch on its way on Day 1, while Day 2 saw Police deliberately limit crowds at the Shaldon Bridge at Teignmouth, Devon, to around 7000, while the various stages through Plymouth were said to have attracted 55,000. Photographs similarly show crowds up to 10 deep on each side of the road in central Falmouth (Day 1). Arriving in Wales for the first time on Day 8, the Torch was reported as being greeted by 25,000 in Caerphilly. Numbers lining the route in no way abated as the days passed, with Bowness by lake Windermere for example mustering 5000 on Day 34; Skegness, Lincolnshire (a town of less than 20,000 people) featuring 5-deep crowds along both sides of its streets on Day 40, and Maidstone on Day 62 playing host to an estimated 40,000-strong crowd. As the Relay reached London, the numbers of people turning out were still more exceptional, with much of Oxford Street featuring crowds 13-deep on both sides (on Day 69). That day ended with a 60,000-strong crowd for the evening events in Hyde Park. While the Police Service gave an estimate for the UK as a whole of some 12 million people lining the route for the Torch, there would seem to be evidence amounting from the individual stretches of the route that suggest that this may ultimately have been an underestimate.
In early June, as the torch relay entered its third week, it was revealed that many of those selected to carry torches on the relay were corporate executives with commercial ties to Olympic sponsors.
The torch relay crossing Monnow Bridge, Monmouth, Wales, the Torch Security Team are seen jogging either side the torch bearer.
The torch was escorted by a team of trained officers from the Metropolitan Police Service known as the Torch Security Team. These were chosen from 644 initial applications through an eight-month selection process. Their primary role was to protect the Olympic and Paralympic Flames as well as ensuring the safety of the torchbearer. These "runners" formed part of a wider torch security team which consisted of motorcyclists, pedal cyclists, senior officers and operational planners.
Near Land's End, one man broke past the pace car but was swiftly tackled to the ground by the Torch Security Team, as he was thought to be trying to reach the torchbearer.
In Derry scuffles broke out between police and republican protesters, as they blocked the planned route near the Guildhall. Consequently, the relay was forced to divert in order to reach the Peace Bridge.
At Bishop Auckland (County Durham) the torchbearer was Kieran Maxwell, a 13-year-old from Newton Aycliffe. He had been diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in 2010 and lost part of his left leg. He fell whilst carrying the torch but was quickly helped to his feet by the Torch Security Team.
As the torch was leaving Headingley towards Leeds, a man with a bucket of water was seen in the crowd. He was swiftly tackled by the security team before he could empty the contents.
On 25 June UK Uncut staged protests against changes to the National Health Service as the torch travelled past the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield.
A male streaker with 'Free Tibet' written on his back was arrested on 10 July, after running in front of the torch as it passed through Henley-on-Thames.
A 17-year-old was arrested on 20 July in Gravesend, Kent after unsuccessfully attempting to grab the torch while screaming 'Allahu Akbar'.
As well as road runners, the Flame was conveyed on other modes of transport, sometimes kept in Davy lamps.
The Olympic torch being punted down the River Cam during the Cambridge leg of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay.
On water, the torch rode in a power boat in Bristol Harbour, in an RNLI lifeboat along the Menai Strait, by ferry on the Mersey Ferry, and by the steamboat MV Tern across Windermere. In unpowered watercraft, it was punted along the River Cam in Cambridge, and rowed along the River Medway in Maidstone. Its final journey to the Olympic Stadium on 27 July was by speedboat, piloted by footballer David Beckham along the River Thames.
Over rail the torch was hauled by steam locomotives of various gauges. The LMS Royal Scot Class locomotive No. 6115 Scots Guardsman conveyed it on the East Coast Main Line between York and Thirsk. Scots Guardsman was used as a substitute for No. 4472 Flying Scotsman. It was discovered soon after returning from a long overhaul that Flying Scotsman had lots of unnoticed cracks on it that needed repairing urgently and as a result, the iconic and famous 'Scotsman' was unable to return to service in time to haul the Olympic Torch. Trips were also taken on standard gauge heritage railways at the Great Central Railway, North Yorkshire Moors Railway and Severn Valley Railway On smaller gauges the torch visited the Ffestiniog Railway and a miniature railway Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway. It was taken up funicular railways the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, Hastings East Hill Cliff Railway, and Great Orme Tramway, as well as the narrow gauge rack railway the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Electric trams carried the torch on the Blackpool tramway and Manx Electric Railway. After it arrived in London the torch took a trip on the London Underground between Wimbledon and Wimbledon Park.
By road vehicle the torch would complete 80% of its tour, in a security van. A road train was used in the Mumbles and it rode on an open top bus through the Cumbrian countryside. The torch was transported on three wheels by a TT motorcycle sidecar on the Isle of Man, by a Paralympic road cycle around Brands Hatch motor racing circuit and by mountain bike at the Hadleigh Farm course in Essex.
Horses were used when it was carried at the Cheltenham and Chester racecourses. It was carried on a Cob horse in Aberaeron and hauled by horse-drawn tram on the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway.
Journeys by air were taken when the torch travelled by zip wire from the top of the Tyne Bridge to the Gateshead riverside[needs update], and when conveyed by cable car up the Heights of Abraham. It was also suspended over water as it was transported by the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge over the River Tees.
Day 3: Olympic Torch Relay reaches the County Ground in Taunton.
Day 14: The flame passing between two torches in Burscough, Lancashire.
Day 15: The torch being carried through Onchan, Isle of Man.
Day 19: The torch in Dublin, Ireland.
Day 37: Torch relay handover in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Day 50: The Olympic flame being transferred into a lantern in Cambridge for safe-keeping overnight.
Day 54: Torchbearer Damien Davis from Team Wayne carries the Olympic Flame through Ludgershall in Wiltshire.
Day 68: Gold medalist Beckie Scott being handed the torch in Brent, North West London.
In the week preceding the Olympics, the National Theatre in London set up a 'Fire Garden' to celebrate the torch relay.
The end of the relay took place in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
The torch arrived aboard a speedboat piloted by David Beckham, via the Limehouse Cut. Steve Redgrave received the flame from young footballer Jade Bailey, the torchbearer on the boat, and carried it into the Olympic Stadium. Then Redgrave handed the torch to the seven young athletes, each one nominated by an athlete. The athletes then each applied their torch to one of the 204 petals, which then lit and converged to create the cauldron, which was designed by Thomas Heatherwick.
^ Magnay, Jacquelin (17 May 2011). "London 2012 torch relay should focus on youth". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
^ "London 2012 Olympic Flame is lit in Greece". LOCOG. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
^ "Dublin to host Olympic Torch'". Irish Times. 8 December 2011.
^ "London Culture and 2012 Open Meeting" (PDF). london.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
^ "Oxfordshire's Torch Relay for London 2012". Retrieved 18 May 2011.
^ "Somerset says no to Olympic torch". The Daily Telegraph. London. 5 April 2010.
^ "Search begins for 8,000 inspirational people to carry the Olympic Flame". 18 May 2011. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
^ Athens Airport Aviation News 16 May 2012.
^ RNAS Culdrose to welcome Olympic Flame into UK, MoD Press Release, 1 February 2012.
^ "Olympic Flame for the London 2012 Games is lit in Ancient Olympia". LOCOG. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
^ David Beckham to collect Olympic flame, BBC News, 16 May 2012.
^ "London 2012 Sustainability Plan 2nd Edition, December 2009" (PDF). London 2012. 2 December 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
^ Gibson, Owen (8 June 2011). "2012 Olympic torch ignites row over Games' green credentials". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
^ Ball, James (6 June 2012). "London 2012: torchbearers picked by sponsors keep flame of commerce alive". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
^ Peck, Tom (4 June 2016). "Seb Coe promised an 'uplifting torch relay to inspire a generation'. So are these really the role models to do it?". The Independent. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
^ "BBC News – Olympic torch tackle man near Land's End". Bbc.co.uk. 2012-05-19. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
^ "Boy continues after fall with torch". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
^ "Olympic torch in Leeds: Owzat for a welcome on the sunshine streets". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
^ "UK Uncut stage torch protests in Sheffield". UK Uncut. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
^ "Olympic torch: Man charged after 'Free Tibet' streak". BBC News. BBC. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
^ "Streaker Flies the Flag for Free Tibet". Free Tibet Campaign. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
^ "Teen arrested after Olympic torch grab attempt in Gravesend". 20 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
^ "Bristol Sailability". Aiming High. Archived from the original on 2013-06-12. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "The Olympic Torch Relay in Bristol". Visit Bristol. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ a b c d e f Hutchinson, Claire (19 March 2012). "Olympic torch's street-by-street route through Wales revealed". Wales Online. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Liverpool's Olympic torch route revealed". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ a b c d "Highlight moments". london2012.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Olympic torch set for Windermere steamer ride". BBC News. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Cambridgeshire Olympic torch route revealed". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "Kent's street-by-street Olympic Torch relay route". Kent News. 19 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ a b Dillman, Lisa (27 July 2012). "London Olympics: Message is unity as youngsters light the torch". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
^ "Olympic Torch: Flame boards steam train for York to Carlisle leg". BBC News. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
^ "London 2012: Flying Scotsman out of Olympic torch relay". BBC News. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ Ache, Isaac (19 March 2012). "Charnwood's Olympic Torch Relay route revealed". Loughborough Echo. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: North Yorkshire torch relay route revealed". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ Tomaney, William (19 March 2012). "Olympic Torch relay route announced". The Shuttle. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Humber Olympic torch relay route revealed". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Sussex Olympic torch relay route announced". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "Fylde coast Olympic torch route revealed". The Gazette. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ a b "London 2012: Olympic torch to be carried in TT sidecar". BBC News. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "Olympic torch: Flame rides on London Underground train". BBC News. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
^ Robinson, Martin; Eccles, Louise (19 March 2012). "Unveiled...the 2012 pyjama torchbearers: And by the way, 80% of Olympic flame's tour would be by security van". Daily Mail.
^ "London 2012: Cumbria Olympic torch relay route revealed". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Essex Olympic torch relay route details revealed". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ Sale, Charles (16 March 2012). "Charles Sale: Cheltenham security rein in Leicester's St Ledger". Mail Online. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Olympic flame to zip-wire from Tyne Bridge in Newcastle". BBC News. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Olympic torch to ride Derbyshire cable car during relay". BBC News. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge hosts torch relay". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
^ "London 2012: The 1,018 communities which the torch will visit". BBC. BBC.com. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
^ "Footballer Jade Bailey, who travelled with the Olympic Torch in a speedboat driven by David Beckham, was among dozens of Waltham Forest residents who starred in the opening ceremony". Waltham Forest Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
^ "David Beckham did drive the speed boat during ceremony". BBC. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2012 Summer Olympics torches and torch relay.


The modernisation of existing and the arrival of new GNSS systems mean also that there are more frequencies available. Both mass market and professional applications stand to benefit from the improved positioning and navigation derived from this multi-frequency. However, this creates the need for antennas that can support a wider bandwidth. Enabling multi-frequency capabilities requires the antenna to cope, on one hand, with higher bandwidth requirements and, on the other, with the constraints imposed by the platform on which the antenna operates.
The objective of this call for proposals is to further develop Galileo-enabled multi-frequency antennas, close to market, for mass-market and professional applications.
This call for proposal aims at launching up to two projects to develop, test and assess advanced multi-frequency, multi-constellation antennas dedicated to these user groups.
On 27 November 2018, a webinar on the Fundamental Elements Call "Multi-frequency multipurpose antenna for Galileo" will be held to provide applicants with additional information and guidance on how to prepare a proposal. To register for the webinar click here.


In his first comedy for the stage, the popular actor and screenwriter plays fast and loose with fact, fame and fortune as two of the 20th Century's legendary geniuses muse on humanity's achievements and prospects as well as other fanciful topics with infectious dizziness.
Picasso at the Lapin Agile offers up a fictitious meeting in 1904 between Albert Einstein (age 25) and Pablo Picasso (age 23) in the Lapin Agile, a cabaret/bar and haven for artists, musicians, poets and philosophers in the Montmartre section of Paris.
Picasso at the Lapin Agile presents a compelling examination of science and art and their impact on a rapidly changing society. The play moves with ease between the breezy and the profound, as the two men engage in a battle of ideas about probability, lust, artistic integrity and the future. Dancing a line between comedic and serious, the play's exploration of art, physics, philosophy, time, space and relationships of all kinds excites a lively combustion of colorful characters and propels the observer to consider our desires for innovation, love and beauty.
Bystanders, including Picasso's agent, his amorous fan, the bartender and his mistress, an elderly philosopher and an idiot inventor introduce additional flourishes of humor. The final surprise patron to join the merriment at the Lapin Agile is a charismatic dark haired singer time warped in from a later era.


text:
Michael J. Hickman
Partner, San Diego Office
m.hickman@musickpeeler.com
Business Litigation Group
University of Nebraska, J.D., with highest distinction, 1986
Hastings College, B.A., 1983
Michael J. Hickman is a partner in the Firm's San Diego office. Mr. Hickman's practice focuses exclusively on civil litigation and trials, primarily involving consumer, business and real estate disputes, with an emphasis in litigation involving manufacturers, retailers and dealerships, as well as common interest developments. During his career, Mr. Hickman has also handled a variety of other litigation matters, including professional liability, eminent domain, products liability, intellectual property, construction defect and contested probate cases.
Mr. Hickman was lead trial and appellate counsel in Rancho Santa Fe Assn v. Dolan-King (2004) 115 Cal.App.4th 28, a leading case regarding the regulatory authority of common interest developments in California. Other important matters in which Mr. Hickman served as lead counsel include:
Settlement of a complex construction defect action on behalf of the plaintiff-developer for $4.3 million, representing 86 percent of the cost of investigation and repair.
Obtaining summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, in a complex legal malpractice action involving multiple underlying matters.
Receiving a voluntary dismissal during trial in favor of a defendant in an action alleging violation of subdivision view restrictions.
Negotiation of a high six-figure settlement for the plaintiff in a protracted unfair business practice action between two Internet companies.
Procuring a seven-figure settlement for the owner of a high-rise office building resolving litigation and arbitration between the owner and master tenant.
Obtaining a high six-figure jury verdict in an eminent domain trial, representing nearly double the final offer of the condemning agency.
Mr. Hickman has litigated numerous cases to decision, through motion practice, jury trials, bench trials, and binding arbitration, and has successfully argued both published and unpublished decisions before the California Court of Appeal. However, an important aspect of Mr. Hickman's litigation practice involves a focus on opportunities for reasonable settlement of disputes at all stages of the proceeding, and he has represented clients in various forms of alternative dispute resolution.
While in law school, Mr. Hickman served as an executive editor of the Nebraska Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Prior to joining the firm in 1990, Mr. Hickman was an associate with the Fraser Stryker law firm in Omaha, Nebraska, and served as a Law Clerk for the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska in Lincoln.
Rancho Santa Fe Association v. Dolan-King
Arleen Freeman, et al. v. San Diego Association of Realtors, et al.
San Diego Partners Recognized as Top Lawyers for 2013
State Bar of Nebraska

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


There are those random days where I like to feel like a tourist in my own city. Just because we live in a particular city, it doesn't mean we don't get to go about and do some touristy things. We need to take in the beauty of where we live.
In saying that, I have always wanted to pop into the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MCA) for a while now, but I finally had the time to with my aunt a few weeks back.
The current exhibition running is New Romance, created by both Australian and Korean artists who inspires us with the thoughts of what the future may hold as humans. This runs until the 4th September 2016 and is located on the Level 1.
Manoeuvres is creative, reminds me a lot of pacman as you chase the dots through each board. Baumann brings this piece to show her interest in the way emotions change and has brought this interest into her artwork with the use of colours and patterns.
Scroll is every non-morning person's nightmare.
A bunch of alarm clocks blinking simultaneously. However, Burns is inspiration for this work was drawn from morning talk shows on the radio and how it is interferes with our thinking.
Another exhibition currently running is Telling Tales located on Level 3, this will run until 9th October 2016.
The Letter Writing Project is cute, three different Japanese inspired structures are available. A kneeling, chair, and standing cubicle is available for anyone to go inside to write a letter. The letter could be left unsealed or sealed – if unsealed, it is for anyone to open and read. At the end of this exhibition, these letters will be posted out to the addressed person.
And just some other artworks that are around the MCA that have captured my attention.
I am not sure why this 'I am Human' by Richard Bell was so captivating, perhaps it's just the simplicity of this artwork and how it draws on just how we all feel most of the time – especially through the hard times.
The MCA cafe, located on the top level are have also created a temporary Korean pop-up inspired menu. Unfortunately, I could not try this however, if you are interested - be sure to check it out!
I had a really lovely day walking the entire Sydney CBD, and it felt great to just be a tourist for a day. If time allows, you should give it a shot.
Do you also like to feel like a tourist in your own city on some random days? Where do you like to go?


text:
Q: bring in dependency in live script c# compiler I am trying to create a form in C#.
Unfortunately, I can not use Visual Studio for this effort.
The program I am using has a live script c# compiler that allow user to write and compile code within the program. I am trying to use
using System.Windows.Forms;

but I get the following error

The type or namespace name 'Forms' does not exist in the namespace 'System.Windows' (are you missing an assembly reference?)

Is there a way to reference System.Windows.Forms with out visual studio?
I tried this on a online compiler and got similar results so maybe there is a correlation?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


As a celebration of the world's biggest potlatch, a group of up-and-coming young Aboriginal leaders from across Canada have gathered in British Columbia's Sea-to-Sky region to take part in the Vancouver 2010 Indigenous Youth Gathering. The event brings together more than 300 First Nations, Inuit and Métis young people aged 19 to 29, and will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be in Vancouver for the Games and to showcase their culture and region through a range of activities and special events.
As part of the gathering, participants will tour Olympic venues, watch the world's best athletes train and compete, and meet sports heroes, business leaders and Aboriginal elders in person. They will also take part in cultural performances at the 2010 Aboriginal Pavilion and in the Governor General's 2010 Olympic Truce Youth Dialogue: Promoting Mutual Understanding, hosted by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, on 11 February. The Vancouver 2010 Indigenous Youth Gathering is part of a larger ongoing programme to achieve unprecedented Aboriginal participation in the planning and hosting of the 2010 Winter Games by the Four Host First Nations and the Vancouver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), with the support of many partners.
The programming for the Vancouver 2010 Indigenous Youth Gathering, which runs until 14 February, is connected to the three pillars of the Olympic Movement: sport, culture, and environment, as well as the objectives of the Olympic Truce: youth, action, legacy, awareness, and peace. The participants stay in accommodation sites located in the pristine and breathtaking Paradise Valley of Squamish in the Sea-to-Sky region. The sites offer educational programmes on forestry and wildlife, salmon habitats, a bald eagle sanctuary, as well as traditional connections to the land.


Mr. Painter began his career at Air Products in 1984 as part of the company's career development program. He rose through the ranks, progressing through a variety of commercial and operations positions in the U.S. and overseas, and was rapidly promoted several times over the last several years, holding leadership positions in operations, supply chain, corporate strategy and technology.
He held the position of Executive Vice President, Industrial Gases until he left Air Products at the end of June, 2018 to become Orion Engineered Carbons group's new Chief Executive Officer starting from September 2018.


text:
Officials say suspect in 3 killings found in Texas
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says a suspect in three slayings who was listed among the agency's Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives has been captured in Texas.
The bureau said in a tweet Thursday morning that Antoine Lashun Adams was taken into custody in Harris County, Texas.
Police in Mississippi and Tennessee have been looking for Adams since he escaped a jail last month in Holly Springs.
Adams is accused of killing a man and leaving him in a Mississippi ditch late last year. He also faces two murder charges in Memphis. Adams was arrested in August in Texas and brought to a Mississippi jail, where he crawled under a fence to escape.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that Adams was detained at a Walmart for alleged shoplifting and deputies used a recently donated mobile automated fingerprint identification system to determine his identity.
"This arrest of a dangerous murder fugitive shows the value of the strong community support we receive from partners such as the Northwest Chamber of Commerce," said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
The statement said Adams is awaited extradition back to Mississippi.
Coroner IDs woman killed crossing road
KILN (AP) — The Mississippi woman who died when a car hit her and her two sons as they left... read more


text:
Q: Multithreading Python Requests Through Tor The following code is my attempt at doing python requests through tor, this works fine, however I am interested in adding multithreading to this.
So I would like to simultaneously do about 10 different requests and process their outputs. What is the simplest and most efficient way to do this?
def onionrequest(url, onionid):
    onionid = onionid
    session = requests.session()
    session.proxies = {}
    session.proxies['http'] = 'socks5h://localhost:9050'
    session.proxies['https'] = 'socks5h://localhost:9050'
    #r = session.get('http://google.com')

    onionurlforrequest = "http://" + url

    try:
        r = session.get(onionurlforrequest, timeout=15)
    except:
        return None
    if r.status_code = 200:
        listofallonions.append(url)

A: I would recommend using the the following packages to achieve this: asyncio, aiohttp, aiohttp_socks
example code:
import asyncio
import aiohttp
from aiohttp_socks import ProxyConnector

async def fetch(session, url):
    async with session.get(url) as response:
        return await response.text()

async def main(urls):
    tasks = []
    connector = ProxyConnector.from_url('socks5://localhost:9150', rdns=True)
    async with aiohttp.ClientSession(connector=connector, rdns=True) as session:
        for url in urls:
            tasks.append(fetch(session, url))
        htmls = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
        for html in htmls:
            print(html)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    urls = [
            'http://python.org',
            'https://google.com',
            ...
        ]
    loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
    loop.run_until_complete(main(urls))

Using asyncio can get a bit daunting at first, so you might need to practice for a while before you get the hang of it.
If you want a more in-depth explanation of the difference between synchronous and asynchronous, check out this question.


is the currency and The Chinese Yuan Renminbi the currency of China respectively issued by: Federal Reserve Bank and People's Bank of China.
Use our United States dollar to Chinese Yuan Renminbi converter and get the latest currencies rates.
USD to CNY today rate is 1 $ equal 6.735 ¥.


text:
NAGTRI Training Committee
NAGTRI Advisory Board
NAGTRI Staff Directory
Center for Consumer Protection
Center for Ethics and Public Integrity
Center for International Partnerships and Strategic Collaboration
Center for Legal Advocacy and Faculty Development
National Courses
Mobile Courses
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Course Catalog PDF
Marc Abrams
Ray Barzey
William Becker
Bill Bilderback
Katharine Brooks
Monica Burkert-Brist
Nikki Calvano
David Chaisson
Margaret Chapple
Janet Stansberry Drake
Alissa Gardenswartz
Vernon Harris
Cynthia Hirsch
Christine Hoffman
Neil Kelly
Glenn King
Laurie Lyte
David Maas
Joseph Micheletti
Anthony Picione
Timothy P. Terrell
Olha Rybakoff
Mike Salem
Cheryl Schuetze
Tracy Thompson
Terry Tolliver
Monica Wagner
Carl P. Warring
William Wynhoff
Judy Zeprun
The National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute
Cybercrime Newsletter March-April 2018
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The following is a compendium of news reports, case law and legislative actions over the latest bi-monthly period that may be of interest to our AG offices that are dealing with cyber-related issues. Neither the National Association of Attorneys General nor the National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute expresses a view as to the accuracy of news accounts, nor as to the position expounded by the authors of the hyperlinked articles.
Cyber Developments to Note
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued a PSA with updated guidance regarding tech support fraud, noting it continues to be a problematic and widespread fraud. IC3 notes that it received 11,000 complaints related to the fraud last year, and claimed losses amounted to $15 million, an 86 percent increase over losses in 2016.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down evidence obtained from the warrantless search of defendant's flip cell phone, finding that the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Riley v. California and U.S. v. Wurie confirmed that law enforcement is required to obtain a warrant to search a cell phone. Commonwealth v. Fulton.
In a case of first impression, the Third Circuit affirmed a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania allowing evidence obtained from a search warrant, even though the court found the magistrate judge overstepped her authority by allowing the FBI to use malware to identify suspects in a large child pornography sting. U.S. v. Werdene.
The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 480 explaining the limitations the Model Rules of Professional Conduct place on lawyers who blog or engage in other social commentary related to a representation. It warns against using hypotheticals when blogging when there is a "reasonable likelihood" that a third party might ascertain the identity or situation of the client from the facts of the hypothetical.
In other ABA news, the ABA House of Delegates approved a draft uniform law on the regulation of virtual currency businesses drafted by the National Conference on Uniform State Laws. According to the act's prefatory note, it is intended to create a statutory structure for regulating virtual currency business activity. To date, the draft legislation has been introduced in Hawaii and Nebraska.
The State Bar of Texas issued Ethics Opinion 671, in which it stated that lawyers cannot hide their identities in order to contact alleged online defamers to establish their location and determine whether a Texas court has jurisdiction to order a deposition. The prohibition also applies to an attorney's agents, including paralegals.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced approval of regulations that would permit fully driverless testing. A public notice was posted on the DMV website on March 2, 2018 which started a 30-day clock before the first permits were issued on April 2, 2018. Companies can apply for three types of permits: testing with a safety driver, driverless testing and deployment.
The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth issued consent orders pertaining to initial coin offerings by five firms that purportedly use blockchain technology to immediately stop the offering and selling of unregistered securities. The five firms are 18moons, Across Platforms, Mattervest, Pink Ribbon and Sparkco.
The FTC released a report finding that the lag in releasing security updates on some mobile devices has made those devices vulnerable to malware. The report is based on information the FTC requested from eight mobile device manufacturers on how they issue security updates. It recommends that mobile device manufacturers release more "security only" updates rather than waiting to bundle security patches with general software updates.
The financial services sector incurs higher costs due to cybercrime than any other sector, according to the Cost of Cyber Crime Study by Accenture and the Ponemon Institute. The study found that the average cost of cybercrime to this sector globally increased from $12.97 million per firm in 2014 to $18.28 million per firm in 2017.
The SEC suspended trading in three companies amid questions concerning their involvement and acquisition of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Suspension orders were issued for Cherubim Interests, PDX Partners and Victura Construction Group. The SEC cited concerns about their business operations and the value of their assets.
The Government Accountability Office denied a protest made by Micro Technologies which claimed that the Air Force had ignored an outside firm's financial report when it awarded a $105.6 million cyber defense contract to Telos Corporation. Matter of: Micro Technologies, LLC.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued an opinion granting standing to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to exercise its enforcement power over virtual currency fraud. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. McDonnell.
State Cases of Interest
In Lewis v. State, the Delaware Supreme Court found the denial of defendant's motion to suppress was proper, as the search warrant affidavit clearly contained the necessary quantum of evidence for a judicial determination that probable cause existed for installation of the GPS tracking device on defendant's vehicle.
In State v. Marquis, the Maine Supreme Court ruled the lower court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress statements and digital evidence obtained by the police after they entered his home because there was sufficient evidence that defendant consented to the officers' entry and did not ask them to leave or indicate their presence was unwelcome.
In Sewell v, State, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reversed defendant's conviction and remanded for a new trial because the trial court erred in admitting into evidence text messages between defendant and his wife that were privileged communications.
In Commonwealth v. Fredericq, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals ruled that defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a warrantless search of his cell phone was properly granted as to his statements and to the money found in his room because his consent to search was tainted by police exploitation of the illegally obtained information.
In People v. Taylor, a New York Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled that the historical cell site location information related to defendant's cell phone could not be suppressed, even if there had been an SCA violation.
In State v. Hendon, an Ohio appeals court found defendant failed to show error in the admission of evidence from his GPS monitoring during any non-curfew time frame because his active GPS monitoring was not limited to the sole purpose of ensuring his compliance with curfew and therefore was not restricted to gathering data for that purpose.
In State v. Betancourth, the Washington Supreme Court ruled defendant's cell phone records were admissible under the independent source doctrine because the text messages were required to be produced under a valid warrant, and although the police did not physically re-seize the phone records, such failure was merely technical.
In State v. McKee, a Washington Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, determining that the warrant to search the cell phone violated the particularity requirement of the Fourth Amendment because it authorized the police to search broad categories of data stored on the cell phone without limitation.
Federal Cases of Interest
In U.S. v. Molina-Isidoro, the 5th Circuit affirmed the U,S. District Court for the Western District of Texas' decision, finding a search of ride-sharing and texting applications on defendant's smartphone made by U.S. border agents was supported by probable cause, and substantial evidence made it highly likely that the defendant was engaged in drug trafficking and created a fair probability that the phone contained information to refute the nonsensical story she provided.
In U.S. v. Wallace, the 5th Circuit ruled that the good faith exception applied to the alleged violation of the SCA because the officers interpreted its plain language to mean they could obtain a court order granting them access to defendant's E911 data, instead of a search warrant.
In U.S. v. Perales, the 5th Circuit affirmed, finding that there was no evidence that the agent used verbal threats or intimidation to obtain defendant's consent to search which accompanied the agent's placing of defendant in the front seat of his patrol unit while the agent facilitated computer checks.
In U.S. v. Curry, the 6th Circuit ruled the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan was correct in finding that a search warrant for defendant's residence was supported by probable cause because the information was not stale and the crimes of sex trafficking of children and production of child pornography were the subjects of an ongoing investigation.
In U.S. v. Johnson, the 6th Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained from the search of his cell phone, finding an agent's affidavit specifically linked defendant to the cell phone and to criminal gang activity.
In U.S. v. Pacheco, the 10th Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas' denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence gleaned from a cell phone recovered by officers at the scene of his arrest because the phone was legally seized pursuant to the totality of the circumstances parolee exception to the warrant requirement, and the subsequent search of the phone fell under the good faith exception as officers acted in reasonable reliance on the digital search warrant.
The Arizona Legislature passed HB 2244 which provides an allegation that the victim is not actually a minor under the age of 15 is not a defense to a crime against a minor.
Kentucky HB 22 became law without the Governor's signature, prescribing the permitted and prohibited uses of drones and prohibiting the use of evidence obtained by a drone in violation of the stated prohibitions.
The Kentucky Legislature passed HB 373, which provides that body-worn camera recordings are governed by the state Open Records Act. The legislation provides exceptions for when a public agency may elect not to disclose such recordings and specifies procedures for requesting the recordings.
The Michigan Legislature passed HB 5494, which specifies that the operator of an unmanned aircraft is criminally liable for any activity for which he or she would be criminally liable directly. It also bans knowingly and intentionally operating an unmanned aircraft that interferes with the official duties of certain public employees.
Nebraska Governor Pete Rickets signed LB 198 into law which repeals the Crimes Against Children Fund. The Fund was originally created in 1990 to reduce expenses incurred by county attorneys in handling crimes against children cases but has not been funded since 2004.
The New Mexico Legislature passed HM 104 which authorizes a study of law enforcement body camera issues.
The Oklahoma Senate passed SB 1491, a bill which prohibits the operation of drones over certain property.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed SB 560 into law which provides exceptions for when a law enforcement agency can elect not to disclose an audio or video recording as well as procedures for requesting such recordings from law enforcement.
The Tennessee Legislature passed SB 1593, which prohibits the exclusion from a criminal trial of certain out-of-court statements made by a child under 12 years of age that describe any sexual act or act of physical violence directed against the child.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed HB 265, into law, which provides that recordings made by law enforcement officers while wearing a body-worn camera may not be retained by a private entity if that private entity has authority to withhold the recording or prevent its accessor disclosure.
The Vermont Legislature passed H. 615, which prohibits the use of drones near correctional facilities.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed SB 6408 into law, which provides that destruction of body worn camera recordings must be in accordance with the applicable records retention schedule and makes public records act provisions applicable to all law enforcement agencies that deploy body-worn cameras.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed HB 3005 into law, which creates a felony criminal offense for operating a drone equipped with a lethal weapon or for operating a drone with the intent to cause damage or disrupt the flight of an airplane. The Governor also signed HB 4607 into law which requires drone operators to register before using a drone within state parks, forests and rail trails. In addition, Governor Justice signed SB 451 into law, which prohibits the use of a drone to wound, harass or transport wildlife.
The Wisconsin Legislature passed AB 855, a bill governing the operation of drones,. It prohibits a political subdivision from regulating ownership or the operation of a drone. It also prohibits the operation of a drone over a state correctional facility, prohibits the use of a drone with the intent to photograph or record in a place where an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy and prohibits the operation of a drone that interferes with police or emergency services activity.
On the federal side, the CLOUD Act was signed into law as part of the omnibus spending bill, confirming law enforcement's ability to obtain probable cause-based warrants for electronic communications stored abroad. It also provides an alternative to the current process for sharing Internet user information between countries, called MLAT, or a mutual legal assistance treaty. See NAAG letter signed by 36 Attorneys General in support of the Act and note under Attorney General initiatives in this newsletter.
The U.S. Senate passed H.R. 1865, previously passed by the House, which would make it a federal crime to use or operate a website to promote or facilitate prostitution. It would modify the Communications Decency Act to allow state attorneys general to prosecute such conduct under state laws that mirror federal prohibitions. See NAAG letter of August 16, 2017 signed b 50 Attorneys General urging Congress to amend the Act,
Attorney General Initiatives to Combat Cybercrime
Fifty-five Attorneys General sent a NAAG letter to U.S. House leadership urging them to pass a bill now that would make it easier for victims of child pornography to receive timely and meaningful restitution.
Forty-four Attorneys General filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting South Dakota in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. South Dakota asks the Court to overturn its 1992 ruling preventing states from requiring out-of-state online retailers to collect sales tax owed on retail goods.
Thirty-six Attorneys General sent a NAAG letter to Congressional leaders to endorse the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act ("the CLOUD Act). The letter states their belief that passage of the Act should remain independent of other efforts to amend ECPA.
Twenty-three Attorneys General filed a petition for review in the D.C. Court of Appeals to block the FCC's rollback of net neutrality.
Nineteen Attorneys General filed a brief urging a federal court in New Jersey to reject an unfair class action settlement against WTSO.com (Wines 'Til Sold Out.com). The class action alleged misleading pricing on the website. The proposed settlement provides for a $1.7 million cash payout for the attorneys bringing the case, while the more than 200,000 consumers in the class only get a restrictive coupon for $2 off on purchases on the site.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced a partnership between his office and the State Superintendent of Education's office to provide cyber safety training for parents and school faculty on safe online practices for students.
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden's Internet Crimes Against Children task force conducted a joint operation involving federal, state and local authorities and resulting in the arrest of five individuals who are each charged with online sexual enticement of a minor.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and his Division of Consumer Affairs announced that the Bureau of Securities has issued an emergency cease and desist order to stop Bitcoin B2G, an online cryptocurrency-related investment entity, from fraudulently offering unregistered securities. The action was handled by Deputy Bureau Chief Amy Kopleton, Director of Examinations Stephen Bouchard and Bureau of Securities Legal Officer Delfin Rodriguez.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announced that gambling organizations ITM Management, LLC and WC Management, LLC were each convicted of five misdemeanor counts each of promoting gambling and possessing a gambling device. Both were fined $10,000 and ordered to remove all gambling devices from the state. The investigation was led by Special Agent James Russell and the case was prosecuted by Attorney General Reyes' Special Prosecutions Section.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed charges against Salvador Sahagun, owner of several Tacos Guaymas restaurants, for allegedly using illegal "sales suppression" software for cash transactions to avoid remitting sales taxes.
Hedda Litwin is the Editor of the Cybercrime Newsletter and may be reached at 202-326-6022. The Cybercrime Newsletter is a publication of the National Association of Attorneys General. Any use and/or copies of this newsletter in whole or part must include the customary bibliographic citation. NAAG retains copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the material. For content submissions or to contact the editor directly, please e-mail hlitwin@naag.org.
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Accueil > Screen Extra > Philippe Parreno at the Serpentine Gallery, London
Philippe Parreno at the Serpentine Gallery, London
lundi 21 mars 2011, par Benoit
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not."
This quote, frequently attributed to Robert F Kennedy, although originally paraphrased from Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, echoes in many ways important aspects and dichotomies in Phillipe Parreno's recent exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery (25 November 2010 - 13 February 2011. Born in Algeria in 1964, Parreno is a visual artist who works primarily with films. He came to prominence in the early 1990's and has been largely associated with the idea of relational aesthetics, theorised by Nicolas Bourriaud.
The recent exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London presented a series of four films – old and new. Walking into Parreno's exhibition is a rather confusing experience. Providing as little information as possible – which was Parreno's intention – the gallery appears at first as a large empty space, where hardly identifiable noises come out of the walls and a strange assemblage of electric adapters streams out of the carpeted floor. Only one film plays at a time in an endless cycle. Unless the visitor comes in at the specific moment when No More Reality/La Démonstration is playing at the entrance, they will have to peruse an empty space, where sound and variations of light become the artist's language to direct his audience. The most impatient and uncomfortable ones most likely go straight to the gallery attendants, standing awkwardly in a corner to ask where the art is or if the show is currently being installed. Others will ask about Anish Kapoor's sculptures and walk straight back out into the park. The most persistent or intrigued gallery-goers will accept this brief moment of discomfort until they find their way through the rolling projection sequence.
Relational Aesthetics describes a form of art-making and modes of display that create a community or a social dynamic around the work. Very influential in the 1990's, this theory set the ground for contemporary debates on participation and the activation of the audience in the arts. To a certain extent, I would agree with Bourriaud when he says :
'We don't want to be governed, we want to be active. It is from this perspective that the encounter between Parreno's work and Relational Aesthetics occurs : namely the symbolic redistribution of the active and the passive in the field of art. ' (Bourriaud, 2002) [1]
However, one could also question how active it is to follow a simple set of instructions translated into an aesthetic language ? The fact that the artist has, quite literally, programmed his audience to navigate the space from one room to another is hardly a form of participation, merely a mode of active spectatorship. More interestingly though, Parreno orchestrates the possibility for disobedience : as only one film plays at the time, the gallery is left with an incredible empty space. Working in the gallery throughout the exhibition, I witnessed all sorts of behaviours and reactions. Quite rarely, visitors would take up this opportunity to enjoy the availability of this large unattended space. One visitor, who watched some or all of the films, just walked out of the virtual circle of the film sequence to find refuge in an empty room and started meditating (literally). I also witnessed others taking a nap, or gathering with friends to have a chat. The gallery visitor's ability to subvert the exhibition space becomes a mode of resistance towards the apparent audience programming in operation. In the current cultural economy, where public institutions and galleries are increasingly relying on private hires, this kind of reconfiguration of the politics of the space is rather interesting : on the one hand, we have an exhibition consisting of a largely unattended space, up for grab in a slightly deviant way in relation to the work presented, and on the other hand, this same object-free space becomes an attraction for private hires and other corporate events. The value of the same space therefore changes from on context to another, one audience to another.
The notion of absence is constant in Parreno's work. Whether it is the 'posthumous' character in June 8 1968, the illegal migrant Chinese boy of Invisible Boy, or the artist himself - absent and yet directing the audience flow. Another type of absence that struck me in the exhibition, is a kind of de-politicisation of aesthetics.
"It (aesthetics) is a delimitation of spaces and times, of the visible and the invisible, of speech and noise, that simultaneously determines the place and the stakes of politics as a form of experience. Politics revolves around what is seen and what can be said about it, around who has the ability to see and the talent to speak, around the properties of spaces and the possibilities of time." (Rancière, 2004) [2]
June 8 1986 depicts in a highly cinematographic fashion the deportation of senator Robert F. Kennedy's corpse from New York to Washington DC, after he was assassinated. This event, which followed JFK's death by only three years, marked the end of a phase of hope for political change in America. It was the end of something, throwing the country in a period of mourning. The film is a detailed re-enactment of this event, based on a photographic series by Paul Fusco. Look-alike actors, outfits and cars, all elements have been orchestrated to recreate the scenery, however some things are missing. As Micheal Fried mentioned in his essay On Philippe Parreno's June 8, 1968 [3] , as well as Lucia Pietroiusti during her presentation at the French Institute in February 2011, banners, flags and direct signs of political expression of loss have been omitted from the film. This is very interesting, as Parreno seems to have put a lot of effort into reconstructing every details of the event. Invisible Boy, which supposedly depicts the existence of a young illegal migrant boy from China to New York City and whose loneliness leads him to imagine all sorts of fantasy characters, presents a similar trick. Even though the video deals with a politically sensitive topic, the film barely discloses traces of migrants' precarious existence, and the high aestheticisation of the work detracts from the film's political potential, as if it wasn't the point at all. It is thus surprising to think that the artist would pick such problematic or historical moments to deprive them of their political nature, as if the absence of these elements was making a statement. According to Lucia Pietroiusti, independent curator and editor based in London, "the removal of a kind of politics, is an index of its absence. It is a way to look at how we depolitise existence." This statement seems to emerge in a loud, colourful and unpredictable way in No More Reality/La Démonstration, the oldest of all four films. La Démonstration – the only work that contains speech, or at least elements of it – shows a group of children protesting against reality. This piece, which is the documentation of a workshop run by Parreno in the 1990's in France, diverges from Invisble Boy and June 8 1968 in its graphically political imagery – a virulent demonstration, which strangely echoes the current student protests. As the chanting goes on, the blinds come up in the gallery, unveiling heavy (fake) snow dropping from the building's roof. This film comes across as a strong statement in relation to the other works, discretely pointing to the tension between historical and social elements and staged political aesthetics.
It is quite difficult to firmly locate or identify – in this exhibition - the artist's authorship over his work, as if it was leaking onto the space and spreading through the mode of spectatorship at stake. He programmes an endless cycle of social dynamics, directing the audience into an ordered path, and yet subtly leaves the possibility for resistance. He proposes a revolution for the end of reality, and suggests a form of narrative where the representation of political elements is left out. Notions of reality and fiction overlap in a strange way, as if they were in a constant dialogue. This dynamic seems to reference the audience's uncertainty or discomfort towards the reading of the exhibition. "What am I looking at ?" asked one visitor. The question seems almost only relevant if asked the other way around. "What am I not looking at ?"
Benoit Loiseau
[1] In Philippe Parreno : Films 1987-2010 ; Serpentine Gallery, London ; Koenig Books, London, 2010
[2] Rancière, J. The Politics of Aesthetics : The Distribution of the Sensible, Tr. Gabriel Rockhill, 2004
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<< back to Study Guide on 'Buddhist Psychology'
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Map of the Mind (Talk 1 of 4)
By Zoketsu Norman Fischer | Jun 08, 2004
Location: Samish Island
In topic: Buddhist Psychology
Zoketsu talks the mind and emotions from the point of view of Buddhist psychology, as it is formulated in the Abhidharma.
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MAP OF THE MIND
(unabridged transcription by Ruth Ozeki)
Hello everybody. Here we are again. I really appreciated Tim's talk yesterday. I appreciated not only what he said, but the fact that he said it at all, which is probably even more important.
This is a very intimate retreat. It's kind of unusual, or maybe it's usual, I don't even remember, but it seems unusual in that everybody here is pretty experienced in practice, and everybody here is pretty committed to practice. So I realize more than ever in this retreat that we're doing this together. We're collaborating. We're helping each other. It's not at all the case that I'm coming here, leading or producing this retreat. There are many of us guiding, and leading, and taking real responsibility for the dharma, and this is a great relief to me. Now I can start goofing off and relaxing…[laughter]
As Tim was saying, when I started coming here to Bellingham ten or twelve years ago, I knew that this was something that could not go on forever, that it would be something that I could do just for a little while. And the older I get, the shorter that little while becomes. Just a little while. So, it's nice to know that the dharma doesn't just depend on me and my showing up. That there are many others who are willing to take responsibility, to continue to make this offering of dharma to the world. That's great.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the dharma. The world is magnificent and also a total disaster. And dharma, in all its forms and aspects, is an absolute necessity. Even though there is nobody here but us chickens, actually we are practicing for others. We are practicing for the world. I don't want to be immodest or inflated, but it's true. We're practicing not just for ourselves, but for the world, and I hope we will never forget this. When we continue with the practice, we're not just benefiting ourselves, we're working to keep the dharma candle lit. Even if it looks like no one is coming to join us, or only one or two, that's okay, because our job is not to bring in great crowds. Our job is to keep the dharma candle lit, so that it remains lit, so that it can be passed on. As you know from your life, a tiny little bit of light can illuminate a big dark room. Just one little candle can illuminate a big room. And one little candle is enough to ignite a gigantic bright flame that can light a whole world.
It is a beautiful day today, and as Tim reminded us yesterday, it's beautiful here, but this is not exceptional or extraordinary, this place, or this day. It's just like any other day, anywhere else—magnificent, immense, peaceful. We appreciate it here because the natural world is so much like this. But so are we, like this, because we are also manifestations of the natural world. We come from earth, and we return to it. Every culture in the world has a version of the myth of the Garden of Eden, a state where the world makes sense, is beautiful, and really works, and we human beings are living in harmony with it. Every culture has that myth. So what happened? Why can't we live this way? This is the great question. This is the question we're here to investigate. This is the question the Buddha spent his lifetime investigating. This is what artists and thinkers and practitioners all through history, all over the world, in all cultures, have always been investigating. This is the human question.
In this sesshin, I would like to suggest that we focus on studying the flow of our human feeling; that we, as I said the first evening, that we try our best to become as intimate as we possibly can with ourselves, and with what we're actually experiencing from moment to moment. So as always, we start with the body, finding our seat on the cushion, bringing ourselves to the body, bringing ourselves to the breath, giving ourselves to each and every breath. And then I would like to suggest to us all that we ask ourselves—and I've been practicing this wonderfully; I had a whole day yesterday just practicing this, coming back to the question—"What am I really feeling now?" "What is, deeply, my experience of this moment?" And then let that question bring you back to what's really going on, to what you're really deeply feeling, deeply experiencing in that moment. Whenever you find that your mind is wandering, when you're caught in thinking and imagining, immediately apply that question: "What am I really experiencing now?" "What am I really feeling now?" Apply it, just as you would apply a cool rag to a burn. Use it over and over and over again. Develop it as a skill, and I think that it will help you to understand your thinking and your emotions. It will help you to see the real sources behind what makes you think and how you feel.
We're all such thinkers. So I want to be clear, here, that I'm not asking you to think about, or analyze, or figure out what you're feeling. I'm not asking you to think about it and query about it. I'm asking you to use this question as a device to help you feel what it is you're feeling, without too much need to explain it or name it. To become intimate with what you're feeling, deeply in touch with it, and to trust that flow of human feeling as the source of your liberation. Not to feel like you have to tinker with it, or come into control of it, but just allow it and trust it as the source of liberation. I think you will soon discover that mostly we don't know. We're not at all aware of what it is we're deeply feeling and experiencing. We're not at all used to being in touch with the flow of our human feeling. It's quite natural for us to run away from it, and to start thinking and planning and emoting, so that we can avoid really feeling what we're feeling, because in this world, what we're deeply feeling and thinking and holding in our hearts is often painful. So we want to run away. But it's okay if what we're feeling is painful. If we can become intimate with it, and allow ourselves to be a little courageous, and experience whatever is really there, I think we will find a deeper and more lasting and more realistic comfort beyond—and through—the pain. So maybe at this point, I'll ask you to just take my word for this, and trust me, and then verify for yourself and see if this is true.
If you're a human being—and I think mostly everybody here is—that means that you are certainly avoiding your deepest feeling and your deepest experience, because this is normal for human beings. So, therefore, please practice this question, "What am I really feeling now?" "What am I deeply experiencing now?" and see if you can, during this week that we have together, these days that we have together, see if you can come more close, and be more trusting of your own human feeling. Your own natural human feeling.
So, in the talks I have to give to you this week, I want to talk about mind and emotions from a Buddhist point of view, about Buddhist psychology. This is a little bit of a chore, and kind of boring, but I think it's important that we understand at least a little bit about how the masters of our tradition understand mind and self and personality. I think this knowledge will help us.
As you know, this is called, in Buddhism, Abhidharma, or Abhidhamma, advanced dharma, and provides a map of the mind and of mental states.
Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that starts from human suffering—that's the sort of initial point of Buddhism, rather than, in other traditions, starting from devotion to a god, and enthusiasm and love for god. Because Buddhism starts from this point, therefore it makes sense that it has a lot of very developed discussion about mind. About the human mind. And in this discussion there are lots of points of view, there are various debates, and so forth and so on, but in general, actually, when you take a step back from these debates, the map of the heart, or mind, that's given in Buddhism is pretty consistent.
As we all know, there are many non-Buddhist maps of the mind, too. No map actually is the territory—it's just a map. Still, every map is useful because every map gives us a little bit different view of the territory, which is always too big and too vast and too detailed for us ever to see in its entirety. So we need different maps to be able to illuminate different aspects of the territory. Maps aren't the territory but they're pretty useful, providing, of course, that we don't bury ourselves so much in the map that we fail to look around and see what's actually going on. And that can happen.
So the particular map, the Buddhist map, that I want to talk about these days, is one that is firmly grounded in the appreciation of the emptiness of all phenomena. A map that starts from, and assumes, our fundamental teaching of the Heart Sutra, that all dharmas are marked with emptiness. To appreciate this, that all dharmas are marked with emptiness, is to appreciate that the world-as-paradise and the world-as-disaster are simply and fundamentally two viewpoints. What is, is. That's suchness, that includes experiences and viewpoints of good, as well as experiences and viewpoints of bad. It includes being and non-being. What is, is. Everything depends on us, and we depend on everything.
So life is not a crushing burden, because we're always supported. We're completely supported. And we can't be irresponsible because life is completely depending on us. On each of us. So yes, there's plenty of difficulty to go around. Because we're so immensely supported, we're grateful, and we feel a lot of compassion for ourselves and others. And if we feel compassion and we care about our own life, and other people's lives, then there's lots of sorrow and grief and anguish, as well as love, joy, ease, and peace. And all of this is workable; all of this is the stuff we need for our investigation. All of this is just what is.
And all of a sudden, the whole world lights up for no particular reason.
So, the world—and also ourselves—is empty. But this doesn't mean that we can goof off, despite what I said earlier, and not pay attention. In fact, it's just the opposite. Because all phenomena are empty of any separate self, we have to see clearly, we need to understand our own human feeling, which is why a map of the mind can be helpful. So that it maybe helps us understand, a little bit, the way emptiness unfolds in this life.
I hope that in our sesshin, we have a little bit of peace. I think everybody here needs that and deserves that. But it's not enough for us to have a little peace. We have to also understand, because without understanding, our peace will be always partial and shaky. And it's not enough for us to understand just with the surface of our mind, just with our thinking—that, we all know, is so easily blown around. We have to understand with our hearts and our guts, too, with our whole body. And this is why we spend so much time in zazen on our cushions, because that's the method that we use to understand with our whole heart and our guts and our whole body. So that's what we have to do. To understand with the mind, with the heart, with the guts, with the whole body, and then we have to train ourselves in this understanding, re-forming ourselves as people through this training. And that's our practice. And zazen is at the heart of it. And this is why we're here. Why we keep coming back.
So, the Buddhist map of the mind isn't just a map of the mind. It isn't really exactly psychology. The Buddhist map of the mind starts with a map of everything, naturally, and also nothing, because nothing is included in everything. Which makes perfect sense because in emptiness, the whole point of emptiness, is that nothing is excluded; everything is constantly included, and constantly cooperating, including nothing. It's all part of a single network of support. So it would be impossible to talk about mind as a single, separate lonely thing, out there, lost in the universe. Mind, mental states and emotional states—and in Buddhism, you know there is no sharp distinction drawn between mental and emotional states, which in itself is a very important thing to think about—these things can't be talked about without first positing the whole universe and beyond. So that's the way the map goes: posit everything then break it down into categories, and then break those categories down into categories, like a branching tree. You could imagine it from the bottom, one root, which is all inclusive, and then branches and branches and branches and branches and branches until it becomes a very articulated thing. So that's the way the Buddhist map of mind works.
So therefore, I'm going to talk about it—I mean, not the whole thing, every bit of it, because that would go on forever, but just certain parts of it that I think would be worth looking at. So we have to start at the beginning. The beginning is everything, including nothing. And the term that's used in this particular system to describe the whole ball of wax is nairatmya, which translates as "the selfless." That's the name for everything, including nothing, the universe inside and out. The selfless. The unity in the flow of being of all that is and isn't. This is the fundamental root.
The first division in this is between things and nothing. Or in other words, between existence, existent things, and nonexistent things. That's the first division. Nonexistence is included in this whole thing.
So let's look at nonexistent things, first, and then we'll go over to existent things.
What would be nonexistent things? Well, actually it's a very small category. It's infinite in number but basically it's one thing. An example of a nonexistent thing is a chicken with lips. A chicken with lips is a nonexistent thing, and a thing that couldn't exist. Because if there were an animal that had lips, it would just not be a chicken. It would be another animal. There is just no way that a chicken with lips could…you could say we're chickens with lips, you know, I suppose, but we're not really chickens. So, this is a nonexistent thing. A thing that cannot exist, cannot really even be imagined exactly.
So, in other words, nonexistent things are not things that once existed and don't exist now. They are things that never existed and couldn't exist. And this is important to note, because what this tells us is that things that exist and don't exist anymore are simply things that have changed condition. Changed state. The nonexistence of that which has existed or could exist is not the same as a nonexistent. It's just a fundamental change of state. And all these things come under the category of things, so you might think that death, for example, would come under the category of nonexistent things, but it doesn't. Because death is not a nonexistent thing. Death is. It's an experience that happens. And this tells us that in the category of existent things, absence is included. Absence, and this kind of passing out of what we call existence, is a part of existence. It's not a nonexistent thing. That's very important to recognize this, so that we're straight about it, and clear about what it is this world is, and what it is it isn't.
So there's not much discussion about nonexistent things, just to identify them and recognize they are part of the picture. So that branch only goes that far.
Then, on the other side, of course, "existent things" has many, many branches, and that's the part that we need to worry about because that's the part where we work.
So the first great division in the category of existent things is the division between so-called permanent phenomena and things that are impermanent. So let me say something about the category of permanent phenomena.
It seems like a strange category. And here, it's true that permanent is not exactly a good explanation for this category, because it doesn't exactly mean permanent. It means things that aren't exactly phenomena that come and go. Not phenomena that are caused. Things that come and go are always caused—that's what karma is. Sort of the principle by which—the force by which—things arise and pass away ceaselessly. But these are things that don't arise and pass away, and are not caused. And so therefore they are not exactly things. It's hard to say what these are. You would wonder what could be included in this category.
Well, there are four things. Not things, exactly, but four items in this box: space, two kinds of nirvana, and suchness. Those are the four things included in the category of permanent things.
So space. We all know space. Space is just space. Everybody knows what space is. Or do we? Actually, know what space is? Does anybody have any idea what space is? Even though the whole universe depends on space, we don't quite know what space is. Now there's something about how most of the matter in the universe is dark matter, or something like that, in other words unknown, unseen. There are many contradictions that come up when we try to ascertain what space is. So is space something? Is space nothing? It seems like it's not nothing, but it's not exactly something. Anyway, I don't pretend to have any line on what space is, but all I can say is that it doesn't seem too clear.
And nirvana is exactly the same. So, you don't achieve nirvana. That would imply that you could act in such a way that you could cause nirvana to arise out of nothing by your actions. That would be like saying that if you piled enough stuff up in your room you would create or destroy space. You could fill your room up until you couldn't get a shoehorn in there but you wouldn't have increased or decreased the amount of space in the room. Conventionally we say that there's no space in here, but there would be the same amount of space, even if you filled it up. And similarly, you can't produce or make disappear nirvana. You see, we think of maybe nirvana as a state of mind, or something like that, but nirvana is not a state of mind. Just the same way that space is not a particular place or an object, nirvana is also not a state of mind.
So there are two kinds of nirvana, as I said. One is the kind that the Buddha experiences, or any great practitioner who has a great awaking. Or even ungreat practitioners like us, when we just have ordinary moments of everyday awakening. When all of a sudden, for no reason, spaciousness enters our lives, and, for no reason, we're free for a second of the apparent weight of our living. This nirvana is uncaused and insubstantial. It's a kind of a gift. While sometimes we may recognize it or feel it in our mind or body as a state, that state that we're feeling is not nirvana. It's some kind of a manifestation in us. But it's not nirvana. So that kind of nirvana is something that appears or disappears, but it's not caused, and its appearance or disappearance is only an illusion in our lives. But it's recognized as one of the permanent things.
Then, the other kind of nirvana is the kind of nirvana that is the Great Nirvana, the Complete Nirvana, Parinirvana, which doesn't have a beginning or an ending. And this is why Buddha is called the Deathless One, or the Great Conqueror. Sometimes the sutras it says that about the Buddha, because the Buddha conquers death. The Buddha doesn't die. When the Buddha dies, as it would appear in our world, he's not dying. He's entering Parinirvana. Because in Buddhism, death is actually an intermediate, in-between state. It's a temporary state. But nirvana is true peace. It's not something temporary. It's life's fruition and completion. So in a sense, only buddhas enter Parinirvana, and the rest of us die, restlessly, over and over again. But, from another point of view, since we're all buddhas, we all enter Parinirvana when we die, and this is the sense of the Buddhist funeral ceremony, to imagine and hope and pretend that this is so, in relation to the deceased person. So that's the other kind of nirvana.
Then the fourth kind of permanent phenomena is suchness. Like I was saying before, what is, is. And this is also like the two kinds of nirvana, and like space, only it's an aspect of space or nirvana that comes forth as this very world of appearances in which we're living and having such a hard time.
In other words, the whole flow of world, perception, feeling, trouble, sorrow, joy, suffering, seen as it actually is, in the light of suchness, is nirvana. In other words, the phenomenal world, the impermanent world, is actually bliss, perfection, eternity. The garden of Eden. It never went away. It's right here, all the time. So that's the last of the four permanent things.
I'm kind of just polishing these off, you know, because it's the other side…we haven't gotten yet to the part where we have to work, right? These are just things we can think about, but in the category of caused, temporary things, that's where our work comes, right? The phenomenal world. Our world. The things that come and go, that arise and pass away according to karma.
Okay, so, here we are, over there. Three categories. This is broken down into three categories. And now we get to the place where each category is broken down into more categories. It goes on and on and on. Because the more we're on this side, the more stuff there is, all of which is actually, from another angle, only suchness. Right? But, in order for us to understand that, we have to be able to discriminate and understand the way this world is put together; the way we are put together.
So, three broad categories. Rupa, or form; Jñana, or consciousness; And then a third very troublesome and complicated category called viprayukta-samskara, translated as "non-associated, compositional factors." So, I'll get around to that, but I have to talk about rupa and jñana for a while, but we surely must get around to "non-associated compositional factors" because actually there are some very important aspects to that, which are actually crucial for us to understand who we are and what we're doing.
So now I'm going to talk about form, rupa. There's a delightful definition, not in this text but in other Abhidharma texts, defining form as—and this is shocking and amazing, I think—rupa is defined as "that which can be molested." Form is that which can be…in other words, if something is rupa, you can take it and smash it. You can break it. It can be messed up. This is not true in the realm of consciousness. You can't take a thought and break it in half and throw one part away, you know? You can't do that with a thought, or a feeling. You can create a situation in which succeeding a particular thought will be other thoughts that are painful, but that particular thought or feeling cannot be harmed, changed or altered in any way. It arises and passes away. Nothing can be done about it. But you can take a vase and smash it. You can't take a thought and smash it. Or a feeling. And so on. So that's the characteristic of rupa. So you can see how, when we invest ourselves in rupa, when we attach ourselves to, say, the body, which is rupa, we're going to be sad. And we're definitely going to find a moment of real loss and dismay if we don't understand what rupa is, and what it's nature is. If we don't relate to it from the point of view of its actual nature.
That's what rupa is. In a sense, rupa is matter, stuff, as opposed to consciousness. That's the division here between matter and consciousness. But actually, rupa is not precisely matter as we understand it—physical stuff—because in this map of mind, of the universe, there's an appreciation that what we call "matter" is an aggregate, a construct built on some objectivity in phenomena, some objective property, which is not yet matter. But that objective property, aggregated and combined with subjective experience, creates what we think of as matter. So a vase, in a way, is not really a vase. A vase exists as a vase because of an aggregate of properties as well as our mind, and our intelligence calling it a vase. So, as science now acknowledges, there is actually no such fundamental thing as matter, on a subtle level, but there seems to be some objective property in the universe.
So there are eleven—I told you this would be a little boring—so there are eleven categories of rupa, and this is as far as we'll get today. Eleven categories of rupa. And ten of them are quite easy to understand and recognize, even though they're further subdivided, and I'm not going to get into that. But the ten of them that are easy to recognize are the five sense organs, and the five objects of the sense organs. So the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body, are rupa, and what is seen, what is heard, what is smelled, what is tasted, what is touched, are rupa. So those are ten out of the eleven categories.
So what is the eleventh kind of rupa? Well, the eleventh kind of rupa is the rupa—and remember, rupa is an objective property, right?; it's not consciousness; it's something that's objective—the eleventh kind of rupa—and this is very interesting—is rupa which is the object of the organ of mind.
So the brain is not the mind, the way smelling is the nose, at least in the Buddhist understanding. Mind is not rupa. But mind can have as its object a subtle kind of rupa, which is not seeing, hearing, and so forth. So then you might say, well, what kind of rupa would that be? What would be included under that category? And this is quite fascinating actually. There are five kinds of rupa that are cognized by mind. This eleventh category of rupa has five members in it. The first one is rupa arising from aggregation. And this is the world. Because the world that we perceive is actually not a direct result of our senses. It's a projection of an aggregation that we put together in our minds.
So this is really astonishing because what it means is—I mean in some sort of colloquial way we could say—we're making up the world. I mean, we have a basis for that, but we're making up the world.
Now how skillful are we in making up this world? Or are we making up the world in some pretty confused ways, based on habits from the past? Our various confusions and hurts and pains and sorrows are right there, in the world that we are making up. This is important to think about and recognize, because we're always thinking it's the world. It's not the world. It's the world we're creating.
The second rupa that is an object of mind is, again, space. Why would they [include space?] Space already, we've heard about space! Because space can't be, in any way, cognized by the mind, so we have a concept of space, and experience of space that isn't space, but it's our human experience of space, which is only cognized by the mind. But there's something objective about that. It's a thing, somehow. Sort of a little bit less than a thing, but it's a thing.
And the third one, that is really—the one that really gets me, and I think you'll be impressed with this…you ready? Okay, here it is…
Vow. Vow. Very appropriate since we're going to have an ordination ceremony at the end of our retreat, to note that—and this is true in all the different versions of the Abhidharma throughout Buddhism, this is consistently understood—that vow, which is an object, which is not a thing that you can pick up and do something with, actually has a status of objective reality, on this subtle level. In other words, when you take vows, there is actually, it is understood, almost like a cellular change. You become like a different form of being. And similarly, when you break vows, and so forth. Incredible, isn't it? To think about that.
I've read some of the accounts of this, debates about this, where they try to ascertain precisely what kind of stuff goes into the body when you take a vow. It gets kind of funny, when they try to get too literal about this. Because they actually think, early Buddhists actually felt, this was their experience, that actually something like a physical alteration occurred in the whole body/mind under the influence of vows. And they were trying to explain exactly how this came about. And I think there are many failures of explanations in this, but nevertheless, the root of this really seems true and I think as we go along, we can appreciate this. So that's interesting, isn't it.
And then the fourth kind of rupa, in the eleventh category, is imaginary forms. So dream images, visions, actually have a reality status. From our point of view, this is just imaginary stuff, it's all in your mind, we say, but here they say, yes, it's all in your mind, and it's real. There is a reality to these things that is of a different status than we would give it in our map of mind. There's a weight to visions and dreams, and there are many, many legends and stories in Buddhism about people having visions and dreams, and having it be an enormous thing. There are people who would be ordained in dreams and in visions, by bodhisattvas who would appear and give them vows, and so on, in visions and dreams.
And the final kind of rupa of the eleventh category is a particular kind of form, a particular kind of rupa that you see in meditation practice. So there's a distinction made between a dream or a vision, and the particular practice, say, of visualization or the production of purified images that arise sometimes spontaneously and sometimes intentionally in meditation practice.
So I want to spend my talks going further with this map of the mind. As I say, it's a little tedious, but I do feel it's important that at least once we go through if not all of this, the points that are at least salient, because we need to appreciate and understand this stuff.
I hope you don't think about it too much. I wouldn't want it to mess up your peace and quiet. So try your best not to think about any of this, and just kind of forget about it after I…hopefully you'll listen to it while I'm saying it, but if you would rather snooze, that would be okay, too. As long as you don't snore. It's very disturbing, when you're sleeping, if you snore. But if you sleep surreptitiously so that no one knows, this would be alright. Then it will sink into your pores and you'll have a deeper understanding, probably. But during the rest of the time please do your best to forget about this. Sometimes it happens that as you're concentrating on your breathing and your posture and returning to this question that I suggested that you return to—the investigation of what you are feeling—sometimes it happens that some point that comes up in all this flies into your mind, and you understand it very clearly. So if that happens, I myself find such moments to be pleasant, and I hope that you have a moment like that once in a while and also find it pleasant. If so then go on to the next thing and don't let it bother you. But in general, don't think about it. Just something to distract you and pass the time, and entertain you so that you don't have to relentlessly worry about how your neck hurts, and your back hurts, and how miserable your life is, and the world is going to pot, and everything like that.
Talk 4, Sesshin, On Vasubandhu's Thirty Verses
Norman Fischer presents his fourth talk at the Sesshin on Samish Island - June 21, 2017
Norman Fischer, 06/21/17
Vasubandhu's Thirty Verses - Talk 7
Norman Fischer presents the Seventh and final talk on Vasubandhu's thirty verses
Alan Block presents the sixth talk in the series on Vasubandhu's Thirty Verses
Alan Block, 06/07/17
Norman Fischer presents his 5th talk on Vasubandhu's Thirty Verses
Norman Fischer presents the third talk in the series on the Yogacara by Ben Connelly
, 05/17/17
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