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Studying abroad is one of the most unique, gratifying, and daunting experiences you will experience in your college career. It is so much more than just relaxing on the beach and sipping cocktails at night (as long as you're of drinking age, of course). Like most students, I did not expect much more of my time abroad and saw it as a means to escape the trials and trivialities of everyday life.
So, I became an ambassador because I wanted to set the record straight. I felt as though I had a lot of insight and information to share about my study abroad experience that might otherwise go unheard. Mainly, I wanted to help students in the same position that I once was—afraid yet eager, and completely unaware of what studying abroad actually entails.
So here's what I think students should know:
First and foremost, traveling is a thrill-ride. After traveling non-stop for five months in Australia and getting my first real taste of freedom, my connection with myself and the world around me was at its peak. I never before felt so at peace with the person I am, and more so, the person that I am becoming.
But I felt this way only after a significant period of adjustment. I had not taken into account how hard it might be to feel comfortable in my new surroundings. Even something as mundane as taking the train could be a bewildering unfamiliarity.
I expected my anxiety to go away when I went abroad, but if you're an anxious person like me, that just isn't going to happen. To this I say, that's okay. Your anxiety is completely and totally normal. It's part of the process. Just think of all of the new challenges you are facing: a new language or new colloquialisms, different surroundings, new people, yet to be made travel plans, etc. It's a lot to take in.
But it's okay. These challenges, once overcome, are what will make your abroad experience that much more enriching. On that note, I'd like to talk just a bit more about the challenges you might find yourself faced with:
When you're abroad, you'll be eager to see and do everything. What you might not have really thought about beforehand is how much planning this entails. If you plan to do a lot of traveling, you will have to make all of those arrangements for yourself.
That means booking your flights, hostels or homes to stay at, and any additional activities you may want to pursue. Additionally, you're going to want to find travel companions to accompany you on your journey. This might not be as easy as you would think—people have different destinations and "top to-do's" in mind.
And that's okay. This is an individual experience; so don't let that get you down. The best advice I can give is to be open-minded and flexible. Some people might want to travel on tours with paid packages, and some might want to go backpacking and rent a car. Tours offer security and less planning and you have a built-in group of friends with whom you'll see and do unbelievable (likely touristy) things. Backpacking is more of a "choose your own adventure" that can offer more freedom yet requires more precision when it comes to planning. Do whatever you think will be more enjoyable and don't worry about what others are doing. Remember, this is your experience, not theirs.
I found doing both enabled me to see all of the sites I wanted to see. I joined a tour and traveled the Eastern coast of Australia with people from all over the world and I had the time of my life. I also quite enjoyed more laid-back weekend getaways with a couple of friends. And sometimes, the best days are the ones you have to yourself to explore on your own. Fly alone to a neighboring state (as long as you're careful!), take a solo trip to the beach, or go on a hike in the nearby forest. For me, there was no better feeling than to be alone in nature and to gaze in awe at the beauty surrounding me.
Another thing to consider is money. Traveling is expensive and it can be stressful to divvy enough money for your excursions in addition to groceries and nights at bars, but don't deprive yourself. Absolutely, spend less where you can, but also, don't be that person who won't go to a restaurant because you don't want to spend money on a burger. When else in your life can you spend half the year doing virtually nothing besides traveling? When else will spend time with people from all over the world, or build campfires with cute Australian boys? Now is the time to live it up.
It will be scary and difficult at times and this is what most people don't tell you about your time abroad. That's why it has been my mission as an ambassador to make sure that students are prepared for the obstacles they will face. I certainly faced many, but, I also chose to be an ambassador to encourage students to go for it because despite and perhaps because of the obstacles you will face, you will come away with an adventure that you will treasure for a lifetime.
You learn to be independent. You learn that there is so much more to life than what it seems while you're here in your Binghamton bubble. Like me, you'll learn to let your hair down—you'll swim with the turtles and dare to jump out of a plane. You'll acquire a newly found strength and sense of clarity. You'll learn to be alone and to be okay with that.
So, find adventure in the ordinary and completely give yourself to the moment. If you do this, I promise that no matter what, you will have the most incredible time of your life.
Katie Kravat, a Study Abroad Student Ambassador, who studied abroad in Sydney, Australia in spring 2015


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Since our launch in late June of 3.0 we've been continuously looking at ways to improve Memory Box Stories based on user feedback and internal development plans. We are aiming to have releases out every fortnight that add new features, bug fixes and more to make sure Memory Box Stories is always up to date.
In version 3.1 we have focused on three new features: featured content, feedback and user search.
We now have the ability to update featured content at any time, this content is curated by the Memory Box team and will be accompanied by a short message about why we have chosen these stories. . The featured content highlights some of the best stories on Memory Box, we may even choose your story from our community to sit on the front screen of the app. Recent stories have now moved to the Discover page.
We have a great feedback system available via our website at www.memoryboxstories.com/support, this is entirely powered by an open source platform called User Voice. It allows you to provide feedback directly to us and for us to respond with our current state of development on any new features or bugs you find. We've extended this into the main app via the options screen on the profile tab. From here you can get help from our extensive knowledge base, contact us directly with a question or provide new feedback. We strongly encourage you to report any issues you find using this system and it'll help us develop Memory Box Stories for the community.
Within the discover search screen you can now pick the option to search for users. This makes it really easy to find your friends and family. Simply start typing and search results will show, you can then select a user and see all of their public stories. We have no plans to make available any other information but your name, profile picture and stories shared with the community. It is extremely important to us that your story remains private and only available via your profile screen.
Finally, we have some smaller new features such as the ability to see your subscription end date on the store tab, seeing a location of the story on the iPad (coming soon to iPhone) and improved privacy settings that explain why we need access to the microphone and your camera roll and why we charge a small subscription fee to create over 20 stories (because we will never sell any of your data to third parties.)
We've also significantly improved a number of user interface aspects of the app such as pull to refresh on the discover screen, a better login, options and share screen as well as other minor tweaks and bug fixes.
We intend to improve Memory Box Stories rapidly and will be releasing 3.2 within the next few weeks with a new share screen, slideshow photo option and more.

subset: commoncrawl


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Why NOTL should be on your bucket list
Niagara on the Lake (or NOTL for those in the know) is probably one of my favourite spots in Canada. You'd be crazy not to put it on your bucket list and if you do decide to go – there are a few things you'll want to know. The Darlington House is my favourite spot to stay so I've asked owner Julie Taylor to tell you how to visit NOTL and how to B&B it while you're there.
A place like no other
Niagara-on- the- Lake is an Empire Loyalist town steeped in history. Forts were erected to defend Upper Canada from the US armed forces, the oldest longest running Golf course, the oldest Inn in North America and famously said to be the "prettiest drive in Canada" by the esteemed Winston Churchill.
What to pack
Essentially what you need to bring are personal attributes as opposed to "things". Wherever you're going you need to pack the basics such as a change of undies, deodorant, fancy clothes, simple clothes, high heels and flats and layers for all weather eventualities. Or you can be daring and pack nothing at all and simply stop at the Outlet Collection at Niagara and treat yourself.
What to pack really depends on your itinerary. Sensible shoes are advisable so you can pedal a bike and walk the town and explore the wineries. One glam outfit if you are going to a fine dining location or the theatre. If you plan ahead you can book a table at the "The White Effect Dinner" in June of each year.
A bit about NOTL
Since the early 1960's NOTL has been the home of the George Bernard Shaw Festival. The area is known as the fruit belt thus there are numerous wineries, fruit farms, stalls and farmers markets as well as historic buildings, and fine dining establishments. You can find lots of interesting and unusual treasures in antique stores both in town, and along Lakeshore heading towards St. Catherines. There are even a couple of nut farms. Kurtz Orchards offers both a small retail store on Queen Street the main shopping area of old town NOTL and the farm location on the Parkway. If you go to the farm location you can stroll through the grounds and cross the Koi pond via a wooden bridge and feed the fish. Children in particular would enjoy feeding the fish and also the wading pool at Simcoe Park located at the intersection of King and Queen. The park is large and a great place to picnic as is the many rest stops along the Niagara Parkway.
A magical garden
NOTL is known for its floral decorations, the neighbourhoods for their outstanding gardens and the horticultural college located on the parkway is a beautiful place to walk and enjoy a wide variety of gardens including the rose and herb gardens. Beside the college is the Butterfly conservatory – a pretty magical place that feels like you have stepped into a rain forest. NEOB is a local lavender farm with a retail store show casing their lavender lotions, soaps, and edible delicacies including lavender ice cream and shortbread.
Architecture and wine!
The architecture in NOTL is predominately Empire loyalist and traditional. The wineries are varied in their architecture, Colaneri Winery looks like a spaghetti western movie set, Chateau Decharmes a French chateau, Peller Estates a country estate and 2 Sisters imposing grandeur. Because of the wine and food emphasis culinary experts with international training are attracted to the wineries and hotel kitchens providing delicacies with a focus on local grown produce.
Smaller establishments such as the McFarland House on the Niagara Parkway are only open in peak season (May to September). The McFarland house has a conservatory tea room that offers approximately 32 varieties of teas and home baked savoury and sweet treats. In June their strawberry shortcakes are a must and in August the peach shortcakes.
What's a girl to do in NOTL?
Even in the off season there are many reasons to return to NOTL including the Christmas candle light stroll the first Friday in December, the Ice Wine festival in January, Wine and Chocolate in February and 'Fabulicious' in March when lunch and dinner menus are discounted at some of the finest restaurants including Peller, Riverbend and The Charles Inn.
Walk, cycle or take a carriage ride. There are spas for relaxation and pampering or wild rides on the jet boats -the expansion of activities covers a wide range. There's something for everyone of all ages.
Chocolate: Visit Chocolate Fx in St. David's; a local business where you can take a quick 5 minute tour to learn about chocolate then sample a wide variety of treats and receive a chocolate covered strawberry. Guests of Darlington House receive a complimentary tour.
There is so much to do and also NOTL is the kind of place where you can do nothing at all and still feel part of the atmospheric quaint town.
- Your contemplative self: book a spa appointment and allow your senses to be taken away on a journey of relaxation. The Vintage Inns and Q124 spas all offer amazing aromatherapy treatments in luxurious surroundings. At the Vintage Inns if you book a spa treatment you can use their facilities for the day including pools and hot tubs. The Pillar and Post has both an indoor and outdoor pool and indoor and outdoor hot tubs. Prince of Wales has an indoor pool.
- Your adventurous self: Helicopter ride over the falls. The Heli pad is located near the floral clock on the Niagara Parkway. Take a jet boat ride departing from NOTL jetty.
- Your Romantic self: NOTL is the perfect place for a romantic getaway. Fine dining, sipping on wine and indulging in beautiful surroundings and beautiful Bed and Breakfast locations. Take a carriage ride from the Prince of Wales or host your wedding at one of the many locations offering the most amazing venues and amenities. (Note from Drinkastsix: I had my small wedding at the cottage in the Oban Inn. It was the most magical night of my life!)
- Your sensible packing list
- Your taste buds
- Your wine tasting buds
- Girls get away weekends: Rent E bikes and visit the wineries, rent bicycles and visit the wineries. Book an organized wine tour. Grape Escapes is a local company that offers bicycle and motor transport tours.
- Guy's golf and beer get aways: There are three breweries in NOTL: Oast House Brewers, Silver Smith and the Exchange. Numerous golf courses including one right in NOTL, one in St. David's and one on a the Niagara parkway. Irish Harp pub and the Angel Inn serve great pub grub, have live music on weekends and provide "guy daycare" while the gals shop.
- Garden tours
- Theatre
- Afternoon tea
- Retail therapy
The magic comes alive with the social event of the year. Organized by NOTL chamber of commerce the White effect dinner combines popular elements that make for grand party for family and friends to enjoy food, wine and music. In August 2011 the town held its first outdoor dinner along Queen Street with 400 guests. The White Effect dinner has been held in numerous locations. In 2013 the Dinner was set along the Niagara River Parkway at the McFarland House and this year it will be hosted amongst the backdrop of the beautiful Queenstown heights overlooking the picturesque Niagara Escarpment and Niagara River. Visit www. niagaraonthelake.com for information and to register.
For your bed and breakfast stay visit www.bookyourstay.com the official website of the NOTL Bed and Breakfast Association.
Julie's personal favourites
- Watching the sun set from Ryerson Park.
- Sirloin burger and fries at the Farm Kitchen Caroline Cellars and their Farmers Rose is the best!!! Sells out quickly.
- Cappuccino, gelato, and crepes at Nina's on Queens street
- Getting caught at the Welland Canal when a freighter is going through. Gives an excuse to stop and be idle for a moment and to enjoy the moment and the wonder of engineering as the freighter is lifted or lowered to continue its journey.
- Q124 spa for a pedicure, facial or massage. Highly recommend Laura or Erin
- Harvest Barn located at Niagara Stone Road and East West Line. They have a fab salad bar and bakery and you can take your salad, sandwich or baked treat and eat it at one of their picnic tables overlooking Rancourt Winery. I often take myself out for a late lunch and enjoy the simplicity.
- Piccard Nuts: located adjacent from Harvest Barn. They have great nuts and chocolate products and free samples (I love free samples)
Bed and breakfast etiquette
In NOTL a licensed bed and breakfast has a maximum of 3 rooms. As such guests will be hosted by the proprietor/s usually a couple or a single person. This means there is no additional housekeeping or kitchen staff. Breakfast is one sitting usually at 8.30 a.m. or 9 a.m. Check in times vary. Some establishments as early as 1 p.m.but most are 3 p.m. Check out is 11 a.m. thus late checkouts and early check ins are difficult to accommodate. Your hosts will want to oblige but sometimes simply cannot. There are many examples why guests will request a variance. For example they are attending a theatre matinee at 2 p.m. and will ask to check in prior to their show and departing guests also may be attending a matinee and will request a late check out. Unlike hotels bed and breakfasts do not have additional resources to accommodate these requests and it is better if they are politely adhered too.
Your host's bed and breakfast is also there home.
1. Don't arrive early.
2. E-mail your hosts to let them know your approximate arrival time so they can be on site to welcome you.
3. Respect the one seating for breakfast.
4. Let your hosts know ahead of time if you have any dietary restrictions.
5. Respect your host's home
NOTL isn't just glorious in the summer though – check their calendar to see a list of things to do year round in the heart of Niagara.


text: Rob Kampen wrote: > How do I get some extra log info to track this down? Have you tried to run 'show full processlist' on mysql while the query is running? It should show all active queries, what they are doing and how long they have been running for. Also enable slow query logging and logging when not using indexes, add to /etc/my.cnf and restart mysql: example: log-slow-queries = /var/lib/mysql_logs/slowqueries.log log-queries-not-using-indexes long_query_time = 3 nate


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Sept. 20, 2017
NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) announces the campus will present a Global Film Series this fall, which will feature three documentary films. The first film will be presented on Tuesday, Sept. 26, with a second film to screen in October. The third and final film of the series will be offered in November.
All of the screenings will take place at 6:30 p.m. in Murdock Hall room 218, on the MCLA campus. Each event is free and open to the public.
"I am Not Your Negro" will be screened on Tuesday, Sept. 26. This 2016 film was directed by Raoul Peck, and was based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript, "Remember This House." Narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the film explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as his personal observations of American history. "I am Not Your Negro" was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Academy Awards.
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, MCLA will offer a screening of "14: Dred Scott, Wong Kim and Vanessa Lopez, which explores the recurring question about who has the right to be an American citizen. Written and directed by documentary filmmaker Anne Galisky, "14" tells the story of three American families. Descendants of Dred and Harriet Scott, as well as those of Wong Kim Ark, tell the stories of how their ancestors fought all the way to the Supreme Court. Rosario Lopez and her daughter Vanessa are both activists in the immigrant rights youth movement.
Finally, a screening of "Fire at Sea" will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 29. "Fire at Sea," which also was nominated for an Academy award for "Best Documentary Feature," is a 2016 Italian documentary film, with English subtitles, directed by Gianfranco Rosi, who intended to heighten awareness of migrants. Shot of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa during the European migrant crisis, the film's main characters include a 12-year-old boy from a local fishing family and a doctor who treats the migrants upon their arrival.
The "Global Film Series" is co-sponsored by MCLA's English/Communications Department, the History Department, and the Multicultural Education Center. For more information about the series, contact Dr. Jenna Sciuto, assistant professor of English/Communications, at email@example.com .
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) is the Commonwealth's public liberal arts college and a campus of the Massachusetts state university system. MCLA promotes excellence in learning and teaching, innovative scholarship, intellectual creativity, public service, applied knowledge, and active and responsible citizenship. MCLA graduates are prepared to be practical problem solvers and engaged, resilient global citizens.
For more information, go to www.mcla.edu.


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COLEMAN � Glenda Gail Pope Anderson, 65, died Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at Odessa Regional Medical Center. Funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 1, in Stevens Funeral Home Chapel with Sam Wilson officiating. Burial will follow in the Coleman City Cemetery under the direction of Stevens Funeral Home.
She was born Glenda Gail Pope on Dec. 29, 1941, in Coleman, Texas, a daughter of R.H. Pope and Bobbie Lee Bassett Pope. She grew up in Coleman and graduated from Coleman High School in 1960. She attended beauty school and LVN school and graduated as a registered nurse from the Methodist School of Nursing in Lubbock.
On Dec. 17, 1961, she married Ronald Thurman (Andy) Anderson in Coleman and he preceded her in death on Feb. 12, 1992. Gail lived in Snyder for many years and moved to Colorado City following the death of her husband. She retired from the Mitchell County Hospital District and had recently moved to Odessa. She attended Westbrook Church of Christ.
Survivors include one son, Monty Jack Anderson and wife DeeAnn of Red Oak; one daughter, Robin Gail McCullough and husband James of Odessa; one brother, Kenneth Pope and wife Linda of Gouldbusk; two sisters, Donna Franke and husband Larry of New Braunfels, and Helen Overturff and husband Butch of Odessa; and two granddaughters, Lynsey McCullough and Sydney McCullough, both of Odessa.
She was preceded in death by her father, R. H.Pope; her mother, Bobbie Lee Pope Gardner; a brother, Robert Dale Pope; and a sister, Gloria June Gordon.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Rheumatoid Arthritis Foundation.
Family visitation will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Stevens Funeral Home, 400 West Pecan Street, Coleman, TX 76834.
Visit our online guest book at www.livingmemorials.com


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Friskies Party Mix Beachside Crunch: Shrimp Crab & Tuna6.0 oz
Quick view
Surf's Up!
You're invited to a beachside blowout! Are you ready for a lip-licking, whisker-twitching, tail-swishing good time? We're serving up the best flavors of the beach - shrimp, crab and tuna. With Friskies® Party Mix cat treats, each flavor-coated treat delivers its own unique crunch. It's a party for your cat every time you open the package...no R.S.V.P. required!
Get the Party Started™
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein.....Min 26%
Crude Fat.....Min 9%
Crude Fiber.....Max 4%
Moisture.....Max 11%
Made in USA
Feed as a treat to your adult cat. This product is a treat and is not intended to be fed as a meal. The caloric intake from treats should not exceed 10% of a cat's total daily caloric requirement. If treats are given, the amount of food should be reduced accordingly. Provide adequate fresh water in a clean container for your cat daily. For your pet's health, see your veterinarian regularly. Store in a cool, dry place.
©Nestle Purina PetCare Company
This product can be shipped to a Walgreens store for FREE
This product has no shipping restrictions.
Shipping Weight (in lbs): 0.4
Product in inches (LxWxH): 5.7x 5.0x 2.4
Item Code: 240746
*Many of these answers are provided by manufacturers or other customers. Walgreens does not review, verify, or endorse those answers, which represent the sole opinions of those parties.


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Staff at a tiny retro clothes shop in Felpham had a shock when Hollywood came calling on behalf of film star Jake Gyllenhaal.
Out On The Floor Clothing were contacted, out of the blue, by an assistant costume designer on the set of Gyllenhaal's new film, Okja, saying she desperately needed a Merc Tan Hemmingway Blazer for American actor.
Thankfully they had one - the very last one of that specific colour and size in stock in the entire UK - and it was shipped out straight away.
Andy from Out On The Floor said: "We are so shocked that our little shop in Bognor has been noticed by people in America.
"Not even just America but people working with film stars. We're all still buzzing.
Luckily, we had one in just the size. We were able to get one over to her quickly and smoothly, and it was the last one of that colour and size in stock in the UK."
Andy said the female costume designer was impressed with the speed at which he and step-mother owner Carol got the blazer over to New York, where most of the scenes are being filmed.
And Andy was given another shock when he saw pictures of Gyllenhaal wearing the jacket on set appear on the Mail Online website on Tuesday morning - proof that it arrived in one piece.
Destination boutique Out On The Floor opened in Felpham in May, 2015, and the small independent shop stock dozens of suppliers, including Merc, Dr. Martens, Darling Clothing and Art Gallery.
Don't miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.
Here are four ways you can be sure you'll be amongst the first to know what's going on.
1) Make our website your homepage at www.bognor.co.uk/
2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BognorRegisObserver
3) Follow us on Twitter @BogObserver
4) Register with us by clicking on 'sign in' (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.
And do share with your family and friends - so they don't miss out!
The Bognor Observer - always the first with your local news.
Be part of it.


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It's bad enough that Little People, Big World stars Audrey and Jeremy Roloff catch heat for not showing enough photos of baby Ember. And when we do get the pics, we focus on some nonsense ... like a hairstyle? The fact that anyone has this much of an issue with Jeremy's man bun is not only troubling, but shows how petty we can be about the dumbest things.
Audrey shared a link to her and Jeremy's "Us Weekly" interview on Facebook that shows a heartwarming family photo with baby Ember.
And rather than focus on this adorable party of three, fans decided to comment on Jeremy's man bun ... because, obviously, that makes sense.
More from CafeMom: Tori Roloff's Response to 'Perfect Parents' Trying to Mom-Shame Her Is One for the Books
Why people are so focused on Jeremy's hair -- to the point of telling a grown man how to style his mane -- will forever be a mystery.
Jeremy's man bun hasn't caused world hunger, unemployment, or global warming -- so why are folks acting like it's personally damaging?
More from CafeMom: Tori & Zach Roloff's 'Super Mature' Pastime Is Why We Love Them as Parents
If you don't like it, just get over it and carry on with life.
You'll live longer.


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Octavio Navarro
Huntington Park High Class of 1988
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- 1988
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All Current Services | All Past Services | All Veterans Memorials | All Fallen Heroes
Order a Book of Memories™
for Your Loved One
Learn More
We are here to help you. If you have need of our services, please call us, day or night. Or, if you prefer, you can fill out the form on the right.
Are you thinking about pre-planning your funeral? Pre-planning is the best way to choose how you're remembered, to ease the emotional and financial burden on your loved ones, to protect yourself from rising funeral costs, and to let your family know your final wishes.
Click here to learn more, or fill out this form and we will contact you.
We provide our families with an open door policy. Please feel free to contact us 24 hours a day.
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Mattydale, NY US
If you are looking for information on a particular topic, or if you are looking for a loved one who has been entrusted to our care, you can use the form below to narrow down your search.
The funeral or memorial service is an important step toward healing hearts and beginning the process of mending the rip in the social fabric that exists after someone dies. Your Funeral Director will guide you throughout the planning process, provide you with clear answers to all your questions, and share his or her insights and experience with you.
The following is an overview of the many aspects of service planning you will discuss during the arrangement conference. If you have any questions about this information, don't hesitate to call us.
Now that you have made the decision regarding burial versus cremation for your loved one, it is time to think about how you would like the service to look, and feel. It is an overall experience for everyone there; a testament to the life of someone you loved, and should illustrate the depth of your caring relationship.
Traditionally, a service is held in the family's church, or in the chapel of the funeral home. But, in today's world, you can choose to hold the service almost anywhere that is meaningful to you.
Perhaps there is a special place that your loved one would like to have their final goodbye? It could be at the beach, or in a favorite park; we've even seen services staged on the 18th hole of a golf course! Really, the choices are limited only by your imagination.
Of course, this is where you can rely heavily on your Funeral Director to help you in selecting the perfect location, and creating a memorable service.
Naturally, the answers to this question depend on the location you've selected, the schedules of those you wish to attend, and when the next newspaper prints so people can be informed of the service times you have selected. We have made arrangements for evening services. We've also seen early morning and afternoon services, held out-of-doors, in the sunshine and open air. If you have concerns about the weather, an indoor service is probably a good choice, and the day/time issue resolves itself when we look at the facility schedule.
You can choose to have a minister of your faith officiate the service, or a certified celebrant. For that matter, you can choose almost anyone who is comfortable with speaking in public, but we believe it should be someone who cares deeply about guiding those in attendance through the ceremony. The choice is always yours, but we suggest you select someone you know well, and trust.
Actually, these are the decisions which really shape and personalize the service. For example, you will need to decide:
Grieving doesn't always end with the funeral: subscribe to our free daily grief support email program, designed to help you a little bit every day, by filling out the form below.
It's hard to know what to say when someone experiences loss. Our free weekly newsletter provides insights, quotes and messages on how to help during the first year.


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If limited mobility is a big concern, a roll-in shower may be the ideal solution. Zero-threshold showers from Luxury Bath will allow you or a family member to regain bath-time independence. Our high-quality acrylic roll-in showers are custom-designed to fit perfectly in your existing space and can be installed by our expert Luxury Bath-certified installers in as little as two days!
Luxury Bath roll-in showers provide peace of mind and all-around convenience. Our curbless showers feature a threshold that's flush with the floor so that they can easily accommodate a wheelchair. Additional accessibility product options, as part of your Gainesville roll-in shower installation, make it even safer and easier to use your new curbless shower:
Your barrier free shower will elevate the look of your bathroom while making it more enjoyable to use.
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Get in touch with Luxury Bath today to learn more about our selection of barrier-free walk-in showers in Gainesville. Call or complete our quote form to schedule your free consultation and view our extensive selection of innovative shower products.
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Act now and we'll match our manufacturer's $500 discount for a total savings of up to $1000!


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ROSCOSMOS - Soyuz MS-07 Mission patch.
June 3, 2018
Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Scott Tingle of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos undocked from the International Space Station at 5:16 a.m. EDT to begin their trip home.
Image above: Expedition 55 crew members Anton Shkaplerov, Norishige Kanai and Scott Tingle pause for a final portrait before entering their Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft for the ride home. Image Credits: NASA/@OlegMKS.
Deorbit burn is scheduled for approximately 7:47 a.m., with landing in Kazakhstan targeted for 8:40 a.m. (6:40 p.m. Kazakhstan time). NASA TV coverage will resume at 7:15 a.m. for deorbit burn and landing coverage.
At the time of undocking, Expedition 56 will begin formally aboard the station, with Commander Drew Feustel of NASA, NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos comprising a three-person crew for several days.
Expedition 55 Trio Undocks ISS
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA and Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) are preparing to launch in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft Wednesday, June 6, on a two-day journey to dock to the station.
Related links:
NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html
Expedition 55: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition55/index.html
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Video (NASA TV), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch


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© 2019 Ventev Wireless Infrastructure. Wireless Networking Expertise. Valued Partnerships. Complete & Customized Wireless Solutions. 1.800.851.4965 - firstname.lastname@example.com
Question: Does TerraWave's line of premium WLAN antennas comply with FCC guidelines to operate with any major manufacturer's access points, including Cisco's?
Answer: Yes. Federal guidelines found in Title 47, Part 15, Section 15.204 authorize use of third party antennas. Specifically, Section 15.204 says:
"Any antenna that is of the same type and of equal or less directional gain as an antenna that is authorized with the intentional radiator may be marketed with, and used with, that intentional radiator. No retesting of this system configuration is required. The marketing or use of a system configuration that employs an antenna of a different type, or that operates at a higher gain, than the antenna authorized with the intentional radiator is not permitted."
Question: How do I interpret the Title 47, Part 15, Section 15.204 guideline?
Answer: It's simple! The regulation permits any user to install any antenna that is of the same family or style, and equal or lower gain, than any certified antenna. For example: if a 10-dBi patch antenna is certified for use with a specific WLAN transmitter, a TerraWave patch antenna with gain of 10 dBi or less may also be used. Or, if a Yagi directional antenna with a gain of 13.5 dBi is certified with a transmitter, a TerraWave Yagi antenna with 13.5 or less gain may be used with that transmitter.
Question: How do I know which antenna types and gain levels are certified with a WLAN transmitter?
Answer:WLAN Manufacturers typically publish a list of certified antennas in each transmitter's User's Manual. TerraWave Sales Representatives can also pull the FCC certification data for a specific WLAN transmitter and help you determine the types and gain levels of antennas certified with that transmitter.
Question: How do I verify the TerraWave antenna performance features (radiation patterns, gain, VSWR, isolation, etc.)?
Answer: Every TerraWave antennas is fully tested in an antenna test chamber for gain, radiation patterns, and VSWR and those test results are shown in the antennas specification sheet. What is more, TerraWave stands behind the quality of its antennas with a two-year warranty.
Question: How should I respond if a WLAN manufacturer declines to provide warranty coverage or technical support if I use a TerraWave antenna with the manufacturer's transmitter?
Answer: Point out that TerraWave antennas are passive devices and cannot damage the transmitter. Ask the manufacturer why they would limit warranty coverage or technical support because of a passive device.


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Is the Department of Defense Investing in Bullets That Turn into Flowers?
The U.S. military is indeed interested in developing bullets that won't leave training ranges environmentally compromised.
The U.S. Army is investigating ways to build biodegradable bullets that will sprout into plants.
In mid-January 2017, numerous news outlets reported on a Department of Defense solicitation for research proposals for the development of "biodegradable training ammunition loaded with specialized seeds to grow environmentally beneficial plants that eliminate ammunition debris and contaminants". The grant was announced through the DoD's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and posted publicly on 30 November 2016.
This grant stems from legislation requiring federal agencies to reserve a fraction of their research funding for small businesses, as described on the program's website:
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a United States Government program, coordinated by the Small Business Administration, and currently authorized through September 30, 2017, in which all federal agencies with extramural research budgets in excess of $100 million have a percentage reserved for contracts or grants to small businesses.
In the solicitation for the proposal, the DoD states that the requirements apply only to training rounds and not ammunition used in actual combat. They argue that the frequent use of training rounds been an environmental problem for the Army:
Some of these rounds might have the potential corrode and pollute the soil and nearby water. The solution sought by this topic is naturally occurring biodegradable material to replace the current training round materials, eliminating environmental hazards.
This SBIR effort will make use of seeds to grow environmentally friendly plants that remove soil contaminants and consume the biodegradable components developed under this project. Animals should be able to consume the plants without any ill effects.
Though the DoD has not stated specifics, there are a number of methods by which plants can remove toxins from the ground (a collection of processes known as phytoremediation). The DoD solicitation closes on 8 February 2017.


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About Us
Based in the rural town of Stamford in Lincolnshire, Stamford Photo Express has been established for 17 years: a true testament to the extremely high quality work offered by us (Andy Stretton and staff).
As the only independent outlet in Stamford, we pride ourselves on the range and quality of the photo work we produce and the high level of customer service we offer. These are unrivalled by our local competitors.
Our customers are generally local to Stamford and the surrounding area, although we have visitors from all over the UK (and sometimes overseas) who have been recommended to use our services by local residents. We welcome both users of digital media and traditional film.
We are especially attractive to customers who require a high standard of work and customer service, since we are confident that no other photographic outlet in Stamford can match us in these areas. We have more than fifty years combined experience in an industry that has sadly become totally deskilled in the High Street outlets and this deskilling is evident in the reduced number of services available to the customer.
Quality and Service
We offer the personal touch to our customer service and because every single image is independently checked, the quality of work produced is extremely high; you will be amazed at just how good your photographs are when printed correctly. We do not simply push a button and apply the same setting to every photograph. We treat your pictures exactly as if they were our own.


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Story and photos by Ike Dodson, PIO
Office of Public and Employee Communications
Correctional Officer Charles Norris keeps the secret to his dog's success tucked in the back right pocket of his tactical duty uniform cargo pants.
To reward his German short-haired pointer "Remmie" for successfully sniffing out contraband, Norris reaches for a rolled-up hand towel taped at both ends ― a tug that Remmie desperately needs to play with.
A correct passive alert (sit and point) on the location of hidden contraband gives Remmie some treasured play time with his tug.
It's how CDCR K-9s are trained to sniff out contraband like narcotics, tobacco and cell phones inside state institutions.
Remmie and Norris are one of seven teams to graduate the latest 280-hour K-9 Academy March 23 at the Northern California Women's Facility, an inactive prison in Stockton used for training. The frequent academies are the product of an approved budget change proposal by The Drug Interdiction Program that tasks CDCR with providing two K-9 teams at each of the 35 adult institutions in California.
The budget change was proposed after an independent report by the University of California, Berkeley, found that the K-9 program was one of the most effective tools for discovering both narcotics and contraband within CDCR institutions.
The noses matter.
In a three-year span, from July 1, 2014, to April 30, 2017, CDCR K-9 teams found 3,774 cell phones, nearly two pounds of cocaine, 192 grams of hash oil, roughly 10 pounds of heroin, over 126 pounds of marijuana, nearly 20 pounds of methamphetamine and well over 470 pounds of tobacco.
Remmie and his handler ― who fellow officers can't help but dub "Chuck" Norris ― are designated for work at North Kern State Prison. Delano's Dog-Walker Texas Ranger leads one of 54 teams, statewide.
Officer Chris Drake and his husky (as in muscles, not breed) partner "Bear," a black lab, are designated for service at California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC)
"Gage," an energetic German shorthaired pointer, is active at the Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) with Officer Michael Krohn.
Officer Aaron Young and his remarkably calm black lab "Diesel" were sent to California Health Care Facility.
"Mango," a forever-smiling yellow lab with a giant tongue and a keen sniffer, searches for contraband at California State Prison, Corcoran with Officer Socorro Rios.
Officer Derek Trone and his lanky German short-haired pointer "Aldo" were sent to Pelican Bay State Prison, while Officer Joey Martinez and his eager yellow lab "Rye" are at Wasco State Prison.
All the dogs are between 18 and 36 months old.
Each team was honored during the March 23 ceremony and congratulated by Division of Adult Institutions Associate Warden Bryan Donahoo and his team.
"I want to thank you seven who stepped up to the challenge," he said. "You were hand-selected by your institutions, accepted that challenge and showed up here at the academy not knowing for certain what you were going to go through.
"I am extremely proud of you for successfully certifying in K-9 Detection and I look forward to your many successes out in the field."
The program also graduated eight teams last December, sending teams to California Correctional Institution, California Institution for Women, California Medical Center, DVI, SAC and San Quentin State Prison. The next academy will begin May 14.
The dogs are purchased from Antioch contractor K-9 Specialized Training And Consulting (K-9 STAC). The handlers spend a few days in classrooms, get paired up with dogs of compatible personalities and spend the remainder of the academy perfecting their hunt for contraband.
"Not many organizations have the caliber of trainers like Lt. Jeremy Packard, Sgt. Gene Chamberlin and Sgt. Eladio Alfaro," Donahoo said. "They put in hours and hours of work, from when the dogs are being selected by the vendor, through the academy and during monthly mandatory training.
"We couldn't do it without them."
Handlers are picked from a list of current correctional officers that have completed their Apprenticeship Program and submit a letter of interest after institutions announce a K-9 team vacancy.
"We look for correctional officers who exhibit dependability, a strong work ethic, are ethically sound, confident, have good communication skills, work well with others, and who show initiative in actively searching and finding contraband," Statewide K-9 Coordinator Lt. Packard said. "We also look for employees who continually communicate their findings and intel with their Investigative Services Unit.
"K-9 officers are often recruited after building a rep as a search hound."
The dogs work regular hours, like their partners, and return home with their handlers. The dogs eat grain-free dog food and stay well-rested at home.
Because of the reward method for successful searches, work becomes play.
"The dogs are extremely excited to go to work," Packard said. "Every time they do something good, it's like they won the lotto."
It always comes back to that sweet reward in handlers' back pockets ― an unspoken "Tugs, not Drugs" campaign.


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Executive Director
United Disabilities Services
West Virginia University
Debra is a master's level Medical Social Worker experienced in Clinical Operations. She worked as a Regional Director for a large Long Term Care network; designing, training and developing best practices for dementia special care units throughout multiple states. She went on to work as a Behavioral Health Hospital Administrator within community based settings in Indiana, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. This was a leadership position for both adult inpatient and outpatient services. The roles of Regional Director of Clinical Operations and Hospital Administrator required an in-depth understanding of regulatory compliance and quality measures. Most recently, Debra has brought her passion for quality measures and outcomes to her role as Executive Director of Home and Community Based Services at United Disabilities Services, leading her team to become one of the first NCQA recognized Service Coordination Entities in the state of Pennsylvania awarded a three year accreditation. Her team was recognized as the first place winner in the National NASUAD-HCBS conference for "stories from the field" highlighting quality outcomes within Home and Community Based Services to reduce unplanned hospitalizations.
Saturday, October 6


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Being on vacation is often seen as the ultimate break, the best time to unwind and relax. But then again, it is also the time we run around the city, exploring, get up early, go to bed late, drink more alcohol than usual and suddenly you realize you haven't been relaxing much after all. Or?
For me the ultimate relaxation is to do what feels good, right then and there. Either if it is to walk around, exploring, drinking coffee and feeling the sun on my face, or go shopping, power nap and blog. And that is exactly what we did yesterday, all of the above.
It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight, and even though it was very windy, it felt like summer! So we did whatever we felt like, ending it with a bath, room service and falling asleep around 21:30. Which was perfect, because I was tired after a long night of stomach pain (too much pastries I suppose) and needed to relax. Just what we are here for.
Lots of love from Henriette Sophia


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|Director of Branded Lifestyle Company Taiwan Branch Operation Section – Miss Lei, Yi-Dai
|▲Miss Yi-Dai Lei was invited to MCU, and shared her industrial experience.
|▲Provide suggestions for the improvement of Journalism Department curriculum
|Editor of San-Li Online News – Miss You, Ya-Lan
|▲Miss Ya-Lan You, an alumna graduated last year, currently serves as an editor of San-Li Online News. She came back school and shared her opinions about the required skills of online editing.
|▲Group photo of the attending alumni and faculty members


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Sandy's Deli & Roti, 12110 Liberty Avenue, South Richmond Hill, Queens
Buss-up-shut, a Trinidadian flatbread, resembles a tattered, busted-up shirt (or shut in West Indian parlance) — thus the name. Try pairing it with the Pumpkin Curry, seasoned lightly with onion and garlic, and a side of Tomato Choka (roasted tomatoes tossed with raw onion). It's a soothing, filling meal.
Golden Palace, 140-09 Cherry Avenue, Flushing, Queens
This cold noodle dish from northeastern China effortlessly balances its bold flavors: ample garlic, sprigs of fresh cilantro, sharply acidic black vinegar, a dash of nutty sesame oil, crushed red pepper and something mustard-like with savory undertones. The thick mung bean noodles are ideal for conveying that utterly addictive sauce down the hatch.
Woodside Café, 64-23 Broadway, Woodside, Queens
This substantial Nepali "snack" combines house-roasted and flattened rice flakes with a spread of spicy, savory dishes, including black-eyed peas cooked in North Indian spices, stir-fried mustard greens, spicy daikon pickles, soy beans tossed with mustard oil and ginger and a dense yet crisp deep-fried lentil patty. Take a bit of the crunchy rice, mash in a dab of another dish (or two) and enjoy the contrasting flavors and textures.
Arepas Café, 33-07 36th Avenue, Astoria, Queens
Venezuelans stuff almost anything into their arepas (griddled cornmeal cakes). Arepas Café's Guayanesa Tropical arepa is filled with a particularly satisfying combination: fried sweet plantains, creamy wedges of avocado, and firm, mild Guyanés cheese. Add squirts of the creamy guasacaca (mayo blended with green peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, and lime), and you have a full meal in your hands.
Kopiaste Taverna, 23-15 31st Street, Astoria, Queens
These fried vegetable patties pack bold flavors and minimal heft—everything Eastern European potato latkes are not. At Kopiaste Taverna, they're made with grated zucchini, sharp feta, dill and scallion. They're crisp and golden outside, soft and light within and unencumbered by excess oil. Order a bottle of Keo, a light Cypriot lager, and savor this Greek-Cypriot drinking snack.
Anne Noyes Saini produces The Sporkful podcast by day and explores restaurants and regional cooking whenever she can. She also contributes to Narratively, NPR The Salt, Serious Eats, Real Cheap Eats, and Feet in 2 Worlds. She lives in Queens, where she aspires to learn how to make all the food she loves — from arepas to za'atar. Follow her on Twitter @CitySpoonful.


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How do Phantom Cameras work?
Phantom cameras continuously record to a high speed cache memory. The size of the cache memory dictates how many frames you can capture and for how long. Once triggered the contents for the cache memory can be instantly reviewed, trimmed and or saved to the phantoms cinemag for ingest to mac or pc later.
What format do Phantom's record in?
Phantom cameras record 12bit raw .cine files. This is native to a vast amount of editing/grading software.
Which phantom is right for me?
The best way to select the right Phantom camera is by assessing what resolution you require and what frame rate you hope to achieve, from there we can point you in the correct direction.
Do I need extra lights?
Yes, despite high base ISO high speed cameras require a lot of light. For more advice on this please get in touch with one of our technicians.
Do I need to worry about flicker?
Yes, the wrong lights will cause flicker at various frame rates. Tungsten lights 5K and over are fine, HMI lights with High Speed Ballests (not the same as flicker free) and most LED lighting are fine. This can be a mine field so please ask us if you're unsure.
Do I need a technician with my hire?
While not essential, the experience and knowledge of a technician can allow you hit the ground running especially on short hires where there isn't time to familiarise yourself with new kit and software.
How do I go about hiring?
Firstly get in touch via phone or email, then complete an account form and you're ready to go.
What do I do about insurance?
For dry hire we do require our equipment to be fully insured against loss or damage as well as loss of hire cover. For wet hire our technicians and equipment are fully insured but we do require production to have correct insurance to cover our equipment while on your set. If you need advice or need an insurance company please get in touch.
Request a Callback
Simply fill in the form below, and we'll come back to you with a quote.


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ver the last few years, in fact during the period I've been at Madhyamaloka, I have been thinking more and more about the importance of Order members' meditation. It is our meditation, in the end, which informs and shapes the movement. The way we practice is, in the end, how we are. And how we are, in the end, determines the whole character of the movement.
There is something very particular about meditation. Meditation gives us an experience. We can actually contact something real in meditation. Meditation gives us a strong experience of reality. At least, it should do so at times. Perhaps it gives us that experience at times when we meditate intensively. Perhaps it happens when we allow plenty of space around our meditation. Or perhaps it's when we simply value meditation highly and are very mindful of it. I think this is how it should be – that at least from time to time, that our meditation should give us a strong experience. It shouldn't just keep us in a kind of nice gentle mood all the time – all balanced, all sorted out. That isn't real, that doesn't go very deep. No, now and again, our meditation should be giving us a bit of a spiritual nudge, even a bit of a spiritual jolt. If it is the case that our meditation does not give us a strong experience, at least now and again, it may be that we do not do very much of it, or it may be that we do not take meditation very seriously as a spiritual practice.
One of the things we were discussing at Madhyamaloka last week was the question as to whether we in the movement take meditation very seriously. I think it is reasonable to say that these days there is less intensive meditation going on than there used to be in the days when Bhante was around all the time. We often used to do sesshins, we often used to do meditation retreats. Nearly everyone used to do those annual month long solitary retreats. On the whole, people used to meditate more than they do now. Of course I am generalising, of course there is Vajraloka, there is Taraloka and Guhyaloka, and there are two Order members now doing long retreats. Though, I have to say, that is two out of 791. Of course, the developments which have taken place in the last decade, in the fields of Study, and Right Livelihood, and in the ordination process, have been crucial ones. They are what we needed to do. But in some respects I feel the pendulum may have swung rather too far away from direct spiritual practice.
Of course, the Order has grown – grown in numbers. But we have also grown in years. Abhaya came up to me yesterday to remind me that this year he and I, and one or two others, celebrate the 25th annniversary of our ordination. There must be lots of Order members pushing 15 and 20. There are now many senior members of the Order, men and women who have thought much about the Dharma, who have meditated regularly, and at times meditated deeply. People who have continued to go for Refuge through many difficult circumstances, who have acquired insight through all this Dharma activity. We should rejoice in all that practice, in the collective foundation that represents.
And it is a good thing for each of us individually, because all of us are going to have to face old age and death. The crazy young men and women who made the movement happen in the seventies are now at least fifty; they are perhaps even going on sixty. Yes, all of us, unless we die young, will have to face old age and death. All of us are going to have to face reality. So we should start doing so sooner, rather than when it is too late.
It is very auspicious that all of us have been able to make a start on this. We are very lucky to have found the Dharma.
So I think this is a good time for more of us, especially the more senior among us, to take seriously the fact of our impermanance, and to take refuge in meditation as a source of the wisdom which we need to face it. We are all fairly well prepared in study and ethical practice, and presumably we're filling in any gaps in these areas as we go on. So I'm asking you to consider giving more priority to the practice of meditation. Consider spending more time on retreat, that is on meditation retreats, and on solitary retreats which are spent in meditation. Consider giving more time to your personal practice. Please think in terms of gaining wisdom, gaining a perspective on human existence which will make you a resource for others, and which will allow you to be happy whatever happens to you, whatever circumstances arise in your old age. Create in yourself a counterweight to the human tendency to slide into an impatient, unwise and crotchety old age, or a flabby, silly old age, one in which your wisdom does not shine through, because it simply isn't there. Now is the time; now is the time to meditate, because time is running out.
I said just now that I felt the pendulum of our collective practice may have swung too far away from meditation. And I have been saying how I think it could, and should, start to swing back in that direction, and how we could, and should, contribute to that swing. I think our doing so would create more of a unity in our spiritual practice overall. Dharma study and all that implies, spiritual friendship and all that implies, meditation and all that implies – all need forging together into some kind of new sythesis. Of these three, there seems currently to be a lack in the dimension of meditation.
Of course, I do not think the issue is one simply of meditating more. It's not just quantity, there is also quality. Meditating more is something we all need to do, I suspect, but we also need to think about it more, understand it more. In a way, we understand meditation very well. I think the FWBO generally has an excellent understanding of the nature and role of meditation, and a good reputation for teaching it. But there is more, there really is. There really is further to go. We need to articulate better the deeper aspects of the Dharma.
What we need to articulate better are our realisations of the Dharma. Now at some point each of us has realised the Dharma. We've each realised the truth to some extent – or we would not be here. Our insights may be spelt with a small 'i', but still they have brought us to the stage of effective going for Refuge. Since then we may sometimes have lapsed, our going for Refuge may have slipped at times, but at least once in our lives, something happened which we cannot forget. There was some kind of insight which in our best moments we can remember – and which we can recapture, if we make sufficient effort.
It is important that we recognise our realisations, that we remember them, even that we write them down, and that we reflect further on them. Because in terms of the spiritual life, we are our realisations. Our realisations are where we are at, they are what changes us. We act in accordance with our realisation. We are going for Refuge in accordance with our realisation.
Essentially, it is this realisation which was recognised by our preceptor at ordination. It was seen, it was witnessed by someone who we also recognise as one who has realised, witnessed by someone who himself clearly goes for Refuge to the Buddha and to his Practice of realisation. It is when our realisation is recognised, and when our determination is recognised to act on that realisation, act for the benefit of all beings – it is then that we enter the Order, and then that we receive our sadhana. That's one reason why sadhanas are so important. The sadhana begins at that crucial point. Because what is also recognised is our connection with the Buddha; and our connection with the Buddha appearing in a particular form.
And meditating on this particular Buddha form, or Bodhisattva form, keeps alive the karmic weight of the ordination. In retrospect, our ordination was the most important juncture in our life. It was a weighty karma which gave us a whole new life. So the Sadhana recapitulates and symbolises our having been seen to go for Refuge to the Buddha, and having been seen to take responsibility for eventually becoming a Buddha.
This is why we are enjoined to practice the sadhana every day. I'm going to say more about that a bit later on. In the meantime I've got a few points about sadhana in general.
n the whole, we don't talk much about sadhana in general. We don't talk a lot about sadhana anyway. I'm not sure it's so much because of lack of opportunity or the right people to talk to. I don't think we really know very well how to discuss sadhana, what to talk about, what language to use. I think that's a vital issue. But anyway, when we do talk, we generally talk about particular sadhanas. I do the Padmasambhava sadhana. You do the Tara sadhana. They do the Ksitigarbha sadhana or the Manjughosa or the Avalokitesvara sadhanas. I've often been on sadhana kula retreats, which is where we probably do most of our talking about particular sadhanas – though, of course, the main emphasis of these retreats is on actual meditation. I've attended, and even occasionally led, quite a number of retreats on Tara, Manjughosa, Vajrasattva and Avalokitesvara. But as you know, in recent years I've started to lead a regular retreat on the theme of what the sadhanas have in common.
This isn't at all because I want to discourage the kula retreats – of course I want to see Order members practising meditation, and particularly sadhana, and this is a very good way to practice. However I do think we need to come to a better collective understanding of what we are doing when we practice sadhana, whatever sadhana we happen to practice.
Dharmacaris and Dharmacharinis need to examine these questions, because our tradition of practice has a special way of looking at them. The visualisation practices we have been given originally arose within a context of so-called 'Tantric' Buddhism. However, that is not the context in which we practise them now. We do them in the context of a more universal form of Buddhist practice, a more open tradition of practice, a tradition which questions existing tradition, one which tries to see what is essential.
I think it is very important that we take this context on board, for quite a few different reasons. One reason is that it is quite easy to harbour a romantic view of visualisation practice. There is something of a temptation to cling on to an idea that, really, behind it all, we are actually practising within a 'traditional' framework – traditional, that is, in the sense of a particular tradition. We may harbour the fond feeling that we are, secretly, Nyingmapas, or Kagutpas, or in any case Tibetan, Buddhists. After all, most of our teacher's teachers were, so surely, in some sense, we are too. Well, of course there is a connection of some kind. However as an Order we do not take on the framework of Tantra. Our visualisation practices are not Vajrayana practices. They are just Buddhist practices. When we practice sadhana we are imagining the Buddha. We are making a connection with the Buddha. But the way we do that is simply how it happens to be at the time. We simply connect with the Buddha, and take things on from there. In our communication with the Buddha we do not carry with us the intellectual baggage of the Vajrayana. Even though Vajrayana ideas may be interesting, and may be useful, it is not considered that they are necessary for that communication to take place.
As a movement, we are developing a critique of Triyana Buddhism which is likely to be important for the future of Buddhist practice. Once upon a time the Mahayana arose as a response to the monastic and scholarly preoccupations of the Hinayana. Later on, the Vajrayana arose as a response to the monastic and scholarly preoccupations of the Mayahana. Nowadays it seems that the present day Tibetan schools, representing the Vajrayana, have monastic and scholarly preoccupations which will eventually need to be gone beyond. I'm not saying that the FWBO has all the answers, I wouldn't dare say such a thing, but at least it is asking these questions seriously, and trying out some answers. Buddhism is coming out of a stagnant period; it is due for another renaissance. I am quite sure that the FWBO is playing an important part in that. These are obviously very early days, but they are very creative ones. We are creating a new way of practising sadhana. We are going back to the essentials of practice, and taking our practice from there. So this is why we need to think more about what it is that we are all of us doing in visualisation meditation.
ne thing that all our sadhanas have in common, whatever their particular form, is the blue sky. The blue sky is something very profound. The form of the Buddha or the Bodhisattva manifests out of this, out of our symbolic imagination of sunyata, our imagination of the ultimate view of reality. So immediately, we have a meditation within a meditation, a meditation on form and reality, rupa and sunyata. The beauty of the ideal form of the ideal man on the one hand; and on the other, the truth of that form's real nature, a nature which cannot be described. The truth of things is that they are impermanent and have no substantial existence. Or one can say that the manner of their existence is deeply mysterious. You just cannot get at the way things exist. You just cannot understand it – not as you are now, anyway – so all is mysterious, all is void, all is sunyata, the open dimension of things, ineffable, beyond description.
So when we imagine the boundless space of the blue sky, we meditate on this. The image of the Buddha and the blue space of the void are quite inseparable, they are of exactly the same stuff. There is no difference. The image is sunyata, and sunyata is nothing else but image. So we meditate on this, and all this implies, and it implies quite a lot. It implies Enlightenment.
So as the image of Enlightenment manifests out of the voidness, we take him as the ideal object for reflection on rupa and sunyata. We know we have created this form ourselves. It has come out of our relatively impoverished imagination. So it is quite clear that this object is entirely conditioned. And yes, our ability to visualise is imperfect. Perhaps we hardly perceive anything at all when we visualise. Yet we are doing something when we sincerely make the attempt. Something is arising in dependence on our sincere efforts. And that something, however imperfect it may be, is what we call the visualised image. Its imperfection is actually quite irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that we are creating it out of sunyata. And that it stands in the place of the Enlightened One, the Buddha.
Formally, one does this reflection on the nature of form and the nature of potentiality at the beginning, and at the end, of the visualisation part of the sadhana. Of course, it helps if we do it at other times, to. But at the point when we start to imagine the Buddha appearing out of the blue sky, we have a special opportunity to reflect on how form arises out of emptiness. And then, when the Buddha dissolves back into the blue sky, we have a special opportunity to reflect on how emptiness is no other than form. Often the sunyata mantra is recited at this point, to mark the transition.
It is very interesting to reflect on the nature of form; for after all, what is a form? You can say that there is visual form that you see, there is aural form that you hear, there is tangible form when you touch. There is also the form of an idea or a feeling. Because feelings do have a kind of form, a kind of shape. So does an idea – though these forms are not visual. An idea might spark off a visual image in the mind, but that image is not the idea itself. We are talking about the form of the actual idea. That is quite indescribable in visual terms, yet it does have a form. It is so interesting that these forms, which engage our attention all the time, are so often beyond verbal description. For example, you can say a perfume has a form. I can very clearly imagine the perfume of a rose. I can easily imagine the smell of frying onions, too. These odours have a form, but I can't describe what kind of form they have. Its rather similar with the form of the Buddha. We can only attempt to paint, in our mind, the Buddha's form. That is not only because we are not especially adept at visualisation. There is another very important limitation, which is that we are not enlightened. When we try to imagine the form of the Buddha, in terms of a visual image, an icon of colour and light, that is of course only a tiny part of how a Buddha really is. It is even a tiny part of how we would actually experience the Buddha if he were actually present. So we shouldn't expect too much, not yet. There is, for example, that element of atmosphere, or presence. The Buddha Vibe. How is one to imagine the form of an atmosphere? Sure, each person has an atmosphere, which is quite distinct and recognisable. It has some kind of form, it has some kind of outline, it has certain definite characteristics which can be recognised. But this rupa, this form, can't be adequately described. So when you 'visualise,' you don't have to think of form just in terms of shapes in space. It is useful also to think of indiscribable shapes in the mind, to imagine impressions, vibrations, which don't translate in the usual visual terms.
Reflection on the nature of form may seem a kind of abstract thing to do. But it only seems abstract because we are so lacking in faith and imagination. This is definitely not something abstract! It is of the essence of reality. You can't get more real. All dharmas really are sunyata. The fact that we often dismiss the point and pass on makes no difference whatsoever. I think that an attitude that 'this is just abstract' can sometimes betray our emotional resistance to the Buddha. It perhaps shows us that in order to engage with sadhana, we need to open ourselves up a little bit. Perhaps we need to drop our habitual armour, and simply recognise that we don't really know what the 'mind' is, and we don't really know what 'things' are either. When meeting a Buddha, it's an opportunity to recognise that you are completely ignorant of who you are, and who he is. When a Buddha comes near to us, when we call him to us with his mantra, it will surely help the communication get off the ground if we relax that rigid pose we have of knowing all about reality, thank you very much.
We can do this reflection in our practice, every day. But it might also do to prepare ourselves more thoroughly, to do some background work: to consider the whole background of what we are doing in visualisation.
e should start with the Imagination, because the essential key to sadhana is to realise that our imagination is at play everywhere, and all the time. The act of imagination does not necessarily take place on some exalted plane. It is a faculty which we all use in every moment of our existence. It is continually at work in all the various different worlds we inhabit. We know that it is active in our waking life. But it's also there in our dreams, in our meditation – in our distractions from meditation, too. It is even said to operate in after death experience.
The Bardo Thodol refers to the six bardos of waking, dreaming, meditating, the moment of death, the after death state, and rebirth. Of these, we are most familiar with waking, dreaming, and meditating, more or less in that order. We obviously know the waking state best. That is our normality. But how would we characterise it? Perhaps we would say that the basic experience is one of consciousness. Because what happens while we are awake is that we see, we hear, we smell and taste, we touch, and we cognise mental things. We experience the six sense consciousnesses; so we might say, therefore, that the six sense consciousnesses are what characterise waking life.
However, sense consciousness is not unique to waking life. In dreams, too, we see, we hear, we experience touches. We also remember and plan in detail. We are driven by strong feelings and emotions. So when we see the extent to which consciousness also takes place in dreams, it is rather difficult to pin down what is special about the waking state. We all view our waking lives as the most real and significant part of our existence. Yet at the time that it happens, a dream is completely real to us; it is as real as waking life. So all we can really say is that the waking state is the one with which we most associate ourselves. It is here that we have the most power to intervene, to exercise our will, to be responsible, to respond rather than react.
I am not arguing that dreaming is more real, or more important, than being awake, or vice versa. We are exploring the activity of the imagination, and the point is that we spend long periods of actual, vivid, sensuous life in a world that works completely differently to that of waking existence.
The point is very significant, because sadhana meditation, too, can become a vivid, real experience. So to draw out this significance, it is very helpful to watch dreams. Occasionally, even, to make a practice of recording them. This brings more attention on to one's dream life; it brings more attention on to one's mental life generally. So that we tend to notice much more the continual play of images arising in the mind.
Since the waking state is no different as an experience, maybe it would be interesting to treat your waking experience as though it were a dream. Try imagining that you're dreaming, that this is a dream. It has an interesting effect. It can make you more self-aware, bring you into the present more. It's just a trick, of course. You could just practice mindfulness in the ordinary way and the effect is the same. Life becomes more vivid; you become more aware of the continual activity of the six senses – the eyes and the ears and the mind. You perceive, with the eyes and ears, more what is actually there, without allowing the mind habitually to add or subtract information. By practising mindfulness of our senses, we come to perceive our sensations more as they really are. We then come closer to the real workings of the mind and the emotions.
This is liberating. It is liberating to be alive to the spontaneous movement of the mind. It is liberating to notice our thoughts as they arise, liberating to observe the mind at play.
The mind is playing with all its stored-up memories. In most of our mental activity, whether we are thinking, reflecting or planning, we use stored memories of previous sense impressions. All the sights we've seen, the sounds we've heard, the ideas we've had. (Our experience, that's what we call it.) These sense memories serve as a kind of clip-art for the imaginative process. After all, impressions are all we have to work with. Our thought processes can only have sense memories to work with. All our data is, at some point or another, received through the senses. If I am thinking about something, for example thinking about what I am going to say to you, I weigh and measure its meaning by subtly arranging and rearranging clips from my former experience. And what I am saying will make sense to you largely to the extent that you can fit it all together meaningfully in your own mind. And to do that, you use your own set of former experiences as you have them stored in your memory. If we think about what we could be doing next week, we take sense memories and put them together in a kind of picture of what this or that different activity might be like. It's the same when we consider how we feel about someone else – it's the same sort of process of match-and-compare. We do it even if we have never met someone – we just use guesswork to picture them, still using images and feelings created by previous sense impressions. From the various scraps of available information, we surmise that they are probably rather like this, or like that.
The five physical senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching, all work through the sixth sense, the mind sense. You and I see each other. But our physical eyes are just receptors for coloured light. They see nothing. The information comes alive when it is processed by our brain and interpreted by our mind. Really, all our sensing takes place in the mind. Our sense world is an interpretation by our mind. To grasp this point is important in developing our view of what happens when we do sadhana meditation.
It is useful as an exercise when starting the sadhana, or indeed any meditation practice, to experience the activity of the senses in the moment that it happens. So for a while, instead of withdrawing from the senses, we can just sit loose to the habit of interpreting what manifests through them, so that we 'just see', 'just hear', and 'just experience.' It is easier said than done, but just trying to do it trains us in a useful approach to the practice. To the extent we can do it, we bypass the problem of hindrances and distractions, because these are seen as further sense objects to be incorporated into the meditation. That process of incorporation knits the mind together and empowers the imagination. In this approach it isn't that we 'let go' of sense experiences. It is more like we let them 'come and go' within a spacious awareness.
This is also, of course, not just an 'approach', but an important meditation practice in its own right. It is also something we can do when we are not formally meditating. Because generally, in the way just outlined, it is good Dharma practice, an aspect of mindfulness, to live more in the senses. The attempt to live more in the senses is aimed at seeing, and then breaking out of, our habitual way of employing the senses. What we eventually transcend is our covering over of the real world with a veil of assumptions about it.
Because we normally approach meditation through sense-withdrawal, it is easy to start viewing the senses as pertaining to a lower form of consciousness. But this is by no means necessarily the case. The important shift we are trying to make is not so much to get out of the senses, but to transcend our habitual attachment to sense experience. It is this attachment which keeps us in a distracted state. Withdrawal from the senses in meditation – as when we close our eyes, and focus our attention away from sounds and ideas – is just a particular method of temporarily achieving this transcendence of attachment. In dhyana we temporarily transcend the kāmaloka. But the kāmaloka is not the realm of the senses, but the realm of sense desire. It is the realm in which our relationship to the senses has been distorted through the influence of negative emotions. The emotions which we habitually generate towards the objects in our world tend to fix the way we experience those objects, until the whole process congeals and sets our world in particular, narrow forms. It is this habitual sense-desire which prevents our imagination from taking wings. In the rūpaloka, the realm of purified form which we can enter in meditation, I would say the senses still operate. It is just that they operate in a very different way, in a more visionary way, purified as they are from the hindrance of attachment to sense experience.
Sense experience in itself is quite pure and undistorted. You can explore this continually through the practice of mindfulness. By simply looking at the colours and forms surrounding you. By simply listening to the weather, to the engine of a car driving by. Whether you are in the country or the city, you can listen to all the different sounds which take place inside the building you are in, and to all those generated inside your body. The contrast between the sounds which are actually happening, and those which we assume are happening, can be very surprising.
We have been exploring our experience of the senses in waking consciousness, and just now we took a little diversion into the experience of subtle senses in meditation. Yet it is just the same situation when we are dreaming. All kinds of sights, sounds, smells, touches, ideas, and memories also arise in dreams. In dreams we experience a whole world, just as we do when awake. There is a very strong experience of 'me', a subject; this subject experiences all kinds of objects 'out there'; and, in the relation between these two, arise all kinds of complex emotions and thoughts. In dreams, the physical senses are not actually operating, even though they appear to do so. All experience takes place within the mind-sense. In dreams, all our experience is centred around a kind of mental body. But in this mental body we still have experiences of sights and sounds which are just as real as those we encounter in this so-called physical body. In fact we find that in all the worlds we inhabit, whether awake or asleep, or meditating, alive – and even, they say, in the after death state – the same thing occurs: the mind creates a sense world. An experienced subject somehow perceives objects. There is an experience of a body, a location, and an experience of a world bounded by time and space.
What though is this 'world', and where do its forms come from – why do we perceive the particular forms that we do? In the forms we individually experience, and in the different worlds we inhabit, people really are astonishingly different from one another. The way I perceive such and such a person can be radically different from the way you experience them. What I like for breakfast will certainly be perceived differently by me and by you. What I find pleasant, you may find disgusting, and vice versa. There is a rough outline experience of the world which everyone agrees that they share. There are finer, more exclusive worlds which are shared between like-minded friends. But even then, my world is never completely the same as your world, and yours is never quite the same as mine. Even though there are many experiences which we more or less share, we never fully share them. Each experience is always different for everyone. So again, what are these different worlds of experience – where do their forms come from? Why do we, individually, perceive the particular forms that we do?
According to the Yogacara way of viewing reality, the forms which populate our personal world, with all their pleasant and painful aspects, are seeded by the contents of the Alayavijnana or Store Consciousness. This is the granary of all our past sense impressions and deeds, all the activities of our mind amassed over the entire course of beginningless time. The notion of the Alaya is simply a model. It does not profess to describe absolute reality. However, it does profess to describe the way we actually experience ourselves. This is where we store all our sense memories. This is how our karma stimulates and stirs up those sense memories. This is how everything we experience takes place in a mysterious medium that we call 'mind'.
So if we can understand how we are continually creating the world that we inhabit, and can see how our world is actually a story we tell to ouselves and which we illustrate using pre-existing sense memories – if we can see all that, then how can we say that we do not visualise? We visualise everything. We imagine everything. We visualise in the world of waking; we visualise what we might have for dinner, and what it might be like to meet someone. We imagine our spiritual teacher. We even imagine one another. Of course we imagine one another whilst practising the Metta Bhavana – but even when we meet face to face, actually, we still imagine one another. It still takes an act of imagination to see, to any extent at all, who someone else is. We even imagine ourselves. That is what we are.
Everyone visualises all the time; our lives are a visualisation. So no-one cannot meaningfully say that they do not, or that they cannot, visualise. If anyone has a problem, it is that they find difficulty in visualising specifically in meditation. And clearly that has to do with the way in which we view the meditation practice. We need to wake up to the endless play of our imagination, and realise that this is what is employed in meditation. The constant activity of our mind consciousness needs to be brought into the rest of our spiritual life, linked to our spiritual purpose, our going for Refuge. When we do this, we begin to imagine the state of Enlightenment and the embodiments of Enlightenment. We begin to imagine the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, and the enlightened Teachers.
think we find that to imagine a Buddha or Bodhisattva is somehow more demanding than imagining an ordinary person. Well, of course we do not understand the Buddha. Being enlightened, he lies outside our normal range of experience. So we start in the sadhana practice by creating a kind of bridge. We create whatever image we can of the Buddha, we locate some kind of impression of him in our mind, using whatever images we already have available to us. We usually use the standard iconography – Sword and Book for Manjughosa, White Snowy radiance for Vajrasattva, Red Sunset radiance for Amitabha, etc. In employing such imagery we should remember that this is only our crude attempt to make a bridge to the Buddha. We have to make some attempt. The sincerity of this attempt makes it possible for the real Buddha, the Enlightened consciousness itself, to come to inhabit, so to speak, the world we have created in our imagination.
We know that the image we create is known as the samayasattva, and that the arising actual Buddha is called the jnanasattva. Once we have worked our imagination, and established the visualised world of the sadhana, there is the possibility of an even greater expansion of the imagination – an expansion into Enlightenment. But from the unenlightened viewpoint where we stand now, we cannot extend the imagination very much further. All we can do now is richly to imagine the Buddha, and to be open to the potential unfoldment of the Enlightened consciousness. Indeed, I think it is important not to think that we can make contact with the real Buddha by the sheer power of our imagination. The truth is that we can only pray, have faith, and be receptive. Our sraddha marks our side of the samaya or the connection we make with the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva himself has his own side of the samaya: he or she undertakes to bestow their Enlightened qualities in response to our faith.
It's time now to conclude with a few points as to how to practice a sadhana.
e are all told, 'do your sadhana every day.' But what are we to do if we don't feel very well prepared for meditation? How can we expect to do our sadhana effectively? We might think that we need to do some more basic practice. After all, there is that principle of Regular Steps: that any more advanced stage can proceed only on the basis of the less advanced. It seems to make sense, that. But then another problem arises. If I take the time to do some Mindfulness of Breathing, when will I ever find time to do the sadhana?
There are a couple of points here. First, the obvious one. In the end, the crucial factor may simply be the amount of time we allot to meditation. Most people cannot really develop their sadhana with just one meditation session a day. Two is more realistic as a minimum – or at the very least we should add a few extra sessions throughout the week, perhaps at weekends or on some evenings. The point is not just that we need to maintain sufficient shamatha in order to concentrate and be receptive in the visualisation practice. It is also a matter of our involvement in the practice. Spending a little extra time on meditation will naturally cause us to reflect more on the sadhana, and think just a little less about the thousand other things in our lives. Distraction and dissipation of energy is probably the main cause of our losing the feeling of connection with the Sadhana.
The second point has to do with the nature of sadhana itself: it is that we tend to think of sadhana strictly as the meditation practice which focuses on the Buddha or Bodhisattva to whom we were introduced at ordination. But the term can also be used in a broader sense. Sadhana (with a capital 's,' let's say) can be said to consist of our entire practice in all its aspects, which centres around the Bodhisattva. Our Sadhana then is a complete body of practices, which forms a kind of mandala with the Bodhisattva at the centre. Each aspect of the mandala contributes in some way to the experience of the Bodhisattva in our mind. It keeps the Bodhisattva alive for us. It keeps the Sadhana alive. So the metta bhavana can do that, the mindfulness of breathing can do that, the six element practice can do that, and so can the whole way we behave, and all the views which we hold. All of these keep alive our Sadhana, in the sense of the totality of our spiritual practice.
But that totality centres upon the Bodhisattva with whom we have our special connection, and so it is very important that we do their special practice, the particular visualisation practice. Because the most important thing about a mandala is what is at the centre. The mandala originally came about because of that central figure. So when we practice the sadhana of the Bodhisattva, that is the sadhana with a small 's,' practice their visualisation and mantra recitation, we do so within a sense that we are developing and enriching the larger Sadhana – that is, the whole collection of spiritual practices which bring out the qualities of the Bodhisattva who we are trying to emulate. Their compassion is developed through the visualisation and through the metta-bhavana. Their wisdom is developed through the visualisation and Dharma study. Their skilful means is developed through the visualisation and through the precepts. So this is the inner mandala of our tutelary Buddha or Bodhisattva, the Enlightened being with whom we have a special connection, who protects and blesses us with his or her influence.
I don't have much time to speak about the dynamics of the mandala of our Sadhana, how much time should be spent on samatha, how much on vipassana, how much on the visualisation and mantra recitation. I have said a bit somewhere in my other talks. But you can work it out if you just remember that the whole needs to add up to a complete mandala, and that at the centre of that mandala should be placed the Buddha. Once they are in residence, we need to make regular visits. It's very much like kalyanamitrata. We need to keep the friendship alive.
here is much more detail that can be gone into. I have done that to some extent in my talks on visualisation, which are available to read. I am also writing a book which will go into these areas in a lot more depth and detail. I'm doing this, for the reasons I stated earlier – because I believe that Order members' meditation is one of the most important aspects of our movement. Because it is our meditation, in the end, which will shape the movement. The way we practice is, in the end, how we are, and how we are, determines the whole character of the movement. I would like to see us bring more meaning into what we do as Order members, and to bring into more vivid life those forty or fifty daily minutes in the shrine room. So let me finish by repeating the three exhortations with which I began this talk.
1) At least from time to time, your meditation should be giving you a strong experience of reality. So please make sure this is happening.
2) Each of us has to face death, and probably old age too. We have all made a good start in life, and in spiritual life. So please take the opportunity to deepen your practice in the years you have left. For many of the older Order members, now is the time to meditate. Don't give yourselves any cause for regret in the future. Remember that in the end, happiness is dependent on spiritual development. So please value the practice of meditation.
3) Finally, do try to understand more clearly what your meditation is about. Understand your sadhana, reflect on it, and use it as a means to gaining wisdom.
[62 mins]


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