His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: A Short Commentary on The Three Principal Aspects of the Path (Lam-gtso rnam-gsum) by Tsongkhapa (Tsong-kha-pa Blo-bzang grags-pa) 1983 translated and condensed by Alexander Berzin.
Introduction – As we are here in a special place, we must set a special motivation: the bodhichitta aim to attain enlightenment for the sake of all beings. This needs to be completely sincere. Buddha himself attained his enlightenment by the power of his pure bodhichitta aim. All his qualities and attainments were dependent on that enlightening motive. To reach the same attainment, we need to pray to develop such a mind ourselves as much as possible and to have it ever increase.
These last days we have built up some positive force (merit) through these teachings. Let us now continue today with The Three Principal Aspects of the Path by Jey Tsongkhapa. The three refer to renunciation, bodhichitta, and a correct view of voidness.
Renunciation is based on the attitude with which we turn our minds completely away from all wishes for samsara, uncontrollably recurring existence.
Our attainment of liberation is dependent on having such a renunciation. Bodhichitta is the attitude or intention to attain enlightenment to benefit all limited beings (sentient beings). The correct view of voidness is realization of the actual abiding nature of reality.
Concerning the correct view or understanding of voidness, of reality, of non-inherent existence, if it is held by a mind of renunciation, it brings liberation. It brings liberation by eliminating the obscurations that prevent liberation, namely the disturbing emotions and attitudes, the mental factors that keep us bound in the compulsive existence of samsara. If the understanding of the correct view of voidness is held by a mind of bodhichitta, it eliminates as well the obscurations regarding all knowables, and which prevent omniscience – namely, the habits of grasping for true and inherent existence. Removing them brings the attainment of enlightenment. Therefore, a correct view of voidness is the main opponent that destroys the two sets of obscuration, and it is assisted by either renunciation or by both renunciation and bodhichitta.
The Hinayana teachings entail renunciation and the correct view of voidness in order to reach their goal, liberation. Mahayana adds to them bodhichitta to eliminate all obscuration completely. Thus, the three principal aspects of the path – renunciation, bodhichitta, and voidness – incorporate the essence of all the Hinayana and Mahayana teachings.
Our famous tantras, which have the profound subject of the subtle bodies, energy-winds, energy-channels, and energy-drops, has as its foundation the same three principal aspects of the path – renunciation, an extremely strong bodhichitta aim, and a full understanding of voidness as taught by Nagarjuna and his two spiritual sons. In addition to these, in tantra we set our pride or dignity on the potential of what we can achieve from the subtle winds and consciousness. In this way, we hold the dignity of either a Form Body or a Deep Awareness Dharma Body of a Buddha, or on both of these. Although we do not actually have these Buddha-bodies at the time of practice, yet based on our strong bodhichitta aim to attain this enlightened state to benefit all limited beings, we gradually become able to achieve them. We can achieve them through the practices of maintaining the dignity of these Buddha-bodies.
Thus, the three principal aspects of the path are the basis of the entire sutra and tantra paths. In any case, we must always try to follow a combined practice of method and wisdom, trying to help others, building up positive force, and so forth.
This particular text is quite short, only a few verses. I first studied it with Tagtra Rinpoche and later with many others, including Trijang Dorjechang. We need to set a proper motivation to listen to these teachings. If we set a kind heart as our motivation, this is the source of all happiness. If we lack such a heart, and instead are proud, pretentious, and so on, this only brings unhappiness and uneasiness. The effects in future lives of whether we will be either a cultivated, gentle person or a rough, crude being will be seen in terms of our conduct in this life. Even if we do not accept the existence of future lives, yet having a kind heart, or on the other hand being coarse and crude, will bring either happiness or unhappiness in turn, now.
Being a Kind, Gentle Person – Most important is our daily conduct. Even if there were no such thing as future lives, there is no harm in being gentle; it helps in our daily lives. If there are future lives, then even more so will we benefit from being gentle, kind persons. So be friendly, kind to each other, and not just in theory. We need to do so in terms of actual people and actual situations we encounter in our daily lives. This is the essence of the Dharma and it is not difficult to follow. It is not something we go and buy in a store, but rather it is something that we practice ourselves.
Look at the Chinese, for instance. They are proper objects for our compassion. They do not know what is right or wrong; they do not know the consequences of their acts, so we need to show them compassion. You yourselves, we all need to try to be kind and refined. Look at drinkers of chang (beer), and of alcohol – this is a very bad custom. They become drunk, raucous, crude, rude, and cause much disturbance. Buddha has said that as a consequence of drinking alcohol, we often commit many destructive actions of body, speech, and mind. Therefore, it is not good at all to drink alcohol.
The same is true with smoking. Although Buddha did not specifically proscribe it and Buddha’s teachings do not specifically mention its disadvantages, yet as we see from what Western doctors say, it is extremely dangerous for our health. If there were some particular purpose in smoking, that would be all right. But, if there is none, as is mostly the case, then it is best not to. The same is true with taking snuff, and so on, it is best not to use these things at all.
In such ways, by abandoning these crude types of habits, we will become increasingly more gentle a person, more cultivated and refined a person. The more we can do this, the better. If we see other gentlemen and ladies, we need to rejoice in their examples and try to become as gentle and cultivated as we can ourselves. Do you understand? Be more and more mindful to be gentle, cultivated, loving, and to have a warm heart. Look at the disadvantages of being crude, raucous, selfish, and rough. We need always to remind ourselves of them. If we have a kind heart, this brings happiness, good fortune, health, and peace of mind. This helps me a lot in my own thinking. We are all the same; we all want happiness; so, we all need to do the same: be gentle and kind.
Look at those who are coming here from Tibet. They do not harp on all the difficulties they have had in these last twenty-odd years and say how pathetic we are and feel sorry for themselves. Rather, they come here being very interested in the Dharma. We Tibetans, who, have been living here also need to not harbor grudges against the Chinese. We need to feel how fortunate we are to have had the opportunity to be in India and to practice the Dharma. I know of many who were oppressed by the Chinese, held prisoners and, lacking any Buddhist training, went mad with hatred and anger. So, it is most important not to be angry like that, but to be cultivated and try to nurture a kind heart. It makes a huge difference at the time of our deaths.
Look at Hitler. Although he was so powerful during his life, his hatred overcame him and when he died he was so desperate and unhappy he took poison, and killed himself. Stalin likewise died in a state of great fear and Mao Zedong passed away in very difficult straits. Therefore, it is important to be kind and have a warm heart our entire lives. Then, when we die, we can do so with peace of mind.
In all the countries to which I have been traveling, I teach exactly the same point. Whether I am in the West or even in the Soviet Union, I tell them all to have a kind heart, be friendly toward everyone in a nonpartisan fashion: be equally loving to all. Whenever I go to various places, I see people of many different races, colors, nationalities, religions, and I think we are all people. If we take the time to speak with them, we discover that everyone has the same basic human values. Everyone wants to be happy and nobody wishes to suffer. Therefore, all of us need to try to be kind and to have a good heart.
Do you understand? What I am saying is not difficult to understand, is it? Do you follow me? Be kind people. You have come here to Bodh Gaya and have been receiving Dharma teachings from the Dalai Lama. This is my main message, be kind people. So now perk up your ears like rabbits and listen to the teachings of The Three Principal Aspects of the Path by Jey Tsongkhapa.
Special Features of the Text – Tsongkhapa was born in Amdo and went to study with many teachers in the central Tibetan provinces of U and Tsang. He studied both sutra and tantra and became fully realized. He wrote eighteen volumes of teachings which are excellent, drawing sources widely from the various Indian texts and commentaries. He directed this specific text to one of his closest disciples, Ngawang-dragpa (Ngag-dbang grags-pa).
There is a slight difference in Tsongkhapa’s style of teaching in these Three Principal Aspects of the Path and in the Lam-rim or Graded Path. Here, in the former, the explanation of renunciation is in two parts. The first is to turn away from our obsessions with this life through remembering our precious human rebirth and impermanence. The second is to turn away from our obsession with future lives by remembering the suffering nature of all of samsara. There is little emphasis on taking safe direction (refuge). In the Lam-rim, on the other hand, there is the discussion of the three scopes of motivation. Since being a person of initial scope is the basis for the higher levels, there is first the development of interest to benefit future lives and, within this context, are included the teachings on taking safe direction. There is a slight difference, then, isn’t there?
Let us start the text.
Homage Verse, Promise to Compose, and Exhortation to Listen Well
I prostrate to my ennobling, impeccable lamas.
The term ennobling and impeccable in Tibetan is “jetsun” (rje-btsun), which has the connotation of someone who has turned his or her back on all things of samsara and is faced totally toward liberation. “Lama” means a superior person, in the sense of someone who has both bodhichitta and a correct understanding of voidness, which brings him or her to a superior or supreme state of enlightenment. Here,ennobling, impeccable lamas refer to Tsongkhapa’s gurus who taught him lam-rim, and especially to his uncommon teacher, Manjushri.
Next is the verse of the promise to compose.
(1) I shall try to explain, to the best of my ability, The essential meaning of all the scriptural pronouncements of the Triumphant Ones, The path praised by the Triumphants’ holy offspring, The fording passage for the fortunate desiring liberation.
The essential meaning of all the scriptural pronouncements of the Triumphant Ones refers to renunciation. The path praised by the Triumphant’s holy offspring, in other words the bodhisattvas, refers to bodhichitta. The fording passage for the fortunate desiring liberation is the understanding of voidness, which brings liberation. Thus, in the promise to compose, the author states that he will explain these three principal aspects of the path. To the best of my ability means he will try to do so in as abbreviated a form as possible.
(2) Listen with a clear (mind), O fortunate one, Whose mind would rely on the path pleasing to the Triumphant Through being unattached to the pleasures of compulsive existence And eager to make meaningful your life of respites and enriching factors.
This is the request to listen well. It shows the type of motivation we need to have when hearing these teachings. The path pleasing to the Triumphant is one that is without mistakes and which is complete, with nothing missing. When we follow such an unmistaken and complete path, this pleases the Buddhas.
The Connection Between the Three Paths – The actual explanation of the main body of the text is divided into three: the explanations of renunciation, bodhichitta, and the correct view of voidness. These three constitute graded stages of understanding.
The stronger our renunciation of the so-called good things of samsara, the stronger will be our compassion for others. In Indian railway stations, for instance, we see blind men, people missing limbs, beggars and so forth, and it is relatively easy to develop compassion for them. But if we have no renunciation, then when we arrive, for instance, in a big city, then instead of compassion we just feel envious of the things we see or proud of what we have. On the other hand, if we are familiar with renunciation, with the idea of how the so-called good things of samsara are ultimately meaningless, then when we go to a place like New York, for instance, and see all these people, our first thought will instinctively be to feel compassion for them.
Renunciation has two directions of looking. On the one hand, with such an attitude, we look down at the suffering of samsara, with no interest in it, and we feel disgust and the wish to be rid of it completely. On the other hand, we look up at liberation and wish to attain it. The stronger this twofold attitude is, the stronger will be our bodhichitta aim, which similarly has two directions of looking, both up and down. Then, based on these, if we have a correct view of voidness, we will be able to attain either liberation or enlightenment.
The correct view is in terms of the two truths, which follow from the four noble truths. The Buddha, who is our source of safe direction, taught the Dharma with his speech. Specifically, he taught the four truths and the two truths, which are nonfallacious. They are never false.
So, it is important to understand and realize them. With bodhichitta, an understanding of voidness brings us the omniscient state of a Buddha. If it is only with renunciation, then it brings us liberation. Here in the text, the discussion is first of renunciation.
Renunciation – (3) Since taking keen interest in the pleasurable fruits of the ocean of compulsive existence, without pure renunciation Is no method for (achieving) the peace (of liberation) – In fact, by craving what is found in compulsive situations,limited beings are completely bound – First, strive for renunciation.
The phrase pure renunciation is mentioned here. Renunciation must be pure in the sense of being totally disinterested in the glories or so-called good things of samsara. If we lack such pure renunciation and are totally obsessed with worldly concerns, there is no way to attain liberation. If we have desire and attachment, then no matter how much positive karma we might have, we will not be able to cut out the root of uncontrollably recurring rebirth. Therefore, we need to develop renunciation. How to develop it?
(4) By accustoming your mind that there is no time to waste When a life of respites and enrichments is so difficult to find, Turn from your obsession with the appearances of this life. By thinking over and again about the problems of recurring rebirth And that (the laws of) behavioral cause and effect are never fallacious, Turn from your obsession with the appearances of future (lives).
We need to think about the precious human rebirth that we have with its respites and enrichments, and also about the fact, that we will lose it, for it is impermanent, and how death will come for sure. In this way, we will realize how rare the opportunity is that we have now and how we cannot afford to waste any time. This is how to turn our interest from being only in this life. As for the respites and enrichments, and the teachings on impermanence and death, we have already discussed these in the last few days in the Thirty-seven Bodhisattva Practices.
[See: Short Commentary on Thirty-seven Bodhisattva Practices.]
Concerning death and impermanence, there are various points upon which to meditate, such as the facts that death is certain, while the time it will come is completely uncertain. Death can happen at any moment and, except for the Dharma, nothing else is of help when it does. If we do not do something now about our forthcoming deaths and future lives, this will not do at all. The more we think of death like this, the more we will lessen our obsession with this life alone.
Next, we need to think about the infallibility of the laws of behavioral cause and effect, the laws of karma. To understand behavioral cause and effect in all its details is one of the hardest things. But, in a simple form, from good comes good, from bad comes bad: karma is certain. From constructive actions, happiness is certain to result. From destructive actions, suffering is certain to happen sooner or later.
Thus, if we have the causes for suffering on our mental continuums, how can we rest content and be at ease? It is like a time bomb: it is just a matter of time, for it is sure to go off. If we do not remove this cause, we can never rest at peace. When we think carefully about behavioral cause and effect in this way, we develop the strong wish to remove all the causes of our suffering.
At different times, we experience the suffering of birth, death, old age, and sickness. No matter how much medicine we take, we cannot cure old age and we cannot prevent ourselves from ever becoming sick at all. The sufferings of birth, sickness, old age, and death have their sources in the fact that we have bodies that undergo birth, sickness, old age, and death. Our bodies are networks of tainted (contaminated) aggregates. In other words, we receive them tainted with karma and disturbing emotions and attitudes. If we do not rid ourselves of their deepest cause, we will always have suffering.
Our bodies are networks of conflicting, contradictory forces. Consider for instance the forces of heat and cold in the body. If we have a fever, we take a cooling medicine and, if we take too much, we contract a cold type of disease. If we take a warming medicine to cure ourselves of this chill, and we take too much, then again we tip the scales and have a heat disease. It is only when we have a balance of the heat and cold forces in our bodies that then, temporarily, we can say we are healthy. But this never lasts. It is very precarious and at the slightest jolt, the balance is upset. Aryadeva pointed this out in his Four Hundred Stanzas (Bzhi-brgya-pa, Skt. Catuhshataka). There, he explained that the body is a vessel of contradictory, mutually opposing forces; thus, it can bring about only problems and suffering.
We think that this body is so beautiful. But, we need to dissect it in our minds and look at each part separately, such as the head, for instance, or a strand of hair with a little bulb at the bottom. Look at an ear, look at an eye just by itself, look at a piece of skin, look at a heart, look at a lung. If they were sitting on the table by themselves, they would all be disgusting and not pretty at all. The same is true regarding the substances that come from this body – urine, feces, snot, and so on. We see these on the ground when we are walking around and we hold our noses to protect ourselves from their stench. Where did these objectionable substances come from? They have not grown out of the ground; they came from our bodies.
How can our bodies be clean, when they are just sources of filth? Our bodies came from our parents’ sperm and eggs. If we were to take these substances, put them on a table in front of us, and look at them, any person would feel revolted. We are so attached to them because they become the source of the physical substance of our bodies, yet they themselves are nauseating. If we have lived for forty years, for instance, think of all the food that we have eaten in those forty long years on one side and then all the feces and urine our bodies have turned them into on the other. How can this body be clean if it does such kind of work?
We must therefore abandon attachment for such a body. It comes from karma and disturbing emotions and attitudes, which bring only suffering. If we exhaust or eliminate the karma and disturbing emotions, we will never again take on tainted aggregates or suffer. Disturbing emotions and attitudes come from prejudiced thoughts and misconceptions, which all arise from the unawareness of regarding things as being inherently existent. If we realize that everything lacks such existence, our disturbing emotions and attitudes dissolve. They exhaust themselves in the sphere of voidness. So, this is what we need.
(5) When, by accustoming yourself in this way, you never generate, for even an instant, A mind that aspires for the splendors of recurring samsara, And you develop the attitude that day and night always is interested keenly in liberation, At that time, you have generated renunciation.
Thus, we need to develop renunciation. Next, we need a bodhichitta aim.
Bodhichitta – (6) But since even this renunciation, if not held with the development Of a pure bodhichitta aim, will not become a cause For the splendors and bliss of a peerless purified state (of enlightenment), Those with sense generate a supreme bodhichitta aim.
As we have said before, if we lack bodhichitta, we cannot attain enlightenment.
(7) Carried by the currents of the four violent rivers, Tied by the tight fetters of karma, hard to reverse, Thrown into an iron-mesh pit of grasping for true identities, Completely enshrouded in the heavy gloom of the darkness of unawareness,
(8) Unrelentingly tormented by the three types of suffering, Life after life in limitless compulsive existence – Having thought about the condition of your mothers Who have found themselves in situations like these, Develop a supreme bodhichitta aim.
Carried by the currents of the four violent rivers refers to the four sufferings of birth, death, old age, and sickness. We are tied by the tight fetters of negative force from our destructive karmic actions, and these negative forces are sure to ripen some day. We are in an iron-mesh pit of unawareness, and in the heavy gloom of the darkness of not seeing the true nature of reality. Both persons and phenomena seem to be inherently existent, but they do not exist in that way at all.
We have a continuum of ever-changing aggregate factors and the mere “I” is something labeled on that changing continuum as its basis. Out of unawareness, however, we grasp at that “me,” which is labeled on a network of changing phenomena, and we misconceive it to be permanent, static, and findable as an inherently real “me.” The darkness of this unawareness then causes us to build up a huge amount of negative force. This negative force throws us in an iron-mesh pit of karma, where we are tied by the fetters of this karma and of our disturbing emotions and attitudes. Consequently, we naturally experience the three sufferings life after life, as it says here. These are the sufferings of suffering, change, and all-encompassing suffering. Since this is the condition of all our mothers as well, we need to work to help them by developing a bodhichitta aim.
Next concerns voidness.
A Correct View of Voidness – (9) Even if you have built up as habits renunciation and a bodhichitta aim, Still, if you lack the discriminating awareness of realizing the abiding nature of reality, You will be unable to sever the root of your compulsive existence. Therefore, make effort in the methods for realizing dependent arising.
Tsongkhapa’s main point is for the understanding of voidness to arise as the meaning of dependent arising and the understanding of dependent arising to arise as the meaning of voidness. Thus, we need to make efforts in the methods for realizing voidness as dependent arising. How to do this?
(10) Anyone who has seen that (the laws of) behavioral cause and effect Regarding all phenomena of samsara and nirvana are never fallacious, And who has had fall apart the sustaining supports of his or her (cognitions) aimed (at inherent existence), whatever they might have been, Has entered the path pleasing to the Buddhas.
All phenomena of samsara and nirvana come about through cause and effect. This is never fallacious, never false. When we understand this and, in addition, have the underlying, sustaining support of our aiming at inherent existence fall apart, then we have entered the path pleasing to the Buddhas. When we understand voidness, we will no longer have cognition aimed at inherent existence. In this way, the basis for these mistaken cognitions to arise – their sustaining support, which is our grasping for inherent existence – will have fallen apart or disappeared.
(11) Appearances are nonfallacious dependent arisings And voidness is parted from any assertions (of impossible ways of existing). So long as you have these two understandings appearing to you separately, You still have not realized the Able Ones’ intention.
When we understand voidness, we see there is nothing at which we can point a finger and say this is this object. All things are unfindable on ultimate analysis. Yet, on the other hand, we see that things are mere appearances. To think that these two are completely separate unrelated insights – things being unfindable on the one hand and yet only appearances on the other – is not Buddha’s intention concerning voidness and the two truths.
(12) But when, not in alternation, but all together at once, Your certitude from the mere sight of nonfallacious dependent arising Causes all your ways of taking objects (as inherently existent) to fall apart, You have completed discerning the correct view.
What we need, then, is to see that because things dependently arise – because appearances depend on causes and circumstances to arise – they are devoid of inherent existence; they are devoid of independent existence. The fact that they can arise dependently on causes and circumstances is simply because they are devoid of existing independently. Thus, the stronger our understanding and conviction is that things dependently arise, that things depend on cause and effect, the stronger our understanding and conviction will be that things are devoid of independent, inherent existence; and vice versa. To understand these two simultaneously in conjunction like this means we have completed the correct analysis of voidness.
(13) Further, when you know how appearance eliminates the extreme of existence And voidness eliminates the extreme of nonexistence, And how voidness dawns as cause and effect, You will never be stolen away by views that grasp for extremes.
Often, we find it explained that the fact of appearance eliminates the extreme of total non-existence – things are not totally nonexistent, because they do appear. And also, the fact of voidness eliminates the extreme of inherent existence – things are not inherently existent, because they are devoid of existing in that impossible way.
Here, however, we have an opposite way of assertion. The fact of appearance eliminates the extreme of inherent existence. This is because, for things to appear, they must be devoid of inherent existence. They must be phenomena that dependently arise. Therefore, the fact that they do appear eliminates the possibility that they could exist inherently.
Further, the fact of voidness eliminates the extreme of total nonexistence. The fact that something is devoid of inherent existence means that it can appear by dependently arising: it could not possibly be totally nonexistent. Therefore, the fact of voidness eliminates the extreme of total nonexistence.
This is Tsongkhapa’s special manner of assertion and it accords with Choney Rinpoche’s (Co-ne Rin-po-che) commentary to Tsongkhapa’sPraises to Dependent Arising (rTen-‘brel bstod-pa). Thus, the understanding of things being devoid of inherent existence because they dependently arise, and that things dependently arise because they are devoid of inherent existence, prevents us from falling to either of the two extremes of grasping at true, inherent existence or at total nonexistence.
Next is the injunction to practice.
Injunction to Practice – (14) When you have understood the points of these three Principle aspects of the path, as they are, Rely on solitude and, by generating the power of joyful perseverance, Quickly realize, my son, your immemorial goal.
When we have gained understanding of renunciation, bodhichitta and voidness, through the power of listening to correct teachings on them and then thinking about and analyzing them until we gain conviction their meaning, we then need to live in solitude and devote ourselves single-pointedly to meditating on and realizing them. This we need to do with great joyous perseverance as the famous masters of the past have done, for instance the well-known Milarepa (Mi-la Ras-pa), the great Gyalwa Ensapa (rGyal-ba dBen-sa-pa) and his spiritual sons, Kaydrub Sanggyay-yeshey (mKhas-grub Sangs-rgyas ye-shes), and so on. Then we can reach the immemorial goal of enlightenment. “My son” here refers to Tsongkhapa’s close disciple, Ngawang-dragpa, whom we mentioned before.
Concluding Remarks on Nonsectarianism – This concludes the short commentary on The Three Principal Aspects of the Path. It is a very important text and, has included in it, the essence of the complete sutra path and the heart of the tantra paths. The teachings on voidness are a bit tough, aren’t they? Unless we are very familiar with the technical terms, then when it speaks of the correct view, the two truths, voidness and so on, it may be confusing. There are distinctive ways of defining and asserting these terms in the four Indian Buddhist schools of philosophical tenets of the sutras, and different ways in the four classes of tantra. Also there is a different way of defining them in the four different traditions of Buddhism in Tibet in their own specific contexts and systems.
We need to try to understand them all so that we know the implications of the terms, according to their context, and we do not become confused. Just to know one system and then to criticize the others simply because they are different and we do not understand them in their own terms is very destructive. As Nagarjuna has said in The Precious Garland (Rin-chen ‘phreng-ba, Skt: Ratnamala) and Shantideva inEngaging in Bodhisattva Behavior (sPyod-‘ jug, Skt. Bodhisattvacharya-avatara), in such instances it is best to remain indifferent and silent, and not to say anything.
Even within the teachings of one tradition, the Gelug for instance, there are the assertions of the understanding of voidness according to sutra and according to tantra. There is no difference in subtlety concerning the object, voidness, in either sutra or tantra. The difference lies in the mind that understands voidness. Furthermore, in both sutra and tantra, there are different definitions and explanations of conventional and deepest truths and the way to meditate on the two. Even within the anuttarayoga class of tantra, various systems differ. For instance, the methods outlined in the Guhyasamaja system are quite different from those in the Kalachakra teachings. Also, we find differences in the ways to do stabilizing meditation (formal meditation) and discerning meditation (analytical meditation). If we have not studied all these systems, we will become very confused.
In short, if we do not know anything about a certain system, we need to not say anything about it and certainly not criticize. Only on a nonsectarian basis will we be able to appreciate the full scope of the Buddha’s teachings.
Note: translated and condensed by Alexander Berzin, 1983 revised second edition, August 2003 First edition published in His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Four Essential Buddhist Commentaries. Dharamsala, India: Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 1983. Order the first edition of this text directly from Paljor Publications. This is the printer-friendly version of http://www.BerzinArchives.com /web/en/archives/sutra/level2_lamrim/overview/specific_texts/three_principal_aspects_path/short_commentary_three_principles_path.html


Evaluate Techniques Used by Harper Lee to Introduce First Impressions of the Town of Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird
Although Maycomb is an entirely fictional town Harper Lee creates a realistic feel to it. She does this through a combination of writing and language techniques and through the many perspectives we are privy to throughout the first four chapters. The most commonly used are through the eyes of a six-year-old Scout and an older, reflecting Scout who uses a more mature view to comment on the events as seen through the innocent eyes of a young girl.
Although a child narrator may be a more unconventional approach, Scout's (or Jean-Louise's) perspective is not limited to the naïve voice and vocabulary of a child as Lee's tone suggests a more mature recollection rather than the unfiltered young Scout's version of events. This can be seen clearly when Scout, describing the town, says:
Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it…People moved slowly then…A day was twenty-fours hours but seemed longer.
In addition, Scout's perspective can actually give a uniquely complete picture compared to some other characters. Not only because of her dual perspective, but also because she is often very near the events mentioned due to the fact that she 'lived on the main residential street in town' and because her father, Atticus was the lawyer for some of the townspeople and also 'was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in town'.
Maycomb is described as being a 'small, isolated, inward looking town' in Alabama where children freely roam around and, often, into other people's backyards and business. As it is such a small town gossip is more than a common occurrence, especially amongst the Maycombian women. Through this we are exposed to more than just Scout's dual perspective; we are shown the opinions and ideals of the town's other inhabitants. Such as Miss Stephanie Crawford when we are told the rumours surrounding the neighbourhood shut-in, Boo Radley:
According to Miss Stephanie…Boo drove the scissors into his parent's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants and resumed his activites.
We are also told about the period that Maycomb is going though during the time the novel is set by such quotes as:
Maycomb County had recently been told it had nothing to fear but fear itself
This was said by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, on the topic of the Wall Street Crash. Maycomb was already awash with poverty, partly shown by one of Scout's earlier descriptions:
There was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with.
But, although Scout's family seem to be better-off than other residents because Atticus is a lawyer rather than 'country folk', Atticus explains to Scout and us why the Crash hit the residents of Maycomb particularly hard:
As Maycomb County was farm country, nickels and dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers.
Much like in the quote above, Atticus is often the voice of reason and wisdom for both Scout and us and it is he who leads to a greater insight into and understanding of the town and the individual circumstances of those who live within it.
It is shown early on in the book (within the first chapter) that the majority of people who live in Maycomb have lived there all their lives and have a large family network that is often traceable back through several generations. This is shown by the way each character is stereotyped to certain characteristics depending on something as trivial as their surname. Some examples are how the name Haverford was 'a name synonymous with jackass', the Cunninghams 'don't have much, but they get along on it' and the Ewells had been 'the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations'.
A certain amount of prejudice is applied by Maycombians to anybody born and raised outside of Maycomb. This is very much in keep with the small town mindset and is shown in chapter two after Scout's first day of school being taught by Miss Caroline Fisher when Scout brother, Jem says:
'Our teacher says Miss Caroline's introducing a new way of teaching. She learned about it in college.'
This quotation shows the suspicion that Miss Caroline is seen with because of her unusual origins (specifically because she came from a Republican part of North Alabama). Her foreignness is only emphasised by the fact that she doesn't know of or immediately understand the stereotypes applied to each family when Scout tries to explain why Walter Cunningham doesn't have any lunch, and also when she doesn't appreciate that the children of Maycomb's single-minded upbringing makes them 'immune to imaginative literature'. The word 'immune' highlights the mistrust that anything strictly non-Maycombian is faced with. It implies that something that isn't in keep with their way of living is, in their minds, comparative to a disease.
Another thing that Scout's first day at school shows us is how the education in Maycomb is lacking, compared to Miss Caroline's college-taught structure. Not only has the better part of the first grade failed and repeated it multiple times but Burris and several others of the Ewells only attend school on the first day of each year. By them (although their opinion cannot be applied to the whole of the town as they are thought to be a disgrace to Maycomb) education is thought to be so unimportant it is entirely unnecessary.
Overall, Maycomb is a small town with a small mindset where little happens. But we can clearly see a range of prides and prejudices demonstrated by the community that is often fuelled by the influences of idle gossip and rumours. We get the impression that the people and population of the area are static (which could also contribute to the underlying and unchanging prejudices)—not many people leave permanently and newcomers are not so easily accepted.


THE CARDIAC CYCLE: an ongoing sequence of contraction (systole) and relaxation (diastole) of the atria and ventricles that keeps blood continuously circulating around the body.
1. VENTRICULAR DIASTOLE, ATRIAL SYSTOLE.
- Ventricles relaxed. Atria contracts, increasing pressure inside the chamber. Blood is pushed into the ventricles.
- Slight increase in ventricular pressure as they received blood from contracting atria.
2. VENTRICULAR SYSTOLE, ATRIAL DIASTOLE.
- Atria relaxes, and ventricles contract: this increases pressure.
- Pressure becomes higher in ventricles than atria - AV valves shut to prevent back-flow.
- Pressure also higher than in aorta and pulmonary artery. SL valves open, and blood is pushed out.
3. VENTRICULAR DIASTOLE, ATRIAL DIASTOLE.
- Ventricles and atria relax. High pressure in aorta and pulmonary artery closes SV valves to prevent back-flow. Blood returns to heart and atria fill due to…


Planning student interventions can be stressful. Time restraints, multiple needs and limited resources make interventions a daunting task. Today we are sharing a few quick interventions that are purposeful and easily differentiated.
If you ever visited my classroom, you would know that I LOVE rings. I have rings of everything. Sight words, student names, numbers, letters, etc. You name it, it is on a ring. I like putting things on rings because it's convenient and they are portable. I keep rings by every whole group area, my teacher table and by our classroom door. If we ever have a minute to spare in our schedule, I grab one and we practice. I carry them in the hall and ask students quick questions while we are waiting in lines. This keeps them quiet and focused too. Double bonus!
What will you find on my quick intervention rings? First, we have a phonological and phonemic awareness set. When I first created this set, I printed out the entire set. I divided each section up and created four rings with the various objectives. I gave each teacher on my team a ring. At the end of each month, we would rotate the rings. I found this much easier and definitely more affordable when it came to printing and laminating to do it this way.
Each day we would practice a concept and when I pulled small groups, I would use these cards to work on specific skills students were struggling with mastering. I don't know about you but I struggle with coming up with examples on the spot. With these cards, I don't have to think which means we have more practice time. Here is a preview of this set:
Click here to see more about this set.
The next set I pull is my math interventions set. If you take five minutes throughout the day to practice these cards, it will help your students be more prepared for state tests and build math fluency with the ability to recall quickly. We want to expose children with every way that they will see numbers. I want them to see six subitizing dots and immediately know that the answer is six. This takes practice though. Again, I have these in any group area and at my teacher table for small group instruction. This is something we will do as a class EVERY day. Here are a few examples of what is included in this set:
To see more about this set, click here.
The last set I pull from is math word problems. I find this the most time consuming for myself when having to come up with a quick word problem on the fly. It always ends up like this…..Ummmmm John has two….pencils! His…. teacher gives him….four more. How many pencils does he have now? Eventually my kids get tired of John and his pencils and it seems to always take me forever to come up with that word problem (which is ridiculous in itself, ha). With this ring, I can ask my kids a word problem any time without having to think about it. They are also differentiated for higher level thinking. Here are examples of cards on this ring:
To see more of this set, click here.
Prepping these rings takes a little bit of time but once they are done, you will have them to use year after year. By creating a system that provides quick interventions and a daily review for your students, you will increase their mastery in no time. You may only use your rings for five minutes each day but when you consider that you are adding 100 minutes a month of quick interventions, that is time well spent. Time is precious in a kindergarten classroom and so is your sanity. Put your interventions on a ring and teach on!


Smart house technologies will include a variety of smart equipment, such as bright lights and thermostats, which are often controlled remotely. These devices also can give announcements and revisions about problems in the home. These technologies have also been proven to preserve energy and cut costs occasionally. For example , a smart passing bell can let you understand if an individual is arriving at your door while you are not at your home.
Smart house technologies have grown to be increasingly popular since more people become aware of their ecological and energy saving advantages. For example , by simply controlling the lighting, HVAC program, and windows coverings, you save money about energy bills and protect environmental surroundings. You can also routine when www.bizcrisis.net/5-rare-jobs-to-work-from-home/ various home appliances happen to be scheduled to activate and away and software these to operate based on your preferences.
A current study located that 51 percent of homeowners in the age of 50 have already smart residence technologies in their home. An additional study revealed that 49 percent of more aged homeowners will be open to investing between $101 and 500 usd per year in smart house technologies. In line with the survey outcomes, smart home solutions can make more aged adults’ life easier, improve security, and save money on electric bills.
While intelligent homes are generally not a new idea, they have become a real possibility over the past couple of years. The functions of these solutions happen to be expanding in a rapid speed and can effects virtually every aspect of your home.


How does the MOT work?
You can be fined up to £1,000 for driving a vehicle without a valid MOT so it’s important you know the updated rules for getting one for your vehicle.
Defects found during the MOT are categorised as either:
The category the MOT tester gives each item will depend on the type of problem and how serious it is.
|Category||What it means about the item||MOT result|
|Dangerous||A direct and immediate risk to road safety or has a serious impact on the environment. You must not drive the vehicle until it has been repaired.||Fail|
|Major||It may affect the vehicle’s safety, put other road users at risk or have an impact on the environment. Repair it immediately.||Fail|
|Minor||No significant effect on the safety of the vehicle or impact on the environment. Repair as soon as possible.||Pass|
|Advisory||It could become more serious in the future. Monitor and repair it if necessary.||Pass|
|Pass||It meets the minimum legal standard. Make sure it continues to meet the standard.||Pass|
Rules for diesel car emissions
Rules for emissions from diesel cars with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) have been made stricter. A DPF captures and stores exhaust soot to reduce emissions from diesel cars. Check your car’s handbook if you don’t know if your car has a DPF.
Your vehicle will get a major fault if the MOT tester:
- can see smoke of any colour coming from the exhaust
- finds evidence that the DPF has been tampered with
Additional items included in the MOT
Checks to see if:
- tyres are obviously underinflated
- the brake fluid has been contaminated
- there are fluid leaks posing an environmental risk
- brake pad warning lights and if brake pads or discs are missing
- there are reversing lights on vehicles first used from 1 September 2009
- there are headlight washers on vehicles first used from 1 September 2009 (if they have them)
- there are daytime running lights on vehicles first used from 1 March 2018 (most of these vehicles will have their first MOT in 2021 when they’re 3 years old)
There will be other smaller changes to how some items are checked. Your MOT centre will be able to tell you about these.
The MOT certificate
The design of the MOT certificate now lists any defects under the new categories, so they’re clear and easy to understand.
The service to check the MOT history of a vehicle will be updated to reflect the changes.
Some vehicles over 40 years old won’t need an MOT
Cars, vans, motorcycles and other light passenger vehicles won’t need to have an MOT if they’re over 40 years old and have not been substantially changed. You can check the date the vehicle was registered online.
If a car was first registered on 31 October 1978, it won’t need an MOT from 31 October 2018. You won’t have to apply to stop getting an MOT for your vehicle. However, each time you tax your historic vehicle (even if you don’t pay a fee), you’ll have to declare it meets the rules for not needing an MOT.
The maximum fees MOT centres can charge won’t change.
In January 2018, the government decided to keep the age a vehicle needs its first MOT at 3 years, rather than extend it to 4 years.
You can get a free MOT reminder by text message or email a month before your MOT is due.


Sonar is a machine that uses underwater sound waves to find other objects in the sea. A sonar can work by sending out sound and listening for echoes (active sonar), like a radar, or by listening for sound made by the object it is trying to find (passive sonar).
The basic parts of an active sonar are:
- the transmitter creates the sound waves.
- the hydrophone or hydrophone array converts the sound waves into electricity.
The first use of passive sonar was in 1490 by Leonardo da Vinci, when he put a tube onto water and listened. Active sonar was first used in 1917 by Paul Langevin. The word SONAR was created during the Second World War as an acronym for Sound Navigation and Ranging. This acronym replaced the British acronym ASDIC. The word is now thought by many people as a regular word, no longer as an acronym.
References[change | change source]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sonar.|


Winning Chess Strategy
Winning Chess Strategy for Kids is a fun and comprehensive chess course written for children 7 to 13 years old. Full of original material and entertaining artwork, it’s a perfect guide for learning the royal game. Parents and teachers are sure to like it too.
The book begins on square one: covering the rules, basic mates, and elementary tactics. It then leads the student through a whole range of advanced strategies, including piece development, pawn structure, and attacking the castled king.
Opening principles, middlegame plans, and endgames techniques are all explained in clear and simple language. Separate sections throughout the book are devoted to combinations and terminology.
Whether kids are learning chess for recreation or are interested in playing competitively, Winning Chess Strategy for Kids will help them understand the game better and enjoy it more.


Release and monitoring of Laricobius nigrinus (Coleoptera: Derodontidae) for biological control of the hemlock woolly adelgid in the eastern US
Different Laricobius nigrinus Fender release locations, numbers of predators, and timing of release were evaluated for biological control of the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae). It established at 59% of the sites and location was the most important factor related with establishment and abundance, HWA density, and hemlock vigor index. Cold locations had poor establishment or low abundance, declines in HWA density, and increases in hemlock vigor over time. Paired release and control sites detected a predator impact on HWA density, but densities remained high and tree vigor declined. The phenology of L. nigrinus, L. rubidus LeConte, and HWA were studied at a field insectary and the species were highly synchronized. A cage exclusion study showed that HWA survival and density were lower and ovisac disturbance was higher when exposed to predation. To improve L. nigrinus monitoring, we compared beat sheets for adults or branch clipping for immatures, and the host searching behavior of L. nigrinus was studied to understand how it locates a tree and HWA. In the Appalachians, beat sheet sampling resulted in false negatives as larvae were collected by branch clipping. Adults orientated to a tree visually, fed when prey were present and flew when absent, and showed different search patterns on infested versus uninfested trees. In Seattle, both sampling methods detected L. nigrinus because the predator was common. Predator : prey ratios were high at heavily infested sites in Seattle and low in the eastern US, where is has been released recently. Partial life tables were constructed for HWA sistentes at four sites for 2 yr in Seattle. Unspecified causes of nymph and adult mortality were high and L. nigrinus was the dominant predator of ovisacs. Adult L. nigrinus abundance was positively related to HWA density and immature abundance was related to ovisac density, indicating an aggregation and numerical response to its prey. Laricobius nigrinus has not demonstrated complete biological control of HWA to date, but it may do so in the future and continued release is justified.


San José’s “Bring Your Own Bag” Ordinance Cuts Plastic Bag Pollution
The City of San José won the Award for Excellence in the Planning & Environmental Quality category of the 2014 Helen Putnam Award for Excellence program. For more about the award program, visit www.helenputnam.org.
More than three years after launching its plastic bag ban in January 2012, the City of San José is seeing results. Plastic bag litter has been significantly reduced in creeks and storm drains, and both residents and businesses have embraced the regulation. “We’re proud of the way our community supported the ordinance,” says Kerrie Romanow, director of the city’s Environmental Services Department. “We hope this encourages other cities throughout the state to implement their own ordinance.”
With a population of 1 million, San José is the largest city in the state to successfully implement a plastic bag ban. How did the city change business practices and consumer behavior in such a short time?
The Problem of Plastic Bag Litter
As plastic bag use grew over the past few decades, so did plastic bag litter. Much of it ended up in area creeks and streams. Prior to the passage of the ordinance, city staff removed 1,300 plastic bags from trash “hot spots” in 10 creeks over two one-week periods in 2011. Plastic litter was not only unsightly but also threatened to harm wildlife in creek and bay habitats.
At the same time, regulations were becoming increasingly stringent. The current San Francisco Bay Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit requires San José and 75 other Bay Area local governments to reduce trash in storm drains and local creeks by 40 percent in 2014, with the long-term goal of “no adverse impact” from trash by 2022. In addition, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board in October 2011 declared three major San José waterways — Guadalupe River, Silver Creek and Coyote Creek — severely impaired by trash. City leaders knew it was time to act.
Creating a Solution
Engaging stakeholders was a key first step. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, San José attracts high-tech talent from all over the world. Its rich multicultural mix includes families who have lived in San José for many generations, recent immigrants adapting to new surroundings, commuters, students and retirees. Add to this a busy downtown, suburbs with their own business districts, and one of the nation’s largest network of creeks and trails with the number of recreational users increasing every year.
To develop the ordinance, Environmental Services Department staff sought out more than 300 interested stakeholders. Plastic and paper bag manufacturers, grocery and retail industry representatives, environmental advocates and staff from neighboring cities worked together for more than a year on issues ranging from potential business impacts to public acceptance and implementation. Their efforts created an ordinance that prohibits single-use carryout plastic bags provided at checkout by the 6,250 retail businesses located in or doing business in the City of San José. Stores may sell paper bags with at least 40 percent post-consumer recycled content for a minimum of 10 cents per bag.
A Head Start in Public Acceptance
The campaign partnered with several agencies to reach out to San José’s diverse community. “While there was understandable apprehension from some businesses and the city in pressing forward before other adjacent cities, this was truly a community effort,” says Ed Shikada, who served as San José city manager at the time. “We received great support leading up to the start of the ordinance from organizations dedicated to its success, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive.”
Several public agencies, nonprofit organizations and other city departments assisted with outreach, including Save the Bay, Clean Water Action, California Grocers Association, the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, Second Harvest Food Bank, CommUniverCity, Our City Forest and the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy.
The city used direct mail, in-person canvassing, business association newsletters, council district communications and other no-cost media outlets to target local businesses. Outreach materials in three languages — English, Spanish and Vietnamese — informed residents about the ordinance and how their efforts help the environment.
As word of the ordinance spread, national news media showed increasing interest. A New York Times article quoted Romanow, who said, “The days of a single candy bar getting its own plastic bag are over.”
Measuring the Results
City staff randomly selected 93 small, medium and large businesses for observation within all 10 city council districts, as well as the four largest shopping malls in San José. Based on staff’s in-store observations over a one-week period in August 2013, 98 percent of these retail stores are complying with the ordinance.
Based on observations of customers leaving retail stores, approximately 58 percent of shoppers have used a reusable bag since 2012, compared with about 4 percent usage prior to adopting the ordinance. Contrary to concerns raised before implementation, paper bag usage has not increased.
Creeks and Storm Drains
Environmental Services Department Deputy Director Napp Fukuda and the city watershed team worked to gather data on plastic bag litter before and after the ordinance went into effect.
- At the 10 creek hot spots studied in 2011, only 145 plastic bags were found in 2014 — an average annual decrease of 71 percent; and
- At 65 storm drain catch basins in September 2011, staff found 50 plastic bags. In April 2012, four months after the start of the ordinance, staff found only nine bags in 69 catch basins.
In addition, staff reported a 59 percent decrease in plastic bag litter found on city streets and sidewalks. “The ordinance is making a difference,” says Fukuda.
GreenWaste Recovery, a residential recycling hauler for the city, reported a 10 percent drop in film plastics processed — a reduction of approximately 1,380 pounds per day of film plastics since the ordinance was implemented.
For years, community volunteer Loui Tucker has cleaned up San José highways and documented the quantity of litter collected. “In 2007, I cleaned up a small section of Southwest Expressway and picked up a huge pile of plastic bags,” says Tucker. “After the ordinance took effect, nine volunteers cleaned a large area on Highway 280 and gathered a small pile.”
For More Information
The Environmental Impact Report and outreach materials for San José’s Bring Your Own Bag Ordinance are available at www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?nid=1526.
Contact: Arleen Arimura, marketing and public outreach representative II, Environmental Services Department; phone: (408) 975-2557; email: firstname.lastname@example.org.


Send a link to this page to your friends and colleagues.
Dr. Marcus’ Diabetes Tip
Nov 1, 1992
Dr. Alan Marcus is a diabetes specialist who practices in Laguna Hills, California. He is also a medical advisor to MiniMed Technologies and a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk Insulin. Dr. Marcus also serves as Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine for the USC School of Medicine.
Because every single person absorbs food differently, the time to test blood sugar is 60 to 90 minutes after a meal, because that is when the blood sugar is highest.
We need to check our blood sugars after we eat to see what is good and what is not good for us. I always tell patients with diabetes to keep a little address book with pages for A-Z where they can write their "No" foods. A "No" food is any food that causes their blood sugars to go too high (greater that 145 mg/dl) after that meal. Ideally we would like them to be less than 130 mg/dl after a meal. (Remember that a finger stick reading is lower than the actual reading because it has whole blood in it.)
What happens when the blood sugar goes above 200 mg/dl? When blood sugar goes above 200 mg/dl, the blood gets thicker. Instead of being a smooth flowing liquid, it turns into a tar-like liquid, moving extremely slowly through the body.
The average American eats far too much protein. You need a half gram of protein for a kilogram of body weight to maintain your body. If you weigh 100 kilograms (220 pounds), then your body requires 50 grams of protein a day. The average American eats 180 grams of protein a day. If you reduce the amount of protein, you will reduce the likelihood of kidney dysfunction.
Blood pressure is a lot like blood sugar: it fluctuates during the day. It goes up and it goes down. What's a normal blood pressure? For a woman with diabetes, the established norm for blood pressure is less than 85 on the bottom number. How do you find what your blood pressure is? You have to be checking it at home. It is just as vital for you to know your blood pressure as it is for you to know your blood sugar. You should check your blood pressure three times a week at various times during the day.
If you reverse the blood pressure elevation, and if you reverse the high protein, you may actually reverse kidney damage.
With nerve damage, the main key is tight blood sugar control. Other things are avoidance of things that make the nerves bad: cigarette smoking, alcohol, and anything else you take that is toxic. Other things that may help are magnesium and vitamin E.
For people with Type 2 diabetes, there is a good study now that shows that Chromium Picolinate is helpful. It helps insulin to work, but also helps lower the cholesterol level and increases the HDL which is the good cholesterol. (Chromium Picolinate is available over the counter at many pharmacies and health foods stores.)
The important things about diabetes are not medicines and drugs, though they play a clear role. The more important part about diabetes, and especially diabetes education and diabetes care, is the knowledge that we have. Eighty percent of the complications that we used to think would typically occur are preventable. They are not preventable by magic potions or magic drugs. They are preventable by understanding and checking. These are things that the patient, the diabetes educator and the families are going to be involved in doing.
Understanding and treating diabetes means understanding and treating a disease in each individual person.
Next month, Dr. Marcus will explain how you can work with your Cholesterol, HDL and LDL to reverse hardening of the arteries.
(Editors Note: If any of these tips have brought up questions for you about your own diabetes care, we strongly encourage you to meet with a professional to go over all of you questions and test results. Diabetes care is constantly changing and everyone should be treated as an individual. Our purpose is to inspire you and your doctor to seek out more information to increase your health to the highest level possible.)
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues.
The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained on or available through this website is for general information purposes only. Opinions expressed here are the opinions of writers, contributors, and commentators, and are not necessarily those of Diabetes Health.
Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have read on or accessed through this website.


African American Masterworks
In celebration of Black History Month and throughout spring 2016, the McNay highlights collection works by Radcliffe Bailey, Chakaia Booker, Leonardo Drew, and Sam Gilliam in the Frost Octagon in conjunction with Rashid Johnson’s films The New Black Yoga and Samuel in Space. We Invite you to see these works in person on your next visit to the museum.
Additionally, the McNay is grateful to have several works on view from The Harriet and Harmon Kelley Foundation for the Arts. Harriet Kelley was so kind to join the McNay in celebrating Black History Month by sharing with us some historical context for how Black History Month came to be, and give us insight into two works on currently on view: Charles Whites' Hear This (1942) and Jacob Lawrence's The Rebels (1963).
The McNay library has organized a display of books relevant to Black History Month, including works on African-American art and African American artists. A selection of the books
WORKS IN THE FROST OCTAGON
|Made from car tires held in place with black screws, Position Preferred contains rubber that is cut, twisted, and woven into undulating waves and spikes. While Chakaia Booker's tire sculptures are sometimes nonrepresentational, Position Preferred's surprising angles and hard-edged lines appear biomorphic or even anthropomorphic.|
|After obtaining his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1961, Sam Gilliam moved to Washington, D.C., where he became involved with other artists whose abstract paintings explored the relationship between color and space. To create works such as Green Lizzie, Gilliam worked through a complex process that involves splattering paint on unprimed canvas, layering different colors and glazes, and even painting the canvas that has been crumpled and left on the floor to dry. The spontaneous splotches and lines created by this process are hallmarks of Gilliam's style and are a result of his embrace of the physicality of painted surfaces.|
|Leonardo Drew uses natural materials and found objects to create his sculptures. By subjecting these objects to various weathering processes - such as burning and oxidation - Drew focuses the individual elements into cohesive units. The finished works continue to react and even disintegrate as a result of these treatments. The three elements that compromise Number 29A decay slowly over time, mirroring the existence of a living thing.|
|Radcliffe Bailey's work explores themes including memory, spirituality, family, and African American identity. Bailey is best known for his mixed-media paintings that often include found objects and personal belongings. To create UNIA, Bailey translated his painting practice into the print medium by employing three etching techniques. Bailey's use of a vintage photograph, drawings, and velvet creates one cohesive composition that celebrates the Universal Negro Improvement Association, founded in 1914 by the Jamaican political leader Marcus Garvey, and it's mission to "uplift the people of African ancestry."|
|New York-based Rashid Johnson explores complex cultural identities and issues relevant to being African American in the present day. The artist's ventures in film make use of the medium's ability to express meaning through movement. The New Black Yoga shows five young black men in a shore performing movements drawn from yoga, tai chi, martial arts, and modern dance in a meditation on masculinity, race, mysticism, and communication through the body movement. Samuel in Space, commissioned by Ballroom Marfa, Marfa Texas, continues the trajectory started in The New Black Yoga as a singular, totemic black male dancer observes the vast Southwestern landscape before him and dances through the desert at sunrise. In both works, the black male body is a site of reflection on histories past and progression towards rejuvenation and new meaning in the future.|
- Chakaia Booker (American, born 1953). Position Preferred, 2006. Rubber and wood. Museum Purchase with funds from the McNay Contemporary Collectors Forum. © Chakaia Booker.
- Sam Gilliam (American, born 1933). Green Lizzie, 1973. Acrylic on canvas. Gift of Janet and Jim Dicke.
- Leonardo Drew (American, born 1961). Number 29A, 1999. Dirt, paper, string, wool, fiber, paper, and found objects. Jeane and Irving Matthews Collection.
- Radcliffe Bailey (American, born 1968). Unia, 2003. Aquatint, etching, photograph, chine collé, and velvet. Gift of the Friends of the McNay. © Radcliffe Bailey.
- Rashid Johnson, film still from The New Black Yoga, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth. © Rashid Johson.
This exhibition is organized by Renè Paul Barilleaux, Chief Curator/Curator of Contemporary Art, Mcnay Art Museum.
The Elizabeth Huth Coates Exhibition Endowment and Arthur and Jane Stieren Fund for Exhibitions are generously funding this exhibition.


Antigone Sharris, creator of the Camp GADgET and GLoW programs, has a vision for supporting younger generations to reimagine, and recreate, in a way that enables students to become improved problem solvers, innovators, and manufacturers.
This endeavor has led to Sharris’ creation of GADgET (Girls Adventuring in Design, Engineering and Technology), an interactive, hands-on summer camp at Triton College, that allows for middle and high school-aged young women to learn and grow their skills in design, metal fabrication, robotics, and engineering. Though originating at Triton College, GADgET has since expanded to two other community colleges, including College of DuPage, and Ridgewood High School.
The program is an entrepreneurial-based curriculum—supporting individual goals and collaborative objectives. Campers aren’t confined to kits, and are encouraged to explore problem solving in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics). Sharris, however, prefers to treat the “M” in “STEM” as Manufacturing, as it is a typically unexplored area of everyday learning.
A new and exciting program this year, in addition to GADgET, is GLoW (Girls Learning to Weld). Sharris states, “We live in a society that, from a very young age, tells us, ‘Don’t touch that!’ or, ‘You’ll hurt yourself!’ GLoW is about encouraging these girls to use these awesome tools, and how to do so safely.”
Partners of Camp GADgET since 2012, ACE METAL CRAFTS COMPANY is delighted to host the girls for an afternoon annually to provide insight into manufacturing as a process, and as a profession.“Manufacturing is so often abstract,” says Sharris, “partners like ACE METAL CRAFTS COMPANY help to make the connection between the skills we are introducing and the importance of manufacturing in our everyday lives.”
ACE is committed to providing excellent role models to young women who are inspired to pursue careers in manufacturing.


Mauritius - Income
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2001 Mauritius's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $12.9 billion. The per capita GDP was estimated at $10,800. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 5.2%. The average inflation rate in 2001 was 4.2%. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 6% of GDP, industry 33%, and services 61%. Foreign aid receipts amounted to about $18 per capita.
The World Bank reports that in 2001 per capita household consumption (in constant 1995 US dollars) was $2,670. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the same period private consumption grew at an annual rate of 3%. Approximately 21% of household consumption was spent on food, 13% on fuel, 3% on health care, and 13% on education. It was estimated that in 2001 about 10% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.


The other day Magee and I were talking via text message and he said something along the lines of "but they are closed on V", and I did not understand what he meant. I, personally use the standard university abbreviations for days of the week: MTWRF and I guess I used Sa and Su in my notes for weekend days.
He explained he uses MTWθFVS. θ makes sense for Thursday, S for Sunday. I had no guesses about the V. He explained he looked for a syllabary that had a simple solution, and found the Cypriot syllabary, in which a symbol that looks like a V represents the syllable "sa."
I came across this wonderfully comprehensive wobsite about writing systems, and started reading. This stuff is endless.*
A syllabary is like an alphabet, except instead of each symbol representing a sound, each symbol represents a syllable.
In terms of syllabaries, Maggs said his decision had come down to using the Cherokee "sa" which is a U with a horizontal line through the middle, or the Cree, which looks like a little chair. I´m assuming he went with the Cypriot V because of it´s accessibility on a standard keyboard. I think he made a good choice, considering the alternatives. (Look here for a compilation of syllabaries.)
They say the Cypriot syllabary descended from Linear A and Linear B and was actually used for the Cypriot dialect of Greek between 800 and 200 BC. In Linear A, "sa" was Y and in Linear B, "sa" was like Y but with two little tear drops on each side. I was surprised he hadn´t chosen the Y from Linear A--seeing as how it´s equally easy to use as the Cypriot V, but it seems the origins of Linear A are too ambiguous for his note-taking standards. Ok.
What he means is that even scholars today are unsure about Linear A and whether its decipherment is correct. I mean, he´s right. Linear A was used between 1800 and 1450 BC, and really, all they can do is start with what they know and go backward. They think Linear B probably evolved from Linear A, but they don´t know how they´re related. Furthermore, these linguists just assigned the same pronunciation that Linear B uses to characters that look similar in Linear A--but that was just guessing, too. There´s no real consensus on Linear A.
What is really weird to me is that there are a handful of relatively modern texts that are also undecipherable, namely:
- Voynich Manuscript (1404-1438AD, Europe?) - at least carbon dating confirms the dates on this one. The vague general consensus seems to be that it´s a medical or pharmacopeal document. Some think the manuscript is gibberish, and was probably a joke played on Rudolph II, probably made by Roger Bacon. There are lots and lots of theories on this one.***
- Rohonc Codex (1530?AD, Hungary) - people have tried and tried to decipher this sucker, and have failed. Most Hungarian scholars seem to have given up, and assume it´s a hoax created by Sámuel Literáti Nemes, who was infamous for his historical forgeries from around that same time period. Some cryptographers think it´s a religious text. The writing might be some variant of paleo- or old- Hungarian.
- Rongo Rongo (until 1860sAD, Easter Island) - the language is Rapa Nui, the Polynesian language spoken on Easter Island. There´s debate over whether or not this is actual writing, or if it´s just some notes jotted down for the sake of decorating, or maybe remembering things.
| Rongo Rongo|
It´s funny to me how vocabulary and grammar can change in a language so quickly, relatively speaking, and how it seems writing systems change so much more slowly. If you think about the Latin alphabet for instance, the letter W was added to accommodate some German sounds in the Middle Ages, but that´s about it. We don´t really see a lot of changes. I guess since the printing press, and now keyboards worldwide, it would be much more difficult to create or destroy a letter than it is to create or destroy a word.
But it does happen sometimes! I remember when I first started learning German, the teacher made some rules very clear about when to use ß and when to use ss. --although we learned that ß = ss, the rule is:
- ß is used after diphthongs (beißen [baɪ̯sən] ‘to bite’))
- ß is used after long vowels (grüßen [ɡʁyːsən] ‘to greet’)
- ss is used after short vowels (küssen [kʏsən] ‘to kiss’)
Thus it helps to distinguish words like Buße (long vowel) 'penance, fine' and Busse (short vowel) 'buses'. However, the teacher reluctantly informed us that ß is pretty much going out of style, not because of computer keyboards, but because of text messaging. While computers made for Germany do have the ß key, cell phones do not, and kids are basically forgetting all about ß.
I also recently heard an article on PRI´s The World that Spanish has decided to get rid of two of their official letters.** WHAT. To the best of my knowledge, in addition to the 26 letters we see in English, Spanish claims/claimed 3 more: ch, ll, and ñ. Now I´m hearing that the Royal Spanish Academy is getting rid of ch and ll as single letters, and my name will now be spelled C-H-E-L-A as opposed to the CH-E-L-A that I loved.
This is crazy. My first initial is no longer Ch and now I must rethink my whole sense of self identity! No, I´m just kidding, but Venezuela´s Hugo Chavez actually seems pretty upset about it. I mean, he´s losing the first initial of his last name--I totally get it. CNN reports:
If the academy no longer considers “ch” a separate letter, Mr. Chávez chortled to his cabinet, then he would henceforth be known simply as “Ávez.”
Now, of course people have suggested and created countless alternate writing systems throughout the years. For instance, Benjamin Franklin took great interest in the promotion of spelling reform. See here and here. He proposed a more phonetic way of writing English, which actually makes a lot of sense, but no one seemed to listen. The only person who really cared for this idea was Noah Webster. Lol.
There are lots of other pretty writing systems, but my two favorites are:
- Baduk - based on the Korean board game by the same name, which is based on Go--the Japanese name for an ancient Chinese board game. The alphabet has only 2 characters and one marker to indicate the start of words. Like in Baduk the game, the meaning of one letter is determined by its relative rather than its absolute position.
- Colorbet - developed by Vitaly Vetash, a Russian painter and linguist. Basically, he took the idea that the whole variety of colors is based on fusion of 3 main rays (red, yellow and blue), and translated it into sounds, saying the variety of vowel comes from the combination of the triangle of the main sounds (A, I, U). Colors of vowels are: A is red, I - blue, U - green. He then expanded this to consonants, too, saying: vowels, being the most resonant between phonemes, represent clear colors, and consonants have more complicated formant structure, representing complex tints of colors. (This also makes me think of synesthesia? I didn´t even know what that was until... see here.)
(For a good list of constructed scripts, see here.) My cousin actually came up with a writing system, too, years ago. It´s called something like AlienCode 2 Specific or something like that. It´s by no means more efficient than the Latin Alphabet, and only a handful of people know about it. I wonder if thousands of years from now someone will find a sample of it and wonder. But then again, it´s probably very easy for cryptologists to decipher, seeing as how (with a few exceptions) there is one character per Latin letter. It was fun when we were kids anyway, and is still convenient to know... hahaha.
*(Click here to check out the Yi syllabary. It´s the largest standardized syllabary on record, and geez... things like this give me a lot of hope for humanity, to be honest, and man´s mental capacity. If common, normal, run of the mill people can grow up using this writing system and mastering it, surely we are capable of great things.)
**Here´s the article with all the changes announced (but it´s in Spanish): El Pais


The Aldo Leopold page on Ecotopia's Ecology Hall of Fame.
The Aldo Leopold Society (fka Wild Harvest).
Aldo Leopold World-view of Land-use on wisc.edu.
The Aldo Leopold Foundation was founded in 1949 to "continue the work and teachings of Aldo Leopold and to protect the family farm along the Wisconsin River".
Aldo Leopold from the 'Profiles in Conservation' series hosted by the Wilderness Society.
Aldo Leopold, Father of Wildlife Management on EEK!.
A brief biography of Aldo Leopold by Gary Suttle, argues that his land ethic is based in a pantheistic belief system.
Aldo Leopold's scientific ode to the land
Seattle Times, Dec. 1, 1999 by Eric Sorensen.
Aldo Leopold was recognized as 'one of the twenty people who helped make New Mexico what it is today' by the Albuquerque Journal [Sept. 19, 1999].
Aldo Leopold - 50 Years Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Aldo Leopold: A Fierce Green Fire is a biography by Marybeth Lorbiecki.
Aldo Leopold and the Land Ethic A Conversation with Susan Flader from the Environmental Review Newsletter, May 1996.
"The recreation value of wilderness has been often and ably presented, but its scientific value is as yet but dimly understood" wrote Aldo Leopold. The Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute at the University of Montana, Missoula campus, is dedicated to scientific research into wilderness management and values.
The Aldo Leopold Nature Center at Monona, Wisconsin provides nature education programs. Their web site includes a short biography of Aldo Leopold.
Excerpts from Leopold's writings including Killing a Wolf, Safe for Cows, and Silphium.
The Aldo Leopold Wilderness in Gila National Forest, New Mexico.
The Aldo Leopold Center for Conservation Biology provides resources about Wisconsin natural areas.
A review of
A Sand County Almanac by Rick Hartzog.


Aldosterone is the hormone that regulates the levels of water and electrolytes in your cells and bloodstream. Produced by the adrenal glands, it acts in unison with the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland to keep your body chemistry balanced and your fluid levels stable. If your aldosterone levels are low, you will have to regulate your fluids and electrolytes yourself, particularly while exercising. Talk to your doctor about how to exercise safely with low aldosterone.
Aldosterone helps your cells retain the sodium balance they need to stay hydrated. When your adrenal glands do not produce enough aldosterone, your body naturally excretes sodium through urine and sweat. Sodium pulls water with it, so if your sodium levels fall, you become dehydrated. Your cells need to contain about 15 times as much potassium as sodium to function, so when they lose sodium, they also expel potassium to maintain the correct ratio. Without sodium, potassium and water, your cells cannot sustain your body functions.
With low aldosterone, your body cannot retain enough fluid or minerals. You easily become dehydrated, which causes headaches, fatigue, lightheadedness and, in extreme cases, coma or death. As you lose fluids, your blood pressure drops, and you can experience any of the symptoms of low electrolytes -- muscle cramps, nausea, dizziness, weakness and confusion. Low sodium also can affect your nervous system, causing muscle twitches and irregular heartbeat. If you frequently experience any of these symptoms, see your doctor.
Effects on Exercise
Sweating causes your body to lose fluids and electrolytes, so activities that make you sweat, such as exercise, can aggravate your symptoms. Talk to your doctor about what types of exercise are safest for you. He may suggest that you avoid running, aerobics and other high-intensity workouts and instead focus on moderate cardio, such as walking briskly or stationary cycling. You may be able to do yoga for strength training, if you inform your teacher of your condition and avoid changing positions too quickly. Ask your teacher how to avoid triggering a drop in blood pressure.
Managing Low Aldosterone
To control the symptoms of your condition, stay hydrated and keep your electrolytes in balance. According to Drs. Michael Lam, Walter Schmitt and James L. Wilson, experts on the adrenal glands, the best way to do this is to drink small amounts of water and eat powdered kelp frequently throughout the day. Kelp contains a suitable ratio of sodium to potassium. If you crave salt, you may need additional sodium, so stir up to 1 teaspoon of sea salt into your water to keep your system stable. Talk to your doctor about the best way to manage your condition.


So we missed last week’s post. That’s another story for another day. But today, this week, we’re talking about the likeness between people and grapes. I'm asking you to be a bright spot in alignment with our Week 37 theme.
“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The world can be a dark and dreary place. Take a look at your social media feeds or the local/national news and you’ll see tragedy and sadness abound. Does that mean that the majority of our world is negative or just our feed? If I have a bunch of grapes still on the vine, and I see one starting to wither towards raisin status, do I throw out the entire bunch or inspect the rest of the grapes first? Most of us will inspect the other grapes first to see how many are still good. Why don’t we give humans the same benefit of the doubt during inspection?
Finding the Bad Grapes
One person commits a crime or does something we perceive as wrong and we proceed to lump everyone else in similar subgroups with the same negative labels we place upon the one in the wrong. By that thinking, we force others (through no choice or doing of their own) to prove they are “different than,” instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt of being a basically good human being. In those moments, we’re actively in search of the other bad grapes instead of counting how many are still good. Even just 5 good grapes are 5 more than you would’ve had if you threw out the entire bunch because of one bad one.
Okay, picture it, a bunch of red grapes (or green - no diss to your favorite) of varying sizes, but similar shades. They’ve been washed and are still somewhat firm to the touch. You grab one off the bunch, pop it into your mouth and chomp down knowing that this will be the sweetest grape you eat.
In fact, it just made you pucker with a force that caused your neck to cramp and cheeks to curve inward. You realize that the grape you just ate was smaller in size than the grape beside it and pick off the larger grape. Why? To see if that one’s sweeter. If we can give the benefit of the doubt to grapes, we can do the same for human beings.
What If We Were Grapeful...
I have yet to find a stranger that doesn’t return the gesture when I smile at them. Even the seemingly grumpiest of grumps (or sour grapes) will return a smile. How different would the world be if we highlighted more positive stories than negative, if we pointed out what people do well instead of where they stumble, if we looked at the world the same way we looked at that bunch of grapes that we hope to salvage? What shifts would we see in the way we treat each other, what we identify within each other, if we chose to be a bright spot in the world?
What's Your Flavor?
All grapes vary in color, size, flavor, origin, and purpose. Not all grapes are green, not all of them red, not all of them black. Not all of them offer the same grape flavor, and yet we'd think it absurd to ask a green grape to taste and look more like a red grape in order to be accepted. Red grapes shining in the jelly realm don't take away from green grapes' snack-ability. It's okay to acknowledge our differences and the value they add. Doing so does not take away from your value as a person, just as a red grape acknowledging a green grape's shine doesn't take away from their value as a toast topper.
Some grapes will become wine, others jelly or jam, and some will be eaten fresh or dried - straight up or as an accoutrement on a variety of salads. People are no different. We vary in height, weight, ethnicity, culture, origin, and career. Ultimately though, we’re all here to add value to the world, just like grapes. Recognizing all of this can change how we see each other and the world.
Be a bright spot. The World needs you. #Go52
C. L. Fails


Copyright & Design Right
1. Copyright is a not a monopoly right. It is really exactly what it says: a right to stop anyone copying. Thus, for example, if you and another person stand at the same spot and each take a photograph of the building opposite, each of you will have an identical photograph, the third party will have Copyright in his negative, you will have Copyright in your negative. Each of you will be free to produce postcards made from your negatives. The third party will not infringe the Copyright in your negative, and you won't infringe the Copyright in the third party’s negative. This applies even if you took the photographs at different times.
2. Copyright does not subsist in an idea. Copyright only subsists in the particular form in which that idea is represented, and arises without cost or registration as soon as the representation has been completed by its author.
Under UK law the representations of creativity in which Copyright subsists are:
• original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works;
• sound recordings, films, broadcasts, and cable programmes
You may care to note that there is no copyright in the performance of a work, only in its record or broadcast. Accordingly, taping a concert does not infringe Copyright, and hence this activity is prevented by the contractual terms governing entrance to the venue - and which are usually printed on the ticket. A "literary work"; includes a computer program, and by "artistic work" one means paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings, and photographs (all irrespective of artistic quality), works of architecture (i.e. buildings and models of buildings), and works of artistic craftsmanship.
In many cases, it is extremely difficult to determine whether any particular creation constitutes a "work of artistic craftsmanship". In the case of Henshaw -v- Restawhile a team of three craftsmen designed a new sofa by making a frame and covering it with appropriate materials. The case went through the High Court, Court of Appeal and House of Lords before the final decision deemed such team work "a work of artistic craftsmanship". That case involved a total of 9 judges but in the end it was only 5 of them that took that view.
3. Another difficulty with Copyright law is that it is necessary to prove that copying must have taken place at each stage from initial creation of the original work up to production of the competing product. Thus, for example, the designer at The Initiation Company draws a sketch of a garment, gives it to a pattern cutter who produces patterns that are then used for cutting up pieces of cloth which are then sewn together to form a garment reflecting the initial sketch made by the designer. That garment is put on sale by The Initiation Company and seen by the MD of The Chapper Company. He buys The Initiator Company's product, hands it to his designer or pattern cutter such that fresh patterns are made and used to prepare cut pieces of cloth that are likewise sewn together to produce the competing product that is eventually sold by The Chapper Company. Under Copyright law each stage of this procedure must be deemed to involve a copying step, if Copyright in the original drawing is to be deemed infringed (see Gleeson -v- Denne).
4. It was difficulties such as these, as well as many others, which brought about the introduction of a new right in the UK. The piece of legislation which introduced it was the Copyright Designs & Patents Act 1988. It is something called an Unregistered Design Right, now more usually Design Right which last ten years from first marketing or fifteens years from creation based on which term finishes earlier. This is a right very similar to Copyright in that, to succeed in infringement proceedings, it is necessary to prove that an act of copying must have occurred. However the main difference is that the "original work" in which the design right subsists is the product that is first put on the market, rather than the original creative work which initiated the product. The European Union has now followed this initiative with Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002, which institues a similar Unregistered Design Right, however unlike the UK it only last 3 years from creation. In other words, to succeed under Design Right Law Company Abe merely has to show that it first marketed its product "X" in the UK on such and such a date, and that the product "Y" produced and offered for sale in the UK by The Chapper Company is a copy of it. The chain of copying events is thus reduced in length.
5. You may suppose that "copy" might mean an exact copy. That is not the case. Taking a "substantial part" of the material in which Copyright or Design Right subsists is sufficient to be deemed an infringement. Whether "a substantial part" is judged quantitatively or qualitatively is something still being discussed and there are cases going either way. Certainly the older view in law is that the matter is judged qualitatively rather quantitatively.
6. We have already mentioned that, in order to acquire Copyright, the creator of the work must merely complete it. As soon as the artist or writer lifts his pen from the paper, there is Copyright subsisting in that work. No registration or other formality needs to be taken and no fees need to be paid. The author of the work should put his name at the bottom and date it. If he is an employee or has been commissioned to produce that work, he should also add a sentence along the lines "I hereby assign all Copyright and other rights in and arising from this work to ..." whoever is the person entitled to the arising Copyright.
7. When The Initiator Company claims that Copyright in his original work is being infringed, The Chapper Company might say "this Copyright work wasn't created in 1993 as you say, you only drew your designs yesterday - after I started selling the product". In order to avoid such arguments, it is a good idea for each person who creates a Copyright work to make a photocopy of it and post it to himself by recorded delivery in an appropriately marked envelope. The envelope, when it arrives, should be kept unopened and filed away with the recorded delivery slip. If and when any litigation arises, the envelope can be opened by a Solicitor, Notary Public, or Patent Agent/Attorney who can provide testimony corroborating the evidence provided by the plaintiff as to the date when the work was created. Alternatively a sealed envelope containing a copy may be lodged with a co-operative solicitor, library or bank, for example. Similar details of first marketing should also be preserved for the purposes of any Design Right proceedings.
8. Products originating from works the subject of Copyright should be marked with the usual "C in a Circle", followed by the year when the work was first created (i.e. when it was first written, drawn or carved) and by the full name of the Copyright owner. For a product entitled to Design Right, the marking should simply say "UK Design Right 20.." specifying the year of first marketing, and also the full name of the Design Right owner. For a product entitled to EU Design Right, the marking should simply say "EU Design Right 20.." specifying the year of creation, and also the full name of the Design Right owner.
The comments above should not be regarded as a definitive statement of the law and are provided for general information purposes only. For further details, advice, and an indication of likely costs, please contact us.
© Bromhead Johnson 2008


Garrigarrang nura means sea country in the language spoken by the Eora people, who have lived in the Sydney basin for thousands of years. Sea country encompasses every part of Australia’s coastline – its ocean, plants and animals, its beaches, land and estuaries, its seasons, weather and sky, and its Salt Water People.
Garrigarrang explores the rich cultures and spiritual traditions of the Salt Water People who call sea country home. Learn how they managed to live sustainably and harmoniously for tens for thousands of years. Hear their stories of first contact with Europeans, and their ongoing struggle to preserve their living cultural identity.
Discover traditional objects and culture from around Australia’s sea country. Explore creation stories and whale ceremonies from the NSW coast and see ceremonial costumes and dance masks from the Torres Strait.
Come to Garrigarrang and experience the richness of one of the world’s oldest continuing cultures.
Vessels of culture
Garrigarrang nura (Sea Countries) along the east coast of Australia are filled with fertile river inlets, lakes and estuaries. When managed according to Ancestral Law, the waterways are abundant with birds, fish, animals and plants. Through making canoes and teaching the next generation, the knowledge of seasons, species and Country is passed from Elders to the next generation.
Discover ghost net sculptural installations constructed from discarded trawler nets which litter the waters of northern Australia. Depicting a famous Erub Island love story, between a crab, Dauma, and a fish, Garom, the artworks transform a mindless killer into works of beauty.
The Australian Museum is COVID Safe
To help keep our staff, visitors and community safe, the AM has COVID-19 protocols in place, including physical distancing, increased cleaning and hygiene practices. Facemasks are encouraged.
View our full COVID-19 safety information here.
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