Pavlovian PaB - 9 Second Stops

9 Second Stops = "What happens to me is..."

Pema Pera: but the simplest way to describe it is this:
Pema Pera: we like to spend a few hours, at least, every day
Pema Pera: while taking 9-sec breaks, every 15 minutes
Pema Pera: to smell the roses so to speak
Lingerer Xaris: oh yes, hana once mentioned that to me
Pema Pera: in total that takes only a couple minutes, about the time it takes to brush your teeth
Pema Pera: and interestingly many people have told us that it really did change their life to some extent
doug Sosa: and even done a few times creates lots of interesting experienes to talk about. Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: in contrast to more traditional forms of meditation or contemplation, we trade in duration for frequency
Pema Pera: it turns out that if you do something, anything, many times a day, it gets under your skin, invariably
Lingerer Xaris: Pema, what have you experienced doing this?
Pema Pera: no matter how short
doug Sosa: I find myself realy struggling with hos to describe what happens, the transitions in and out, the comparison with falling asleep..
Pema Pera: we all experience different things, Lingerer
Pema Pera: and each of us also different things each day
Pema Pera: it's hard to give a broad brush summary
Pema Pera: the one suggestion I made, when I introduced the idea, is: try to drop what you have in order to see what you are
Pema Pera: and everybody fills that in in their own way
doug Sosa: for me it is mostly heightened appreciation of my experience, with less categories., the goal being experience without judgments.
Pema Pera: so if you want to try that, even just for a few hours, it would be nice to hear, next time, how it struck you
doug Sosa: so for example, objects tend to float a bit, less substantial in shape but more substantial in experience.

Steve gave a beautiful description, and thus determined the title for the session:

stevenaia Michinaga: like when you open a window and a cool breeze blows by, everything changes for about 9 secs before things return, except the memory of the brief observation
doug Sosa: nice!
Pema Pera: :)
doug Sosa: except to realize that here is no window, only the openness, and then the window returns... and shuts..

doug Sosa: in my experience, thinking about the 9 sec tends to bring me back into it. I seem to not be able to prevent that, even if i wanted t.
Hana Furlough: that's nice
Hana Furlough: like second nature?
Pema Pera: like a sign "don't read this"
Hana Furlough: !!!
doug Sosa: ha.
doug Sosa: think about the 9 sec but keep your distance, you might fall in :)
Pema Pera: :)
Pema Pera: another metaphor: we tend to inflate ourselves, our own feeling of importance, in any task we focus on -- and the 9 sec helps to puncture the balloon
doug Sosa: I wonder how Lewis carrol fell down the rabbit hole with alice. Seems similar..
Pema Pera: the rabit did use a watch, after all, perhaps he was doing the 9 sec

doug Sosa: for me the "present moment" actually morphs into a much more open time/timeless space/spaceless..
Pema Pera: yes, the openness can be quite surprising -- and I often find that far less than 9 seconds is needed to regain that openness; often it comes back in the first second or less
doug Sosa: but not empty..
doug Sosa: yes, even anticipation starts it.
Pema Pera: :)
Pema Pera: Pavlov PaB!
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, some long dreams take only seconds

http://wiki.playasbeing.org/Chat_Logs/2009/10/2009.10.10_19%3a00_-_A_Cool_Breeze_Blows_By