We started off with the three of us, Autumn Quinnell, a new visitor, Pattrick Euler who had come here earlier, and me. Pattrick had computer difficulties, and after dropping in and out a few times, he gave up. Autumn told me how she had heard about our Play as Being meetings from Mayavader, who had joined us yesterday evening.
Autumn Quinnell: Maya is teaching me how to meditate in Rl
Pema Pera: teaching in SL to meditate in RL, cool!
Pema Pera: it’s similar to what I’m trying to do here
Pema Pera: having discussions every six hours (except when I’m asleep) in SL
Pema Pera: about the remaining time in RL, how we can use our life like a laboratory
Pema Pera: the key idea here, which makes it different from regular meditation
Pema Pera: is that I suggest we play with the idea of trading duration for frequency
Pema Pera: or continuity
Pema Pera: Instead of sitting one or two hours a day
Pema Pera: I ask people to spend only two minutes a day . . . .
Pema Pera: but spread out over several hours
Pema Pera: 9 seconds at a time
Pema Pera: every 15 minutes
Pema Pera: I call it a 1% time tax (^_^)
Pema Pera: the idea:
Pema Pera: drop what you’re doing
Pema Pera: and see
Pema Pera: and be
Pema Pera: for 9 sec
Autumn Quinnell: hehe interresting!
Pema Pera: then continue your life
Pema Pera: so it will be like walking in the fog
Pema Pera: slooooowly you get wet
Pema Pera: soaking wet haha
Autumn Quinnell: and how do you spend these 9secs?
Pema Pera: take a breath
Pema Pera: stop
Pema Pera: (stop can mean many things: conceptual thinking, big topic)
Pema Pera: then write down a few words
Pema Pera: or short sentence
Pema Pera: in a journal
Pema Pera: so that after a few days or weeks
Pema Pera: you can look back and see patterns
Pema Pera: basically let Being speak to/through you
Pema Pera: the name is: playing as Being
Pema Pera: but really it should be:
Pema Pera: Being playing you ;>)
Autumn Quinnell: hmmm
Autumn Quinnell: kewl
Autumn Quinnell: ;)
We then embarked on a detailed discussion of the world of SL, in comparison to both RL and the realm of Being. Here is a snippet from our dialogue.
Autumn Quinnell: well in rl i am living in the woods and am totally outside of most humans touch
Pema Pera: sounds wonderful!
Autumn Quinnell: in some ways –it is
Autumn Quinnell: in other ways not so
Autumn Quinnell: i came into sl to meet humans
Pema Pera: and what happened?
Autumn Quinnell: well–have met lots of them
Autumn Quinnell: hehe
Autumn Quinnell: some good some not
Pema Pera: very intense place, for sure!
Autumn Quinnell: many took advantage of my ignorance
Autumn Quinnell: of Sl
Pema Pera: yes, that happens a lot
Autumn Quinnell: i had never played an on-line game before
Autumn Quinnell: i didn’t and dont see Sl as a game
Pema Pera: same with me, too
Pema Pera: me neither
Autumn Quinnell: hmm
Autumn Quinnell: ;)
Pema Pera: I came in here for my work
Pema Pera: very different angle
Pema Pera: my work in astronomy
Autumn Quinnell: oh kewl;)
Pema Pera: then I realized that I could also use it for my interest in exploring reality
Pema Pera: beyond the purely physical aspect of astronomy
Autumn Quinnell: yes that sounds like what your doing too
Pema Pera: SL is a kind of telescope on the mind, you might say
Pema Pera: ;>)
Autumn Quinnell: hhhmmm
Autumn Quinnell: yes
Pema Pera: also like a mirror
Pema Pera: you learn a lot about yourself
Autumn Quinnell: true
Pema Pera: in seeing how you interact with others
Autumn Quinnell: i have most definitely
Pema Pera: the good the bad, the creative, the innocent, the charming, the shameful, the endearing, you name it!
Autumn Quinnell: yes in that way i have learned alot about myself
Pema Pera: and it applies to RL and . . .
Pema Pera: . . . it also applies to who we really are
Pema Pera: which is neither here nor there, neither our RL nor our SL existence
Autumn Quinnell: agree
Pema Pera: what we are, not what we have
Pema Pera: We have a body, mind, feelings, thoughts
Pema Pera: but what we are is what I’m most interesting
Pema Pera: interested
Pema Pera: so: Being
Pema Pera: so: play as Being ;>)
Pema Pera: and I don’t want to be a teacher
Pema Pera: but I like to share what I have learned
Pema Pera: and invite others to join me in this adventure
Autumn Quinnell: you know Pema, i think i have lived the (play as Being) here in sl
Pema Pera: can you say a bit more, that’s fascinating!
Autumn Quinnell: well, these few short months here in sl i have lived and talked of my true self
Autumn Quinnell: the essence of who i am inside of me
Autumn Quinnell: what i believe
Autumn Quinnell: how i live/my creativity
Autumn Quinnell: my phylosophy
Autumn Quinnell: etc
