As soon as I entered the tea room, one of those dreaded messages appeared.
Second Life: Your region will restart in 5 minutes and 0 seconds for maintenance.
Pema Pera: Hi Maxine!
Pema Pera: Did you get that message
Pema Pera: that our region will go down for maintenance in a few minutes?
Maxine Walden is Offline
Second Life: Your region will restart in 3 minutes and 0 seconds for maintenance.
Riddle Sideways is Online
Second Life: Your region will restart in 1 minutes and 0 seconds for maintenance.
Pema Pera: riddle I will tp you from a different location
Pema Pera: the region is going down
Pema Pera: hang on!
Second Life: Your region will restart in 0 minutes and 30 seconds for maintenance.
Riddle Sideways: ok
Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rieul/236/203/74
Maxine Walden is Online
I had escaped the impending world implosion at the last moment, and
arrived in Ryoanji, a beautiful replica of a beautiful temple in Kyoto.
While waiting for Maxine and Riddle, I IMed Hotaru, who was also on line, to tell her that the tea room was out of commission.
IM: Pema Pera: Hi Hotaru!
IM: Hotaru Myoo: Morning Pema
Pema Pera: I’m in Ryoanji
Pema Pera: beautiful temple in Kyoto
IM: Hotaru Myoo: Get out
Pema Pera: next door to Theo’s place
Pema Pera: in SL
Pema Pera: !!
IM: Hotaru Myoo: yes I know it
Pema Pera: ah
IM: Hotaru Myoo: tp?
Fire fly Hotaru arrived at virtually the speed of light. Maxine would follow soon, but no matter how many tps I sent to Riddle, he did not appear; probably had problems with his computer or connection.
Pema Pera: speedy fire fly!
Pema Pera: you’re the fastest fire fly I’ve ever met
Hotaru Myoo: got on the fast set
Pema Pera: haha
IM: Maxine Walden: Pema, can you tp me to the teahouse?
IM: Pema Pera: no, but I can tp you to where I am
IM: Pema Pera: the tea house is off line
IM: Maxine Walden: oh, that is why I could not go there…
Hotaru Myoo: Hi maxine
Pema Pera: Hi Hotaru
Pema Pera: Hi Maxine
Hotaru Myoo: So how did you find this?
Pema Pera: ah!
Pema Pera: I found this before I found almost anything else in SL
Maxine Walden: yes, thanks
Hotaru Myoo: nice
Pema Pera: btw
Pema Pera: the reason we’re here
Pema Pera: is that the tea house sim went down for maintanance
Maxine Walden: hello Hotaru
Pema Pera: so we had to escape
Maxine Walden: Ah, maintenance in SL as well…
Pema Pera: yeah
Pema Pera: second time in a week it happened; I had an astro meeting with quite a bunch of people
Pema Pera: we had to scurry to all reassemble . . . .
Pema Pera: so, Hotaru
Maxine Walden: interesting…
Pema Pera: I was living in Kyoto this summer
Pema Pera: so when I tried out SL
Pema Pera: I looked around for Kyoto presence in SL
Pema Pera: found Ryoanji
Hotaru Myoo: nice
Pema Pera: one of my favorite temples in Kyoto
Pema Pera: so went there
Pema Pera: loved it
Pema Pera: looks really like the real thing!
Pema Pera: but then for half a year I almost did not come into SL
Hotaru Myoo: excuses!
Pema Pera: busy and learning curve
Pema Pera: sure
The three of us were still standing where we had arrived, overlooking the zen garden, with the `borrowed landscape,’ as it is called, in the form of the trees from the garden behind, visible over the stone wall at the back.
Hotaru Myoo: excuse me
Hotaru Myoo: brb
Pema Pera: Maxine, shall we sit down?
Maxine Walden: OK,
Pema Pera: right click on a white ball
Pema Pera: and choose “zazen”
Maxine Walden: fine, lovely background
Pema Pera: now we all peaceful gaze at the garden . . . ;>)
Pema Pera: So how are you feeling this morning, Maxine?
Maxine Walden: interesting evolutions of understanding since yesterday…the varying realities co-existing
Pema Pera: yes
Maxine Walden: and intense perceptions being just that, intense perceptions…which can evolve
Pema Pera: I’m very glad that you are so open to change
Maxine Walden: try to be…
Pema Pera: even in what must have been an uncomfortable if not somewhat painful situation
Maxine Walden: yes, and still holding on to my experience, but also trying to see all of our experience
Maxine Walden: from a wider view
Pema Pera: that is the “play” aspect that I like so much . . . .
Pema Pera: but like with children, it often happens that a few are playing and that for whatever reason one or more others are left out, often unintentionally so
Maxine Walden: some thoughts linked then with thoughts re Bob’s Qwaq feedback talk last evening
Pema Pera: yes, how was Qwaq?
Pema Pera: and the discussion with Bob?
Maxine Walden: will likely influence what i try to talk about couple of Sundays hence…
Hotaru Myoo: k
Hotaru Myoo: what did I miss?
Hotaru Myoo: :)
Pema Pera: wb Hotaru!
Pema Pera: oh, we were talking about two meetings yesterday — please keep talking, Maxine –
Maxine Walden: I was only able to listen, not to talk, but what I could hear was
Pema Pera: yesterday Maxine and I met in the tea house in SL in the morning, and then in Qwaq Forums, another virtual world, in the evening for a discussion
Maxine Walden: the question of consciousness being linked with the brain…mind…and the question was left open…
Pema Pera: I started an organization in Qwaq almost a year ago, and only this month branched out into SL
Maxine Walden: origins of consciousness…questions such as that…more questions than answers
Pema Pera: interesting question Maxine!
Hotaru Myoo: love it
Maxine Walden: yes, very
Pema Pera: and depends a lot on what you call consciousness
Maxine Walden: indeed
I took the opportunity to circle back to Being, which we had started to talk about just 24 hours earlier.
Pema Pera: raw awareness
Pema Pera: appreciation of what appears
Hotaru Myoo: or intuitive self
Pema Pera: I think it more fundamental
Pema Pera: before brain or body or mind or thoughts or emotions
Maxine Walden: in what way
Hotaru Myoo: yes I would agree
Pema Pera: everything elase appears in that
Pema Pera: is given in that
Hotaru Myoo: initial conditions
Pema Pera: perhaps a bit like the ligt of the movie projector that allows the movie to appear
Maxine Walden: a kind of cosmic consciousness?
Pema Pera: by selectively blocking what should not be white light;:>)
Hotaru Myoo: that is a great metaphor
Maxine Walden: oh, interesting,
Pema Pera: cosmic yes, but before consciousness
Pema Pera: a movie is a filter
Pema Pera: without a filter the screen would be white
Pema Pera: each scene is selectively reduced
Pema Pera: each scene in a different way
Pema Pera: each of us are a way in which Being playes
Pema Pera: plays
Pema Pera: selectively doing as if we are not quite full Being
Pema Pera: even though of course we are
Pema Pera: and we return the compliment
Pema Pera: by in turn gathering here
Pema Pera: to play as being Being after all
Pema Pera: so the circuit is being closed
Hotaru Myoo: or opened
Pema Pera: Being playing Maxine playing Being
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: indeed, Hotaru
Pema Pera: Being playing Hotaru playing Being
Pema Pera: Being playing Pema playing Being
Hotaru made a connection with her recent work.
Hotaru Myoo: my new art reflects a similar notion
Maxine Walden: oh?
Hotaru Myoo: I have never been a painter
Hotaru Myoo: but I have just started aseries of paintings of ss in sl
Pema Pera: ss?
Maxine Walden: ss?
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: steam ships?
Hotaru Myoo: snap shots
Pema Pera: ah!
Hotaru Myoo: a conversation between the real and the artificial
Pema Pera: what an interesting idea
Pema Pera: indeed like Being playing and us playing back!!
Pema Pera: a conversation
Pema Pera: haha
Hotaru Myoo: a fumbling sculptor making paintings
Pema Pera: you’re a sculptor?
Maxine Walden: Just to mention I will need to go in about 3 minutes, but am here and interested til then
Hotaru Myoo: glassblower/steel/wood/found object
Hotaru Myoo: usually about the complexity theory
Pema Pera: how interesting!
Pema Pera: yes
Hotaru Myoo: yea
Hotaru Myoo: and chaos
Maxine Walden: with my time here diminishing for today, just being here seems nice
Pema Pera: yes, Maxine, it’s a beautiful place, isn’t it?
Pema Pera: do you have a web site?
Hotaru Myoo: nope
Pema Pera: exhibitions?
Hotaru Myoo: too busy teaching to take care of myself these days
Pema Pera: sorry to hear that
Hotaru Myoo: I’ll make some textures
Hotaru Myoo: good idea
Second Life: Your region will restart in 5 minutes and 0 seconds for maintenance.
Pema Pera: oh no
Pema Pera: this is pretty ridiculous
Pema Pera: now this region goes down!!
Hotaru Myoo: the restart?
Pema Pera: yes
Maxine Walden: think I must go, bye and nice talking
Pema Pera: bye Maxine!
Pema Pera: thanks for dropping bye!
Hotaru Myoo: bye Maxine
Once again there was the question where to go.
Hotaru Myoo: I have outrun restarts before
Pema Pera: how long for the restart?
Pema Pera: where would you like to go?
Hotaru Myoo: anywhere
Hotaru Myoo: lets just go and see who finds a safe region
Pema Pera: sure
Pema Pera: you have a lm in your profile
Pema Pera: of what looks like a nice place
Pema Pera: shall we go there?
Second Life: Your region will restart in 3 minutes and 0 seconds for maintenance.
IM: Hotaru Myoo: just start running
IM: Hotaru Myoo: I have found two that are on the same restart time
IM: Pema Pera: haha
Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pyrina/209/115/31
IM: Pema Pera: let’s see
While Hotaru had jumped around from sim to sim, only to find that they, too, were going down, I had just managed to land in Nagasaki.
IM: Pema Pera: O no!
IM: Pema Pera: I’m in Nagasaki
IM: Pema Pera: restart in 3 minutes
IM: Pema Pera: bakabakashiiii!!!
IM: Hotaru Myoo: have you found one yet?
IM: Hotaru Myoo: haha
Second Life: Your region will restart in 3 minutes and 0 seconds for maintenance.
I then jumped to Kyoto, and found that one to be stable.
Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Asagao/83/167/24
IM: Pema Pera: your place or mine?
IM: Pema Pera: I’m in Kyoto
IM: Hotaru Myoo: you found one!
IM: Hotaru Myoo: if we wait it out
IM: Hotaru Myoo: then we can return to Roanji
IM: Pema Pera: don’t hold your breath
IM: Pema Pera: or perhaps you should hold it
IM: Pema Pera: who knows whether this region will go down (^+^)
IM: Pema Pera: =^=^=
IM: Hotaru Myoo: if we wait it out
IM: Pema Pera: =^+^=
IM: Pema Pera: not enough practice with cat faces . . . .
IM: Hotaru Myoo: then we can return to Roanji
IM: Pema Pera: yeah
IM: Pema Pera: is it only short?
IM: Hotaru Myoo: cat look good
IM: Pema Pera: =^-^=
IM: Pema Pera: =^o^=
IM: Pema Pera: more options with Japanese hiragana set . . . .
IM: Pema Pera: or katakana, better, just a sec
IM: Hotaru Myoo: no fair
IM: Pema Pera: =^ェ^=
IM: Hotaru Myoo: o,,,o /),/)
IM: Hotaru Myoo: ( ‘ ; ‘ ) ( ‘ ; ‘ )
IM: Hotaru Myoo: (,,)-(,,)(,,)-(,,)
IM: Pema Pera: nice!
IM: Pema Pera: eyes! ears?
IM: Pema Pera: cat paws…
IM: Hotaru Myoo: lol
By that time Hotaru had savely rezzed in Kyoto, and sheltered from all the restarts we hung around for a bit, and chatted with some of the locals.
