The guardian at this meeting was Pema Pera and the comments are his.
It was an hour past midnight, SL time, and I came to an empty tea house. After a while, I noticed someone else walking around nearby, and since I had nothing else to do, I got up and said hello. She was busy in IM, she said, but indicated that she was happy to talk later. Indeed, a while later she walked in my direction, but first stopped at a neighbor’s house. I had been sitting outside on the wooden planks, so I got up and walked over.
Pema Pera: Hi again!
Hopefia Fayray: do u live here?
Pema Pera: no
Pema Pera: next place
Pema Pera: to your right
We strolled to the tea house, and went inside.
Pema Pera: please feel free to sit down!
Hopefia Fayray: this is ur house?
Pema Pera: no but I come here regularly with a group of friends
Pema Pera: four times a day we get together here
Pema Pera: but this time of the SL day there are few people
Pema Pera: even so, we have made a commitment to be here once every six hours
Hopefia Fayray: because i have been here a few times before to meditate
Pema Pera: to keep a sense of community continuity
Pema Pera: every day at 6 pm SLT
Pema Pera: there is a small group doing zazen here
Hopefia Fayray: ok
Pema Pera: btw, I just looked at your web page, very nice !
Hopefia Fayray: ty but it has not been updated recently because i had a bereavement and prolly taking me twice as long to do anything at the moment
Pema Pera: oh, I’m sorry to hear that . . ..
Pema Pera: zazen at 6 pm is out in the open air zen meditation area
Pema Pera: here is this tea house we gather at 1 am, 7 am, 1 pm, and 7 pm
Hopefia Fayray: i prefer to meditate in the open air somehow
Pema Pera: yes, it is nice, isn’t it?
Hopefia Fayray: 1am sl time?
Pema Pera: yes all SL times
Pema Pera: so this is one of the times
Hopefia Fayray: i love nature
Pema Pera: you will like our idea to create a large forest here
Hopefia Fayray: yes i need to meditate in rl too
Hopefia Fayray: wow that would be cool
Pema Pera: spanning parts of a dozen sims
Hopefia Fayray: to hide the silly billboards and hooplas things over there
Hopefia Fayray: forests are always cool
Hopefia had offered a teleport to her friend Jerel, who then materialized in the tea house.
Jerel Jetcity: hello
Jerel Jetcity: hi Pema
Jerel Jetcity: nice to meet you
Pema Pera: please join us
Hopefia Fayray: pema meet jerel, jerel meet pema
Pema Pera: yes indeed
Pema Pera: nice to meet you
Jerel Jetcity: hi sweety
Hopefia Fayray: hello jerel
Jerel Jetcity: thank you very much
Pema Pera: Hi Jerel
Jerel Jetcity: pleasure to meet ya
Pema Pera: Have you been here before, Jerel?
Jerel Jetcity: yes once when Hope showed me this place
Jerel Jetcity: very soothing here
Pema Pera: thank you!
Pema Pera: my neighbor Dakini Rhode built it
Pema Pera: and let me use it
Jerel Jetcity: wow quite impressive
Hopefia Fayray: we saw her briefly yesterday although i havent spoken to her yet
Pema Pera: and I was just telling Hopefia about a project we just started of creating a huge forest
Jerel Jetcity: really?
Pema Pera: centered here and spanning parts of a dozen sims
Jerel Jetcity: that sounds like a huge undertaking
Pema Pera: to create a setting for many retreat huts
Pema Pera: yes
Jerel Jetcity: that would be amazing
Hopefia Fayray: if i had a choice between shopping malls and house or miles of forest - i would choose the forest every time lol
Pema Pera: but we are gathering a real community here
Pema Pera: haha, yes
Jerel Jetcity: me too
I explained about the PaB background of our activities.
Pema Pera: what happened here
Pema Pera: the background for the forest plans
Jerel Jetcity: yes
Pema Pera: is an exploration I started here on April 1
Pema Pera: called “Play as Being”
Jerel Jetcity: very impressive
Hopefia Fayray: april fools day? heh
Pema Pera: a suggestion for a type of meditation, but very short — 9 seconds at a time ;>)
Jerel Jetcity: i think more nature on SL is needed
Pema Pera: yes, pretty foolish no?
Jerel Jetcity: haha
Jerel Jetcity: not at all
Pema Pera: http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Hopefia Fayray: sometimes the ideas that appear childish or foolish are the ones life embraces
Pema Pera: every fifteen minutes we stop for 9 seconds
Pema Pera: and break the spell of the conventional
Jerel Jetcity: really
Pema Pera: paying a 1% time tax
Pema Pera: and the results have been amazing
Pema Pera: see my blog I just pointed to
Jerel Jetcity: okay i am reading it now
Pema Pera: about a hundred people have visited in the last 40 days
Pema Pera: and half of them keep coming back
Jerel Jetcity: i will keep your blog on file
With that context, I returned to the forest idea.
Pema Pera: so with this growing community we thought about how to embed us in the landscape
Pema Pera: rather than just gathering here
Pema Pera: and the idea of a forest was born
Pema Pera: we have already one and a half sim worth of land
Jerel Jetcity: do you own the dozen sims?
Pema Pera: no
Jerel Jetcity: ahh i see
Pema Pera: one and a half sim I own by now
Pema Pera: spread over a dozen sims
Pema Pera: tentacles ;>)
Jerel Jetcity: i understand
Jerel Jetcity: branches
Pema Pera: like paths or railroads
Pema Pera: but instead wooded walkways
Jerel Jetcity: it will be vast
Pema Pera: seems better
Pema Pera: yes it will stretch to the Western sea
Hopefia Fayray: or tree roots ;)
Pema Pera: four or five sims from here
Pema Pera: we just bought three plots of beach property and are now filling in the gaps
Jerel Jetcity: what is your timeframe to complete the project?
Pema Pera: a few months to get it all contiguous
Pema Pera: and to get the rough landscaping done
Pema Pera: hills and river beds
Pema Pera: the rest will then take more time to fill in
Jerel Jetcity: wow
Pema Pera: and will never be really finished — like a real forest ;>)
Jerel Jetcity: so continuously changing then
Hopefia Fayray: yeh nature reclaims eventually
Pema Pera: yes
Jerel Jetcity: sounds amazing
Hopefia Fayray: gawd will be so refreshing to see some woodland amongst the concrete nightmares u usually see in SL
Jerel Jetcity: haha so true
Jerel Jetcity: i try to stay away from the city sims
Pema Pera: well, please come visit whenever you feel like!
Hopefia Fayray: TY
The topic shifted to the green tea here, and its effects on avatars.
Pema Pera: oh sorry I should have offered tea ;>)
Jerel Jetcity: ok..thanks so much Pema for the invite
Hopefia Fayray: ive just had some chai ty
Pema Pera: just click on the pot on the tray
Jerel Jetcity: that is fine…thank you
Jerel Jetcity: ok
Pema Pera: as you already figured out
Pema Pera: then wear the cup
Pema Pera: yes
Jerel Jetcity: delicious!
Jerel Jetcity: ty
Pema Pera: it does have a side effect
Pema Pera: the script is not yet perfect
Jerel Jetcity: ohh
Pema Pera: most people seem to start to float
Jerel Jetcity: i hope it won’t make me dizzy
Hopefia Fayray: turns up green? hehhe
Hopefia Fayray: us
Pema Pera: so be warned;>)
Pema Pera: no just levitating ;>)
Jerel Jetcity: haha
Pema Pera: soon after drinking the tea
Jerel Jetcity: as long as we don’t turn into a monster
Jerel Jetcity: ahh i see
Pema Pera: not to worry!
Hopefia Fayray: heheh oh yeh i saw a fox levitating in here before lolol
Pema Pera: haha
Jerel Jetcity: hehe
Hopefia Fayray: well a fox man
Pema Pera: yes we are here often
Jerel Jetcity: that would be a funny sight
Hopefia Fayray: and no i wasnt hallucinating lol
Pema Pera: haha!
Pema Pera: btw
Hopefia Fayray: he is part of ur group i think pema lol
At that moment Jerel started to levitate, soon followed by Hopefia.
Jerel Jetcity: i believe you hun
Jerel Jetcity: whoa!
Pema Pera: there you go!
Jerel Jetcity: **laughs !! **
Pema Pera: more levity here!
Jerel Jetcity: makes you light on your feet huh
Jerel Jetcity: literally
Pema Pera: yup!
Jerel Jetcity: nice
Pema Pera: getting up and sitting down again seems to break the spell
Pema Pera: until the next cup
Hopefia Fayray: have i crashed?
Jerel Jetcity: ok
Hopefia Fayray: ok no there lol
Pema Pera: no don’t think crashed
Jerel Jetcity: haha
Hopefia Fayray: lol
Hopefia Fayray: *GIGGLES* :)
Pema Pera: elevated your position ;>)
Jerel Jetcity: well Hope makes me float anyway
Hopefia Fayray: oh groan lol
Pema Pera: btw
Jerel Jetcity: :)) hehe
I explained what I was doing here being awake at 1 am SL time.
Jerel Jetcity: i think you have a terrific plan
Jerel Jetcity: for SL
Pema Pera: I’m actually typing this from a coffeeshop in Tokyo right now, it is almost dinner time here
Jerel Jetcity: wow
Hopefia Fayray: lol
Pema Pera: I’m taking care of the night shift here
Pema Pera: easy from Japan
Pema Pera: ;>)
Jerel Jetcity: konban wa
Pema Pera: morning breakfast tea, perfect!
Pema Pera: konban wa Jerel-san
Pema Pera: nihongo hanashimasu ka?
Jerel Jetcity: ty Pema
Jerel Jetcity: oh sorry that’s all i know
Jerel Jetcity: arigato
Jerel Jetcity: hehe
Pema Pera: I was in Berkeley for three weeks
Pema Pera: last month
Jerel Jetcity: for work?
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: half my work is astronomy
Pema Pera: half of it is broadly interdisciplinary, trying to connect many areas
Jerel Jetcity: excellent
Pema Pera: under the general umbrella of “what is reality and what can we know about it”
Jerel Jetcity: you are a man of science
Hopefia Fayray: reality is what we create?
Pema Pera: well . . ..
Pema Pera: but who are we?
Hopefia Fayray: where do u stand on theories of quantum physics and manifesting percepted reality Pema?
Jerel Jetcity: so how we perceive our world is important in your field
We talked a bit more about science.
Pema Pera: quantum physics is a wonderful reminder
Pema Pera: that we can be wrong
Pema Pera: physicists thought the world was like a clockwork mechanism
Pema Pera: for a few hundred years
Pema Pera: and boy were we wrong
Jerel Jetcity: so true
Pema Pera: but science is so young
Pema Pera: we will see many more revolutions I think before we get anywhere close to a really deep insight into reality
Jerel Jetcity: like in medicine
Pema Pera: comparable to that of the best contemplative traditions
Hopefia Fayray: and whose mind or perception do we take as the “default” point of view?
Hopefia Fayray: lol
Pema Pera: I think the central question is how to let go of our limited view of who we are
Pema Pera: only then can we ask what reality is
Jerel Jetcity: but isn’t that subjective. all views could be correct in some way
Hopefia Fayray: well yes - and recognise our projections onto others as being manifestations of our own positive or negative thoughts
Pema Pera: often yes
Hopefia Fayray: or indeed the events in the world
Hopefia Fayray: as collective projection of un/conciousness?
Hopefia Fayray: ie - what u think creates what u see
Pema Pera: whether views are correct or not depends at least in part on context
Hopefia Fayray: but then as I was saying to jerel earlier i struggle with some aspects of this approach
Jerel Jetcity: and sometimes what we see misleads us
Hopefia Fayray: ie the random bad things that occur to innocent people
Jerel Jetcity: yes like violence or sadness
Pema Pera: within a movie we can talk about a horse or a house that we see — but really it is only a play of light in a wider context
Pema Pera: both are true
Jerel Jetcity: yes
Jerel Jetcity: because it is not the real actual thing
Hopefia Fayray: what is real what is actual?
Jerel Jetcity: well things that exist
I quoted Stim.
Pema Pera: a good friend of mine once said about compassion:
Pema Pera: there are two parts to compassion:
Pema Pera: 1) see that there is no problem; 2) help the other to see that too
Jerel Jetcity: Pema so many people need to know that
Hopefia Fayray: thats a wise reminder
Pema Pera: what I am trying to do here is to help people to see that, and myself too, to see it better, with a little help from my friends (^_^)
Hopefia Fayray: but those who have been deeply hurt sometimes carry the projections of those who have abused them into the future and need more reassurance to see that
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: hence the 9-second practice here
Hopefia Fayray: which is hard to swallow
Hopefia Fayray: because it means the person who
Hopefia Fayray: performed the horrible thing
Pema Pera: to poke holes in our stubborn sense of sadness about our fixed ideas
Hopefia Fayray: is loved or fogiven
Jerel Jetcity: yes pain from the past can be long term hindrances
Hopefia Fayray: and the person who had to endure
Hopefia Fayray: somehow has to fight constantly
Hopefia Fayray: to survive
Hopefia Fayray: it seems unfair
Hopefia Fayray: like asking a butterfly to pull itself together
Pema Pera: yes, Hopefia, I don’t want to take that lightly in any way — suffering is the basis of any deep exploration of reality
Hopefia Fayray: because a dog has just mauled it
Hopefia Fayray: whilst patting and saying well done to the dog
Pema Pera: you can’t look at part of reality as a dream and leave the other part real, like you yourself, or the dog . . . . .
Jerel Jetcity: it makes me wonder about life in general. is pain and suffering a natural order
Hopefia Fayray: i know that suffering has made me stronger like a phoenix insome ways
Jerel Jetcity: it is so prevalent
Whether suffering is real is such a delicate topic. Showing respect for the experience of suffering without buying into the reality of suffering feels like walking a tight rope.
Pema Pera: ultimately it does not exist — but that can be blasphemy to say that if you are not able to express it correctly, so I want to be very very careful . . . . .
Hopefia Fayray: so are we really choosing to hurt ourselves?
Pema Pera: yes, people who have not suffered much are rarely deep in their understanding and outlook
Jerel Jetcity: i understand, because those qualities are ones that are experienced differently for each person
Hopefia Fayray: even if someone is raped or murdered
Hopefia Fayray: that victim has “chosen” that fate?
Pema Pera: that would be too simple I think
Pema Pera: everything is intertwined like roots in a forest
Jerel Jetcity: well i know they exist because you see it everyday
Pema Pera: an image that came up in a conversation here recently
Hopefia Fayray: just asking because i try to do lots of affirmations and live positively in rl
Hopefia Fayray: as being a teacher i want to be good role model for the kids
Hopefia Fayray: and to also have a positive life myself
Hopefia Fayray: i find posiitve thinking can bring great results
Hopefia Fayray: but
Hopefia Fayray: also
Jerel Jetcity: no one chooses to be hurt physically or emotionally abused
Hopefia Fayray: looking at whether negative manifestations
Hopefia Fayray: are results from ur own mind
Hopefia Fayray: or sometimes the Psychic projection of others
Pema Pera: we have very little choice, really — so much of what happens is beyond our power — yet we can choose our attitude
Pema Pera: as you indicate
Jerel Jetcity: yes we can
Hopefia Fayray: yes there is always a choice of how to react
Jerel Jetcity: positivity goes a long way in this world
Jerel Jetcity: people are so negative
Hopefia Fayray: well like most people i have had a tough life - but i choose to nuture and allow my soul and psyche to be taught by life
Hopefia Fayray: are people so negative jerel or
Jerel Jetcity: you are strong hope
Hopefia Fayray: is that ur projection when u are feeling negative?
Hopefia Fayray: i know when i am feeling weak
Pema Pera: and perhaps there is no problem at all . . . ultimately . . . and perhaps we can find a real resource in that way . . . I think we can . . . even though all that sounds very abstract, but it can be the most concrete. The name I prefer to use for the resource is “Being”
Hopefia Fayray: people around me mirror that in the things they say and do backk to me
Hopefia Fayray: life is a mirror is it not?
Jerel Jetcity: no i witness people’s behavior sometimes and i try to be positive but you witness reality as it’s manifested by people’s actions or words
The conversation accelerated. Clearly we were covering many topics that would need more time to sort them out. Hopefully soon!
Hopefia Fayray: i think the inner creates the outer
Hopefia Fayray: and life is a mirror
Hopefia Fayray: of everyone’s psyche
Hopefia Fayray: thats why we all need to heal and grow
Hopefia Fayray: because we will still have wars
Hopefia Fayray: poverty
Hopefia Fayray: etc
Hopefia Fayray: from lack of love
Hopefia Fayray: and not money
Hopefia Fayray: it boils down to lack of love for ourselves
Hopefia Fayray: each of us
Jerel Jetcity: so “Being” can be a way for us to heal and realize who we are
Hopefia Fayray: the more we love ourselves
Hopefia Fayray: the better we create
Jerel Jetcity: yes i believe that as well
Pema Pera: yes
Jerel Jetcity: it all starts from each of us within ourselves
Pema Pera: but we also have to see
Pema Pera: what is real
Hopefia Fayray: how do we see what is real?
Pema Pera: otherwise we can love ourselves and get confused in doing so
Hopefia Fayray: if reality is a concept?
Jerel Jetcity: that question was posed in that movie the matrix…”and what is real?”
Hopefia Fayray: i am frequentely confused lol
Pema Pera: I am refering to seeing beyond concepts
Pema Pera: beyond words
Hopefia Fayray: life is breath
Hopefia Fayray: and priorities
Hopefia Fayray: when i was nursing my mother
Hopefia Fayray: waiting for her to die
Hopefia Fayray: a horrible expression
Hopefia Fayray: but in effect what we had to do
Pema Pera: when you drop what you have you are left with what you are — when you see that, there is no problem (to put it in a very small nut shell ;>)
Hopefia Fayray: life became about life
Hopefia Fayray: life=life
Hopefia Fayray: and her carrying on breathing was all that mattered
Hopefia Fayray: to me at least
Pema Pera: that must have been a very moving experience
Pema Pera: difficult too I bet
Hopefia Fayray: then i actually felt her let go
Jerel Jetcity: that was difficult Hope…is
Hopefia Fayray: and the life force slip away
Hopefia Fayray: at the end of the day
Hopefia Fayray: life=life
Hopefia Fayray: and thats all that matters
Hopefia Fayray: thats why i shove all the negative garbage and goal scoring
Jerel Jetcity: a cycle of life that we must all face, even our own time draws near with each second that passes
We continued to talk about life and suffering.
Hopefia Fayray: others sometimes tryto play games wiht in rl to one side
Hopefia Fayray: because life is short and thats all that matters
Jerel Jetcity: yes
Hopefia Fayray: im not afraid of dying
Jerel Jetcity: so we must cherish it and not live with grudges or stress
Hopefia Fayray: but that can be hard when injustice is perceived
Hopefia Fayray: and it makes me angry when the innocent suffer
Hopefia Fayray: but then hopefully they are metamorphised in a sense
Jerel Jetcity: that goes back to why things sometimes make no sense in this world
Hopefia Fayray: i think it is all chaos
Hopefia Fayray: and the beautiful thing that humans do
Jerel Jetcity: i want to understand why pain exists
Hopefia Fayray: is simply to try and put some kind of order into it?
Hopefia Fayray: pain reminds us of a message
Hopefia Fayray: if have a headache most people take tablets
Hopefia Fayray: should listen to ur body
Hopefia Fayray: and what it is trying to tell u
Hopefia Fayray: we need to start from the premise
Hopefia Fayray: that we are already “enough”
Hopefia Fayray: from the beginning and were designed to be so
Hopefia Fayray: and all this grasping and struggling
Hopefia Fayray: is b****shit
Hopefia Fayray: should just allow ourselves to “be”
Pema Pera: That is a very strong message of hope, Hopefia!
Jerel Jetcity: i don’t take medicines because i believe that yes our bodies are all we need to heal itself
Pema Pera: This “to be” for me is central too
Hopefia Fayray: yes - negativity/demons/bad karma - whatever u call it
Hopefia Fayray: tries to constantly make us fall
Hopefia Fayray: whisper somehow we are not good enough
Hopefia Fayray: we simpyl need to let go and remember
Hopefia Fayray: we are ALREADY enough
Hopefia Fayray: and just need to allow ourselves to be so
Jerel Jetcity: we do control who we are and what we can become
Hopefia Fayray: well to a point
We talked about healing and believing.
Pema Pera: that is similar to what I meant when I spoke about “seeing” — seeing through those whispers that we are not good enough
Hopefia Fayray: some of us need healing and
Hopefia Fayray: someone to believe that what we said happened to us
Hopefia Fayray: did actually happen
Jerel Jetcity: affirmation can lead to healing
Hopefia Fayray: and does it seem Pema - that the more aware u are of life
Hopefia Fayray: the more u open urself up to the potential
Hopefia Fayray: of being “brough down”
Hopefia Fayray: its like uve put ur head up over the parapet
Hopefia Fayray: and started to fight?
Hopefia Fayray: lol
Pema Pera: yes
Hopefia Fayray: and esp if u are affecting others positvely
Jerel Jetcity: hehe
Hopefia Fayray: trying to help them see their true positive selves
Hopefia Fayray: then u are open to “attack” lol
Hopefia Fayray: ?
Pema Pera: that’s okay
Jerel Jetcity: well this world needs more positivity..more light to light up the darkness
Pema Pera: if you see yourself what is
Pema Pera: it is not such a big thing to be attacked ;>)
Pema Pera: well
Pema Pera: I will have to go soon
Pema Pera: to get dinner here
Jerel Jetcity: ok
Hopefia Fayray: no - it depends who u have fighting ur corner and who is covering ur back
Hopefia Fayray: lol
Hopefia Fayray: ok have a great lunch was lovely talking to u
Pema Pera: perhaps there there is nobody to fight
Jerel Jetcity: well don’t wanna keep you, you must be hungry hehe
Pema Pera: and no you to fight
Hopefia Fayray: yes maybe fighting myself
Pema Pera: I’m really glad to have met you both, and I hope you’ll come back here during other gatherings here!
Hopefia Fayray: ty
Jerel Jetcity: pleasure to meet you too Pema
I gave a brief sketch of the atmosphere of our PaB gettogethers.
Pema Pera: these are indeed the type of things we talk about
Pema Pera: but only 1/3 of the time
Jerel Jetcity: ty would be nice
Pema Pera: itseems that 2/3 of the time we just have fun
Hopefia Fayray: brb
Pema Pera: a very cheerful bunch
Pema Pera: we mix being silly and serious
Jerel Jetcity: haha ok sounds good
Pema Pera: something in a matter of minutes or seconds
Pema Pera: that is the Play part
Jerel Jetcity: well it’s late here and i am going to bed
Pema Pera: the Being part is very much like what we discussed
Pema Pera: hence Play as Being
Pema Pera: okay, sleep well, Jerel!
Jerel Jetcity: ty Pema. have a nice night
Pema Pera: u 2 Jerel!
Jerel Jetcity: bye Pema
Pema Pera: tc!
Pema Pera: say hi & bi for me to Hopefia!
Jerel Jetcity: it was nice to talk to you
Jerel Jetcity: ok i will
Pema Pera: same here!
Jerel Jetcity: :)
Pema Pera: c u
Jerel Jetcity: c u
