[However, since there were several questions that they addressed and were wondering about, I have tried to answer those with my commments in square brackets, like this comment]
I sat in the teahouse alone for about 15 minutes listening to the rain, and just appreciating the sounds and the silence. I offered a short meditation to the chatlog and Stim came in to join me.
Maxine Walden: (after 15 min or so with no one else coming) meditating: the sound of the rain is quite calming, giving me the sense of a coziness within and yet the vitalizing nourishment outside. Rain can also remind me of the well of tears and sadness, but not so today. Rather the quiet interior space within the teahouse, within oneself. A quiet pleasure to be here, hoping others are going about their endeavors…
Maxine Walden: with similar
Stim Morane: Hi Maxine!
Maxine Walden: oh, hi, Stim, just caught in a meditative mood..how are you?
Stim Morane: Fine, too hot, tired … a mixture
Stim Morane: sorry to disturb your reverie
Maxine Walden: with similar pleasure…just to finish my note…no disturbance, please what mixture
Stim Morane: oh, just good and bad, you know …
Maxine Walden: oh, yes, I know about those things…
Stim Morane: so has anyone been here during your session?
Maxine Walden: you are the first one besides myself to come this session’
Maxine Walden: that was why the meditational note…talking with myself a bit
We spoke a bit about SL things and about duties of the guardian role, and of the constant learning which accompanies this experience
Stim Morane: well if nothing else, you could eject me. That sounds like an interesting experience.
Maxine Walden: oh, no…that was a violent experience! when I did it practicing with Storm
Stim Morane: I see.
Maxine Walden: have you ejected anyone?
Stim Morane: I’m not sure if I should learn or not. The bubble over my head says I’m a guardian, but Piet recently said I was a “host” … so I’m not sure what my status is
Maxine Walden: you know, I did see that in his email, and I thought you are a guardian as well; could it be that he is a bit fuzzy about that?
Stim Morane: I asked him … he’ll reply later today, I guess
Maxine Walden: oh, guess you might have felt ejected from the guardian role…
Stim Morane: anyway, no, I don’t know how to eject people. Nor do I know the rezzing bit.
Maxine Walden: with his email
Maxine Walden: you know, I don’t know about the rezzing bit either,
Stim Morane: no, I didn’t mind that type of ejection. I just don’t know what’s going on.
Maxine Walden: I really know that feeling, about not knowing what’s going on…I can barely keep up with the sessions and PaB practice..
[Pema: we are still defining the roles; Stim was a guardian in terms of the abilities he had been given by Dakini, but not a guardian in terms of not having a weekly slot -- we are in the process of simplifying the terms; stay tuned]
And Stim came back to ‘play’ the notion which we both gravitated to
Stim Morane: Oh well, it’s just play …
Maxine Walden: the evolution of the PaB group/organization is something I feel is way ahead of where I am…want to be of help…so will see…yes, nice to keep in mind that it is all play of a sort
Stim Morane: I think it will come back to that soon.
Maxine Walden: to play?
Stim Morane: Yes.
Maxine Walden: please say more
Stim Morane: I don’t know enough to have any great grounds for an opinion. Just guessing.
Maxine Walden: the ‘play’ and the experience of the practice do seem to be at the heart of the endeavor as I see it
Stim Morane: yes, absolutely.
Maxine Walden: and I guess each of us adheres to what seems the heart of the matter, what is most meaningful to us.
Stim Morane: Yes.
And then attention turned once again to the rain and SL sounds outside the teahouse, but truly part of the atmosphere of the moment we also bantered about Linden gods throwing thunderbolts our way, present day incarnations of the weather gods
Maxine Walden: I was noticing the sound of rain, here in SL, at least it sounds like that to me…very soothing
Stim Morane: so that’s rain I’m hearing. I wasn’t actually sure.
Stim Morane: ah, now I’m sure.
Stim Morane: Is there a way to get a SL weather report?
Maxine Walden: well, that is my interpretation of what i am hearing, but it might ‘be’ something else…I don’t know about SL weather report, would be a nice idea
Stim Morane: well I just heard thunder
Maxine Walden: yes, me too!
Maxine Walden: do you think some Linden folk are out there ‘making’ the weather for us?
Stim Morane: as opposed to ?
Maxine Walden: well, I don’t really know the alternative…makes me think of the Greek gods throwing down thunderbolts etc. Just an interesting image
Maxine Walden: of those mythical figures returning in SL
Stim Morane: oh. That would be an interesting addition to SL.
[Pema: I don't think the Lindens make it rain; I'm pretty sure it is Storm's rain machine, which he put here and which he can turn on and off on demand]
Such reminded me of Storm and my first encounter with him as embodying a storm indeed
Maxine Walden: wouldn’t it be. You know when I first met Storm he came into the room as a stormcloud, blowing all around, did remind me of Thor(?) or some such god
Stim Morane: Yes, I’ve seen that too.
Maxine Walden: he seemed to have fun and I was rather amused by the fantasy of it all.
And then some consideration of the role of ‘guardian’
Stim Morane: Yes. On another subject, if no guardian is here, can anyone enter the tea house?
Maxine Walden: you know, I am not sure. I suppose one can approach and enter, don’t think there is a ‘lock’
Stim Morane: then I don’t quite know what the function of guardian is supposed to be.
Maxine Walden: but don’t know for sure.
Maxine Walden: well, my sense is …just thinking of the ‘guardian’ …of what? Is that what you are wondering?
Maxine Walden: I had understood the guardian was guardian of the meeting times, the PaB spaces, keeping them open, so to say
Stim Morane: Well, it’s probably not an issue. I was just thinking incorrectly about how someone might be able to damage the tea house. But I realize that is only possible for someone with the right permissions.
Stim Morane: So forget my comment.
Maxine Walden: oh, interesting comment, one is invited to think of guardian in so many ways
[Pema: yes, anyone can enter, as is the case for most places in SL. And no, nobody can destroy anything unless Dakini gives them explicit powers to do so. The role of guardian is multiple: to greet visitors who come for the first time and tell them a bit about PaB; to be there to provide a presence, so that visitors old or new don't just leave when the come and they find nobody there; and to step in, in the unlikely and rare case that somebody is clearly obnoxious.]
And Stim wonders about how frequently we are focusing upon the PaB contemplation
Stim Morane: on another subject, have you found that people here are using SL to actually do the PaB contemplation?
Maxine Walden: sometimes, and maybe that is what we should be doing more right now, but about 50% time other topics seem to come up
Feeling a little guilty that perhaps I am not being the best guardian of the time I try to turn our thought to PaB, but we realize that we are really out of time.
Maxine Walden: should be talk about our PaB experience?
Stim Morane: In general, I think so. Unfortunately, I have to leave now. But I hope to continue this discussion with you soon.
Maxine Walden: I will look forward to that. Nice to see you if only for a while
So we end our session thinking about exits from SL space, and whether there is an etiquette for such
Stim Morane: Could you tell me what the SL etiquette is for leaving a space? Do people just teleport out, or “walk” …?
Maxine Walden: you know, I often just quit, the red X in the upper right, while I am here in the teahouse. That is the easiest for me; others walk out , but I don’t think there is a ‘best place’ to quit and go poof, whereever one is most comfortable seems to be the guiude
Maxine Walden: guide
Maxine Walden: I will leave also, think that it is about time for me too
Stim Morane: OK, well I hope we can resume this discussion soon. Bye!
Maxine Walden: and I will take the chatlog and then go poof from right here in the room. Bye
[Pema: there seems to be an unwritten sense that it is polite to not go `poof' all of a sudden. If nothing else, suddenly disappearing into thin air leaves people with a dangling sense, when they are in the middle of typing a goodbye sentence only to find that the person they are addressing has already gone. For this reason, we generally announce our intention to leave a couple minutes beforehand, to give everyone the chance to make a last remark to us, before we leave. As to the question of whether to evaporate from the middle of the room, or to walk out first, there seem to be different habits. Personally I think it is nicer to walk out first and then go `poof', preserving a sense of continuity in the room; but not everybody seems to share that sentiment, and I have seen old-timers evaporating so it is up to the individual what they consider is the best practice.]
