2008.05.20 07:00 - Reset Mode

Pema was the Guardian for this session, the commnets are his.

Maxine Walden: hi, Pema
Pema Pera: Good morning Maxine — late evening for me here
Pema Pera: living on a round planet is confusing
Maxine Walden: yes, morning here evening there, surely is a round planet…
Maxine Walden: and many simultaneous views/perspectives…
Pema Pera: yes indeed!
Maxine Walden: you are probably rather tired at the end of your day
Pema Pera: and yet, in a way, they can all be variations on one basic perspective . . . . that there is nothing at all to do whatsoever
Pema Pera: well, yess, but that’s okay
Pema Pera: if I’m tired so is my tendency to separate myself from Being

Dakini stopped by briefly, and Maxine thanked her for the clothes Dakini had given her.

Dakini Rhode: hi :-)
Pema Pera: Hi Dakini!
Dakini Rhode: I can’t stay, just want to say hi
Pema Pera: Hi!
Maxine Walden: yes variations re one basic perspective, hi Dakini, good to see you and thanks again for the outfit
Pema Pera: good seeing you again :>)
Dakini Rhode: hi Maxine, I hope you like it :-)
Maxine Walden: very much
Dakini Rhode: you’r losing your noobie look
Dakini Rhode: i need to run - work
Dakini Rhode: see you soon
Pema Pera: see you Dakini!
Maxine Walden: bye for now

After Dakini left, I got into a somewhat more radical mood.

Pema Pera: I don’t think we have talked so much yet
Pema Pera: about the most radical attitude
Pema Pera: which I associate with “Being”
Pema Pera: that there is nothing whatsoever to do
Pema Pera: have we?
Maxine Walden: no, don’t think so
Maxine Walden: please…
Pema Pera: What would it mean, if anything, if I would suggest that all is well, that there is nothing to do :-)
Pema Pera: (( I guess I am a bit tired, just shooting directly to the most radical attitude ))
Pema Pera: (( I like Thorberg’s double parentheses ))
Maxine Walden: It might suggest that all the worry etc and ‘what shall I do’ are artifacts of our inner lens of experience?
Maxine Walden: but artifacts
Pema Pera: well
Pema Pera: the notion that there is a you and a me and time for us to interact with
Pema Pera: all those are already artifacts, illusions, confusions
Maxine Walden: right…
Pema Pera: they appear for sure, but we don’t have to take them too seriously
Pema Pera: we can totally relax in what IS . . . .
Pema Pera: but that should not remain an idea
Pema Pera: it should be what a Christian may call “walking with God”
Pema Pera: or a Buddhist “realization” in some form
Pema Pera: of a Daoist “being in tune with the Dao”
Maxine Walden: a kind of being with Grace?
Pema Pera: yes, indeed
Maxine Walden: or at-one-ment?
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: may I ask you to describe how such moments feel for you?
Pema Pera: it would be nice to build up a vocabulary for these direct ways of touching base with Being
Maxine Walden: yes, let me see:
Maxine Walden: I think there is a sense of being at peace with all about/around me, even
Maxine Walden: when there is the everyday strife, worry, undone things, pains
Maxine Walden: but a kind of at-one-ment with the wider universe…a kind of union with the cosmos…
Maxine Walden: and yet not feet off the ground, but very much on the ground

Hotary stopped by, with the title “Eve Eden” as her group name.

Pema Pera: hey, Hotaru!!!!
Pema Pera: or Eve?
Hotaru Myoo: Greetings!
Maxine Walden: hi, Hotaru
Hotaru Myoo: hiya!
Pema Pera: nice title!
Hotaru Myoo: catchin up
Hotaru Myoo: how’s the world with you two?
Hotaru Myoo: haha
Hotaru Myoo: tyvm
Pema Pera: we’re talking about radical notions: no time no you :>)
Pema Pera: no Hotaru
Hotaru Myoo: well
Pema Pera: would you buy into that ?
Hotaru Myoo: hmmm
Hotaru Myoo: time links us all
Hotaru Myoo: and in time we are nothing
Hotaru Myoo: so ya…
Hotaru Myoo: I’ll bite
Pema Pera: time is the most mysterious aspect of our reality yes
Hotaru Myoo: no time no you
Hotaru Myoo: or me
Pema Pera: we are all dealing with it
Pema Pera: but not looking it straight in the face
Hotaru Myoo: passing bits
Hotaru Myoo: that is the physical tho
Hotaru Myoo: what about the soul?
Hotaru Myoo: do you think we need the physical to process the soul?

In Being, for Being, as Being, there are no longer beings and time for beings to be in, so the notions of body and mind and soul also become more relative, or so I at least understand what Being stands for — but to address that in a few sentences is not easy.

Pema Pera: well, there are different ways, levels, approximations to talk about reality
Pema Pera: at the bottom, so to speak, what hits the eye — then at other levels mind and soul — then the most radical, only Being
Hotaru Myoo: or …let’s say..the non-physical
Hotaru Myoo: is being essence?
Pema Pera: From Being’s perspective it is all one taste — whether we see it as matter or mind or soul
Hotaru Myoo: a scent?
Hotaru Myoo: poof?
Pema Pera: haha
Maxine Walden: currently I am thinking about the soul as resonant with harmony with being /Being
Hotaru Myoo: hmmm
Maxine Walden: our harmony with Being
Hotaru Myoo: interesting thought Maxine
Pema Pera: sorry, lots of lag in my connection today — computer freezing up for semi-ages . . . .
Hotaru Myoo: but we have to be here to have that harmony
Hotaru Myoo: haha
Hotaru Myoo: sorry…I imagine it is driving you somewhat mad
Pema Pera: from our perspective there are many levels, details; from Being’s perspective it is all Being
Pema Pera: oh no, I am getting used to it
Pema Pera: too sleepy to get mad
Hotaru Myoo: haha
Pema Pera: at 11:20 pm in Tokyo
Hotaru Myoo: yes…11:20?
Pema Pera: yes
Hotaru Myoo: haha

We had almsot simultaneously written down the Tokyo time, Hotaru by calculating, me by looking at my watch.

Hotaru Myoo: well…at least I can add
Pema Pera: ah, but subtract?
Hotaru Myoo: I have an odd advantage
Pema Pera: we’re not even?
Hotaru Myoo: forward and back
Hotaru Myoo: lol
Pema Pera: the thing about Being is though that it is the most direct and practical
Pema Pera: aspect of anything
Pema Pera: we can use it right here and now
Hotaru Myoo: I was just thinking the same thing
Pema Pera: but I am struggling for ways to point that out
Pema Pera: so we are even then?
Pema Pera: How odd
Hotaru Myoo: it is difficult to capture..
Pema Pera: how would you try?
Hotaru Myoo: I think this project makes a great attempt…
Hotaru Myoo: oddly
Pema Pera: I’m in awe of the project too . . . as I mentioned in my email, I feel we are all instruments .. . .
Pema Pera: curious music coming out
Hotaru Myoo: yes…conduits…vessels…
Maxine Walden: resonating together in some ways like a string quartet/symphony
Hotaru Myoo: hmmm
Hotaru Myoo: yes…
Hotaru Myoo: I like the analogy…nice metaphor for it…
Hotaru Myoo: we are vibrating
Pema Pera: strange magic
Maxine Walden: each tuned slightly differently
Hotaru Myoo: at various frequencies
Pema Pera: yet jamming
Hotaru Myoo: from time to time
Maxine Walden: indeed…
Hotaru Myoo: softly
Hotaru Myoo: weakly
Hotaru Myoo: and rhythmically with the universe
Hotaru Myoo: like swarms
Hotaru Myoo: or flocks

I really enjoyed us coming up with such analogies together.

Pema Pera: here is another attempt at conveying Being: the ability to stand up in the face of any problem, and smile, and know: there is no real problem — does that make any sense?
Hotaru Myoo: flying together…
Hotaru Myoo: the weak force?
Pema Pera: or beyond force
Maxine Walden: yes, Pema, that does make some sense
Hotaru Myoo: I’m confused
Maxine Walden: but maybe I have a slightly altered view…
Pema Pera: the feeling that you are at the end of your tether, about to give up and then by giving up getting it all?
Hotaru Myoo: oh yes
Hotaru Myoo: that is cyclical
Pema Pera: realizing that all striving has been misguided?
Hotaru Myoo: or spiral

Cal dropped in, ready to settle into the flow, as she would express it.

Caledonia Heron: morning
Hotaru Myoo: Hi Cal!
Maxine Walden: yes, giving up the ‘grief, exhaustion, whatever’…no disagree that all the striving is misguided
Pema Pera: Hi Caledonia!
Caledonia Heron: hey there :)
Maxine Walden: rather that there is something in the striving including pain and exhaustion which more finely tunes our string
Pema Pera: Evening :>)
Maxine Walden: Hi Cal
Hotaru Myoo: imagining, embracing, claiming and releasing
Hotaru Myoo: the cycle
Pema Pera: stopping ;>)
Pema Pera: Cal, we’re grooving about Being
Pema Pera: (^_^)
Caledonia Heron: I figured Pema :)
Maxine Walden: yes, honing our string theory as it were
Hotaru Myoo: lol
Caledonia Heron: I’ll settle into the flow…don’t let me interrupt
Hotaru Myoo: flowing it is
Pema Pera: hehehe
Pema Pera: my computer freezes up for faaaar more than 9 seconds these days, every minute or so . . . .
Pema Pera: so if I seem out of sync, I can blame it on my laptop
Hotaru Myoo: how is that for Being?
Maxine Walden: its trying its own kind of practice, your computer
Caledonia Heron: lol Maxine

Thorberg joined us, and then there were five of us.

Pema Pera: Hi Thorberg!
Hotaru Myoo: Hi Thor!
Thorberg Nordlicht: morning
Caledonia Heron: hey thor
Maxine Walden: hi Thor
Thorberg Nordlicht: no need to catch me up on conversation; carry on and i’ll listen till i wake up
Maxine Walden: we all are in a sort of dream probably Thor
Hotaru Myoo: I think we are in the releasing phase
Hotaru Myoo: working on the imagining
Thorberg Nordlicht: dreaming mind and waking mind are the same mind
Hotaru Myoo: hit rewind
Maxine Walden: interesting thought, isn’t it
Hotaru Myoo: yes
Maxine Walden: (during the pause I notice the water sounds all around here is SL right now; peaceul and flowing)
Maxine Walden: peaceful
Thorberg Nordlicht: were you taking your 9-second break?
Thorberg Nordlicht: :-)
Maxine Walden: suppose so!
Thorberg Nordlicht: that’s what happens for me in the 9 seconds; i notice environmental details i overlooked while immersed in whatever every-day activity i ws up to
Hotaru Myoo: hmmm
Maxine Walden: me to at times…
Hotaru Myoo: an outward glance
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, “an outward glance”
Thorberg Nordlicht: and surprise that “i’ve been here the whole time, just didn’t notice”

I was still in my radical mood :-)

Pema Pera: Yes, Thorberg, and I suddenly rememer a scene from a movie, where somebody is about to be executed — probably has 9 seconds or so left to live — and he hears the birds singing, in deafening ways
Caledonia Heron: interesting to think ourselves a separate compartment from our surroundings
Hotaru Myoo: separated?
Maxine Walden: the surprise about what we notice….I recall that film, I think, Pema, rather electric for the audience
Caledonia Heron: the phrase “outward glance” indicates separateness to me Hotaru
Maxine Walden: and levels of attention, reality, wish unfold and fold up again
Hotaru Myoo: hmm
Hotaru Myoo: I find it so difficult to disconnect
Hotaru Myoo: kind of the opposite
Thorberg Nordlicht: i usually don’t find the 9 seconds to be long enough to return to the holistic view, so in the 9 seconds i’m still immersed in the illusion of separateness, but at least it’s time enough to reset my point of view and notice my environment instead of being totally lost in the task at hand
Hotaru Myoo: I hear my heart racing with the computer fan
Hotaru Myoo: ot the heater…or the cricket in the corner
Hotaru Myoo: and it is the same rate at which I think
Thorberg Nordlicht: or the constant buzzzz of being alive in my head
Caledonia Heron: yes Hotaru, the same sound track intertwined
Hotaru Myoo: yaya
Hotaru Myoo: the symphony you were talking about earlier Pema
Hotaru Myoo: at one with…
Pema Pera: yes, not us doing anything, really . . .
Pema Pera: but being conduits
Hotaru Myoo: the essence of Being
Pema Pera: yet not passive
Caledonia Heron: I agree with the “reset” notion Thor, getting synched back up
Hotaru Myoo: well…it has to flow through something!
Hotaru Myoo: in order to resonate
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, seems like resetting to me — resetting back to some base state from which we again immerse into some paritcular demand on my attention
Pema Pera: stopping, dropping, resetting, subtracting
Pema Pera: the opposite of what our whole environment tells us
Pema Pera: no strive, no gain
Pema Pera: no power play

Caledonia asked a really intriguing question.

Caledonia Heron: what would it be like to never have to reset but always be in a reset mode
Maxine Walden: interesting wondering, Cal
Thorberg Nordlicht: good question, Caledonia
Hotaru Myoo: purgatory
Caledonia Heron: would I get anything done
Pema Pera: sure!
Caledonia Heron: or would I get everything done
Caledonia Heron: ha
Pema Pera: more and better
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: yes
Thorberg Nordlicht: seems like immersing in the task at hand is a necessary skill since our tiny brains can only hold about 7 +/- 2 things at once
Caledonia Heron: anything and everything would all be the same
Caledonia Heron: ha
Pema Pera: I don’t think so Cal
Pema Pera: yes the same in the basic taste
Pema Pera: but not a blur
Pema Pera: actually very fine distinctinos
Thorberg Nordlicht: so it seems to me we must alternate between the holistic view and getting lost in the details
Pema Pera: like a movie — the same in all light from the same projector
Pema Pera: but very fine detail nonetheless
Thorberg Nordlicht: as long as we come back to the holistic view occasionally, like 9 seconds every 15 minutes
Hotaru Myoo: lol
Caledonia Heron: that’s my question Thor, does it have to be one or the other and what does it look like
Pema Pera: I think what Cal described as her vision is perfectly possible
Pema Pera: and the 9 second exploration is a first 1% step
Caledonia Heron: just questions Pema, musings, not a vision by any means
Pema Pera: which we can let grow to 2%
Pema Pera: 5%
Thorberg Nordlicht: i think the essential distinction is whether we “forget” the holstic view while we’re immersed in a mental task
Pema Pera: 10%
Pema Pera: and why not 100% ?
Thorberg Nordlicht: when I’m asleep and in a dream, I “forget” that i’m really dreaming

I refered back to Caledonia’s label of musings.

Pema Pera: don’t shortchange yourself, Cal :>)
Caledonia Heron: lol
Caledonia Heron: ok
Caledonia Heron: feel full changed :)
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: full tank?
Thorberg Nordlicht: but when i carry “being present” into a daily task, it’s like i’m immersed in the task, but still see the big picture at the same time, if that makes any sense
Caledonia Heron: just wandering around the garden so to speak
Hotaru Myoo: gotta run!
Caledonia Heron: bye :)
Pema Pera: bye Hotaru!
Hotaru Myoo: sorry to jump off…
Pema Pera: Thanks for stopping by!
Pema Pera: np at all
Maxine Walden: bye Hotaru
Thorberg Nordlicht: come back soon Hotaru
Hotaru Myoo: Good day/night to all!
Caledonia Heron: yes you can certainly hold more than 1 view
Hotaru Myoo: Get some sleep!
Pema Pera: thanks, yes, almost midnight

Hotaru left, and soon afterward Putty joined us. Meanwhile, I mentioned one of my favorite notions, in science as well as contemplation, namely that of a working hypothesis.

Pema Pera: Caledonia, you know, you brought up such an interesting idea
Maxine Walden: I will have to go in about 5 min or so
Pema Pera: “what would it be like to never have to reset but always be in a reset mode”
Pema Pera: for me that is the epitomy of scientific research
Pema Pera: called a working hypothesis
Caledonia Heron: perhaps this is the experiment, yes?
Pema Pera: yes, a thought experiment within an experiment
Pema Pera: to imagine what something *could* be, that by itself can help to overcome your unstated blocks
Pema Pera: Hi Putty
Pema Pera: come join us!
Thorberg Nordlicht: i’ve heard that some Tibetan monks can stay present even as they drift off to sleep, never forgetting that they’re really a monk sleeping
Pema Pera: wanna take a seat?
Putty Broome: hi am i interupting
Caledonia Heron: take someone we presume to be pretty darned enlightned like say the Dalai Lama, do you think he’s always feeling “reset”, no, I would be surprised
Pema Pera: not at all, Putty!
Thorberg Nordlicht: no, not interrupting at all
Putty Broome: cool what are you all talking about
Thorberg Nordlicht: welcome

I thought I might as well throw out some ideas, rather than trying to start from scratch.

Pema Pera: we’re talking about dropping it all, Putty :>)
Pema Pera: resetting
Pema Pera: freedom
Caledonia Heron: bye the wayside, like a rock
Putty Broome: oh your hippies
Pema Pera: hahaha
Caledonia Heron: nah
Caledonia Heron: there are no more hippies :)
Caledonia Heron: we all got jobs
Caledonia Heron: ha ha
Maxine Walden: but we do hang out as it were around the edges of conventional thought…
Putty Broome: well that makes getting more pot affordable huh lol just joking

It seemed Putty fell in step with the mood right away, and I encouraged the other three to give a stab at summarizing our conversations so far, before I give a quick PaB overview.

Pema Pera: well, we can all try to explain what we are doing :>) How would you phrase it, Cal, Thor, Max?
Maxine Walden: right now I am trying to value the views/experience of the moment while also being open to/appreciative of the wider view…sort of like looking out the window Dakini provided in this teahouse and appreciating each little pane of view is part of the wider ‘whole’ view…note the detail but as part of the wider whole
Caledonia Heron: discussing the idea of how to be, how to be is to play, and that be is
Putty Broome: hmm
Maxine Walden: (need to go in about a minute)
Putty Broome: interesting how do you deal with powerful energies while being in the moment its a challenge that comes up
Pema Pera: and the background is an exploration of reality, summarized in http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ — with many snippets of our dialogues — which reminds me, do you mind if we include some parts of these dialogues too? Just want to make sure, since I want to respect privacy where needed
Pema Pera: our practice is a meditation of 9 seconds at a time
Pema Pera: every 15 minutes
Maxine Walden: gotto go, bye all. See you again soon
Caledonia Heron: bye Maxine
Putty Broome: take care maxine
Thorberg Nordlicht: see you again soon, Max

Maxine left, and I was just too late too say goodbye, with my computer freezing up occasionally.

Pema Pera: rather unusual
Putty Broome: what is
Pema Pera: yes, dealing with powerful energies right when they come up is one of the greatest challenges
Putty Broome: i just had the hardest one of my life yesterday
Pema Pera: to greet our own emotions and become friends with them
Putty Broome: was attacked with magick by four people
Thorberg Nordlicht: seems to me that’s part of the benefit of a regular/formal meditation practice; by practicing “staying present” in a quiet setting of the meditation room, we can better carry it into more challanging situations like when we’re confronted with “powerful energies”
Putty Broome: was a lesson to me not to be overly open when i get vibes telling me someone is dangerous
Thorberg Nordlicht: like lifting weights in the controlled environment of the gymnasium, so we’re better prepared to call upon our strength in other environemnets
Caledonia Heron: interesting, sound like work to me :)
Thorberg Nordlicht: ((don’t know why I’m levitating))
Caledonia Heron: high conscious state Thor :)
Thorberg Nordlicht: ((can’t spell this time of morning))
Pema Pera: ((dropped the weights, Thor?))
Putty Broome: lol
Thorberg Nordlicht: mostly “high” on my first morning jolt of caffein :-)
Pema Pera: I’m afraid I don’t know about magic, Putty
Putty Broome: is there soul travel in zen?
Thorberg Nordlicht: ((dropping the weights)) ooh, aren’t you clever this morning
Thorberg Nordlicht: especially for someone who never sleeps, Pema
Putty Broome: me either im spiritual more then that type of stuff was a challenge
Thorberg Nordlicht: seems to me I talked to you here only 6 hours ago
Caledonia Heron: your gym with weights is what I call choosing, just a choice at a moment when your instinct is not to choose
Pema Pera: yeah, it’s past midnight, I think I’ll sign off and let my soul travel to dream realms. . . .
Pema Pera: hahaha, must be another dream, Thor
Putty Broome: take care pema
Caledonia Heron: bye Pema :)
Pema Pera: Thanks, Putty!
Pema Pera: enjoy your day, all of you!
Caledonia Heron: and your dreams :)
Pema Pera: bye all
Putty Broome: thanks