2008.06.15 19:00 - An Incredible Seven Days

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    That evening, I walked in just before the PaB bell rang. Adams was already there, waiting.

    Adams Rubble: Hi Pema
    Pema Pera: Hi Adams!
    Pema Pera: Good evening
    Pema Pera: ah, the bell!
    Adams Rubble: Good evening to you too
    Pema Pera: I just read your email
    Pema Pera: it is morning here in Japan
    Adams Rubble: I hope you didn;t mind
    Pema Pera: of course not!
    Pema Pera: On the contrary

    Adams was refering to an enthusiastic email that she had sent me, about the koan I had given her the evening before, just 24 hours earlier. Syl then joined us, after I had given her the tp she had asked for.

    Pema Pera: Hi Syl!
    Sylectra Darwin: Hi Pema! Thanks for the lift!
    Adams Rubble: Hu Sylectra
    Pema Pera: I’m happy to discuss these topics any time
    Pema Pera: As Syl knows, since she and I have exchanged emails as well, a few times this last week
    Sylectra Darwin: Hi Adams.
    Pema Pera: sometimes it is just easier to discuss things in-depth through email
    Pema Pera: rather than a line at a time here.
    Pema Pera: Hi Pia!
    Adams Rubble: I got very excited
    Adams Rubble: Hi Pia
    Sylectra Darwin: Hello Pia!
    Adams Rubble: now I’m tired
    Pema Pera: :-)
    Pia Iger: Hi, all.
    Pia Iger: do I miss anything?

    Pia joined us.

    Pema Pera: Adams, do you want to share with Syl and Pia what you found?
    Pema Pera: No, Pia
    Pema Pera: we just arrived here as well!
    Adams Rubble: I have been very impatient
    Adams Rubble: to learn everything at once
    Adams Rubble: Pema gave me a koan
    Pia Iger: not a bad thing, very motivated!!
    Adams Rubble: who is impatient
    Adams Rubble: I worked it out on my blog today
    Adams Rubble: after missing a few sessions and lamenting that I was losing it
    Adams Rubble: it came to me that an impatient person is one who has desire
    Adams Rubble: bingo
    Pema Pera: :-)
    Sylectra Darwin: That is a really good thought, Adams.
    Pia Iger: what is the koan?
    Adams Rubble: who is impatient?
    Adams Rubble: my personal koan
    Adams Rubble: from Pema
    Pema Pera: I made an exception to the rule — every rule should have an exception — that I prefer not to tell people what to do during the 9 second practice :-)
    Pema Pera: it seemed so clear that Adams was so involved and engaged with her practice
    Pema Pera: that it seemed to be harmless to give a specific hint :-)
    Sylectra Darwin: you couldn’t resist! hehe

    Right she was :-).

    Pema Pera: generally the danger of specifying what to do is that it closes doors to other possibilities
    Pema Pera: yes, Syl :)
    Pema Pera: but in this case, Adams clearly had enough momentum
    Sylectra Darwin: very cool
    Pema Pera: that she would have broken down any door, closed or not (^_^)
    Pema Pera: so no danger here
    Pema Pera: and it worked :)
    Adams Rubble: :)
    Pema Pera: thank you, Adams!
    Adams Rubble: thank you Pema
    Pema Pera: Of course, my suggestion was very much in line with PaB: look at what you are, by dropping what you have
    Pema Pera: a recurrent theme
    Pema Pera: but I made it more taylormade through the specific form of the question
    Pema Pera: for all of us, the challenge is to do that for ourselves
    Pema Pera: to let PaB speak to us
    Pema Pera: to give it room to let it finds the form it wants to
    Pema Pera: so to let Being speak through PaB
    Pema Pera: to let Being play.
    Pema Pera: And we can all help each other that way
    Pema Pera: Adams, would you like to share a bit more what happened, and especially how you were stuck for a while?
    Pema Pera: That may be helpful for all of us


    Adams reported and gave away the secrets of her explorations.

    Adams Rubble: I approached by making lists of people who are impatient
    Adams Rubble: children on a long car ride
    Adams Rubble: a hungry person when supper is late
    Pia Iger: :)
    Adams Rubble: Actually I forget the others but they are in the blog
    Adams Rubble: Then there was a break for PaB this morning and a few other things
    Adams Rubble: and my mind turned away from it for a few sessions
    Adams Rubble: then when I came back nothing seemed to be there
    Adams Rubble: and then that answer came in a flash
    Adams Rubble: and as you said
    Adams Rubble: it was exhilarating
    Adams Rubble: and at the same time very simple
    Pema Pera: you’re very systematic! That is where the notion of lab journal writing really helps. I have mentioned earlier the strong parallel I see between scientific research and working on koans — this is a beautiful example! Including turning away for a bit, to let something fresh bubble up.
    Sylectra Darwin: Good, I am happy to hear about that, Adams.
    Pia Iger: I feel I am quite relaxed about the practice now.
    Adams Rubble: This has been an incredible seven days
    Pia Iger: in what sense?
    Pema Pera: We have had quite a few discussions about “why write down something while doing the PaB 9-sec practice”. What you just said is a nice example of why :-)
    Adams Rubble: I only started the log seven days ago
    Adams Rubble: All this happened in a week
    Sylectra Darwin: do you write the log during the 9 seconds or after?
    Adams Rubble: mindfulness
    Pia Iger: Mindfulness is what I found first in practice too.
    Adams Rubble: I start in during, pause and then again after
    Adams Rubble: sort of a reminder of what I’m doing
    Adams Rubble: to help focus

    Adams was really systematic about all this, which was great!

    Sylectra Darwin: so do you prep yourself for the 9 seconds, like with breathing?
    Adams Rubble: I have a little ritual now
    Adams Rubble: I focus on a couple of breaths
    Adams Rubble: and then feel my body from head to toe
    Adams Rubble: bottoms of feet
    Adams Rubble: bottoms
    Sylectra Darwin: a mini savasana, then
    Adams Rubble: then i relax my mond
    Adams Rubble: I don’t know what a savasena is
    Sylectra Darwin: final relaxation pose in yoga - similar process
    Adams Rubble: oh
    Pia Iger: focus on body is a good way to center yourself, I think.
    Adams Rubble: after that I started to focus on the koan
    Sylectra Darwin: which one?
    Adams Rubble: One time it took the whole 15 minutes
    Adams Rubble: which koan?
    Adams Rubble: Why am I impatient?
    SlimeX Grossman: hi pema
    Pema Pera: Hi SlimeX!
    Adams Rubble: Hi SlimeX
    Sylectra Darwin: Hello Slimex
    Pema Pera: Adams is talking about her adventures, sharing them with us
    SlimeX Grossman: ryu is 41

    SlimeX joined us.

    Pema Pera: Adams, writing and staying with mindfulness is key, I think
    Pema Pera: The two feed on each other: getting excited about practice can lead you to writing — and writing can help you to get more excited, involved, galvanized, into it.
    Pema Pera: but those are words, ideas . . . .
    Sylectra Darwin: I’ve got to try that.
    Pema Pera: . . . your blog gives a very concrete example
    Pema Pera: much more helpful for all of us
    Pema Pera: to see that working in practice
    Pia Iger: agree.
    Pema Pera: SlimeX, we are talking about http://rubblebornthoughts.wordpress.com/
    SlimeX Grossman: oh
    Pema Pera: what Adams wrote there recently
    SlimeX Grossman: i cant tp
    SlimeX Grossman: sys lg
    SlimeX Grossman: lag
    Pia Iger: Recently, I feel there are so much more can be appreciated in life.
    Pia Iger: which I did not notice before.
    Pema Pera: yes!
    Pia Iger: I think overall I am more relaxed.
    Pema Pera: I keep being surprised that there seems to be no end to getting deeper and deeper into appreciation
    Pema Pera: and it keeps changing
    Pema Pera: its nature, flavor
    Pema Pera: each time a new surprise
    Pia Iger: Oh, Pema, I do want to hear you talk more about ‘appearance”

    Ah, appearance! One of my favorite terms, and what gave the name to the “Hall of Apperance” which we built nearby.

    Pema Pera: seeing everything in terms of appearance is one approach to appreciate everything in its raw form
    Pema Pera: as it is
    Pema Pera: as it presents itself
    Pema Pera: there is a sentence that I like very much
    Pema Pera: almost like a mantra:
    Pia Iger: ?
    Pema Pera: “Appreciate the presence of appearance as a presentation by Being”
    Pema Pera: The way to read this is from the end
    Pema Pera: There is Being — Being is all there really IS
    Pema Pera: Being presents
    Pema Pera: What does Being present?
    Pema Pera: appearance
    Pema Pera: more specifically:
    Pema Pera: the presence of appearance
    Pema Pera: and what can we do with that?
    Pema Pera: Appreciate it
    Pia Iger: so easy:)
    Pema Pera: yes!!
    Pema Pera: once you learn to subtract, it all becomes very easy.
    Pema Pera: easier and easier as you go along
    Pema Pera: and “progress” becomes faster and faster
    Pema Pera: almost unfairly so :-)
    Sylectra Darwin: i look forward to learning that.

    We talked about how simple it all is.

    Pia Iger: so we can
    Pema Pera: once you see there is no “progress” in the conventional sense
    Pia Iger: traditionally, enlightenment progress seems quite painful.
    Pema Pera: Syl, a key point is that once you see something more, deeper, you realize that you had already known it in some way — Adams, you wrote something like that, too, didn’t you? Do you want to comment on that?
    Pema Pera: Yes, Pia
    Pema Pera: so we want to put that on its head
    Pema Pera: by starting at the end
    Sylectra Darwin: good point
    Pema Pera: when we tell ourselves “I don’t see it” we reinforce the illusion that we don’t.
    Adams Rubble: Oh I think I know what you mean
    Pema Pera: When we tell ourselves “I see it” without seeing it we lie
    Sylectra Darwin: ohhhh
    Pema Pera: That’s another koan :-)
    Sylectra Darwin: I like it.
    Adams Rubble: The answer is very simple
    Pema Pera: what to tell ourselves?
    Pema Pera: yes, Adams?
    Sylectra Darwin: How about inviting ourselves to see it?
    Adams Rubble is a bit confused
    Pema Pera: or inviting ourselves to recognize that we *already* see it . . . .
    Pema Pera: great, Adams, that’s how to approach koans, as you know :-)
    Pema Pera: but this is a very hard one that I just mentioned
    Pema Pera: to see that when not seeing, you in some sense already know
    Sylectra Darwin: Pema, I am TPing a friend who would like to join us
    Pema Pera: but you got a flavor
    Pema Pera: you caught the tip of the tail of the tiger ;)
    Pema Pera: who knows what will happen when you pull
    Pema Pera: you might get eaten :-)
    Adams Rubble: :)
    Pema Pera: of course, fine Syl!

    Adams liked the tiger theme

    Adams Rubble: Yes like the tiger on the mountain
    Pema Pera: anyone here is welcome
    Adams Rubble: the one I brong along for the view
    Adams Rubble: Is it foolishness, courage?
    Adams Rubble: and if I return
    Pema Pera: wanna watch Adams get eaten, Syl?
    Adams Rubble: will I remember the view from the mountain
    Sylectra Darwin: sure
    Pema Pera: beyond both, Adams
    Sylectra Darwin: sounds like fun
    Dakini Rhode: hi!
    Pia Iger: Hi, Dakini,
    Adams Rubble: Hi Dakini
    Pema Pera: Hi Dakini!
    Sylectra Darwin: hello Dakini
    Dakini Rhode: :-)))

    Dakini walked in, followed quickly by Gar whom Syl had teleported in.

    Pema Pera: We’re having a great time here
    Pema Pera: triggered by Adam’s blog
    Pia Iger: I am a bit confused…
    Pema Pera: Adams’ blog
    Pema Pera: yes, Pia?
    Adams Rubble is confused too but is too tired to explain
    Pema Pera: btw, Adams, I’m glad you continued the “who?” koan, as I saw in your blog — there are so many levels, won’t easily be exhausted
    Adams Rubble: :)
    Dakini Rhode: confused: the theme for the day
    Sylectra Darwin: there he is.
    Pema Pera: Hi Gar!
    Sylectra Darwin: Everyone, this is Gar.
    Adams Rubble: Hi Gar
    Dakini Rhode: hi Gar !
    Gar Hallard: hey all
    Pia Iger: Hi, Gar,
    Pema Pera: Welcome to our group!
    Gar Hallard: thanks
    Pema Pera: Did Syl tell you what we are doing here?
    Gar Hallard: not too much
    Pema Pera: http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ is the web site
    Gar Hallard: ok
    Pema Pera: and by now Syl has a pretty good idea what we’re doing :)
    Adams Rubble thinks we drink big bottles of wine
    Sylectra Darwin: pretty good, but that’s not to say expert…smile

    I gave a micro-explanation of PaB.

    Pema Pera: 9-sec micromeditations during the day, four times an hour, and then we meet here four times a day, to talk about it — and having fun, yes, Play as Being is the theme :-)
    Pema Pera: And we keep chat logs — do you mind to appear in it on our blog?
    Gar Hallard: not at all
    Pema Pera: just wanna make sure
    Pema Pera: thanks!
    Pema Pera: Have you met Dakini, Gar?
    Pema Pera: She is the one who built the tea house you are resting against
    Gar Hallard: no i havent..smiles
    Gar Hallard: cool
    Pema Pera: and is lending it to us
    Pema Pera: you should see the inside, very nicely done in Japanese style
    Sylectra Darwin: And Dakini is often shiny.
    Dakini Rhode: well now you have :-) nice to meet you, Gar
    Gar Hallard: nice to meet you too
    Pema Pera: Dakini, do you want to summarize your Zen Retreat practice too?
    Dakini Rhode: we sit for zazen every day at 6PM SLt
    Dakini Rhode: (no blog)
    Pema Pera: Pia and Adams both talked about being confused . . . would you like to say something more about that?
    Dakini Rhode: seems a good day for confusion
    Adams Rubble: I think the ideas flew past a little too fast to absorb them all
    Pia Iger: yes, seeing and not seeing part.
    Adams Rubble: seeing the log will help

    I commented on Gar’s great quote.

    Pema Pera: By the way, Gar, I just love the quote in your profile: “The best things cannot be said. The second best are misunderstood.”
    Adams Rubble: :)
    Gar Hallard: smiles
    Gar Hallard: thank you
    Pema Pera: In our case: Being cannot be spoken about — and we are trying not to misunderstand “Play as Being” too much . . . . .
    Pia Iger: Gar already sees.
    Pema Pera: :)
    Gar Hallard: hardly
    Gar Hallard: im all very new to any of this
    Gar Hallard: i just started reading ‘when things fall apart’
    Dakini Rhode: Pema Chodron?
    Pia Iger: really, I just saw it today.
    Gar Hallard: dharma voyager is leading a discussion group on it..yes
    Pema Pera: yes, there is a link to her web site from the PaB web site
    Pia Iger: where
    Dakini Rhode: very pithy
    Pema Pera: “Skillful means”
    Gar Hallard: yes
    Pia Iger: oh.
    Pema Pera: http://skillfulmeans.wordpress.com/
    Pema Pera: is her web site
    Pia Iger: I just knew her name today.
    Pema Pera: She visited here a few times
    Pema Pera: She originally introduced me to Stevenaia
    Pia Iger: good to know.
    Pema Pera: Her discussion group started just a few days ago
    Pema Pera: I would have gone had I had the time . . . .

    And I would go, soon afterwars, to the second meeting, at Tuesday evenings, 6 pm SLT.

    Pia Iger: I will check it out.
    Pema Pera: Pia, seeing and not seeing is the hardest to “get”
    Sylectra Darwin: thanks for the link
    Pema Pera: but the key is this:
    Pema Pera: normally, when we think we don’t see something
    Pema Pera: we want to search for it, reach for it
    Pema Pera: In the case of Being, or any deep spiritual pursuit
    Pema Pera: searching and reaching in the usual way only gets you further away from it
    Pema Pera: never works
    Gar Hallard: why?
    Pema Pera: until you find a way to see without reaching
    Pema Pera: then you see it was already there
    Dakini Rhode: hello Steve
    Sylectra Darwin: Steven, hihi
    Pema Pera: Hi Stevenaia, we were just talking about you!!
    Pia Iger: Hi, Steven
    Adams Rubble: Hi Steve
    stevenaia Michinaga: my ears were rining

    Steve dropped out of the sky. I looped back to Adams’ adventure, earlier that day, as an example of suddenly seeing what really never had been hidden in the first place, and what could not have been found by grasping.

    Pema Pera: Actually, in some way Adams just had a bit of a taste of that
    Gar Hallard: hello steven..smiles
    Adams Rubble: yes I recognized it
    Pema Pera: Can you say it in your own words
    Pema Pera: from your own experience?
    Adams Rubble: me?
    Pema Pera: yes, Adams
    stevenaia Michinaga: hello
    Adams Rubble: It ws pretty much as you said. I was reaching for the answer
    Adams Rubble: and not getting there
    Pema Pera: Steve, we are talking about http://rubblebornthoughts.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/play-a-being-seventh-day-june-15-2008/
    Adams Rubble: and then all of a sudden it was there
    Pema Pera: Adams web page of the day
    Gar Hallard: what do you mean?
    Adams Rubble: I was given a koan to ponder
    Adams Rubble: a question to answer
    stevenaia Michinaga: aww, I will review the site
    Gar Hallard: as ive said ive only just started..a koan?
    Adams Rubble: a koan is a riddle
    Gar Hallard: ok
    Gar Hallard: what was it?
    Adams Rubble: or question
    Adams Rubble: Who is impatient?
    Gar Hallard: what were you trying to answer?
    Adams Rubble: an answer could have been me
    Adams Rubble: but it was one who has desire
    Pema Pera: to get a feeling of what Adams searched for and found, Gar, reading her blog will help a lot
    Pema Pera: Seeing the bottom line may be almost meaningless
    Pema Pera: but the process of investigation is key
    Gar Hallard: ok

    Adams described the sense of seeing what had been staring her in the face.

    Pia Iger: So Adams got a tast of finding something that is already there?
    Pema Pera: what do you think, Adams, how did that feel?
    Adams Rubble: in answer to Pia’s question yes
    Adams Rubble: Buddha said unhappines is caused by desire
    Adams Rubble: In answer to Pema, It felt exhilarating. I was giddy for a while
    Adams Rubble: now I am tired
    Adams Rubble: worn out
    Pema Pera: Hi Clytemestra!
    Pema Pera: I fact, I have to leave now too
    Pema Pera: I’m at the Kyoto train station, and my train to Tokyo will leave soon
    Adams Rubble: bye Pema :)
    Sylectra Darwin: OK, don’t want you to miss that.
    Pia Iger: ok. have a good day. Pema
    Gar Hallard: it ws good to meet you
    Pema Pera: sorry to have so little time Clytemestra!
    Pema Pera: Nice meeting you Gar!
    Clytemestra Dezno: Its ok

    Clytemestra Dezno had walked up to us, but alas, I couldn’t miss my train.

    Pema Pera: We’re here four times a day
    Pema Pera: 1 am 7 am 1 pm 7 pm
    Pema Pera: so plenty of time to catch each other again!
    Pema Pera: nice talking with you all!
    Pema Pera: Steve, can you continue the chat log?
    Sylectra Darwin: G’night, Pema!
    Pema Pera: happy noon for me here, Syl :-)
    Pema Pera: Goodnight to you !
    Pema Pera: bye, Pia, Gar, Syl, Dakini, CLyte, Steve, Adams!
    Sylectra Darwin: Bye for now.
    Adams Rubble: goodnight
    Adams Rubble: goodbye
    Dakini Rhode: happy trails Pema

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