That afternoon, Solobill was the guardian. He sent me the following log, with the first two comment lines; the other comments are mine. Thet title and the photograph are his.
I (Solo) walked over to the beautiful new pavilion from the Zen retreat and found Adams, and Moon already on the cushions. Fael and Dakini followed shortly.
Solobill Laville: Hello Adams and Moon!
Adams Rubble: Hello Solobill :)
Moon Fargis: hi solo
Solobill Laville: Good work on the new sign, Moon
Moon Fargis: thanks:)
Fael Illyar: Hello :)
Solobill Laville: Oh, and the logo!
Adams Rubble: Hi Fael :)
Faenik loves wells!
Solobill Laville: Hello Fael
Moon did a quick dance.
Solobill Laville: Get down, Moon!
Solobill Laville: Shake that thing!
Solobill Laville: :)
Moon Fargis: hm strange i stand
Moon Fargis: test
Moon Fargis: so wanna talk about something?:)
Solobill Laville: I have something to share
Adams Rubble: great :)
Solobill Laville: The last few days, I’ve been trying a new experiment
Moon Fargis: ah?
Solobill Laville: A “mini-retreat” here in SL
Moon Fargis: aha?
Fael Illyar: Hi Dakini
Adams Rubble: HI Dakini :)
Dakini Rhode: greetings!
Moon Fargis: ah hi dakini
Dakini Rhode: _/!\_
Solobill Laville: Hi Dakini
Fael Illyar: What does this “mini-retreat” mean in practice then?
Solo talked about his all-SL retreat.
Solobill Laville: It means, dedicating time to sitting, either at the zendo
Solobill Laville: or other formal areas to sit
Solobill Laville: walking
Solobill Laville: meeting with friends, new and old
Solobill Laville: Focusing on simplicity and mindfulness
Solobill Laville: It has been quite nice, I must say
Fael Illyar: Ah, doing things you’d do in a retreat but without leaving your home.
Solobill Laville: :)
Moon Fargis: well for sure it is, i do this since month :)
Solobill Laville: I have been on for about 4 – 6 hours a day
Solobill Laville: But, this is important
Solobill Laville: Also while at work, at home
Solobill Laville: doing other things
Solobill Laville: so I see it as another way to practice
Moon Fargis: well everything happens i your mind
Solobill Laville: And I have increased my peace of mind
Solobill Laville: Indeed, Moon!
Solobill Laville: I just wish I could chop some wood and carry some water too
Solobill Laville: (Dakini?)
Moon Fargis: hehe
Solobill Laville: ;)
Adams Rubble: :)
Dakini Rhode: bill?
Dakini Rhode: i missed the first part - are you on retreat?
Solobill Laville: I was just saying, that on my mini-retreat
Solobill Laville: it would be neat to be able to chop wood / carry water
Solobill Laville: :)
Solobill Laville: Half-joking
Different angles on different types of retreat.
Dakini Rhode: Your 9-second mini retreat?
Dakini Rhode: sorry
Solobill Laville: Oh, no
Adams Rubble: that would be very mini
Solobill Laville: A retreat here 4 - 6 hours a day
Dakini Rhode: lol i missed something (oh! retreat in SL)
Solobill Laville: with various levels of focused SL exclusive attention
Solobill Laville: but always here then
Solobill Laville: yes
Dakini Rhode: my SL is a retreat…
Adams Rubble: Yes mine might be too
Dakini Rhode: yes i can see that Adams
Solobill Laville: Mine too, but this is a bit more focused, for me anyway
Adams Rubble wonders if she could chop and carry wood in 9 seconds
Solobill Laville: on retreat-specific activities
Solobill Laville: hehe
Dakini Rhode: what are you doing specifically and would you like water carrying and woodchopping animations>?
Dakini Rhode: i think we could find them… :->
Solobill Laville: Well, that is what i was joking about
Fael Illyar: I guess I might’ve sort of been on a retreat for the whole time I’ve been participating in PaB :P
Solo then addes some more of the essentials.
Solobill Laville: I’ve been sitting
Solobill Laville: and walking in mindfulness
Solobill Laville: meeting people in the spirit of compassion
Faenik loves wells!
Adams Rubble: That is great that you had that experience. Can you tell us more about who does this?
Dakini Rhode: that IS a retreat Bill! does it spill over into RL?
Solobill Laville: hehe. Yes!
Solobill Laville: As I said, it is just another way to practice
Dakini Rhode: yes!
Solobill Laville: But the more you practice…
Moon Fargis: its amazing how we humans can be happy when we see thousands of red green and blue dots
Dakini Rhode: i try to live my life that way with varying amounts of success
Solobill Laville: Me too
Dakini Rhode: what is the key to the practice?
Fael Illyar: The dots are too small for us to realize, properly, what they are ;)
Adams Rubble doesn’t see any dots
Solobill Laville: Consistency?
Solobill Laville: Effort?
Dakini Rhode: they are too small to see?
Moon Fargis: fael: but we know that they are there
Dakini Rhode: what keeps you going with it?
Fael Illyar: we know, rationally, that they’re there, yes
Adams Rubble: ah. What do we NOT see?
Adams Rubble: I have been set to working on that
Adams Rubble: So I can dots
Adams Rubble: thanks
Adams, continuing her work on her Koan!
Fael Illyar: that doesn’t mean we actually realize they’re there :)
Adams Rubble: :)
Solobill Laville: Dakini, I think compassion keeps one going with it
Moon Fargis: well i also dont see a glassdoor until i realize its there
Adams Rubble: There are many things we don;t see and usually do not remember are really there
Moon Fargis: and gain a bloody nose
Fael Illyar: each dot is big enough to be seen individually, yes :)
Dakini Rhode: i think so
Faenik loves wells!
Adams Rubble: haha Moon
Fael Illyar: :)
Fael Illyar: yes, you can know it’s there but you need something more to actually take it into account :)
Fael Illyar: in your actions
Dakini Rhode: checking the log…
Dakini Rhode: compassion and bloody noses
Dakini Rhode: hmmm
Solobill Laville: Yep, there’s the title
Fael Illyar: that they’re numerous small dots is really irrelevant as far as we are concerned :)
Adams Rubble: :)
Dakini Rhode: lol
Faenik is a hairy black ball with eyes and ears.
Dakini Rhode: i find living life as a retreat contains its own satisfaction
Fael Illyar: You could make that same argument about how we see things that are … umm … “real”
The retreat thread continued, after the pixel thread stopped.
Solobill Laville: Do you then, live life as a retreat?
Dakini Rhode: i think i do, to a large degree
Dakini Rhode: but not completely
Dakini Rhode: i have my lazy moments :-)
Solobill Laville: It is really more about the spirit of the way we hold ourselves daily, isn’t it?
Moon Fargis: we all got them :)
Solobill Laville: At this point in my life
Dakini Rhode: i think so, Bill
Adams Rubble: Yes I think so too
Solobill Laville: I need to cleave out time so focus on it
Solobill Laville: almost exclusively
Solobill Laville: So that’s what I’ve been doing, here and in my PaB activities, and sitting
Dakini Rhode: if a practice is on your mind, time for it keeps popping up, i think
Dakini Rhode: traffic lights
Dakini Rhode: waiting in line
Dakini Rhode: waiting for things to rezz
Adams Rubble: :)
Dakini Rhode: waiting is a golden opportunity
Fael Illyar: :)
Solobill Laville: Oh, absolutely
Solobill Laville: Travelling at the speed of mind
Solobill Laville: your mind is already there
Adams Rubble: I am very sorry that I have to leave this discussion today but I must
Fael Illyar: yes, you get to wait in so many places that it’s almost a waste to not use it for something like that :)
Adams Rubble: bye everyone
Fael Illyar: Bye Adams :)
Solobill Laville: Bye Adams
Moon Fargis: well the mind stands still..but it makes you to run around it
Adams Rubble: great chat !
Dakini Rhode: indeed Fael - bye, Adams
Moon Fargis: bye adams
Adams left, and the conversation kept its focus on the notion of a retreat.
Solobill Laville: Does the wind move the flag?
Moon Fargis: there is no flag :
Dakini Rhode: and with people in life especially - so many opportunities to practice
Fael Illyar: no, the mind moves the flag :)
Dakini Rhode: talking to someone, be fully present
Dakini Rhode: practice while listening…
Dakini Rhode: i keep looking for ways to practice right in my life as it is
Solobill Laville: yes, mindfulness of mindfulness
Dakini Rhode: :-)
Fael Illyar: Yes, like meditating while walking to work ;)
Solobill Laville: Or while at work ;)
Dakini Rhode: walking is my best time for PaB…
Fael Illyar: yes, at work is good time too … whenever you are waiting on something.
Solobill Laville: interesting, i wonder what it would be for everyone
Fael Illyar does that.
Dakini Rhode: yes
Dakini Rhode does that…
Solobill Laville: driving is great for me
Dakini Rhode: oh yes, driving…
Solobill Laville: I tend to drive slower
Solobill Laville: it is like being mindful of your food
Solobill Laville: or drinking cold water
Dakini Rhode: yes! i don’t use the radio or CD player
Dakini Rhode: i just drive
Solobill Laville: it is amazing what you can do while you aren’t thinking about it
Solobill Laville: just do
Faenik: why not?
Solobill Laville: wind = flag = mind
Solobill Laville: :->
Dakini Rhode: oh, the question, does the wind move the flag?
Fael Illyar: I’m suddenly reminded of the few times when I was walking home from a friend’s place when things seemed much more vivid than normal. Now that I think of those, it was probably meditative state of some sort.
Dakini Rhode: could be :->
Dakini Rhode: (do i sound like Faenik?)
Solobill Laville: :->
Faenik: could be
Dakini Rhode: :->
Dakini Rhode: i wonder if a random phrase generating program could be a good therapist
Fael Illyar: if it’s too frequent, you’ll catch on too easily I think
Dakini Rhode: i think i see possibilities….
Dakini Rhode: even so…
Moon Fargis: there where some random phrase therapist programs back in the 80s already
Moon Fargis: worked quite interesting
Actually, in the 60s already. Eliza, written by Joseph Weizenbaum. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA
Dakini Rhode: dang every time i think i have a new thought….
Dakini Rhode: lol
Dakini Rhode: i should think they would work, too
Fael Illyar: new thoughts are exceedingly rare :)
Dakini Rhode: yes
Dakini Rhode: no doubt i read about it somewhere
Solobill Laville: I hate that!
Moon Fargis: what ?
Dakini Rhode: it happens more now…
Solobill Laville: When you think you have a great idea
Solobill Laville: and only go to share with someone
Dakini Rhode: maybe i blame meditation not age :-P
Solobill Laville: and they say, “oh yeah…”
Moon Fargis: dont hate it! be happy you where smart enough to get such ideas
Dakini Rhode: well if you can get a new one, you can do research…
Fael Illyar: yes, it’s unreasonable to expect it to be a new idea :)
Solobill Laville: you’re so positive, Moon
Solobill Laville: By hate I only mean very strongly dislike
Solobill Laville: lol
Dakini Rhode: americanism
Solobill Laville: yes
Moon Fargis: hehe
Fael Illyar: having unreasonable expectations brings suffering ;)
A new word was formed.
Moon Fargis: lets call it “*meh*”
Dakini Rhode: was ist “men”
Dakini Rhode: meh
Moon Fargis: nono *meh*
Moon Fargis: like “hmmpf*
Dakini Rhode:
Solobill Laville: meh!
Dakini Rhode: meaningful typo?
Moon Fargis: yes!
Dakini Rhode: meh!
Moon Fargis: meh!
Solobill Laville: MEH!!
Dakini Rhode: or i could say men!
Dakini Rhode: MEN!
Moon Fargis: *sigh*
Dakini Rhode: mensch!
Dakini Rhode: lol
Solobill Laville: heh
Solobill Laville: hehe, meh
Solobill Laville: yes, sigh
Faenik: ah :)
Dakini Rhode: hmmm only if you cling to them when you’re disappointed…
Fael Illyar: oh, yes, although I prefer not having them in the first place :)
Not WHAT were Dakini and Fael talking about? Read on . . .
Dakini Rhode: that would probably be better :->
Solobill Laville: ahem
Solobill Laville: :)
Dakini Rhode: ahem?
Solobill Laville: Were you talking about men?
Solobill Laville: Or did I miss something
Dakini Rhode: no not really just playing on words…
Moon Fargis: you missed something:)
Dakini Rhode: a typo
Solobill Laville: I’m used to that
Dakini Rhode: (lol)
Faenik: why not?
Why not indeed?
Dakini Rhode: i mistyped meh as men
Solobill Laville: hehe
Dakini Rhode: automatic typing…
Moon Fargis: meh!
Solobill Laville: I’m with Moon
Dakini Rhode is used to typos…
Solobill Laville: meh!
Fael Illyar: hmmh… mine and Dakini’s exchange is interesting when you think we’re talking about men :P
Solobill Laville: That’s what I thought!!!
Dakini Rhode: oh my yes!!!! LOL!
Solobill Laville: lol
Fael Illyar: (instead of unreasonable expectations like I was talking about)
Dakini Rhode: now i’m laughing out loud!
The cat is out of the bag . . .
Solobill Laville: That’s why I was like, um, hello…
Dakini Rhode: the cat wonders why i’m laughing…
Dakini Rhode: might disturb her nap…
. . . and possibly waking up
Moon Fargis purrzzzzzzzzz
Solobill Laville: meh!
Dakini Rhode: indeed… meh!
Solobill Laville: I think there’s a koan in there Moon
Dakini Rhode: omg i thought my stomach was growling
Moon Fargis: ohh i cant wait until pema reads this log :)
:>)
Solobill Laville: Does a cat have Buddha nature?
Moon Fargis: oh
Dakini Rhode: (Pema, moon just purred)
Yes, that much I read :)
Solobill Laville: meh!
Moon Fargis: reads
Moon Fargis: solo: a koan?
Solobill Laville: I just gave it
Moon Fargis: what koan?
Fael Illyar: Solo: Mu
Dakini Rhode: oh and the answer is…. drumroll….
Dakini Rhode: meh!
Solobill Laville: Does a cat have Buddha nature?
Solobill Laville: meh!
Dakini Rhode: yes good one
Fael Illyar: ok, meh :P
Solobill Laville: Anyway…
Solobill Laville: Does anyone have anything else they’d like to chat about?
Dakini Rhode: no sir, mr. solo
Moon Fargis: uhm.. i think cats got buddha nature:)
Dakini Rhode: my cat has cat nature
Dakini Rhode: same same
Fael Illyar: Has a dog Buddha-nature? This is the most serious question of all. If you say yes or no, you lose your own Buddha-nature.
Moon Fargis: fael: might be :)
Dakini Rhode: i do not think you can lose your buddha nature
Fael Illyar: oh, I forgot quotation marks
Dakini Rhode: oh
Solobill Laville: ?
Fael Illyar: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/glg/glg.htm
Solobill Laville: Yes, that was my play on Joshu’s “Mu!”, Dakini’s cat and “Meh!”
The collection of koans seems to be growing . . .
Dakini Rhode: hmmm even if the book says you lose your buddha nature, i don’t believe it…
Solobill Laville: Is that final stanza from Mumon?
Solobill Laville: about losing one’s Buddha nature?
Dakini Rhode: yes
Moon Fargis: well just because a leaf is smaller it doesnt mean its not connected to the tree
Dakini Rhode: buddha nature is impossible to lose because it isn’t a quality
Fael Illyar: I don’t believe it means a permanent loss
Solobill Laville: True, Moon, true
Dakini Rhode: it isn’t acquired
Dakini Rhode: it can’t be gained or lost
Fael Illyar: or a loss, really
Dakini Rhode: even temporarily
Fael Illyar: something else
Dakini Rhode: yes maybe the translation is not quite right
Solobill Laville: No, of course not
Solobill Laville: But I wonder what is meant by it
Dakini Rhode: indeed
Dakini Rhode: i think what is meant is that yes and no are not real answers
Dakini Rhode: answers
Fael Illyar: if you put it in words, you’re not getting it
Dakini Rhode: the answer comes from within
Faenik loves wells!
Dakini Rhode: but i don’t get zen :-)
Dakini Rhode: i do think you need to touch the answer with your heart
Dakini Rhode: not with your head
Moon Fargis raches dakini a bottle of zen
Solobill Laville: I think it is a tool for the koan practicioner
The conversation focused on Zen.
Dakini Rhode: what do you zennies think now that i talk about what i do not know?
Moon Fargis: look inside, its empty:)
Solobill Laville: you talk a pretty darn good Zen, Dakini
Dakini Rhode: empty bottle Moon
Solobill Laville: So does the Dalai Lama, by the way
Dakini Rhode: oh and the Karmapa says there is no buddhism
Dakini Rhode: pretty zen i think
Solobill Laville: So does Dogen
Dakini Rhode: maybe Karmapa read Dogen
Solobill Laville: Very Zen that one
Fael Illyar: I’m pretty sure I could tell a phony Zen Master from a real one :P
Dakini Rhode: how, Fael?
Fael Illyar: I don’t know, I just get the feeling I could
Fael Illyar: well, not without hearing them talk though
Moon Fargis: hmm.. all i met so far speaked normal for me :)
Moon Fargis: ok some where pretty babblish :)
Dakini Rhode: babbling zen masters?
Moon Fargis: dakini: hehe yes
Moon Fargis: bablle ballbe ballbe
Dakini Rhode: oh dear
Dakini Rhode: did it stop your mind?
Moon Fargis: just some most of them where verry quiet
Solobill Laville: Sorry folks I must run
Dakini Rhode: sorry too, Bill
Moon Fargis: dakini: my mist is mostly soped already:)
Fael Illyar: Ok, see Solobill Laville later Solo :)
Moon Fargis: mist= mind
Moon Fargis: bye bye solo
Solo left, and the conversation become more staccato.
Dakini Rhode: mist soup?
Moon Fargis: yes mind is like mist soup
Dakini Rhode: i know that soup
Dakini Rhode: i think it’s my age
Dakini Rhode: maybe it’s meditation
Dakini Rhode: don’t know
Faenik: indeed?
Dakini Rhode: gone gone
Fael Illyar: hmmh, somehow this meeting has made me feel like just after meditating.
Moon Fargis: :)
Moon Fargis: sangha
Dakini Rhode: babbling does that :->
Dakini Rhode: zen babble
Fael Illyar: :)
Dakini Rhode: maybeyou touched Moon’s stopped mind, fael
Fael Illyar: who knows :)
Moon Fargis: *snoozes his nose* yep stopped again
Dakini Rhode: lol that word snooze needs translation
Moon Fargis: ehm
Moon Fargis: snoze?
Dakini Rhode: snoze?
Dakini Rhode: snooze?
Moon Fargis: darn englutsch
Dakini Rhode: sneeze?
Moon Fargis: sneeze?
Dakini Rhode: achoo?
But Solo was not really gone; after running he returned.
Solobill Laville: back
Dakini Rhode: just in time bill
Solobill Laville: What’d I miss?
Solobill Laville: I’ll look back
Fael Illyar: snoozing?
Dakini Rhode: or sneezing
Dakini Rhode: or maybe just the nose fell asleep
Moon Fargis: hmm no
Moon Fargis: both a wrong
Moon Fargis: let me see
Moon Fargis: ahh
Moon Fargis blow is nose
Dakini Rhode: meh!
Solobill Laville: MEH!
Moon Fargis: to blow a nose. tsssk you got some strange term in english :)
Dakini Rhode: meh is better than lol
Solobill Laville: yes it is!
Dakini Rhode: English is weird
Fael Illyar: weirdness is the natural property of any language
Dakini Rhode: pushing the air thru your nose like a trumpet
Dakini Rhode: = “blowing”
Solobill Laville: meh!
Dakini Rhode: haha
Dakini Rhode: like a horn
Dakini Rhode: blowing your own horn
Moon Fargis: hmmm
Did Moon try to introduce yet another koan?
Moon Fargis: wouldnt en then sexual independent?
Moon Fargis: men
Faenik:
Solobill Laville: Oh, dear…
Solobill Laville: meh!
Solobill Laville: heheh
Moon Fargis: ahyes big MEH! :)
Dakini Rhode is puzzling over that one…
Solobill Laville: That’s ok
Solobill Laville: just let it go, lelt it go
Solobill Laville: *let
Dakini Rhode: gone
Moon Fargis: dont be attached to it attachment makes you suffer:)
Dakini Rhode: oh no don’t want to suffer
Dakini Rhode: not on a Friday
Solobill Laville: nope
The conversation moved on to alcoholic beverages.
Dakini Rhode: all of a sudden
Dakini Rhode thinks we should be drinking something stronger
Solobill Laville: Hmmmm….
Solobill Laville: Do they have Prosecco in Assisi??
Moon Fargis: eeew
Solobill Laville: Bier then
Dakini Rhode: Storm has bier
Moon Fargis: well i prefer sake :)
Solobill Laville: Let’s conclude this session, and off to the pub!!
Dakini Rhode: anything taste ok after awhile
Moon Fargis: haha
Dakini Rhode: first sip is the worst
Moon Fargis: dot have to stand up
Moon Fargis: got beer here
Solobill Laville: Good sake, is really quite good
Dakini Rhode: oh i have sake here too
Moon Fargis gave you Koeniglich-bayerisches Festbier (WEAR ME).
Moon Fargis: good german beer
Moon Fargis: ahh sake! great
Cup of Sake whispers: Enjoy : )
Moon Fargis: beer and sake *hicks*
Faenik: could be
Cup of Sake whispers: Enjoy : )
Dakini Rhode: moon you have hiccups?
Moon Fargis: jussch a liddhleh bithh
Dakini Rhode: heheheee
Cup of Sake whispers: Enjoy : )
Dakini Rhode: ok i have now chased both cats away with my laughing
Moon Fargis: haha
Fael Illyar: Haha, they think you mad now :)
Dakini Rhode: they are like “we were trying to sleep”
Dakini Rhode: meh!
Moon Fargis: ohoh i see the next cat i get will be named “meh”
Dakini Rhode: good name
Moon Fargis: yes saves time:)
Dakini Rhode: will think you’re calling him all the time
Fael Illyar: yes, and will learn to ignore it :P
Moon Fargis: :)
