2008.07.17 13:00 - Exactly It

Storm Nordwind: Hello Adams :)
Adams Rubble: Hello Storm :)
Storm Nordwind: How are you today?
Adams Rubble: A little harried but catching my breath. How are you?
Fael Illyar: Hi Adams, Storm :)
Adams Rubble: Hi Fael :)
Storm Nordwind: Not too bad. Hi Fael!
Fael Illyar: Ok, another meeting in row now :)
Storm Nordwind: I was reading your blog and saw how busy you were. It's nice to see you take a few minutes out to visit here.
Storm Nordwind: Hi Gaya
Adams Rubble: I seem to fall behind if I skip sessions
Adams Rubble: Hi Gaya :)
Fael Illyar: fall behind?
Gaya Ethaniel: hello everyone :)
Adams Rubble: hehe
Adams Rubble: maybe out of sync
Adams Rubble: you're tough Fael :)
Fael Illyar: tough?
Adams Rubble: hehe
Storm Nordwind: I find that with many things, momentum is good
Adams Rubble: not going to let me get away with falling behind
Adams Rubble: no Ladder of Heaven to being
Fael Illyar: :)
Adams Rubble: I don't have the momentum I had but I am listening more, learning more about people
Storm Nordwind: That can be good too
Adams Rubble: It's not about me anymore :)
Storm Nordwind: Who or what is it about now?
Gaya Ethaniel strives to do the same
Adams Rubble: I think I am learning more about the Group
Storm Nordwind nods
Gaya Ethaniel nods

Fael Illyar: We seem to be getting new participant :)
Fael Illyar: if he gets my tp.
Gaya Ethaniel: what's tp?
Storm Nordwind: Teleport
Fael Illyar: teleport offer
Gaya Ethaniel: ah
Fael Illyar: Hello Eponymous :)
Gaya Ethaniel: hello Eponymous
Storm Nordwind: Welcome Mr. Drake!
Gaya Ethaniel: good to see you again :)
Adams Rubble: Hello Eponymous :)
Eponymous Drake: Hello Gaya Fael.
Eponymous Drake: Hello Storm, Adams.
Adams Rubble: Storm this is my sixth week anniversary of my first session which was with you
Storm Nordwind: Wow!
Eponymous Drake: thanks for inviting me to the group.
Gaya Ethaniel: wow... great
Eponymous Drake: I am not a buddhist per se, but a fan of zen
Fael Illyar: oh right, I should keep track of my anniversaries :)
Adams Rubble is not a Buddhist
Storm Nordwind: That's OK. Only a handful of us are Buddhist here
Gaya Ethaniel: :) you could provide many interesting pointers Eponymous
Adams Rubble: welcome Eponymous
Fael Illyar: This is not a religious group as such :)
Storm Nordwind: Quite so
Gaya Ethaniel nods

Storm Nordwind: How much do you know about what we do Eponymous?
Fael Illyar: I didn't have time to explain almost anything.
Fael Illyar: So nothing would be very close :)
Storm Nordwind: Maybe you'd like to take the time now! :)
Fael Illyar: Yes, I suppose I'll do that :)
Eponymous Drake: Nothing!
Eponymous Drake: Beginner's mind
Storm Nordwind takes the oppourtunity for a drink of piping hot chawan
Fael Illyar: Play as Being is a group of people who do these so called "explorations", some more and some less. Some just come to the meetings.
Glass of Champagne whispers: Toast
Fael Illyar: the exploration is a 9 second "pause from everything" that we do every 15 minutes.
Fael Illyar: (9 second is guideline)
Fael Illyar: 4 meetings per day, every 6 hours. 1am, 7am, 1pm, 7pm SLT
Eponymous Drake: brb
Eponymous Drake: (in 9 or more seconds)
Storm Nordwind likes people with a sense of humour like that!
Adams Rubble: :)
Fael Illyar: There is a blog at http://playasbeing.wordpress.<wbr/>com/ where logs of our meetings are posted. hopefully you don't mind your name and/or what you say being logged there?
Faenik: why not?
Adams Rubble: :0
Adams Rubble: :)
Storm Nordwind: Nice one Faenik!
Fael Illyar sometimes has doubts about the randomness of SL's random number algorithms.
Storm Nordwind agrees!

Gaya Ethaniel: i can't see it...
Gaya Ethaniel: light on the table?
Gaya Ethaniel: sorry pls continue
Fael Illyar: it's invisible light ball
Gaya Ethaniel: ok... thanks :)
Fael Illyar: ctrl-alt-t once to see it, second time to hide again.

Storm Nordwind: Well, while our friend Eponymous is away, I'd be interested to know about your last 6 weeks Adams. Big changes? Little changes? No changes?
Adams Rubble: Oh my. I am not sure. I looped at least twice, i.e. came back to my starting point
Adams Rubble: The biggest thing I learned was controlling anger
Adams Rubble: and then anxiety
Adams Rubble: tools to control that is
Storm Nordwind: That's wonderful!
Fael Illyar: yes, the starting point. That's the important point.
Fael Illyar: that's the destination
Storm Nordwind: Many people go through whole life without finding tools for that
Adams Rubble: Yes
Storm Nordwind: Actually, many people go through their whole life without realising it might be a good idea to find tools in the first place!
Adams Rubble: I've learned to ask questions of myself that look for where things are coming from
Adams Rubble: ...and I have met a number of very nice people
Fael Illyar: Yes, many people sadly aren't even interested in knowing the tools.
Fael Illyar: even if they're told about them.
Adams Rubble: I wonder Fael
Adams Rubble: I would think it would be more ignorance

Gaya Ethaniel: may i add something?
Storm Nordwind: Of course Gaya
Storm Nordwind: You can always jump right in
Fael Illyar: Always, Gaya :)
Gaya Ethaniel: I discovered my anger by running
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
Fael Illyar wonders how long this needs to be repeated.
Gaya Ethaniel: I was talking to a zen teacher and was getting angry/upset
Adams Rubble: hi Quilty
Gaya Ethaniel: he just ordered to me to shut ** and start running
Quilty Bookmite: hi All
Fael Illyar: Hi Quilty :)
Adams Rubble: !!!
Gaya Ethaniel: running helps to realise the physical sensations of being angry - it seemed to duplicate the same effect
Fael Illyar: doesn't anger kind of prepare you for physical exercise?
Eponymous Drake tries to catch up
Gaya Ethaniel: hi Quilty btw
Quilty Bookmite: Hi. :-)

Eponymous Drake: is there a good place for me to read up on what you are doing in "Play as Being?"
Storm Nordwind: Yes
Fael Illyar: yes, http://playasbeing.wordpress.<wbr/>com/ contains logs of these meetings
Fael Illyar: a few hundred of them
Adams Rubble: 433
Storm Nordwind: Look on the hints page to get an idea of what we are doing
Eponymous Drake: I don't mind what I say being logged on the blog.
Storm Nordwind: Cool
Eponymous Drake: 9 seconds doesn't seem quite long enough to do much.
Storm Nordwind: We substitute frequency for duration
Eponymous Drake: Every hour or so I try to play a tune on the piano
Storm Nordwind: It's an experiment
Eponymous Drake: more like 9 minutes for that
Fael Illyar: doing it every 15 minutes trains you in being able to let go and reclaim fast.
Eponymous Drake: I understand
Storm Nordwind: That is true Fael

Eponymous Drake: let me go read the blog
Storm Nordwind: See you in a few days! :)
Adams Rubble: :)
Fael Illyar laughs out loud.
Eponymous Drake: hah
Adams Rubble is still laughing

Eponymous Drake: Do any of you use "twitter?"
Storm Nordwind: I try not to
Quilty Bookmite: What is twitter?
Fael Illyar: I sometimes use it to check on tweets from one person.
Eponymous Drake: 9 seconds sound like the time it takes to make a post on twitter
Eponymous Drake: it's a micro blog
Eponymous Drake: 140 characters max per posting
Eponymous Drake: twitter.com
Storm Nordwind: Like an SMS
Quilty Bookmite: Ah yes. I have heard of it.
Fael Illyar: yes, twitter might be a good tool for writing down a word after each one
Eponymous Drake: here's my page: http://twitter.com/<wbr/>eponymousdrake
Gaya Ethaniel: oh i see
Fael Illyar: you can even tweet from your cellphone
Fael Illyar: ... if that works again now
Eponymous Drake: it might be interesting to integrate tweeting with this experiment
Gaya Ethaniel: yes that's what Adams has been doing Eponymous
Storm Nordwind thinks that 140 characters in 9 seconds is very fast
Adams Rubble blushes
Gaya Ethaniel: http://rubblebornthoughts.<wbr/>wordpress.com/
Gaya Ethaniel: it's really great
Storm Nordwind: There are many of us writing blogs about what we do or what we've been inspired by with this practice
Eponymous Drake: it sounds quite interesting
Eponymous Drake: interesting even
Eponymous Drake: give me time to absorb
Fael Illyar doesn't have a blo... well, ok not exactly correct, I just don't have anything there.
Adams Rubble: Yes, Storm has very interesting things to say
Eponymous Drake: to grok the fullness
Storm Nordwind thinks Adams perhaps exaggerates :)
Adams Rubble knows better than to exaggerate
Storm Nordwind: The amazing thing is this Eponymous...
Storm Nordwind: Although the technique that we are doing is very old...
Storm Nordwind: the method we are applying it is very new
Storm Nordwind: So this is an experiment...
Storm Nordwind: and you have the chance to take part in it like we are doing...
Storm Nordwind: and break new ground as we do so.
Storm Nordwind: But it's fun too
Storm Nordwind: and these people are great!

Adams Rubble fades away into the afternoon with a rousing GOODBYE to everyone
Eponymous Drake: namaste Adams
Storm Nordwind: Adams is on a strict 30 minutes attendance here!
Eponymous Drake: I like the disciplined aspect of it
Storm Nordwind: Just enough for a glass of champagne
Fael Illyar: So it seems, always poofing around this time :)

Gaya Ethaniel relaxes with the 15 mins bell sound
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
Fael Illyar: Ah, yes, we have a bell in this pavilion that gongs every 15 minutes
Fael Illyar: the sound is around 9 seconds
Eponymous Drake: I must thank Fael for telling me about this.
Eponymous Drake: It might just be what I've been trying to find.
Eponymous Drake: Experiments in being.
Storm Nordwind: That may be possible, yes!
Fael Illyar: That would be great :)
Storm Nordwind: If nothing else it will lead you to great awareness of where you might be going
Storm Nordwind: maybe!
Fael Illyar: I didn't know I was looking for something but this was exactly it :)
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
Storm Nordwind: You should say those words to Piet, Fael!
Fael Illyar: :) I think I have
Fael Illyar: He'll see them anyway :)

Eponymous Drake: what's that quote about an unexamined life...
Storm Nordwind smiles
Storm Nordwind: Is one not worth living or something
Eponymous Drake: ah yes, Socrates
Storm Nordwind: (Apology 38a)
Fael Illyar: I guess groups that meet 4 times every day are very rare :)
Storm Nordwind: Yes. they must be
Eponymous Drake: the 1am time is difficult
Eponymous Drake: although I was up at 1am this morning with a feverish 2 year old
Storm Nordwind: We have people that span the globe
Gaya Ethaniel: indeed and each time is different
Storm Nordwind: This slot is good for Europeans like us
Fael Illyar: Yes, people from around the world :)
Quilty Bookmite: Oh, not good. I hope your 2 year old is better.
Fael Illyar: 1AM meeting is 11AM for me
Gaya Ethaniel: me too :)
Eponymous Drake: Hmm, freedom from identification feels very zen-like
Fael Illyar: which makes this 11PM :)
Quilty Bookmite: 9 p.m. for me.
Gaya Ethaniel takes an early break at 9 AM for 1AM mtg

Fael Illyar: Zen is perhaps the closest to PaB, ideologically.
Storm Nordwind: I'm not so sure about the Zen link - though I see how it could be seen that way
Fael Illyar: Being and Zen might be the same or might not.

Eponymous Drake: reminds me of something I read in a book by Osho
Eponymous Drake: about a mayor going to see a zen master
Quilty Bookmite: I am more Zen than PaB, but then I am new to PaB. :-)
Eponymous Drake: the master wouldn't let him in
Eponymous Drake: until he stopped calling himself a mayor
Eponymous Drake: since that's not who he was
Storm Nordwind: That is a very old Zen story with many variants, yes!
Gaya Ethaniel: how does PaB reminds you that story Eponymous?
Eponymous Drake: the opening paragraphs of http://playasbeing.wordpress.<wbr/>com/hints-for-playing-as-<wbr/>being/
Eponymous Drake: talk about not being identified as our attributes
Quilty Bookmite: Maybe Zen and Pab are both the same thing and different. :-)
Eponymous Drake: no matter, just where I come from
Fael Illyar: Quilty haha, good one :)
Eponymous Drake: zen is full of apparent paradox
Eponymous Drake: which is why I enjoy it so much
Storm Nordwind: http://www.101zenstories.com/<wbr/>index.php?story=30
Fael Illyar: we also have a wiki that's in the process of getting started. Currently found at http://playasbeing.wik.is/
Gaya Ethaniel finds paradoxes baffling
Eponymous Drake: oh yes Storm, that's the one
Eponymous Drake: one of my favorites
Quilty Bookmite: they aren't really paradoxes.
Storm Nordwind nods
Quilty Bookmite: Just seem that way. :-)
Gaya Ethaniel: ?
Eponymous Drake: "apparent"
Fael Illyar: come to think of it, I no longer feel the things about Being or Zen are paradoxes.
Storm Nordwind: Me too Fael
Eponymous Drake: nor do I
Eponymous Drake: but I still feel the tickle
Gaya Ethaniel: are we talking about seeing the whole not breaking things down?
Storm Nordwind: On the other hand, sometimes I cannot tell the difference between what I am realising through PaB and what is coming from massive Buddhist development anyway. It's a big time for me it seems
Quilty Bookmite: Not touching only a part of the elephant? :-)
Eponymous Drake: OK, I must go eat something.
Storm Nordwind: First catch your mango!
Quilty Bookmite: Good to meet you Eponymous.
Eponymous Drake: Please remind me of the next meeting
Gaya Ethaniel: good to talk Eponymous hope to see you again
Eponymous Drake: I will try to attend.
Storm Nordwind: Come again. Most welcome :)
Fael Illyar: Whenever you've got time :)
Fael Illyar: 4 times a day :)
Quilty Bookmite: 1 and 7 am and pm
Fael Illyar: setting up a bell sound to play every 15 minutes ended up reminding me about the meetings as well :)
Eponymous Drake: easy to remember
Eponymous Drake: 1717
Fael Illyar: http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/<wbr/>mindfulclock.html works if you use windows
Eponymous Drake: Friends don't let friends...
Eponymous Drake: (sorry)
Eponymous Drake: ;)
Fael Illyar: haha, do you want my cron script that I use to play the sound?
Eponymous Drake: maybe somebody has written a Dashboard widget
Fael Illyar: perhaps
Quilty Bookmite: Hmmmm. I'm sure I could knock something together in Java.
Gaya Ethaniel: good day
Eponymous Drake: fare well
Storm Nordwind: Bye for now
Fael Illyar: Bye Eponymous :)
Quilty Bookmite: Bye
Eponymous Drake: byer Faie
Fael Illyar: Finally someone who can't use the link :P

Quilty Bookmite: Since the subject of Zen came up.... :-)
Quilty Bookmite: I have had some thoughts. So far I haven't built anything in SL.
Gaya Ethaniel: yes
Quilty Bookmite: I have in mind a project. I want to build an Avalokitesvara shrine. A small hut for one person to meditate in.
Storm Nordwind: whoaaaaa! great!
Quilty Bookmite: I would like to script it so that only one person can be in there at a time.
Storm Nordwind: why so?
Quilty Bookmite: It may not seem very social but there are loads of places for group meditation.
Quilty Bookmite: It would be very much in the tradition of the order I am in.
Quilty Bookmite: And I want to include a meditation timer which would play appropriate gongs.
Storm Nordwind: I would be tempted to ask Avalokitesvara what he wanted - but that's just me!
Quilty Bookmite: I will certainly do that. :-)
Quilty Bookmite: Thank you Storm.
Gaya Ethaniel wants to build the sitting Maitreya
Storm Nordwind: All of my gardens are built for Avalokitesvara in female form
Quilty Bookmite: i noticed that. That's why I thought I would mention it now. :-)
Gaya Ethaniel: lovely place Storm
Storm Nordwind: Thank you Gaya
Quilty Bookmite: the monastery I occasionally go to has such a shrine. It's a lovely little hut by a waterfall.
Fael Illyar: :)
Storm Nordwind: lovely
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
Quilty Bookmite: Maitreya is also good Gaya. :-)
Gaya Ethaniel: have you seen the seated Maitreya from Korea?
Gaya Ethaniel: it's a bit like Rodin just much older :)
Storm Nordwind has seen so many large eastern statues that they have started to blur into each other
Gaya Ethaniel: oh this is kind of unique
Gaya Ethaniel: http://images.google.co.uk/<wbr/>imgres?imgurl=http://mahan.<wbr/>wonkwang.ac.kr/jm/goldbuda.<wbr/>jpg&imgrefurl=http://mahan.<wbr/>wonkwang.ac.kr/jm/mirug.htm&h=<wbr/>1107&w=745&sz=120&hl=en&start=<wbr/>1&sig2=eXI01dwAl7q684Z78yICdw&<wbr/>um=1&tbnid=A3y71eMV3puEJM:&<wbr/>tbnh=150&tbnw=101&ei=CbF_<wbr/>SNmzMIOy1gbq3JTTCQ&prev=/<wbr/>images%3Fq%3D%25EB%25AF%25B8%<wbr/>25EB%25A5%25B5%26um%3D1%26hl%<wbr/>3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%<wbr/>26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:<wbr/>official%26sa%3DN
Gaya Ethaniel: is an example... sorry bit long that one
Storm Nordwind: You are right it is unique
Quilty Bookmite: Ah yes I have seen a close-up of the face. Truly beautiful!
Gaya Ethaniel: yes... i think it's beautiful
Gaya Ethaniel: http://cfs6.blog.daum.net/<wbr/>image/24/blog/2007/10/04/11/<wbr/>04/47044a31e1fe4&filename=%EB%<wbr/>AF%B8%EB%A5%B5%EB%B3%B4%EC%82%<wbr/>B4%EB%B0%98%EA%B0%80%EC%82%AC%<wbr/>EC%9C%A0%EC%83%81.jpg
Gaya Ethaniel: sorry but this one better
Quilty Bookmite: What would you like to do with Maitreya?
Gaya Ethaniel: would like to have a statue in a little house/hut :)
Gaya Ethaniel: maybe attach a notecard about the period/kingdom that style come from and so on
Fael Illyar: too bad Adams left, I'm sure she'd have loved the topic.
Gaya Ethaniel: :) I will send her an email
Fael Illyar: she'll read the log I think :)
Gaya Ethaniel: Thanks Storm :)
Quilty Bookmite: I hope so. :-)
Gaya Ethaniel: ah yes!
Gaya Ethaniel: wishes everyone well and slips out quietly
Quilty Bookmite: Maitreya is the Buddha that is yet to come.
Quilty Bookmite: Bye Gaya
Storm Nordwind: Bye Gaya
Storm Nordwind: Will you have a statue or an image Quilty?
Quilty Bookmite: There is a very westernised image of Avalokitesvara painted by a monk in the order I am in. I was thinking of asking permission to use it.
Storm Nordwind: Wow. How many arms?
Quilty Bookmite: Just 2. :-)
Storm Nordwind: ok
Quilty Bookmite: She (looks very female in this case) is sitting on the head of a dragon surrounded by stormy waters.
Fael Illyar: what's this with more than 2 arms by the way?
Quilty Bookmite: And pouring water from a small flask.
Quilty Bookmite: Avalokitesvara has a thousand arms and a thousand eyes.
Storm Nordwind: A little like the one behind one of my waterfalls?
Storm Nordwind: Or 4 arms
Storm Nordwind: or just 2
Quilty Bookmite: I haven't seen it. I will take a look.
Quilty Bookmite: There are many different forms.
Storm Nordwind: I'll show you in a minute if you like
Quilty Bookmite: Thank you.
Fael Illyar: I've seen pictures of the 4 armed version sometimes I think
Storm Nordwind: The one in my gompa here is 4 armed
Quilty Bookmite: Here is a small version of the image I am thinking of using. http://www.obcon.org/avalo.jpg
Quilty Bookmite: I misremembered it. No dragon. :-)
Storm Nordwind: Very nice
Storm Nordwind: I love them all
Quilty Bookmite: Avalokitesvara and also Achalanatha are two figures that come up often in my practice.
Storm Nordwind: Why do you think that is?
Quilty Bookmite: They both represent aspects of compassion - which for me is a very complex thing.
Storm Nordwind: /nods
Quilty Bookmite: But Achalanatha may scare people off. :-) http://www.dharmanet.com.br/<wbr/>zen/fudo.jpg
Storm Nordwind: Not really!
Fael Illyar: :)
Quilty Bookmite: Well, he is supposed to be fierce.
Storm Nordwind: Check out two of the pictures in my gompa!
Quilty Bookmite: I will. Thank you. :-)
Storm Nordwind: I am thinking of going there now. You are welcome to come and see those pictures I mentioned.
Quilty Bookmite: I probably need to go soon but I'm sure I can spare a few minutes.
Storm Nordwind: Then I will say goodnight Fael!
Fael Illyar: Good night Storm :)
Quilty Bookmite: Goodnight Fael.
Fael Illyar: Good night Quilty :)