2008.08.09 07:00 - Go Fly

That morning I (Pema) are the guardian, and I manage to get in exactly on time. Wol was already sitting quietly in the pavilion. After I greated her not much happened for a while since she was afk, which gave me a chance to take my first few bites of breakfast.

Pema Pera: Hi there, Wol!
Wol Euler: hello Pema
Pema Pera: good afternoon!
Wol Euler: I hope you are well, and have slept a few hours?
Pema Pera: sure, I got up at 5 am this morning
Pema Pera: it's 7 am here now, I arrived at the airport of San Francisco half an hour ago
Pema Pera: and stood in the security line for 28 minutes
Wol Euler: oh wow
Pema Pera: so I had 2 minutes to grab coffee
Pema Pera: and 1 bonus minute to start eating my roll while you were afk :)
Wol Euler: ah, well, I hate to come between a man and his appetites.
Pema Pera: it really is inconvenient to eat and type at the same time, but I'm practicing :)
Wol Euler grins
Pema Pera: actually the coffee was the more important of the two :>)
Pema Pera: anyway, on more interesting topics:
Pema Pera: any questions about Being?
Pema Pera: or anything else?
Pema Pera: or observations
Pema Pera: suggestions?

Wol was excited about her new plot on the PaB grounds near the sea.

Wol Euler chuckles. I'm afraid I won't be very sensible company today. I just claimed a wonderful beach plot at Mugunghwa and am full of ideas and visions for it.
Pema Pera: Great!
Wol Euler: Not exactly Being, but in the way of being great fun.
Pema Pera: There is another piece of Mugunghwa that will come up for auction soon
Pema Pera: with some luck we'll acquire that too
Pema Pera: so you'll get even more room for neighbors to settle
Pema Pera: did you start building already ?
Pema Pera: Hi Tahuti!
Tahuti Thor: hello everyone
Wol Euler: lol, yes I did. Architects think visually, by mking models. So I started putting up a few walls on the site, to get a feel of where I want to sit.
Wol Euler: hello Tahuti.
Tahuti Thor: hi Pema
Tahuti Thor: hi Euler

Tahuti entered, and I mentioned Wol's (slowly and gently) flying sofa.

Wol Euler: very crude, very preliminary.
Pema Pera: Are you going to offer your flying sofa there too, for visitors to take a tour of the area?
Wol Euler: oooh! hehehe
Wol Euler: there's an idea.
Pema Pera: (what you learn about your friends by reading blogs!)
Wol Euler laughs. That#s why it is there.
Wol Euler: (ght blog)
Pema Pera: Tahuti, Wol was talking about her new plot of land near the beach
Wol Euler: "ght"? dear gods, even for me that is lousy typing >:(
Pema Pera was wondering what that abbreviation could mean . . . .
Wol Euler blushes to confess that it is a misspelling of "the"
Pema Pera: !
Wol Euler cringes for shame.
Pema Pera caught up in very long laaaaag
Tahuti Thor: ok
Wol Euler: Pema, you are mid-airport? Will you have to pack and run (fly)?
Tahuti Thor: SL land?
Tahuti Thor: or RL
Pema Pera: somehow the new viewer seems to freeze my Mac even longer than the old one, for like twenty seconds or longer, no matter what settings I tried . . . .
Pema Pera: oh no, Wol, I'm fine
Pema Pera: I'm in an airport lounge, very comfortable, and I have more than an hour
Pema Pera: I got early to be here in time for my guardian duties :)
Wol Euler: ah :)
Pema Pera: otherwise I would have gotten up at 6 instead of 5 :)
Pema Pera: SL land, Tahuti
Tahuti Thor: k
Wol Euler: oh, sorry, I missed your question somehow.

I turned to another episode on the PaB blog.

Pema Pera: Tahuti, a couple days ago you mentioned something about PaB explorations, and doing meditation correctly
Pema Pera: that is a very interesting topic
Pema Pera: on the one hand, what we are doing could be called a form of meditation
Pema Pera: there are certainly similarities
Pema Pera: but we do not have any specific form or style
Pema Pera: so unlike, say, zen meditation, there is no "correct" way to do it, strictly speaking
Pema Pera: though we can of course make suggestions, helping and inspiring each other
Tahuti Thor: hmmm
Tahuti Thor: how do others conceive meditation?
Pema Pera: which others?
Tahuti Thor: in PaB
Tahuti Thor: since u said there is no correct way
Pema Pera: everyone has there own ideas and experiences I think
Pema Pera: we do not present one particular style or tradition
Pema Pera: anyone is free to bring their own, and combine it in whatever way they like with what we are talking about
Pema Pera: this is more a forum for exploration, not a school or teaching ground
Wol Euler nods. Though a lot of learning does take place :-)
Pema Pera: I like to view life as a lab
Pema Pera: and this is one place where I like to explore that
Pema Pera: a lab is different from a class room
Pema Pera: some people here have no interest in meditation at all, which is fine
Pema Pera: they just like to pause regularly and look around
Pema Pera: view the world, themselves, others
Tahuti Thor: so, everyone has their own meditation style or none at all and we all sit and contemplate Reality or Being ?
Pema Pera: what connects us is that we all see the merit of regularly pausing, like once every 15 minutes for 9 sec, or whatever you like
Pema Pera: and then to talk about what we find, four times a day, however often we like to come in
Pema Pera: everything else depends on the individual
Pema Pera: there is a great sense of community
Wol Euler nods
Pema Pera: comparing notes, ideas, experiences, questions
Pema Pera: very free from, but very serious too
Tahuti Thor: what we find within?
Wol Euler: to answer the question as you asked it, Tahuti, people tend to meditate (whatever that means) elsewhere, and ccome here to discuss what arose.
Wol Euler: exactly
Tahuti Thor: if they are feeling sick within, they talk about that?
Tahuti Thor: feeling worried, talk about that?
Wol Euler: yes, about why and wherefore, how it arose,, what effect it has, perhaps what to do about it or with it.

I pointed to a specific previous session, two days earlier.

Pema Pera: btw, Tahuti, I read your conversation with Caledonia and Fael, on http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/enough-about-me/ two days ago
Tahuti Thor: so the goal of every mood and felt experience is independent for each case and individual?
Pema Pera: and I saw that you disagreed with what Caledonia described about her imagination, saying it was dangerous and done in the wrong way, if I understood you correctly, can you say a bit more about that?
Pema Pera: as for goal, I'm not sure whether a mood has a goal . . . .
Wol Euler reads, that sounds fascinating.
Pema Pera: 2/3 down the blog page
Wol Euler: ty

I quoted three lines from the blog: by Tahuti, by Caledonia, and by Tahuti.

Pema Pera: Tahuti Thor: u should jus keep meditating and not think bout things too much
Caledonia Heron: I think imagination is fabulous
Tahuti Thor: no it can mislead
Pema Pera: (quote from blog)
Tahuti Thor: i dont see how u can see in the moment when u have vivid imagnations circling around
Pema Pera: sorry, can you say more? I did not understand the comment
Tahuti Thor: so......are we sharing whatever it is in our mind to everyone -- sickness, imagining, memories, worries, etc. ?
Pema Pera: we share whatever we feel is good to share -- it is different for each individual
Pema Pera: we have no rules
Tahuti Thor: so there is no objective ....only to share our experiences with each other
Pema Pera: well, yes and no
Wol Euler considers that a fine objective in itself btw
Pema Pera: no specific objective in terms of what we have
Pema Pera: but there is a kind of objective: to drop identification with what we have, and to learn to see what we are
Pema Pera: just a sec -- let me get another cup of RL coffee -- brb
Wol Euler: heheheh
Pema Pera: back!
Pema Pera: I love the SL coffee too, but not as effective early in the morning . . . .

I wanted to make sure that my description of PaB did not come across as a lack of respect for the value of any particular approach, such as Tahuti's way of practicing zen.

Pema Pera: I think I understand your concern for correct style and focus on the essence of zen meditation, Tahuti, and I very much respect that
Wol Euler: I'm new at this, and have to admit that I don't follow all the exercises, but I would say that these meetings have become a valuable association to me
Wol Euler: There are many Zennies here :-) but most of us are not, nor are looking to become.
Pema Pera: if you follow that particular style, it can be very effective, just to ignore all distractions and go all out, but that is not the only way.
Pema Pera: I am happy to compare your way with that of others -- I have explored many ways myself in the last 38 years, including weeks-long retreats in zen meditation as well as Tibetan Buddhist, etc styles
Pema Pera: but we are here to compare, not to criticize others
Pema Pera: but of course we can make suggestions
Tahuti Thor: your free to entertain the thoughts u want to entertain in any practice or style
Pema Pera: especially when we are concerned that others may not be very effective in their own way -- then we can certainly offer suggestions
Pema Pera: I am glad I am free to entertain my thoughts, Tahuti. Thank you :-)
Tahuti Thor: :)
Wol Euler: no criticism was implied, Tahuti. I thought you were asking from that standpoint, in relation to that practice, so I tried to answer in what I thought was your direction.
Pema Pera: but seriously, Tahuti, I have deep respect for zen. And I love that approach. I learned an enormous amount from doing it. But I don't think one tool fits all circumstances for all people
Pema Pera: Perhaps you can say something about how zen helped you?
Pema Pera: what you found?
Tahuti Thor: i dont get it - we are bundle of thoughts, feelings, and emotions ...and u choose to entertain whatever thought,feeling, and emotion u like
Tahuti Thor: what is there to be known exactly?
Tahuti Thor: vipassana? @ Pema
Wol Euler: not exactly, we choose to try to see what we are thinking and feeling, and to discover why we do.
Wol Euler: why do we become angry at someone rather than shrugging it off? What is the _reason_ for it?

I would have liked to say something about Vipassana, another approach which at first glance may seem rather different from the zen approach. In Vipassana, we are told to just watch whatever thought or emotion or anything else comes up in awareness and let it go. In Zen we are told to let the mind rest as it is, without being distracted by whatever comes up. But in fact, when you try to do either technique, you will find that the similarities are larger than the differences. In Vipassana, if attention becomes too keen, you may have trouble with the letting go. In Zen, when you focus too intentionally on resting in the natural state, you may find yourself trying to suppress mental stirrings. In both cases, a good balance requires both not suppressing and not holding on.

However, rather than getting into all this, I felt it might be better to tell a story, to convey a simple flavor rather than to argue through too many explanations.

Pema Pera: May I tell a little anecdote?
I am 55 now. I started meditation when I was 17.
Pema Pera: When I was 28, I went to my first weekend workshop in a Tibetan Institute, after having done only zen meditation so far. I reacted in a way that was quite similar to the way you react; I remember very vividly!
Pema Pera: I was shocked and appalled
Pema Pera: people talked about their experiences! omg . . . . I had learned in zen that that was an absolute nono
Pema Pera: I was shocked that the head lama, Tarthang Tulku, in Berkeley, who had written such a wonderful book called Time Space Knowledge, would allow such a thing to go on
Pema Pera: it seemed so totally wrong
Pema Pera: but then during a break I walked out into the garden, and say a huge prayer wheel
Pema Pera: with an explanation signed also by Tarthang Tulku, about how the myriad rotations of that wheel had a wonderful effect on the world (with detailed calculations of how many rotations a sec, a day)
Pema Pera: and that in turn seemed so utterly ridiculous and superstitious that in comparison people talking about their experiences seemed quite normal and benign
Pema Pera: so I went back into the room after the break
Pema Pera: had considered leaving before
Pema Pera: but now I listened to what people actually said
Wol Euler smiles
Pema Pera: setting aside my prejudice -- still in shock about that crazy wheel
Pema Pera: and I listened
Pema Pera: and I began to understand
Pema Pera: those people *also* had a way
Pema Pera: a fascinating way, different, but also valid
Pema Pera: that was a life-changing experience for me, Christmas day 1980 . . . .
Pema Pera: To answer your question, Tahuti, of what there is to be known:
Pema Pera: I think what is most important is to let go of what we identify with
Pema Pera: not to add knowledge
Pema Pera: but to subtract, to drop, to let go of what we have, to see what we are
Pema Pera: and zen is one very wonderful approach to do that
Pema Pera: for sure
Tahuti Thor: to watch the movie screen without identifying with the objects?
Pema Pera: yes, that is a nice metaphor!
Wol Euler: :-)
Pema Pera: Hi Steve!
Wol Euler: hello Steve
stevenaia Michinaga: hello
Tahuti Thor: hi Steve

Steve dropped by, and expressed his delight at meeting new fellow PaB participants he had `met' already through reading the blog, but not yet in (avatar) person. After Steve, Avastu arrived as well.

stevenaia Michinaga: nice to meet you Wol and Tah, I've read much of what you have said
Tahuti Thor: nice to meet you :)
Pema Pera: actually, Tahuti, I feel quite humble, telling you this, remembering that I myself at age 28 would have been fighting this Pema Pera character tooth and nail :) -- you know, one thing we can do is reverse roles, you defend my position and I defend your position. Perhaps we can learn a lot that way, checking thereby whether we really understand the other -- would you be game, to do that?
Wol Euler: hello Avastu
Pema Pera: Hi Avastu!
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Avastu
Avastu Maruti: hello my friends
Tahuti Thor: im a little lost now
Tahuti Thor: maybe ill sit back for few sessions and just watch
Pema Pera: that's fine too, there is no rush!
Pema Pera: Avastu, we were comparing notes about expectations of how to meditate and how to explore reality in general
stevenaia Michinaga: I have been here since April and much of what I do is listen
Pema Pera: Tahuti prefers a more strict zen style, which is great and very much worth while, and I mentioned how PaB is more free form. After a while, I suggested to reverse roles: Tahuti defending a more free-form style and me defending a more strict style. By swapping roles, we can see in the other to what extent the other understands what we tried to say, by seeing how well the other can act out our own position.
Pema Pera: no rush of course
Pema Pera: and only if Tahuti would like to do that
Avastu Maruti: The suggestion might also be to notice if meditation isn't always happening
Pema Pera: yes!
Wol Euler smiles. The dog that didn't bark.
stevenaia Michinaga: there is an interesting graphic's "game" that people that draw play , usually when they are bored at meetings, one person starts a drawing and then thye are handed off to the next person who continues the drawings, eventually amazing things result
Pema Pera: ah, yes, we can do that too
stevenaia Michinaga: another version of defending anothers position by changing and adding to it
Pema Pera: make up new exploration styles that way
Pema Pera: wish I had time now
Pema Pera: but I am watching the clock
Pema Pera: better not miss my plane
Wol Euler: yes, it's time! off you go.
stevenaia Michinaga: wish we could share a drawing here

Yes, sharing drawings, or having a common black board would be great; there are virtuals worlds, like Qwaq where you can do just that. It might be possible in some way in Second Life, but not as a straightforwardly provided standard tool, like in Qwaq.

Pema Pera: Tahuti, I hope you didn't mind me being so direct
Pema Pera: I very much appreciate you telling us about your style and experiences
Tahuti Thor: no, dont mind
Pema Pera: and I look forward to hear more!
Tahuti Thor: still a lil lost as to what we are actually doin..........or what we are trying to accomplish
Pema Pera: Steve, or whoever stays here longest, can you email me the chatlog? Or add to the wiki after I put my part up? Whatever is easiest (emailing might be easiest)
Pema Pera: ah, Tahuti, thanks for asking!
Pema Pera: I could explain it in many ways, but if I may talk in "zen language"
Pema Pera: I would say: many great zen masters spent 5 to 10 years practicing until they got an amazing realization
Pema Pera: but then instead of teaching, they spent another 20 years or so continuing to practice
Pema Pera: in order to integrate their fabulous insights into the marrow of their bones, in every daily life detail
Pema Pera: only then did they consider themselves worthy to teach
Pema Pera: and this has been a general pattern: meditate for many years
Pema Pera: till a great insight opens
Pema Pera: then work on integration into your life for even more years
Pema Pera: now modern life does not seem to give people the chance to easily meditate for many years many hours a day
Pema Pera: so it seems like we would NEVER get to the point of realization let alone integration
Pema Pera: so . . . . . what to do?
Pema Pera: well. . . . . if we look at what those zen masters did, at what we *think* they did
Pema Pera: work very hard to get enlightened
Pema Pera: then there would be no hope for us whatsoever -- end of story
Pema Pera: but if we look at what those zen masters *said* they actually did
Pema Pera: that is a whole different story: they say that they tried very hard
Pema Pera: and then they laughed and laughed, realizing at the moment of breakthrough that there was nothing to get
Pema Pera: nothing to learn
Pema Pera: that reality had been staring them in the face all along
Pema Pera: that the notion of "getting" enlightenment was totally wrong
Pema Pera: YET of course this does not mean that you can sit back and give up
Pema Pera: that would be the wrong conclusion
Wol Euler: (Picasso said something similar about learning to paint: the hard part was forgetting what he'd been taught.)
Pema Pera: BUT it does mean that we can look differently at what it is we are trying to do -- indeed, Wol, nice example!
Pema Pera: SO: what we do here is reverse the order
Pema Pera: first integration and then meditation
Pema Pera: (if you retell the PaB story in zen language, only one of many translations of PaB into other languages)
Pema Pera: so we start integrating into our life whatever we may find in our 9-sec explorations
Pema Pera: right at the very moment we start them
Pema Pera: trading duration for frequency
Pema Pera: trading great effort at reaching and getting for integrating what is already here
Pema Pera: as Avastu said so nicely
Pema Pera: sorry to talk so long -- but I wanted to give a precise answer to you important question, Tahuti

I appreciated Steve's way of expression concern about my flight by expressing a lack of concern :-).

stevenaia Michinaga: I'm sure they will hold your flight for you
Pema Pera: of course!
Pema Pera: for at least 9 more seconds!
Tahuti Thor: :)
Pema Pera: (I always take lots of slack . . . )
Wol Euler grins and shakes her head.
Pema Pera: Tahuti, I look forward to coming back to this -- I know what I just said sounds crazy, putting the cart before the horse
Pema Pera: putting integration before meditation
Pema Pera: but let's try and see
Pema Pera: the proof is in the pudding
Pema Pera: from the fruits we can judge the tree
Pema Pera: let's see what kinds of fruit PaB will bear
Pema Pera: so far so good, I'd say, judging from others' reactions
Tahuti Thor: i think i understand you..........that we take their conclusion for granted......and we just go ahead and integrate our explorations into our daily lives
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: Caledonia once said:
Pema Pera: "fake it to make it"
Pema Pera: a very down-to-earth way to summarize it all
Pema Pera: playing as Being
Pema Pera: fake as if we already are Being
Wol Euler nods
Pema Pera: play as if
Pema Pera: and perhaps Being will smile and show Herself
Tahuti Thor: :)
Pema Pera: if it is really true that we are already Being
Pema Pera: then Being is playing us playing Being -- and then we can shortcircuit, letting Being play Being with us stepping out of the way
stevenaia Michinaga: I must return to Rl, see you soon
Pema Pera: bye Steve!
Avastu Maruti: good bye my friend
Wol Euler: bye steve
Tahuti Thor: :)
Pema Pera: well, by now I do have to go . . . :) Again sorry to be so talkative -- next time I'll listen more (^_^)
Wol Euler prods Pema. Go fly.
Avastu Maruti: good bye my friend
Wol Euler: bye! happy landings
Tahuti Thor: k , bye Pema
Tahuti Thor: ty for the discussion
Pema Pera: bye everybody, this was a great chat, I enjoyed it very much!
Pema Pera: And let me add again, Tahuti, that I deeply respect your dedication to your practice, an example for all of us!
Pema Pera: see you all later

After I left, Tahuti and Wol continued their conversation, with Avastu first listening quietly and later joining in as well. Wol later sent me the chat log, which I am appending here.

Tahuti Thor: thank u
Tahuti Thor: take care
Wol Euler: Pema's enthusiasm is delightful.
Tahuti Thor: yes
Tahuti Thor: there might be a hole in it
Wol Euler shrugs. Life has many holes in it. We try to find plugs. Perhaps PaB is a plug.
Tahuti Thor: in this approach
Tahuti Thor: with enlightenement comes understanding
Tahuti Thor: and understanding is personal and individual - it is private
Wol Euler: one of the goals that I hope for from PaB, personally, is to open myself to that possibility of understanding.
Wol Euler: To find what stands in my way, and remove it -- or walk around it.
Tahuti Thor: :)
Wol Euler: (so to speak, I have a very visual understanding of the world)
Tahuti Thor: i do like the fact that everyone from around the world is sharin their experiences
Tahuti Thor: it sheds light on how much we are similar
Wol Euler nods. yes, very much so
Tahuti Thor: even tho like on the television they give an impression that we are different or more different
Tahuti Thor: than what we really are
Wol Euler nods again. It helps them sell things :-) "Buy one of these so pople will think you are an X"
Wol Euler: they hve to invent an X which is different from other people!
Tahuti Thor: or i might of commiited a fallacy in my reasoning lol
Wol Euler: lol
Tahuti Thor: it might be the case that similar people do meet at PaB
Tahuti Thor: lol
Wol Euler: Tahuti, the risk is always there, as long as we live
Tahuti Thor: yea the risk is there lol
Wol Euler: because we don't see the world, we see a tiny bit of it and filter it through our imperfect understanding.
Wol Euler: we don't see other people, but our interpretation of what they think, who they are, what they meant just then.
Wol Euler: I see maybe 1% of 1% of you, most of your time -- even your time in SL -- is spent far away from me
Tahuti Thor: u think for the Buddha same limitation?
Wol Euler: Oh yes. the buddha made at least one mistake :-)
Wol Euler: even after he achieved enlightenment
Wol Euler grins
Tahuti Thor: what passage
Wol Euler: when he declared that his sister could not join the monks, because women are incapable.
Tahuti Thor: o ok - i remem that
Wol Euler: She returned many times, and finally he relented and declared that women could be monks after all.
Wol Euler: One of those two statements is wrong :-)
Wol Euler: which is fine!
Wol Euler: really!
Tahuti Thor: maybe it wasnt the right time for women to be monks
Tahuti Thor: maybe the situation or circumstances were not ripe
Wol Euler: it's wonderful that Buddha too was human! It makes his enlightenment even more worthy, more impressive.
Tahuti Thor: yes :)
Wol Euler: I salute his mistake, and I greatly admire his having the courage to admit it, and having the strength to change his statement. Truly!
Wol Euler: It takes guts to say "I was wrong." many people would rather die (literally) than do so.
Wol Euler: ping! Tahuti crashes in mid-sentence. Ah well.
Wol Euler: Avastu?
Avastu Maruti: yes,my friend
Wol Euler: ah, you are here :-) you have been very quiet -- though we hardly gave you a chance.
Tahuti Thor: cord slipped
Wol Euler: wb tahuti
Tahuti Thor: ty
Tahuti Thor: bet if i google it , there will be buddhist fanatics that proclaim buddha didnt make a mistake there
Tahuti Thor: lol
Wol Euler: of course!
Wol Euler: I would not bet a quarter of a penny against you
Tahuti Thor: someone sent me message that Bernie Mac died
Wol Euler: who is that?
Tahuti Thor: he was comedian
Tahuti Thor: maybe u know his face
Tahuti Thor: u from united states?
Wol Euler: ah, no. English, living in GErmany.
Tahuti Thor: o thats why
Tahuti Thor: well here is picture and story
Tahuti Thor: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-bernie-mac-dead,0,995933.story
Avastu Maruti gave you Buddhist Heart Sutra.
Wol Euler: ty
Wol Euler: ty squared :-)
Tahuti Thor: Avastu
Avastu Maruti: yes my friend
Tahuti Thor: thats nice attire
Tahuti Thor: where can i find a robe to wear on SL
Avastu Maruti: I believe Ryusho Ort has a little place not far from here
Wol Euler: actually, there is a store quite near here.
Wol Euler: snap :-)
Wol Euler: just, um, north of here?
Wol Euler: Avastu, do you hvae the LM?
Tahuti Thor: free attire?
Wol Euler: mm, IIRC not free, $200 or so. Maybe some is freee too
Avastu Maruti: no - but you can find it easily if you walk north
Wol Euler: yes, thtat's right, there is a center there with a tower etc, it's near that.
Tahuti Thor: ok, ty
Avastu Maruti: do you have any L$?
Tahuti Thor: L$5
Tahuti Thor: i dont understand the concept of money on here
Wol Euler: :-)
Avastu Maruti: good bye for now, my friends
Wol Euler: not too different to RL, it comes and goes.
Wol Euler: bye avastu
Tahuti Thor: bye avastu
Wol Euler: Do you have a paypal account?
Tahuti Thor: thank u
Wol Euler: that is thte easiest way, just buy L$ with real world money.
Tahuti Thor: its real money?
Wol Euler: you can use real money from your paypal acct to buy Linden $$, which you can spend on things here, like robes for instance :-)
Wol Euler: real enough in here oh yes.
Wol Euler: I personally know three designers who have closed their real-life studios. They earn their RL income here in SL!
Wol Euler: I'd call that real money :-)
Wol Euler: there are other ways to get money here, of course. Camping is easy but very dull!
Wol Euler: people pay you to sit in their store or mall, because it makes the place look popular.
Tahuti Thor: really?
Wol Euler: that typically pays L$1 per ten minutes or so.
Tahuti Thor: haha
Wol Euler: well, many people do it. But it is really boring unless you can do it with a friend, and talk.
Tahuti Thor: how do they transfer the SL money into RL money?
Wol Euler: easy, there is a currency exchange :-)
Wol Euler: Linden dollars are quoted on internet financial-services pages! it is a real currency.
Tahuti Thor: wow
Wol Euler: I was amazed to find out, yeah.
Tahuti Thor: so people actually make a living on here?
Wol Euler: some do. About 450 people earn at least US$2000 per month here in SL. They could quit their RL jobs if they wanted.
Tahuti Thor: lol
Tahuti Thor: wow
Wol Euler: yep
Wol Euler: but it takes skill and luck and an awful lot of effort to get into that positoin.
Wol Euler: Building up a brand of products or services that people really, REALLY want to have.
Wol Euler: just like RL, really ...
Wol Euler: me, I just buy money from paypal :-) comes direct out of my bank account, no worries.
Tahuti Thor: ok
Wol Euler: if you're interested, there is a page about it in the SL website, in their "knowledgebase", which describes what you do to set this up.
Wol Euler: it's easy, I did it in an hour.
Tahuti Thor: ok
Wol Euler: looking for it ...
Tahuti Thor: so this second life is bigger than i thought
Wol Euler: huge in fact. it has a daily turnover of around 1 to 2 million US dollars.
Wol Euler: mostly residents paying other residents.
Wol Euler: rent or services or robes :-)
Tahuti Thor: interesting
Wol Euler: https://secure-web6.secondlife.com/currency/index.php?lang=en
Wol Euler: that's the page about buying L$. you wqill need to log in with your SL identity to see it.
Tahuti Thor: k
Tahuti Thor: ok ill read more about this stuff
Wol Euler: actually, it appears I was wrong. here is no single page which actually describes the process from start to finish, sorry. I was combining things in my head.
Tahuti Thor: k
Wol Euler: 1) get an e-mail account (easy)
Wol Euler: 2) using that, get a paypal account
Wol Euler: 3) once you have that, log in to the SL website and go to your Account Summary
Wol Euler: 4) there, find the "Update Payment Method" page, and tell them the name of your paypal account.
Wol Euler: 5) that's all! :-)
Tahuti Thor: o i c
Wol Euler: there, that'll get you started. Go buy a robe :-)
Tahuti Thor: :)
Tahuti Thor: ty
Wol Euler: yw
Wol Euler: and in about six months, when you are an old hand and know all this stuff, and somebody asks you about money, pass on the good will.
Tahuti Thor: will do :)
Wol Euler: it's called "paying forward". Be the improvement that you would like to see.
Wol Euler smiles
Tahuti Thor: yes :)
Tahuti Thor: u know that PlayStation is coming out with something similar
Tahuti Thor: wonder if they will connect there program to secondlife
Wol Euler: no, I hadn'T heard. I would be very surprised, actually, if the PS had the graphics processing power to present something like this.
Wol Euler: well, htere are moves afoot. Had you ehard that SL now links to IBM's open grid 3d world?
Wol Euler: avs can move between them!
Wol Euler: (but not clothes or attachments or inventory or money -- yet)
Tahuti Thor: havent heard
Tahuti Thor: i dunno 90% of whats goes on here
Tahuti Thor: lol
Wol Euler: do you know the SL blog? worth reading, many reports of intersting stuff there.
Wol Euler: it's in hte "help" menu
Wol Euler: and it has a RSS feed, if you use a reader.
Wol Euler: Anyway, it is getting late. I have to go downtown shopping before the stores close.
Wol Euler: It#s been a grand discussion, Tahuti. thank you.
Tahuti Thor: ok
Tahuti Thor: talk to u later
Wol Euler: go, go buy a robe :-)
Wol Euler: bye for now.
Tahuti Thor: k
Tahuti Thor: bye :)