2008.08.14 13:00 - What were we talking about?!

The guardian for this meeting was Storm Nordwind. The comments are Storm's.

I was the sole occupier of the old pavilion on the hour. Only after ten minutes, after playing with rainmakers, was I joined by two others.

Storm Nordwind: Hi!
Tahuti Thor: hello
doug Sosa: Hi storm, tahuti
Storm Nordwind: It is very quiet here today
doug Sosa: people, birds, rain?
Storm Nordwind: There is silence in the noise!
doug Sosa: yes.
Tahuti Thor: hello
Storm Nordwind: Hello Tahuti

doug wanted to share something with us about memory.

doug Sosa: I was thinking this morning...
doug Sosa: that it is possible to remember something, like a scene yesterday..
doug Sosa: and do the nine secon within the memory!
Storm Nordwind: So you mean you notice time in the memory?
doug Sosa: no, the memory has time, but to do the 9 sec exercise within the memory.
Storm Nordwind: How do you do that?
doug Sosa: well, the same way one does the nine sec. if we are sitting, we keep sitting in 9 sec, so if we are remembering, we keep remembering, but start the 9 sec and drop all assumptions..

I really wasn't clear about this.

Storm Nordwind: Interesting. I suppose I do not spend much time in memories so it is hard for me to relate to it.
doug Sosa: well, in this case i was just recalling a meeting yesterday and thought, what if i start the nine sec while in the memory?
Storm Nordwind: And did you find any difference?
doug Sosa: yes. same as the "normal" 9 sec, in the detachementthings were easier to experience fully. much less urgency. more curiosity, more letting it be what it is.
Storm Nordwind: hmm... And do you think one way is in any way 'better' than the other?
doug Sosa: different, not better. Do you think anything is better than anything else?
Storm Nordwind: That's too wide a question really!
Storm Nordwind: But the reason I ask is, given the choice, which would you do and why? Presumably you often have the choice.
doug Sosa: I like the difference in pespective, like shifting from one language to another.
Tahuti Thor: start the 9sec in memory ?
doug Sosa: In this case i was just fasinated that i could do it.
doug Sosa: Tahuti, within a particular memeory, the memory of specific situation that unfolded in time.
doug Sosa: For example, I can now, right now, step into that meeting and look at where objects are on the conference table. I see thm clearly and did not know i could do it.

It had been a long day on UK time. It was evening for me, I was tired, and I still wasn't getting it.

Storm Nordwind: How does that relate to Being?
doug Sosa: I am not sure. Just letting the being of the situation be and myself dissapear?
Tahuti Thor: i keep my mind empty until someone poses a question
Tahuti Thor: once a question is posed,only then ill start lookin
doug Sosa: how does a question get to your mind?
Storm Nordwind: doug, how is this different from getting really involved in something - a sport for example - and forgetting yourself?
Tahuti Thor: how does question get to the mind?
doug Sosa: Storm. i don't know. really involved and detached seem different. I have to think more about that question.
Storm Nordwind nods
doug Sosa: I must apologize but I am called... :) bye.
Storm Nordwind: ok doug
Tahuti Thor: k

So having tantalised us, doug left Tahuti and me alone. I made smalltalk for a minute.

Storm Nordwind: I see, Tahuti, that you are a member of "Spirit World" group. What does that do?
Tahuti Thor: no idea
Tahuti Thor: never been to one of meetings
Storm Nordwind laughs
Tahuti Thor: dont thinkthey have a regular schedule
Storm Nordwind: I used to join groups and never did anything with them! I keep getting rid of them instead now.
Tahuti Thor: lol
Tahuti Thor: if they eac had consistent schedule like this one
Tahuti Thor: than i will know whats goin on
Storm Nordwind: true

Then I recalled something Tahuti had just said about his keeping his mind empty unless responding to questions. It's no coincidence then that, for the rest of the session, you notice that nearly all my lines of chat are terminated with a "?"!

Storm Nordwind: You said before that you keep your mind empty until someone poses a question. How do you keep it empty?
Tahuti Thor: detachment to thoughts n feelings
Tahuti Thor: harmonious and rhythimic breathinig
Storm Nordwind nods
Tahuti Thor: do it outside of here but definitely in here where ?s will be asked
Storm Nordwind: What happens when you need to work or drive or buy bread? What happens to your mind then?
Tahuti Thor: once the mind firmly memorizes somethng ......and repeated things fall into this category...it never forgets whenever the time and situation calls for it
Storm Nordwind: That must be true for habitual things that need muscle memory or other body-mind memory. What about times when you have a problem to solve? Those are times where your memories may not help.
Tahuti Thor: oh than ill solve it head on
Tahuti Thor: wear my mind like an umbrella
Tahuti Thor: sometimes u need it, during the rain (or problem solving) and sometimes u can put it to the side
Storm Nordwind nods

We were talking about the mind, something that many see as relating to Being.

Tahuti Thor: u kno one thing i noticed
Storm Nordwind: What's that?
Tahuti Thor: there is this creative energy that exist in the void- the void of the mind
Tahuti Thor: in that emptiness is creative potential
Storm Nordwind: How does that potential become real?
Tahuti Thor: i think its like the self (or ego) has to be lost, but your intellect faculties have to be cut on
Tahuti Thor: or put it other words, the intellect has to flare up without ego entering in the picture
Tahuti Thor: so the creative void will be working as a team with intelligence
Tahuti Thor: but the reason y there are not lot of creative people n the world
Tahuti Thor: is we dont kno how to use our intelligence most of the time
Tahuti Thor: without our self
Tahuti Thor: or ego

Mind. Intelligence. Creative intelligence...

Storm Nordwind: You say there are not a lot of creative people in the world. What makes you say that?
Tahuti Thor: perhaps, everyone is in there own capacity
Storm Nordwind nods
Tahuti Thor: see i think there is intelligence which is regular.....and creative intelligence
Storm Nordwind: What is the difference?
Tahuti Thor: creative intelligence bein more active and on-the-fly

I had seen Tahuti before and seen references to him on chat logs. I made the assumption that perhaps he was trying the Play as Being practice.

Storm Nordwind: What happens when you Play as Being? What happens to your mind then? Does intelligence of any sort have a place in that practice?
Tahuti Thor: contemplate Being?
Storm Nordwind: Well we are doing the Play as Being practice(s) yes?
Tahuti Thor: what Reality is
Tahuti Thor: yes
Tahuti Thor: Being as synomous with Reality, yes?
Storm Nordwind: I don't use the word often myself. Perhaps you do! :)
Storm Nordwind: Are you saying that you "Play as Reality"?

Here my assumption was exposed for what it was. On the other hand, something else came to light that made me think.

Tahuti Thor: to be honest, im confused about whats goes on here half the time

Oh! An alarm bell went off somewhere in my head. But first I wanted to see whether Tahuti was identifying with intelligence.

Tahuti Thor: but to be objective about what one is experiencing in the moment , intelligennce gets in the way imo
Tahuti Thor: intelligence will reach in and change the data
Tahuti Thor: and what one is experiencing only needs to be read wthout changing it (or prejudice)
Storm Nordwind: Are you the intelligence, or is it just something you have?
Tahuti Thor: its part of our package as biological organisms
Tahuti Thor: jus something we have
Storm Nordwind: So you don't identify with it then?
Tahuti Thor: really the question might can be both @ r u the intelligence or just something we have
Tahuti Thor: no, dont identify with it
Storm Nordwind nods
Storm Nordwind: Then when you experience something, why let the intelligence get in the way?
Tahuti Thor: dont let intelligence get in the way
Tahuti Thor: only when problem solving do u need it
Storm Nordwind: I see
Tahuti Thor: while u dont need it u can detach and observe all day long

Now to deal with the bell ringing...

Storm Nordwind: OK. please excuse me for asking - I don't know your background very well - but have you tried the Play as Being 9 second practice much?
Tahuti Thor: no lol
Tahuti Thor: i come in here and exchange ideas and whatnot
Storm Nordwind: OK. That can be good. Howver, the reason that 'here' exists is to primarily to discuss the practice.
Tahuti Thor: dont see what they are doin special
Storm Nordwind: If you have not tried it it can be difficult to see whether it is special or not! :)
Tahuti Thor: 9 seconds every 15 min isnt enough
Storm Nordwind: Would you prefer 10 minutes once a day?
Tahuti Thor: they do this practice 9 sec every 15 min only while here or throughout the day?
Tahuti Thor: 24 hr day
Storm Nordwind: Throughout a waking day - if they wish. There is no obligation. And it can be longer than 9 seconds if they wish.
Tahuti Thor: right i see
Tahuti Thor: can u describe the exact practice to me

So I wondered how many other people had made assumptions. You get a quiet intelligent person who attends the discussion groups a few times and you may make the unwarranted assumption that they've been told the basics of Play as Being. I know that many people are now referred to a website and invited to read. But as a professional educator I understand that this style of learning only appeals to some (and presupposes the efficacy of the text anyway). I stopped asking questions and started to try and fill in a few answers.

Storm Nordwind: During a 9 second break you stop...
Storm Nordwind: take a breath...
Storm Nordwind: and for a few seconds you play as being Being...
Storm Nordwind: whatever Being means to you personally
Tahuti Thor: play as the non-dual?
Storm Nordwind: If that is what it means to you, yes
Tahuti Thor: see we each have to be on same page as to what Being means
Tahuti Thor: this is the confusion

Tahuti had raised a valid point, a good stepping stone question that he might quickly leave behind but one that was a step towards understanding what we were doing here.

Storm Nordwind: I disagree. Why do you think that?
Tahuti Thor: we could each be engaged in diff practices
Tahuti Thor: with Being only a vague and empty word

So I at last took the opportunity to fill in the blanks.

Storm Nordwind: We can find that out at discussion times like this :)
Storm Nordwind: Some people like to get specific and talk about God - because that's their background.
Storm Nordwind: Some people are not religious and that doesn't work for them.
Storm Nordwind: And there are many other views.
Storm Nordwind: So we discuss the differences if there are any.
Storm Nordwind: And - this is important - we write them down when we can.
Storm Nordwind: Many people have blogs.
Storm Nordwind: Some people update them very regularly with their experiences of their practice.
Storm Nordwind: If you like, we can look at this scientifically.
Storm Nordwind: And we can study if there are any practical differences between the experience one person has with their practice with one cosmic model...
Storm Nordwind: against the experiences of someone else with a different one, or without one.
Storm Nordwind: So we find out if there are really different pages to be on!
Tahuti Thor: k

I think a little perspective was starting to emerge. Then Tahuti made a pronouncement.

Tahuti Thor: i think i need to be in a meditation group
Tahuti Thor: where we discuss our experiences but only as it relates to an objective
Storm Nordwind: What kind of objective?
Tahuti Thor: tranquility, equanimity
Storm Nordwind: That means you are purchasing a commodity. You have a set idea of what you think you will achieve.
Tahuti Thor: whats wrong with that?
Storm Nordwind shrugs
Storm Nordwind: It is a very common way of approaching meditation nowadays.
Storm Nordwind: You can go to groups at a local leisure centre and take a class.

It's true. Meditation classes have indeed become a commodity. Many are taught with what some (not me) might call religious baggage. And they are indeed advertised as being a means to an end, an end that is an antidote to modern stressful living. I needed to point out that Play as Being is very far removed from being a commodity.

Storm Nordwind: However, Play as Being has no set experience that people must achieve if they are to be seen as succeeding.
Storm Nordwind: So it is more of an adventure
Tahuti Thor: an open adventure
Storm Nordwind: Sure. For me it has been an unexpectedly exciting adventure so far.
Tahuti Thor: without an objective dont you get lost?
Storm Nordwind: When you explored as a child, did you get lost? Maybe sometimes, but you always got back home somehow, right? Or maybe you found a place you wanted to stay? Where is there to be lost anyway?
Tahuti Thor: i have to have an objective or my mind will spin into infinite loops
Tahuti Thor: im bout 2 go and find me meditation group
Storm Nordwind: Cool. That may help you control your mind rather than it control you! :)
Tahuti Thor: yeah it controlled me before :)
Storm Nordwind nods
Tahuti Thor: have a good evening :)

Exit a man on a mission.

Storm Nordwind: And you my friend!

But I was still left wondering... if an intelligent person had attended parts of our discussion meetings 20 times over the last 2 weeks, and after that time they still hadn't gained a clear understanding of what Play as Being was, what were we talking about during all that time???!!!