2008.08.23 13:00 - Logs - and a veil drawn

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

This short log is the result of a substantial edit in response to the request of one participant.

Adams Rubble: Hello Storm, Quen :)
Storm Nordwind: Hi Adams
Storm Nordwind: You're still a fuzzy cloud to me so far
Adams Rubble: Hello Doug :)
Adams Rubble: Ah, a wispy cloud....
Storm Nordwind: Hi Pia
Storm Nordwind: Hi doug
doug Sosa: hi all :)
Pia Iger: Hi, Everyone,
Adams Rubble: Hello Pia :)
Storm Nordwind: quen does not seem to be talking. Does anyone know if she has been here before?
Adams Rubble: Yes, she has
Storm Nordwind: ok thank you
doug Sosa: queen, join us.

But quen remained an oblivious apparition throughout our session.

doug Sosa: mwanwhile, back at the ranch..
Adams Rubble: moooooo
doug Sosa: I never understood why a cow moos. what do they know about being we don't?
Storm Nordwind: Hmmm... I shall resist the urge to sing my "cow trilogy"
Adams Rubble: :)
Storm Nordwind: "Nothing" it seems :)

I wondered whether doug was likening "moo" to the Japanese word "mu" often referred to in Zen practice. Mu can mean "none', "without", "no thing" ...

I asked about the trawl for the "Best of Blog" search of the chat logs.

Storm Nordwind: How is the "treasure hunt" going Pia?
Pia Iger: On the way. I hope I can get more hands to help.
Storm Nordwind nods
Adams Rubble looks at feet
Storm Nordwind: It is a worthy cause
Pia Iger: I can easily locate the treasures, but it takes time to upload them on wiki properly.
doug Sosa: bravo for taking it on.
Adams Rubble: yes :)
Storm Nordwind: Oh! And I had thought that locating them was the hardest bit
Pia Iger: I already saved some excerpts before, so I have them in my folders. Just need to rename and upload them.
Pia Iger: when only Storm, Maxine, and Cal were members in April, May, I was just reading logs.
Storm Nordwind: That seems such a long time ago!
Adams Rubble: Before my time
Pia Iger: before Pia was born too.
Pia Iger: in SL, I meant.
Pia Iger: anyway, the project already started, and I personally want it to get in some shape in a week.
Storm Nordwind: That'll be great
Pia Iger: Please let me know if you guys think of anything.
Adams Rubble: Yes :)
Storm Nordwind: I have to be careful with what I commit to helping on, otherwise I get spread too thin!
Pia Iger: I understand, Storm. You've already taken a lot.
Pia Iger: I won't poke you.
Adams Rubble is glad since she is in between
Storm Nordwind: I'm currently trying to work out a layout and design for the Kira buildings. Trying to do that as a priority at the moment
Storm Nordwind: It didn't help when I destroyed the coastline around your guardian plot and had to reshape it! :)
Storm Nordwind: And I have been an avid reader up to recently of other people's blogs, and I've way behind on that too!
Storm Nordwind: Plenty of gems awaiting me I expect
Adams Rubble looks at the ceiling

Pia mentioned a recent megalog! And I found I had no benchmark.

Pia Iger: today Adelene post a log of 8000 words, OMG!
Storm Nordwind: OH!!!!
Pia Iger: hard to catch up reading.
Storm Nordwind: chat log from here?
Pia Iger: yes. last nigth 7pm session.
Adams Rubble: Some of the sessions have been rather long
Storm Nordwind: Actually I have no clue what the average is anyway
Pia Iger: 2000-3000 words are avarage.
Storm Nordwind: There is some measuring device somewhere?
Pia Iger: Wiki automatic counts, You can see the numbers on "recent changes" page.
Adams Rubble: :)
Storm Nordwind nods
Storm Nordwind: Thank you
Adams Rubble: That's modern technology for you :)

We talked about most read logs on the Wiki. I wondered what it was that attracted people to read certain ones rather than others.

Pia Iger: and I just found Riddle's "six hour session" was the second most read log.
Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: 432 views.
Adams Rubble: What is the first?
Pia Iger: My "follow the flow" , 490 views
Pia Iger: that was short one.
Adams Rubble: Ah :)
Adams Rubble: That's quite a few hits considering how many we are
Storm Nordwind nods
Storm Nordwind: I wonder if there's any link between popularity and who is attending, or how many attend, or even what time of the day it is.
Pia Iger: no idea.
Adams Rubble: Do mean is there a star being born :)
Adams Rubble: hehe
Pia Iger: a star?
Storm Nordwind smiles
Adams Rubble: Someone popular Pia :)
Pia Iger: I have been wondering how people decide to allocate their time and energy.
Storm Nordwind: yes
Pia Iger: maybe a too big question
Storm Nordwind: Perhaps, but could give useful insights
Adams Rubble: Maybe a little the way we do it
Pia Iger: yes, it is crucial. We all have limited time and energy.
Adams Rubble: They may be hits from a search. A longer log would have a greater chance of hits

doug warned us of his imminent departure.

doug Sosa: i have limited myself to half an hour here and I am so far not reading.
Adams Rubble: Often people react to things you say after you leave Doug
Pia Iger: not tempted to read at all, Doug?
Adams Rubble: Sometimes a long discussion ensues
Pia Iger: Yes, Doug just throw some wide talks, then left us pondering
doug Sosa: Oh yes very tempted, but there is just too much facing me each day, lots of projects that require intense focus.
Storm Nordwind: That's OK. You can continue to tease us! :)
doug Sosa: Perhas better to come less frequently for longer.
Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: I have made a mental note to myself, to make sure to dig out the good words from Doug.
doug Sosa: and lunch calls.. please humble pardon.
doug Sosa: :)
Storm Nordwind: bye for now doug

Adams told us of an Olympian feat of attendance at the pavilion.

Adams Rubble: This is my 10th session in a row :)
Pia Iger: what?
Storm Nordwind: Oh! When have you seen sleeping?
Adams Rubble: Pema's at ten too, he has been one ahead
Adams Rubble: I expect he will be here
Adams Rubble: :)

With Pema now on Japanese time, I thought that unlikely.

Adams Rubble: I am home recuperating
Adams Rubble: Been waking up and attending sessions :)
Adams Rubble: temporary insanity
Adams Rubble: It has been insteresting to see the contrasts so close together
Pia Iger: sounds like PaB retreat.
Adams Rubble: I don;t recommend it though
Adams Rubble: Yes, a second one for me
Adams Rubble: Before things get really busy
Pia Iger: what is the contrast you see?
Adams Rubble: But I can see where it cuts into time from PaB away from sessions
Adams Rubble: We have had an unbelievably tense session and many silly sessions and some with a little of each, just as usual
Adams Rubble: It's the closeness that stands out
Adams Rubble: Don't know how to say that and make any sense
Pia Iger: take your time
Adams Rubble: Concentrated PaB
Storm Nordwind: And have you had chance to reflect on those contrasts before this session?
Adams Rubble: Maybe it's a little like Being
Adams Rubble: One feels it
Adams Rubble: Actually, Storm, I think I am on the edge of soemthing else I am near ready to see
Adams Rubble: I am dancing around it
Pia Iger: Oh?
Storm Nordwind: Cool
Storm Nordwind: I can sympathise with that feeling
Adams Rubble: This one may be even more personal
Adams Rubble: It is hard to imagine how :)
Adams Rubble: but I feel it
Adams Rubble: The last one opened up new possibilities of the way identities get hidden
Adams Rubble: I know there is something else there
Storm Nordwind: Is there a kind of threshold you need to cross?
Adams Rubble: I don;t think it is a threshold
Adams Rubble: Maybe you're in the dark about my last one Storm
Storm Nordwind: Almost definitely! My apologies

Adams then told us at length about a personal matter. The log is respectfully silent for some considerable time.

Afterwards we discussed a little about another meditation technique I had once disclosed.

Adams Rubble: BTW, I used your Faru meditation when I first realized thoughts were preventing me from seeing
Storm Nordwind: Oh. And?
Adams Rubble: It helped me see, then the thoughts came
Adams Rubble: I struggled some more and saw, then more thoughts
Adams Rubble: It was the first step to seeing the thoughts attaching to pictures
Storm Nordwind: I am pleased that it has been useful to you. I sometimes am hesitant to discuss these kinds of techniques here.
Adams Rubble: It is good to have some tools when we need them :)
Storm Nordwind: Sure. And that and my intuition seemed to say it was OK.
Storm Nordwind: But the problem arises if things go wrong. It is hard to provide support sometimes remotely.
Adams Rubble: yes, I understand that well
Adams Rubble: It takes some courage and faith
Pia Iger: and cautious.
Adams Rubble: yes
Pia Iger: I can agree on your above note that seeing thoughts attaching to what you saw. it may be the best result I got from PaB.
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: There are so many things :)
Pia Iger: being able to observe what attachment, assumption we unknowinly attached to what we actually see.
Adams Rubble: yes

I embarked on a metaphor, suddenly realising that it might be lost on a non-European audience, and quickly abandoned it. I was trying to say... oh, never mind!

Storm Nordwind: I find it is like motoring and suddenly taking the car out of gear and coasting in neutral...
Adams Rubble: Interesting metaphor
Storm Nordwind understands this may be a difficult concept for non-stick shift Americans to follow
Adams Rubble: I was trying to imagine what could go wrong with Faru then remembered I was walking on a tow path between a river and a canal
Adams Rubble: Haha - Storm
Adams Rubble: I learned to drive a stick shift :)
Adams Rubble: Don't like to though

And we went our separate ways.

Pia Iger: I will go back to my digging now. see you later!
Storm Nordwind: OK Pia. Great to see you
Adams Rubble: OK Pia, good to see you
Storm Nordwind: I think I too will go.
Adams Rubble: Yes, we did an hour
Adams Rubble: Good to see you too :)
Storm Nordwind: True. Rather ramshackle and some private. But yes we did! :)
Adams Rubble: bye :)
Storm Nordwind: Always a pleasure to chat with you. See you later!
Adams Rubble: OK :)