2008.09.25 01:00 - Tasting APAPB

I, Pema, arrived at 1 am at a quiet pavillion, but after a few minutes Gaya arrived, with Faenik on her shoulder. We would talk for about twenty minutes.

Pema Pera: Hi Gaya!
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
Pema Pera: And hi Faenik!
Faenik: ^^
Pema Pera: Is there anything you'd like to talk about, concerning PaB, or any other topic, Gaya?
Gaya Ethaniel: Perhaps you could tell us a bit more about APAPB?
Pema Pera: what aspect would you like to talk or hear about?
Gaya Ethaniel: Presentation is something that I don't quite get Pema
Faenik: なるほど^^
Pema Pera: The sentence is meant as an open invitation, and indeed, I have not defined or specified each word in the sentence very well.
Pema Pera: The best way to use the sentence, I think, is to taste it, to repeat it quietly a number of times, for example during the 9-sec intervals, and if you like, more frequently or at other times.
Pema Pera: Chances are that the sentence will begin to make more sense, over time. Perhaps the sentence will talk to you, so to speak, in some way :-)
Gaya Ethaniel smiles. ah ok
Pema Pera: but that is just in general
Pema Pera: I'm happy to talk about each element, as much as you are interested :>)
Gaya Ethaniel: Please
Pema Pera: So as for presenting, we can start with the fact that there is appearance
Pema Pera: something appears, we don't know what it is, where it comes from, etc, we only know that appearance appears
Pema Pera: Stating it that way is the negative form: anything more than saying "appearance" is speculation, to some extent -- and leaving out speculation means stripping off any element besides appearance; a negative approach (and a very useful one!)
Faenik is a hairy black ball with eyes and ears.
Pema Pera: The positive approach is here to say "appearance can be seen as a presentation by Being"
Pema Pera: even though we don't know anything about what appears, at least we can consider the possibility that Being presents it
Gaya Ethaniel listens
Pema Pera: This is not a belief, not a dogma, just a possibility, a hypothesis if you like
Pema Pera: Christians can look around and consider the world as created by God
Pema Pera: Buddhists can look around and consider everything as freely arising out of emptiness
Pema Pera: Taoists see the working of the Tao
Pema Pera: And here in PaB we only have Being to work with, so it is naturally to consider how every appearance may be presented by Being
Pema Pera: Does that make some sense?
Gaya Ethaniel: I will have to re-read and ponder little later Pema. Something will click at some point. Concepts/exercises like APAPB is somewhat difficult for me to understand as I 'just do'

Indeed: these notions take time to settle in. It's not a matter of rational explanations, but rather a kind of familiarizing oneself with a different way of viewing reality. More accurately, a different way of letting reality present itself.

Pema Pera: I think this sentence will work best by lettting it melt on your tongue, so to speak
Pema Pera: starting from the end, without too much analysis
Pema Pera: Being, what can that be? Consider the notion of Being, that is the last word
Pema Pera: then "taste" what it would be like for Being to Present something
Faenik: ah :)
Pema Pera: What Being presents is in fact not apperance directly -- but more specifically, the presence of appearance
Pema Pera: appearance itself is utterly unsubstantial so perhaps the only thing you can say about it is that it is present
Pema Pera: now if you appreciate all that, you have the whole sentence, regaining it from the end till the beginning
Pema Pera: Yes, Appreciate the Presence of Appearance as a Presentation by Being
Gaya Ethaniel: ah... ok Pema
Pema Pera: Like in a movie theatre, appreciate the presence of the images in front of you as a presentation by the light projector
Pema Pera: the story is there, and yet you can also choose to appreciate it all as sculptures of light
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Gaya Ethaniel: I will ponder more on it Pema. Thank you. Perhaps enough to go on for a few days <smile>
Faenik: why not?
Gaya Ethaniel: Good evening then
Pema Pera: :-)
Pema Pera: Nice meeting you again, Gaya -- and Faenik!
Pema Pera: Be well, and see you soon
Faenik: waves at Pema
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
/me waves back
Pema Pera: (can't combine green and /me)
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
</smile>

Since Faenik always speaks in green, I used a macro to respond in green, but then "/me" did not get replaced by "Pema Pera." Can't have it all, I guess :)