2008.10.27 01:00 - The almighty jellybean

Wol Euler was guardian, having swapped with Gaya.

An old friend drops in.

Wol Euler: hello eidolon, thanks for coming.
Wol Euler: hello gaya
Wol Euler: eidolon, this is Gaya -- ah but you met several times already.
Eidolon Aeon: hello :)
Eidolon Aeon: yes
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
Wol Euler: I'm afraid I am on duty today, I am Guardian for this session, which is why I TP'd you here instead of meeting elsewhere.
Wol Euler: but on precedent that won't be a problem :)
Eidolon Aeon: session?
Wol Euler: in theory we are meeting to discuss a meditation practice called Play as Being, and matters arising from it.
Wol Euler: in practice, we often just talk about life and what's going on.
Gaya Ethaniel: I will give you a notecard Eidolon
Wol Euler: especially at the 1 am sessions
Eidolon Aeon: ah
Wol Euler waits for rezzing
Gaya Ethaniel: beautiful hair Eidolon
Eidolon Aeon: thank you
Wol Euler: ah, wow, that is a very different look :-)
Eidolon Aeon: quite :)
Wol Euler: is this your trawling for noobs outfit?
Wol Euler: no wonder you get hit on.
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Eidolon Aeon laughs!
Eidolon Aeon: I'd been stuck in the same shape for a long time,
Eidolon Aeon: wanted to break out of it.
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Eidolon Aeon: The blonde was the biggest departure, amusingly enough.
Wol Euler: :)
Eidolon Aeon: Never been blonde in SL.
Faenik: why not?
Gaya Ethaniel remembers Eidolon's appearance last time... yes wasn't blonde no
Wol Euler: nice one, faenik.
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Wol Euler: does it feel different?
Eidolon Aeon: dunno... was blonde most of my life, and I currently associate it with... girl, sweet
Eidolon Aeon: yes, very different
Eidolon Aeon grins at Gaya, and remembers being a male last time around
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Gaya Ethaniel: a very handsome one at that
Wol Euler: heheheh
Eidolon Aeon: I'm a gorgeous av. ;)
Gaya Ethaniel: (btw, are you happy for your name/comments to be recorded onto our group wiki page?)
Wol Euler: true, and always were
Eidolon Aeon shrugs
Wol Euler: yes, sorry, I forgot that part of my duties.
Eidolon Aeon: sure, though a little self-conscious
Wol Euler: Else we can say that the session has not yet begun...
Eidolon Aeon: does all of this get published?
Wol Euler: if you agree, and if the session has started, then yes.
Wol Euler: http://playasbeing.wik.is/
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Eidolon Aeon: I feel a little strange, showing up and talking about being blonde. :D
Gaya Ethaniel giggles
Wol Euler: (there is a prototype recorder running, but only Fael and I have access to the database records.)
Wol Euler: we often talk about avs and identification, so it fits well.
Eidolon Aeon: well then :)
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Wol Euler: I remember tht you introduced a friend of mine to meditation in SL, do you still do that?
Eidolon Aeon: I don't. I'd briefly remembered a couple of times lately.
Gaya Ethaniel: brb
Wol Euler: I've often thought of reminding you and inviting you to come here,
Wol Euler: Corvi attends, she's probably told you about it.
Eidolon Aeon: dunno... I could do a quick 10 minutes of quiet meditation, but discussion doesn't appeal
Wol Euler: fair enough :) that happens sometimes too.
Wol Euler: if you put your sound up, there's plenty of birdsong, and a chime will go in 11 minutes at the half.hour
Wol Euler: shall we?
Eidolon Aeon: heh, at the moment, I'm afraid if I meditate I'll have nothing to distract my head from my belly, and I'll lose the contents of my stomach
Eidolon Aeon: Do you think you might like that?
Eidolon Aeon: I'd love to take you up on it another time, though.
Wol Euler: back, maybe
Wol Euler: just had a minicrash, I think, but somehow survived
Gaya Ethaniel: wb
Wol Euler: ty
Eidolon Aeon: Yeah, I've been having those.

We attempt to settle down and be serious. 

Eidolon Aeon: I'm afraid I've thoroughly distracted the discussion. By all means, please lead on, and I'll follow.
Gaya Ethaniel: no worries we sometimes just sit here Eidolon
Eidolon Aeon: ah, okay
Wol Euler: there wasn't any discussion actually, you were here slightly before Gaya.
Eidolon Aeon: ha, I didn't realize that
Faenik: indeed?
Wol Euler: last time we met, we were talking about head vs heart, or head cooperating with heart
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Gaya Ethaniel: heart being hedgehog-type and head being fox-type people
Eidolon Aeon: hedgehog and fox?
Wol Euler: a qoute from an ancient greek whose name escapes me [Archilochus]
Wol Euler: "the fox knows many small things, but hte hedgehog knows one big thing"
Eidolon Aeon: apt, then
Wol Euler: the hedgehogs are the obsessives, the monomaniacs, the singleminded.
Faenik: could be
Wol Euler: which I suggested was related to the heart: all it knows is love
Gaya Ethaniel: does fox or hedgehog have tunnel vision or both?
Wol Euler: whereas the foxes (people like Shakespeare and Goethe for instance) are fascinated by life and always looking to collect new ideas and shiny things
Wol Euler: the fox has inverted tunnel vision :) finds it hard to concentrate
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Eidolon Aeon: If we're talking of the heart as a source of emotion, I'd say the heart is often divided between many different things.
Wol Euler: (somewhat harder, say)
Eidolon Aeon: as the locale of emotion, rather
Wol Euler: mm?
Gaya Ethaniel listens
Eidolon Aeon shrugs
Wol Euler gives your hand a squeeze.
Eidolon Aeon: fear, indifference
Eidolon Aeon: shame
Eidolon Aeon: I wouldn't consider the heart monogomous at all.
Wol Euler: ah
Gaya Ethaniel: true... but they are all closely related to each other
Wol Euler: hmmmm
Gaya Ethaniel: I mean... love and fear... they are related often
Gaya Ethaniel: with facts and things that fox collects, they are not always related... am I making sense?
Eidolon Aeon: yes :)
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Gaya Ethaniel: so heart is not quite a hedgehog?
Wol Euler smiles. It was just a spur-of-the-moment suggestion.
Faenik: why not?
Wol Euler: some such things fly, others get made into omelettes.
Eidolon Aeon laughs
Gaya Ethaniel: great to have suggestions like that Wol... make me wonder/talk
Gaya Ethaniel smiles... mm omelettes
Eidolon Aeon shudders
Wol Euler: shhhhhhh.
Gaya Ethaniel: mm...?
Eidolon Aeon: I'm awake at 1a because I'm too nauseated to sleep. :D
Gaya Ethaniel: ah...
Wol Euler: it really is 1:35 a.m. for Eidolon
Gaya Ethaniel: gosh... sorry to hear it Eidolon
Eidolon Aeon: me too, I'd love to be sleeping right now
Eidolon Aeon pouts for a bit
Gaya Ethaniel: aww...
Wol Euler is sympathetic
Eidolon Aeon remembers back to when she was nauseated 24/7, and considers herself feelng just fine
Wol Euler grins
Eidolon Aeon: pregnancey, Gaya
Eidolon Aeon: -e
Gaya Ethaniel: ah... congratulations
Eidolon Aeon: heh, thank you
Eidolon Aeon: was a couple of years ago
Gaya Ethaniel: mm... so you're a female in RL
Wol Euler chuckles.
Eidolon Aeon: ah, my secret is out!
Wol Euler: some aren't...
Gaya Ethaniel: obviously...
Eidolon Aeon: no secret, actually ;)
Wol Euler: now you will REALLY get hit on.
Eidolon Aeon: heh
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Gaya Ethaniel: when is it due?
Eidolon Aeon: 6/2/06
Eidolon Aeon: ;)
Eidolon Aeon: she's two
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Gaya Ethaniel: two?
Eidolon Aeon: yup
Gaya Ethaniel: twin?
Eidolon Aeon: sorry, 2 years old
Gaya Ethaniel: ah... your first child
Eidolon Aeon: yuppers, first and only
Eidolon Aeon: never doing that again
Wol Euler: heh
Gaya Ethaniel: mm... confused... you have a 2 year old child and another one on the way right?
Eidolon Aeon: I'm so sorry, I've communicated terribly. I was pregnant and miserable 2 years ago, and was just remembering back to that.
Gaya Ethaniel: ah... ok
Eidolon Aeon: I just have the one little girl, and won't have any more.
Gaya Ethaniel: well I'm still trying to wake up here so... misunderstood, sorry
Eidolon Aeon: must be early morning for you, then :)
Gaya Ethaniel: it's 8:42 now
Eidolon Aeon laughs
Wol Euler: time change thsi weekend.
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Eidolon Aeon: I'm not a morning person either.
Wol Euler: *changed
Eidolon Aeon: oh!
Eidolon Aeon: tonight, then?
Gaya Ethaniel sips her tea
Wol Euler: from saturday to sunday
Eidolon Aeon: hasn't changed here
Wol Euler: indeed.
Faenik: could be
Wol Euler: I'm not sure whether it has alwys been out of synch and I never knew, or whether that is a special treat this year.
Wol Euler: but it seems even more silly than the whole time-channging business does anyway
Gaya Ethaniel: people divided on this... still
Eidolon Aeon: silly, definitely
Wol Euler: I would like to see proof taht burning extra fuel to make an hour of light in the mornings is more efficient than burning extra fuel to make an hour of light in the evenings.
Eidolon Aeon: :D

Another new visitor. I was grateful for a chance to practice metta. 

Wol Euler: hello henry
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
Henry Ellsworth: Hello! Oh I do love tea
Eidolon Aeon: :)
Wol Euler: have you been here before?
Henry Ellsworth: No! is it a book club or summit?
Gaya Ethaniel: please help yourself. there is a coffee machine also
Wol Euler: not exactly :)
Wol Euler: there is plenty of discussion though.
Wol Euler: officially we are a meditation group with a particuar set of practices, we meet to discuss them four times a day
Henry Ellsworth: as long as it's not about womens health issues?
Henry Ellsworth: ooh meditation
Wol Euler raises an eyebrow
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Henry Ellsworth: i tried meditating once, but i woke up 8 hours later...
Eidolon Aeon: women's health issues? :D
Gaya Ethaniel: why not
Henry Ellsworth: wellwhen i see a group of lovely looking women together, there's usually a catch - and it's womens things they're discussing...
Gaya Ethaniel smiles
Henry Ellsworth: not politics or religion or how to make that perfect souffle
Wol Euler: henry, we have a website that records the discussions here, http://playasbeing.wik.is/
Wol Euler: the discussion is recorded and published. May we have your permission to include you?
Gaya Ethaniel: politics and religion are often discussed here
Henry Ellsworth: Well that's fantastic, and yes you can publish my works!
Henry Ellsworth: Although my works were already published long ago, I let my friend Will use his name and take the credit
Henry Ellsworth: he cried when i made fun of his shiny head so i felt bad
Gaya Ethaniel reads Henry's profile

Explaining PaB. 

Wol Euler: that notecard give you the basics of what we are about.
Henry Ellsworth: Excellent, thanks.
Henry Ellsworth: you want me to drop what I have?
Henry Ellsworth: to see what i am?
Wol Euler: in a word: yes.
Henry Ellsworth: i tried that in a pub once, and i won
Henry Ellsworth: came home with a black eye
Wol Euler: this is not a pick-up joint, henry. Save that for another place.
Faenik: could be
Henry Ellsworth: my dear, i only came here to pick up a cup of tea.... i'm not that sort of person
Eidolon Aeon: :)
Henry Ellsworth: so this 9 second practice is a form of meditation yeah?
Gaya Ethaniel: yes
Wol Euler: a kind of stock-taking.
Henry Ellsworth: I see.
Faenik: indeed?
Wol Euler: the idea of the "dropping what you have" being to see beyond your habits and customs, the way you identify yourself, the way you act
Wol Euler: to find ... whatever is the inner you.
Henry Ellsworth: I see.
Wol Euler: my job and my name and my nationality, even my gender, are not my identity
Wol Euler: they are tags that I have, some chosen others given
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Henry Ellsworth: so you want to go way beyond what we are in society, deeper within oneself, and you fidn a common area that every living being has? What do you achieve when you're in that area?
Henry Ellsworth: In other words, what's teh point for you guys?
Wol Euler: I'll let you know when I reach it.
Henry Ellsworth: you're still looking for it?
Gaya Ethaniel: mm... don't need a point as such Henry
Wol Euler: of course.
Gaya Ethaniel: the process of exploration itself can be fulfiling
Henry Ellsworth: I see.
Faenik is a hairy black ball with eyes and ears.
Eidolon Aeon giggles
Henry Ellsworth: who si this faenik?
Henry Ellsworth: **is
Gaya Ethaniel: mm... it is like... when I walk up a fell and look down onto a lake and the surrounding, which change as I climb. that is also important as well as reaching the top of the fell... make sense?
Gaya Ethaniel: he sits on my shoulder
Henry Ellsworth: ohok
Gaya Ethaniel: anyway, that's how I see it
Henry Ellsworth: the journey is just as important as the destination - got it
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Wol Euler: if not more so, actually.
Gaya Ethaniel: kind of... not sure if I have a destination though... just keep going really
Henry Ellsworth: i agree with the more so
Henry Ellsworth: destination - afterlife? death? pension even?
Gaya Ethaniel: don't know I'm afraid
Wol Euler shrugs. a linguistic trick.
Faenik: could be
Henry Ellsworth: of getting a pension?
Gaya Ethaniel: linguistic?
Eidolon Aeon: I can't imagine there is a destination.
Henry Ellsworth: well that's a good point also
Wol Euler: "the journey is just as important as the destination" is an analogy not an explanation of what we do.
Wol Euler: most of us are not out to achieve nirwana.
Wol Euler: we just want to be happier, less dissatisfied
Henry Ellsworth: nirwana? who's that?
Wol Euler: exactly
Eidolon Aeon laughs
Wol Euler: heaven, perfection, ideal enlightenment
Henry Ellsworth: ok?
Wol Euler shrugs.
Wol Euler: destinations that many of us cannot, most of us will not, reach
Wol Euler: but we try.
Henry Ellsworth: what makes you say that?
Gaya Ethaniel: they are often illusions Henry
Wol Euler: the trying is important, because this is our life right now.
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Henry Ellsworth: is this belief or did God, Buddha, the alimgihty jellybean tell you?
Wol Euler: none of the ablve
Wol Euler: *ablve
Henry Ellsworth: exactly
Wol Euler swears
Gaya Ethaniel hugs Wol

Eidolon leaves.

Eidolon Aeon: Sorry to interrupt. I'm feeling a bit better, can probably get to sleep now. Gaya, it was nice to see you again. Henry, nice to meet you. Wol, I'm glad we could chat for a little while.
Henry Ellsworth: ciao eidolon
Wol Euler: it's too cold in this room, my fingers aren't working properly yet
Gaya Ethaniel: good night Eidolon.
Gaya Ethaniel: _/!\_
Wol Euler: good night eidolon, sleep well.
Eidolon Aeon: will do :)
Gaya Ethaniel: aww....
Henry Ellsworth: we can speculate, have faith or just plain believe - but nobody knows and hence, here we are in second life talking to people in other countries disussing things that really, as humans, we know nothing about.
Wol Euler: bye for now
Gaya Ethaniel: see you soon again Eidolon. good rest
Eidolon Aeon: thank you :)
Gaya Ethaniel: well... that's your opinion...
Henry Ellsworth: exactly, and that's all there is in life - opinion. nobody knows anything.
Faenik: indeed?
Wol Euler: which is all the more reason not to get worked up about it, woldn't you say?
Gaya Ethaniel smiles... true
Henry Ellsworth: indeed, so what's the point of this place, the meetings? do you share a common belief at all?
Henry Ellsworth: beyond the 9 second thingame?
Gaya Ethaniel: ah... I was reading this log yesterday, discussing 'nothing matters' http://playasbeing.wik.is/Chat_Logs/..._Moral_Matters
Henry Ellsworth: or is thsi what draws you all together
Wol Euler: we share a belief in the usefulness of trying to know oneself.
Gaya Ethaniel: quite interesting...
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Henry Ellsworth: i see
Gaya Ethaniel: brb - want to put socks on... bit chili today
Wol Euler: ok
Gaya Ethaniel: bck
Wol Euler: wb
Gaya Ethaniel: ty
Wol Euler: fascinating, wish I'd been there.
Gaya Ethaniel nods. me too

Henry vanishes. 

Wol Euler: well, shall we declare the meeting over?
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Wol Euler bangs her gavel.
Gaya Ethaniel smiles