2008.11.21 13:00 - Integrate it in modern life

The guardian for this session was Solobill (and Solo Jr. for a brief bit in RL); the comments are his, as in the older one...

I arrived at the Playgoda to see Umbriel, and a new face, Tarmel.

Solobill Laville: Hello, Umbriel!
Umbriel Levenque: Peace and Love
Solobill Laville: Hello, Tarmel!
Solobill Laville: Nice to meet you
Tarmel Udimo: hello
Solobill Laville: Have you been here before, Tarmel?
Tarmel Udimo: i was here a few days ago but came late
Solobill Laville: (in other words have you gotten the spiel yet?) :)
Tarmel Udimo: so I am not sure what the protocols are
Tarmel Udimo: I've read the website
Solobill Laville: Oh, not so heavy on the protocols... :)
Tarmel Udimo: okay
Umbriel Levenque: :-)
Solobill Laville: OK, great, so you know that we log the chats and post them to our wiki? OK to include you today?
Tarmel Udimo: yes
Solobill Laville: great, thanks!
Solobill Laville: How are you doing, Umbriel?
Umbriel Levenque: um... doing 9 sec one moment

In the midst of all this I sent Tarmel a PaB notecard...

Tarmel Udimo accepted your inventory offer.
Tarmel Udimo: thanks for card
Solobill Laville: yw :)
Umbriel Levenque: There seems to be some worries but can't quite catch it
Umbriel Levenque: How are you Solo?
Solobill Laville: ah...can't catch the worries...you may need a worry catcher :)
Umbriel Levenque: heheh
Solobill Laville: I am fine, thanks

Becka joined us.  In RL I was sitting on the floor and my son was very interested in this PaB session, despite his roller blades.

Becka Finesmith: Hello
Umbriel Levenque: Peace and Love
Solobill Laville: I have a very chatty 6-year old over my shoulder who wants to see me fly :))
Tarmel Udimo: hello
Umbriel Levenque: :-)
Solobill Laville: Hey there, Becka!
Faenik: indeed?
Becka Finesmith: Hey Solobill
Becka Finesmith: Hello chatty 6 year old
Becka Finesmith: Halllooooo
Becka Finesmith: :)
Umbriel Levenque: :-)
Solobill Laville: Gus says hi
Becka Finesmith: Aww - Hello Gus :)
Umbriel Levenque: Hi Gus
Becka Finesmith: Does he recognise you ?
Solobill Laville: Oh, yes
Becka Finesmith: Must be the hat
Solobill Laville: He has seen this av before
Solobill Laville: it is always about the accessories, isn't it? :)
Becka Finesmith nods

Beckca comments on Storm's customizations at the pagoda.

Becka Finesmith: What happened to the fountain? It's different
Solobill Laville: Storm made some adjustments :)
Becka Finesmith: I think I saw those :)
Becka Finesmith: I didn't realise it could do that though
Solobill Laville: we can now control the height of the water fountain, and whether it is here at all...
Becka Finesmith: Nice (tarmel quick - You have 666 above your head - say something ) :)
Tarmel Udimo: why do I have 666 over my head?
Becka Finesmith: Phew
Solobill Laville: ah, there you go, 765
Becka Finesmith: Saved from the beast
Tarmel Udimo: yes exactly
Solobill Laville: It is part of the auto-recorder we have set up here :)
Tarmel Udimo: I figured that but happy to have the change
Solobill Laville: So, without asking anyone directly, anything to share PaB-wise?

[Pause]

Tarmel Udimo: :-)
Solobill Laville: (No worries Tarmel)

I was trying to let Tarmel know there was no expectation of her to "jump right in" to the conversation; so, of course, she jumped right in. :)

Tarmel Udimo: as soon as i read the idea it grabbed me
Faenik: why not?
Tarmel Udimo: I enjoy my 9 secs very much
Solobill Laville: Wow, that is great!
Solobill Laville: How pong have been doing them?
Solobill Laville: *long
Tarmel Udimo: only a few days
Solobill Laville: *you
Solobill Laville: sheesh
Tarmel Udimo: but since I am a buddhist or at least using buddhism as an anchor
Umbriel Levenque: Gus taking over the keyboard?
Tarmel Udimo: it all dove tails nicely
Solobill Laville: yes, so you have a bit of a backdrop upon which the 9-secs lay
Solobill Laville: Similar to me
Solobill Laville: (No, just heavy fingered today for some reason Umbriel) :)
Umbriel Levenque: :-)
Tarmel Udimo: glad to see I'm not the only person who relies heavily on my computer spell check
Solobill Laville: :), we've talked before about a in-text spell checker...wouldn't that be nice??
Solobill Laville: Sometimes, though, the typos are quite amusing, and actually drive the conversation in new directions
Umbriel Levenque: and an embedded urban dictionary could be a good thing also for an 'older' generation person like me
Umbriel Levenque: heheheh true Solo
Tarmel Udimo: ahhh yes human fraility
Solobill Laville: Last week I meant "truth" and wrote "trust", for example...
Solobill Laville: So how do the 9-secs fit in to your overall practice, Tarmel?
Tarmel Udimo: is that way at the last session I came to there was a discussion about trust?
Solobill Laville: no, i think that might
Solobill Laville: have been why I mis-typed it actually, hehe, the opposite effect
Tarmel Udimo: well, I guess I try to practise as much i can ie being aware in the moment
Tarmel Udimo: I'm not so formal anymore, not that I ever was
Tarmel Udimo: but the whole concept of being aware and awake is an ever increasingly fascinating one
Solobill Laville nods
Solobill Laville: That is a large part of what we discuss often
Umbriel Levenque: yes
Tarmel Udimo: okay
Solobill Laville: Minefullness and Awareness
Faenik: indeed?
Solobill Laville: *d
Tarmel Udimo: I am happy to hear the group's thoughts
Solobill Laville: Well as for me
Solobill Laville: I added the 9-secs to my other-wise (mostly) daily sittings
Solobill Laville: and found it a wonderful way to do just as you said Tarmel
Umbriel Levenque: same here
Solobill Laville: Being more aware and awake
Tarmel Udimo: it feels like a very brilliant short cut key
Solobill Laville: Great!
Solobill Laville: There another benefit, imho
Umbriel Levenque: :-)
Solobill Laville: This attention, and regularity
Solobill Laville: can allow greater clarity between the "things" that make up our everyday life
Solobill Laville: are NOT what we are

Pema joined us.

Pema Pera: Hi everybody!
Umbriel Levenque: Peace and Love
Tarmel Udimo: hello
Becka Finesmith: Hi Pema
Solobill Laville: Heya, Pema!
Solobill Laville: Tarmel just threw down a nice affirmation of PaB practice.. :)
Solobill Laville: Hello, ***!
Pema Pera: oh, looking forward to read it -- or could you summarize briefly?
Pema Pera: Hi ***!
Faenik loves wells!
***: hello
Umbriel Levenque: Peace and Love

I pasted Tarmel's comment for Pema.

Solobill Laville: Tarmel Udimo: it feels like a very brilliant short cut key
Tarmel Udimo: hello
Tarmel Udimo: yes because it energies the moment into reality one can reflect or be there in the moment
Tarmel Udimo: well whatever reality is at that moment
Solobill Laville nods
Umbriel Levenque: I like the regular' break' also
Solobill Laville: In my busy life, at a very basic level, it also gets me to slow down, appreciate
Solobill Laville: Yes, Umbriel
Tarmel Udimo: yes, in away I guess that's what SL is a massive evolutionary buddhist experiement
Solobill Laville: ah!
Solobill Laville: How would you define Buddhist in that regard, Tarmel? SL-wide...
Tarmel Udimo: yes i realise that's not fair to others who use a different filter to view the world
Faenik loves wells!
Tarmel Udimo: but even on a simple level, here I am sitting at home (its saturday where i am) and having a conversation with like minded people
Pema Pera: I'm very glad you found us, Tarmel!
Tarmel Udimo: with out having to get in my car or walk to a meeting so my evolution is being speeded up
Pema Pera: may I ask where you are?
Tarmel Udimo: I am too....
Pema Pera: in East Asia?
Tarmel Udimo: in australia
Pema Pera: or Australia?
Pema Pera: And how did you stumble upon PaB?

Umbriel left us, and Fael joined us.

Umbriel Levenque: Peace and Love
Pema Pera: bye Umbriel!
Fael Illyar: Hello Everyone :)
Tarmel Udimo: well I looked for buddhist sites and I think someone pointed this out to me
Solobill Laville: ahh...that is what I did when I was born in SL as well :)
Pema Pera: glad you found us!
Solobill Laville: Hi, Fael!
Tarmel Udimo: yes so that relates back to your question about buddhism and evolution
Tarmel Udimo: by being able to create an avatar and in essense become a new being gives room to breathe but also
Tarmel Udimo: embed in the physche a deeper understanding of what reality and non reality is as well as what it means to be human
Pema Pera: yes, the transition from RL to SL may help us to make the other shift: to wake up

Hmmmmm...now THAT would be something...but in a way, it is to the extent that any other stimulus might, and yes probably moreso.

Tarmel Udimo: yes it is seeing the mind manfesting right in front of us
Pema Pera: yes!
Becka Finesmith: When will we know we have acheived that pema?
Pema Pera: Hi ******!
Pema Pera: Please join us if you like
Pema Pera: oh, there are many shades, Becka
Pema Pera: initial glimpses, more glimpses, at first random
Pema Pera: then we learn to be more consciously open for them, and so on . . . .
Becka Finesmith nods
Tarmel Udimo: do you practise meditation pema?
Pema Pera: seeing is knowing; more clearly seeing is more clearly knowing . . .
Pema Pera: yes, Tarmel, I have explored many different ones
Pema Pera: for the last 39 years :-)
Pema Pera: and have enjoyed a similar essence in all of them
Pema Pera: stopping -> seeing
Pema Pera: and my greatest interest is in how to find ways to integrate it in modern life
Solobill Laville: That is a good initiative

Indeed...There have been many others that have put forth effort to do this, and it may be the last and greatest part of my life's work to try to bridge that as well, as I'm thinking.

Tarmel Udimo: in fact that is the key
Pema Pera: yes!
Tarmel Udimo: the hard bit
Solobill Laville: i believe we may be exploring that ;)
Tarmel Udimo: yes:)
Pema Pera: so PaB starts with integration, before meditation, the cart before the horse :-)
Fael Illyar: Yes, that's what we explore :)
Tarmel Udimo: what do you mean by integration
Tarmel Udimo: hello fael
Fael Illyar: Hello Tarmel :)
Pema Pera: traditionally, Buddhist meditation say, starts with years of trying to deeply see into reality, and then even more years of integrating and steadying one's experience in daily life
Pema Pera: modern people (think they) don't have time for that . . .
Pema Pera: so the next best thing is to start at the end
Pema Pera: integrating "something"
Tarmel Udimo: ahh the 9 sec moment
Pema Pera: stopping every 15 minutes at least pokes some holes in our habitually closed view of the world
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: and then the hole may fill themselves with the light shining through
Pema Pera: a radically new way of using old wisdom . . . .

I think we are getting to a point with PaB where we can start listing some real "What's in it for me's?" for the communication to said "modern people"... 

Wol joined us.

Solobill Laville: G'day, Wol
Tarmel Udimo: yes its brilliant
Wol Euler: evening all!
Pema Pera: hi Wol
Tarmel Udimo: hello
Pema Pera: What is your practice, Tarmel, it is Buddhist, right?
Tarmel Udimo: yes and I have to admit
Tarmel Udimo: I can be very slack when it comes to sitting, which is why perhaps to make up for it i try to do it all the time
Pema Pera: that's great!!
Pema Pera: yes, the idea is to make one's whole life a kind of meditation . . . .
Tarmel Udimo: yes and i think its the western approach that has allowed for more and more of that
Pema Pera: can you say more?
Tarmel Udimo: well one reads how buddhism has been 'integrated' into the west and there are many great western buddhist tecahers

Amos joined us.

Solobill Laville: Hello, Amos
Amos Porta: hi everibody
Wol Euler: hello amos
Tarmel Udimo: who seem to emphasize the simpler approach of awareness over ritual
Pema Pera: Hi Amos!
Fael Illyar: Hello Amos :)
Pema Pera: yes indeed, we have no choice it seems
Solobill Laville: Amos, may I give a notecard on our group?
Amos Porta: yes
Pema Pera: we lack in patience, but we are super-good in shifting, switching context -- like to cell phones, email, SL, etc
Amos Porta accepted your inventory offer.
Pema Pera: so we can use our switchability also to learn to wake up -- a little bit at a time :)
Pema Pera: may I ask what kind of meditation you do?
Tarmel Udimo: well I breathe
Solobill Laville: (Amos, we meet here and discuss reality, in some sense or other :))
Solobill Laville: (We also log our discussions to a wiki, is it to include you there?)
Tarmel Udimo: I am ashamed to say i have tasted a few elements like Zen and vipassana two very different mind sets
Solobill Laville: (*OK to include you there...?))
Pema Pera: great! -- but why ashamed?
Tarmel Udimo: but I find the formal approach difficult and like to just explore how my mind works
Pema Pera: ah, well, this is the place then!
Solobill Laville: yes, no need for shame, Tarmel... :)
Tarmel Udimo: thank you
Solobill Laville: Also, just to make clear, there are a majority of folks here who are not Buddhist...
Solobill Laville: Everyone brings their own perspectives to share :)
Tarmel Udimo: yes i like the word filter
Tarmel Udimo: I use the word buddhist because it seems to make it easier to find people who think a certain way
Becka Finesmith: In my experience (Which is limited) "Buddhist" covers a very wide range of mindsets :)

A good point, Becka.  Here we go off into many threads, mostly about the PaB group.

Tarmel Udimo: excuse me how do I tell a friend about coming to this spot
Wol Euler: is s/he online right now?
Solobill Laville: You can send them the landmark (LM)
Wol Euler: if so you can offer them a teleport from their profile
Tarmel Udimo: yes he just came on - I've only met him once but I think he would be receptive to this conversation
Wol Euler: ok, click on him in your Friends page, and click the "offer TP" button
Solobill Laville: oh, great, the more the merrier! and we have plenty of cushions ;)
Wol Euler nods
Fael Illyar: yep :)
Fael Illyar: quite a surge in new people lately :)
Fael Illyar: are we advertising?
Pema Pera: yes!
Wol Euler: ah!
Pema Pera: haha, I guess we didn't tell you yet
Amos Porta: is this a SL group?
Wol Euler: I thought it was just Solo's new aftershave ...
Pema Pera: look at the "about land" part of here
Solobill Laville: I think we are also "standing at the crossroads"....
Solobill Laville blushes
Pema Pera: we put in key words, including "Buddhist"
Pema Pera: hehe
Solobill Laville: Yes, Amos
Tarmel Udimo: ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Fael Illyar: Ah, that explains a couple of things :)
Solobill Laville: Play as Being
Pema Pera: Amos, you can come here any day, and there is no need to be part of a group
Solobill Laville: Amos, did you get the notecard I sent to you?
Pema Pera: all events are listed on our wiki http://playasbeing.wik.is/
Pema Pera: we gather each day at 1 am 7 am 1 pm 7 pm
Solobill Laville: that wiki address helps too
Amos Porta: yes i did
Solobill Laville: (Tarmel, there are also many Buddhist specific sims as well that I could share with you)
Becka Finesmith: Here in the UK that's 9am, 3pm, 9pm and 3am GMT)
Wol Euler muses, perhaps the listeners could be set to recognize new people and give them notecards etc automatically, saving interruptions in the group ...
Amos Porta: i'll look at the wiki
Amos Porta: where are you all from?
Tarmel Udimo: that would be nice, I have a few but would be happy to have more
Solobill Laville: ah, ok, there are some basic pages there too Amos, as well as 1000 chat logs!
Solobill Laville: I am from Michigan
Wol Euler: Germany
Pema Pera: That's a great idea, Wol!
Becka Finesmith: I'm in London
Pema Pera: I'm in Manhattan, but from Holland originally
Amos Porta: i'm italian
Solobill Laville nods at Wol's idea
Tarmel Udimo: NY
Tarmel Udimo: the big apple
Amos Porta: excuse me, i interrupted your discussion

How polite, Amos!

Pema Pera: oh no, everything here is freeflowing, Amos :)
Solobill Laville: that's ok, Amos
Solobill Laville reads back
Pema Pera: Do you have any questions, Amos, about our approach?
Amos Porta: i came here just by chance
Solobill Laville: I have a question
Solobill Laville: What happens if I only do it a few times a day?
Amos Porta: it?
Solobill Laville: (yes, this is somewhat hypothetical..)
Amos Porta: it what?
Solobill Laville: "It" is 9-second stop, letting go, and seeing what is left...

Becka shared some of her benefits from practicing the "basic" PaB 9-secs...amidst another thread. :)

Becka Finesmith: As someone who is new I haven't managed to get the practice regular enough yet but I can say what is happening for the times I do it

Becka Finesmith: And It is that I do feel more aware. I'm able to concentrate harder

Solobill Laville: (Perhaps a kind of mini-meditation, Amos)

Solobill Laville: Yes, Becka!
Becka Finesmith: I'm aware of my breathing between the practice
Pema Pera: even once a day is fine, a few times better, every fifteen minutes during the day even better . . . . .
Tarmel Udimo: I'm curious about the idea of seeing a cone?
Pema Pera: but no restrictions!
Solobill Laville: :)
Pema Pera: seeing a cone?
Becka Finesmith: I'm more inwardly contemplative too
Solobill Laville: /nods at Becka
Tarmel Udimo: yes that's what it says on the website or did i make that up
Wol Euler: O.O
Solobill Laville: Those are great things, Becka!
Becka Finesmith: If it is doing that now with only a few practices a day, what will it be like when I start to practice
more regularly!
Solobill Laville: Indeed
Pema Pera: which web site and what cone?? Now I'm getting curious!
Pema Pera: yes, Becka :)
Pema Pera remembering conical sections . . . ..
Becka Finesmith: lol
Solobill Laville: The Japanese call that first outcome joriki (concentration)
Wol Euler: conical field of vision...
Tarmel Udimo: let me have a quick look
Becka Finesmith: The great parabola of life
Solobill Laville: and if I have that wrong, may Pema correct my Japanese...
Solobill Laville: perhaps that is a new post?
Tarmel Udimo: i am checking
Pema Pera: not sure, Solo
Pema Pera: riki is power
Pema Pera: probably
Pema Pera: easier to see with the original characters
Solobill Laville: Well, we can just assume I have it absolutely correct then ;)
Solobill Laville: lol
Becka Finesmith: I have to leave as much as I want to stay :(
Becka Finesmith: Thank you for the company :)
Pema Pera: see you Becka!
Wol Euler: (nobody would have doubted you if you hadn't spoken first)
Wol Euler: bye becka, enjoy the weekend
Tarmel Udimo: good bye
Solobill Laville: Bye, Becka, thanks for sharing
Amos Porta: bye becka
Fael Illyar: See you later Becka :)
Becka Finesmith: THank you bye everyone. Will see you tommorow at some point

Becka leaves as Tarmel finds the "cone" content from the wiki.

Tarmel Udimo: You Seeing and Being Seeing
1. Relax and become aware of your visual field. Just watch your normal, ordinary way of looking at what you can see in front of you. Nothing special. There is a cone shaped space in front of you within which you can see objects. Just become aware of you seeing whatever you see in your field of vision.
Pema Pera: ah!
Tarmel Udimo: found it on the website
Wol Euler: aaaah
Solobill Laville: ahhh
Pema Pera: I see, yes, well, I mean that our normal field of vision happens to have the rough shape of a cone
Tarmel Udimo: like the eyes
Pema Pera: a fixed angle and then stretching in front of us, within that angle
Pema Pera: yes, nothing out of the ordinary :)
Pema Pera: btw, I'm being called over to the Kira Cafe
Pema Pera: See you all soon again!
Tarmel Udimo: yes :-) more like a camera lense
Wol Euler thinks of the "event horizon" graphs ... also a cone
Fael Illyar: See you later Pema :)
Solobill Laville: Bye, Pema
Wol Euler: bye pema, see you there perhaps
Pema Pera: and feel free to come over for Happy Hour there, if you like!
Tarmel Udimo: bye pema
Pema Pera: please tell Tarmel about HH!

Took me a second to burn this new acronym into my brain...for those readers like me, it is for "Happy Hour"...at the Kira cafe (2:00PM SLT daily during the week at the time of this writing.)

Amos Porta: bye pema
Wol Euler: well, the beer's free ...
Solobill Laville: Normally, I would go the Happy Hour, but we have a party to go to tonight...
Wol Euler: awwwww :(
Wol Euler: no wonder you're all dressed up
Solobill Laville: I know, I know....tradition
Fael Illyar: party?
Solobill Laville: Right
Solobill Laville: RL dinner party
Fael Illyar: Ah
Solobill Laville: :)
Wol Euler: well, enjoy :)
Tarmel Udimo: thanks for landmark
Solobill Laville: Tarmel, would you like some Buddhist Landmarks?
Wol Euler: yw
Solobill Laville: before I take my leave
Tarmel Udimo: yes please
Solobill Laville: okey-dokey, hang on
Tarmel Udimo: I too must go but its has been most enriching
Wol Euler: bye tarmel, nice meeting you.
Tarmel Udimo: do you all tend to come to the 1:00pm session or is it random
Tarmel Udimo: bye wol

I missed Tarmel's question as I was looking in my inventory for Landmarks, but I then bombarded Tarmel with "Solobill's list of approved SL Buddhist sims"...

Wol Euler: I most often do 1am and 1pm, the 7#s are difficut for me
Fael Illyar: it tends be a bit random.
Fael Illyar: but 1pm ones are the most popular it seems
Fael Illyar: 7am a bit less so.
Fael Illyar: 1am sometimes the guardian sits there alone.
Wol Euler: the 7pm has a very active crowd, lots of intense discussion of perception and brain functions
Fael Illyar: 7pm also seems relatively popular
Fael Illyar: but I can't make that, I'm asleep at the time
Wol Euler nods
Tarmel Udimo: ahhhh
Solobill Laville: OK, you've been Buddha-spammed, Tarmel!
Tarmel Udimo: yes I have been :0
Fael Illyar grins.
Tarmel Udimo: thanks
Solobill Laville: yw
Solobill Laville: nice to meet you Amos and Tarmel
Fael Illyar: See you later Solo :)
Wol Euler: bye solo, take care
Tarmel Udimo: see you solo
Solobill Laville: Good evening Fael and Wol!
Amos Porta: bye solo