2009.05.08 19:00 - Spices, Silence and Seeing

2009.05.08 19:00 - Spices, Silence, and Seeing
The Guardian for this meeting was Dakini Rhode. The comments are by Dakini Rhode.

Solobill, Pila, Doug and I greeted each other, and were soon joined by Pema...

Solobill Laville: how is japan, Pema?
Solobill Laville: Or...are you Pema...?
Solobill Laville: ;)
doug Sosa: never thought of that!
Dakini Rhode: who would Pema be if not Pema?
Pema Pera: yes, I am Pema
Pema Pera: I think
Pema Pera: therefore I am?
Pema Pera: And Japan seems to be fine too :-)

doug Sosa: student says to the professor "I don't know who I am!"
Pema Pera: it is late morning here
doug Sosa: Professor responds "who else could you be?"
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pema Pera: :)
Dakini Rhode: :)
Dakini Rhode: one thing i like about my practice is i still don't know who i am, but it no longer bothers me
doug Sosa: but don't give up. we are a complex enseble of innards and outards, hard to fathom, but some progess can be made. Proust made some progress.
Pema Pera: perhaps we are quite simple . . . . .
Pema Pera: . . . and is the complexity a diversion
doug Sosa: cannot simplicity also be an evasion?
Dakini Rhode: i'm thinking... maybe not too simple nor too complex
doug Sosa: The assertion of simplicity..
Pema Pera: not an assertion, but a discovery
doug Sosa: i like that, take the "too" out of both.
Pema Pera: the simplicity of no-self, of wu-wei
Dakini Rhode: a process, a collection, not a solid, fixed identity
Pema Pera: and yes, beyond dichotomites, like simple and complex
Pema Pera: Being is certainly not complex :)
Solobill Laville: All of the answers, in this fathom high bag of water ;)
doug Sosa: wu wei wu chi.

Doug, in parting, was the first to mention food...

doug Sosa: So i must go prepare dinner for hungry family.
Dakini Rhode: what are they having?
doug Sosa: us. pork loing, eggplant..
doug Sosa: loin..
Dakini Rhode: wow
Solobill Laville: Quite the cook, doug...
Solobill Laville: :)
doug Sosa: simple, heat till tastes good :)
Dakini Rhode: :)
Solobill Laville: hehe
Pila Mulligan: :) bye doug, have a nice evening
doug Sosa: Complex, try spices in cabinet. smell first.
doug Sosa: thanks bye.
Pema Pera: Bye Doug!
Solobill Laville: :) See y adoug

More food thoughts...

Dakini Rhode: i made spiced pecans tonight - i used the "c" spices from the spice cabinet
Dakini Rhode: cayenne, cinnamon, coriander, and cumin
Solobill Laville: All yummy!!
Dakini Rhode: i contemplated the chili but skipped it
Dakini Rhode: it was yummy
Dakini Rhode: you couldn't tell what it was, the combination made a new flavor
Dakini Rhode: i love when that happens
Solobill Laville: Did you name the flavor??
Dakini Rhode: no !
Solobill Laville: hmmmmm
Dakini Rhode: hmmmm
Dakini Rhode: a little bit sweet with a bit of a kick

Pila makes us google...

Pila Mulligan: if you have some free time (now please don't throw anything because of that preface ;)
I'd like to recommend a video: http://fr.truveo.com/Enviro-CloseUp-A-Conversation-with-John-Mohawk/id/3089902679
Pila Mulligan: he was a Native American professor of American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo
Pila Mulligan: died two years ago
Pila Mulligan: profoundly interesting -- with the American Indian humor
Solobill Laville: ty :)
Dakini Rhode: ty Pila it looks interesting
Pila Mulligan: I'm going to watch it a third time, as the second time I got even more than the first
Dakini Rhode: what impressed you about it particularly?
Pila Mulligan: his wide grasp of interelatednessPila Mulligan: here's his SUNY obituary with a nice bio -- http://www.buffalo.edu/news/8308

Solobill Laville: "all would pursue perfection, if they understood the nature of the pursuit..."
Pila Mulligan: :)
Solobill Laville: Beautiful, and optimistic :)
Pila Mulligan: it is indeed
Solobill Laville puts his tomatoes back in his pockets
Solobill Laville: :)

Pema Pera: seeing clearly is the central point, yes
Pema Pera: and then seeing is enough
Pema Pera: the rest follows

Pema Pera: (for the log: and then a 10 minute silence followed . . . :-)

Pila Mulligan: :)
Dakini Rhode: haha i hesitated to break the silence :)
Pema Pera: it is one drawback of the log that you can't normally see whether there was a 1 sec or 10 min break
Pema Pera: so you miss that part of the conversational dynamic . . . .
Pila Mulligan: or why someone said oops when they typed during the silent 90 seconds
Dakini Rhode: that would be a very long pause in a normal conversation

Solobill and Pema left, and Resting arrived to find Pila and me sitting in silence...

Dakini Rhode: shall i quote what stopped our conversation?
Resting Thor: sure

[19:38] Pema Pera: seeing clearly is the central point, yes
[19:38] Pema Pera: and then seeing is enough
[19:38] Pema Pera: the rest follows

and then another long silence followed . . . :-)

Resting Thor: so if not talking is the only prequisite for seeing clearly then you're on the right track :)
Dakini Rhode: the statement's effect appears unchanged :)
Resting Thor: so he's ending PaB?
Dakini Rhode: he is?

a couple of us were clearly thinking about food...

Pila Mulligan: well, my mind also has been considering various food ideas that were mentioned at the start of this session, before the silence began ... as a result, my feet are looking at the kitchen
Dakini Rhode: haha i'm hungry too
Resting Thor: i had greek yogurt earlier
Pila Mulligan: I'm thinking maybe rice with a creamy tofu sauce
Dakini Rhode: mmmmm
Resting Thor: sounds good
Resting Thor: pour it over a steak :)
Pila Mulligan: :) then the cows would hate me
Resting Thor: lay a steak on top ?
Pila Mulligan: my neighbors are mostly cows
Pila Mulligan: we are on good terms
Pila Mulligan: thankfully
Resting Thor: lets hope they like vegetarians :)
Pila Mulligan: yes, they do
Pila Mulligan: they can tell
Pila Mulligan: those small boxes of silken tofu seem to blend well to make sauces

Dakini Rhode gently suggests we end the session and get a snack :)
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan seconds the suggestions

Resting Thor: so will longer silences be an ongoing part of PaB?
Pila Mulligan: yes, and also silences seem to happen in PaB chats fairly regularly
Pila Mulligan: the 90 second notice you mean?
Resting Thor: no
Resting Thor: the notice is a regular feature tho longer
Dakini Rhode: the time tax keeps going up :)
Pila Mulligan: and sometimes people just stay quiet
Dakini Rhode: does the longer pause seem to break the flow of the conversation?
Pila Mulligan: to me it helps balance a busy chat, Dakini
Pila Mulligan: but when there is a slow chat it may add to the silence
Dakini Rhode: the longer pause is just for the chat, RT
Pila Mulligan: people seem to hesitate to break the silence
Dakini Rhode: i did :)
Resting Thor: not an exercise in seeing then
Pila Mulligan: when there is not much activity
Dakini Rhode: it felt good to me to pause - had a busy day
Pila Mulligan: well, time for some food ... nice to visit with you Dakini and Resting
Resting Thor: and u Pila
Dakini Rhode: same here Pila - enjoy your food :)
Pila Mulligan: thanks, bye bye

And we parted company, a couple of us leaving to have a direct experience with the object of our food thoughts...