2009.05.16 19:00 - Seeing with the Heart

The Guardian for this meeting was Pema Pera. The comments are by Pema Pera.

Adams Rubble: Hello Pema-san
Pema Pera: Hi there Adams!
Adams Rubble: Very nice to see you :)
Pema Pera: same here, it has been a while!
Adams Rubble: yes
Pema Pera: I'm sorry I haven't been able to find the time to read your blog on a daily basis
Pema Pera: is there anything in particular that you'd like to summarize or report?
Adams Rubble: That's OK, I haven;t written as much :)
Adams Rubble: I didn;t blog at all today
Pema Pera: :)
Adams Rubble: No, I have pretty much been going along as usual
Adams Rubble: Hello Eos and Sophia :)
Pema Pera: Hi Eos and hi Sophia!
Eos Amaterasu: Hi all!
SophiaSharon Larnia: HI all :))
Adams Rubble: How is the appreciation meditation coming along?
Pema Pera: I'm really enjoying it :)
Pema Pera: and it's fun to mix the 9-sec capsules with 20-minutes sitting periods

Adams Rubble: Your experience will bring along some us following you I am sure :)
Adams Rubble: Right now some of us are scratching our heads as usual
Adams Rubble: :)
Pema Pera: can you tell me where it itches? :-)
Adams Rubble: hehe
Adams Rubble: not quite sure yet :)
Pema Pera: perhaps it is most helpful if I just describe what happened this morning when I sat for a while with this short sentence
Pema Pera: "appreciate the presence of appearance"
Pema Pera: At first I was a bit distracted, with many thoughts popping up, as usual:
Pema Pera: things I did recently, things I should do but may not have time for, concerns, all that
Pema Pera: but then I reminded myself a few times to look more directly at the raw appearances of all that popped up
Pema Pera: while dropping or at least deemphasizing the judgments that come with it and all the bleeding-on associations that follow in their wake
Pema Pera: that was step one: to crack the nuts of appearances and focus on the inside, the raw givenness of the appearances, their presence
Pema Pera: and then the second step is to appreciate all that
Pema Pera: both those raw presences AND the ongoing tendency to fall back on the judgments and trains of associations, which of course in themselves are also appearances
Pema Pera: And then, to balance that whole thing, I enjoyed trying to hold that appreciation more and more lightly
Pema Pera: not so much as an act but more an attitude, a very light ongoing gesture
Pema Pera: it then went to a kind of feeling friendship with appearances,
Pema Pera: holding them all in my heart
Pema Pera: a kind of switch from seeing with my eyes to seeing with the eyes of the heart
Pema Pera: Does that make some sense?
Adams Rubble: Wow, what a wonderful description :)
Adams Rubble: Holding the appearances lightly is a new thought to me

Adams Rubble: Hello Steve :)
Pema Pera: Hi Steve!
SophiaSharon Larnia: HI Steve
stevenaia Michinaga: hello.waiting to rezz to avoid embarrisment
Adams Rubble: I think I understand seeing with the heart now
Adams Rubble: that is a bit like Love
Pema Pera: more than a bit :-)
Adams Rubble: letting it flow
Adams Rubble: why holding the experience lightly. Is that simply to allow the Love to flow?
Adams Rubble: appearance not experience
Pema Pera: or the appearance of what we normally label experience
Adams Rubble: :)
Eos Amaterasu: [19:08] Pema Pera: but then I reminded myself a few times to look more directly at the raw appearances of all that popped up
Eos Amaterasu: CAn you say more about looking directly?
Pema Pera: the first step is to notice the usual ongoing tendency to be distracted
Pema Pera: to be scattered all over the place
Pema Pera: and when that becomes almost painfully obvious, even for a brief period
Pema Pera: there are a couple ways, at least, to "improve" that situation, very lightly speaking:
Pema Pera: one way is for the distractions to largely fall away, as shy children that have been caught in mischief
Pema Pera: and another is for the distractions just to stay there, but in turn to be seen as only just so many other appearances, and already okay that way as fuel for appreciation
Pema Pera: I bet you're familiar with both, Eos :-)
Eos Amaterasu: ^_^

stevenaia Michinaga: lightly is a very good approach to many things, it allow for many things to move through you... eases your "grip" on much
Pema Pera: yes, the "play" dimension of exploration!
stevenaia Michinaga: like the wind
Pema Pera: :)
Pema Pera: and when the wind keeps blowing through you, you might find that the you it was blowing through was blown away by chance :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: it offers much openness to change by not trying to "catch" the wind
Adams Rubble: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: and much peace
Pema Pera: yes, allowing the wind to catch you . . . and then to let you go, set you free
Adams Rubble: whoops
Eos Amaterasu: hmm!
Pema Pera: "stevenaia Michinaga is Offline" -- I guess the wind caught Steve!
Adams Rubble: It blew Steve away
Adams Rubble: yes
Eos Amaterasu: Pema, how do you integrate the 9 secs in the 20 mins?
Adams Rubble: wb Steve
Pema Pera: via the road of the rest of my life :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: sorry, big storm ironically blowing by
Adams Rubble: :)
Pema Pera: while walking, talking, doing whatever I'm doing
SophiaSharon Larnia: here too Steve :)
Pema Pera: yes, Steve, that was great timing there!
stevenaia Michinaga: hard to even resist the strorm's wind too
stevenaia Michinaga: so why bother... the metaphor continues
Eos Amaterasu: seems like the way of the wandering poet or warrior

Pema Pera: I mean, Eos, the 9-sec acts as a kind of yeast, leavening the rest of the time around it, and then when sitting for 20 minutes, everything gets more distilled -- to use another yeast metaphor, from bread to wine :)
Eos Amaterasu: Yes, the little gap practice....
Pema Pera: Yes, Steve: you lived the zen story of http://whatistime.wik.is/Time_in_Art...Rinzai_Said%3a
Adams Rubble: Ah Paradise is here
Adams Rubble: Hello Paradise :)
Pema Pera: Hi Paradise!
Paradise Tennant: hi everyone :))
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Paradise
Pema Pera: what a great summary of our convesation so far, Adams! "Ah Paradise is here"!
Paradise Tennant: lol
Pema Pera: we're having a ball, Paradise :-)
Paradise Tennant: :))
Paradise Tennant: what is the topic?
Pema Pera: appreciating the presence of all that appears . . . .
Adams Rubble: including Paradise :)
Paradise Tennant: lovely choice :))
Pema Pera: :)
Paradise Tennant: surrender to the moment
Paradise Tennant: to what is
Paradise Tennant: :))
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: seeing with the eyes of the heart
Paradise Tennant: powerful phrase
Pema Pera: it can be such a nice experiment, to just walk on the street for a few minutes, or while waiting for a bus, to switch your sense of seeing from being "done" by your eyes to being "done" by your heart
stevenaia Michinaga: it is the heart that appreciates, not that eyes, after all
Pema Pera: very concrete shift will happen immediately, guaranteed :)

Pema Pera: we can do it right now
Paradise Tennant: you get bigger in a way when you are that open
Pema Pera: yes, and more empty too :)
Paradise Tennant: it releases you ..
Paradise Tennant: :)
Pema Pera: Steve got completely released a few minutes ago!
stevenaia Michinaga: release? thrown out of SL?
Paradise Tennant: :))
Adams Rubble: Maybe it was for our benefit Steve as an example of the wind :)
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Adams Rubble: You privided the audio visual
Adams Rubble: whooooosh
Adams Rubble: :)
Eos Amaterasu: presence as warmth of the heart
stevenaia Michinaga: like a "play" within a description
stevenaia Michinaga: Appreciation in there acts
stevenaia Michinaga: three
Pema Pera: :)
Adams Rubble: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: there must be a playright in the group!!!... remember the thught early on of making animations of what we do here... never qite got off the ground
Adams Rubble: We are all players
Pema Pera: you did a good job with you AO of being blown away, Steve :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: yes the ease of timing and life
Eos Amaterasu: I think we're coming up with the Shakespeaean language: the play's the thing, wherwith we'll catch the presence of appearing
Pema Pera: that's wonderful, Eos!
Eos Amaterasu: :-) "Presence" also can be experienced as not not-presence....
Eos Amaterasu: It's like the difference between being/not-being is a as big now as it (was)(is) at the time of the "big bang"
Pema Pera: can you say more about not-not-presence, Eos?
Eos Amaterasu: It's like "I can't believe I'm alive" or "that 's so amazing"
Pema Pera: ah yes, nice angle, always good to reverse point of view!!
Eos Amaterasu: It's also approachable thru the famous question "why after al should there be something rather than nothing?"

Paradise Tennant: there is wonder .. everywhere really :)) if you can step out of the daily preoccupations :))
Eos Amaterasu: that's a scary question
Pema Pera: yes, wonder and appreciation are very close
Eos Amaterasu: the little 9-secs is interesting: it punctuates the ongoing seeming solidity
Pema Pera: a kind of sabotage . . .
Eos Amaterasu: when done enough you sometimes find that stuff is emerging from it
Pema Pera: YES !!
Paradise Tennant: hmm in rl we are mostly space too .. so sl is an interesting metaphor but one quite close to true
Eos Amaterasu: and that it is more fundamental that stuff
Eos Amaterasu: appearances are a toast to presence :-)
Pema Pera: cheers!
Paradise Tennant: lol
Adams Rubble: :)
Pema Pera: talking of which, it is getting close to lunch time here in Kyoto . . .
Paradise Tennant: 9 secs ?
Paradise Tennant: :))

Adams Rubble thinks about lunch
Pema Pera: ah, http://playasbeing.wik.is/
Pema Pera: is our wiki
SophiaSharon Larnia: so nice to hear you Pema, thank you
Paradise Tennant: enjoy your day pema :))
Pema Pera: it describes our approach to stopping for 9 sec every 15 minutes
Pema Pera: thank you, Sophia!
Paradise Tennant: ahh kk
Pema Pera: it's a bit like traditional mediation practice
Pema Pera: but then trading frequency for duration
Paradise Tennant: :))
Pema Pera: if you do anything ten or more times a day, it will get under your skin :-)
Pema Pera: even if the total time you do it is similar to what you spend on brushing your teeth
Paradise Tennant: and into your heart :)
Adams Rubble: bye everyone :)
Pema Pera: yes ! ! !
Paradise Tennant: good night adams :))
Pema Pera: bye Adams,
Eos Amaterasu: Bye!
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes i must go too, bye everyone, thank you all :))
Pema Pera: and bye everyone!
stevenaia Michinaga: bye Pema
Pema Pera: great sharing so much fun with y'all !

Paradise Tennant: good night pema :))
Paradise Tennant: good night sophia :))
Eos Amaterasu: Midnight here... :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: night Eos
Paradise Tennant: nite eos :)) nice to see you again
Eos Amaterasu: bye steven adn Paradise
stevenaia Michinaga: sounds like Eastern Canada
Paradise Tennant: :)) i live in toronto :))
Paradise Tennant: only 11 here
stevenaia Michinaga: was thinking Eos being an hour later
Paradise Tennant: yes
Paradise Tennant: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: 11 here too
Paradise Tennant: interesting group .. great ideas ;)
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, I love looking back and seeing how one word or thought begins an entire evening of dscussion
Paradise Tennant: like music .. or a tapestry starts with a note or a thread :)
stevenaia Michinaga: sometime it takes 45 minutes before things start
stevenaia Michinaga: yes
stevenaia Michinaga: a thread, then a pattern
Paradise Tennant: and interlinking of perception..
Paradise Tennant: :) with ideas .. imagination, experience .. mental concepts and perhaps something more fundamental
Paradise Tennant: a shared picture ..
stevenaia Michinaga: more fundamental?
Paradise Tennant: hmm trying to put into words
Paradise Tennant: words numbers .. fairly recent constructs to our brains
Paradise Tennant: earlier there was still communications .. cognition
Paradise Tennant: but maybe in pciturs
Paradise Tennant: picturs
Paradise Tennant: lol pictures
stevenaia Michinaga: I commumicate in pictures all day long
Paradise Tennant: lucky you
stevenaia Michinaga: it leads me to meditation through the act of drawing if that makes sence... since it;s non-verble
Paradise Tennant: hmm
Paradise Tennant: nice
Paradise Tennant: practise can take many forms
Paradise Tennant: but always there is an ease to it
stevenaia Michinaga: rooms always get quiet when drawing
Paradise Tennant: yes
Paradise Tennant: there is focus flow absorption
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, quite calming
Paradise Tennant: oten when there is creativity it seems to suspend time somehow ..
Paradise Tennant: or at least the perception of time
Paradise Tennant: you are lost in your work
Paradise Tennant: time is funny stuff really
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, nicely put, more that time doesn;t matter
Paradise Tennant: you kind of step out of it
Paradise Tennant: was listening to a radio show where a "time" scientist described it more like a geography ..
Paradise Tennant: so a moment in time did not fade it was not linear
Paradise Tennant: it continues to exist
Paradise Tennant: so if you view a minute as a hill that is still there .. you just do not see it any more .. it would be more accurate
Paradise Tennant: makes you blink
stevenaia Michinaga: hmmm, have you been to Storm's time discussions?
Paradise Tennant: no
Paradise Tennant: who is storm
stevenaia Michinaga: Sorm built this pavaillian and is on the Kira Board
stevenaia Michinaga: Storm
Paradise Tennant: nice build
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, he also built the Kira Cafe
stevenaia Michinaga: if you go there you can get the times they meet
Paradise Tennant: cool thank you
stevenaia Michinaga: do you have the Kira Cafe Landmark?
Paradise Tennant: no but I can search it easily enough :))
stevenaia Michinaga: now you do, they have many events there, PaB is part of it
Paradise Tennant: thanks kindly
stevenaia Michinaga: you can join the group and receive notices inworld
stevenaia Michinaga: I am off to friends house, would you care to join us, Adams is there now
Paradise Tennant: thank you kindly but I think I will log.. alittle sleepy :))
stevenaia Michinaga: nods, see you soon
Paradise Tennant: have a good night steve :)) thanks for the landmark and the chat ..see you soon