2009.09.26 19:00 - Resistance

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

This night's session would see quite a large turn-out: we had up to twelve avatars present at some point.

Pema Pera: hi Maxine!
Maxine Walden: hi, Pema!
Maxine Walden: I don't often make these Sat evening meetings, but am glad I can tonight
Pema Pera: Good to see you, Maxine! I haven't been in as much as I would have liked to either, recently
Pema Pera: Hi Arch, and hi Fael and Doug!
Maxine Walden: so many things tugging at the sleeve...
Maxine Walden: hi, doug, Feal, Arch
doug Sosa: hi all.
Fael Illyar: Hi Pema, Maxine, Doug :)
Archmage Atlantis: Awh, Pema..... a special meeting then
Maxine Walden: a meeting with Pema is always special...
Fael Illyar: Yes :)
Pema Pera: every moment is special :-)
Fael Illyar: yes, that too :)
Maxine Walden: indeed, every moment...
Archmage Atlantis: True Pema
Fael Illyar: but you won't succeed in diverting them from thinking this meeting special with that ;)
Archmage Atlantis: Yet.....
Maxine Walden: (smiling and nodding toward Fael)
Fael Illyar: Hi Adams :)
Pema Pera: Good evening, Adams!
Maxine Walden: hi, Adams
Pema Pera: and Eliza!
Pema Pera: wow, what a crowd!
Maxine Walden: yes, and hi, Eliza
Archmage Atlantis: Pema. hit tatoo I wear
Adams Rubble: Hello everyone :)
Maxine Walden: nice to see everyone
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Pema, Maxine, Fael, doug, Arch, Adams...
Eliza Madrigal smiles
Fael Illyar: Hi Eliza :)
Fael Illyar: Hi Eos :)
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Eos :)
Fael Illyar: Oh new look, Eliza?
Adams Rubble: Hello Eos :)
Eliza Madrigal: well, new hair :)
Archmage Atlantis: The elders are gathered
Pema Pera: Hi Eos!
Fael Illyar: looks great :)
Maxine Walden: uh oh, elders?
Eliza Madrigal: Thank you Fael :)
Eos Amaterasu: Hi Fael, Adams, Eliza, Pema, Archmage, Maxine, Doug
Maxine Walden: hi, Eos
doug Sosa: we spend half our time in the chorus of hi. in tune?
Fael Illyar: doug, sure, why not? :P
Maxine Walden: we do, doug, don't we
Eliza Madrigal: there is also 'bye', and he he he
Pema Pera: :)
Adams Rubble: I always say hello :)
Eos Amaterasu: How we spend time
Adams Rubble giggles
Archmage Atlantis: Music, une why not
Archmage Atlantis: yumr
Archmage Atlantis: ugh
doug Sosa: i just love to be cranky every now and then. "hello" is advanced and requires counterpoint :)
Archmage Atlantis: tune

Maxine Walden: another type of music would be the Madrigal, led by Eliza
Adams Rubble: :)
Archmage Atlantis: Quel music?
Eliza Madrigal smiles... wow someone who knows what a Madrigal is
Eliza Madrigal: :)
doug Sosa: she is well composed.
Maxine Walden: yes, used to sing them, Eliza (long distant past)
Maxine Walden: hoho, doug
Eliza Madrigal: Ahhh nice Maxine :)
Fael Illyar smiles.
Maxine Walden: do you sing Madrigals, Eliza?
Eliza Madrigal: Ah, not in public :)
Pema Pera: :)
Eos Amaterasu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrigal_(music)
Maxine Walden: but maybe in private; such wonderful harmonies; medieval folk were very sophisticated in being able to sing them by sight
Fael Illyar: Hi Steve :)
Pema Pera: Hi there Steve!
stevenaia Michinaga: hello
Maxine Walden: hi, steve
Adams Rubble: Hello Steve :)
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Steve
Eos Amaterasu: :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: hello all
Eliza Madrigal: It is funny. I didnt think of it as a Hispanic name, but it causes many people to IM me in Spanish
Eliza Madrigal: so I get to practice a little :)
Maxine Walden: ah, interesting!!
Eliza Madrigal: Oh....brb
Adams Rubble only gets IMs from geologists
Maxine Walden: not as romantic, Adams!!
Adams Rubble: :)
Maxine Walden: geologists re the Rubble?
Eos Amaterasu: :-)
Adams Rubble: wanting to pick through the rocks
--BELL--
doug Sosa: geologists dig beautiful women!
Fael Illyar: Hi SophiaSharon :)
stevenaia Michinaga: was that a "dig" pun doug
Eliza Madrigal: Hello SophiaSharon :) (back)
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi everyone :))
doug Sosa: no, a doug pun, dig?
Pema Pera: Hi SophiaSharon!
Maxine Walden: hi, SophiaSharon
doug Sosa: :)
Eliza Madrigal says sorry to the bell
Eliza Madrigal: hehe
Maxine Walden: plays on words re geologists, digging, etc...
Archmage Atlantis: Nimbusdemands time, brb
Adams Rubble: Hello Sophia :)

Pema Pera: I have a general question for all of you: are you happy with the way PaB can help you explore reality? Or would you like more practical or specific suggestions?
Maxine Walden: I suppose part of 'reality' is the resistance to exploring it, so nudges in that direction are always welcome
Pema Pera: Hi Paradise and Vajra!
SophiaSharon Larnia: wow big group :)
Adams Rubble: Hello Paradise and Vajra :)
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Paradise, Vajra :)
Pema Pera: what kind of nudge do you think might be useful, Maxine?
Vajra Raymaker: Greetings all : -)
Fael Illyar: Hello Vajra :)
Paradise Tennant: hello all :))
Fael Illyar: Hello Paradise :)
stevenaia Michinaga: Pema, in yur own way, you always seem to bring in a fresh perspective on things which is alway refreshing and keeps the explorations from geting stale,
Vajra Raymaker: I am intensely happy http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Dalai+Lama+arrives+Vancouver/2038484/story.html
Maxine Walden: not sure, Pema, but just thinking about the resistance to explore reality, which I think is the hesitation to change...remaining with the familiar is always more comfortable
Archmage Atlantis: My opion Penma
Archmage Atlantis: sorrry Pema
Pema Pera: Thnx Steve :)
Archmage Atlantis: The neropahthty
Pema Pera: resistance is such an interesting phenomenon, and we can learn so much from it
Pema Pera: just by watching it
Archmage Atlantis: Is that there is much to learn
Maxine Walden: so help to embrace that hesitation toward change...perhaps acceptance of the limitations we all feel ...
Paradise Tennant: yes :)
Pema Pera: normally if we feel resistance we tend to push harder, and then the resistance increases too, and we get into some kind of power game with ourselves . . . .
Archmage Atlantis: Even from my 16 yo cat
Pema Pera: but what if we just smile at resistance, watching it, while refusing to play the game?

Eos Amaterasu: First you have to notice it... :-)
Pema Pera: perhaps resistance then no longer can have a grip on us
Eos Amaterasu: it can kind of sneak up
Archmage Atlantis: This is not game Pema
Pema Pera: yes, Eos, but after it has snuck up you can watch
doug Sosa: in the psychoanalytic world resistance is a good guide to what, by being dicovered and understood, frees energy.
Archmage Atlantis: We arr here a short while
Pema Pera: how do you use that guide, Doug?
doug Sosa: "tell me your story, start wher ever you'd like, " and in a bit comes
doug Sosa: hesitation. why. let's take a good look at it from many perspectives, ah, so that's why you were hesitatnt, no w back to the story....
Fael Illyar: there is a reason for the resistance, ignore it and push and it'll get stronger. Find the reason and the resistance might vanish.
Archmage Atlantis: Understands Doug
Archmage Atlantis: The young multitask
doug Sosa: and reconize the legitimacy, and yet unnecessariness, of the resistance.
Pema Pera: so that's a way to get more deeply into wu-wei, you might say, Doug?
stevenaia Michinaga: and the energy consumed while resisting
Paradise Tennant: pretty sure the stories are just stories .. not reality .. resistance .. is often a friction against what is .. ultimately we are often at odds with reality .. we really enjoy the stories :)
Pema Pera: :)

Pema Pera: shall we use the 90 sec to look at whatever resistance we can find easily and naturally?
Maxine Walden: fiction which is friction....love the alliteration
--BELL--
Maxine Walden: yes, coming soon...
Archmage Atlantis: The storytelling passes hat is undergood
Pema Pera: Did anyone find some resistance somewhere? :)
Adams Rubble qietly slips away. bye all ::)
Eliza Madrigal: Night Adams :)
Maxine Walden: found that sense of stickiness...hesitant to 'give up' the known and familiar
doug Sosa: example possible?
Eos Amaterasu: Desire for occupation, when deep down I know occupation is somewhat fear of opennes, kiliing "time"
Eos Amaterasu: *killing
Maxine Walden: killing the potential new open opportunity, Eos?
Vajra Raymaker: Can a sudden notion that you are tired, when you learn about an event going on with your friends, be resistance?
Eos Amaterasu: it's an interesting phrase, metaphor: being afraid of the opennes, which could be a stretch of time
Archmage Atlantis: There is not wrong in that
Eos Amaterasu: it happens, so I watch it
Archmage Atlantis: It only is
Pema Pera: interesting question, Vajra
doug Sosa: i resisted going into the 90 secc because i felt the atmosphere here was too gamy, and partly my doing
Paradise Tennant: interesting how just observing .. diminishes in a way .. resistance.. somehow by being aware of it . .we shrink it a bit by paying attention
Pema Pera: very much so
Eos Amaterasu: which also lets its energy be
Archmage Atlantis: I do not controlthis world
Eliza Madrigal: I thought more about the question re pab... maybe I resisted thinking about resistance :)
Maxine Walden: my experience as well, Paradise
Vajra Raymaker: Are we to suppose that resistance is something we feel, as a sensation? Lately I've been wondering whether all emotions are really felt sensations (then with added stuff onto of them)
Vajra Raymaker: Or is resistance something we figure out we are doing, rather than being a direct sensation?
Pema Pera: there may be many forms
Eos Amaterasu: resistance has subtle fear qualities
Archmage Atlantis: Vajra
Eos Amaterasu: which it tries to hide
Vajra Raymaker: k, Eos, k Pema.
Pema Pera: interesting, Eos, it is indeed hard to think about any resistance that has no fear component at all
Paradise Tennant: and a certain inertia ..sometimes we have to engage .. expend energy .. and oft times .. it is just not there
Pema Pera: ah, the energy question is fascinating, Paradise: just watching often can recharge us
Archmage Atlantis: There is only what we are a ware of
Pema Pera: we think we have a finite store of energy, but that may be misleading
Vajra Raymaker: k Arch
Archmage Atlantis: What we are not aware of, does not exist to us

doug Sosa: As soon as i relax, the energy of the universe is available to me. When I am not relaxed, i only have my own, and even then only part of it.
Paradise Tennant: yes :)
Pema Pera: :)
Maxine Walden: yes, doug
Fael Illyar: I'm starting to feel like I'll fall asleep on the computer if I don't go now. Good night everyone :)
Pema Pera: night Fael!
Eliza Madrigal: Night Fael :)
Maxine Walden: nite, Fael
SophiaSharon Larnia: night :)
stevenaia Michinaga: nicely put doug
doug Sosa: :)
Paradise Tennant: acceptance .. enjoyment .. enthousiasm are the keys that unlock a wealth of energy ..
Paradise Tennant: nite nite fael :)
stevenaia Michinaga: night Fael
Archmage Atlantis: Good night ofe
Fael Illyar: Good night Love :)
doug Sosa: we use a lot of words that have complex histories. sensation, thought, feel, emotion.
doug Sosa: Take the word enthusiasm. Come from the greek
doug Sosa: en theoes. the god within.
doug Sosa: this word was created to describe
doug Sosa: the energy of the barbarians that the citified athenians had lost,
doug Sosa: the barbarians had gods in them.
Vajra Raymaker: wow, Doug
Maxine Walden: maybe the athenians attributed their 'lost' energies to the barbarians and saw in them 'gods'
Maxine Walden: sorry, doug, you were making a point re enthusiasm and I went on a tangent...
Pema Pera: how about looking at resistance again, and to see whether resistance disappears if we don't resist resistance?
Eos Amaterasu: :-)
Paradise Tennant: for you to be free of resistance . ..one of those three has to be on the scene .. resistance is a big consumer of energy ..
doug Sosa: ineed to leave at the bell :) to all.
--BELL--
Vajra Raymaker: It is hard for me to figure out what I am resistant to, and what I am merely making calculations about, weighing
Maxine Walden: when I try to embrace resistance rather than empower it by resisting...it does seem to melt away

Pema Pera: ah, but we can watch resistance without analyzing
Pema Pera: just watching, tasting it
Vajra Raymaker: When I get angry at things, I don't usually consider that resistance. I consider it a case where the event that is happening has some kind of symbolic meaning about my past for me.
SophiaSharon Larnia: my resistance is in trusting, the process, that what i think is real
stevenaia Michinaga: I seem to measure my resistance to something my how much energy I spend "holding on"
stevenaia Michinaga: letting go is like a sigh
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Eos Amaterasu: :-)
Vajra Raymaker sighs
stevenaia Michinaga: followed my a smile
Paradise Tennant: ;)
Eliza Madrigal: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: by
Vajra Raymaker: Pema, why is resistance something we want to watch, observe? Also, why is it something we may want to study?
Pema Pera: watching is a very powerful way of dealing with anything problematic
Pema Pera: without need to control or to figure out
Pema Pera: controling and examining are often rather inefficient, compared to just watching
Vajra Raymaker: Why is resistance problematic?
Vajra Raymaker: perhaps only the one who imprisons me or the Borg, believe it is problematic
Paradise Tennant: and resistance usually means you are not fully present .
Pema Pera: without resistance, we can typically function more smoothly, easily, naturally
Paradise Tennant: you are coming up with an alternate story to what is :)
Vajra Raymaker: I need resistance to stand, e.g. resistance to gravity. Do we want to get rid of all resistance?
Pema Pera: yes, Paradise, energy spent away from what is
Pema Pera: ah, but you can stand in a way that has no resistance -- but of course we have to make sure what we mean by that
Pema Pera: tai chi is a way of moving without resistance
Paradise Tennant: yes
Pema Pera: or chi gong a way of standing without resistance
Pema Pera: and in yoga we can exploring resistance of the body very directly
Vajra Raymaker: I was being literal minded. Your muscles resist the force of gravity. So we have a bodily experience of resistance
Vajra Raymaker: resist the force of gravity when standing e.g.
Pema Pera: yes, but when muscles operate in a natural way, there is no felt sense of resistance
Paradise Tennant: hmm often maybe what we are trying to achieve is a balance between internal external forces ... between what is and what we want ..
Archmage Atlantis: Pema, there are things I must say
Paradise Tennant: in balance there is little resistance
Pema Pera: yes, balance is key
Eliza Madrigal: resting in balance, paradise?
Paradise Tennant: yes
Eliza Madrigal: relaxing into balance...mmm
Paradise Tennant: ;)
Eos Amaterasu: lack of resistance ≠ lack of energy

Eliza Madrigal: yes its funny we think we need the resistance to accomplish things sometimes
Pema Pera: yes
Archmage Atlantis: You have created this place, Pema, with hep
Archmage Atlantis: *hel[
--BELL--
Archmage Atlantis: I refuse to observe
Archmage Atlantis: It is time to see
Archmage Atlantis: To act
Archmage Atlantis: No longer tooserve
Archmage Atlantis: This world is to die
Vajra Raymaker: Engagement is crucial I think too, Arch.
Archmage Atlantis: It will happen
Vajra Raymaker: Dear all: There are webcasts of these sessions with the DL on Sunday and Tuesday: http://dalailamacenter.org/conferenc...ce-summit-2009
stevenaia Michinaga: isn't observation an important prelude to an action?
Paradise Tennant: thanks vajra .. i will make a point of listening :)
Maxine Walden: thanks, Vajra, know it is important...
Paradise Tennant: saw him in toronto .. the air kind of shimmered :)
Maxine Walden: have to go, all, enjoyed the conversation
Archmage Atlantis: Atomic bombs, climate chamge. whatever
Vajra Raymaker: There are some good people who will be talking to him, and work on the project of teaching emotional intelligence in the schools
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye Maxine
Eliza Madrigal: Bye Maxine, nice to see you :)
Pema Pera: bye Maxine!
Vajra Raymaker: bye Maxine
Maxine Walden: bye all
Eos Amaterasu: bye max
Archmage Atlantis: Pema u have given a foum
Paradise Tennant: thank you everyone interesting session .. i too have to scoot .. be well :))
Vajra Raymaker: Also at the summit, lots of women nobel peace prize winning activists and the like dialoguing with the DL
Pema Pera: bye Paradise!
Eliza Madrigal: Bye Paradise :)
Vajra Raymaker: bye Paradise
Eliza Madrigal is thankful for the pauses, and think they help me to be more effective
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye Paradise
Eos Amaterasu: bye Para
Eliza Madrigal: Thank you Vajra, will certainly watch :)
Archmage Atlantis: Those who leave, they fear
Vajra Raymaker: I like the pauses too, and would like to translate the practice of the 15 minute bell into parts of my day
Archmage Atlantis: We are born
Archmage Atlantis: We die
Eliza Madrigal nods... are a few ways to do that... Do you have the link to the bell online?
Vajra Raymaker: no Eliza. A link?
stevenaia Michinaga: bye all
Pema Pera: bye Steve!
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye Stevenaia
Eliza Madrigal: http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/mindfulclock.html
Archmage Atlantis: Our children live the sa,s
Vajra Raymaker: Bye Steven
Eliza Madrigal: Bye Steven :)
Pema Pera: It's time for me too to get some sleep. Bye everybody!
SophiaSharon Larnia: I am going to go as well, take care everyone :))
SophiaSharon Larnia: Bye Pema
Eliza Madrigal: Night Pema :)
Eliza Madrigal: Bye SophiaSharon :)
Vajra Raymaker: thanks Eliza
Eliza Madrigal: No problem Vajra :)
Vajra Raymaker: I'm off too
Archmage Atlantis: Well 3 ramin
Vajra Raymaker: Take care all
Eliza Madrigal: Bye :) Nice to see you
Eos Amaterasu: Moi aussi - it's past pumkin time here
Vajra Raymaker: : -)
Eliza Madrigal: hehe, me too Eos
Archmage Atlantis: Now w
Eos Amaterasu: Or was it golden slippers? "-)
Archmage Atlantis: 2 or 1
Eliza Madrigal: Bye Arch, I hope you find some peace tonight :)