2009.10.10 19:00 - A Cool Breeze Blows By

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

doug Sosa: hm, can't see myself yet.
doug Sosa: another beautiful dress.
doug Sosa: Yours.
--BELL--
Lingerer Xaris: hey doug
doug Sosa: now i am here.
Lingerer Xaris: sorry, had to do something
doug Sosa: hope it was fruitful.
doug Sosa: pema:)
Pema Pera: Hi Doug and Lingerer!
Lingerer Xaris: hi pema
Pema Pera: Lingerer, have you been playing with the 9-sec explorations, if I may ask?
Lingerer Xaris: no, i have not heard of that
Lingerer Xaris: what are they?
Pema Pera: on our wiki http://playasbeing.wik.is/ you can find various descriptions
doug Sosa: :)
Pema Pera: but the simplest way to describe it is this:
Pema Pera: we like to spend a few hours, at least, every day
Pema Pera: while taking 9-sec breaks, every 15 minutes
Pema Pera: to smell the roses so to speak
Lingerer Xaris: oh yes, hana once mentioned that to me
Pema Pera: in total that takes only a couple minutes, about the time it takes to brush your teeth
Pema Pera: and interestingly many people have told us that it really did change their life to some extent
doug Sosa: and even done a few times creates lots of interesting experienes to talk about.
Pema Pera: Hi Steve!
Lingerer Xaris: hi steve
Pema Pera: yes
stevenaia Michinaga: hello
stevenaia Michinaga: pls continue, did not mean to interrupt
Pema Pera: in contrast to more traditinal forms of meditation or contemplation, we trade in duration for frequency
Lingerer Xaris: :)
Pema Pera: it turns out that if you do something, anything, many times a day, it gets under your skin, invariably
Lingerer Xaris: Pema, what have you experienced doing this?
Pema Pera: no matter how short
doug Sosa: I find myself realy struggling with hos to describe what happens, the transitions in and out, the comparison with falling asleep..
Pema Pera: we all experience different things, Lingerer
Pema Pera: and each of us also different things each day
Pema Pera: it's hard to give a broad brush summary
Pema Pera: the one suggestion I made, when I introduced the idea, is: try to drop what you have in order to see what you are
Pema Pera: and everybody fills that in in their own way
doug Sosa: for me it is mostly hightened appreciation of my experience, with less categories., the goal being experience without judgements.
Pema Pera: so if you want to try that, even just for a few hours, it would be nice to hear, next time, how it struck you
doug Sosa: so for example, objects tend to float a bit, less substantial in shape but more substantial in experience.

stevenaia Michinaga: like when you open a window and a cool breeze blows by, everything changes for about 9 secs before things return, except the memory of the brief observation
doug Sosa: nice!
Pema Pera: :)
doug Sosa: except to realize that here is no window, only the openness, and then the window returns... and shuts..
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Hana
Pema Pera: Here are some excerpts of what different people reported, a while ago: http://playasbeing.wik.is/PaB_log_excerpts
Lingerer Xaris: HI Hana
Pema Pera: Hi Hana!
Lingerer Xaris: you looked so cute when you appeared
stevenaia Michinaga: yes doug
Hana Furlough: hi everyone~
doug Sosa: :)
Pema Pera: nicely magical description, Doug!
stevenaia Michinaga: yet you can continue to think about those 9 second
doug Sosa: in my experience, thinking about the 9 sec tends to bring me back into it. I seem to not be able to prevent that, even if i wanted t.
Hana Furlough: that's nice
Hana Furlough: like second nature?
Pema Pera: like a sign "don't read this"
Hana Furlough: !!!
doug Sosa: ha.
doug Sosa: think about the 9 sec but keep your distance, you might fall in :)
Pema Pera: :)
Pema Pera: another metaphor: we tend to inflate ourselves, our own feeling of importance, in any task we focus on -- and the 9 sec helps to puncture the balloon
doug Sosa: I wonder how Lewis carrol fell down the rabbit hole with alice. Seems similar..
Pema Pera: the rabit did use a watch, after all, perhaps he was doing the 9 sec
Hana Furlough: lol
doug Sosa: or from the 1000 and one nights : "this carpet can take you from here to Istanbul in less time than it tkes to piss."
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Paradise
Pema Pera: btw, Lingerer, 9 sec is kind of a pun: there are 900 seconds in a quarter hour, hence 9 secs four times an hour constitutes a 1% time tax
doug Sosa: :)
Pema Pera: hi Paradise!
Hana Furlough: hi paradise~
Paradise Tennant: hiya steve doug pema lingerer hana :))
doug Sosa: So, doing te 9 se you'v paid our tax. Effortless.
Pema Pera: 99% of the time we allow ourselves to be lost in an activity, and 1% of the time we wake up :)
Hana Furlough: in that sense, nothing could be less taxing
Pema Pera: hehehe
Pema Pera: we're pretty cheap
Hana Furlough: lol
doug Sosa: which goes back to, pema you said the 9 sec was like a pun. what's the pun?
--BELL--

Pema Pera: oh, very simple: I could have said "a few seconds" or "about ten seconds" but 9 seconds nicely constituted a 1% time tax, and makes the whole thing just a bit more mysterious, inviting the initial question "why 9?"
Pema Pera: and of course there is that old Beatles song "Number 9" . . .
Pema Pera: and there is "cloud 9" . . .
Hana Furlough: smiles
Pema Pera: Paradise, we were describing for Lingerer some of our experiences with the 9-sec breaks -- would you like to say something about your explorations with that?
doug Sosa: So I've been trying 9se in the middle of activity, not dropping the activity, letting its momentum go on, but being aware without judgement, no need to say
doug Sosa: this is good, or bad, or painful or complex..
doug Sosa: i become much more ware of... what? ... hard to describe...
Paradise Tennant: well mostly I focus on my breath always finds it brings me back to my senses ..in the present moment and sometimes there is a sense of space to the interval that is not there when you are busy living
Paradise Tennant: I set an alarm on my watch which chimes on the quarter hour fairly softly
Lingerer Xaris: nice
doug Sosa: for me the "preent momment" actually morphs into a much more open time/timeless space/spaceless..
Pema Pera: yes, the openness can be quite surprising -- and I often find that far less than 9 seconds is needed to regain that openness; often it comes back in the first second or less
doug Sosa: but not empty..
doug Sosa: ye, even anticipation starts it.
Pema Pera: :)
Pema Pera: Pavlov PaB !
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, some long dreams take only seconds
Pema Pera: So as you can see, Lingerer, we have many ways to "do" something during those short breaks, from watching the breath to letting things go to more specific forms of explorations
Pema Pera: for example, a focus on a short sentence, like "appreciate the presence of appearance"
Pema Pera: APA for short
Pema Pera: I have found that kind of practice very powerful
doug Sosa: That of course is one of te longest short sentences.
Pema Pera: and it is new each time I do it
Hana Furlough: do you always use that exact sentence, pema?
Pema Pera: not always, there are others as well, but it is nice to return to the same sentence, like drilling a hole and going deeper and deeper
doug Sosa: how is it in japanese?
Pema Pera: the sentence "Play as Being" itself is quite powerful too!
stevenaia Michinaga: hello gina
Pema Pera: I haven't tried to translate it, Doug :)
gina Broono: hello everyone
Pema Pera: Hi Gina!
Hana Furlough: hi gina~
Paradise Tennant: hiya gina
Pema Pera: Good to see you again, Gina :)
Lingerer Xaris: hi gina
doug Sosa: That's amazing, Pema..
gina Broono: same here Pema and all familiar faces
doug Sosa: I may try it out in chinese tomorrow.

Pema Pera: btw, Gina and I met for a drink at Penn Station, earlier this week, in RL
Pema Pera: always nice to meet avatars, or their typists, in a different realm!
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
gina Broono: and a lovely salad
gina Broono: Steve u r next
gina Broono: been years we tried to meet
stevenaia Michinaga: indeed
Pema Pera: Paradise, any chance you can come to the Princeton retreat, a few weeks from now?
stevenaia Michinaga: love Penn Station oyster bar
doug Sosa: I've been trying even longer but didn't even know your name or appearance in RL or SL, so has made it harder :)
Paradise Tennant: was thinking of it ..
Pema Pera: great!
Paradise Tennant: it would not by any chance be dog friendly ?
Paradise Tennant: lol
Pema Pera: oh, I think we can take care of a dog, somehow
Paradise Tennant: if not not a problem I can leave him with my walker
Pema Pera: but I'd have to think about the logistics
Pema Pera: haven't had a visitor with a dog yet, at least not a dog that was not left in an apartment
doug Sosa: Give him to a policeman "I found this dog" and then claim him later. "Oh thank you for finding my dog!"
Pema Pera wondering whether the dog likes to sleep a lot
Paradise Tennant: he is very quiet . and he sleeps a lot
Paradise Tennant: all allergy free a poodle mix
doug Sosa: Prozac?
Pema Pera: do you think the dog could quietly sit in a corner of the room, while we meet?
Paradise Tennant: lol
Paradise Tennant: yes
--BELL--
Paradise Tennant: he comes to my book club ..
Pema Pera: then I see no problem -- though when we go to a restaurant, in the U.S., unlike Europe, we won't be able to let the dog in, I'm afraid . . . .
Paradise Tennant: are we meeting on the grounds of the university .. may be issues there ?
Paradise Tennant: he can sit in the car .. :)
Paradise Tennant: during dinner :)
Pema Pera: well, then there should be no problem (if it is not yet freezing in November)
Paradise Tennant: kk
Pema Pera: we will be meeting on the small campus of the Institute for Advanced Study where I work
doug Sosa: kk?
Paradise Tennant: are there pet rules
stevenaia Michinaga: (kk) shorthand for "ok"
Lingerer Xaris: are there some Princeton peeps here?
doug Sosa: ah
Hana Furlough: lol yes, lingerer
Pema Pera: http://www.internetslang.com/KK.asp : KK means "OK, cool"
Paradise Tennant: ;)
stevenaia Michinaga: I;ve been using it incorrectly ... :)
Pema Pera: Well, I am a semi-peep I guess Lingerer
Pema Pera: while Hana is a full-time peep
Lingerer Xaris: i'm not, but i know about the Institute
Pema Pera: I live in New York City, work in Princeton
Pema Pera: while Hana lives and works there
Hana Furlough: lol
Hana Furlough: yep i'm a full-time peep
Lingerer Xaris: yes, Hana is a full-time peep in many ways
Hana Furlough: !!!

stevenaia Michinaga: when you have some semblence of a schedule , Pema, I will see about a Saturday appearence
Pema Pera: my tentative schedule is a two-day meeting, Friday and Saturday
doug Sosa: peep?
Pema Pera: people coming from far away can choose to stay one night, two nights or three nights, depending on how much of the head and tail of the two days they want to catch
Pema Pera: http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/peeps : dude, person of unspecified gender
Pema Pera: (you should learn to use Google, Doug!)
doug Sosa: more fun to ask.
Paradise Tennant: sometimes think I have google for a brain ..eliminates the need to remember things ;) it is just there a sec away
Pema Pera: I'll send out an email to the playasbeing group soon, asking who is considering coming to Princeton,and then we can see what we can do about lodging
Paradise Tennant: what will be the focus of the meeting pema ?
doug Sosa: so wish i could come. But good to have wishes.
Paradise Tennant: wishes are the fabric of dreams and dreams keep us whole :)
Pema Pera: the basic idea is similar to what we do here, but then more intensely, for two reasons: we actually meet in person and the sessions are longer
Pema Pera: So far we have had one RL PaB retreat, a month and a bit ago in California
Pema Pera: and that was a great success
Pema Pera: most sessions were just a couple hours
Pema Pera: and each time we spend five or ten minutes doing some kind of exercise/exploration
gina Broono: sorry , I need ot move on
Lingerer Xaris: i like what you said Paradise. lovely
gina Broono: see you next ime
Pema Pera: followed by half an hour or so comparing notes
stevenaia Michinaga: bye gina
Paradise Tennant: nite nite gina
Pema Pera: sharing experiences
Pema Pera: bye Gina!
Hana Furlough: bye gina~
Pema Pera: the explorations grounded and focused the discussions, while the shared converations helped broaden what we learned in the explorations

doug Sosa: 外観の存在に感謝
doug Sosa: from google translator.
Pema Pera: APA, hehehe
Hana Furlough: lol
Hana Furlough: !!!
Paradise Tennant: :)
Hana Furlough: i think i would go with 相 for appearance instead
doug Sosa: holding the eye. good.
Pema Pera: yes, that's the weakest word
Pema Pera: appreciation is translated as "thanks"
Pema Pera: or "thankfulness"
doug Sosa: so more work. but these differences are enlightening to struggle with.
Paradise Tennant: appreciation in its fullness :)
Pema Pera: :)
--BELL--
doug Sosa: PaB is play, serious, and sociable. A model conversation.
Paradise Tennant: hmm conversation .. is sometimes a missing component in our lives ..
doug Sosa: Most are too fast paced. poele seem to learn from the soundbyte culture.
doug Sosa: people..
Hana Furlough: i need to get going
Paradise Tennant: we are plugged into a huge stream of information .. bombarded with it really ..but the mutual sharing of ideas is .. often missing
Hana Furlough: a lovely night to all~
Paradise Tennant: good night hana
doug Sosa: bye.
Pema Pera: bye Hana!
Lingerer Xaris: agreed
Pema Pera: that's precisely what we tried to overcome, Paradise, in our retreat: instead of just a stream of information, we mixed in the personal experience of each doing a kind of short practice, in a shared environment, and then we took that as a starting point for the next half hour of conversation
Pema Pera: it made an amazing difference
doug Sosa: kind and gentle and serious.
Paradise Tennant: ;)
stevenaia Michinaga: I must be off, see you tomarrow
Pema Pera: bye Steve!
Paradise Tennant: nite nite steve
Pema Pera: he literally took off!
doug Sosa: me too. thanks all.
Paradise Tennant: ;)
Pema Pera: bye Doug!
Paradise Tennant: good nite doug :)
Lingerer Xaris: I'm going to go, too. Lovely to spend time with both of you again.
Pema Pera: nice to have you here again, Lingerer!
Paradise Tennant: :) good night lingerer .. :)
Pema Pera: hehehe, we have to type faster to catch the goers :)
Paradise Tennant: yes ..will look for your im on the retreat details.. :) will be fun :)
Pema Pera: do you get the playasbeing emails?
Paradise Tennant: yes
Paradise Tennant: there are a lot of them!
Pema Pera: we generally spread the information not via IMs but via the email google group
Pema Pera: yeah, sorry about that :)
Pema Pera: we can be a pretty active bunch . . . .
Paradise Tennant: no worries . :)
Pema Pera: actually, let me write the Princeton email right now, just so it doesn't get postponed. You'll have it in ten minutes!
Pema Pera: Looking forward to meeting you in RL too then!
Paradise Tennant: if it is going to be problematic with the dog ..I will leave him home .. :) do not want cause any added logistical issues
Paradise Tennant: take care pema :)
Paradise Tennant: big wave from toronto
Pema Pera: it may be easier to leave the dog home
Pema Pera: if that is no problem
Paradise Tennant: kk :)
Pema Pera: but if it is, you can take the dog with you
Pema Pera: good night, Paradise!
Paradise Tennant: good night pema :)