2009.11.11 19:00 - Chi

The Guardian for this meeting was stevenaia Michinaga. The comments are by stevenaia Michinaga.

A small group and a mellow evening.....

Eden Haiku: Hi Steve;-)

stevenaia Michinaga: hello edan

stevenaia Michinaga: how are you?

Eden Haiku: Good. I am healing a cold so I won',t stay long tonight.

Eden Haiku: And you, how are you?

stevenaia Michinaga: yes, sleep is good for a cold

Eden Haiku: I have been wanting to ask you the meaning of the «naia» in your first name.

stevenaia Michinaga: my RL Name is steven

Eden Haiku: ah...

stevenaia Michinaga: I am an architect and I use the architect's professional organization AIA as my suffix

Eden Haiku: And it gives you this russian aura ;-)

stevenaia Michinaga: :)

stevenaia Michinaga: The Russian aura is yours :)

Eden Haiku: Yes, my projection...

stevenaia Michinaga: hello Paradise

Eden Haiku: HI Paradise!

Paradise Tennant: hiya steve .. eden :)

Paradise Tennant: sorry if I interrupted :)

Eden Haiku: We were talking about Steve's russian aura...;-)

stevenaia Michinaga: no just beginning

Paradise Tennant: :)

Paradise Tennant: ahh

Eden Haiku: Joking...

Paradise Tennant: how are you two tonight :)

stevenaia Michinaga: I m good, you?

Paradise Tennant: very well thanks .. waiting for dinner to cook .. drinking mint ginger tea :)

stevenaia Michinaga: :)

stevenaia Michinaga: tea sounds like a good thing, (for you too Eden) brb

Eden Haiku: yes...I drank a lot of ginger tea today...

Paradise Tennant: :)

Eden Haiku: it is almost bedtime for me. his cold is making me a bit feverish. I wait for the bell and then I will be off.

Eden Haiku: *This

Paradise Tennant: sorry you are not well .. sleep is always the best remedy :)

Eden Haiku: yes.

stevenaia Michinaga: :)

stevenaia Michinaga: I said that

Paradise Tennant: :)

stevenaia Michinaga: hello pila

Paradise Tennant: funny how one little microbe can you lay truly low ..

Eden Haiku: Hi Pila.

Pila Mulligan: greetings Paradise, Eden and Steve

Paradise Tennant: *lay you

Paradise Tennant: hiya pila gtsy :)

--BELL--

Eden Haiku: Vanishing into a sound sleep. Have a nice session!

stevenaia Michinaga: brb, tea ready

Paradise Tennant: sweet dreams

Paradise Tennant: :)

Paradise Tennant: how you tonight pila :)

Pila Mulligan: bye

Pila Mulligan: fine thanks ... you?

Paradise Tennant: very well thanks ..

stevenaia Michinaga: back

Paradise Tennant: a little sleepy .. always sleepy this time of night :) been having just lovely weather here .. really mild .. perfect indian summer weather in November :)

stevenaia Michinaga: aww eden went to bed :)

Pila Mulligan: yep

Paradise Tennant: she was not feeling well

stevenaia Michinaga: after seeing Eos' page for the retreat, I ponder what to contribute

Pila Mulligan: what page, Steve?

stevenaia Michinaga: let me look it up

stevenaia Michinaga: http://playasbeing.wik.is/index.php?title=PaB_Retreats/2009-11_Princeton%2C_NJ

Pila Mulligan: ehh, a dog :)

stevenaia Michinaga: just a visitor who joined us

Paradise Tennant: yes he was a cutie looked alot like blue :)

Pila Mulligan: everyone looks much the same as I imagined except Eos

Pila Mulligan: for some reason I never have associated a rl image with Eos :)

stevenaia Michinaga: yes, thought he would be more monk-like

stevenaia Michinaga: less linebacker -like

stevenaia Michinaga: :)

Paradise Tennant: funny how rl and sl blur sometimes

Pila Mulligan: :)

Paradise Tennant: well really sl is rl

Paradise Tennant: just formatted a little different :)

stevenaia Michinaga: nods

Paradise Tennant: enjoyed the retreat very much .. was just a really nice group of people with good energy :)

Pila Mulligan: have I ever showed you a rl Pila pic?

Paradise Tennant: blinks don't think so ?

stevenaia Michinaga: yes, brb,, fetching TB for sore ankled spouse

Pila Mulligan: oh, still sore -- it's been a while

Paradise Tennant: ouch sorry to hear that steve ..thought it would be pretty much mended now .. must have been just an awful break

stevenaia Michinaga: yes, it will be a while, some aspect of injuries never heal , she will be human barometer

Paradise Tennant: ouch

Pila Mulligan: what is TB? (fetching TB ... above)

--BELL--

stevenaia Michinaga: TAB (my "A" key need fixing

Paradise Tennant: lol

Paradise Tennant: well ..we should pick a topic .. maybe something we touched on in the retreat ..steve ? any ideas?

stevenaia Michinaga: I wanted to mention to Pila, when doing one of our 10 minute meditations, I felt comfortable doing it standing up

stevenaia Michinaga: with hands floating in front of my dontien

stevenaia Michinaga: I can never stand still for 10 minutes like that in class

Pila Mulligan: hi Cal

stevenaia Michinaga: hello Calvino, nice to see you again

Calvino Rabeni: How are you all?

Pila Mulligan: funny how the comfort factor varies then Steve, between class and retreat

Pila Mulligan: fine thanks .. and you?

stevenaia Michinaga: looking for correct spelling of that

Pila Mulligan: tantien

Pila Mulligan: that's how i spell it anyway

stevenaia Michinaga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dantian

stevenaia Michinaga: thank you

Calvino Rabeni: abdominal locua?

Pila Mulligan: yep, i use old Chinese

Paradise Tennant: hiya calvino :)

Pila Mulligan: abdominal locua?

Pila Mulligan: now there's a term I never heard before :)

stevenaia Michinaga: sounds latin

stevenaia Michinaga: no wiki page for that one

stevenaia Michinaga: :)

Calvino Rabeni: therthere ought to be one

Pila Mulligan: what is it, Calvino

Pila Mulligan: ?

stevenaia Michinaga: (a wiki page for abdominal locua)

Calvino Rabeni: yes I meant locus, but a page for each of these things

Pila Mulligan: :)

Pila Mulligan: the tantien is the final phase of chi circulation in breathing

Pila Mulligan: the destination so to speak

Paradise Tennant: :)

Calvino Rabeni: well since I just arrived, what was the context - chi gung practices?

Calvino Rabeni: or perhaps, phenomenology

Paradise Tennant: :)

Calvino Rabeni: :)

Paradise Tennant: hmm meditation standing up :)

Pila Mulligan: standing meditation :)

Paradise Tennant: at the recent retreat

stevenaia Michinaga: I have been taking TaiChi in conjunction with Chi Gung for the past year or so and tried a standing position for the first time outside of class to meditate at this past weekend's RL retreat

stevenaia Michinaga: it did not get tiring as it does in class, for some reason

stevenaia Michinaga: there were no pillows at the retreat

--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: but comfy chairs .. was held at princeton u.. near where einstein had his office .. felt smarter just by being there :)

stevenaia Michinaga: one of the topics or subjects of out meditation this weekend was Groundedness

Pila Mulligan: ergo standing :)

stevenaia Michinaga: seems it was an appropriate environment to feel grounded

stevenaia Michinaga: nods

Pila Mulligan: indeed

Paradise Tennant: and being seeing ...which I was blinking quite a lot on :)

stevenaia Michinaga: the grounds there did seem sacred in some ways

Paradise Tennant: nods

Paradise Tennant: picks up her princeton acorn .. :) and smiles lots of oak trees :)

stevenaia Michinaga: :)

Paradise Tennant: but did not see one squirrel :)

stevenaia Michinaga: to many dogs

Paradise Tennant: nods

Calvino Rabeni: btw, do you have the red or the gray ones?

Pila Mulligan: we have none :) (Hawaii)

Calvino Rabeni: ok, because the red are more dynamic.

Calvino Rabeni: and fun

stevenaia Michinaga: gray in the east, black in the midwest

stevenaia Michinaga: wonders what makes a squirrel fun

Paradise Tennant: hmm we have grey .. brown and black .. not sure I have ever seen a red on

Paradise Tennant: one

Paradise Tennant: lol

Pila Mulligan: running around chattering, like onigoko

Pila Mulligan: Cal, have you seen the odd dance that is done here sometimes?

Pila Mulligan: playing

Calvino Rabeni: no, where?

Calvino Rabeni: red squirrels have great play

Pila Mulligan: perhaps we should do it

Paradise Tennant: chasing each other through the branches stealing each others' cash of winter food ..:) trying to out do each other in seeing how far one can jump?

Pila Mulligan: Steve, Paradise ...?

Calvino Rabeni: sometimes alone, they leap straight up and turn around.

stevenaia Michinaga: I'm game, better give one to Cal

Pila Mulligan: Cal, that script I just gave you ...

Pila Mulligan: can you find it in your inventory?

Calvino Rabeni: opened. I'm SL-naive

Paradise Tennant: ok what odd dance?

Pila Mulligan: ok, right click and choose wear

Pila Mulligan: oh, Paradise, is this new for you also??

Pila Mulligan: right click and choose wear

Calvino Rabeni: then to run it?

Pila Mulligan: no, wait please ....

Pila Mulligan: make sure everyone is ready :)

Paradise Tennant: yes

Pila Mulligan: does yours show worn Paradise?

Pila Mulligan: show worn*

Pila Mulligan: 'worn'

Paradise Tennant: ?

stevenaia Michinaga: search "worn" in your inventory

Pila Mulligan: you need to click the script and select 'wear' :)

Pila Mulligan: this may not seem worth all the trouble .... yet :)

Pila Mulligan: it will be :P

Pila Mulligan: ready Steve?

stevenaia Michinaga: :)

Pila Mulligan: Paradise?

--BELL--

Pila Mulligan: at the end of the 90 secs we start :)

Paradise Tennant: ok I do not have the dance in inventory ?

Calvino Rabeni: how to activate?

Pila Mulligan: just a sec, Paradise is still setting up

Pila Mulligan: hi Storm

stevenaia Michinaga: hello storm

Pila Mulligan: just in time to dance

Pila Mulligan: setting up onigo**

Storm Nordwind: Oh really? How wonderful!

Storm Nordwind: uh oh!

Pila Mulligan: :)

Storm Nordwind: one moment please

Pila Mulligan: ok

Storm Nordwind: ok!

Pila Mulligan: onigokko

Pila Mulligan: onigokko

Pila Mulligan: :)

Pila Mulligan: stop

Calvino Rabeni: :) mg

Pila Mulligan: that's the play part :)

stevenaia Michinaga: one of them

Pila Mulligan: yes

Pila Mulligan: fun, isn't it :)

Calvino Rabeni: yes, can one refine that script?

Pila Mulligan: one maybe, not me :)

stevenaia Michinaga: refined chaos

stevenaia Michinaga: ?

Pila Mulligan: Storm could no doubt :)

Pila Mulligan: I'm amazed how no one ever bumps into anyone else

Storm Nordwind: Yes perhaps. But please don't ask me to change the animation!

stevenaia Michinaga: well I must go

Pila Mulligan: bye Steve

stevenaia Michinaga: bye all

Storm Nordwind: Bye Steve. Sorry to have come so late!

Pila Mulligan: Steve mentioned he was happy to have done of the 10 minute meditations at Princeton standing up

Paradise Tennant: :) nice to see you storm :) how did you enjoy princeton :)

Storm Nordwind: I enjoyed Princeton last month, but was not at the retreat this month I'm afraid

Paradise Tennant: smiles I was .. really enjoyed it!

Storm Nordwind: Great!!

Storm Nordwind: Princeton is stimulating. The retreat was no doubt amazing like the previous one. So put the two together and... :))

Storm Nordwind: I had a pleasant duty to do as a newlywed... it was my wife's 25th anniversary working for her hospital and there was an awards banquet celebrating that

Pila Mulligan: nice

Storm Nordwind: So no retreat for me this time

Pila Mulligan: have you met Threedee Storm? he also lives in Denver I believe

Pila Mulligan: Threedee Shepherd

Storm Nordwind: I haven't yet. My wife and I offered to chat to him about a project he was doing, but he hasn't taken us up on it yet

Paradise Tennant: :)

Pila Mulligan: he used to be here often, but not lately -- he seems pretty busy with his projects

Paradise Tennant: amazing how small the world becomes through sl :)

Pila Mulligan: true

Storm Nordwind: yes indeed

Storm Nordwind: That is how I met both Pema and my then wife-to-be

Pila Mulligan: Paradise attends rl jams with sl musicians

Paradise Tennant: well human connection is connection ..no matter what the medium

Pila Mulligan: there was one recently that had streaming broadcast video

Paradise Tennant: yes I have been to two

Storm Nordwind: Very cool!

Paradise Tennant: yes ..pretty easy to do

Pila Mulligan: the broadcast video may be an idea for a PaB retreat actually

Storm Nordwind: I have yet to meet musicians here in RL

Storm Nordwind: You play Paradise?

Paradise Tennant: smiles no .. but learning guitar :) I am a listener :)

Storm Nordwind smiles

Storm Nordwind: Listening is very good!

Storm Nordwind: I know too many people who play without listening!

--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: yes music is not complete really until someone listens

Pila Mulligan: :)

Storm Nordwind: Do you know the Zen story about listening to music?

Calvino Rabeni: no, tell?

Paradise Tennant: no :)

Pila Mulligan listening

Storm Nordwind:

There were two close friends in China of whom one was a harper who made mellifluous music with his harp and his comrade an avid listener. When the friend played the harp or sang about a mountain, the listener friend would say, "I can see the mountain in front of us". When he played about the water, the listener would say : "Here is the running stream". One day the listener fell ill and died. The other friend cut the strings of his harp and ceased to play it again. Since then cutting of the harp string became a sign of intimate friendship.

Pila Mulligan: hmm :)

Paradise Tennant: sigh .. sad story ..

Calvino Rabeni: a harp can be surprisingly evocative

Calvino Rabeni: the word Psalms I hear derives from "twitching of fingers" as on a harp

Paradise Tennant: :)

Paradise Tennant: have a lovely celtic harp in inventory somewhere that is playable in sl :)

Paradise Tennant: there are some great scripted instruments here

Storm Nordwind nods in agreement

Pila Mulligan will slip away for dinner now -- nice to sit (and dance) with you Paradise, Storm and Calvino

Calvino Rabeni: bye P.

Paradise Tennant: nite nite pila :) big wave from toronto :)

Pila Mulligan: aloha

Paradise Tennant: aloha :)

Storm Nordwind: I should really do the same too. It is nearly 9:30 here and I have not eaten this evening

Paradise Tennant: ok nice to see you storm :)

Paradise Tennant: I may turn in too

Storm Nordwind: You too, as always

Paradise Tennant: calvino a pleasure to meet you :)

Calvino Rabeni: indeed

Storm Nordwind: Namaste

Storm Nordwind waves

Paradise Tennant: take care calvino ..i hope you have a good night ..till next time :)