2010.01.16 07:00 -The Five Ways of PaB

The Guardian for this meeting was sophia Placebo. The comments are by sophia Placebo.

Pema Pera: Hi Eliza!
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Pema :)
Pema Pera: Nice to see you again!
Eliza Madrigal: Yes, you too! Are you settled for a few days?
Pema Pera: yup
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Pema Pera: yesterday was my last day at work in Japan, for now at least
Pema Pera: a few days free, more or less, and then off to Malta :-)
Eliza Madrigal: Arabella said there are ten total?
Eliza Madrigal: Exceiting :)
Pema Pera: yes
Eliza Madrigal: Ha Exciting, too
Pema Pera: indeed!
Pema Pera: and also the idea to go to Malta
Pema Pera: has a kind of magical ring to it . . . .
Eliza Madrigal: yes I'm really looking forward to hearing all about it when everyone returns
Pema Pera: btw, this is Sophia's slot, isn't it?
Eliza Madrigal: yes... she might be delayed
Eliza Madrigal: sometimes internet troubles, too
Pema Pera: just wondering whether I should take the log
Eliza Madrigal: I'll grab it if she's not here by the time I need to leave... have a few minutes
Pema Pera: thank you, that's very kind of you!
Eliza Madrigal: no worries
Eliza Madrigal: So do you all have a general outline for practice for Malta, or...
Pema Pera: no, not really
Pema Pera: neither did I have one for the previous two RL retreat
Pema Pera: things unfolded as they did
Eliza Madrigal: Ah :)
Pema Pera: though I do often prepare some fall back ideas, I wind up not using them
Pema Pera: one fall back idea, which I may actually suggest, is to go back to the five ways of PaB
Pema Pera: relaxation, therapy, humanism, transcendtal, radical rest
Pema Pera: *transcendental
Pema Pera: (still trying to find better names for them)
Eliza Madrigal: Hm, yes... therapy is one of the five ways?
Pema Pera: perhaps number four could be "spiritual practice"
Pema Pera: well, they idea is this:
Pema Pera: the simplest way to use the 9 sec is to just relax
Pema Pera: no view, no plans, no aims, just letting off steam -- a good start for sure
Pema Pera: 2) do the 9 sec with some aim: to get more insight into your own functioning
Pema Pera: a kind of therapy
Pema Pera: 3) do it to make the world a better place, but without any religious aspect: humanism
Pema Pera: 4) to make the world a better place, but with some kind of extra inspiration, from spiritual practice
Pema Pera: 5) a radical "starting at the end" approach, where Being comes in
Pema Pera: interestingly, 5) is a kind of rest too -- Tilopa's last line!
sophia Placebo: Hello
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Sophia! :)
Pema Pera: so there is a circle there . . . . 5) connects with 1)
Pema Pera: HI Sophia!
sophia Placebo: sorry iam late
Pema Pera: welcome!
Eliza Madrigal: Ah, yes I've applied it that way often... re 2.. sometimes 2/3/4 are mingled
Pema Pera: yes!
Pema Pera: in general, I find myself oscillating between different mixes of all five
Pema Pera: like mxing primary colors in making a painting
Eliza Madrigal smiles
Pema Pera: in fact, each minute that I'm working with PaB shows a different mix coming out . . .
--BELL--
Eliza Madrigal: That's inspiring Pema... the PaB practice pallete
sophia Placebo is reading up
Pema Pera: During the California retreat, we started off by going over each of the five orientations, as a first exploration/exercise/practice
Pema Pera: so we may want to do that in Malta too -- we'll see!
Eliza Madrigal: I've got to run. Nice to see you both, Pema and Sophia :)
Pema Pera: Bye Eliza!
sophia Placebo: to make the whole world better or to make your of the whole world better or just to make the world around you better
sophia Placebo: bye Eliza !
Eliza Madrigal: Hugs :)
Pema Pera: all of those, I think, Sophia -- at least in principle
Pema Pera: but not as a direct aim or goal
sophia Placebo: hello Bert
Pema Pera: rather as something that might happen by itself
Pema Pera: hi Bertram!
Bertram Jacobus: hello sophia and pema :-)
sophia Placebo: to make the world better by not participating
Pema Pera: or by not forcefully participating
Pema Pera: by not trying to shape the world according to limited ideals
Pema Pera: but instead by participating in ways that seem most natural, given each situation
Bertram Jacobus: tyvm for informing me sophia ! ... :-)
sophia Placebo: yw :)
sophia Placebo: hmm how could that be ? most natural vs limited ideals?
Pema Pera: Trying to live up to an ideal has the limitation that any ideal itself is limited
Pema Pera: Trying to live in a way that is most natural may be more flexible, more free, more open to whatever presents itself
Pema Pera: Hi Wol!
sophia Placebo: Hi wOL
Wol Euler: hello pema, sophia, bertram
Pema Pera: Does that make sense, Sophia?
Pema Pera: Or do you see it differently?
sophia Placebo: omg you are a pixil demon
Bertram Jacobus: hey wol ! ... :-)
Wol Euler: :)
sophia Placebo: hmm i got the idea of limited ideals but the oppiste is just another ideal
--BELL--
Wol Euler: hello magic, welcome to second life (8 days old :)
Magic Leimes: Hi wol
Magic Leimes: hi everyone
Pema Pera: Hi Magic!
sophia Placebo: Hello Magic :) we were not ignoring you but we practice 90 seconds of silence each 15 mints
Magic Leimes: hi sophia
Magic Leimes: hi pema
Wol Euler: have you been here before, magic?
Pema Pera: Yes, good point, Sophia. Any statement we make can become a kind of ideal. And any ideal can be held lightly and used in a natural way, so it is not a black-and-white situation, for sure
sophia Placebo nods
Wol Euler: ty sophia
sophia Placebo: np :)
sophia Placebo: can you explain starting at the end point ? i read some logs discussing it but i didnt get it really
Pema Pera: in general, many forms of spiritual practice start with the notion that we are missing something, and that we have to work hard to find something
Pema Pera: to reach a form of enlightenment, or insight, or realization
Pema Pera: and in many ways, such an approach can be very inspiring
Pema Pera: however, the Play as Being approach is different
Pema Pera: Starting with Being is a kind of focus on what is there already
Pema Pera: with Being, as always there, as a kind of resource
Pema Pera: so in that sense there is no path that we have to traverse, nothing to search for or reach for
Pema Pera: so you could say "we are already at the end of the path"
Pema Pera: and the challenge is then to express that kind of attitude
Pema Pera: to celebrate, rather than to search
sophia Placebo: hmm
sophia Placebo: so i can celebrate the searching urge too no ?
Pema Pera: oh sure! And search for ways to celebrate as well -- it is more a difference in orientation than in action
sophia Placebo: ok i get it now , thank you
Bertram Jacobus: isn´t the dsog chen approach similar pema ?
Pema Pera: and besides, that is my interpretation; if others have other ones, that's fine too, and I'd be happy to hear and learn from them
Pema Pera: yes, it is Bertram, and zo is zen, and zo is Hinduist Advaita Vedanta as well as various other approaches in other religions
--BELL--
Bertram Jacobus: i´m happy to be here, hear the birds sing, the water sound, quite calm with you people here - ty ...
Pema Pera: :)
Pema Pera: Do you have any questions about Play as Being, Magic?
Magic Leimes: Nope ;-)
Wol Euler: :)
Pema Pera: :>)
Bertram Jacobus: (she crashed) ...
Wol Euler: ah well
Bertram Jacobus: all seem to be happy here (?) ... :-)
Wol Euler: very :)
Bertram Jacobus: how do you know wol ? ;-)
Wol Euler: well, I only speak for myself
Wol Euler: as always
Bertram Jacobus: ah !
Bertram Jacobus: okayy ! ... :o)
Pema Pera thinks that Bert may well have guessed right :)
Bertram Jacobus: and are there any reasons for it wol ? :-)
Wol Euler: in my case, I had a good week and a nice morning today and the anticipation of a fairly calm day tomorrow
Wol Euler: belly full of sushi and a cup of tea help too
Wol Euler shrugs. I'm a dog, feed me and I become happy.
Bertram Jacobus: hehe. i see. and what was fine about the last week ? work conditions ? :-)
Bertram Jacobus: lol
Pema Pera: My day started, formally, with this session, at midnight . . . and I think it's time for me to get some sleep :-) It's about 1 am here.
Wol Euler: well, boss was out for two days, so I had peace and quiet to get some work done! :)
Wol Euler: ah, yes. well earned, pema
Wol Euler: sleep well, take care
Bertram Jacobus: ah okay pema - then have a nice nite please ! :-)
Pema Pera: bye for now, enjoy your days!
Wol Euler: wb magic
Magic Leimes: thank you
Bertram Jacobus: today i saw a dog, just free from his cord, started to run into a park - SO happy ! :-))
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Bertram Jacobus: i like to see that , notice that sometimes ... :-)
Bertram Jacobus: pure joy of life ...
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Bertram Jacobus: so nice
Wol Euler: little children are like that too, their emotions are so close to the surface
Bertram Jacobus: hm ! but i don´t see a similar example to that strong acivity linked with joy as the picture i told ... ;-)
sophia Placebo: bye pema
Wol Euler: it wasn't meant to compete or contrast :)
Bertram Jacobus: ah. okay ... very kind wol ... :-)
--BELL--
sophia Placebo: i g2g , seems wol is stuck in animation though :)
Wol Euler: bye sophia, enjoy the weekend
Magic Leimes: bye sophia
Wol Euler: I look ok to myself, what am I doing?
Bertram Jacobus: bye sophia, i´ll dismiss you im ... ;-)
Magic Leimes: i dont see you very well wol
Bertram Jacobus: nothing here wol
Bertram Jacobus: all ok here also
Bertram Jacobus: very special outfit wol - you created it by your own ? :-)
Wol Euler: ty
Magic Leimes: you look great wol
Wol Euler: oh no, my talents are not *nearly* enough to make this
Wol Euler: and ty
Wol Euler: it's by one of Alpha Auer's many alts
Wol Euler: (she of Not Possible In Real Life group)
Bertram Jacobus: alpha auer ! not possible in real life group ! whaow ... ;o)
Bertram Jacobus: you know things and people wol (!) ... ;-)
Wol Euler smiles
Wol Euler: I read a lot, and am not shy about talking to strangers
Bertram Jacobus: reading ... hm ... :-)
Wol Euler: :')
Bertram Jacobus: the not shy to strangers - that´s something i have, too ... :-)
Bertram Jacobus: did this avatar have a name ?
Wol Euler: yep, let me check which it was :)
Wol Euler: Alpho Fullstop
Bertram Jacobus: special !
Bertram Jacobus: very special
Wol Euler: the shop is called alpha.tribe
Bertram Jacobus: creative ... imaginative ...
Wol Euler: very
Bertram Jacobus: are your face proportions different with it or is it only illusion ? ;-)
Wol Euler: it's not my usual skin, that makes an amazingly strong difference
Wol Euler: my shape is the same, no physical changes
Bertram Jacobus: okayy ...
Magic Leimes: your eyes is amazing wol
Wol Euler smiles. Thank you, they are by a friend of mine, the store is called Pulse
Magic Leimes: ok ;-)
Wol Euler: good clothes too, and she makes (hand-paints) wonderful skins, the best human skins in SL
Magic Leimes: I wil have a look
Magic Leimes: thank you ;-)
Bertram Jacobus: the best human skins in sl ? did you ever see the redgrave skins ? ;-)
Wol Euler: yw
Magic Leimes: thanks wol
Wol Euler: mm, don't know them
Bertram Jacobus: (...) ;-)
Bertram Jacobus: but i´m now also a bit curious
Wol Euler: but they'd have to be superhumanly good to beat Lorac
--BELL--
Magic Leimes: thanks wol
Magic Leimes: so many skins shops in second life
Wol Euler: but so few good ones.
Wol Euler: IMHO YMMV
Magic Leimes: ;-)
Wol Euler: ty bert, I'll have a look
Bertram Jacobus: i think, i have some pulse eyes too, but don´t remember skins from there ...
Bertram Jacobus: but now saw the pic from the lm ... okay ... may be redgrave is even ... in my opinion, not humble ... ;o)
Wol Euler: :)
Wol Euler: well, my dears, I am going to go check out redgrave :)
Wol Euler: enjoy the afternoon, perhaps see you later on
Bertram Jacobus: great wol - was again very nice to meet you ! :-)
Magic Leimes: have a good afternoon wol
Wol Euler: ty, and likewise :)
Magic Leimes: nice meeting you
Bertram Jacobus: :-)
Magic Leimes: bye thanks x