2010.04.17 19:00 - Another Begining

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

  I arrived tonight to find a new person sitting alone, waiting, so we talked......

stevenaia Michinaga: hello
Ananda Starship: Hi Steve
Ananda Starship: I'm new to Sl. Have you ever been to one of these meetings before?
stevenaia Michinaga: for a few years :)
stevenaia Michinaga: welcome to Second life
Ananda Starship: Great! It doesn't seem like anyone else is coming. what do you think?
stevenaia Michinaga: there is usaully a welcomer here
stevenaia Michinaga: have you read the notecard?
Ananda Starship: No. Hoe do I get it?
stevenaia Michinaga: we ahve been meeting here for over two years, 4 times a day
stevenaia Michinaga: one moment
Ananda Starship: Can I ask you some questions?
stevenaia Michinaga: this is a very brief overview of our purpose
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, please
stevenaia Michinaga: I should ask if you mind if we record your comments for our Wiki
stevenaia Michinaga: and..please accept the notecard I just gave you
stevenaia Michinaga: when the pillows rezz for me I will sit with you
Ananda Starship: Okay. I don't see any indication of a note card on my sreen.
Ananda Starship: Ok.
Ananda Starship: Got it!
stevenaia Michinaga: ok
stevenaia Michinaga: so it;s ok to record your comments tonight?
Ananda Starship: Sure.
Ananda Starship: I'm reading the notecard so I'll be up to speed.
stevenaia Michinaga: thanks, it one of those SL TOS things, we post the daily logs to our Wiki
stevenaia Michinaga: no problem take your time
Ananda Starship: ok. I think I'm ready. why don't you take the lead.
stevenaia Michinaga: my first question is how did you find our little group?
stevenaia Michinaga: a bell will rings every 15 minutes and give us a 90 second pause where we do a micro meditation, of sorts, it began as a 9 second meditation at first,
Ananda Starship: I love anything that is spiritual. I have a deep love for Eastern spirituality, Sai Baba, Jesus, Buddha, the Ascended Masters, and New Age thought, plus all kinds of meditation. And I'm hoping to find spiritual friends here in SL.
Ananda Starship: Great. I love meditating
stevenaia Michinaga: I am not overtly spirtual yet there is an affinity with this group that has grown with me
Ananda Starship: cool.
stevenaia Michinaga: this next week they are having a RL (real life) retreat in San Francisco with some of the participants from all over
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: take a breath, empty your mind and observe
Ananda Starship: I'm doing a 3 year silent retreat in the mountains of N. California. I'm silent except for SL.
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Ananda Starship: So I won't be able to come right now.
stevenaia Michinaga: there is much to read on the Wiki, if you have time, it explains much of the wrk we do here
Ananda Starship: How do access the wiki?
stevenaia Michinaga: http://playasbeing.wik.is/
Ananda Starship: Got it. I'll take a look at it after the meeting.
stevenaia Michinaga: you can join the group and get notices of out theme sessions, but since we meet 4x a day you can come anytime
Ananda Starship: Okay. I didn't have my volume turned up so I might have missed some of the beels. sorry.
stevenaia Michinaga: it shows up in text too, but isn't as ... distracting
Ananda Starship: Great
stevenaia Michinaga: so we sit, explore the neature of reality bu observing and talking about what and how we see
stevenaia Michinaga: nothing magical here
Ananda Starship: Great. When do we start?
stevenaia Michinaga: at the next bell at the 1/2 hour, when you hear it take a breath and observe, perhaps jsut a bit differently, there are a few frmal excercises we have come to do over time, with much written about them on the wiki
Ananda Starship: Ok.
stevenaia Michinaga: http://playasbeing.wik.is/Information/Frequently_Asked_Questions
stevenaia Michinaga: this may be a good begining :)
stevenaia Michinaga: there really is no leader or hirarchy, just caretakers of sorts
Ananda Starship: ok.
stevenaia Michinaga: not sure how many of us there are but there is someone at each session to log the conversations and post them, welcome people and answer questions
stevenaia Michinaga: not even sure why I am here tonight, I usually come on Wednesday nights, but was in the neighborhood and here you were waiting for a greeter
Ananda Starship: ok. At the next appropriate opportunity can you share your observations of the moment. Because I'm new here I don't know where to start, or what's appropriate to share.
stevenaia Michinaga: ok, start by emptying your mind and see what arrives to fill the void :)
stevenaia Michinaga: when the bell rings
Ananda Starship: Peace
stevenaia Michinaga: start by seeing Being, as what that is
stevenaia Michinaga: then have Being see
stevenaia Michinaga: what is that? that is the question....
Ananda Starship: To me "Being" is simply awareness of "what is".
stevenaia Michinaga: nods
stevenaia Michinaga: so what is it you see and what is it Being sees, that is what you should use the time for
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: Have a good trip? :)
stevenaia Michinaga: my attentions immediately followed the owl and bird sounds with everything round me dissappearing except for what I heard
Ananda Starship: Yes. There is only being. Everything is infused with being. All is being.
stevenaia Michinaga: so I followed the sounds and nothing else ..wondering... on one hand and on the other knowing they are second-loife generated sounds yet so nartural, like a painting isn;t real, yet sucks yu into it;s story
Ananda Starship: it's nice to just be in the moment.
Ananda Starship: It's very peaceful.
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, and nice to know you can take a "walk" with yourself there
Ananda Starship: sweet
stevenaia Michinaga: so isn't typing cheating if you aren't talking?
stevenaia Michinaga: just curious, don;t mean to question your resolve
Ananda Starship: I haven't taken any vows. It's just something I'm doing for self awareness. But I still have to go shopping and call my parents and brother every fre weeks. So it;s sort of a practica "being in silence".
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: so yu are on a personal retreat or a group retreat?
Ananda Starship: Personal.
stevenaia Michinaga: lovely
Ananda Starship: I take the essence out of each religion and then practice it quietly within myself. It's quite nice.
Ananda Starship: I live in a little cabin in the mountains next to a mountain stream surrounded by huge ceder trees that are reminiscent of redwoods.
stevenaia Michinaga: looking at schedule, I see this timeslot is Pema Pera, he is the creator of Play as bring, what we call our group
stevenaia Michinaga: I love northern Calf, the retreat there last August was outside of Santa Cruz
stevenaia Michinaga: sorry, Plan as Being
Ananda Starship: Was it up in Benlond?
stevenaia Michinaga: Play as Being
stevenaia Michinaga: Benlond?
stevenaia Michinaga: it was at a buddist retreat, you can look it up on the Wiki
Ananda Starship: I don't know how to spell it. Where was the Buddhist retreat?
stevenaia Michinaga: although we are not a Buddist group, but some members are buddists
Ananda Starship: I used to live next to a Buddhist Retreat area. Nice people.
stevenaia Michinaga: Pema Osel Ling.
Ananda Starship: I'm not familiar with it.
stevenaia Michinaga: http://playasbeing.wik.is/PaB_Retreats/2009-08_California/2009_RL_Retreat_Photos_1
Ananda Starship: Thx
Ananda Starship: Oh. It looks like a peaceful place.
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: do you know how to "Landmark" this location so you can return?
Ananda Starship: Yes
stevenaia Michinaga: ok, it;s easy to get lost in SL
Ananda Starship: thx. It's pleasant in Play as Being. I'll be back to try it out a few more times.
stevenaia Michinaga: it's a rather open ended experience, more listening to others and learning from that and yourself
Ananda Starship: neat
stevenaia Michinaga: we try to be here at least an hour, but some sessions run on for quite a while depending on who is here
stevenaia Michinaga: since we have representation from all parts of the globe, who else would show up at 1:00am sl time...
Ananda Starship: When;s the best time to come.
stevenaia Michinaga: sunday mornings are afternoons can be busy
stevenaia Michinaga: you can look at some logs and see, it;s rather random when people converge
Ananda Starship: Maybe I'll come tomorrow the. It's peaceful looking at the light coming out of the fountain.
stevenaia Michinaga: we ahve a little villege of sorts to the North where we have a sculpture garden where some ahve expressed their thought in artistic ways
Ananda Starship: It's sounds interesting, how do I get there? And how do you tell north from south in SL?
stevenaia Michinaga: explore being through art and sculpture
Ananda Starship: How do you get there?
stevenaia Michinaga: Under the WORLD menu there is a "MiniMap"
stevenaia Michinaga: that has the direction on it
Ananda Starship: Cool
Ananda Starship: How do I use it to move north?
stevenaia Michinaga: when you get up, the arrow keys will rotate you
stevenaia Michinaga: shall we go now
stevenaia Michinaga: can you follow me?
Ananda Starship: ok. Sure but before we go, is there any other place in SL where I can meet people interested in awareness or spirituality?
stevenaia Michinaga: there are many Buddist meditation lplaces here
stevenaia Michinaga: you can search them
Ananda Starship: I've visited some, but nobody's there.
stevenaia Michinaga: there's a search box on your screen somewhere
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: some have hours and notecards, look for them, or join their groups and you will often get their announcements
stevenaia Michinaga: if you attend again you can ask others for suggestions and times
Ananda Starship: ok. how did you sit dowm cross legged. I tried different cushions and kept sitting like this or with my legs off to the sides.
stevenaia Michinaga: happy to answer any other question you might have
Ananda Starship: JUst asked one. :)
stevenaia Michinaga: you can join the Play as Being group too
stevenaia Michinaga: click it in my profile
Ananda Starship: I clicked on it. How do I join. Do I need to click on something?
stevenaia Michinaga: there should be a join button on it somewhere
stevenaia Michinaga: after ir opens
Ananda Starship: I don't see it, but I'll be back.
stevenaia Michinaga: it;s been a while since I joined a new group
stevenaia Michinaga: ok, shall we walk?

We left to see the sculpture plaza at about little community