2010.11.13 13:00 - Experience

The Guardian for this meeting was SophiaSharon Larnia. The comments are by SophiaSharon Larnia. This session was attended by Lugh, Chi (new to PaB), Zen, Qt, myself, and later, Wol and Rhiannon.

SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Lugh :)
Lugh Fehr: heyyyz
SophiaSharon Larnia: excuse me oneee sec
Lugh Fehr: sure :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: back sorry :)
Lugh Fehr: np
Lugh Fehr: hihi
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Chi
Lugh Fehr: hey chi
Chi Aho: hello, Lugh and Sophia
SophiaSharon Larnia: have you been coming here for long Lugh?
SophiaSharon Larnia: I've been away from sl for a little while
Chi Aho: This is my first time here; is it a rp place?
Lugh Fehr: not extreamly hehe for a week or so but im here almost every meeting hehe
SophiaSharon Larnia: welcome Chi, this is a group called play as being
Lugh Fehr: whats rp?
Chi Aho: role playing
Lugh Fehr: nope not exectly
SophiaSharon Larnia: not an rp place chi
Lugh Fehr: heheh we play the role of philosofers
SophiaSharon Larnia: play as being ^^
Chi Aho: oh, serious people for a change; good
SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs
SophiaSharon Larnia: some of the time we're serious
SophiaSharon Larnia: here we talk about the nature of reality and other topics
SophiaSharon Larnia: it varies :)
Chi Aho: looks like a place where people would sit and think, talk, meditate maybe
SophiaSharon Larnia: Chi --- I have to let you know we record our sessions and post them on our wiki
SophiaSharon Larnia: the site is http://wiki.playasbeing.org/
Chi Aho: nice
SophiaSharon Larnia: is that ok with you?
Lugh Fehr: yep a bit of all that
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes definately Chi
Chi Aho: I have nothing to hide and am generally up front about virtually everything.
SophiaSharon Larnia: :) thanks
Lugh Fehr: virtually nice pun hehe
SophiaSharon Larnia: haha
SophiaSharon Larnia: sometimes there are many people here, other times few
SophiaSharon Larnia: we meet 4 times a day 1am 7am 1pm and 7pm
Chi Aho is interested to read the web page
SophiaSharon Larnia: different people :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes its really interesting
SophiaSharon Larnia: I'll claim the log, aphrodite has this slot and she must be running late
Lugh Fehr: yeah evry one seem a bit late hehheh
SophiaSharon Larnia: interesting tag Chi :) is that a gtoup in sl? cyberpsychodrama
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Zen
Lugh Fehr: you like psy?
Lugh Fehr: hey zen
Zen Arado: Hi Sharon, Lugh
Zen Arado: haven't seen you for a while Sharon
Chi Aho: sorry i was reading
SophiaSharon Larnia: np Chi!
Zen Arado: Hi Chi
Chi Aho: yes, cyberpsychodrama is an sl group
SophiaSharon Larnia: I took a break from sl i guess, didnt start out that way
SophiaSharon Larnia: time is a funny thing
SophiaSharon Larnia: I did miss play as being tho
Zen Arado: I try to ration it a bit
Zen Arado: otherwise you finish up sitting in front of a computer screen all day
Lugh Fehr: yep tell me about it
SophiaSharon Larnia: i do think that you can wrap yourself up in philosophical topics and other things its good to step back for a while, at least for me

--BELL--

Zen Arado: Bleu was showing me the 'catwalk' we have to use tomorrow
Lugh Fehr: wher you from chi? if you dont mind me asking?
Chi Aho: Virginia
SophiaSharon Larnia: Chi, during the 90 sec we stop and 'drop what we have to see what we are', the explanation for that is on the wiki :))
SophiaSharon Larnia: althoughhhhhh Im guilty of talking over it
Lugh Fehr: woops me too
Chi Aho: "to see what we are" you say?
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Gordon
Zen Arado: Hi Gordon
Lugh Fehr: cool bdw chi
Chi Aho: bdw?
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
Gordon Edlund: hi zen
Lugh Fehr: i have a vrind caled virginia i wish i could go their for a while :P
Zen Arado: by da way?
Lugh Fehr: friend*
SophiaSharon Larnia: youre on the east coast like me Chi, there are several of us
Lugh Fehr: yeah he told me that hes from virgina and i got speaking of somhting els so...
SophiaSharon Larnia: the topics here are very open ended, we can talk about anything
Chi Aho: now what is this stopping to see what we are all about?
Chi Aho: "stopping to see what we are"
Lugh Fehr: ohh i got yah zen hehe
Lugh Fehr: hehehee
SophiaSharon Larnia: dropping judgment, expectations, preconceived notions etc, i think anyone you ask will give you their own felt definition
Zen Arado: dropping mind chatter
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles
Chi Aho: well i just stumbled on this sim by accident, and am interested to find out what it is all about
Zen Arado: best way is to read the Wiki
Zen Arado: http://wiki.playasbeing.org/
Chi Aho is still trying to understand. Have looked at the web page and the note card, but still have questions
SophiaSharon Larnia: do have a meditation practice now Chi?
Chi Aho: yes, i meditate
Zen Arado: well - what for?
Chi Aho: to remind me of who i am
Lugh Fehr: and how?
Chi Aho: how? by meditating
Chi Aho: perhaps i misunderstood
Zen Arado: I never know how to answer that question
SophiaSharon Larnia: me either :)
Lugh Fehr: no what kind of meditation you do?
Lugh Fehr: heheh
Lugh Fehr: :0
Chi Aho: Meditation involves getting centered, balanced, focused
Lugh Fehr: in a wayit is a stiupid question
Chi Aho: reminding yourself of who you are
Chi Aho: coming home to yourself
Zen Arado: this is a kind of meditation practice too
SophiaSharon Larnia: what is the self?
Zen Arado: but one you can do in daily life
Chi Aho: Sophia who are you asking?
SophiaSharon Larnia: i was throwing it out there, as I often do
Zen Arado: I do that too :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: haha
Zen Arado: but nobody picks it up often :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: communication is pretty loose, and I'm more of a listener than a talker
SophiaSharon Larnia: loose here* I meant
Zen Arado: you sure Sharon?
SophiaSharon Larnia: welllll
SophiaSharon Larnia: in this venue its kind of hard to tell as much, but yes
Zen Arado: dropping self definitions is good too :)
Chi Aho: Sophia, the next time you "put down what you have"......
SophiaSharon Larnia: im still trying Chi
Chi Aho: think of yourself as really not being who you have thought that you are
Chi Aho: Like I am not Chi; I am not James either.
SophiaSharon Larnia: nods
Zen Arado: 'don't know' as my teacher says
Chi Aho: Think of yourself as that energy that permeates the entire cosmos
Chi Aho: identify with it
Zen Arado: yes
Chi Aho: you may find yourself in it by losing your "self"

--BELL--

Lugh Fehr: hehe become brahman as the hindus say evrything is self and then steel the fier from the gods and set fier to your ego and then let you ego set fier to the world hehehe (to be dramatic)
SophiaSharon Larnia: hmm
Zen Arado: but you don't have to name it Brahma
Zen Arado: just true nature
Lugh Fehr: yep you can call it joe
Zen Arado: the underlying energy of everything
Zen Arado: it is very ordinary anyway I suppose
Lugh Fehr: the name that caned be named the name is a tool for the mind to remember and focus upon then you got to go beyoned that thats the great missunderstanding of hinu and why they have so many gods is just a tool for the mind to remember even lao zue called it tao
Zen Arado: it is just what is
Zen Arado: yes - and if you can spek of it isn't it
SophiaSharon Larnia: dropping these self identifications and seeing what is underneath
Lugh Fehr: hehehe well in seartin states it is but still word are part of it and actually a chair is not the word for chair
Zen Arado: dropping assumptions of ourselves and others
Chi Aho: You realize, Sophia, that you ARE IT.
Lugh Fehr: sorry typos and missspelling s :S im creappy at writing
SophiaSharon Larnia: words for things are more or less arbitrary which is why i dont hold much meaning in a single word, only in how people relate to them
Zen Arado: we understand you Lugh
Lugh Fehr: yep yep agreed
Lugh Fehr: :D yaaay
SophiaSharon Larnia: kind of hard then to talk about things when words dont really mean anything to you hahaha
Zen Arado: we still need pointers though
Lugh Fehr: welll we seem to agree but now what can help us to go to the beyoned and realize this and not just know it?
Zen Arado: you tell me Lugh
Zen Arado: :)
Lugh Fehr: hehehe well i got my ideas but ill trade you for yours oki?
Chi Aho: It is in meditation that you get beyond just "knowing"; it becomes a matter of experiencing
Lugh Fehr: hehhe
Zen Arado: meditation helps
Zen Arado: allows the mind to settle and see things clearer
Lugh Fehr: yep meditation helps but idgnoring the mind doesnt help it all that much
SophiaSharon Larnia: experiencing, I thought recently that all was for experience
SophiaSharon Larnia: but am seriously revamping that notion
SophiaSharon Larnia: not sure
Lugh Fehr: i thinck when the mind is on board the reilasation bit he need to do his part the ego is not their to be killed but to be cleaned and used as the great wonderus toool that it is
Zen Arado: the ego is a kind of self structure that can be useful
Lugh Fehr: and fun
Zen Arado: but causes suffering too
Zen Arado: that's why we need to see through it
Lugh Fehr: its like the body the body is great when its healthy when its sick its not so great :S
Zen Arado: maybe the main cause of mental suffering
Chi Aho: To me, it doesn't matter whether you call it the "Tao", "energy", "spirit" or whatever; it is not a matter of knowing what "it" is; it is all experience
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles
Lugh Fehr: the mind cannot know it but you can hehhe
SophiaSharon Larnia: I agree Chi, but consider that the constant need for experience creates desire
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Qt
Chi Aho: yes, desire to be consumed by this force, this energy
Zen Arado: Hi Qt
Qt Core: Hi all
Lugh Fehr: hi qt
Chi Aho: Hello, Qt
SophiaSharon Larnia: desire which can be met, or suffering felt when its not
Chi Aho: desire for the spirit is quite different from desire for the flesh
SophiaSharon Larnia: nods
Lugh Fehr: but is happines met when its met
Lugh Fehr: ?
Zen Arado: desire for the flesh is never satisfied

--BELL--

SophiaSharon Larnia: maybe I dont understand what the meaning of experience is, and am attributing it to something its not
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Parrot
Lugh Fehr: hey parrot
Zen Arado: yes what do you mean by experience Chi?
Qt Core: hi parrot
Zen Arado: Hi Parrot
Chi Aho: it is the point from which everything starts
Chi Aho: it is the point where you are now
Zen Arado: the present moment
Zen Arado: ?
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes, and the next and the next, as always now
Chi Aho: it is what happens in the present moment
Zen Arado: and being at one with whatever happens
Zen Arado: accepting whatever happens
Lugh Fehr: i put it like this experience is the conciosness meeting matter
SophiaSharon Larnia: i agree to a point, is there more?
Zen Arado: direct experience
Lugh Fehr: who?
Zen Arado: not theories and thoughts about it
Chi Aho: Is it all an illusion?
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles
Zen Arado: we see what our minds tell us to see
SophiaSharon Larnia: its hard to say from my direct experience that it is
Zen Arado: yes - I'm just trying out things
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
Zen Arado: was reading Yogacara stuff last night
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh?
Lugh Fehr: this is the big bang theory the world of matter penetrating the void of consiosnes they can never touch each other so they created a son(or a douter) whit one foot in the void and one in matter and that is who we are hhee
Zen Arado: about the alaya vijnana
Zen Arado: but matter is just energy Lugh
Lugh Fehr: yes
Lugh Fehr: energy and void
Zen Arado: all just energy fields
Lugh Fehr: execpt concuissness
Lugh Fehr: its the great nottingness
Zen Arado: everything is nearly empty if you get down to miscropic level
Zen Arado: we are just empty space
SophiaSharon Larnia: I mentioned the word akashic this morning, the alaya vijnana reminds me of that
SophiaSharon Larnia: in the way they are different words saying the same thing
Zen Arado: oh?
Zen Arado: a kind of subconscious storehouse
SophiaSharon Larnia: like a store house of consciousness, experience being one form, perhaps?
Zen Arado: snap
SophiaSharon Larnia: :D
Lugh Fehr: experience is the child in my metaphor
Zen Arado: and it conditions everything we sense
Lugh Fehr: half bettwen
Zen Arado: the 'manas' is the self mind
SophiaSharon Larnia: monkey mind
SophiaSharon Larnia: hehe
Lugh Fehr: hehee
Zen Arado: so there are eight levels of mind - the 5 senses, thinking consciousness, manas and alaya vijnana
Zen Arado: according to Yogacara thinkers
Chi Aho is confused as usual
SophiaSharon Larnia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Consciousnesses
Zen Arado: that's the way they split it up
SophiaSharon Larnia: youll find a fair amount of buddhist here ^^
Qt Core: and of confused people too
Chi Aho: Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism - what does it matter?
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes! me as one of them
SophiaSharon Larnia: agrees :)
Chi Aho: These are just wisdom traditions representing efforts of people to know themselves
Zen Arado: well - it makes sense to me
Zen Arado: those guys were pretty bright
Zen Arado: lived a long itme ago too
SophiaSharon Larnia: it does to me too, although Ive as yet felt a little too disconnected to explore that Zen
Zen Arado: I have a very good book for explaining it
SophiaSharon Larnia: plain english works for me hahah
Lugh Fehr: for the best book to explain and the easiest to misunderstand is the tao te cheng

--BELL--

Zen Arado: http://www.amazon.com/Living-Yogacar...9685587&sr=8-1
Lugh Fehr: for me*
SophiaSharon Larnia: i have to go, nice to see you all, welcome Chi! I have a thingy to work on for the art exhibit tomorrow ha! I cant go naked
Qt Core: bye Sophia
Zen Arado: I'm going invisible :)
Lugh Fehr: heheh byebye nice meeting you
Zen Arado: bye Sharon
SophiaSharon Larnia: ha! great one Zen
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye for now
Zen Arado: take care
Chi Aho: sorry i missed Sophia's leaving
Zen Arado: the tao te Ching is quite difficult I think
Zen Arado: it is very deep
Lugh Fehr: a no bull kind of writing you thinck you understand read it another time and youll see it in a complite diff way
Zen Arado: yes
Zen Arado: worth studying
Lugh Fehr: what he says is what he means no metaphor heh
Lugh Fehr: my fovorit book id say
Zen Arado: I better go too
Lugh Fehr: bye zen
Chi Aho: bye
Zen Arado: nice talking to you all
Zen Arado: bye
Qt Core: bye Zen
Chi Aho: see you again
Lugh Fehr: nice place huh chi? i only have been comming here for a week hehe :D
Chi Aho: yes, very refreshing to see egos set aside in a discussion group
Qt Core: ;)
Chi Aho: not this way at all at the places i have been
Chi Aho: Rhia!
Lugh Fehr: yeah poeple start arguing and calling each other stiupid hehe
Lugh Fehr: hey rihana
Lugh Fehr: rhiannon
Lugh Fehr: *
Chi Aho: Where is she?
Lugh Fehr: behinde you
Qt Core: south
Chi Aho: Rhia, the heavier discussion was a short time ago
Qt Core: but there will be another in six hour
Lugh Fehr: hihii
Chi Aho: Apparently they meet here at 1:00 and at 7:00 a.m. and p.m. also
Chi Aho: 4 times a day
Qt Core: the spinning i should give you a notecard (sorry i have only old versions)
Lugh Fehr: i thinck myn is new i got it recintly
Qt Core: and the site mentioned there would elnighten ;-) you
Chi Aho: Is that www.wiki.playasbeing.org ?
Qt Core: the more pressing topic is agreeing (or not) to being recorded
Chi Aho: http://www.wiki.playasbeing.org
Qt Core: yes
Lugh Fehr: why do you record this bdw?
Qt Core: as we publish chatlog on that site (if you disagree your lines will be edited away)
Lugh Fehr: btw?
Lugh Fehr: hehe
Qt Core: for posterity ;-)
Qt Core: and so people that can't attend 4 session a day (who could on a regular basis ?) can read them
Qt Core: that is speclally true for the session that would have a specific pre-announced topic

--BELL--

Lugh Fehr: ahh coool im in mood for pizza
Lugh Fehr: yumyum
Qt Core: had it for dinner, the higher, fluffier bakery version
Lugh Fehr: your an italian must get great pizza up their hmmmm yumyum
Qt Core: sure
Lugh Fehr: yumm yumm
Lugh Fehr: hehhe
Wol Euler: hello everyone, sorry I'm late
Lugh Fehr: hey wol
Qt Core: Hi Wol
Rhiannon Dragoone: hi Wol
Chi Aho: Hello, Wol
Chi Aho: Perhaps we should say - earlier there was more serious discussion
Wol Euler: don't let me interrupt
Qt Core: yeah, enough serious and deep that i missed most of it ;-)
Chi Aho: Is our earlier conversation on line now?
Qt Core: not yet, a human have to post it
Chi Aho: http://www.wiki.playasbeing.org
Rhiannon Dragoone: well, i'm always looking for deep convo; its unusual on the grid
Chi Aho: This is my first time here. I was impressed by the people here
Wol Euler smiles.
Chi Aho: People were gentle, kind, accepting, not ego involved; ideas were solid
Wol Euler nods.
Qt Core: i have to leave now, i hope to see you two around, Chi and Rhia, Lugh seem to be already hooked ;-)
Wol Euler: bye qt, sleep well
Rhiannon Dragoone: nice meeting you, Qt
Qt Core: bye all and have fun
Lugh Fehr: bye qt
Wol Euler: I should go too, it's late and I have to work tomorrrow