2010.11.14 19:00 - Body of Experience

The Guardian for this meeting was Calvino Rabeni. The comments are by Calvino Rabeni.

Bleu Oleander: hi Cal
Calvino Rabeni: Bleu, hello!
Bleu Oleander: how are you this evening?
Calvino Rabeni: Paradise :) Good evening
Paradise Tennant: hiya bleu cal :)
Calvino Rabeni: I'm getting rezzed up - in SL and RL same :)
Bleu Oleander: Hi Paradise :)
Bleu Oleander: you look beautiful!
Calvino Rabeni: This is a new one (at least to me)
Paradise Tennant: thanks bleu :) again my fav designer .. she makes such pretty things :)
Bleu Oleander: lovely
Calvino Rabeni: These dress designs somehow draw the eye into a relationship
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Paradise Tennant: they are addictive :)
Calvino Rabeni: The word I was thinking was mesmerizing
Paradise Tennant: she somehow captures the essence of feminine I think :)
Paradise Tennant: always think saris are really incredible too :) it is the colour .. the vibrancy ..
Bleu Oleander: (checks out my outfit ... should have dressed up a bit more :)
Calvino Rabeni: That something will reward sustained attention by a deepening relationship, seems to me a part of what Beauty is
Paradise Tennant: smiles at bleu who is always beautiful .. :)
Bleu Oleander: hehe too tired to dress up tonight :)
Paradise Tennant: nods and it should be how you feel :)
Paradise Tennant: there are days when alfred clothes are the best fit :)
Bleu Oleander: ha!
Bleu Oleander: we missed you both this morning!
Bleu Oleander: it was a fun event
Bleu Oleander: loved your photo Paradise
Paradise Tennant: ahh thank you :)
Paradise Tennant: took two minutes this time knew exactly what I was going to do
Bleu Oleander: :)
Paradise Tennant: today was a family day .. my brother is in town we spent the day with mom :) she really enjoyed it :)
Bleu Oleander: how wonderful
Bleu Oleander: nice for you!
Paradise Tennant: smiles
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: how are you two tonigh :)
Bleu Oleander: great, busy day .... you?
Calvino Rabeni: At the moment I'm feeling in the tired in-between place, after the day and before the evening ... I'll get a second wind later.
Bleu Oleander: did you have a nice time with your brother?
Paradise Tennant: yes ..
Bleu Oleander: hi steve
Paradise Tennant: funny how .. you can be apart but when you are together again .. it is like not time has passed he is here for 10 days but it is going fast
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Bleu, Cal, PAradise
Paradise Tennant: hiya steve ..
Calvino Rabeni: Good evening
Paradise Tennant: how did the session go this morning .. :)
Bleu Oleander: it was a lot of fun!
stevenaia Michinaga: much fun
Bleu Oleander: very creative group!
stevenaia Michinaga: very creative presentations
Paradise Tennant: yes there are so many great shots :)
Bleu Oleander: we even have movies :)
stevenaia Michinaga: movies, wow
Bleu Oleander: have to edit mine
Bleu Oleander: Yaku took some also
Paradise Tennant: wow :)
stevenaia Michinaga: I've seen that done but no idea how
Paradise Tennant: machinima ?
stevenaia Michinaga: so "Voice" was recorded?
Bleu Oleander: i have software that takes movies, yes with voice
Paradise Tennant: cool :)
Bleu Oleander: too much going on though with photos, movies, dancing .....
Bleu Oleander: a real challenge!
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Paradise Tennant: will you post it to the wiki page ?
--BELL--

Bleu Oleander: i'll try :)
Calvino Rabeni: After a creative project, does it feel like .. different, time to regroup or relax?
Bleu Oleander: yes, need a break
Bleu Oleander: get charged up again .... already have some ideas though
Bleu Oleander: hard to turn the mind off
Bleu Oleander: there was such a nice energy about this project
Paradise Tennant: well it was a riveting topic :) one central to the theme :) dropping seeing :)
Bleu Oleander: yes, seems everyone was interested
Bleu Oleander: sparked lots of conversations
Calvino Rabeni: It broke new ground, into performance?
Bleu Oleander: was excited to see that
Calvino Rabeni: With people embodying their images ?
Calvino Rabeni: Very "Here I Am"
Paradise Tennant: smiles
stevenaia Michinaga: art comes alive
stevenaia Michinaga: walks and dances
Bleu Oleander: lots of possibilities for performance
Bleu Oleander: have seen several wonderful ballets and performance art pieces in sl
Paradise Tennant: smiles :)) yes me too :)
Paradise Tennant: hiya druth :)
druth Vlodovic: hi para, everyone
Bleu Oleander: hi druth :)
stevenaia Michinaga: hi Druth, Mitzi
Bleu Oleander: hi Mitzi
Paradise Tennant: hiya mitzi :)
Calvino Rabeni: Hell Mitzi and druth :)
Paradise Tennant: smiles :)) what shall we talk of tonight ?
Calvino Rabeni: That this event (the art show) was a success shows I think, both that there's been a development of trust in the group, and that there was some good coaching behind the scenes
Bleu Oleander: right on both counts I think Cal :)
Bleu Oleander: felt a strong sense of community
Paradise Tennant: this is a group where there is trust :) connection :) a resonance
Mitzi Mimistrobell: hello all .... sorry it's aking me a minute to be here
Calvino Rabeni: I'm reminded of Jerry Seinfelds remark that at a funeral, most people would rather be in the casket than delivering the eulogy - such is the regard for public expression .. but we have ways to get beyond that
Calvino Rabeni: I've always enjoyed small group talent shows
Calvino Rabeni: and informal theater
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: me too .. :)
stevenaia Michinaga: I find sitting in a group saying nothing requires more trust than talking sometimes
Bleu Oleander: :)
Paradise Tennant: :)))
Calvino Rabeni: How does that work?
Calvino Rabeni: Maybe its' a building up of emotional tension, and then wondering what will become of it?
Paradise Tennant: well being together still .. quiet .. close
stevenaia Michinaga: which part, Cal?
druth Vlodovic: wondering what people are thinking...
Calvino Rabeni: A naughty feeling of not being productive? Or of the possible devlish side of idle hands (e.g. idle hands are the devils workshop)... or facing some of my own thoughts, or having desires for communication and it isn't happening, ...
stevenaia Michinaga: probably Not wondering is what makes the comfort
Calvino Rabeni: all kinds of different residues of just sitting doing "nothing"
Paradise Tennant: sacred leisure :) an important part of the path
stevenaia Michinaga: being comfortable and trusting is not unproductive
Paradise Tennant: you need the space to drop things :))
Bleu Oleander: or maybe 80lb dog sitting your lap .... hard to type :)
Paradise Tennant: lololololololololol
Paradise Tennant: awkward when they drool on the keybad :)
Bleu Oleander: actually 88 lbs ... big puppy!
Paradise Tennant: *keypad
Bleu Oleander: fjjsj'flwJLQ;j
Bleu Oleander: sorry
Calvino Rabeni: Is that the pooch typing?
Bleu Oleander: she wants to take over hehe
stevenaia Michinaga: sometimes dogs type more coherently than I
Bleu Oleander: seems to want to say something!
Paradise Tennant: listens!
Bleu Oleander: ha!
druth Vlodovic: perhaps he just wants us to know he is sitting here with us
Bleu Oleander: :)
Paradise Tennant: smiles ....we are lucky to have him here with us :)
Bleu Oleander: better take her out .... nice talking with everyone ... take care ")
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Paradise Tennant: big wave to you and puppy :))
Calvino Rabeni: Aroooo :)
Bleu Oleander: bfn
druth Vlodovic: cya bleau, doggie :)
Calvino Rabeni: Ok, so there wasn't much to say about not talking, eh? :)
Paradise Tennant: lol
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: yes .. we should talk a bit perhaps :))
Calvino Rabeni: In that case ... maybe a sexier topic is needed ?
Calvino Rabeni: Gabbiness?
Calvino Rabeni: Actually, I was reviewing an unpublished paper from the seventies, .. it still rings true perhaps for Play as Being, called "The Epic Multidimensional Journey of Holistic Learning"
Calvino Rabeni: The "Play" angle stands out there too
Calvino Rabeni: And the Being angle :)
stevenaia Michinaga: where do you find unpublished papaers?
Calvino Rabeni: I found this one in my file cabinet in my garage :)
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Calvino Rabeni: It is not my paper, but is a kind of collaboration
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Did you give the card to everyone, Calvino?

I'd handed out a notecard with the starting text of the article:

The Epic, Multidimensional Journey of Holistic Learning
By JRW

Holistic learning comes from a unity of experience.  In it, the microcosm intermingles with the macrocosm.  And the individual is not held apart from the multiplicity of existence.  Such learning is literally an undertaking of many dimensions.  The inspirational character of its bold pursuit transforms the known world into mystery, normal activities into Olympic feats, and ordinary settings into the magical landscape of the myth.  In this shamanistic journey, the soma of the cosmos itself becomes the teacher and the context for all knowing.

My aim in writing this paper, is to give a practical framework for incorporating intuition into education, organizing the thinking from many disciplines into a coherent whole, embracing the powerful emotional dynamics of learning, and releasing the body from scholastic strain and physical repression, so it can return to its naturally informed poise.

I will cover five basic questions.  What is the process of coming to know?  How do we achieve a powerful relationship to learning and look the dark shadow of ignorance straight in the I?  Who do we think we are as learners, both individually and collectively?  Where does the body fit in to learning?  And why would a person want to learn holistically?

Mitzi Mimistrobell: I feel a "body" response to the topic about looking the dark shadow of ignorance in the "I" ... and also about the body ...
Paradise Tennant: What I love about PAB is you never know what you are going to be talking about mountain goats.. rumi .. or holistic learning .. we range broadly
Paradise Tennant: hmm say more mitzi :_
stevenaia Michinaga: strange, tonight I was at a shamanistic training event, perhaps not a coincidence
Mitzi Mimistrobell: say more? ... I guess i like the words "dark shadow" somehow ... mysterious, intriguing ... the forbidden?
Calvino Rabeni: Thats a funny image "looking it straight in the I"
Paradise Tennant: we are all dark and light :) each pulls us
Calvino Rabeni: Thats interesting, stevenaia
stevenaia Michinaga: it was new to me, reaching deep into yourself to find your animal spirt guide to learn from
Paradise Tennant: how do you train to be a shaman :)
stevenaia Michinaga: as I said this was the first time
Calvino Rabeni: that role darkness plays in many traditions, as a pregnant space, a reservoir or source of mystery and things emerging, far more than the idea of just empty nothingness
Mitzi Mimistrobell: the feminine, fertile darkness ...?
stevenaia Michinaga: my spirit guide was my cat, but the meaning comes from yourself
Paradise Tennant: smiles at steve and looks at his toes :))
Paradise Tennant: she maybe is giving you lessons in those attacks :)
--BELL--

stevenaia Michinaga: attacks?
Calvino Rabeni: The Taoists as well as the shamanic traditions were appreciaters of what we might label Darkness, as a place for safekeeping of all the parts of Reality we can't right now "know" or that might later emerge
Paradise Tennant: was she not pouncing on your toes when you practise tai chi ?
Paradise Tennant: or am I misremembering
Paradise Tennant: well darkness is a creative force too .. a distributer of karma perhaps ?
stevenaia Michinaga: aww, yes, paradise
Calvino Rabeni: Yes, that's interesting yes
Calvino Rabeni: And the poet Rilke, who wrote:
Calvino Rabeni: You, darkness, that I come from I love you more than all the fires that fence in the world, for the fire makes a circle of light for everyone and then no one outside learns of you. But the darkness pulls in everything- shapes and fires, animals and myself, how easily it gathers them! - powers and people- and it is possible a great presence is moving near me. I have faith in nights.
Paradise Tennant: wow
Calvino Rabeni: And a basic respect for the reality of the unknown
Calvino Rabeni: that we don't know it but it is nonetheless real and potent
Calvino Rabeni: even if it can't be labeled and named
Calvino Rabeni: More than just a metaphor for personal openness, I'd think
stevenaia Michinaga: thinks of how white light is the combinations of all light colors, and black is also the combination of all colored pigments
Paradise Tennant: they are the two halfs of the whole :)
stevenaia Michinaga: each is complete
stevenaia Michinaga: nods
Calvino Rabeni: Yes, and also, a black object is a thing that has taken all colors into itself
Calvino Rabeni: The red rose is the flower that doesn't "like" red but takes all the other colors inside itself
Mitzi Mimistrobell: I felt a thrill from that line "... it is possible that a great presence is moving near me ...
Calvino Rabeni: :)
Calvino Rabeni: Thrilling and mysterious
Paradise Tennant: smiles at mitzi's faith in the nights :))
Calvino Rabeni: And from that notecard - "The inspirational character of its bold pursuit transforms the known world into mystery, normal activities into Olympic feats, and ordinary settings into the magical landscape of the myth. "
Mitzi Mimistrobell: so ... a red rose is itself everything that is not red ... so we see the converse (?) or opposite of what it experiences within itself ...?
Calvino Rabeni: That's the idea
Calvino Rabeni: In the other corner of the ring, the reigning heavyweight champion ... Utilitarianism, the idea that knowledge has direct value for production. Motto - you can take me to the bank!
stevenaia Michinaga: I must be off
--BELL--

stevenaia Michinaga: see you again Cal, Mitzi, Paradsie
Calvino Rabeni: Take care Stevenaia Bye <3
Paradise Tennant: bye steve
Paradise Tennant: been rading a book on the subconscious :) how powerfully it directs us
Calvino Rabeni: Indeed
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Oh yes ... one of my big fascinations
Calvino Rabeni: Its bigger than "I"
Paradise Tennant: kind of spooky really
Mitzi Mimistrobell: what struck you so far Paradise?
Paradise Tennant: some unseen force within that is strong
Calvino Rabeni: One question is ... what common experiences do you have which open the door or open the circle to that part of our / your being?
Calvino Rabeni: Something to remember, like a practice, to make it start to seem familiar
Paradise Tennant: yes
Paradise Tennant: how to tap what is there within
Paradise Tennant: there is a lot there within :)
Paradise Tennant: very big space there :)
Calvino Rabeni: Mitzi, you have some movement practices, ... do they provide such an opening, or have a different function?
Mitzi Mimistrobell: doing things that are unfamiliar, that make me feel vulnerable, or are outside of my comfort zone
Paradise Tennant: dreams are a route too :)
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Well, I have noticed that recently my body does things by itself, like pick a different kind of tea to brew (no caffeeine) that I had consciously intended ... so I'm like .... hmmm .... what am I trying to tell myself here?
Calvino Rabeni: A case in my experience, there's a group tribal dance scene in this community - kind of shamanic on a group level, everyone knows how to do it, and you get a direct experience of that contact and emergence any time you go there
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Whether that's related to my practices or not I don't know for sure ... but I feel there is a connection. That my body does its own thing more readily and more frequently since I've been practicing such things ...
Calvino Rabeni: So it creates an aspect of identity that includes "knowing how to do that" as a resource
Calvino Rabeni: Ah yes, I see
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Calvino ... how does that group dance scene show you your subconscious ...
Calvino Rabeni: Its like opening and letting it emerge in the moment
Calvino Rabeni: can really be quite healing, and unexpected
Calvino Rabeni: I was thinking about the "opening invocation" from that event today (always a little different)
Calvino Rabeni: We're familiar with the "drop" idea
Calvino Rabeni: this was similar in some ways
Calvino Rabeni: that there are practices in the indigenous wisdom tradition
Calvino Rabeni: you go to the Water - a lake or a pool
Calvino Rabeni: carrying the intention
Paradise Tennant: hmm intention is so fundamental .. so important
Calvino Rabeni: simply that you will let go of what you have and don't need, and take in somethin something that you don't have but need
Calvino Rabeni: and that's the mythic power of the Water
Paradise Tennant: hmm without naming them in your mind
Calvino Rabeni: its more an intention and an allowing, than a "doing"
Calvino Rabeni: So then, that entire event has just a scent of flavor of that invocation
Calvino Rabeni: its like a big pool
Calvino Rabeni: you know this Mitzi, I believe
Calvino Rabeni: that in the nature sitting practice what shows up, is the quality you need at that time
Calvino Rabeni: Intention yes - important
Calvino Rabeni: to be present, available to a possibility that comes from outside
Calvino Rabeni: having patience is sometimes a challenge for me :)
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: the reward of patience is patience Thomas Beckett a quote that I think is very compelling because it makes life so so so much easier :)
Calvino Rabeni: Or being outside the "I already know what's going to happen" state of mind ... I think that is carried in the body, as a narrowing of attention ... I've heard that called the a subtle body structure .. which can be a vehicle of ignorance of or direct knowledge
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Calvino Rabeni: That subtle body structure is about how we organize and carry our attention in the body / mind
Calvino Rabeni: You know that vague feeling of "tunnel vision"
Calvino Rabeni: as a body sense
Calvino Rabeni: and maybe as a signal
Calvino Rabeni: that says "notice this condition"
Paradise Tennant: almost the witching hour :) here I will have to "trundle" walk the dog .. pull clean sheets out of the dryer make the bed and fall into to dream of a pond .. and dropping and being .. what I need to be :))
Calvino Rabeni: Then where practice comes in, is having a preexisting skill of somethingto do with that observation
Calvino Rabeni: heheh , I've been so curious about this "trundling" practice of yours, Paradise
Paradise Tennant: lol
Calvino Rabeni: PLEASE consider doing a workshop :)
Paradise Tennant: my words lol
Paradise Tennant: like poodling would happily do a poodling workshop :))
Calvino Rabeni: Yes!
Paradise Tennant: well good nigh you two .. as always a pleasure :) thank you for the company the poetry and the thoughts :)
Calvino Rabeni: :) Namaste Paradise
Paradise Tennant: namaste my friends :)
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Paradise, you look so pretty ... bye!
--BELL--

Mitzi Mimistrobell: I didn't understand your comment ... it seemed as if you were calling the subtle body vehicle a narrowing ... probably I misunderstood thought.
Calvino Rabeni: its not a narrowing, its a predisposition to attention, and when its open that's a container for greater consciousness
Calvino Rabeni: when narrowed, its more a constraining shel
Calvino Rabeni: I like that its pointed out as a structure of attention
Calvino Rabeni: I liked hearing these ideas
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Right right urd.
Calvino Rabeni: and remembering my recent experience at the dance
Mitzi Mimistrobell: I meant right right ...yes ... (urd came from displaced fingers ... like HAL for IBM Calvino Rabeni: every time I go through the process to open those layers
Calvino Rabeni: its familiar by now, but they don't stay open all the time, more like re-opening
Calvino Rabeni: funny HAL yes, our mind is like HAL when he was being turned off and not quite being aware of it
Mitzi Mimistrobell: re opening ... and each time it's somewhat different
Calvino Rabeni: surely - need to remember not to expect it to be the same
Calvino Rabeni: when experiences are given description in language, it can open new worlds because the subjective becomes "speakable" with other
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Oh, yes, of course
Calvino Rabeni: Imagine if the world "love" had not been invented, people don't have a way to say refer to that experience when they speak to each other
Calvino Rabeni: Time to go for now ... good night, Mitzi
Mitzi Mimistrobell: Bye Cal ... I shall fly away!!
Calvino Rabeni: Fly my pretty
Calvino Rabeni: hehehe