2011.01.11 01:00 - Circle of four

The Guardian for this meeting was Wester Kiranov. The comments are by Wester Kiranov.

This was a theme session on Being. These sessions are a bit more structured than usual: they start with a clockwise round where everyone in turn voices their thoughts on Being, uninterrupted by the others. After that, we switch to discussion mode.

My first one, but the rest had done it before. The session was attended by Pema Pera, Zen Arado and Archmage Atlantis.

The first to arrive was Pema, and we chatted in Dutch for a moment.

Wester Kiranov: Hoi Piet
Wester Kiranov: Ook lekker op tijd
--BELL--
Pema Pera: ja, misschien wordt het een gezellige Hollandse zitting!
Wester Kiranov: Gezien de hoeveelheid mensen die hier meestal komen, kan dat best wel
Pema Pera: ja, sneu eigenlijk he,terwijl we toch vrij veel Europeanen hebben
Pema Pera: maar voor de Amerikanen is het te laat of te vroeg
Pema Pera: afgezien van een paar laat opblijvende Californianen
Wester Kiranov: ze komen heus wel regelmatig, die europeanen, en hier en daar (zoals je al zei) een paar slapeloze amerikanen
Pema Pera: heb je een Being theme session bijgewoond al, misschien?
Pema Pera: Goeiemiddag, Zen!
Wester Kiranov: Nee, nog niet. Ik was ze wel aan het lezen
Wester Kiranov: hi zen
Pema Pera: ik was bang dat we met zijn tweeën een cirkel zouden moeten vormen
Pema Pera: maar met zijn drieen is het makkelijker
Pema Pera: vind je ook niet, Zen?
Pema Pera: (^_^)

When Zen arrived, we switched to English, and chatted a bit more while waiting if more people were going to show up. Archmage came in as well.

Pema Pera: sorry, will switch to a more international language
Zen Arado: Hi all
Wester Kiranov: it's supposed to be a theme session on Being today
Wester Kiranov: I was going to change my tag but I haven't figured out how.
Wester Kiranov: hi Arch. welcome to our theme session on Being
Pema Pera: hi Arch
Zen Arado: Hi Arch
Archmage Atlantis: Morning Pema, Zen, Wester
Archmage Atlantis: TY Wester
Archmage Atlantis: I seem to have made every Being session, whether I intended to or not
Archmage Atlantis: :)
Pema Pera: and so have I, Arch!
Pema Pera: I thought I'd seen you a lot these days :-)
Wester Kiranov: That's good. IYou have more experience in those sessions than I have.
Archmage Atlantis: Yeppers, more than in the last 4 weeks, I think *g*
Pema Pera: oh, you're catching up quickly, Arch!
Wester Kiranov: Well, let's call in beginner's mind instead of inexperience :)
Pema Pera: there you go!
Wester Kiranov: *in=it
Pema Pera: itexperience?
Wester Kiranov: that's nice too :)
Pema Pera: :)
Zen Arado: we don't get so many attending at this time
Pema Pera: so we can each take our time, which is nice too!
Wester Kiranov: although maybe a bit too inanimate. s/heexperience? thouexperience?
Pema Pera: :-)
Pema Pera: I like thouexperience, or simply Uexperience
Pema Pera: which can be U for you and for Universe
Wester Kiranov: It seems I don't really have to do the introductory talk.
Wester Kiranov: you and the universe - if there is any difference. very nice.

So, time to start.

Wester Kiranov: clockwise? any volunteers to go first?
Archmage Atlantis: Probably not, Wester, but having the intro in the log is nice for future reference
Archmage Atlantis: Just a thought
Wester Kiranov: I'll put the intro in the log. good idea.
Archmage Atlantis: :)
Wester Kiranov: Shall I start?
Pema Pera: sure!
Archmage Atlantis: good by me
Zen Arado: ok
Wester Kiranov: Ok then.

Wester
Wester Kiranov: It's been ages since I started here, over two years now I think.
Wester Kiranov: And I remember how weird it all looked in the beginning.
--BELL--
Wester Kiranov: And one of the thing I noticed to change in myself, is how I saw I did not have to do much, even as a guardian, I could let things be.
Wester Kiranov: And then I saw that this does not mean inactivity, it means balance.
Wester Kiranov: And these sessions help getting the balance back from being perhaps overly loose, as they have tended to be sometimes.
Wester Kiranov: So, back to Being.
Wester Kiranov: Breathe and drop.
Wester Kiranov: I think that's all for now. Clockwise, that means Zen goes next.

Zen
Zen Arado: thanks Wester
Zen Arado: I am running out of things to say
Pema Pera: :-)
Archmage Atlantis: :)
Zen Arado: but was thinking about the difference between being and doing or non - doing
Zen Arado: I tend to think I have to control things even in guardian sessions
Zen Arado: find it hard to just let thingstake their natural course
Zen Arado: was reading about acausality but not sure about that and wonder about whether we assign meanings to events that aren't really there
Zen Arado: done
Zen Arado: Arch?

Archmage
Archmage Atlantis: ty Zen
Archmage Atlantis: I suppose there are really 2 elements of Being that most affect me when I am here in the circle.
Archmage Atlantis: One is the existence and being of the circle itself.
Archmage Atlantis: In an earlier session I shared that for me, sitting around the fountain is a safe place for me inside, whether one defines inside as emotionally or spiritually.
Archmage Atlantis: And it is that, as well as a place where the presence of other seekers, if I may use that term, creates a sense of connection to the search.
Archmage Atlantis: The second is, again if I might use the verb to seek,
--BELL--
Archmage Atlantis: where I share in seeking for the state that we refer to here as "Being"
Archmage Atlantis: That is probably a good place to stop, both in thought, and in typing, as I have an animal companion insisting on attention at the momement.
Archmage Atlantis: :)
Archmage Atlantis: Pema?

Pema
Pema Pera: Thank you, Arch!
Pema Pera: For me, too, the PaB community is important, and the way we gather here, in a mode that spans a wide range, depending on the mood, between a neighborhood cafe and a laboratory
Pema Pera: and Being itself is for me an invitation to live without points of view, without reference points
Pema Pera: that kind of challenge is something that enriches every day of my life.
Pema Pera: (done :-)

So, back to normal, whatever that might be.

Wester Kiranov: Thank you all very much.
Wester Kiranov: Do we now go back to the normal everybody at the time mode? Or do we do another round? Personally, I think one round is enough.
Pema Pera: yes, I think so too :)
Wester Kiranov: I actually liked not being able to answer back immediately
Archmage Atlantis: One round has been the common practice in the sessions I have attended
Wester Kiranov: It makes you see your own reflexes more clearly.
Zen Arado: both have their good points
Zen Arado: I like the way going around draws the shyer members in
Wester Kiranov: Such as only listening until you see a "problem", and then trying to find a "solution""
Wester Kiranov: Not that many shy members here. They must all be asleep :)
Archmage Atlantis: worn out, perhaps
Zen Arado: yews - but some tend to listen only and when they do speak have much to contribute
Pema Pera: yes indeed!
Zen Arado: I tend to talk too much I think
Zen Arado: I was reading an article about doing nothing yesterday
Zen Arado: http://www.tricycle.com/feature/something-nothing
Zen Arado: resting in being must be a bit like that?
Pema Pera: like what, Zen?
Zen Arado: Mc Leod says that much of our doing results from 'a tenacious habit of wanting life to be different from what it is'
Pema Pera: :-)
Zen Arado: like being able to relax with what is and not try to be so controlling
Wester Kiranov: I like the "see who comes to visit" bit
Zen Arado: like the Guesthouse poem
Pema Pera: yes
Archmage Atlantis: In cooking, one of the more challenging actions is to leave something alone on the stove or in the oven, yet to remember to attend to it when it is at the point where turning or stirring are needed.
Wester Kiranov: Cooking can be great practice too
--BELL--
Pema Pera: nice metaphor, Arch!
Archmage Atlantis: Gardens are like that also........Plants care for themselves, and react poorly to too much attention, yet when they need help from the gardener, if it does not come in time, they can die.
Wester Kiranov: There is some absurdity in reaqding articles about doing nothing, instructing people how to let it be...
Archmage Atlantis: ty Pema
Zen Arado: I know Wester :)
Pema Pera: :-)
Archmage Atlantis: Agree, Wester.....as though inactivity can be explained in the active voice :)
Zen Arado: society demands that we be doers
Wester Kiranov: maybe this means we can't escape absurdity in some form
Zen Arado: we must achieve
Zen Arado: lots of ur doings are absurd
Wester Kiranov: Society demands that we do thing, but not that we be doers, necessarily
Archmage Atlantis: Interesting thought Wester.......maybe absurdity does not require escape
Zen Arado: when you think of the vast amount of effort that goes into sports like football
Wester Kiranov: we can do things and still focus on Being
Archmage Atlantis: only acceptance
Zen Arado: and it's only a game

(Thoughtful pause here.)

Zen Arado: maybe we take what we do too seriously
Zen Arado: should be more playful
Zen Arado: regard it as play
Wester Kiranov: Play football as being
Wester Kiranov: Play work as Being
Pema Pera: :)
Wester Kiranov: insert whatever you are taking too seriously
Zen Arado: but we don't like doctors to play when they treat us
Zen Arado: or maybe they would be better if they did
Pema Pera: it all depends -- if they play virtuoso . . .
Zen Arado: yes
Wester Kiranov: right Pema
Zen Arado: now I wonder what being serious means....
Archmage Atlantis: Yes, Zen, perhaps the wording needs a little refinement......I want my doctor to be of good heart, and gentle mind......and also focused on the task
Zen Arado: seriously playful
Wester Kiranov: I would prefer a doctor that enjoys his job to one who is just waiting until he can go home
Archmage Atlantis: I want that of myself also
Wester Kiranov: Also, play requires attention
Pema Pera: it's interesting to see how the word play is used: for playing music, for playing chess, or playing soccer, or playing hooky, or playing hard to catch, etc
Zen Arado: maybe serious means being forced to do something you don't like doing?
Pema Pera: playing the fool
Pema Pera: playing pin ball
Wester Kiranov: and to see how it is not used: playing work, or even playing meditation
Pema Pera: :-)
Pema Pera: playing back
Archmage Atlantis: Pin ball?.......someone hasn't been in a games arcade in at least a decade or 2 *g*
Pema Pera: oh, there must be some left somewhere :)
Archmage Atlantis: Yes, they get sold at auctions as expensive memorabilia :)
Pema Pera: :-)
Pema Pera: nice talking with y'all again!
Pema Pera: see you next time
Archmage Atlantis: The same to you, Pema
Wester Kiranov: Very nice, thank you all very much
Zen Arado: bye Pema
Zen Arado: same
Wester Kiranov: I have to leave too. Bye
Archmage Atlantis: Bye Wester
Zen Arado: me too
Archmage Atlantis: And Zen
Zen Arado: bye Qester and Arch
Archmage Atlantis: :)