2011.02.03 13:00 - New Orleans retreat reports

The Guardian for this meeting was Lia Rikugun. The comments are by Lia Rikugun.

We met shortly after having attended the New Orleans PaB real life retreat for 5 days. Pema, Eliza, Gaya, Stim, Eos and me had been there and this meeting was set up to talk about our experiences.

Qt Core: hi Wol
Wol Euler: hello qt, riddle
Qt Core: hi riddle
Riddle Sideways: hmmmm, hi only parts of Wol
Wol Euler: wait for it :)
Riddle Sideways: ooooooooooooooo
Riddle Sideways: that is so neat
Wol Euler: yeah :)
Riddle Sideways: how did you do that
Wol Euler: micro-furry
Wol Euler: it's a new kind of av
Qt Core: yeah, not even tiny, really micro
Wol Euler: not a tiny, I have a fully articulated body
Wol Euler: I can use my normal AO and big-person dances.
Riddle Sideways: did you just shrink everypart
Wol Euler: well, I bought the av :)))
Qt Core: and chothing ?
Wol Euler: no, I'm all prims, clohtes wouldn't work
Riddle Sideways: and could part big furry parts onto tiny av?
Riddle Sideways: near
Riddle Sideways: *neat
Qt Core: i'm feeling weird, like a buddha statue
Qt Core: hi aphro
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Wol, cybersufi, Qt, and Riddle
Riddle Sideways: wol maybe you should sit over here on a tiny pillow
Aphrodite Macbain: Two tinies !
Wol Euler: I'm not a tiny :) tiny anims don't work properly for me
Wol Euler: hello sharon, aph
Riddle Sideways: ok ok, sorry... you are not tiny
Wol Euler: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: You LOOK infinitessimle
Riddle Sideways: we are fat
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Aphrodite. Riddle. cybersufi, Wol, Qt, and Samuo :)
Riddle Sideways: big boned
Wol Euler: no, seriously, there is a distinction.
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Sahron
Qt Core: hi sharoon, O
Wol Euler: tinies have fewer joints
cybersufi Resident: hi sohpia
Riddle Sideways: need to learn this
Aphrodite Macbain: What is the distinction of not size Wol?
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Eliza
Aphrodite Macbain: if not
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Everyone :))
Wol Euler: this avatar has the usual (human) number of joints, tinies don'T
cybersufi Resident: hi eliza
Wol Euler: htey have no knees or elbows
SophiaSharon Larnia: and Lia and Eos :)
Eliza Madrigal is going to park for a moment and run to attend to kitchen stuff for a sec
Aphrodite Macbain: Oh I see
Lia Rikugun: hello
Wol Euler: hello lia, eos
Wol Euler: hello absent eliza
Aphrodite Macbain: pasta problems Eliza
Aphrodite Macbain: Apparently this is the first day of the year of the Rabbit. Hence my slippers
Lia Rikugun: wow so many people already :)
--BELL--
SophiaSharon Larnia: heh Aph :))
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Lia
Riddle Sideways: ah, the recycle pickup guy just came
Riddle Sideways: favorite day of my week
Wol Euler: hello sam, didn't see you before
Aphrodite Macbain: what interesting lives we have
Bleu Oleander: hi everyone
Wol Euler: hello bleu
Riddle Sideways: but he thinks a wino lives in this house
Eliza Madrigal: back
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Bleu - lots of posts in the dome!
Bleu Oleander: yes, great huh?
Eliza Madrigal: hmmm... don't see you wol....
Bleu Oleander: love yours Aph
Qt Core: look dopwn eliza
Aphrodite Macbain: wol is an articulated tiny
Eliza Madrigal: ooooooo there you are! pocket sized
Aphrodite Macbain: Thanks Bleu - could be better
cybersufi Resident: quite a crowd tonight
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Pema, Agatha, and Gaya :)
Agatha Macbeth: Greetings :)
Riddle Sideways: oh dear, am out of sync saying hi to all
Qt Core: hi pema, gaya, agatha
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Agatha, Pema, Gaya :)
Aphrodite Macbain: The gang's almost all here!
Bleu Oleander: hi all who are arriving :)
Wol Euler: hello pema, gaya, aggers
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Pema
Pema Pera: hi all who are here and/or arriving :)
Gaya Ethaniel: Hello everyone :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Gaya - hi!
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Scath :))
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Scathach
Pema Pera: Hi S & S!
Riddle Sideways: Hi Gaya, Scat, oOo
Lia Rikugun: nice slippers aphro ;)

there were quite a lot of people - 16 - and some more came later :)

Pema Pera: wow, what a crowd, 16 of us!
Scathach Rhiadra: Hello Eliza, Sophia, everyone:)
Lia Rikugun: let me see if i know how to make a picture
SophiaSharon Larnia: :D
Eliza Madrigal: Nice way to begin the year of the rabbit... proliferating....hehe
Sunshine Vayandar: hi everybody ;)
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Sunshine :))
SophiaSharon Larnia: laughs
Bleu Oleander: :0
Sunshine Vayandar: hi Liz ;)
Aphrodite Macbain: I think Bruce has been affected by the storm and has no electricity
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Sunshine
Eliza Madrigal: Oh :(
Sunshine Vayandar: hi Sophia ;)
Wol Euler: I hope he has some alternative source of heat
Eliza Madrigal: yes
Eos Amaterasu: OH, now I see tiny Wol
Agatha Macbeth: Hi Shaz :)
Sunshine Vayandar: and Sam ;)
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
cybersufi Resident: pretty stormy here in scotland to but nothing compared to Oz
Pema Pera: (sorry, little emergency here at my work -- back in five minutes)
Wol Euler waves minaturely
Agatha Macbeth: Play it again Sam
Aphrodite Macbain: Yes, and he has a person staying with him now
Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Sun!
Sunshine Vayandar: ;) hii
Sunshine Vayandar: Afrodite ;p

The New Orleans Play as Being retreat

Lia Rikugun: so how should we start?
Eliza Madrigal: good question!
Aphrodite Macbain: wre you frozen Wol?
Wol Euler: apparently
Aphrodite Macbain: i unfroze you! Maybe it was my bunny slippers that did it
Agatha Macbeth: Follow the white rabbit
Lia Rikugun: Eliza, Eos, Pema, Gaya Stim and I met in New Orleans last week for the retreat
Lia Rikugun: we were there for 5 whole days
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Aphrodite Macbain listens intently
Lia Rikugun: I am wondering if this is enough for an introduction
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
Lia Rikugun: and now every retreat goer can say something ;)
Wol Euler: why don't you continue, lia?
Eliza Madrigal: I'd love to hear from you Lia... others of us I think have been able to say a little in other sessions...
Gaya Ethaniel mumbles kawa ... :P

Lia

Lia Rikugun: ok ill start
Lia Rikugun: I had been to other PaB retreats before
Lia Rikugun: and this one was quite different for me
Lia Rikugun: probably because it was in the middle of the city
Lia Rikugun: and well I brought some stress with me
Lia Rikugun: but it was good to practice and relaxing
Lia Rikugun: i had a big question before
Lia Rikugun: "what is I" and where do I look for it :)
Lia Rikugun: I guess I still have that question
Pema Pera: (back; a visitor had locked himself out of his apartment, in snow and ice without a coat, and I had to authorize a second key for him :-)
Lia Rikugun: hm
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh my Pema :) wb
Sunshine Vayandar: wb ;)
Gaya Ethaniel: Why hm Lia?
Eliza Madrigal: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Zon and Chi
Sunshine Vayandar: hi zon, chi ;)
Aphrodite Macbain: Pema saves the day!
Lia Rikugun: i am not quite sure how to continue
Gaya Ethaniel: ah :)
Aphrodite Macbain: What changed for you
Aphrodite Macbain: Lia
Zon Kwan: what is this i, very nice quetion
Eliza Madrigal nods
Lia Rikugun: what changed me?
Chi Aho: hi, all
Lia Rikugun: let me think
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: wdid you get any new insights?
Lia Rikugun: i guess i opened up again a little more
Lia Rikugun: lettign other possibilities be true as well

"what else is true?" and Stim

Pema Pera: as Stim likes to say "what else is true?"
Pema Pera: Stim is still traveling, so he can't be here
Lia Rikugun: :) yes i like this very much there seems to be a lot of levels
Lia Rikugun: i guess i always try to understand, which might not be the correct way
--BELL--
Aphrodite Macbain: is thee one correct way?
Lia Rikugun: this somehow blocks me

Chi Aho: Pardon me....What was the question?
Lia Rikugun: chi we had a Play as being retreat and we are telling a little bit our experiences
Lia Rikugun: we met in Real Life in New Orleans
Chi Aho: nice
Lia Rikugun: I went on some little sallies
Lia Rikugun: which i always enjoy
Lia Rikugun: but i am not sure about any higher insights :)
Aphrodite Macbain: How does being with people in RL enhance the experience?
Aphrodite Macbain: if it does
Lia Rikugun: it was great to meet eliza and Gaya and to see stim pema and eos again
Lia Rikugun: i think it changes things at least for me
Lia Rikugun: you can clearly see peoples reactions
Lia Rikugun: and look in their eyes
Aphrodite Macbain: ?
Lia Rikugun: but then again this could only be me
Aphrodite Macbain: who is stim?
Lia Rikugun: stim morane
Wol Euler: one of the founding spirits
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
Pema Pera: Steven Tainer in RL
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: perhaps he comes to the 1AM meetings
Riddle Sideways: was a guardian
Pema Pera: Steven and I started our explorations in another virtual world, Qwaq, before coming to SL
Aphrodite Macbain: was? not is?
Pema Pera: he's traveling today, out of internet contact
Eliza Madrigal: ah, yes he is still a guardian, just not holding a session
Pema Pera: is a guardian :)
Aphrodite Macbain: oh - a long history!!
SophiaSharon Larnia: :) yes
Eliza Madrigal nods
Agatha Macbeth: Haven't seen him for ages
Pema Pera: yes, 15 years between him and me in RL
Lia Rikugun: :)
Pema Pera: he and I started the Kira institute in RL
Aphrodite Macbain: older or younger?
Pema Pera: with three others
Eos Amaterasu: :-)
Pema Pera: hahaha, slightly older than even I am . . .
Riddle Sideways: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: wow!
Eliza Madrigal: hehehe
Wol Euler: :
Pema Pera: I mean we know each other for 15 years
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiles
Aphrodite Macbain grins
Pema Pera: (the English language is so ambivalent)
Pema Pera: (( I was wondering why you asked :-))
Aphrodite Macbain: perhaps it's deigned to be!
Aphrodite Macbain: designed
Aphrodite Macbain: Pure curiosity

what did we do at the retreat?

Aphrodite Macbain: What did you do at the retreat?
Lia Rikugun: we talked and did explorations
Riddle Sideways: and ate and drank
Pema Pera: and listened to blues and jazz
Aphrodite Macbain: I assumed - lots of jazz and gumbo soup
Sunshine Vayandar: ;))
Lia Rikugun: yes!
Pema Pera: and po-boys
Eliza Madrigal: hahahha
Zon Kwan: Pema..can u tell in short the goal of this experiment and whether u have achieved what u expected ?
Gaya Ethaniel: uh
Zon Kwan: gola
Zon Kwan: goal
Aphrodite Macbain: thanks Zon
Eos Amaterasu: for later, http://wiki.playasbeing.org/Retreats/2011-01_New_Orleans%2c_USA has a music excerpt (thnx to Eliza)
Aphrodite Macbain: goal
Eliza Madrigal: (and gaya who was able to shorten it)
Aphrodite Macbain: Tx eos
SophiaSharon Larnia: :) Ive enjoyed reading your retreat reports Eliza and Gaya :)
Aphrodite Macbain: did a theme emerge?
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: very rich
Pema Pera: no goal, Zon
Eliza Madrigal: Thanks Sharon :)) enjoyed writing it, though really just a fingernail scratch of the surface
SophiaSharon Larnia: nods :D
Eliza Madrigal: I hope some of the feel came through... the breeze or the rhythms
Zon Kwan: just fun ?
Wol Euler: well, how about if we continue with the presentations by those who took part?
Pema Pera: well . . . an open-ended exploration
Eliza Madrigal: hmm... deep practice actually

Eos

Eliza Madrigal: Thanks Wol :) perhaps Eos would like to go next?
Aphrodite Macbain: I'm not clear how I would benefit from these retreats
Eos Amaterasu: Hmm....
Eos Amaterasu: Time container: the five full days together
Eos Amaterasu: Space: the room, suite, with high walls, half a block from bourbon street
Aphrodite Macbain: big container, big space
Eos Amaterasu: so the space had the New Orleans perceptual ambience, including people (very warm and open), food, music, masks, beads,
Eos Amaterasu: lots and lots of t-shirts!
Eliza Madrigal grins
SophiaSharon Larnia: (I thought is was furthur) :/
Pema Pera: :)
Zon Kwan: sounds fun
Eos Amaterasu: People: the six of us, with commitment to be, just be, together
Sunshine Vayandar: ;)
--BELL--
Aphrodite Macbain: hmmm
Eos Amaterasu: ten-minute pauses, openings
Eos Amaterasu: (yes, thanks to SophiaSharon for researching the place for us!)
Lia Rikugun: yes thank you!
Eliza Madrigal: very rich pauses.... :::smiles and reflects::::
Agatha Macbeth: Yay for Sharon
Qt Core: silence day ?
Eliza Madrigal: Oh indeed Sharon! Nice job...
cybersufi Resident: I am new to all of this, so forgive me for asking, but what is the purpose of these gatherings
Eliza Madrigal: and such lovely rooms
Pema Pera: thank you Sharon !!!
Eos Amaterasu: meeting in RL, after meetings in SL, you get reflection back from playing as being me in SL
SophiaSharon Larnia: worried about the noise.... the price was the factor tho
Eos Amaterasu: to playing as being me in RL, more intensely realized
Lia Rikugun: cybersufe i will just IM you
Aphrodite Macbain: I have been wondering oo cybersufi
Eos Amaterasu: like waking from one dream to ....?
Aphrodite Macbain: too
Eliza Madrigal: :) Eos
Gaya Ethaniel: Yes thanks Sharon :)
Aphrodite Macbain: was it like a dream?
SophiaSharon Larnia: smiels at Aph lol
Eos Amaterasu: One aspect I found, especially with Stim, but also through some of the discussions
Aphrodite Macbain smiles back
Eos Amaterasu: was that we, or some of us, are washed up on a new shore,
Eos Amaterasu: with our past human history still lapping at us
Aphrodite Macbain: literally?
Eos Amaterasu: and finding new ways, or ways that may work for us and for others at this time,
Eos Amaterasu: in learning to let ourselves be.... and that is valuable not just for one on one
Aphrodite Macbain: a new way of being Eos?
Eos Amaterasu: or several together
Eliza Madrigal listens ...
Eos Amaterasu: but maybe bigger (like the flashes I get from the Egyptians these days)
Eos Amaterasu: So it 's hard for me to say what I got "out" of it, but I feel I got more into it....
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
Eos Amaterasu passes the baton
Eliza Madrigal: :)))
Wol Euler: ty eos

Pema

Pema Pera: my turn?
Eos Amaterasu: yes
Pema Pera: for me, more than anything else, it was a deepening, a returning to roots
Pema Pera: like when we did the exploration of "don't do anything"
Pema Pera: that kind of exploration/exercise/experiment I could do for the rest of my life, and each time I could find another deeper richer level
Pema Pera: also, "play as Being" took on yet a new fresh meaning
Pema Pera: I can play as being Piet or Pema or Dutch citizen or human being or living organism, etc
Pema Pera: but to play as Being is so awsome, when we allow ourselves to fathom it more and more
Pema Pera: a bit like trying to imagine what infinity might be like :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: How?
Aphrodite Macbain: By being together?
Pema Pera: and while all that was going on, this deepening of both starting at the beginning and starting at the end, there was the integration of all that within the urban setting of city life, blues music, restaurants, and the community sense of the six of us, very very rich
Lia Rikugun: i always get nauseous when I try to imagine what infinity is like :)
Pema Pera: haha, yes
Gaya Ethaniel: lol
Pema Pera: remember, Lia, in the previous retreat in Germany?
Wol Euler: yeah, it hit us all that way
Lia Rikugun: yes everything started turning
Pema Pera: we did an exploration where we let every object in the universe watch us, past, present, and future
Pema Pera: and everybody felt awed by that, given how we did it in that setting, after various introductory explorations
Pema Pera: and *that* is only one small aspect of "playing as Being"!
Eliza Madrigal: wow :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)

"play as Being" sounds so abstract

Pema Pera: the problem is, "play as Being" sounds so abstract . . .
Aphrodite Macbain: <:-o
Pema Pera: but once you get into it is more concrete than anything else
Chi Aho: please explain it a little for us
Pema Pera: everything else is what we have, at arms length (including our arm!)
Pema Pera: but what IS is closer and more essential (esse = being in Latin) than anything else
Pema Pera: and to begin to feel that is indescribable
Pema Pera: I'm happy to pass on to who hasn't spoken yet, by the way

the stable boy story...

Eliza Madrigal: that's why I appreciated the stable boy story... so basic yet very rich ...
Wol Euler: tell us that, eliza?
Pema Pera: hahaha, that's a looong story
Wol Euler: or not :)
Pema Pera: yes, please, Eliza?
Eliza Madrigal: hehe
Eliza Madrigal: Well there will be time for Pema to share his long story I guess...
Eliza Madrigal: but I'd like to make note of it :)
Pema Pera: it's a story I told over breakfast the first day
Pema Pera: about a stable boy since my room was in the stables (actually, behind the parking garage, so it felt that way)
Aphrodite Macbain: oh good. a story!
Pema Pera: once upon a time, down in N'Orleans . . . . .
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
Sunshine Vayandar: ;)
Pema Pera: while B.B. King was playing . . . .
Aphrodite Macbain: hhm good intro
--BELL--
Aphrodite Macbain: hahah
Wol Euler: ((so any time in the last 70 years :))
SophiaSharon Larnia: lol
Aphrodite Macbain waits expectantly
Eos Amaterasu: ((( )))
Pema Pera: LOL, yes, Wol (^_^) . . . . okay, I'll try to keep it short.
Pema Pera: It's an Indian story about King, who had only one son.
Pema Pera: His mean prime minister kidnapped the son, so that he could be king instead.
Pema Pera: The baby prince was brough up by shepherds, man and wife, in the countryside, who didn't know who he was
Pema Pera: step parents died, prince off to the capital as beggar
Pema Pera: King from balcony (yes, we had our balcony too in our meeting room) spots beggar
Pema Pera: beggar has birthmark of kidnapped son
Pema Pera: King asks him police officer to fetch beggar
Pema Pera: beggar afraid, runs away, hides for weeks
Pema Pera: King realizes this is not going to work
Pema Pera: when beggar appears again, King sends stable boy to offer a job cleaning the shit in the stables, to the beggar
Pema Pera: beggar happily accepts
Pema Pera: then gets promoted once a month
Pema Pera: to kitchen cleaner
Pema Pera: concierge
Pema Pera: etc etc
Pema Pera: to finally minister
Pema Pera: then as minister he is no longer afraid to be called in by the king
Pema Pera: who tells the beggar/minister/prince that he will be king from now on
Pema Pera: end of story
Zon Kwan: ..like the story of prodical son from the bible
Pema Pera: moral of story:
Eliza Madrigal: Thank you Pema!! :whew::::
Lia Rikugun: haha the fast story!
Pema Pera: the beggar had trouble "playing as Being" -- it took him a while to "get" it and get over his hesitancy
Pema Pera: yes, similar, Zon
Sunshine Vayandar: ;)
Eliza Madrigal: It is a "dropping" story!
Lia Rikugun: but he always had it :)
Wol Euler: :)
Eos Amaterasu: another commentary, from Windhorse Farm forest instructions: "
Eliza Madrigal: indeed
SophiaSharon Larnia: a feeling of confidence too
Pema Pera: yes
Agatha Macbeth: He just needed to find it
Eos Amaterasu: there is nothing missing, so take the royal seat
Pema Pera: yes!
Eliza Madrigal: :)))
Wol Euler: :))
SophiaSharon Larnia: thank you ;)
Bleu Oleander: thinks the begger was playing as being until he became king ... would then have to "drop" all that to play as being once again?
Eos Amaterasu: but it might take a while to realize that :-)

Gaya

Eliza Madrigal looks at Gaya holding the baton and smiles...
Lugh Fehr: i have to go show somthing to someone be back in 5 mins
Pema Pera: the beggar was playing as beggar, didn't realize he was already prince
Agatha Macbeth: Be careful Lugh
Pema Pera: yes, please, Gaya!
Gaya Ethaniel: mm ... am I holding the baton now?
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Eliza Madrigal: :))
Agatha Macbeth: Just don't run with it
Pema Pera: hahaha
Lia Rikugun: :)
Wol Euler: with great power comes great responsibility.
SophiaSharon Larnia: :D
Eos Amaterasu: it's a red baton
Eliza Madrigal giggles
Eliza Madrigal: scepter
Pema Pera: the baton from the bayou
Gaya Ethaniel: Well ... not mean to be rude or anything but I wrote a report ... said a lot there ... well, I read a previous retreat report yesterday by Stim. And in some ways, I got to see that during last week, "PaB is what we allow to be". I think Lia also had a similar insight as well.
Wol Euler nods.
Eos Amaterasu: http://wiki.playasbeing.org/Retreats/2011-01_New_Orleans%2c_USA/Gaya_-_Life
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
Eliza Madrigal: lovely report Gaya
Gaya Ethaniel passes the baton to Eliza :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes thank you
Wol Euler: not so fast!
Wol Euler: tell us about the food :)
Gaya Ethaniel: no lol
Eliza Madrigal: hahah, thank you Wol!
Gaya Ethaniel: ok
Wol Euler: I hear you struggled?
Pema Pera: yes, allowing is enough, thank you Gaya!
Gaya Ethaniel: You mean food?
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Wol Euler: my spies told me...
Gaya Ethaniel: lol
Pema Pera: twittering food spies?
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes, a pab tradition it seems, tell about the food :)
Eliza Madrigal: they are even smaller than she is I think....
Riddle Sideways: lol
Pema Pera: bird crumbs?
Wol Euler grins.
Gaya Ethaniel: Well it got a bit hilarious me and Stim watching each other as meal times drew near each time.
Eliza Madrigal: hehe
Gaya Ethaniel: But anyway it wasn't such a big deal ...
Eliza Madrigal: the retreat was deeply nourishing in the most crucial ways
Gaya Ethaniel: indeed
Pema Pera: AND provided me with lots and lots of T shirts
Wol Euler: !!!
Sunshine Vayandar: ;)
Pema Pera: food and clothing

Eliza

Gaya Ethaniel: Perhaps Eliza wants to say something now?
Pema Pera: what more do you want?
Eliza Madrigal: hehe, I called those accumulations in my report Pema, haha
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
Eos Amaterasu: http://wiki.playasbeing.org/index.php?title=Guardian_Pages/Guardians%27_Contributions/Eliza/Retreats/After_-_New_Orleans
Eliza Madrigal: The only thing for me to say is that the time was deeply magical and meaningful for me
Eliza Madrigal: and that I'm astounded to have met such Friends *out of nowhere*
Pema Pera: (@ Eliza: so I can practice "wearing my T shirts lightly")
Lia Rikugun: :) yes
Gaya Ethaniel: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: what do the T shirts say?
Pema Pera: (sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, Eliza)
Eliza Madrigal: I'm not sure I've ever laughed so fully
Wol Euler smiles.
Sunshine Vayandar: ã‹¡
Aphrodite Macbain: what were you laughing at Eliza?
Eliza Madrigal: there was a seriousness about the time, which errupted naturally into celebration...
Eliza Madrigal: that's my best shot :)
Aphrodite Macbain: or was it an expression of pure joy?
Eliza Madrigal: a bit of wildness too Aph ::)
--BELL--
Aphrodite Macbain: nice

Here Gaya had an automatic poem/song played back, my connection was quite bad so I only heard snippets, it was in german :)

Gaya Ethaniel: I have to go to another meeting now ... but want to try this one for Lia, not sure if it still works ...
Gaya Ethaniel: /ccs
Lia Rikugun: what does it mean?
Lia Rikugun: oh
Agatha Macbeth: ***** APPPPPPPLLLLAAAUUUSSSSeeee***********
Agatha Macbeth: clap
Eliza Madrigal: oooooooooooo
SophiaSharon Larnia: oooohhh Gaya Thank you ;)
Riddle Sideways: beautiful, thank you
Pema Pera: clap clap clap
Eliza Madrigal squeals in delight
Gaya Ethaniel: Looks like Arigatougozaimasu ne?
Sunshine Vayandar: *:• •:*.-:¦:- -:¦:-.•:*¨¨*:• YAYYY *:• •:*¨¨*:•.-:¦:- -:¦:-.¨¨*:•
SophiaSharon Larnia: :D
Aphrodite Macbain: ********** TOP LIVE SINGER **********
Aphrodite Macbain: ***** APPPPPPPLLLLAAAUUUSSSSEEEEEEE***********
Wol Euler: :)
Bleu Oleander: ⊱✿•*☆¨*•.☾APPLAUSE ⋆*•:*.•*¨*♥ APPLAUSE ♥•*¨☆*•✿⊰
Lia Rikugun: haha very nice, i only heard snippets of the song though, it was german right?
Aphrodite Macbain APPLAUDS!!!
Gaya Ethaniel: mhm but the animation has the arms over the chest ... arigatogozaimasuuuuu
Gaya Ethaniel: Bye everyone :)
Pema Pera: I have to go to a meeting too, great seeing you all, and thanks Eliza, Eos, Gaya, Lia!
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye Gaya!
Eos Amaterasu: bye Gaya!
Lia Rikugun: suuuuuuuuuuuuu
Eliza Madrigal must head to the other meeting as well, thank you
Aphrodite Macbain: Thank you. Lovely
Lia Rikugun: byebye
Riddle Sideways: bye gaya
Wol Euler: bye gaya, thank you, bye eliza
SophiaSharon Larnia: Bye Pema and Eliza!
Zon Kwan: bye all
Agatha Macbeth: Sayonara
Bleu Oleander: bye everyone :)
Wol Euler: lovely report, eliza!
Eos Amaterasu: also depart, bye all!
Wol Euler: bye pema, bleu, aph
Aphrodite Macbain: Bye
Aphrodite Macbain: Bye!
Wol Euler: everyone else :)
Sunshine Vayandar: byebyeee all thanks it was great to hear all about the retreat ;)
Qt Core: have to go too, i'll reread the log and follow the links ;-)
Eliza Madrigal: bye thanks so much for coming!
SophiaSharon Larnia: and bye for me too,thank you all so much!!
Scathach Rhiadra: good night all
Agatha Macbeth watches everyone disappear
Lia Rikugun: i will go to bed now too

confusion ;)

Chi Aho remains thoroughly confused
Riddle Sideways: bye all and thanks
Wol Euler smiles.
Agatha Macbeth: Schlaf gut Lia
Wol Euler: goodnight lia
Lia Rikugun: haha chi i am very confused too
Wol Euler: what about, chi?
Lia Rikugun: probably more after the retreat than before
Lia Rikugun: i guess more questions
Chi Aho: the meaning of this "play as being" . Is it...
Chi Aho: stop playing roles and just be yourself?
Chi Aho: is it play any role you wish to play?
Chi Aho: does this mean whatever you want it to mean?
Chi Aho: or can you say clearly its meaning?
Wol Euler: it's rather knowoing htat all you do is always a role
Lia Rikugun: i dont think it is possible to say it in words
Wol Euler: I'd like to point you to the website, because there is a huge number of words there :)
Lia Rikugun: and well maybe i am not the right person to ask :)
Wol Euler: which will explain better and more fully than I can
Agatha Macbeth: It's only words...
Wol Euler: however: the point is this: to realize that your image of yourself, your idea of who you are ...
Wol Euler: ... is not you.
Wol Euler: the map is not the terrritory
Wol Euler: your description of you is not YOU
Wol Euler: what else is there?
Chi Aho: I am pure spirit
Wol Euler: we get caught up in descriptions, in titles and possessions (including thoughts and ambiti8ons)
Agatha Macbeth: In real life?
Wol Euler: these are things taht we have, not what we are.
Lia Rikugun: (will tiptoe out into my bed, was great to see you byebye for now)
Wol Euler: the idea of "play as Being" is to try to start at the end of the process of becoming enlightened
Agatha Macbeth waves
Wol Euler: 'night lia, take care
oO0Oo Resident: :) Lia
Wol Euler: http://wiki.playasbeing.org/About_PlayAsBeing/Play_As_Being_in_a_Nutshell
cybersufi Resident: night
Wol Euler: that's a good place to start
Chi Aho: i'll be reading this now
Wol Euler: the next page to read is a little longer, http://wiki.playasbeing.org/About_PlayAsBeing/Basic_Ideas
Wol Euler: halfway down is a section called "A bit more specific" in which Pema really gets into his stride
Wol Euler: executive summary: the idea of a fixed identity is an attachment.
Wol Euler: this isn't new, of course, sages have been saying it for thousands of years
Wol Euler: but it remains true and difficult
Chi Aho: when we switch from what we have to what we are we find pure spirit.
Wol Euler nods
Agatha Macbeth: Like the Albigensians
Wol Euler chuckles
Chi Aho: in other words you are saying "You are not who you may think you are"
Agatha Macbeth: It's true tho!
Wol Euler: perhaps "you are much more than you think you are"
Agatha Macbeth: Or maybe less
Wol Euler: because we are also that, but it is (a) optional and (b) limiting
Chi Aho: Well it is not really me at all.
cybersufi Resident: taken from a scientific perspective there are no boudaries we simply percieve them because we are filtering reality through crude sense organs
Wol Euler: right!
Agatha Macbeth: I can handle that
Wol Euler: and there is a strong dose of phenomenology in Play as Being
--BELL--
cybersufi Resident: there is a funny little story of the man who sat infront of a fense looking trough a narrow slit
Chi Aho: cybersufi, you have it correct; there is only pure energy running through and through every subatomic particle in the universe; call it "spirit"
cybersufi Resident: and every day he say a wild bore go by fist the head then the body then the tail
Agatha Macbeth: *boar :p
cybersufi Resident: until one day he jumped up with the look of enlightenment in his eyes and cried, eureaka the head causes the tail
cybersufi Resident: . this is how we see ourselves and the world around us
Agatha Macbeth nods
Chi Aho: well, perception is only of surface appearances; beneath there is pure energy - spirit
Lugh Fehr: sory im distracted in lm brb
cybersufi Resident: General Overall Dynamic
Agatha Macbeth: I get tthat problem too Lugh
cybersufi Resident: One becomes two , two becomes myriad things
cybersufi Resident: we have to take it back to ~One
Chi Aho: and in moments of quiet meditation, i do just that and come home to myself, realizing that it isn't "me" at all; there is only One
Lugh Fehr: yeeey i can make people djs now :)
Agatha Macbeth: Well done Lugh
Wol Euler: :)
Wol Euler: we are all just avatars of Being
Wol Euler: my five alts are to my one typist, as all of us are to Being
cybersufi Resident: As rumi Said , I You He Me, I the garden of mystic lovers these are not true distinctions
Lugh Fehr: hehe yes wol great pic
Agatha Macbeth: Bye folks, have fun
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: bye agatha, sleep well
oO0Oo Resident: :) Agatha
cybersufi Resident: bye ag
Wol Euler: chi, does that clear up at least some of your question? :)
Chi Aho: it is much clearer than the convo before which appeared to be cryptic to me
Wol Euler: well, that happens when tightly-knit groups speak together about shared experience
Wol Euler: they tend to use a kind of short-hand
Wol Euler smiles.
oO0Oo Resident smiles at Wol, Chi, Lugh, Cybersufi
oO0Oo Resident: Among my most prized possessions are the words that I have never spoken. -- Orson Rega Card
Wol Euler: O.O
Chi Aho: Your paraphrase of rumi above, cyber, reminds me of my poem which i read yesterday: They and I and You and Me
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Lugh Fehr: orson whata?
Wol Euler: I see the similarity, yes
oO0Oo Resident: .Thank you everyone. Nice time.
Wol Euler: goodnight sam, take care
Chi Aho: bye for now, Samud
cybersufi Resident: Bye Sam
Lugh Fehr: bye ooo tack care mate :)
oO0Oo Resident: be well friends
Wol Euler: oh, actually, I have to be moving on too.
Wol Euler: it's later than I thought
Lugh Fehr: bye wol nice mini conversation whit you hehehe :)
Wol Euler: goodnight, take care, we'll meet again. Chi, feel free to ask again if (when!) questions come up
Chi Aho: ty