The Guardian for this meeting was Maxine Walden. The comments are by Maxine Walden.  This meeting took place just immediately following the Alt as Being gathering, and during the Superbowl game.  Was not sure what to expect, but moreless had the notion that there would be spillover from the Alt as Being gathering.

And this was to be a theme session, the last of the explorations I would conduct, involving sharing our current experiences of Being, first individual sharings and then as group discussion.

We learn eldir's av identity and more.

Maxine Walden: hi, eldir
eldir Resident: Hello again, Maxine
Maxine Walden: :)
Maxine Walden: yes,
eldir Resident: I need to ask... did/do you have an alt?
Maxine Walden: did you enjoy the other meeting?
Maxine Walden: no, I don't have an alt. May I ask if you have or are?
Maxine Walden: (I don't readily keep up with who is or has an alt)
eldir Resident: I am part Riddle
Maxine Walden: hi, Eliza
eldir Resident: ouch, Eliza
Maxine Walden: al riddle!!
Maxine Walden: ah, riddle, thanks for letting me know
Maxine Walden: fascinating to try to follow the conversation...and to get a bit lost amidst all the alts...
eldir Resident: I had to be deceiptful
eldir Resident: to do the experiment correctly
Maxine Walden: oh?
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Eliza Madrigal: to get a true read out?
eldir Resident: or at least try
Maxine Walden: the experiment, eldir?
eldir Resident: different look me were not taken as differently
eldir Resident: the art project has turned into more of an experiment
Maxine Walden: hmm
eldir Resident: In RL I have 5 web businesses
Maxine Walden: wondering how much of the experience of feeling seen differently has to do with how one sees oneself as similar or different as an alt
eldir Resident: different avs/personas/personallities will help (I think)
Maxine Walden: yes, probably, one factor being that one can concentrate aspects of oneself in one or another alt, and thus 'feel' differently about each
Maxine Walden: or feel differently as one or another of the alts
eldir Resident: so, did nobody spell ridle backwards?
Eliza Madrigal: I didn't know until the notecard :)
Maxine Walden: ah....no, I did not
Maxine Walden: hi, Frenchie
eldir Resident: Eliza, it is nice to know that Botty can be just as good a friend :)
Eliza Madrigal smiles

Frenchie joins us, reminding us of the superbowl game....

Frenchie Riverstone: hello
eldir Resident: Hello Frenchie
Eliza Madrigal: when she came to a session or two I thought "yay" :D
eldir Resident: she lives near me and says she will be at more sessions, but has to do some research work now
Maxine Walden: ah, so you know about our posting the log...
Frenchie Riverstone: want to hear about something not football! ;)
Maxine Walden: ah!!!
Maxine Walden: yes, football is BIG right now, superbowl
Eliza Madrigal grins
Eliza Madrigal usually uses superbowl sunday as a shopping day... everything empty
eldir Resident: sorry, I need to leave then. Have a super thing to go to now
eldir Resident: :)
Frenchie Riverstone: everyone talks football ;(
Maxine Walden: or a skiing day, Eliza, for the same reason
Eliza Madrigal: :))
Eliza Madrigal: :) Bye eldir
Maxine Walden: well, we might be continuing to think about aspects of being as experienced in various alts or states of mind...
eldir Resident: well, Bye now and thank you
Frenchie Riverstone: goodbye eldir
Maxine Walden: bye eldir
Frenchie Riverstone: is meeting over?
--BELL--
Maxine Walden: this meeting is not, Frenchie, and it may be that eldir went to see superbowl things...don't know

As I look back I can see that I did not focus the group, on the theme session, so we meander a bit.

Eliza Madrigal: yes, eldir has football to see :) But we are here... admittedly I'm a bit more quiet than usual today ... has been a busy day :)
Maxine Walden: busy day, Eliza?
Frenchie Riverstone: what you do today?
Eliza Madrigal: yes, starting with having 3 meetings in sl so far and kids home on sunday so stopping and starting and, and...
Maxine Walden: :)) yes, a lot
Eliza Madrigal: so, nice to come and just share company sometimes :)
Maxine Walden: hmm, yes
Frenchie Riverstone: yes!
Maxine Walden: with no specific demands...
Eliza Madrigal: indeed
Maxine Walden: maybe that is part of Being...this the last of the theme sessions for awhile)
Frenchie Riverstone: hi
Maxine Walden: hi, little Bruce
Eliza Madrigal: yes, *just* Being
Eliza Madrigal: Oh... another thing I did today was read Pema's wonderful chapter
Bruce Mowbray: Hiiii. . .
Eliza Madrigal: that didn't feel like a doing though
Bruce Mowbray: wonderful session in the dome today.
Eliza Madrigal: :)

But it seems that our just gathering is bringing our bits of being with us into what will be seen as a lovely patchwork of Being.

Maxine Walden: We are appreciating Being, just by being together, Bruce.
Maxine Walden: yes, Bruce, wonderful session
Eliza Madrigal nods @ Bruce... such interesting and affectionate people drawn here
Maxine Walden: to Frenchie: it can feel isolating when others mention a meeting we did not go to; sorry if that is so for you
Frenchie Riverstone: was Pema there?
Eliza Madrigal: Frenchie, how interesting to see New Orleans mentioned in your profile! Some of us retreated there a week ago or so...
Bruce Mowbray: yes, he was.
Eliza Madrigal: yes
Frenchie Riverstone: i like what Pema say sometimes
Eliza Madrigal: :) me too
Maxine Walden: me as well :)
Eliza Madrigal: which part?

So, I then suggest the focussing format as for the theme session

Maxine Walden: So maybe we can share just a bit with ourselves and each other about our experience of Being ...maybe after the pause in a few minutes? Might focus our being together here just a bit? I will be happy to start...
Bruce Mowbray: yes, please.
Frenchie Riverstone: okay
Maxine Walden: :)
Eliza Madrigal: Sure :)
Maxine Walden: yes, expect it will help me to gather my thoughts...
Frenchie Riverstone: where is jetpack?
Maxine Walden: :) Brucie became Bruce
--BELL--
Frenchie Riverstone: sorry..they call for me here and I must go now
Bruce Mowbray: Good day, Frenchie.
Frenchie Riverstone: nice to see you ! :)

Maxine's sharing:

Maxine Walden: Well, expecting to focus on the alt as being meeting, but found that the throbbing of the crickets more immediate...
Eliza Madrigal: Bye Frenchie, nice to meet you
Maxine Walden: thanks Frenchie, see you again, I hope
Bruce Mowbray: alt as being would be good. . . crickets would also.
Maxine Walden: the crickets and the birds...bringing my focus back to the immediate sensory 'world' with the fish in the pond, heartbeat as well
Maxine Walden: so, right now the immediate 'heart' of the moment seems to be in my sensory experience, but that as surround for my affectin for each of you...(done)
Maxine Walden: care to go next, Bruce?

Bruce's sharing:

Bruce Mowbray: Thank you, Maxine.
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Bruce Mowbray: I am resting now -- at the end of a frenzied afternoon.
Bruce Mowbray: Drove 22 miles to Quaker Meeting - hoping to be back in time for mtg. at Dome. . .
Bruce Mowbray: also -- Quaker Mtg. started almost an hour late. . .
Bruce Mowbray: so late to Dome.
Maxine Walden: :(
Bruce Mowbray: m m m m m ....
Bruce Mowbray: wanted so much to be there for all of it.
Bruce Mowbray: Now . . . .
Bruce Mowbray: relax.
Bruce Mowbray: be...
Bruce Mowbray: listen....
Bruce Mowbray: a bit hard to just be here....
Bruce Mowbray: looking forward to the poetry session tonight. . .
Bruce Mowbray: breathe deep...
Bruce Mowbray: appreciating presence of others who let me . . . work through it. . .
Bruce Mowbray: for now. enough.
Bruce Mowbray: [done]
Eliza Madrigal: ty Bruce

Cal's sharing:

Maxine Walden: :) Bruce. Cal care to go?
Calvino Rabeni: Sure
Calvino Rabeni: Needing to leave soon to meet an avatar's real life body .. "Being" is being fragmented .. bearing the pain of the fragmentation in my body being ... attention pulled in different directions, an essay on a buried screen, a discussion with emotional power in an IM window, contemplating aggression as part of the ways of knowing group, noticing it arising, managing this dissciation, breathing, knowing that a walk outdoors will be a unifying experience
Calvino Rabeni: (done)
Bruce Mowbray: Thank you, Cal.
Calvino Rabeni: And I may slip out soon ... didn't realize this as a theme session, and have a 2pm appointment in RL
Eliza Madrigal: thanks Cal
Maxine Walden: wow, Cal. thanks
Maxine Walden: OK, sure

And Eliza's sharing:

Maxine Walden: And Eliza?
Eliza Madrigal: hmm... thank you
Eliza Madrigal: simutaneous layers today of busyness and calmness... some just space because in the background I'm going over various parts of pema's chapter ....
Eliza Madrigal: and I always muse on TSK's 'space grazing on space' phrase...
Eliza Madrigal: which allows a kind of texture that moves into all the busy layers and opens them up a bit
Eliza Madrigal: and then how to describe... sounds silly...
Eliza Madrigal: and also considering emotion as well... also an emotional IM earlier....
Eliza Madrigal: and letting all that be and settle
Eliza Madrigal: in our intentional sort of company
Eliza Madrigal: [done]

We then open the floor for mutual sharings

Maxine Walden: lovely, Eliza. We can open it up now. I am so impressed with the various 'letting it be..' that each of us, but maybe especially the three of you expressed
--BELL--
Maxine Walden: bits and fragments, maybe aggressive, maybe meandering, maybe with some frustration..
Bruce Mowbray: Just last night read this page in TSK (p. 149) - "Surrendering the ordinary, blinding 'knowing' to wider perspectives . . . amont to feeding everything that is given with 'time' back into 'time.' "
Bruce Mowbray: amounts*
Maxine Walden: yes, love that passage, Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: and here -- Eliza mentions that same notion with space.
Eliza Madrigal: YES... feeding time back to time... that was so enigmatic the first time I read it and wow, yes still is.... so rich
Bruce Mowbray: so rich.
Eliza Madrigal: nourishment
Bruce Mowbray: I've printed out Chapter 11 but not had a chance to read it yet.
Maxine Walden: yes, more and more spacious
Maxine Walden: me neither...but plan to this afternoon
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Maxine Walden: hi, cybersufi
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Cybersufi.
Eliza Madrigal: so there can be these busy layers and frustrations and 'can't quite keep up'... but also space and time "available"

It seems that we have touched on several intense, tender, fragmented, spacious 'lettings be' and our being together seems to express that variety as well

Calvino Rabeni: Time for me to go .. thanks everyone, see you later :)
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Cyber, nice to see you again
Eliza Madrigal: Bye Cal :)
Bruce Mowbray: Enjoy your walk in RL, Cal.
Eliza Madrigal: Ohh that poem Avatar (Bleu) shared "Feast on your life"!
Maxine Walden: bye, Cal
Calvino Rabeni: Thanks, bye :)
cybersufi Resident: evening a bit late today
Eliza Madrigal: yes I won't be able to stay too long...
Maxine Walden: We are just sharing our here and now thoughts about being...
cybersufi Resident: I see
Bruce Mowbray: I shall also be leaving at the top of the hour. . .

Perhaps summarizing the experience of the session I suggest

Maxine Walden: and how inspired we are by thoughts/writings about wider expanses of time and space...when we can just let it be...not get caught up by pressures...but accept them
Maxine Walden: me as well, Bruce
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Bruce Mowbray: The haiku discussion on Friday (and essay -- I can find the link to it). . . were absolutely amazing.
cybersufi Resident: Just been watching history of the earth on Sky
Bruce Mowbray: Slicing through linear time via the "kire"....
Eliza Madrigal: agreed, nods...
Maxine Walden: yes, Bruce, that is amazing...
Bruce Mowbray: Sky is the European channel?
Bruce Mowbray: I've heard of it. . .
cybersufi Resident: well it was Nat Geo wild
Bruce Mowbray: Oh -- ok.
Bruce Mowbray: but now a United Kingdom thing, I understand.
Maxine Walden: the mosaic of 'being' including our various interests, states of mind....as we come together even briefly
Bruce Mowbray: and of such is the "history of the world...."
Maxine Walden: ;)
Maxine Walden: and the awareness that there is not one history, but a myrian, depending upon the myriad of points of view...
Maxine Walden: myrian
cybersufi Resident: Here is one mans moment of realisation
Maxine Walden: :)) myriad
Eliza Madrigal: indeed, how lovely Maxine
Bruce Mowbray: Dharma saying: "Gates are infinite; I vow to enter them all."
Maxine Walden: :)
Eliza Madrigal: :)
cybersufi Resident: Radiant, spiritual - what is this?
cybersufi Resident: the minute you blink your eyes you've missed it.
cybersufi Resident: the spatula by the toilet shines with light;
cybersufi Resident: After all it was just me all along.
Bruce Mowbray: and the moment you open your eyes again, HERE it is!
cybersufi Resident: just shows you even a doze of dysentery can have a plus side,
Maxine Walden: :)
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
--BELL--
Bruce Mowbray: There's a dharma gate I would not wish to enter right now.
cybersufi Resident: That was one of Bankei's students Jijo
Bruce Mowbray: Will be tip-toeing out now. May all be happy and safe. . .
Maxine Walden: bye, Bruce
cybersufi Resident: bye bruce
Eliza Madrigal: Bye Bruce... and I must go as well...
Maxine Walden: Afraid I will have to go as well
Eliza Madrigal: thanks maxine and Cyber
cybersufi Resident: ok brief but nice
Maxine Walden: yes, see you all soon, I hope
cybersufi Resident: bye all
Eliza Madrigal: :) bye for now