The Guardian for this meeting was stevenaia Michinaga. The comments are by stevenaia Michinaga.

Pema Pera visited us for a bit.  We were also joined by druth Vlodovic, observerm Resident, iwandertoo Resident (Susan) and Paradise Tennant

stevenaia Michinaga: hi Pema
Pema Pera: hi Steve!
stevenaia Michinaga: welcome to wednesday
Pema Pera: Good morning!
Pema Pera: haha, yes, Thursday morning here
stevenaia Michinaga: or thursday morning
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Pema Pera: so good evening, sorry :-)
Pema Pera: (I sometimes forget whether it's my morning or evening!)
stevenaia Michinaga: the session time is our world time :)
Pema Pera: yes indeed
Pema Pera: and the days are only 4 hours here . . .
stevenaia Michinaga: how are things in Japan?
Pema Pera: fine with me, here in Tokyo
Pema Pera: as long as the daily aftershocks remain minor
Pema Pera: :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: here are some loval New Jersey Eathquakes (Miford NJ comes to mind) but nothng like Japan, I persoanlly have never experienced on
stevenaia Michinaga: one
Pema Pera: in the two days that I was here, there were five of them that could be felt just a little to the north of here, but only two that could be felt in Tokyo
Pema Pera: one I noticed, at the breakfast table
Pema Pera: the other one I didn't, sitting in the subway (enough shaking there already :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: must be getting used to them
Pema Pera: I'm now at the train station, ready to go to Kyoto in a few minutes -- no earthquakes in Kyoto (beyond the usual once a month or so)
Pema Pera: hi Druth and Paradise!
druth Vlodovic: hi guys
stevenaia Michinaga: Hi Druth
stevenaia Michinaga: Greetings Paradise
druth Vlodovic: is train a safe way to travel with all the infrastructure damage?
Paradise Tennant: hiya stev druth pema :) good to see everyone
Pema Pera: oh sure, the damage is mostly to the North East of where I travel
Pema Pera: and besides, the bullet train tracks have been repaired
stevenaia Michinaga: they do seem to have a very efficient repair ability
Pema Pera: interestingly, in a land with so many earth quakes, nobody has died in any bullet train accident, during the half century that they have been running
Pema Pera: isn't that amazing?
Pema Pera: every five minutes a 16-car train . . . .
Pema Pera: in each direction
Pema Pera: across the main lines
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, that amazin
Pema Pera: one key is that as soon as there is an earthquake, the bullet trans stop
iwandertoo Resident: waves
druth Vlodovic: hi sue
stevenaia Michinaga: hi susan
Pema Pera: it takes a minute or so, for a typical earthquake to reach the nearest track
Pema Pera: just enough to stop
Paradise Tennant: hiya susan :))
Pema Pera: hi Susan and observem!
stevenaia Michinaga: waves to observerm.... join us tonight?
Pema Pera: (except if the epicenter would be just at a piece of railway)
observerm Resident waves
iwandertoo Resident: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
stevenaia Michinaga: is observerm just shy or just an observer?
Paradise Tennant: smiles and waves at observerm :) would you like to join us on the cushions :)
observerm Resident nods
iwandertoo Resident: :)
Paradise Tennant: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: any topic come to mind tonight?
stevenaia Michinaga: or one for the next 90 second break
Paradise Tennant: hmm winding down thought :)
Pema Pera: that's a great topic, Paradise!
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Paradise Tennant: nods we do so much needless thinking
Pema Pera: shall we all wind down our thoughts during the next break?
stevenaia Michinaga: yes pls

--BELL--

stevenaia Michinaga: yes, needless thinking, I like that
stevenaia Michinaga: SSL and I were talking a bit about that last night
Pema Pera: I find that it is very hard to do less of that, when I try . . . but when I just watch the thinking, it has a calming effect already, without trying . . . .
Pema Pera: yes, Steve?
stevenaia Michinaga: how the answer is always at the end, whether you look for it or not
stevenaia Michinaga: the last thing you find... is the answer
stevenaia Michinaga: relating it to finding lost key, wheather you look for them or not
stevenaia Michinaga: when you find them, it is the last thing place you look
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Pema Pera: :-)
druth Vlodovic: winding down, watching, "allowing" really, and allowing it to flow away as well
Paradise Tennant: smiles at druth :)
stevenaia Michinaga: seeking can be like winding down, you can "search" or the answer can "arrive" w/o searching.... it;s always under your nose... somewhere
Pema Pera: "allowing" the answer to find you is a nice approach :)
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, because it finds you from within
Paradise Tennant: smiles it always there
Pema Pera: oops, I'll have to allow myself a few minutes now, to catch my train :-)
Paradise Tennant: usually everything you need is there for you :)
iwandertoo Resident: waves
Pema Pera: great seeing you again!
Paradise Tennant: good nite pema :)
Pema Pera: bfn
Pema Pera: (11:30 am here, Paradise :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: bye Pems
druth Vlodovic: safe travels
Pema Pera: thank you!
Paradise Tennant: have a lovely afternoon pema
Paradise Tennant: I may have to log suddenly too violent storm here
Paradise Tennant: thunder and lightening really close :)
stevenaia Michinaga: doggie close?
Paradise Tennant: smiles, under my chair :)
Paradise Tennant: soon will be in my lap if this keeps up :)
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
druth Vlodovic: thunder and lightning in your lap, how strange
stevenaia Michinaga: some of us hope for that
Paradise Tennant: smiles was speaking of the dog :)
Paradise Tennant: hates thunder :) and lightening :)
stevenaia Michinaga: giggles

--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: if we could lose our thoughts I wonder what would be left .. just senses ;) or sense :)
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, just "receiveing"
Paradise Tennant: and being part of ..not a part :)
druth Vlodovic: our feelings and senses
Paradise Tennant: feelings are interesting like intelligence without articulated abstraction :)
druth Vlodovic: I'm not sure I've ever regarded feelings as a form of intelligence...
Paradise Tennant: smiles
stevenaia Michinaga: or thoguht about "articulated abstraction "
Paradise Tennant: think they are an awareness that is sythesis of many levels of perception
druth Vlodovic: and history
Paradise Tennant: smiles yes imprints
Paradise Tennant: would on some levels take out the past and the future
Paradise Tennant: which are thought abstractions :)
Paradise Tennant: do not really exist :)
iwandertoo Resident: ?
Paradise Tennant: well the past .. is a collection of memories :) not a current reality
Paradise Tennant: the future is a projection of possibilities we conjure not a current reality
stevenaia Michinaga: does that make them an illusion?
Paradise Tennant: hmm
Paradise Tennant: constructs of thought
iwandertoo Resident: memories are not real?
Paradise Tennant: that can be real on a thought level but thought is iffy :)
Paradise Tennant: lol
Paradise Tennant: smiles
druth Vlodovic: the past is the vehicle that brought us to this present
Paradise Tennant: well would say there is really only the present we remember the past in the present we think of the future in the present .. we never get out of the present except in our heads :)

--BELL--

druth Vlodovic: I remember my first major experience of "the present" lol
Paradise Tennant: smiles and listens :)
druth Vlodovic: well, I was a kid in a bad situation, the important thing was the feelings associated with it (after the fact, there is no real feeling at the time)
druth Vlodovic: the future unknown and unknowable, the past just the way I got there, the present is just a bunch of facts
druth Vlodovic: a peculiar place to be
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Paradise Tennant: smiles we can change our past and our future in the present .. because in the present we can change our thoughts :) intriguing idea :) memory is selective :) we can select :) imagination is selective too :)
iwandertoo Resident: to what extent, Paradise?
Paradise Tennant: I can remember the glorious sunny day we had on saturday or the miserable rain we had on sunday ... it is like we weave our lives with our thoughts :) but you can definitely pick your pattern ..paisley stripes :) polka dots :)
druth Vlodovic: even the same incident chan be changed, anger at someone can be changed into understanding of what they were trying to do, thus altering us and our reactions to them in the future
Paradise Tennant: that is what awareness does lets you see the weave and weaving :)
stevenaia Michinaga: nice that awarness is always framed by each of outr personal perspectives
Paradise Tennant: smiles yes

--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: going to have to say good nite :) off the dog in the rain :) will be a very short walk lucky if he goes 50 feet in this kind of storm ... :))
iwandertoo Resident: waves
stevenaia Michinaga: does he have a rain coat?
druth Vlodovic: have fun para
Paradise Tennant: smiles sweet dreams :) all thank you for the conversation and the company
Paradise Tennant: no he has tuxedo, several winter c oats, a black turleneck and a jazzy plaid sweater no rain coat :) will put it on my list :)
iwandertoo Resident: :)
Paradise Tennant: smiles :)))
stevenaia Michinaga: lol, I had to ask
Paradise Tennant: smiles nite nite ;) namaste my friends :)
druth Vlodovic: I'm off as well, have fun guys
iwandertoo Resident: waves
druth Vlodovic: and thanks for joining us observem :)
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: bye druth
observerm Resident waves
iwandertoo Resident: waves
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles