2011.07.27 13:00 - Ordinary Experience is Astonishing

The Guardian for this meeting was Pema Pera, substituting for Fefonz.

Pema Pera: Hi Korel!
Korel Laloix: osiyo
Pema Pera: osiyo?
Korel Laloix: hello
Pema Pera: goeiedag :)
Korel Laloix: In Tsalagi
Pema Pera: in Dutch
Korel Laloix: WOuld love to get there one day.
Korel Laloix: Been to Germany and the UK.
Pema Pera: I'm living in New York City, though I'm from Holland originally
Pema Pera: but spending a lot of my time elsewhere
Korel Laloix: NEver been that far north in the US.
Korel Laloix: SOunds fun though.
Pema Pera: oh, yes, NYC is a great place to live, I think
Pema Pera: not everyone agrees :-)
Korel Laloix: PRobalby to crowded for me.
Pema Pera: yes, that's what many people feel
Korel Laloix: And I probably would not get alont with some of the people.... smiles
Pema Pera: it depends partly, though, on where in NYC you live, different neighborhoods have much more of a crowded feel than others
Pema Pera: and I'm not trying to get along with all the millions of individuals there either -- a few dozen is already nice :-)
Pema Pera: hi Santo!
Korel Laloix: Heya.
Korel Laloix: I loved living in Tampa.
Pema Pera: I've never been that far south . . .
Korel Laloix: But there is something about living on a 6 acre lot in ruralish Oklahoam hat I love as wel.
Pema Pera: I only once was in Oklahoma, driving through, on my way from East Coast to West Coast
--BELL--
Pema Pera: what was most impressive for me was the sky, the billowing clouds with metallic grey colors; it was in mid summer.
Korel Laloix: Through OKC?
Korel Laloix: I love the National Grasslands.
Pema Pera: frankly I don't quite remember now, it was more than 25 years ago . . .
Pema Pera: yes, the landscape was really beautiful, I felt
Korel Laloix: I do love it here.... I so love the wide spaces.
Korel Laloix: And there is something so peacfull about the sound of wind rushing through tall grass.
Pema Pera: yes, combined with the open wideness of the sky
Pema Pera: (in the car, alas, we didn't hear much of the grass :-)
Korel Laloix: If you get a chance.
Pema Pera: having grown up in Holland, I feel a bit hemmed in when I'm in a forest
Korel Laloix: Go to one of the National Grasslands.
Pema Pera: thanks for the suggestion!
Korel Laloix: I don't do well in forests either.
Pema Pera: hi Zon !
Zon Kwan: heya all
Pema Pera: Santo, we talked about some of the ideas behind play as being the other day, and I got the impression you were interested in philosophy, or different ways of looking at the world.
Pema Pera: may I ask, what are your views?
Santoshima Resident: on ? philosophy?
Pema Pera: do you have any particular philosophy that you like? or way of looking at the world?
Santoshima Resident: a moment
Zon Kwan: waves
Santoshima Resident: waves?
Pema Pera: hi Storm!
Storm Nordwind: Hi everyone
Storm Nordwind: brb
Santoshima Resident: i'm not sure i'd like to say that I 'like' a particular way of looking at the world.
Pema Pera: ah!
Santoshima Resident: i'm a student of buddhism
Santoshima Resident: for some time
Pema Pera: wb Storm
Santoshima Resident: my formal education is not philosophy
Pema Pera: it may be nice to have no view at all, but that's not so easy :-)
Pema Pera: most of us, me included, tend to look at the world in certain ways, sometimes consciously so, sometimes tacitly
Santoshima Resident: no view at all?
Pema Pera: some forms of Buddhism aim at going beyond any kind of view
Pema Pera: but within Buddhism there are very many different strands
Santoshima Resident: sure
Pema Pera: and Play as Being is not trying to be Buddhist, or any other form of spirituality
Pema Pera: in fact, Play as Being is open to any view
Santoshima Resident: but you were asking about philosophical view of the world
Santoshima Resident: whether I held on
Pema Pera: yes, just in case you prefered one
Santoshima Resident: one
Pema Pera: like, in my case, I like phenomenology, but only as a preference, not an exclusive system
Storm Nordwind: Pema likes to take a considerate attitude towards others' views it seems :)
Santoshima Resident: i see
Pema Pera: :-)
Pema Pera: I prefer to talk about PaB starting from a particular angle
Pema Pera: and if somebody offers one, that is then a nice starting point :-)
--BELL--
Pema Pera: like, we talked about New York City, earlier, and about Oklahoma -- in both cases these places are easier to describe if you know where somebody else is coming from; in that case you can point out similarities and contrasts (which is all that words can do, conceptually at least).
Santoshima Resident: sure
Santoshima Resident: the practices that interest and have engaged me for some time are experiential
Santoshima Resident: movement and breath work
Santoshima Resident: and within those practice, perhaps one begins to appreciate form
Pema Pera nods
Santoshima Resident: so, that whatever the practice this could be described in differently, but the result is that ordinary experience is astonishing
Pema Pera: isn't it !!!
Santoshima Resident: indeed!
Santoshima Resident: and the trajectory
Santoshima Resident: is that more and more there is a giving up of the need to understand
Santoshima Resident: not well put, but it's roughly there
Korel Laloix: wow... I finally rezed in my view.
Santoshima Resident: whatsat?
Pema Pera: oh, I think you put it very well, Santo!
Storm Nordwind: So do I (and you finally rezzed for me Korel)
Pema Pera: rezzing has been slow for me the last couple days too
Santoshima Resident: whatsat, rezzing
Storm Nordwind: Just here, or everywhere
Storm Nordwind: ?
Santoshima Resident: my computer seems slow today
Santoshima Resident: is that 'rezzing'?
Storm Nordwind: Rezzing = resolving = coming into world properly
Korel Laloix: rezzing is SL drawing things.
Santoshima Resident: ah
Storm Nordwind: As in properly seeing or often creating objects
Pema Pera: or taking up residence in the world here
Santoshima Resident: understood
Santoshima Resident: the on/off of it all
Pema Pera: if people are white clouds, they haven't rezzed fully for you yet
Storm Nordwind: Which seems not to binary, as Korel discovered!
Storm Nordwind: *to be
Pema Pera: (I've only been here the last couple days, Storm; wouldn't know about SL elsewhere)
Santoshima Resident: korel, for a while you had a bang of hair covering your face. was that rezzing? or statement?
Korel Laloix: I had a different hair on.
Santoshima Resident: ok!
Korel Laloix: Or at least I think that is what you saw.
Storm Nordwind is too lazy to change hair
Santoshima Resident: i'm too lazy to HAVE hair
Storm Nordwind laughs
Korel Laloix: Was this what you saw?
Santoshima Resident: nope
Pema Pera at least combs his hair every time before rezzing
Storm Nordwind: You never know what's hiding in there Pema! ;)
Korel Laloix: Oh OK.
Pema Pera: :-)
Santoshima Resident: good approach, pema
--BELL--
Santoshima Resident: brb
Santoshima Resident: *
Pema Pera: (^_^)
Pema Pera: I'll have to go
Pema Pera: dinner time coming up, here in Nova Scotia
Storm Nordwind: Nice to see you. Farewell!
Pema Pera: good seeing you again, Storm
Santoshima Resident: good bye, Pema. take good care
Pema Pera: and Korel and Santo!
Pema Pera: bfn
Korel Laloix: Ciao
Santoshima Resident: ciao, bella!
Santoshima Resident: me, too
Storm Nordwind: Would you excuse me too gentlefolk? I have to do maintenance around here!
Santoshima Resident: so long, thanks for the conversation
Storm Nordwind waves