The Guardian for this meeting was Adams Rubble. The comments are by Adams Rubble.

Adams Rubble: Good morning Eos :)
Eos Amaterasu: Hi Adams!
Adams Rubble: nice to see you :)
Eos Amaterasu: Congrats on your new co-owner role!
Adams Rubble: heh heh
Bleu Oleander: 's current display-name is "Bleu".
Eos Amaterasu: Hi Bleu
Bleu Oleander: hi Adams, Eos :)
Adams Rubble: The congrats outweigh the duties
Adams Rubble: Hello Bleu :)
Bleu Oleander: thank you and congrats Adams :)
Adams Rubble: I have been thinking about ritual this week
Adams Rubble: The backup ownership is a small thing I can do to help
Adams Rubble: We all have a certain amount of ritual in our "practices"
Adams Rubble: the 9 seconds might be considerd such, I think
Adams Rubble: although Peme might protest :)
Adams Rubble: I am still baffled by Buddhist ritual, es[pecially Vajrahana
Xirana Oximoxi: 's current display-name is "Xirana".
Bleu Oleander: hi Xiri :)
Adams Rubble: Hello Xirana :)
Xirana Oximoxi: hello Bleu, Adams, Eos :)
Eos Amaterasu: there's some intersection of ritual and devotion, and Pema certainly intersects the 9 seconds style appreciation with that
Eos Amaterasu: hi xiri
Xirana Oximoxi: :)
Adams Rubble: I have fond memories of Christian rituial growing up
Adams Rubble: hmmm, yes devotion
Adams Rubble: that changes the direction in which i was thinking
Eos Amaterasu: oops, sorry ! :-)
Adams Rubble: unless it is devotion to the practice
Adams Rubble: no need to be sorry :)
Bleu Oleander: ritual can seem meaningless unless we attach significance to ... its meaning that makes ritual powerful I think
Eos Amaterasu: good question, devotion to what?
Adams Rubble: it is good to see different meanings people attach to a word
Eos Amaterasu: I think ritual serves as a kind of reminder pattern
Adams Rubble: yes exactly
Bleu Oleander: yes
Adams Rubble: we forget so easily
Bleu Oleander: the reminder must point to the meaning I think ... at least for me
Eos Amaterasu: and it can serve to add a larger space or dimension to the ordinary things
Adams Rubble nods
Adams Rubble: to both :)
Eos Amaterasu: not just "thing", but "thing++" - it's more than just my experience of it
Adams Rubble: hmmm, yes
Bleu Oleander: what is thing++?
Eos Amaterasu: we occupy 9 seconds constantly, but when we ritualize it to "9 seconds PaB" it becomes larger, like mist rising from the fountain
Adams Rubble: thing++ takes us out of ourselves
Eos Amaterasu: sorry Bleu, nerd reference.... add a ++ to a variable and you increase it by 1
Bleu Oleander: yes I understand that, but was wanting to know how you were meaning it here :)
Eos Amaterasu: enlarges the sense of space around something, so it's more than my temporary fixation
Adams Rubble: forces us to include others in our thoughts
Adams Rubble: forces maybe not the word I was loking for :)
Eos Amaterasu: like "the cappuccino is yummy" to "me in my cappuccino yummyness" in this space here...
Bleu Oleander: perceptual enhancement via special attention ...?
Eos Amaterasu: nicely put, yes...
Adams Rubble: yes, nice secular way of putting it :)
Bleu Oleander: secular?
Adams Rubble: non religious
Bleu Oleander: could be either actually
Adams Rubble: yes
--BELL--
Adams Rubble: I am looking for ways to think about this topuic myself
Adams Rubble: topic
Eos Amaterasu: how are you using ritual, Adams?
Adams Rubble: I have not been consistent at all, Eos--still looking for something that fits
Adams Rubble: yet aware of its ability to help stay focused
Bleu Oleander: so what is the role of context in enhancing ritual?
Adams Rubble: and Bleu, I should have said nice inclusive way of putting it rather than secular
Bleu Oleander: :)
Bleu Oleander: its what we are trying to design here
Bleu Oleander: with our pavilions
Eos Amaterasu: yes
Bleu Oleander: creating a space for ritual
Adams Rubble: context can mean a few different things to me
Bleu Oleander: indeed
Bleu Oleander: time and space can create context
Adams Rubble: ritual can be a kind of place holder
Bleu Oleander: as well as inner time and space
Adams Rubble: keeping us practicing
Bleu Oleander: yes
Adams Rubble: forming a constant in our lives
Bleu Oleander: is constancy always a goal of ritual?
Bleu Oleander: or can there be evolution within ritual?
Adams Rubble: yes
Eos Amaterasu: you might also say that reminding is a goal of ritual
Eos Amaterasu: and there can be evolution in how that works, how successfully
Xirana Oximoxi: I see rituals as a way to keep a comunity or society with a kind of cohesion, even if it can also be a repeated individual action that helps us to have a bit of 'mental' order
Bleu Oleander: yes ... a pointing to
Adams Rubble: yes Xirana
Eos Amaterasu: coming here helps create community
Bleu Oleander: sense of community is an important element for me
Adams Rubble: and I agree that reminding is a main purpose
Bleu Oleander: I find beauty in ritual
Adams Rubble: what if we really like the community but are uncomfortable with the ritual :)
Bleu Oleander: a syncing with a beautiful rhythm
Adams Rubble: maybe that question is why I brought this up today
Adams Rubble: and yes bleu
Eos Amaterasu: why did you bring this up today, Adams? :-)
Xirana Oximoxi: if a comunity is open minded maybe the rituals can be also discussed
Eos Amaterasu: especially if the community is actively creating rituals
Bleu Oleander: for me it all needs to come together ... community, ritual, beauty
Bleu Oleander: rituals can become stale
Bleu Oleander: empty in a way
Bleu Oleander: so may need to be reignited
Adams Rubble: rituals of some can be meaningless for others
Bleu Oleander: yes
Adams Rubble: or make one uncomfortable
Xirana Oximoxi: yes... they may have a sense for the people practicing them.... and in my view, they can evolve to new necessitites of the group too
Bleu Oleander: yes
Adams Rubble: one does not want to step on other people's rituals
--BELL--
Bleu Oleander: a good ritual for me is one that through it helps me to grow and embrace change, finding meaning
Xirana Oximoxi: I agree....but probably as people is who give sense to them too...they evolve inconsciously
Adams Rubble: I think the goal of practice for me is growth and change
Xirana Oximoxi: I mean the rituals
Eos Amaterasu: a ritual can protect your sanity
Adams Rubble: :)
Eos Amaterasu: lets you find your bearings within it
Bleu Oleander: well, I'm not sure about that :)
Xirana Oximoxi: usually it is a very slow process...at least in religions, but they do change
Eos Amaterasu: and the word's bearings
Eos Amaterasu: world's
Adams Rubble: interesting typo Eos :)
Eos Amaterasu: :-)
Bleu Oleander: sanity ... hard to keep a grip on that and many things can help for sure
Eos Amaterasu: yeah, need to let go that grip :-)
Bleu Oleander: well for some need bigger grip perhaps :)
Eos Amaterasu: ha ha, I think that's part of the confidence you can find through ritual, that you can let go
Bleu Oleander: letting go doesn't always solve things
Eos Amaterasu: and lo and behold, the world is actually sane!
Bleu Oleander: rituals can tighten too much too
Adams Rubble: yes, all that :)
Bleu Oleander: people can get stuck
Adams Rubble: but rituals are a tool
Bleu Oleander: and go through the motions only
Adams Rubble: yes, but then once in a blue moon, whammo
Bleu Oleander: I think its really meaning we are seeking
Eos Amaterasu: yeah, doing the ritual becomes something imposed through habit or fear
Bleu Oleander: can yes
Adams Rubble: at best ritual keeps us focused
Adams Rubble: as Eos says, reminds us
Eos Amaterasu: like all the little motions a tennis player goes through before making a serve
Bleu Oleander: focused on what, is the question for me
Adams Rubble: our practice
Bleu Oleander: practice of what?
Eos Amaterasu: bleu asks tough questions :-)
Adams Rubble: that for me is growth and change
Bleu Oleander: hehe
Xirana Oximoxi: :)
Bleu Oleander: I ask myself, by asking you :)
Bleu Oleander: we just got back from NYC
Bleu Oleander: where I experienced a huge range of meanings :)
Bleu Oleander: made me think a lot about just this
Bleu Oleander: finding meaning
Bleu Oleander: so change of context ... exploded with meaning possibilities
Bleu Oleander: questioned my rituals in a way
Adams Rubble: it is helpful to have rituals that work for us
Xirana Oximoxi: yes..sometimes changing context gives us a better view of our rituals and is useful to try to make sense of them
Bleu Oleander: indeed
Adams Rubble: a walk in the forest
Adams Rubble: or in nature
Adams Rubble: could be a desert
Bleu Oleander: or NYC :)
Xirana Oximoxi: yes.. walking in the forest is my dayly ritual :)
Adams Rubble: ohhh nice
Eos Amaterasu: mmmm
Adams Rubble: walking in NYC seems to just induce stress for me :)
Bleu Oleander: for me the oceans edge has been that ... uncluttered horizon
Adams Rubble: yes
Adams Rubble: nice
Xirana Oximoxi: very nice too
Bleu Oleander: it was the opposite for me Adams, sooo exhilerating
Adams Rubble: even walking on the highline was stressful
Eos Amaterasu: I was doing forest walks near where I used to live, but I've moved closer to the core of the city, so now that ritual is happening, to some extent, among movements of people (like NYC)
Bleu Oleander: got out infront of me and pushed me off my comfy seat lol
Eos Amaterasu: I feel it's a forward evolution
Bleu Oleander: yes, movements of people ... interesting you say that Eos
--BELL--
Xirana Oximoxi: when I go to the city I keep the walking to the next park with my mothe.. walking very slow , but it feels like the same ritual
Bleu Oleander: :)
Bleu Oleander: nice to see you all today ... take care and have a great day
Eos Amaterasu: ciao, Bleu!
Bleu Oleander: bye bye
Bleu Oleander: and thanks Adams :)
Xirana Oximoxi: nice to see you too, Bleu..have a nice Sunday!
Adams Rubble: bye bleu:)
Xirana Oximoxi: do you feel uncomfortable with some rituals, Adams? Going back to a comment you did before :)
Adams Rubble: yes and I think we could think of some extreme rituals that would make us more than uncomfortable but that is off point :)
Adams Rubble: but there have been a couple of things that have been helpful today
Xirana Oximoxi: ah yes...in a general sense there are a lot, sadly
Adams Rubble: one is that rituals might adjust to a group
Adams Rubble: and the second is the value of understanding the meaning of rituals to other people
Adams Rubble: that wasn't put too well
Xirana Oximoxi: I think that there are some big rituals, like the rites of passage that are like historical and cultural ones ...that come from tradition too and very difficutl to change....
Adams Rubble: understanding how others view rituals can open us to new things
Adams Rubble: yes Xirana, and they can link generations toegther
Adams Rubble: we do not have so much of that in the modern world
Xirana Oximoxi: yes... or they have taken new forms
Eos Amaterasu: we have birth / marriage / death rituals.... plus today Mother's Day
Adams Rubble: lots of guilt involved in mother's day :)
Eos Amaterasu: "sunday", "day of rest" (whichever day) ritual
Xirana Oximoxi: I see it like a 'marketing' day :)
Eos Amaterasu: one day a week is "drop day" :-)
Eos Amaterasu: true, the marketers of hope and fear rush in with their wares
Eos Amaterasu: Coca Cola creates Santa Claus
Eos Amaterasu: ho ho ho
Adams Rubble: nice phrase, marketers of hope and fear
Xirana Oximoxi: :))
Xirana Oximoxi: I willl go now...thanks for the chat, Adams, Eos...have a nice day! :)
Eos Amaterasu: cheers, Xirana!
Adams Rubble: bye Xirana and thank you all for the dicusssion
--BELL--
Eos Amaterasu: Thanks for the presence and the topic, Adams - must also segue out
Adams Rubble: bye Eos :)
Eos Amaterasu: ciao!