2018.04.07 19:00 - Reflections the Amsterdam and PaB

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

Bertram Jacobus joined me this evening for a lovely conversation

stevenaia Michinaga: hello, it has been some time
stevenaia Michinaga: gtsy
Bertram Jacobus: hey stevenaia - indeed, yes ! :-)
Bertram Jacobus: ty ! :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Bertram Jacobus: i took part in the Amsterdam meeting and found it very inspiring ... but how are YOU ? :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: I see someone is in the gallery above, let me invite them
stevenaia Michinaga: wow, that's great, who was there?
Bertram Jacobus: ah - sure ! :-)
Bertram Jacobus: hehe - we were ten - let me see ... / think it over ... :
stevenaia Michinaga: names, see if you can keep RL/SL straight
Bertram Jacobus: pema and his wife, eliza, wester, tura, mick and his wife, wol, me ...
Bertram Jacobus: eos
stevenaia Michinaga: lovely, can you tell me about it?
Bertram Jacobus: let me count first please - did i miss one ? ... ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Bertram Jacobus: no. 10. complete. so ...
stevenaia Michinaga: was this the first meet-up you went to?
Bertram Jacobus: no. it was the forth time i joined a pab meeting
Bertram Jacobus: and it was really cool, again
Bertram Jacobus: good to meet pema again. and all the others as well, for sure
stevenaia Michinaga: :) I enjoyed the ones I attended in the early days in Princeton
Bertram Jacobus: that was before i got to know pab i guess
stevenaia Michinaga: I didn't check the wiki to see if there were any logs from the event, 10 years of anything is a long time
Bertram Jacobus: this time it was a kind of "getting updated" how pab things and people are going and also a bit of guessing how the future may or could be ... at least so far as i could see it ...
Bertram Jacobus: and, for sure, also some practice ...
Bertram Jacobus: and hehe yes : 10 years is a bit ... ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: https://wiki.playasbeing.org/Chat_Logs/2018/04/2018.04.05_13%3a00_-_Pre_Book%2c_post_Amsterdam
Bertram Jacobus: yay ! - let me take a look ...
Bertram Jacobus: I´ll read it later ...
Bertram Jacobus: and this is your weekly slot ? do you have others as well ?
stevenaia Michinaga: Yes, it's been slow, even when I "advertise" on the SL website about the date and time. I am also scheduled for Wednesday at the same time
stevenaia Michinaga: not much activity
stevenaia Michinaga: there are others who have more regular attendees
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: but I find the quiet time a good thing
Bertram Jacobus: i see. but you are nevertheless engaged - which i appreciate very much ! ...
stevenaia Michinaga: with myself, here
Bertram Jacobus: wow - great ... so i don´t want to disturb your quiet time ! (?) ... ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: have you been attending any particular session regularly?
stevenaia Michinaga: lol, I'm happy to have company
Bertram Jacobus: no, i must admit, that ...
Bertram Jacobus: i didn´t find much time for pab, sadly, already since a while - but now ...
Bertram Jacobus: i´m, as written before, quite inspired to take part in the activities a bit more again, if hopefully possible
Bertram Jacobus: also i understand now a bit better the purpose and motivation of it (!) - at least i think, i do so ;-)
Bertram Jacobus: but nevertheless, at the same time, my life is full of activities. so i must see ... and hope ... ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: reflecting back on the past 10 years I found it all transformative, something I cherish
Bertram Jacobus: at the moment, for example, here where i live ( germany) it´s 4 am ... *giggle*
Bertram Jacobus: wonderful ! :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: but I am somewhat over-committed with RL activities and work, time has its limits I have finally found
Bertram Jacobus: you live in the us i guess - which part of it ? ( if i may ask ) ... ?
stevenaia Michinaga: near NYC , in Eastern AP
stevenaia Michinaga: PA
Bertram Jacobus: hehe. so we have some similar aspects in our lives, obviously ... ;-)
Bertram Jacobus: PA - sry - which state is that ?
stevenaia Michinaga: if 75 minutes away can be considered near
stevenaia Michinaga: Pennsylvania, apologies
Bertram Jacobus: ah. yes ! ty. no worries ! ty again ... :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: where do you live?
stevenaia Michinaga: did you used to host Vedic Chants in Perfect Paradise, or do I have you confused with another
Bertram Jacobus: most of the time i lived in Cologne, but in december 2016 i moved to a Buddhist center on the countryside ... shall be for the rest of my life. but for sure one never can be sure about future ... ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: what an interesting choice :)
Bertram Jacobus: not vedic chants, but Tibetan ones - and silent meditation - and in so far: yes ! that was me ... :-)
Bertram Jacobus: and yes again : i´m very happy that things developed for me as they do - this change of place of my home was and is even better then i had thought before (!) ...
stevenaia Michinaga: other than being raised such , the closest I've gotten to religion is president of my synagogue, but that's more social than religious, I suppose
stevenaia Michinaga: yet it;s is important to play a roll in any community
stevenaia Michinaga: is it ok to leave in the RL info in the Session log?
--BELL--
Bertram Jacobus: in so far at least as it concerns me - it´s always totally ok for me ... but ty you for asking !
stevenaia Michinaga: This January when I was in California visiting my son, I got to stay with Riddle and his wife for a night, that was fun
stevenaia Michinaga: he was also one of PaB early attendees
Bertram Jacobus: yay. sounds good !
stevenaia Michinaga: if you ever get to the states feel free to look me up
Bertram Jacobus: woow - that is a very kind offer / idea / remark - ty ! :-)
Bertram Jacobus: and you wrote "not so much religious" - but i read in your profile, amongst other points and topics, for example : meditation, tai chi, didgeridoo ... and also you presidentship of the synagogue - all that shall not be a bit of religion at least ? ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: hmmm, touche, perhaps I have a spiritual component (Don't forget the scotch)
Bertram Jacobus: ah, yes ! sry ... ^^
stevenaia Michinaga: I view each of them as a found object that shine a light on aspect of my makeup, like not knowing Daoism exists until discussion in PAB, yet it clarifies what I have always know
Bertram Jacobus: may be, the words religious and religion and related ones are a bit in a mess - may have the associations of church and many various problems, but on the etymological level it simply means bringing back ( to unity, in my understanding ) - what is a very nice point as i find ...
Bertram Jacobus: and yay again ;-9
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Bertram Jacobus: oops - an ugly nine, sry ... :o)
Bertram Jacobus: shall have been this :-)
Bertram Jacobus: not this : :-9
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: so , if there is a simple answer, how did you come by the decision to spend the rest of you life in a buddist center
Bertram Jacobus: so science and art are also greater topics in this group as i experienced it ...
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, those as exploration
stevenaia Michinaga: one of the attractions of PaB for me, science as spritual exploration
Bertram Jacobus: ah - i gave the house of my family to the buddhists, what is for me more a spiritual community, which i met. that was a very old wish of mine and i have a lifetime right to live in a flat there under the roof and now did that as beloved situation for my old age now ...
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: hmmm, need to change my notes on you in your profile, I wrote you are a 20 something (when we met) , now i assume it's not 20 something anymore?
Bertram Jacobus: and to me it´s a kind of combining of all those fields of activities ( i mean religion, science and art ) ...
Bertram Jacobus: hehe. no. i´m 63 , still until december ... ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: hehe, 62 here
Bertram Jacobus: but ty for the kind estimation! lol
stevenaia Michinaga: I must have met you in a younger life
Bertram Jacobus: may be it´s the same like you write in your profile: something young may have been in me ... so i also had much younger partners, for example ... and people often estimated me younger then i were ...
Bertram Jacobus: but since i have the 6 in front of my age, i found out, taht i´m old now and accept, even appreciate it - at least meanwhile ...
stevenaia Michinaga: I have met ppl much younger (in RL) that I felt were much older, to their detriment
stevenaia Michinaga: I feel (and hopefully act) much younger than I appear
Bertram Jacobus: all combinations are existent i guess - old old ones, young old ones, young youngsters, old youngsters ... ;-)
Bertram Jacobus: that may be one great aspect of the Buddhist teachings as well : old age, sickness and death are tought as aspects which demand a wise handling when one doesn´t want to suffer from them or in other words : kind of dropping ... ;-)
Bertram Jacobus: and when trained and studied for at least a while ... i find that really helpful
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, dropping as acceptance
Bertram Jacobus: yeah - and then : even appreciation and joy (!) ...
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, some seems to have a problem with the simplicity of that
Bertram Jacobus: and now in a few minutes 8 pm slt ... and i´d like to leave again - ty so much for your service here and the pab wiki link ! ... ( iwrote that before the silence break ) ... ;-)
stevenaia Michinaga: in my mind it take much effort to resist rather than simply drop and open up breathe and relax to the possibilities
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, thanks for stopping by, this was a treat
Bertram Jacobus: have a good time at least until we meet again pls ! *and wave* ... :-)
stevenaia Michinaga: waves
Bertram Jacobus: :-))