C. Month of August

Play as Being was now four months old and growing. August opened with Gaya and Pema sitting quietly talking about fragility:

Pema Pera: and I believe that elsewhere I said that I feel fragile at every session
Pema Pera: and I could add that I also feel invulnerable at every session
Pema Pera: both
Gaya Ethaniel thinks Pema's a sensitive person
Pema Pera: on a relative level, as a being, a human being, I am fragile
Pema Pera: any moment anything can happen
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Pema Pera: while on an absolute/ultimate level what I am is invulnerable

 Later that same day at the 13:00 session, Pema talks about  Being:

Pema Pera: Being is such a tricky concept
Pema Pera: it will take three years for us to reach a real common understanding I think
Pema Pera: but that will be a fascinating three years!
Pema Pera: to come closer, experientially
Pema Pera: while using words like tourist tokens
Pema Pera: little memorabilia of where we have traveled and are traveling
Pema Pera: so we'll start out with very different understandings of Being
Pema Pera: and in our experience we will all let Being speak
Pema Pera: and we will help each other to listen
Pema Pera: and slowly we'll converge
Pema Pera: since there is only one Being

In the same session, Religion and PaB:

Pema Pera: The reason normal religions work is that they use a "God" figure to do this exercise
Pema Pera: anthropomorphic
Pema Pera: and they work well if you do it seriously
Pema Pera: what we explore here is a high-grade distillation of religions
Pema Pera: not on the rocks
Pema Pera: but straight up
Pema Pera: just let Reality/Being/It see
Pema Pera: see the world
Pema Pera: see you
Pema Pera: see everything
Pema Pera: the whole story
Pema Pera: don't try to analyze what I am saying now
Pema Pera: just do it
Pema Pera: you'll be surprised
Pema Pera: and then we can talk about what you experience

Real Life Meetings

In early August the first meeting of real life Play as Being avatars was held in in Berkely, CA. After enthusiastic reports from the west coasters, the East coast guardians got their first chance with two meetings in New York City and Princeton respectively in  mid August. It was reassuring to to those meeting in real life for the first time that what we had learned about each other through our avatars was in fact "real".

The Longest Session Ever

Toward the end of July and in the beginning of August there began to be some firendly competition over who could attend the most sessions in a row and some of us started to sit for longer and longer sessions. Finally, the ultimate single session possibility was achieved on August 5 07:00 when a session lasted six hours going right into the following session. It is fun to se the new group of avatars arriving for the 13:00 session at the end of it.

Appreciate the Presence of Appearance as a Presentation by Being (APAPB)

Pema waited until the middle of the fifth month of Play as Being to introduce us to APAPB. The Ways of Knowing group had played with this topic previously. As often happened in paB, the topic was introduced to us through one of the group. Pema often did that. One of us would be struggling with something, or near some insight, and Pema would see a tool, exercise or even a thought as being useful. then he would use that group member to help introduce it to the rest of the group. In this case it was Doug who was the catalyst and first user of the APAPB exercise. Some of us struggled to understand this which is not surprising since the group does not have a definition for "Being". I am writing this seven months later, and only this week did I understand from Stim that presence needs to be viewed in the "context of timelessness" and I see it below in the sense of "all viewers, all screens, etc.". Pema and Doug first  discussed this with us at the 07:00 session on August 23:

Pema Pera: for example what I suggested, Doug, a few weeks ago, when we meet in RL in Berkeley
Pema Pera: this sentence about appreciation
Pema Pera: which is pretty independent of states of awareness, in principlePema Pera: I suggested to focus lightly on the sentence:
Pema Pera: appreciate the presence of appearance as a presentation by Being

Pema Pera: approaching everything from the Being side rather than the body/brain/mind side
doug Sosa: It took me a week to understand it, a week to practice, and .. now working with it as a friend. 

Pema Pera: the funny thing about that sentence is that you can best read it backwards
Pema Pera: there is Being
Pema Pera: which presents
Pema Pera: what does it present?
Pema Pera: appearance, all that appears
Pema Pera: what do we know about appearance, directly, empirically
Pema Pera: only that it is present
Pema Pera: so what can we appreciate?
Pema Pera: ultimately only the presence of appearance
Pema Pera: the rest is added theory
Pema Pera: encrusted thoughts
Pema Pera: the pure core of what is is the presence of appearance
Pema Pera: presented by Being

The following exerpt is from the August 25 07:00 session:

Pema Pera: Being is every point
Pema Pera: completely
Pema Pera: and also All
Pema Pera: in the widest sense
Pema Pera: perhaps we can go back to that sentence?
Pema Pera: APAPB for short :)
Pema Pera: *any* appearance is presented by Being
doug Sosa: so by all we mean, not just "this Screen" bu all screens, all projectors, all viewwers, all movie makers?
Pema Pera: everything -- without looking at it as things
Pema Pera: All is a whole -- and All is completely there in every (seeming) part
doug Sosa: so why does it still seem "local"?
Pema Pera: that is part of a presentation, an appearance
Pema Pera: anything can appear, also the sense of local
Pema Pera: without being less fully Being
Pema Pera: Being is not limited by its appearing local
doug Sosa: got it. glad i asked.
Pema Pera: but this is something to be explored
Pema Pera: accepted only temporarily as a hypothesis to be tested
Pema Pera: for example through the APAPB sentence

Autologging

The autologging project was begun and the meetings began in early August. Storm pointed out the listening range of the present pavilion included other people's lands. In other words, their private conversations might be picked up on the log. The solution was to build a new structure in Bieup in the middle of what had been the forest. Storm, Adelene, Fael, Pema and Wol took part in the original planning. Wol eventually was tapped to lead the effort and it was fael and Wol who eventually completed the project but that was a bit later.

Exerpts

It was becoming evident that with 120 chat logs a month, it was impossible for new particpants to find many of the more important exchanges. Pia Iger, with a group of volunteer readers, began in mid August, to extract exerpts from all the previous logs. Eventually it was split into two categories :short exerpts" and "lonh exerpts". The latter might be a complete session.

Chronicles:

On August 28, Pema asked me, Adams, to conisder writing the Chronicles of the first year of PaB.

Voices of August:

On the nine seconds from August 1 07:00: 

Prosper Telling: It's like 14 minutes and 24 seconds a day... If I know that I've been too busy to keep to the fifteen minute thing, I can play catch up at the end of the day.
genesis Zhangsun: :)
Prosper Telling: Kind of an easy payment approach
genesis Zhangsun: doesn't sound like a bad idea
genesis Zhangsun: better than not at all!
Gaya Ethaniel: i c that would work too - i 'try' not to feel obliged to do 9 sec. I just do it when needed if not alone
Adams Rubble: Yes, the thing about the exercise is that there is lots of room for free form
Gaya Ethaniel: i have to say though the gaps between 9 secs have decreased dramatically over last 2 weeks

Expectations from August 8 13:00:

Solobill Laville: Hmmmm
Solobill Laville: I think with as much time and energy that we all put into this effort
Solobill Laville: in whatever way we all do in our own way
Solobill Laville: There might be a feeling of expecting too much
Solobill Laville: being a bit too goal oriented
Solobill Laville: I hesitate to say this (as I am with most everthing I say here)
Solobill Laville: Because everyone is on their own path
Solobill Laville: and at their own spot, on their own path
Solobill Laville: But sometimes great expectations can be a big hindrance, depending on your own personal "whys" for practicing

 On August 14 13:00 Storm and Tahuti had a long session about the PaB practice in which Storm explained what we were doing in PaB. At the end, Storm reflected in a comment:

But I was still left wondering... if an intelligent person had attended parts of our discussion meetings 20 times over the last 2 weeks, and after that time they still hadn't gained a clear understanding of what Play as Being was, what were we talking about during all that time???!!!

Being Busy. August 15 07:00

doug Sosa: For example, instead of saying I am too busy, say I have time. Really, don't change anything but what you say and you will have more time. amazing.
Adams Rubble: Yes Doug
Sky Szimmer: words are magic
Sky Szimmer: I keep forgetting that as it can be white magic or black
Adams Rubble: I have been doing that with gratitude/complaining
Adams Rubble: I like the idea of doing it with time
doug Sosa: People are actually afraid to say "I am not busy."

 Physical effects of 9 seconds (August 25 13:00)

Stim Morane: This started with my dull question about practice-related experiences, or others bearing on PaB.
Stim Morane: Any takers?
Storm Nordwind: Well if we’re talking about physical effects, I noticed within a week that by my sudden dumping of any physical stress was a marker of how engaged I was in any one 9 second episode
Stim Morane: Sure
Stim Morane: It’s a funny fact that this is possible, and even necessary.
Gaya Ethaniel: Physical stress? Tense muscles Storm?

Storm Nordwind: Yes Gaya. Complete removal of all physical stress
Storm Nordwind: Within the 9 second timeframe
Gaya Ethaniel nods
Storm Nordwind: Not instant
Storm Nordwind: But like someone pulling a very large plug out of a sand pit
Storm Nordwind: All emptied in 9 seconds. Could feel it falling off me. Still can.

New Guardians:

Rowan Masala and Threedee Shepherd became guardians in August.