F. Fefonz

Fefonz Quan and I met at my own seaside guardian plot so generosly provided by Play as being. With the sight of the crashing waves we discussed Fefonz's experience with Play as Being.

I began by probing differences between my own experience and Fefonz's. I began PaB with no practice, either formal and informal.

Adams Rubble: Thank you for meeting with here with me Fefonz. Unlike me, you seem to have brought an already-existing practice to PaB. Is that corrrect?
Fefonz Quan: yes
Fefonz Quan: Though not "formal" or very strict practice, i've been practicing meditation and going to dharma talks for about 6-7 years
Fefonz Quan: Yet i did not meditate on a daily basis
Adams Rubble: Were they Buddhist talks?
Fefonz Quan: Yes. in fact "dharma" talk implies that :)
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: Has PaB made a difference in the regularity of meditation?
Fefonz Quan: in a way yes, mostly cause it can be done so quickly.
Fefonz Quan: and also because the involvement in the group sessions and talking about those things also sets you a lot of time in a meditative mood
Adams Rubble nods
Fefonz Quan: though i am not the most disciplined disciple :)
Adams Rubble: I think most of us are not disciplined most of the time but vary from day to day.

I briefly ask Fefonz how he found his way to PaB

Fefonz Quan: Well that is easy. i have been at the IAS since last year, and during the "after hours" talk here, i met Piet and he invited me to be a visitor in his interdisciplinary department this year
Fefonz Quan: From there, and the fact that since last November my part-time job also ceased to exist, i have a lot of time
Fefonz Quan: and i spent a lot of my time in the office , thus also getting into PaB naturally
Fefonz Quan: I guess i could summarize all of that in one word - Piet :)
Adams Rubble: I think many of us are inspired and energized by Piet:)

And then how it felt like when doing the nine second stops for the first time

Fefonz Quan: it was very calm, relaxing, refreshing in a way
Adams Rubble: How does this differ from doing longer meditations?
Fefonz Quan: On some level it was similar to my vipassana practice. There are(were maybe) some differences for me:
Fefonz Quan: One was the open eyes, forcing me to include visual appearances into it.
Fefonz Quan: On the other hand, i do feel that longer meditations have for me some potential for deeper concentration, etc.

I wanted to get a taste of what it was like beginning in PaB six months after me. I remember it being a slow process to begin to get a sense of what the guardians were like and there were many fewer when I started. But I had been in Second Life for a few months prior to PaB so I did have that background.

Fefonz Quan: well, if i recall in December there were also fewer than now, so i felt quite shortly you meet the frequent ones.
Fefonz Quan: and surely the whole experience of SL was new to me, so i needed to get used to that as well
Adams Rubble: Oh yes, that is quite a bit to take on all at once
Adams Rubble: So you were learning to walk, talk and sit at the same time you were learning about the 9 seconds
Fefonz Quan: yes, that was harder i guess, the 9-sec came quite naturally for me.
Fefonz Quan: the concepts behind them - that's another story ;-)
Adams Rubble: Pema often compares it to walking into a foreign country as an immigrant
Fefonz Quan: in SL - sure.
Fefonz Quan: a foreign country when you don't speak not the language nor the body language :)
Adams Rubble nods
Fefonz Quan: in fact till today i consider myself a newbie in that world, considering how i use its features
Adams Rubble: Yes, it can be a little intimidating
Fefonz Quan: but in a way i use it a a communication tool, no more
Adams Rubble nods
Fefonz Quan: I never was a computer geek in that sense
Adams Rubble: That raises an interesting point, how do you rate it as a communication tool?
Fefonz Quan: It is a great communication tool for me.
Fefonz Quan: In a way, where I am located in RL, my social life in SL are far more developed than currently in RL :)
Adams Rubble: Yes you are a bit isolated at IAS
Fefonz Quan: surely that wasn't true for the winter break when i went to my home land. but it was great i could log on to the forum from there
Adams Rubble: That must have been quite an experience to come into the same world you left here
Adams Rubble: sort of a connector between locations
Fefonz Quan: in SL you mean?
Adams Rubble: yes to come into the same SL world from different RL places
Fefonz Quan: well, i didnt leave it in a sense. it is like saying i leave my gmail account when abroad
Adams Rubble thinks and nods
Fefonz Quan: you are talking to a guy that was daily running algorithms in his remote office on another continent daily, not to mention running machines remotely. that is much weirder
Adams Rubble: :)

Then on to the exercises and all those letters

Adams Rubble: It must have been confusing to be presented with all these exercises that the "old timers" had gotten one at a time over the summer like YSBS, ESBS and APAPB
Adams Rubble: all at once
Fefonz Quan: well, once i came into those code names, i jumped on Piet and thus started our dialogue sessions :)
Adams Rubble: That sounds like a good strategy :)
Fefonz Quan: yes, RL has its own advantages :)
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: Are you still working on those?
Fefonz Quan: a little, i am not so organized... i just hang around, doing my thing, and when practice comes to mind, sometime it is APAPB (infact that is quite similar to PaB for me)
Fefonz Quan: somehow lately it is more YSBS, following our last dialogue.
Fefonz Quan: that one is intruiging in a way
Fefonz Quan: and ES - i still need to find out what that is
Adams Rubble: Storm had some powerful experiences with ESBS (see: http://stormerne.blogspot.com/)
Fefonz Quan: (yes, still remind to me to read them....)

Adams Rubble: Are you involved in other Kira activities?
Fefonz Quan: sure :=)
Fefonz Quan: i am one of the organizers of the Time workshop and i also attend the pheno, dream, phylo sometimes, and stims contemplation
Adams Rubble: wow, a full plate
Fefonz Quan: Well, i have a lot of time as you know. those are only 4 hours a week, mind you ;-)
Adams Rubble: They are at inconvenient times for me and so I am out of it as far as they are concerned
Fefonz Quan: Yes, in fact that is also why they are good times for me
Adams Rubble: I presume they all feed and complement each other
Fefonz Quan: Yes, in a way
Adams Rubble: Would you care to say more?
Fefonz Quan: Well, time, pheno, contemplation and PaB all talk about ways to explore the nature of reality, from different percpectives
Fefonz Quan: The dream one has some different flavour
Fefonz Quan: and also i like that even though the "theoretical" issues sometimes overlap,
Fefonz Quan: The dynamics of the sessions differ a lot, which is great
Fefonz Quan: in PaB it is more free and open (for good and less good :)), in the workshops more constrained,
Fefonz Quan: in the TIme we hear the people voices - beautiful experience i may say after all the silence chats
Fefonz Quan: it is so vivid to hear the real people talk, for me it is quite detached from their avatars, like a glimpse to the real world
Adams Rubble: Rather like a step toward meeting in RL :)
Fefonz Quan: Yes. and it reminds how expressive our voices are (and how cranky our accent can be ;-))
Adams Rubble: This is very interesting. This is new to me
Fefonz Quan: what is new?
Adams Rubble: New is the description of the relationship between PaB and the Kira sessions
Adams Rubble: thank you for that

I then asked if I has missed anything in my questions

Fefonz Quan: I can say that all in all it is a great experience for me
Fefonz Quan: both in the practice, "theoretiacal", social, spiritual
Fefonz Quan: and behind all a great bunch of inspiring, profound, and fun people to meet
Adams Rubble: Thank you for sharing . The rest of us benefit so much from your presence and contributions
Fefonz Quan: thanks very much, i am glad to hear that
Adams Rubble: Sometimes I forget to tell people that :)
Fefonz Quan: i think that was my gong que to leave :)
Adams Rubble: OK, thank you for coming and talking
Adams Rubble: have a good evening
Fefonz Quan: thanks you adams, it is my pleasure
Fefonz Quan: you too :)
Adams Rubble: bye for now :)
Fefonz Quan: _/!\_