2008.05.02 19:00 -The long and the short

That evening, I could not get to the tea house in time, since in RL I had a formal dinner at work that did not allow me to leave early. Therefore, I had asked Dakini to be present and keep a log of the conversation. She kindly did so, and provided her own commentary, just as Storm had done, five days earlier.

From here on, in the rest of this blog entry, the narrative is all Dakini’s.

This is Dakini, filling in for Pema, who was not supposed to be here for the Friday 7PM session. Thorberg showed up for the tail end of our zazen practice and we waited together until time for Playingasbeing, chatting about Buddhism and one of SL’s hot topics, virtual land.

Thorberg Nordlicht: the area where we are now is perfect for your building project here
Dakini Rhode: well, this was a little more interesting until i accidentally flattened it today
Thorberg Nordlicht: haha, i know what you mean
Dakini Rhode: I intended to flatten the bit along the new fence, but…
Thorberg Nordlicht: i’ve owned a number of lots in SL and have obsessed over terraforming trying to get things just right and then accidentally flattening it all again
Dakini Rhode: I ended up flattening the whole Zen Retreat!
Dakini Rhode: I’ve done this twice now
Thorberg Nordlicht: well i think your area here is terrific! you have quite a knack for creating just the right atmosphere
Thorberg Nordlicht: my building projects tend toward much more austere skyboxes
Thorberg Nordlicht: I’m also fascinated with making use of SL features like having walls that are transparent (windows) from the inside but opaque from the outside
Dakini Rhode: When I was very new here, the Avatarian Zen Retreat was in this spot
Thorberg Nordlicht: I see, so this has been a Zen Retreat for a while even before you got here
Dakini Rhode: I came here a lot, as a newbie you could set it to Home
Dakini Rhode: yes
Dakini Rhode: In short time, the group split up and all their lovely gardens and temples poofed
Dakini Rhode: the Zen Retreat was just a flat empty plot of land - very Zen
Thorberg Nordlicht: There’s a clothing store in SL called House of Zen (or some such). They used to have a Zendo secreted away on their Island, but I visited recently and it’s all been remodeled.
Dakini Rhode: I wasn’t accustomed to how fast things change in SL
Dakini Rhode: I was attached to the old Zen Retreat
Thorberg Nordlicht: Yes, time passes more quickly here.
Dakini Rhode: So I bought the land to restore it
Dakini Rhode: It was really quite different from this
Dakini Rhode: I started out trying to make it the same, but now it’s quite different
Dakini Rhode: I’ve also added on quite a bit of land
Thorberg Nordlicht: Your 20 minute zazen seems about right for the SL pace rather than 40 minutes in RL
Dakini Rhode: Not sure that people would do 40 minutes here
Thorberg Nordlicht: Yes, I agree
Dakini Rhode: I get a lot of real beginners
Thorberg Nordlicht: Seems like 20 minutes is about right
Dakini Rhode: It usually turns into 30 minutes, we get started late
Dakini Rhode: then if people stay to chat, it’s an hour
Thorberg Nordlicht: I lost track of the time and showed up late, about when you were done
Thorberg Nordlicht: I’ll try to be on time in the future
Dakini Rhode: yes, just before we were done
Dakini Rhode: Of course you’re welcome to sit here anytime
Thorberg Nordlicht: Yes, thank you
Dakini Rhode: I was spending sooo much time in SL - I got caught up in learning to build things
Dakini Rhode: I thought I’d better practice here - so I started having the sittings every night
Dakini Rhode: Something to get myself back into a routine
Thorberg Nordlicht: good plan; I understand
Dakini Rhode: I’m glad to find other people who are interesting in this practice
Thorberg Nordlicht: So, in regard to “Play as Being” I’m not real clear on where that’s headed but seems like an interesting discussion
Dakini Rhode: we seem to be the playasbeing group tonight
Thorberg Nordlicht: fine with me
Dakini Rhode: the group is doing a certain practice
Dakini Rhode: 9 seconds every 15 minutes, for one hour a day or however much time we’re willing to devote to it
Dakini Rhode: Short breaks throught the day to “play as being”
Dakini Rhode: As I understand it, and try to practice it, it’s a pause to sort of shift my focus
Thorberg Nordlicht: As I deepen my formal Zazen practice, I find that I spontaneously come back to “following my breath” often during the day.
Dakini Rhode: My tradition has the concept of “post-meditation practice” which is similar
Dakini Rhode: To retain the thread of our practice, as we go about our daily tasks
Dakini Rhode: Outside of formal sitting practice
Thorberg Nordlicht: Yes, likewise in Soto Zen teachings
Dakini Rhode: This way, perhaps our practice will be more integrated
Thorberg Nordlicht: carrying the Zazen perspective into the rest of our daily lives.
Dakini Rhode: I think its beneficial
Dakini Rhode: to do the longer sitting practice AND the short practice
Thorberg Nordlicht: agree
Dakini Rhode: the short practice and the long practice are different experiences, really
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes
Thorberg Nordlicht: So, Pema’s idea is to meet periodically and report/discuss the effects of short practice periods throughout the day?
Dakini Rhode: And he logs the discussions in his blog
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, I looked briefly at his blog, but will have to go back and read it in more detail
Dakini Rhode: that’s quite helpful, I find I can feel connected and feel a continuity even when I can’t make the meetings
Dakini Rhode: I’ll be logging our chat, if it’s OK with you
Dakini Rhode: at least starting from 7PM
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, that’s ok with me
Dakini Rhode: just to keep up the tradition
Dakini Rhode: this is my first time “facilitating”
Thorberg Nordlicht: i see
Dakini Rhode: I dont actually know what Pema does
Thorberg Nordlicht: will you add to Pema’s blog, then?
Dakini Rhode: yes!
Dakini Rhode: if that’s oK with you
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, that’s fine with me
Pema Pera is Online

Waitaminute, was that Pema Online? But… Pema wasn’t supposed to be here!… Pema slowly rezzed before our eyes, sporting a Mohawk haircut…

Thorberg Nordlicht: ah, speaking of Pema…
Thorberg Nordlicht: we were just talking about you :-)

Pema had been speaking to us in the IM window instead of the chat window.

Dakini Rhode: the ghost of Pema!
Dakini Rhode: Maybe switch to chat, Pema?
Pema Pera: I was wondering what happened
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: gassho did not work
Dakini Rhode: hey
Pema Pera: dead give away
Dakini Rhode: gassho does not work in IM
Dakini Rhode: lol
Dakini Rhode: Thorberg and I have been the PaB group tonight
Pema Pera: no gassho-at-a-distance
Pema Pera: (physics joke : action-at-a-distance
Thorberg Nordlicht: sorry, a little slow on the uptake
Pema Pera: did you have fun playing?
Dakini Rhode: thank you for explaining that it’s physics
Dakini Rhode: haha
Pema Pera: nerd joke;>)
Thorberg Nordlicht: i should have gotten it… oh well
Dakini Rhode: Pema, you seem to be sinking
Pema Pera: sinking?
Thorberg Nordlicht: into the ground
Pema Pera: I need green tea clearly
Dakini Rhode: The physics of this place is not working tonight
Chawan : Don’t you feel at one with nature now, Pema Pera so peaceful and relaxed.
Dakini Rhode: shall we convene in the teahouse?
Pema Pera: sure!
Thorberg Nordlicht: sure
Pema Pera: nice to see you have your owner’s place, Dakini

Thorberg enjoyed several cups of green tea in quick successsion…

Cha-No-Yu Japanese Tea Ceremony (Taupe): Please enjoy your ceremonial cup of cha, Thorberg Nordlicht-san. Goziemashta arigato.
Pema Pera: like the first time I set foot here
Cha-No-Yu Japanese Tea Ceremony (Taupe): Please enjoy your ceremonial cup of cha, Thorberg Nordlicht-san. Goziemashta arigato.
Dakini Rhode: the door?
Pema Pera: or set calves here
Cha-No-Yu Japanese Tea Ceremony (Taupe): Please enjoy your ceremonial cup of cha, Thorberg Nordlicht-san. Goziemashta arigato.
Chawan : Mmmm, delicious green cha made in the ceremonial Japanese tradition, Thorberg Nordlicht, so refreshing!
Pema Pera: this cushion next to the tea set
Dakini Rhode: yes, I have the hosts’ door and cushion
Pema Pera: in charge yes
Pema Pera: ah!
Pema Pera: door!
Dakini Rhode: at your service, yes!
Pema Pera: that door
Pema Pera: haha
Thorberg Nordlicht: I came at 1 AM last night, but was the only one here.
Pema Pera: misleading
Chawan : Mmm..
Pema Pera: seemingly in service but in that way in control, no?
Thorberg Nordlicht: Sat on the hanging teapot and surveyed the room for a while :-)
Dakini Rhode: I didnt’ make a short door,too hard to enter in SL
Pema Pera: ready to throw out drunkards
Pema Pera: yes
Dakini Rhode: haha you’re not the first to sit on that teapot
Chawan : Don’t you feel at one with nature now, Thorberg Nordlicht so peaceful and relaxed.
Pema Pera: we have a very forgiving hostess Thorberg
Dakini Rhode: does it make the whole room spin>?
Pema Pera: left clicking with alt will do that to
Dakini Rhode: haha yes
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, if you go to “mouseview” your see the room turn around you
Dakini Rhode: Pema I do not come to SL to play the part of stern hostess lol

Thorberg made a brilliant suggestion…

Thorberg Nordlicht: Dakini, you should have something inside the teapot, so when folks explore by moving their camera around they discover some little surprise in there
Dakini Rhode: Not sure why I come here, but not for that
Pema Pera: So you were already playing as Dakini as Being before PaB
Dakini Rhode: ooh good idea! I little gremlin or something?
Thorberg Nordlicht: your choice
Pema Pera: Dakini is not so little and certainly no gremlin ;>)
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, Dakini was being an excellent host
Dakini Rhode: lol but she is a poor typist
Thorberg Nordlicht: I’m delighted to find like-minded folks in SL
Dakini Rhode: I don’t even bother to fix the typos anymore, by the time they show on the screen I’ve gone way past them
Thorberg Nordlicht: I’ve made the rounds of various “clubs” etc. but just not places I want to hang out
Dakini Rhode: I agree, Thorberg!
Pema Pera: I’m really glad you took root here so quickly Thorberg!
Thorberg Nordlicht: I appreciate you all being so friendly to a newcomer
Thorberg Nordlicht: I’m still getting used to developing an avatar persona that’s not too different from my real life self
Pema Pera: well, I certainly hever have worn a mohawk in RL . . . .
Pema Pera: and probably never will ;>)
Dakini Rhode: One of our newer members inspired me today… he said the avatar affects his RL thinking
Thorberg Nordlicht: I have another male avatar — much younger — that I use from time to time, but crossing gender is a little advanced for me.
Pema Pera: Yes, Dakini, Sky talked about that too a while ago
Dakini Rhode: So I thought I should try something totally different
Pema Pera: how she imagined herself as a fox
Pema Pera: and it gave her peace in a tense RL situation
Pema Pera: totally different?
Thorberg Nordlicht: oh, and then I have THIS avatar…
Thorberg Nordlicht: oops, that’s just the box; haha
Dakini Rhode: But then I thought, this helpse me to be more comfortable with my real self
Dakini Rhode: haha
Dakini Rhode: love wearing those boxes!
Pema Pera: haha yes
Pema Pera: butterfly how nice!
Thorberg Nordlicht: I kind of enjoy this…
Pema Pera: hard to sit thought
Thorberg Nordlicht: I like to fly along the roads and buzzz newbies
Dakini Rhode: haha maybe the tiny cusion would work I need to see this
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: we’ll call you when we get the next newbie
Thorberg Nordlicht: haha, ok
Pema Pera: you know, aha, how about a “butterfly out of a bottle”
(like a ghost out of)

So 45 minutes into the PaB session, the conversation turned to analysis of virtual reality memories vs. consensual reality memories…

Thorberg Nordlicht: but back to your previous point, Pema…
Thorberg Nordlicht: I think it’s interesting how some SL thinking crosses over into RL
Pema Pera: memory is interesting
Pema Pera: my SL memories and RL memories seem to be in just about the same place
Pema Pera: very different from email and phone conversations
Thorberg Nordlicht: I sure we all — as part of our inner dialog — imagine conversations we might have with people, I find that when I’m thinking about talking to a real life person, somehow the feeling of SL avatar interactions kind of creep in.
Thorberg Nordlicht: Hmmm, that didn’t come out very clearly….
Thorberg Nordlicht: but definitely something interesting going on there.
Pema Pera: yes I think I know what you mean
Pema Pera: looking at people in the street for example Thorberg Nordlicht: Like my mind doesn’t make as much distinction between RL interpersonal interactions and SL interactions as I might have expected.
Pema Pera: You know, when you come out of a movie theatre, the first minute or so you seem to be still walking in a movie . . .
Pema Pera: similar to coming out of SL
Thorberg Nordlicht: Yes, I know what you mean…
Pema Pera: but you do that more often than coming out of a theater
Thorberg Nordlicht: And then there’s wanting to use alt-drag in RL life and realizing “oh, this is RL, can’t do that here”
Dakini Rhode: haha
Pema Pera: yes!!!
Pema Pera: I know that feeling
Pema Pera: or looking behind a wall . . . .
Thorberg Nordlicht: wouldn’t that be nice in real life is you could just swing your POV around to different perspectives like you can in SL?
Pema Pera: zoom in and turn around
Pema Pera: yes!
Pema Pera: lol
Thorberg Nordlicht: right, we were both typing the same point…
Dakini Rhode: Virtual reality gives you quite an interesting perspective on what is real
Pema Pera: or the sit trick
Pema Pera: do you know that one?
Pema Pera: to tunnel through a wall?
Pema Pera: without using a door?
Thorberg Nordlicht: It surprises me that RL and SL are apparently not a cleanly paritioned in my mind as I might have expected.
Thorberg Nordlicht: Yes!
Pema Pera: clever idea
Pema Pera: natural in a way
Thorberg Nordlicht: ((thinking: ok, now the conversation is getting interesting))
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: looking for new tricks?
Thorberg Nordlicht: also, wanting to IM people in RL so you can carry on a “private conversation” on the side
Dakini Rhode: Um, I do that
Pema Pera: for me the transition from SL to RL is interesting because traditionally the image of wider insight has been waking up from a dream . . .
Pema Pera: yes, lol, indeed!!
Pema Pera: very inconvenient, RL
Pema Pera: so SL gives a new metaphor
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, RL is so limiting
Pema Pera: which could go either way, by the way!
Pema Pera: waking up from which to which?
Dakini Rhode: Its neither here nor there
Pema Pera: waking up to greater degrees of freedom when going into SL
Thorberg Nordlicht: “monk dreaming he was a butterfly or butterfly
dreaming he was a monk”
Pema Pera: waking up to more a sense of traditional reality when
going out
Pema Pera: yes, exactly!
Pema Pera: avatar dreaming she was an alt
Thorberg Nordlicht: Pema, expand on “…image of wider insight…
waking up from a dream…”
Pema Pera: traditionally, the starting idea of spiritual training is that of a long and tedious path
Pema Pera: but then when a deep insight has arisen
Pema Pera: the general response is:
Pema Pera: Hey, how strange, it was there all along, I tried to grasp for it reach for it but it was closer than my own nose, my own bones . . . .
Thorberg Nordlicht: I see
Pema Pera: so the metaphor for that is then “waking up from a dream”
Pema Pera: no distance needs to be crossed
Pema Pera: only “eyes” have to be “opened”
Pema Pera: but not the physical eyes nor the dream eyes
Pema Pera: “eyes” is yet another metaphor
Thorberg Nordlicht: Maybe I’m free-associating to something you didn’t mean, but what comes to mind is the distinction between “knowing” and “knowing that you know”…
Thorberg Nordlicht: when you suddently “know that you know”, you realize the basic know had already been there a long time
Pema Pera: perhaps like searching for your glasses everywhere and then realizing that you were wearing them all along . . . .
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes! like the ox herding pictures…
Thorberg Nordlicht: you were riding the ox the whole time you were looking for it
Dakini Rhode: HAHA i CAN RELATE TO THAT ONE
Dakini Rhode: oops caps
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: I wondered about the SUDDEN INSIGHT haha
Thorberg Nordlicht: Interesting mix of conversation… definitely a different tone than real life conversation…. but to me, something good/nice happening here
Pema Pera: more like a ballet of words . . .
Thorberg Nordlicht: haven’t experienced this before in SL
Thorberg Nordlicht: hello
Pema Pera: welcome!

So an hour into the session, Maurizio materialized on one of the cushions,
sporting a full head of long, spikey standard SL hair.

Maurizio Collas: hello
Pema Pera: greetings, Maurizio
Dakini Rhode: Hi, Maurizio
Maurizio Collas: thank you, hope to not disturb
Pema Pera: suddenly my hair looks fairly normal here . . .;>)
Pema Pera: not at all!
Dakini Rhode: you’re very welcome to join us
Maurizio Collas: thank you
Pema Pera: many people drop in when they pass by
Thorberg Nordlicht: We’d be hard pressing to catch you up on what we were talking about, but join the mix; welcome
Pema Pera: have you been here before?
Maurizio Collas: no, never before, what this place is about?
Pema Pera: well . . . . . .
Pema Pera: Dakini, do you want to start with the history
Pema Pera: back when the tea house was a glimmer in your eye?
Dakini Rhode: this is a teahouse
Dakini Rhode: and outside is a retreat space
Dakini Rhode: We have some scheduled events here
Thorberg Nordlicht: Dakini built the place; Pema promoted this regularly schedule discussion group; and I’m a relative newcomer
Dakini Rhode: Zazen - sitting meditation pactice - and discussions
Maurizio Collas: well, it’s very good, i lke meditation and relaxation
Maurizio Collas: and also, discussions
Pema Pera: my role here is to bring in the play element; calling it Play as Being: see http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ — but Dakini was playing here already long before I did — I institutionalized it, so to speak ;>)
Pema Pera: Maurizio, what I suggested we do here is to do a very very short type of meditation
Pema Pera: all of nine seconds believe it or not
Dakini Rhode: haha back
Pema Pera: many times a day
Pema Pera: so every fifteen minutes I suggest to do a 9-sec suspension of normal awareness . . . .
Pema Pera: so for a few hours a day, we pay a 1% time tax: every 15 minutes = 900 sec a 9 second break
Pema Pera: and then four times a day we gather here to compare notes and chat
Pema Pera: for those who want to come
Pema Pera: each time different mix of people
Pema Pera: I have been fascinated by how well it “works” how is seems to affect most people, including myself
Pema Pera: even though the duration is so short
Thorberg Nordlicht: some folks who show up also maintain a regular, more formal meditation practice, and others are new to meditation, entirely
Pema Pera: yes, Thor, we have a fascinating mix
Maurizio Collas: i’m just looking the website, still don’t understood 100% what is all about
Pema Pera: there is a LOT of stuff there
Dakini Rhode: Maurizio, *I* don’t understand 100% what it is about
Pema Pera: the real meaning will, hopefully, emerge out of the fog of many dialogues . . . .
Pema Pera: I don’t either, haha
Pema Pera: but something is coming out
Pema Pera: like out of a shell . . . .
Pema Pera: egg shelll
Dakini Rhode: it takes its own direction
Maurizio Collas: mmm..
Pema Pera: it’s a bit like first experience of going into SL — far more dramatic than you might have guessed; similarly with taking ten 9-sec breaks and then you see that your live becomes lighter, different — according to many accounts; we are only beginning to get an idea what that is all about . . . .
Pema Pera: something about trading duration for frequency
Pema Pera: trading meditation for integration
Pema Pera: but I suggest you just try
Maurizio Collas: it sounds soo new and soo interesting to me
Pema Pera: and see what happens
Maurizio Collas: yes, i will try sure
Pema Pera: ten sessions is still less that the time needed to brush your teeth (if you include flossing :-)
Pema Pera: so we are here at 7 am 1 pm 7 pm and soon even at 1 am
Pema Pera: ’cause I’ll be in Japan starting on Monday
Pema Pera: to take the graveyard shift
Pema Pera: in full daylight there
Maurizio Collas: ehhe, japan, what a nice country
Pema Pera: love it
Maurizio Collas: never been there, but i know i would like it
Maurizio Collas: hey, excuseme now, but i have to run out
Maurizio Collas: may i return tomorrow?
Dakini Rhode: please!
Maurizio Collas: ok :)
Pema Pera: of course!
Pema Pera: please do so
Pema Pera: see you!
Maurizio Collas: tnx for the ospitality
Maurizio Collas: looks very nice people
Pema Pera: thanks for enlivening the atmosphere!
Dakini Rhode: nice to meet you, Maurizio
Maurizio Collas: bye bye :)
Thorberg Nordlicht: good bye bye for now
Pema Pera: and for making my hair look simple!
Maurizio Collas: ahahhaha :D
Pema Pera: well, I will do a reverse awakening soon . . . .
Pema Pera: ready for it
Dakini Rhode: :-)
Pema Pera: we soon need a bar
Pema Pera: for overflow