Pia was the guardian that evening. She later sent the following chat log, with her comments. The photo is also hers.
When I arrived, Adams and Gamb were already sitting in the pavilion. Pema came in and broke the ice.
Pia Iger: Hello, Adams, and Gamb
Adams Rubble: Thank you
Adams Rubble: Hello Pia
Gambhira Skytower: Hi Pia
Gambhira Skytower: hi Pema
Adams Rubble: Hello Pema
Pema Pera: Hi Pia, Gam, Adams!
Pia Iger: morning, Pema
Pema Pera: I really enjoyed the discussion with Stim, a few sessions ago
Pema Pera: I look forward to read the rest of the text, after I left
Pema Pera: haven’t had a chance yet
Pema Pera: just woke up :)
Pia Iger: Adams put her thoughts on her blog.
Adams Rubble: It was a very full session
While we kept talking about last night’s session, Terri joined us, in a very colorful outfit.
Gambhira Skytower: hi Terri!
Terri Holrych: hellow
Adams Rubble: Hi Terri
Pema Pera: Hi Terri!
Pia Iger: Hi, Terri,
Terri Holrych: hi adams
Terri Holrych: lol
Terri Holrych: same hair
Pia Iger: We were deeply touched by the concept of “larger entity” Stim brought up.
Pia Iger: associated with compassion
Pema Pera: can you say in your own words what that “larger entity” is?
Pema Pera: thar was after I left, right?
Pema Pera: oh, colorful, Terri!!
Pia Iger: would be “more than myself”
Pema Pera: you changed from grey to all colors!!
Terri Holrych: lol
Pema Pera: after you rezzed for me :)
Terri Holrych: :)
Terri Holrych: i changed clothes
Pema Pera: more than yourself, Pia, in what sense of direction, do you feel you have a kind of handle or pointer?
Pia Iger: or beyond myself. I am connected with other people.
Pia Iger: Our experience, or suffering is connected or shared
Pema Pera: yes, that is beautiful to experience that, to know it and see it and feel it . . .
Pema Pera: and I have a deep sense that this is what we are doing here in PaB
Pema Pera: with all the words and actions, it is what you described that is our real base
Adams Rubble: May I add that it was nicely put..I got it a bit muddled today
Pia Iger: surely I have heard this kind of sayings before,
Pia Iger: but yesterday it is much clearer to me, and more heartfelt.
Adams Rubble: yes
Pema Pera: that’s wonderful, Pia . . . and I feel the same way, every day things are getting more clear for me too . . . .
Pema Pera: there seems to be no end to deepening clarity . . . .
Pema Pera: that’s probably why the great teachers of the past just kept practicing.
Pema Pera: the notion of “getting it” or “enlightenment” can be very misleading. We learn, we see, we see better, deeper, fuller. . . . .
Pema Pera: it just goes on and on . . . .
Pema Pera: sometimes more gradually
Terri Holrych: :)
Pema Pera: sometimes with great breakthroughs
Pema Pera: moving heaven and earth
Pema Pera: but then still going on . . . .
Pema Pera: . . . and then you begin to see that there is no time and no moving on . . . .
Pema Pera: all very paradoxical
Pema Pera: all this will begin to make more and more sense
Pema Pera: over the months and years while we’re at it here :-)
Pema Pera: we just got started!
Banana Nut Muffin whispers: Hmmm, a fresh baked muffin!
Faenik likes muffins!
Terri Holrych: hehe
Pia Iger: life is very paradoxical!
Pema Pera: I just feel so grateful to be able to talk with you all about this, several times a day . . . .
Terri Holrych: its beautiful
Pema Pera: this has been my dream, to belong to a community like this, on a daily basis of continuous presence, but never in my life got a chance, until now, these last three months
Pema Pera: virtual worlds gave the potentiality
Pema Pera: you all gave the actuality
Pema Pera: thank you!
Terri Holrych: yes i can attend more dharma events online
Terri Holrych: thank YOU
Gamb gave us an offer.
Gambhira Skytower: can i share a notecard with everybody to read later on your own time?
Pema Pera: sure of course!
Terri Holrych: :)
Terri Holrych: yes
Pia Iger: Yes.
Gambhira Skytower gave you The Power of Gratitude.
Gambhira Skytower: Adams, i already gave it to you
Adams Rubble: yes, thanks
Pema Pera: how appropriate!! Do you have notecards for every occasion, or did you just find this, or did it just fit in with our conversation :-) ?
Gambhira Skytower: well it fit in nicely because you had just expressed gratitude
Pema Pera: yes, that was amazing, so I was curious :>)
Pema Pera: fitting very well, thank you!!
Gambhira Skytower: i went to a talk about it in SL recently
Pema Pera: I sometimes use “appreciation” in more or less the same way as “gratitude” in your note card — yes, heart center related
Pema Pera: what was the talk about?
Gambhira Skytower: Gratitude, but I missed most of the talk
Pema Pera: I like the line in your note card: Awakens a higher part of our being: Gratitude is primarily a quality felt by the heart centre, that place in the middle of our chest where we can feel our soul, or the essence of our existence.
Pema Pera: that is a nice description for a way into Being
Pema Pera: insofar as you can talk of a way
Pema Pera: (misleading, that, but a first attempt)
Gamb questioned about Being and trigger Pema to say more…
Gambhira Skytower: What is this Being you speak of?
Pema Pera: Appreciate the presence of appearance as a presentation by Being
Pema Pera: this is one of my mantras :-)
Pema Pera: Be grateful for — that would be fine to, instead of appreciate
Pema Pera: Being is difficult to explain
Pema Pera: if you drop everything that you have
Pema Pera: what you are left with is what you are
Pema Pera: that is Being
Gambhira Skytower: Does it have anything to do with Heideggers book, Being and Time?
Pema Pera: but then no you anymore
Pema Pera: no space no time no individuality as we currently understand it
Pema Pera: Heidegger had an uncanny intuition
Pema Pera: he was a strange person
Pema Pera: very narrow and frankly quite unpleasant
Pema Pera: in fact collaborating with nazis
Pema Pera: and yet he had this strange intuition
Pema Pera: he “saw”
Pema Pera: Being
Pema Pera: to some extent
Pema Pera: I’ve talked with Stim about that quite a bit
Pema Pera: and Stim agrees:
Pema Pera: Heidegger is one of the few European philosophers who even knew what we are talking about
Pema Pera: when mentioning “Being” — most others had no idea
Pema Pera: Spinoza had a sense too
Pema Pera: I think Husserl did too, but Husserl was much more careful than Heidegger
Pema Pera: I’m willing to bet a lot that Husserl saw it as clearly as Heidegger, if not more clearly, but he did not want to write about what he could not precisely formulate
Pema Pera: Husserl was Heideggers thesis advisor
Pema Pera: a Jew
Pema Pera: Heidgger later betrayed him
Pema Pera: when he sides with the Nazi
Pema Pera: Nazis
Pema Pera: all very sad
Adams Rubble: more than sad
Pema Pera: so it shows: getting a sense of Being in itself is not enough
Pema Pera: One way to say it: Heidegger missed “Play” . . . .
Pema Pera: only sensed “Being” . . . .
Pema had to go, but he wanted to discuss with Adams regarding to one sensece in her blog first.
Pema Pera: Sorry, I have to run to a lunch meeting here in Shibuya, Tokyo
Pema Pera: in five minutes
Terri Holrych: ok
Adams Rubble: bye Pema
Pema Pera: I hate these time zones . . . would love to keep talking with y’all !
Terri Holrych: thank you for allowing me to visit
Pema Pera: yw Terri, any time, of course!
Pema Pera: Adams, just one reaction to your blog
Pema Pera: “what do I need to subtract”
Pema Pera: the real answer is “I”
Pema Pera: which means there is no answer
Pema Pera: because “I” cannot subtract “I”
Pema Pera: but Being can
Pema Pera: Being already has
Pema Pera: there never has been an I
Pema Pera: but if there is an illusion of I then that illusion has to be dropped
Pema Pera: Let’s talk about that next time :-)
Pia Iger: puzzled..
Adams Rubble: yes, thank you
Pema Pera: yes, Pia?
Pia Iger: will ask you next time.
Pema Pera: one line?
Pema Pera also does not want to leave
Pema Pera: :-)
Pia Iger: I have to think about it to form a question.
Pema Pera: okay!
Pia Iger: don’t think we can solve in 4 min
Pema Pera: By the way, Gambhira, the type of note card you sent is wonderful
Gambhira Skytower: oh good
Pema Pera: and in a week or so we will have a PaB wiki
Pema Pera: so that we can all put up notes like that
Pema Pera: for a growing PaB library
Pia Iger: so much to read, but most important is to do 9 sec. right?
Pema Pera: oh yes
Pema Pera: most important is continuity
Pema Pera: and every 15 minutes reminding yourself of keeping the continuity sticking to it
Pema Pera: and the 9-sec is a quick and efficient way of doign so ;)
Pema Pera: Gambhira, if you are interested in becoming a guardian,
Pema Pera: we would be delighted for you to join us
Pema Pera: you can ask Adams and Pia about the details (there ain’t many)
Pema Pera: bye for now, Adams, Gambhira, Pia!
Gambhira Skytower: i’ll keep that in mind
Pia Iger: bye.
Adams Rubble: bye
Gambhira Skytower: Goodbye
Adams filled Gamb in about the role of guardians.
Adams Rubble: It is pretty easy Gambhira
Adams Rubble: If you are asigned a time slot, you need to be there for a 1/2 hour
Adams Rubble: You are welcome to stay for an hour
Adams Rubble: and most people do
Adams Rubble: You need to keep the log which is done by activatiing your chat log on your computer
Adams Rubble: and send it to Pema
Adams Rubble: Otherwise you need to tell new people that the log is being kept and get their permission
Gambhira Skytower: i’m not ready to be a Gaurdian at this time
Adams Rubble: also you need to introdcuce them to the 15 minute, 9 second practice
Adams Rubble: We all felt like that Gambhira
Adams Rubble: Anyway, did I leave out anything, Pia?
Pia Iger: no.
Adams Rubble: that’s it—-that simple :)
Adams Rubble: one more thing there is a Sunday meeting that is not manditory
I was curious about Gamb’s interest in SL.
Pia Iger: Gamb, do you do Zazen here?
Gambhira Skytower: sometimes i come to the 6pm Zazen Pia
Pia Iger: just wondering your interest in SL.
Pia Iger: buddism or Zen
Gambhira Skytower: I follow Theravada Buddhism
Pia Iger: Ok.
Pia Iger: You can certainly come here anytime, no need to become guardian.
Adams Rubble: Unless you want one of these cool signs over your name :)
Pia Iger: :)
Gambhira Skytower: lol
Adams Rubble: Gambhira has been a big help to me
Pia Iger: in what way?
Adams Rubble: He was the one who taught me about mindfulness
Adams Rubble: and then taught me breath meditation
Adams Rubble: and introdiuced me to the dharma audio library
Adams Rubble: there is a link from my blog on the right
Pia Iger: ahh, that was wonderful.
Gambhira Skytower: :)
Adams Rubble: I hope you don;t mind me talking about you in the third person
Pia Iger: How long have you been practiing, Gamb?
Gambhira Skytower: about 6 years
Pia Iger: just curious, what was the triger to follow Buddism? I am nosey
Gambhira Skytower: I think it was because I agreed with the teachings I discovered, they seemed to describe things as they are, and offered me the chance to improve myself
Pia Iger: That is a right way– cause you felt it was right.
Adams wanted to discuss with me what Pema just said to her. And Gamb learned a little trick of text chatting in between.
Adams Rubble: Pia, were you puzzled by what Pema said to me?
Pia Iger scrolling back
Gambhira Skytower: how do you put in a message like that one, where you describe what you’re doing
Pia Iger: “there never has been an I
Pia Iger: Gamb, happy to share.
Adams Rubble: type /me first
Pia Iger: I just learnt it today
Gambhira Skytower knows now
Pia Iger: yes, as Adams said. Try it
Pia Iger: Yeah!
Gambhira Skytower is pleased
Gambhira Skytower: okay, sorry it interrupt
Adams Rubble: Pia does the “kust learned it go with the quote
Adams Rubble: just
Prosper walked in, and I could finally told Adams what I was puzzled by.
Gambhira Skytower: Hi Prosper
Adams Rubble: Hi Propser
Pia Iger: not clear what you asking?
Prosper Telling: Hi
Adams Rubble: Your questions might help me, that’s why I am asking
Adams Rubble: I’m learning this too
Pia Iger: “there never has been an I” is what I feel puzzled.
Adams Rubble: yes
Adams Rubble: I will be thinking about it
We gave Prosper the introduction of PaB.
Adams Rubble: Welcome Prosper
Prosper Telling: Glad o make… if a tad late
Pia Iger: Hi, Prosper, I think you’ve been here before, right?
Prosper Telling: Not to this particular group
Pia Iger: we are PlayasBeing group
Pia Iger: do you know us?
Prosper Telling: Not sure… I don;t think so
Pia Iger: We do a special kind of meditation, and then meet here to discuss
Prosper Telling: I am still learn, hope to always be
Pia Iger: http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ is our website. You can get more details there.
Pia Iger: Prosper, so you’re saying you do meditation too?
Prosper Telling: Thank you. Is it okay if I evesdrop on the remaining conversation?
Pia Iger: sure.
Prosper Telling: Zazen and nembutsu
Pia Iger: Good.
Pia Iger: We do record our conversation and put it on website. Do you mind your name mentioned in blog?
Prosper Telling: Not at all
Pia Iger: thanks.
Adams Rubble smiles
I asked Adams how koans helped her thinkings.
Pia Iger: Adams, I wonder how you do the thinking? Does Koan help you to do deeper thinking?
Pia Iger: I found hard to keep focus in one question.
Adams Rubble: Pema gave me my koans in order to redirect my thinking a little
Pia Iger: redirect?
Pia Iger: what way?
Adams Rubble: maybe more direct it
Adams Rubble: I expect that he either felt I was going in the wrong direction….
Adams Rubble: in circles…
Adams Rubble: or floundering
Adams Rubble: In any case I think it has helped me see some things much quicker than I otherwise would have
Adams Rubble: My first koan dealt with my impatience to learn
Adams Rubble: It made me realize that my impatience was a desire
Adams Rubble: and desires are the cause of unhappiness or misery
Adams Rubble: So it was a breakthrough for me
Adams Rubble: My second koan deals with what I am not seeing
Adams Rubble: I don’t have the answer for that yet
Adams Rubble: I tought we learned it last night
Adams Rubble: but I seem to have fallen a bit short of the mark
Adams Rubble: Moon and Rajah corrected me some this morning
Adams Rubble: and Pema wants me to keep workng on it
Adams gave Prosper more details of PaB. As the guardian of this session, I felt I had been lazy.
Adams Rubble: Prosper, the method that Pia mentioned
Adams Rubble: is that we stop every 15 minutes for 9 seconds
Adams Rubble: it is a 1% tax
Adams Rubble: a very small amount of our time
Adams Rubble: which we can use to stop
Adams Rubble: and get a break from whatever it is we fixated on
Adams Rubble: We then meet 4 times a day at 7, 1, 7 and 1 SLT here
Prosper Telling: Intersting… I like what I’m reading
Pia Iger: also we are encouraged to take note after 9sec.
Gambhira Skytower: i’m gonna log off now everybody. take care. gnite
Prosper Telling: Did you say tax or gratuity?
Pia Iger: so we can compare our note here during meeting.
Pia Iger: bye, Gamb.
Adams Rubble: Yes, it is good you could come tonight Gambhira. Bye
Prosper Telling: Take care.
Gamb left. Adams realized Prosper was joking with her.
Adams Rubble: I said tax but I might be wrong
Prosper Telling: Pardon the pun on my part
Pia Iger: you are right, Adams.
Adams Rubble: oh
Adams Rubble: I missed it Propser :)
Adams Rubble: I overheard you talking to Tara
Prosper Telling: Gratuity, gratitude,
Prosper Telling: I’m reading too much at once
Prosper Telling: (It’s all good)
We got to know about Prosper’s Buddhism practice.
Adams Rubble: Am I correct in thinking follow Mayahana Buddhism?
Adams Rubble: you follow
Prosper Telling: Me? Yes.
Adams Rubble: and that includes Amida?
Prosper Telling: Cat was breaking in through the screen… can you repeat that last part?
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: Does that include Amida?
Prosper Telling: Yes, Amida Buddha
Prosper Telling: Infinite Light, Light, all embracing compassion
Adams Rubble: yes
Adams Rubble: It is good to have you in our little community
Prosper Telling: it is good to be here.
Pia Iger: Prosper, can you share how you understand compassion?
Prosper Telling: You like the hard questions, dontcha?
Pia Iger: Yep!
Prosper Telling: Leading all beings from suffering is a quick blurb answer.
Prosper Telling: There is a bodhisattva called Jizo in Japan. His vow is not to leave suffering until the hells are all empty.
Pia Iger: wow
Adams Rubble: Is that Guanyin?
Prosper Telling: It doesn’t matter how thick headed, one sided, incapable of the slightest good a being may seem to be, he refuses to abandon them.
Adams Rubble: :)
Prosper Telling: Because he sees the Buddha nature in them. I can’t destill it into an easy answer but that for me is compassion.
Adams Rubble: Do you live in China, Prosper?
Prosper Telling: Lol, Alabama
Adams Rubble: )
Adams Rubble: :)
Prosper Telling: Though I have some wonderful friends from Taiwan
Prosper Telling: You?
Adams Rubble: I am on the east coast in the middle atlantic
Adams Rubble: So did you learn Mayahana Buddhism from your Taiwan friends?
Prosper Telling: Dharma seems to be growing everywhere.
Adams Rubble: :)
Prosper Telling: They run a a Dharma hall called Buddha Heart. There is also a local Zen Group and a few folks who have helped a lot over the internet. Oh, and the Amitabha Society.
Adams Rubble: This is new to me
Prosper Telling: Which part?
Adams Rubble: I first learned about Buddhism through Chinese Art
Adams Rubble: so I learned about Mayahana Buddhism before anything else
Prosper Telling: Nice.
Adams Rubble: I did not know there were Mayahana groups in the US
Adams Rubble: It shouldn;t be a surprise
Adams Rubble: I just didn;t know
It was late for all of us.
Pia Iger: I should be going, but also want to hear more.
Adams Rubble: yes, same with me - it is way past my bedtime
Prosper Telling: The Amitabha is Chinese Pure Land, Mahayana group which has center all over the place and Buddha Light INternation has one in North Carolina.
Adams Rubble: Ah
Prosper Telling: Some days I feel like we’re the last frontier of the Dharma but it is here.
Adams Rubble: :)
Prosper Telling: Yeah, I must sleep too. I look forward to learning with y’all
Adams Rubble: It was great that you came tonight
Pia Iger: I’d love to hear from you, Prosper,
Prosper Telling: Is there a group/list I can join?
Pia Iger: Pls come again.
Adams Rubble: good night and bye Pia, Prosper
Prosper Telling: I shall for certain.
Adams Rubble: just come at one of the four times :)