Maxine Walden: morning, or evening, Pema
Pema Pera: Hi Maxine, good morning to you!
Pema Pera: I just finished a late dinner
Maxine Walden: yes it is morning here…tho , yes, late evening where you are
Maxine Walden: but still we are both here…
Maxine Walden: spanning time zones
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: indeed
Pema Pera: sorry, my internet connection seems a bit slow
Maxine Walden: not a problem
Pema Pera: what is on your mind this morning — if anything (^_^)
Maxine Walden: just musing a bit, sort of ‘cleaning house or rather desk’ which is a constant external and internal issue…you know
Maxine Walden: getting things cleared away to see what the feeling/experience of the moment may be
Maxine Walden: had a lot of details to clear away yesterday/last evening and had this interesting dream
Maxine Walden: of a swarm of largish ants which I seemed to be trying to clear away
Maxine Walden: and sometaime details can seem like that, swarms of little things that seem just pesky…
Maxine Walden: so nothing cosmic, just little pesky things that can still feel like a swarm
Pema Pera: yes, I can see the connection!
Pema Pera: How did it feel to wake up from that dream?
Maxine Walden: it felt at first a bit grim, as if the swarm was something I could not get ride of…then upon letting the dream be information
Maxine Walden: I could allow myself to see the connection between the swarm and the ’steeped in detail’ feeling and that was liberating…allowing that wider view
This brought me to the idea of experimenting with dream-like states.
Pema Pera: Have you ever tried to let yourself move into a dream-like form of awareness while being still awake?
Maxine Walden: you have asked me that, and I do have that experience sometimes…pausing because think that occurred for about 30 min upon awakening this morning, probably in allowing the thoughts about the dream to elaborate…but maybe you are suggesting another state of mind
Pema Pera: I am not asking something specific, more a general reconnoitering of the landscape of forms of awareness
Pema Pera: I have at times experimented myself with letting my awareness slip into different forms, some of them quite dreamlike
Pema Pera: and since you have a strong affinity with dreams, it might be fun for you to explore that a bit too — just a thought!
Maxine Walden: yes, could you say anything more about how or what or the experience of the threshold of your awareness slipping into a dreamlike state?
Maxine Walden: in the awakened state?
Pema Pera: The way I like to do that, is to hold a certain idea in mind, very loosely, in a relaxed way — a place I would like to visit, a person I may want to meet, possibly a historical figure, whatever
Pema Pera: And then I take a comfortable position, close my eyes, and let myself drift into a dream-like state in which I visit there.
Pema Pera: The first few times I tried to do that, I was convinced that I failed, that nothing had happened.
Pema Pera: But I had told myself beforehand: this is a laboratory-type experiment, you HAVE to make an entry lab-style, like in a lab notebook
Pema Pera: So I did, and I started writing something like:
Pema Pera: “nothing happened, nothing whatsoever, this was a failure.
Pema Pera: actually, I added, there was this vague feeling of being on a large plain
Pema Pera: and yes,
Pema Pera: there was actually a sense that I was walking over that plain
Pema Pera: and come to think of it, there was a house on the plain
Pema Pera: and I walked up to it
Pema Pera: went in it
Pema Pera: saw this and that
Pema Pera: and so on.
Pema Pera: You see: what had happened was that I had gone into a different state of awareness, and after getting out of it, I at first had no recollection
Pema Pera: just like waking up from a dream, if we don’t train ourself to remember, we often cannot get back to the dream story
Pema Pera: I found this fascinating
Pema Pera: and after some training it became much easier
Pema Pera: I can now easily get into such a state, have quite a bit of adventures in just a few minutes, and then write about it
Pema Pera: but if I don’t write, it is still sometimes tricky to get back to it
Pema Pera: writing is for me like pulling the tip of a table cloth:
Pema Pera: once I have a grip on it, the rest can be pulled along.
Pema Pera: Does that make some sense?
Maxine Walden: yes, what comes to mind is that your insisting on notation, perhaps a continuation of attention, that such notation maintains the connection, with the tablecloth so to speak. I think that makes a lot of sense, because
Maxine Walden: when we/I let go of the attention, ‘things’ often slip over the horizon out of view as it were…it is a fascinating element to ‘train’ ones attetnional/notational capacities to ’stay in touch’ with what would otherwise slip over that horizon (for me back into the unconscious realms)
At this point Riddle and Cal walked in the door. I had already noticed a little earlier that both of them had arrived and were standing outside, but since Maxine were in the middle of our conversation, I was happy to wait for them to drop by when they felt like — and it turned out that they had been waiting for us in turn :-).
Riddle Sideways: wow what an adventure
Pema Pera: Hi Cal and hi Riddle!
Maxine Walden: Hi, Cal, sorry we have been focused here, and Riddle as well, Hi
Caledonia Heron: :)
Pema Pera: Good seeing you again
Pema Pera: adventure?
Caledonia Heron: standing quietly so as not to interrupt
Pema Pera: oh, feel free to drop in any time!
Pema Pera: that’s one constant of this tea house, people coming and going!
Caledonia Heron: the train of thought - did not want to stop it for “hello’s”
Caledonia Heron: figured I’d wait out the thread
Pema Pera: Thanks, Cal! :-)
Pema Pera: we can spin loooooong thread here, Max and I (^_^)
Maxine Walden: yes, Cal, that was kind
Caledonia Heron: yes, I noticed :)
Pema Pera: How’ve you been, Riddle?
Riddle Sideways: thank you for email, IM and concern
Pema Pera: If you’re challenging us, Cal, we can make them a lot longer ! ! !
Riddle Sideways: also am waiting on thread
Caledonia Heron: lol
Pema Pera: and thank you for dropping by again, Riddle!
Pema Pera: Max and Pema the spiders
Riddle Sideways: I am very busy with my business
Pema Pera: ah, that’s why it’s called business?
Maxine Walden: threads but hopefully not threadbare
Riddle Sideways: did not mean to neglect ya’ll
Pema Pera: bare threads only
Pema Pera: np Riddle!
We all danced with Riddle’s input.
Riddle Sideways: last few days of a new product launch
Maxine Walden: busy with business?
Pema Pera: glad you made it back again
Caledonia Heron: bear threads, a new clothing line
Caledonia Heron: busyness
Pema Pera: haha
Maxine Walden: for very hot weather
Pema Pera: clothe the bears
Maxine Walden: the bare bear threads
Pema Pera: new product, Riddle?
Caledonia Heron: summer bears
Pema Pera: light threads there
Pema Pera: threading lightly
Caledonia Heron: bear essentials
Maxine Walden: through the business
Maxine Walden: new product lauch, Riddle?
Riddle Sideways: btw which convers thread is active?
Caledonia Heron: all of them
Riddle Sideways: ok, I have been tooo busy to read the blog
Maxine Walden: like a braid of several entwining strands…of thread
Riddle Sideways: nor answer stephens email
Riddle Sideways: nor stop by on sundays
Riddle Sideways: I have this bell that goes bonng even 15 minutes
Riddle Sideways: that reminds me that I need to get back here :)
Maxine Walden: in RL or SL the bell
Riddle Sideways: RL sw bell
Pema Pera: glad to hear the bell worked Riddle :-)
Riddle Sideways: it was producing g-d moments, now it was producing guilt :)
I asked Riddle about his guardian
Pema Pera: btw, are you okay with being a “guardian” and being part of the pool of people we may help out occasionally by spending half an hour here if others can’t make it?
Riddle Sideways: yes, I can do that
Pema Pera: no need to commit to any particular schedule at this point
Pema Pera: thanks, glad to hear that!
Pema Pera: I’ll add you to the google email group
Riddle Sideways: commitment is prob these days
Pema Pera: the way it works is that if someone can’t make it, he/she sends an email to the group and the first person available and reading it will respond and take over that slot
Riddle Sideways: I read your email and IMs
Pema Pera: we’ve gone from 3x to 4x a day now, believe it or not
Pema Pera: every 6 hours
Riddle Sideways: you started this activity with the idea of 4x
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: that was the hope
Pema Pera: and it worked quicker than I had expected
Riddle Sideways: I can only do the 1am twice a week :)
Pema Pera: with a little help from my friends
Pema Pera: actually quite a bit of help!!
Pema Pera: hehe
Pema Pera: well, if you like to take a slot, fine — but it seems you’re too busy for that right now, right?
Riddle Sideways: I have been gone soooooo long, your hair was short last ime I was here :)
Maxine Walden: LOL
Pema Pera: you can see how many months you haven’t been here!!
Riddle Sideways: and Maxine was brand new here
Maxine Walden: that long?!
Pema Pera: I told myself, I won’t cut it until Riddle is back . . . . .
Riddle Sideways: LOL
Maxine Walden: seems like a long time ago
Riddle Sideways: in RL I have not cut my hair in a decade
For me it was getting time to get some rest.
Pema Pera: actually, I’m afraid that I’d better be going to sleep soon . . . has been a long day and it is almost midnight here . . . .
Pema Pera: Cal, are you planning to drop by the MICA meeting?
Pema Pera: by any chance?
Caledonia Heron: yes, shall I give your regards?
Maxine Walden: yes, I will be going too
Pema Pera: yes please!
Caledonia Heron: oki
Pema Pera: tell them that I keeled over — next time :-)
Caledonia Heron: :)
Pema Pera: sorry Riddle
Riddle Sideways: I need to go too
Pema Pera: next time I hope we can talk more
Pema Pera: but great to see you again!
Caledonia Heron see funny cartoon of Pema keeling over….
Maxine Walden: I would like to hear more next time as well, Riddle, about how things are for you
Pema Pera: Maxine, if you like to try this “day dreaming” practice a few times, let me know how it works out!
Pema Pera: Cal, if I knew more about SL gestures
Pema Pera: I could keel right here and now
Caledonia Heron: lol
Pema Pera: but I am gesture challenged still
Caledonia Heron: my daydream is rich
Maxine Walden: bye all, and yes, Pema, I will try that day dreaming…interesting experiment
Pema Pera dreams about keeling over and under and to and fro
Maxine Walden: here is to rich daydreams for us all…bye
Caledonia Heron: bye y’all :)
Riddle Sideways: bye bye
Pema Pera: see you all soon!
Pema Pera: good day!
Caledonia Heron: good night :)