19 - 21 It Shines

The woman, finished with her pie, walks out of the warm café. The door handles’ jingle-bang sings out a cheery "goodbye".  The freezing wind blows from the icy street before her and tears away her breath for a moment. Her eyes water and the trees and buildings before her swim in her vision… the snow on the tree leaves and trunks, on the awnings on the homes and shops that line the avenue, become lit from within and appears suddenly to be very, very ALIVE and THERE.

It Shines.

2009.12.19 01:00 - Winter

Vendy Walpole: it is interesting how each season initiates a different mood in us, different feelings, activities, perspectives
Scathach Rhiadra nods
Vendy Walpole: I love for instance when winter ties us to our homes, to the warmth inside
Scathach Rhiadra: yes, I like that too, almost like a hibernation
--BELL--
Vendy Walpole: could say that the winter for me means the time to pay attention to family, to ourselves, to think
Vendy Walpole: and read

2009.12.19 07:00 - Being a non English Speaker and PAB Guardian

Vendy Walpole: As you have noticed English is not my first language and its not easy to talk about contemplative things in foreign language

Qt Core: but sometimes telling something in another language helps to watch the subject from a little afar, from an almost outer point of view as you are worrying more about language than about standard prejudices and mental filters

Liza Deischer: in tradition you can go into depth, because you have a teacher and rules
Liza Deischer: here we want to be more open
Liza Deischer: at the same time we still want the depth
Liza Deischer: and I was asking myself if that really can work

SophiaSharon Larnia: does being open exclude depth, or is it just touching on the surface of many things?
Liza Deischer: My opinion is that if you want depth
Liza Deischer: you need to know how to approach it
Eliza Madrigal: and still do, to some extent. Traditional teachers and PaB can be quite complimentary I think... BUT... at the same time, there is this phenomenon with the kinds of exercises we jump into here, that we touch deeper places before we realize it
Liza Deischer: otherwise good concepts can be use in a wrong way

Liza Deischer: we get into depth before we realise it ourselves
SophiaSharon Larnia: Used in the wrong way how, Liza, because they are superficially addressed?

Liza Deischer: thats the whole point

Liza Deischer: so you can make anything out of that

Eliza Madrigal: There is a sense, at least in my scope, that it is important to connect with people from all kinds of backgrounds... to find essential

Eliza Madrigal: while at the same time being dedicated deeply to what resonates for oneself

Eden Haiku: Do you call it the summer solstice?
Marvin Dailey: yes
Eden Haiku: A different reality ;-)

Calvino Rabeni: Funny there is no objective term for it
Calvino Rabeni: Independent of which hemisphere you are in
Marvin Dailey: how so?
Calvino Rabeni: you call "it" summer solstice, I call "it" winter solstice

Calvino Rabeni: but "it" has no name
Marvin Dailey: but what is this "it"?

Chatting…

2009.12.20 07:00 – Pizza and Onion

Aidan Spiritor: Closest I have come to'experiencing reality' is glimpses of understanding "emptiness is form, form is emptiness"..

Bertram Jacobus: we had some or even some more talks here relating to the topic emptiness and some were not very comfortable with it and others were ... hm ;-)

Eliza Madrigal: For it is one of those brilliant things that has layers which open up into one another, in a way

Vendy Walpole: I often ask myself how many layers the "reality" has

Bertram Jacobus: the core emptiness and the layers form
Vendy Walpole: The core would be Being and ultimate reality and the layers are creation of the mind

2009.12.20 13:00 - Openness and dropping

Mickorod Renard: breaking the mould that one finds oneself in takes time
Maxine Walden: yes, so much familiar drawing us back...
Mickorod Renard: peeling off the layers of lenses

Maxine Walden: For me it feels useful to consider that there are states of mind we all know and at times inhabit which resist change, growth and the new...resort more to 'tradition' with perhaps cynicism for any change
Wol Euler nods.
Maxine Walden: the 'gravitational' pull toward the familiar

arabella Ella: i had to deal with a small family health emergency tonite
arabella Ella: and during the pause i realised
arabella Ella: how easy it is to let go of practically everything ... drop literally everything ... when such emergencies occur

arabella Ella: for me Aubergine when someone needs my support urgently I just stop thinking who i am, yes

2009.12.20 19:00 - Breath

Eden Haiku: Could you teach me this breathing exercise Storm?

Storm Nordwind: The meditation was ostensibly on the breath, but the idea was to meditate on the energy driving the breath, which hopefully is there all the time. I guess it was a kind of pranayama.
Storm Nordwind: I found that I could focus on this constant wave of energy flowing through me constantly. Never forgot how to do it! :)

Storm Nordwind: If you have a portable focal point that you can access at will at any time of the day, that can have a progressively big effect

Storm Nordwind: The portable focal point is basically this constant energy wave coursing through you. Once you have it, it's hard to ignore it. Yet you can function in the world and do everything else just as before, only with improved focus and poise

2009.12.21 01:00 - My Christmas Blog

Calvino Rabeni: The pause is coming up. Do I have a focus for it?
Calvino Rabeni: Yes, I will let my environment appear and my tasks disappear.

2009.12.21 07:00 - Talking on the shortest day

Weather reports and Poetry from four corners of the world

2009.12.21 13:00 - It communicates you

Gaya Ethaniel wonders if we can talk about 'right/wholesome speech' ... :)

Gaya Ethaniel: So when I said I couldn't filter very well before speaking, I was told not to say anything unless it needs to be said ...

Calvino Rabeni: Well one thing is, it communicates you.

Gaya Ethaniel: I guess speech is an expression ... like physical gesture so it's related to my point re: harming oneself/others by 'false' speech.

Calvino Rabeni: I see reason to keep the mindfulness part of it
Gaya Ethaniel: As part of a practice Calvino?
Calvino Rabeni: So one could be mindful while chit chat
Gaya Ethaniel: :)

2009.12.21 19:00 - Midwinter Night

Storm Nordwind: Can there not be beautiful expression without need or benefit? Just because it 'is'?
Calvino Rabeni: Yes, it is benefit by being
Storm Nordwind: Benefit is only a benefit if it matches a need. The universe may prosper but does it need?
-- BELL --
Calvino Rabeni: It moves, it plays, I don't really have much opinion about "need"
Calvino Rabeni: the birds sing, the water runs downhill, vapors rise
Calvino Rabeni: things happen without a purpose or objective
Storm Nordwind: and without meaning
Calvino Rabeni: yes and no
Calvino Rabeni: no external meaning
Storm Nordwind: no inherently existent meaning

Calvino Rabeni: unless other things inherently exist, then it is the same
Calvino Rabeni: the meaning is not anything "about" something else
Calvino Rabeni: that is, meaning is not a theory
Calvino Rabeni: (although part if it may be "theory" since people love making those up)
Storm Nordwind: Sure. So what do you believe meaning is?
Calvino Rabeni: For me, it is the pattern of what happens, as it appears to awareness
Calvino Rabeni: That is, the part of it I can apprehend.
Calvino Rabeni: And I'd have to say, the un-apprehended part plays into it also
Calvino Rabeni: So perhaps I should call that meaning also
Calvino Rabeni: To allow for uncomprehended meanings
Calvino Rabeni: The pattern is not complete, however
Calvino Rabeni: It is not fixed; it keeps changing
Calvino Rabeni: So it's not that kind of conventional pattern, I suppose
Storm Nordwind: It has always changed, and will always change.

It Shines.