2009.03.11 19:00 - Ganesh, the elephant boy
Table of contents
No headersThe Guardian for this meeting was stevenaia Michinaga. The comments are by stevenaia Michinaga.
Pila Mulligan,Adelene Dawner and I spend the meeting discussing Hindu Deities and and webcomic
stevenaia Michinaga: hi Pila
Pila Mulligan: hi Steve
Pila Mulligan: how are you?
stevenaia Michinaga: good, was a bit tired earlier, so if I nod out you know why
Pila Mulligan: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: you mentioned the other night about Hinduism and Buddhism, didn't Buddhism evolve from Hinduism
Pila Mulligan: in the sense the Christianity followed Judaism, insofar as I understand it -- they came form the same locales and ideas
stevenaia Michinaga: thought so, have dome much religious study, you seem familiar with aspects of many
Pila Mulligan: Buddhists are just the smartest religion in the world, as far as I can see, and Hindus are a mishamsh of numerous ideas
stevenaia Michinaga: *some
Pila Mulligan: but I love the Hindu gods -- especially Ganesh
Pila Mulligan: the elephant boy
stevenaia Michinaga: Gods, representing aspects of the spirit world?
Pila Mulligan: well, Gods in the old greek sense too
Pila Mulligan: like Zeus et al
Pila Mulligan: the Hindu trinity is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
Pila Mulligan: Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver and Shiva is the destroyer
stevenaia Michinaga: What? the christian trinity isn;t unique..grins
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan: it is unique if you listen to Christian intellectuals :)
stevenaia Michinaga: of course
Adelene Dawner: what now, Pila?
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Ade
Pila Mulligan: hi Ade
stevenaia Michinaga: pet pet
Pila Mulligan: how be ye?
stevenaia Michinaga: pick a lap, any lap
Adelene Dawner: but, but, dun wanna pick ^.^
stevenaia Michinaga: n.p.
Pila Mulligan: we had just begun to name the Hindu pantheon :)
stevenaia Michinaga: of which I know just about nothing
Adelene Dawner: Ah ^.^
Pila Mulligan: Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver and Shiva is the destroyer
Pila Mulligan: the best known deities of India are probably Krishna and Rama -- they are avatars of Vishnu
Adelene Dawner: If you say so.
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, they used to visit me at the airports in the 70's
Pila Mulligan: the two most beloved classics of India are their stories -- the Ramayana and the Mahabarata
Pila Mulligan: the coolest god ever invented is Ganesh, the elephant boy, son of Shiva
stevenaia Michinaga: what's his claim to fame?
Adelene Dawner: Now Ganesh, I know, 'cause one of his avatars is a character in a webcomic I follow. And yes, he's awesome. ^.^
Pila Mulligan: probably that there are more festivals for Ganesh than any other god in history :)
Pila Mulligan: he is truly adorable
stevenaia Michinaga: a party god?
Pila Mulligan: his first roll actually is god of the bath :)
Pila Mulligan: role*
stevenaia Michinaga: nots
Pila Mulligan: as the story goes ....
stevenaia Michinaga: nods
stevenaia Michinaga: rather
Pila Mulligan: Shiva was off on one of his god campaigns, leaving his wife Shakti at home
Pila Mulligan: unbeknownst to Shiva, while he was gone for many god years, shakti bore his son, Ganesh
Pila Mulligan: at that time Ganesh was just a regular god-boy
Pila Mulligan: so Shiva comes home from his battles
Pila Mulligan: and it just so happens that Shakti, not expecting him, had gone to take a bath
Pila Mulligan: and she had told Ganesh to guard the door while she was bathing
Pila Mulligan: so the boy is standing before the door when Shiva and all his warriors approach the house
Pila Mulligan: Shiva starts to enter the house and Ganesh says my mom told me to guard the door
Pila Mulligan: Shiva orders Ganesh to stand aside and Ganesh gives him a stinky look
Pila Mulligan: so Shiva tells one of his warriors to remove the boy from the door
Pila Mulligan: but the warrior is unable to remove Ganesh
Pila Mulligan: so shiva draws his sword and chops off the boys head and goes inside
Pila Mulligan: when he finds Shakti in the bathtub, she tells him Ganesh is their son
Pila Mulligan: so Shiva goes back outside and chops the head off his favorite elephant and puts it on the boys shoulders
Pila Mulligan: hence we have Ganesh as he appears now :)
stevenaia Michinaga: great stories, Pila
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan: Ganesh is the coolest god ever
stevenaia Michinaga: so he lives again with the head of an elephant?
Pila Mulligan: yep -- and he becomes the unquestioned favorite deity of India
Pila Mulligan: in terms of festivals
Pila Mulligan: I probably have half a dozen ganesh statutes around my house, and that is a paltry number compared to houses in India
Pila Mulligan: it is just a cheerful image
Pila Mulligan: what is the webcomic you mentioned Ade?
Adelene Dawner: Ursula Vernon's Digger.
Pila Mulligan: wish I could gte broadband :)
Pila Mulligan: get*
stevenaia Michinaga: images on Google images
Adelene Dawner: The archive is paid-account only for the last few months, but most of the archive is free, and the whole thing it going to be opened up soon, I hear.
Adelene Dawner: http://www.diggercomic.com/
Pila Mulligan: what is the ganesh character's name?
Adelene Dawner: ohhh, new layout... and, hey! Archive!
Adelene Dawner: Just Ganesh... the avatar in question is a talking statue of Ganesh, so...
Pila Mulligan: :)
Adelene Dawner: http://www.diggercomic.com/?p=7
Pila Mulligan: wow, there he is :)
Adelene Dawner: mmhmm :)
Pila Mulligan: is the main character a mouse
Adelene Dawner: Anthropomorphic wombat. :)
Pila Mulligan: ahh, of course
Adelene Dawner: ...which is actually pretty *normal*, for Vernon's art.
Pila Mulligan: the old hominid Australian marsupial
Pila Mulligan: I got caught up reading the panels you sent, and the next ones :)
Adelene Dawner: noooo, Pila. There's, um, well over a thousand of them?
Adelene Dawner: Wait 'till you have time.
Adelene Dawner: Like, a day or two. ^.^
Adelene Dawner: *checks* okay, nearing 700. Still.
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan tears himself away for the cartoon
stevenaia Michinaga: hehe
Adelene Dawner: ^.^
stevenaia Michinaga: there's a reason they are so popular
Pila Mulligan: i see
Adelene Dawner: You'll enjoy it, Pila. ^.^
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Antaries
Pila Mulligan: bookmarked
Adelene Dawner: :D
stevenaia Michinaga: feel free to join us
Pila Mulligan: flew de coup
stevenaia Michinaga: noob
Adelene Dawner: Updates quite reliably on Tuesdays and Thursdays - I think we've missed less than 5, all told, including the two the week where the artist's computer was stolen.
Pila Mulligan: is that theft of intellectual property :)
Adelene Dawner: *snerk*
Pila Mulligan: I tried to interest a lawyer friend in PAB today
stevenaia Michinaga: he on SL?
Pila Mulligan: he went to divinity school before law school
Pila Mulligan: not yet
Pila Mulligan: time will tell
Pila Mulligan: old fut like myself
Adelene Dawner: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: SL comes in all ages
Adelene Dawner: I have someone to bring, too... one of these days. Not sure if she has a regular SL account tho.
Pila Mulligan: actually the suggestion was to try PaB and avoid SL :)
Adelene Dawner: One of the clients from our Teen Grid gig.
Pila Mulligan: cool
Pila Mulligan: a teen then?
Adelene Dawner: Nope. One of the organizers.
Pila Mulligan: PaB seems to be G rated
Adelene Dawner suddenly finds herself having trouble with words...
stevenaia Michinaga: hardly
Pila Mulligan: really Steve?
Adelene Dawner: Teens aren't allowed in SL-proper anyway.
Adelene Dawner: And no, definitely not G.
stevenaia Michinaga: well, so I am told...grin
Pila Mulligan: I've never seen any off color ... whoops, take it back
stevenaia Michinaga: you don;t get out much, do you Pila
Adelene Dawner: hehehe
Pila Mulligan: PaB not SL :)
stevenaia Michinaga: ok, true
Pila Mulligan: only a few times have I seen off color word sin Pab, and they have been mine :)
Pila Mulligan: shit once and fuck once actually
Pila Mulligan: otherwise, clean as a whistle here
stevenaia Michinaga: I;m shocked!!!!!
Pila Mulligan: me too
Pila Mulligan: maybe it was in IMs :)
Adelene Dawner: Anyway, she's a history person - North Dakota historical society staffer. Thought it'd be an interesting counterpoint to the no time discussions to have her here sometime. :)
Pila Mulligan: North Dakota is probably a pretty timeless place
Pila Mulligan: timeless*
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Ray
Pila Mulligan: is she an Indian Ade?
Ray Schmid: hello stevenaia
Pila Mulligan: lots of Indian history there
Ray Schmid: I'm new here
Adelene Dawner: not to the best of my knowledge.
Pila Mulligan: have a seat if you like Ray
stevenaia Michinaga: grab a notecard in the blue thing in front of you
Ray Schmid: I want to, but where are seats?
stevenaia Michinaga: there are pillows here
Ray Schmid: I found it
stevenaia Michinaga: we are a regular discussion group that meets here
Pila Mulligan: we and a few dozen more, from time to time
Ray Schmid: umm what should I do with this card
stevenaia Michinaga: read it
Ray Schmid: mm my computer is too slow
stevenaia Michinaga: we record our conversations and post them on a wiki, it that ok if we include you?
Pila Mulligan: I have the slow computer problem also Ray
Ray Schmid: I may have to use another computer. Let me see if there is any available. see you then. thanks
Pila Mulligan: ok
Pila Mulligan: sounds like an office or university
stevenaia Michinaga: n.p. we are here at 1:00 and 7:00 am and pm
stevenaia Michinaga: did he say yes to the record question?
Pila Mulligan: he did not answer yet
Adelene Dawner: gone, now.
Pila Mulligan: looking for something else to use
stevenaia Michinaga: nods
Pila Mulligan: how's tai chi Steve?
stevenaia Michinaga: beginning second 8 weeks, time to focus on the grace of it all, the teacher is good
stevenaia Michinaga: walking through water and all that :)
Pila Mulligan: I found the video I wanted to send you a month or so ago -- the one I sent was just a substitute
stevenaia Michinaga: would love to see it when you find it, half the time she wasn't facing the camera
Pila Mulligan: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=810869139103517182&ei=eni4Sd36IJbUqAOi6PXaAQ&q=wu+chi&hl=en
Pila Mulligan: speaking of grace :)
stevenaia Michinaga: not exactly the form we do
Pila Mulligan: yes, this video is w style -- I think yours is closer to yang style (that was in the first video)
Pila Mulligan: wu*
stevenaia Michinaga: yes
stevenaia Michinaga: as far as I;ve taken it
Pila Mulligan: but this video shows the movement with chi really well
Adelene Dawner: mmf. words bad. home now. cya next time. *purr purr*
Pila Mulligan: you can really see how her movement is connected with her internal energy
Pila Mulligan: bye Ade
Pila Mulligan: my feeling is that in the end the value of all practices is mostly physical
stevenaia Michinaga: as is meditation for the mind
Pila Mulligan: even meditation ultimately has most of its value in the physical:)
Pila Mulligan: odd as that may sound
Pila Mulligan: but this is the world according to Pila, not any orthodoxy
stevenaia Michinaga: grins
Pila Mulligan: the opening and dropping and emptying people refer to is really physical stuff
stevenaia Michinaga: if it works for you, .....
Pila Mulligan: yep
stevenaia Michinaga: well I must go, thanks for the company
Pila Mulligan: nice to see you Steve
stevenaia Michinaga: always for me too
Pila Mulligan: aloha