2009.07.14 19:00 - Being in motion

The Guardian for this meeting was Eos Amaterasu. The comments are by Eos Amaterasu.

Eos Amaterasu: Hi Pema
Pema Pera: Hi Eos!
Pema Pera: I enjoyed our conversation yesterday, around this time
Eos Amaterasu: Yes, there was some nice play there :-)
Pema Pera: and the way you brought up the need for attention for details while also seeing the total openness and ephemeral nature of everything
Pema Pera: a play?
Pema Pera: Hi Sophia!
Eos Amaterasu: Interchanges...
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Pema, Hi Eos
Eos Amaterasu: Hi SophiaSharon
Pema Pera: did you reach any further conclusions or new questions?
Eos Amaterasu: I've been punctuating myself as much as possible with the 1% tax :-)
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
Pema Pera: how has that been going, the punctuating?
SophiaSharon Larnia: Hi Pila
Pema Pera: Hi Pila!
Pila Mulligan: greetings
Eos Amaterasu: It's something we owe the world :-)
Eos Amaterasu: Hi Pila
Pema Pera: nice way to put it, Eos, the new global tax!
Eos Amaterasu: Could be of more benefit than money

SophiaSharon talks about Letting Being See

SophiaSharon Larnia: i've been making mandalas and trying to do it by letting being see :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: and not think
Eos Amaterasu: 3D SL mandalas?
SophiaSharon Larnia: not yet, am looking into the software, mainly graphic on comp, is hard to do that way, ive used pencils
Pila Mulligan: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: and some paint in the past
Pema Pera: how did that go, Sophia, how did that feel, the Being seeing part?
SophiaSharon Larnia: it is hard for me to say, i feel like i trance out
SophiaSharon Larnia: need a way to do it without that
Pila Mulligan: breathing
Pila Mulligan: less eyes more breath
Pema Pera: yes, Eos talked about that yesterday, the need to keep attending to details while also becoming open for the larger picture.

Breathing and light

Pema Pera: and breathing is a good way to help balance those two!
SophiaSharon Larnia smiles, am thinking of an active activity i can do while staying attentive
SophiaSharon Larnia: breathing is good :)
Pila Mulligan: mandala drawing sounds like a nice idea
Eos Amaterasu: circulation
Eos Amaterasu: the senses are like easter eggs for being, not just objects of senses but being in them
SophiaSharon Larnia laughs at the imagine of attempting to make mandalas on laptop while doing tai chi
Pila Mulligan: there's an old akido sensei on Maui, he must be over 90 by now, he demonstrates his breathing practice for his students and at their demonstrations -- when he does he fills the room with bright light and energy -- not trances or lethargy there :)
Pila Mulligan: energized!
SophiaSharon Larnia: wow
SophiaSharon Larnia: and you sense this clearly
Pila Mulligan: do you do tai chi Sophiasharon?
Pila Mulligan: oh, yes, you cannot help but see it, hear it and feel it
SophiaSharon Larnia: no i haven't had the patience for it in the past
Pila Mulligan: his abdomen moves like a bellow, his breath sounds like a wind, and the room really tingles with energy -- he is showing off
SophiaSharon Larnia: can feel this changing though
Pila Mulligan: like a really beautiful woman, showing off real beauty
SophiaSharon Larnia: have worried that my energy was too 'chaotic' for lack of a better word, to subject this energy on other people in a group setting, and not disciplined on my own.
Pema Pera: brb
Eos Amaterasu: Do you put that chaos, or find it, in your visual work?
Pema Pera: b
SophiaSharon Larnia: and does he remain awake and conversant?
SophiaSharon Larnia: wb Pema
Pila Mulligan: very
Pila Mulligan: hmm, he's 95 now -- http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=278
Pila Mulligan: bad math, 92
SophiaSharon Larnia smiles
SophiaSharon Larnia: HI Sophia
sophia Placebo: greetings all
SophiaSharon Larnia: brb
Eos Amaterasu: :-)
Pema Pera: Hi Sophia!
Pila Mulligan: hi sophia

Listening and Playing

Eos Amaterasu: I just came from an amazing jazz/improv performance, drums/guitars/strings/winds, called "Spontaneous Combustion"
Pila Mulligan: sounds like fun
Pila Mulligan: were you playing?
Eos Amaterasu: silence and listening and sounds and rhythm, crescendos and quiet
Eos Amaterasu: no.... it had a quality of loose, attentive, "disciplined", free
Eos Amaterasu: the drummer, who organized it, is kind of Milarepa on the drums, and in the spaces
Pila Mulligan: Paradise was talking here the other day about jam sessions where musicians from SL get together to play in rl, after having first met on SL
SophiaSharon Larnia: b
Eos Amaterasu: Music manifests something out of nothing, seemingly
Eos Amaterasu: Ideally so does conversation :-)
sophia Placebo: sneaking out quietly
Pila Mulligan: bye sophia
Pila Mulligan: truly, Eos, but ordinary music seems more magic than ordinary conversations
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye sophia
Pema Pera: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: it's lovely how those kind of experiences stay with you for a days

Walking and driving

Pila Mulligan: do you like walking Sophishaorn? Eos has a contemplative walking exercise
SophiaSharon Larnia: i have started to, on Pema recommendation
SophiaSharon Larnia: i spend a bit of time on my feet, so was reluctant at first
Pila Mulligan: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: what can i say, lazy maybe 
Pila Mulligan: thinking of an activity that can also be attentive
Eos Amaterasu: I think it was Fefonz who said he did a slow walking meditation
Pila Mulligan: but don't you walk to a contemplative place near your home also, Eos
Pema Pera: there are many ways, and it is good to explore and experiment to see what really pulls you
Eos Amaterasu: That could be a PaB script, to do slow walking in a circle as we converse
Pila Mulligan: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: i was driving home from work the other day, on an interstate in morning rush hour traffic, and had the feeling that I am a cell in the artery of the world
Pila Mulligan: the dervish dancing
Eos Amaterasu: your view would keep slowly changing
SophiaSharon Larnia: lol Eos
Pila Mulligan: sounds like a professionally inspired simile
Eos Amaterasu: SL offers options like that
Eos Amaterasu: Maybe Storm or Wol Could script it
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes, but to see the lines of traffic, moving at 80 miles an hour
Eos Amaterasu: It occured to me today that doing the 9 secs while driving
SophiaSharon Larnia: all depend on each other to NOT make a mistake
Pila Mulligan: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh Eos?
Eos Amaterasu: can actually make it more awake
Eos Amaterasu: cause you have to be awake while driving (at least city driving)
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes i think maybe force you to stay attentive
Eos Amaterasu: I had such a little experience today
Eos Amaterasu: the 9 secs during activity can be very, um, illuminating
Pila Mulligan: care to say more, Eos?
Pema Pera: Can you say more about that, Eos?
Pema Pera: :)
Eos Amaterasu: activity seems to be a thread here: breathing (in, out, and yourself somwhat going in, out)
Eos Amaterasu: mandala has qualities of circulation, of arranged but also dynamic, even chaotic, energies
Eos Amaterasu: walking, on the earth, through your "Views"
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes, i hope to be able to touch the part of me that needs to communicate
Eos Amaterasu: there's a kind of active inhabiting
SophiaSharon Larnia: or show
SophiaSharon Larnia: but is it me? or something else
Eos Amaterasu: Yes - thanks for sharing your chakras work, btw
Pema Pera: yes, it has qualities that we normally associated with being active and with being passive -- the no-friction of passive combined with the movement of active
Pema Pera: (<- Eos)
Pema Pera: Perhaps it is both you and something larger than what you think you are
Pila Mulligan: what else might it be SophiaSharon?

Sharing the Stream

SophiaSharon Larnia: i think of it like a stream
SophiaSharon Larnia is more conscious of her lack of education in the discussions at PaB
SophiaSharon Larnia: a stream that we are all 'plugged' into, sometimes more than others
SophiaSharon Larnia: so it is not just me
Pila Mulligan: being educated in the fine details of contemplative practices may not be really important for many people
Pema Pera: :) perhaps we all are the stream . . . and there may be no need to (try to) plug in -- as soon as we see that, there is no need to do (reach, manipulate) anything further; seeing is enough
SophiaSharon Larnia: ok if seeing is enough, then what do you direct your attention to then?
Pila Mulligan: nothing!
Pema Pera: there is no need to direct
Pila Mulligan: sorry if it seems a cheap response :)
Pema Pera: but true :)
Pema Pera: truth is simple
Pema Pera: has to be
SophiaSharon Larnia: then why stay attentive
Pema Pera: the more you see, the more you naturally stay attentive as well
Pila Mulligan: so you don't get drowsy
SophiaSharon Larnia: i really want to know
Pema Pera: not in order to reach something, but to celebrate being alive, natural
SophiaSharon Larnia: so to direct is to ecape living
SophiaSharon Larnia: ?
Eos Amaterasu: in a way to direct may be attempting to manipulate living
SophiaSharon Larnia: hmm
Eos Amaterasu: but your attention is already directed, by things coming up, (in colors everywhere :-)
Pila Mulligan: you know how your hand or foot feels when it 'goes to sleep' (in the english idiom)
SophiaSharon Larnia: I absorb, not attend, i thought that was my difficulty
Pila Mulligan: and you kind of rub or shake it and the usual feeling returns
SophiaSharon Larnia: yup
Eos Amaterasu: I noticed today that while I may be letting go, things keep happening, welling up
Pila Mulligan: well, that is a fair analogy for being attentive -- not directing your atention but having it
Eos Amaterasu: attention _is_ them
Pila Mulligan: having the usual, nautral feeling
Pema Pera: there are always two ways to answer those questions, Sophia, and we should do both -- in practical terms, yes, we do things for goals, and that is fine: switch on a light to make a room bright -- but at the same time we can also view everything in a more fundamental way: the light switch wants to be turned on when the time is right, it is a kind of celebration of the right thing to do, at each moment
SophiaSharon Larnia: thinks
SophiaSharon Larnia: ive noticed this too, Eos, that letting go other things come up
Pema Pera: so when PIla answered "nothing" he was addressing the ultimate view, and when he said "so you don't get drowsy" he was talking in every-day terms -- we should use both languages
Pema Pera: the ultimate view also accomodates the every-day way of viewing things
Pila Mulligan: the greater part of most people's waking time is contained in a pretty consistent mundane condition -- it is human nautre almost not to notice it
Pila Mulligan: but that too is being, and worthy of appreciation
SophiaSharon Larnia: i think this is something i should let go, try to wear more lightly, because i am hearing this to loudly right now
Pila Mulligan: :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes Pila :))
Pema Pera: time to go, great talking with all of you, thanks for sharing so many explorations and experiences!
SophiaSharon Larnia: bye Pema :)
Pila Mulligan: bye Pema-san
Eos Amaterasu: Bye Pema!
SophiaSharon Larnia: i need to go too, i feel like everytime i come here i crash the session lol
Eos Amaterasu: Oh, not at all, Sophia!
SophiaSharon Larnia laughs
SophiaSharon Larnia: take care Eos, Pila :))
Eos Amaterasu: Ciao ciao!
Pila Mulligan: bye Sophiahsaron


With Pema and SophiaSharon gone, the room is emptier, but full of light


Eos Amaterasu: Pila ,when you were talking about the room turning bright, a line a friend of mine wrote came to mind:
Eos Amaterasu: "the room is empty the room is full of light the room is empty the room is full of light"
Pila Mulligan: :)
Eos Amaterasu: http://www.shambhala.org/member/zim/welcome.html
Pila Mulligan: and a friend here also said you never really close your eyes :)
Eos Amaterasu: just as you never close your ears?
Pila Mulligan: funny imagery at the website, dreamlike
Pila Mulligan: sensei was simpler than the off-on -- he was just brighter :)
Eos Amaterasu: 9 secs full awake
Pila Mulligan: are you Guardian tonite Eos?
Eos Amaterasu: Yes, I am guardian tonight
Pila Mulligan: I don't want to keep you up too late -- it must be after 11 pm there
Eos Amaterasu: It's after midnight
Pila Mulligan: oh, even more east -- still just afternoon here
Pila Mulligan: would you like to sign off to dreamland?
Eos Amaterasu: Yes, I think so
Pila Mulligan: ok, nice visitng with you, as always
Eos Amaterasu: It's nice chating with you a few feet away
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan: virtually
Eos Amaterasu: and 4 or 5 thousand miles away
Pila Mulligan: a few feet and 7 hours
Eos Amaterasu: dogen distance away
Pila Mulligan: bye for now -- sweet dreams :)
Eos Amaterasu: Good night, Pila!