Open and Curious

That evening, Dakini was the first one to drop in, and gave me a box with presents including Cid Jacobs’s prayer wheel.

Pema Pera: Hi Dakini!
Pema Pera: Thanks for the gift box
Dakini Rhode: namaste!
Pema Pera: and not even Chrismas yet
Pema Pera: namaste!
Dakini Rhode: look at this prayer wheel! I LOVE it!
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: I got it yesterday already
Pema Pera: From the horse’s mouth so to speak ;>)
Pema Pera: and now I got another one, thanks!
Dakini Rhode: this one is better – i had Cid make some improvements haha
Dakini Rhode: I feel like I’m relearning things I already knew, all over again
Dakini Rhode: remembering, at least
Pema Pera: beginner’s mind! That’s the best . . .
Dakini Rhode: haha perpetual beginner’s mind
Pema Pera: yeah
Pema Pera: at least every quarter of an hour
Dakini Rhode: lol
Pema Pera: and every quarter of a day here
Pema Pera: talking about the latter
Pema Pera: when I go to Japan
Pema Pera: I will have to miss the mid-day sessions
Pema Pera: since that will be 5 am for me
Pema Pera: but I will be at the other three
Dakini Rhode: will you do the 1am sessions?
Pema Pera: yes!
Pema Pera: since that will be 5 pm for me
Pema Pera: so if you ever have insomnia
Pema Pera: you know how to find me!

Dakini talked about her experiences in RL lately.

Dakini Rhode: today the natural landscape seemed so alive… just waking up from winter
Dakini Rhode: I noticed… when I walked past people, I expected they would be more “alive” than the grass, or the trees, for example
Dakini Rhode: and I noticed the opposite
Dakini Rhode: It seemed the people were bundled up and closed off, while the grass and trees were just reaching out
Dakini Rhode: so I started looking for open and curious people
Dakini Rhode: guess where I found them?
Pema Pera: ?
Dakini Rhode: our offshore friends, young people who have come to the US to work with us
Pema Pera: how interesting! Where are they from?
Dakini Rhode: Noida
Dakini Rhode: Noida, India
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: I thought it was a typo for “no idea”
Dakini Rhode: haha
Pema Pera: and you were teaching me not to categorize
Dakini Rhode: now ya got me giggling
Pema Pera: ;>)
Dakini Rhode: this was just a little experience I had today… tomorrow could be different
Pema Pera: did you talk with them about that?
Dakini Rhode: no
Pema Pera: they might be receptive
Pema Pera: and encouraged
Pema Pera: in a new country
Pema Pera: to be taken seriously like that in what counts
Dakini Rhode: It was interesting to notice the “energies” of different people I encountered
Pema Pera: yes
Dakini Rhode: true! I will have to work that in!
Dakini Rhode: I must have become more open and curious, by doing the PaB
Dakini Rhode: So I could notice these things
Pema Pera: that is great, Dakini, yes, that is one of the things that I had hoped would happen — though I had no precise expectation
Dakini Rhode: Well I’m going on… what about your day?
Pema Pera: oh, still relatively early here
Pema Pera: Have to write my PaB blog for this afternoon and for tonite
Dakini Rhode: hah
Pema Pera: if I ever fall behind, I won’t be able to catch up!

As often happens in SL, it would actually take a while before Dakini would leave :-).
We continued talking and then one by one visitors stopped by.

Pema Pera: As for what you described
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: my experiences are similar
Pema Pera: it is really wonderful
Pema Pera: to see how continuity can arrive
Pema Pera: when you invite her
Pema Pera: we tend to have these deep feelings and insights when we practice
Dakini Rhode: what do you mean by continuity Pema?
Pema Pera: and then it’s so easy to let it all blow away
Pema Pera: and forget about it in our daily lives
Dakini Rhode: true
Pema Pera: but the 9-sec practice is like an invitation
Pema Pera: for what you have found to return
Pema Pera: so continuity
Pema Pera: is like a dakini or angel or messenger
Pema Pera: so I called it a she ;>)
Dakini Rhode: :-)
Dakini Rhode: this reminds me of something Trungpa said
Chymera Sugarbeet: hello
Pema Pera: Hi Chymera!
Pema Pera: Nice to meet you
Pema Pera: come on in
Dakini Rhode: Hello!
Chymera Sugarbeet: This is beautiful
Pema Pera: how about a cup of tea?
Pema Pera: And Bunan, how about you?
Dakini Rhode: where are they?
Pema Pera: in the tea house
Pema Pera: behind you ;>)
Chymera Sugarbeet: Thank you. I cannot stay as I was just exploring one more place before bed. May come again and take you up on it another time?
Pema Pera: of course!
Pema Pera: any time — or more precisely
Pema Pera: we are here at 7 am, 1 pm, 7 pm every day
Chymera Sugarbeet: Thank you!
Chymera Sugarbeet: Good night all!
Pema Pera: good night!
Pema Pera: Hi Bunan!
Pema Pera: come join us

Bunan walked in just as Chymera left.

Dakini Rhode: Hello Bunana!
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: you have to make him a hat
Pema Pera: like your cone
Pema Pera: but then with banana
Pema Pera: chocolate banana disco!!!
Pema Pera: hmmmmm
Dakini Rhode: o my i may have a hat like that
Bunan Bosatsu: Well!! Hello!
Bunan Bosatsu: I have some stuff for you…
Dakini Rhode: wow i’m being showered with blessings!
Bunan Bosatsu: Also… I have an object that you can put in the waterfall to make a cloud water-mist effect if you like…
Dakini Rhode: I would love that!
Bunan Bosatsu: You can change the name and put the object in as many places as you like… you can drop the script into any prim and hide it…
Pema Pera: a wondrous effect!
Bunan Bosatsu: Clappers!
Dakini Rhode: they make a noise!
Bunan Bosatsu: Those are sounds that I recorded from my actual rin and clappers…
Pema Pera: MC Bunan
Dakini Rhode: wonderful!
Bunan Bosatsu: :-)
Dakini Rhode: what are the clappers for?
Bunan Bosatsu: The clappers are used during practice…. sometimes they indicate that it is okay to enter the Zendo… usually they indicate that it is time for Kinhin (walking meditation) or standing break….
Bunan Bosatsu: Sometimes they indicate that during kinhin it is time to change from Sassho to Gassho hand position…
Dakini Rhode: Bunan, I think you will need to give us training

Bunan then spoke about his hermitage that he recently remodeled into a more modest form. We chatted a bit more, and finally each went our own way.

A Secon Life for Avatars

After a quiet start in the tea house, Storm walked in.

Pema Pera: Hi Storm!
Pema Pera: Good seeing you again
Storm Nordwind: Hi
Storm Nordwind: Always good to be here
Storm Nordwind: I waited to see if anyone else would show up first
Pema Pera: oh, no reason at all to wait!!
Pema Pera: always nice to have you drop in here
Pema Pera: actually I’m the one dropping in here — you were here far earlier (^_^)
Storm Nordwind: I was indeed
Storm Nordwind: And we are all dropping in in any life!
Storm Nordwind: or out, as awareness goes
Pema Pera: yes ;>)
Storm Nordwind: Tell me something. How would you rate the success of Play as Being so far? Or is it too early to tell? What does success look like anyway?
Pema Pera: Oh, it’s far too early to say anything definite, for sure.
Pema Pera: That said, I’m already very pleased
Pema Pera: So many gems of insights, ideas, experiences, responses, interactions
Pema Pera: especially seeing how people are really sharing their experiences here, that in itself has been very heartening
Storm Nordwind: yes. What is the main way that people tell you these insights? I ask because, AFAIK I am the only blogger you have linked to, and even then I am sporadic
Pema Pera: oh, mostly just talking here
Pema Pera: Stim is starting a blog now too
Pema Pera: I have already linked to him, as you can see on the blog
Storm Nordwind: Ah good – I have been tied up all day and not looked so far
Pema Pera: he is the one person I have most interacted with in my life, concerning the questions of how to find natural ways to connect ancient contemplative insights with modern scientific ways of thinking, Steven Tainer in RL; he and I have set up the Ways of Knowing web site
Storm Nordwind: I have seen the picture of the two of you there
Pema Pera: actually, I’m glad you brought up the point of blogs; I’ll ask a few other regulars whether they would be interested to start a PaB blog too
Pema Pera: It would be interested to grow a little cluster of blogs

At this point, Kessidri arrived, after I had given her a tp offer. And as happened before, she got stuck in the ceiling of the teahouse . . .

Pema Pera: Hi Kessidri!
Kessidri Swamphen: hi…erm just dropping in :-p
Pema Pera: Ah, you may be caught in the ceiling?
Kessidri Swamphen: LOL!
Pema Pera: I think Storm is rescueing you
Kessidri Swamphen: thankyou storm and hello
Storm Nordwind: This way!
Kessidri Swamphen: ok
Pema Pera: Thanks, Storm!
Storm Nordwind: Remind me to ask Dakini to phantom the roof!
Pema Pera: Hi Kess!
Pema Pera: sorry about the attic trap!!
Kessidri Swamphen: hi sorry about that
Pema Pera: nono our fault
Storm Nordwind: Entirely not your fault Kess
Storm Nordwind: Pleased to meet you anyhow
Kessidri Swamphen: and you too

I told Storm the story of how Kessidri and I met, doubly virtually so.

Pema Pera: Storm, Kessidri and I met in a virtual way here in SL
Pema Pera: twice removed from RL
Kessidri Swamphen: haha yes
Pema Pera: and this is in fact the first time we meet here in SL
Kessidri Swamphen: even poor avatars need a second life!
Pema Pera: yeah
Pema Pera: can you guess by now what happened?
Storm Nordwind: Er… surprise me!
Pema Pera: well . . . you have met No Self here, just like I met one of your alts
Storm Nordwind: Oh I see
Pema Pera: The day that I created No Self, to try it out I went to Ryoanji
Pema Pera: a most beautiful zen tempel in Kyoto
Pema Pera: with a very nice copy here in SL
Pema Pera: and there I met someone
Pema Pera: to my surprise
Pema Pera: because there is almost never anyone there
Pema Pera: and rather quickly we both figured out that we were both alts, haha
Pema Pera: doesn’t take too long to figure out
Pema Pera: as you have also stressed — SL is really quite transparent
Kessidri Swamphen: my (that is kessidri’s) house is next door to the temple
Kessidri Swamphen: but my alt likes to hang out there too lol
Storm Nordwind’s brain explodes
Pema Pera: just like No Self
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: so Kess, did we meet in our Third Life?
Kessidri Swamphen: yeah so i met no self half hour after he was created
Kessidri Swamphen: um yes third life definately…my alt is escape from this busy avatar lol
Pema Pera: hehe, same here
Pema Pera: and now I’ve given away my No Self identity, haha
Pema Pera: I created that mainly to get around the 25 limitation in number of groups
Storm Nordwind: Kessidri – you have a very familiar RL face on your profile. I am trying to place where I have seen it before
Kessidri Swamphen: oh i am so sorry …I should check your profile too storm
Kessidri Swamphen: you dont look familiar to me storm
Kessidri Swamphen: erm i dont know why i do to you…but i find as i get older i feel i have seen all the face structures that exist here on earth
Kessidri Swamphen: do you ever feel that?
Storm Nordwind: Hmmm… no, I am always surprised. It is my sense of childlike wonder!
Kessidri Swamphen: i see so many people in so many other people lol
Kessidri Swamphen: but i have known a lot of people lol
Storm Nordwind: I think it is just my bad memory! :)
Kessidri Swamphen: well storm i hope that if we met it was a good memory :-p
Storm Nordwind laughs

The conversation moved to PaB, Playing as Being.

Pema Pera: Kessidri, we gather here a few times a day, believe it or not
Kessidri Swamphen: wow
Pema Pera: I wonder, did I mention that to you?
Kessidri Swamphen: you did but i didnt realise how often
Kessidri Swamphen: is there a ceremony?
Pema Pera: http://www.waysofknowing.net/ is the web site
Kessidri Swamphen: other than the tea ceremony
Pema Pera: oh no no ceremony at all!
Pema Pera: have some tea!
Pema Pera: yes, I was about to say
Storm Nordwind: And the initiation ceremony
Pema Pera: haha attic trap!
Kessidri Swamphen: :loading:
Kessidri Swamphen: oh that darn thing lol
Kessidri Swamphen: i thought i was going to have to politely tp somewhere else and ask for a new tp lol
Storm Nordwind: We need to phantom the roof but neither of us have permissions
Pema Pera: but it may be a way to break the ice
Pema Pera: if not the roof
Kessidri Swamphen: haha yes
Pema Pera: but don’t feel you have to read it all, Kess
Pema Pera: you can later look at it, no rush
Pema Pera: and there is far too much to read anyway
Kessidri Swamphen: i have looked at the home page of the site pema but i will look at the rest more closely later i dont want to be distracted and seem rude
Pema Pera: we come here in a rather informal atmosphere, no worry!
Kessidri Swamphen: oh yes indeed
Pema Pera: play is the key here!

Stim walked in and joined us.

Pema Pera: Hi Stim!
Kessidri Swamphen: hi stim
Pema Pera: Stim, meet Kessidri
Stim Morane: Hi Pema. Sorry I’m late.
Pema Pera: no problem at all!
Stim Morane: Hi Kessidri!
Pema Pera: People drop in and out here at random
Kessidri Swamphen: love the music
Pema Pera: This is Kessidri’s first time here
Pema Pera: Thanks!
Pema Pera: Kess, Stim recently was born in SL, but as a real virtual Stim, not an alt
Pema Pera: how do you call a non-alt?
Pema Pera: a proper?
Kessidri Swamphen: erm main?
Storm Nordwind: main is normal yes
Pema Pera: ah, really?
Pema Pera: hadn’t encountered that one yet
Storm Nordwind: You could try ‘base’ instead ;)
Kessidri Swamphen: if i start floating above this cushion its the music :-p
Storm Nordwind: Actually it’s usually the tea here. There is something in it
Pema Pera: haha
Kessidri Swamphen: yeah i have experienced that too lol
Pema Pera: but I don’t like to be a `base’ avatar
Pema Pera: too debasing
Pema Pera: and I don’t want to carry No Self on my shoulders

After these alt musings, we got a bit more serious.

Pema Pera: Storm, would you like to summarize for Kess your experience so far with PaB?
Pema Pera: Play as Being?
Pema Pera: I’m always summarizing here
Pema Pera: love to hear your angle
Kessidri Swamphen: yes i would love to hear
Storm Nordwind: Hmmm…
Storm Nordwind: you’re checking to see if I’m awake! ;)
Kessidri Swamphen: lol
Storm Nordwind: Well I have tried the time tax
Storm Nordwind: stopping for 9 seconds every 15 minutes
Storm Nordwind: It has it’s plusses and minuses for me
Storm Nordwind: I tend to be more sporadic
Storm Nordwind: But I created a blog especially for the exercise
Storm Nordwind: the first and only blog I will probably ever have!
Pema Pera: I feel honored!
Storm Nordwind: and some interesting things come from it
Storm Nordwind: Perhaps I should just let the words in the blog speak for themselves
Kessidri Swamphen: oooh as we say in the UK linkage pls
Storm Nordwind: They are linked from Pema’s PlayasBeing website
Storm Nordwind: I too am in the UK. Which is why I thought I recognised you, but that’s btw
Kessidri Swamphen: lol
Kessidri Swamphen: yes
Storm Nordwind: We’ve had quite a number of people dropping into these sessions
Storm Nordwind: While I was in the US I managed 2 or 3 times a day
Storm Nordwind: Now it’s only once
Pema Pera: almost 40 people in two weeks
Storm Nordwind: Good!
Storm Nordwind: And we have some land here that we’ve built on
Storm Nordwind: We have space for quite large meetings
Storm Nordwind: as well as smaller ones like this
Storm Nordwind: Quite often however, for me, if I remember to stop and write then I find I can just Be anyway
Storm Nordwind: In fact the rest of the time, it feels like I am playing at Non-Being!
Storm Nordwind: that is unless I start identifying with the ‘I’ – that’s been happening more than normal this week!
Storm Nordwind: But I am approaching this from the opposite direction that many may be
Storm Nordwind: Like some here, I guess … can’t think of a better way to say this …
Storm Nordwind: … I have quite a bit of experience
Storm Nordwind: in terms of Being
Storm Nordwind: This sounds awful, but the experiment is sometimes a steeping down for me rather than a stepping up
Pema Pera: That’s a wondeful expression, Storm, steeping down!
Storm Nordwind: And i sometimes wonder whether I’m at all qualified to take part in Pema’s experiment as a result
Pema Pera: no qualifications here, Storm
Storm Nordwind: I know that
Storm Nordwind: Still the feeling persists
Pema Pera: any and all are welcome
Pema Pera: and can share and contribute
Pema Pera: I see this as a peer group
Pema Pera: which doesn’t mean that we are all equal in terms of past experience
Pema Pera: but it means that no one plays a teacher role
Storm Nordwind: Quite so.
Pema Pera: For example, I see my role more as that of a mentor
Pema Pera: at best
Pema Pera: and I am ready to be mentored myself
Pema Pera: learning from anyone here
Storm Nordwind: And I wouldn’t even really want to take role of teacher or mentor
Storm Nordwind: I went to an introductory talk on Buddhism while I was in the US.
Storm Nordwind: I wanted to see how they approached it there
Storm Nordwind: I thought that the teacher was amazing
Storm Nordwind: And I felt that, despite my being a teacher, that I’d have such a hard job doing what she did
Storm Nordwind: But I suspect i will be driven by compassion for all beings – as is often the Buddhist way – and I’ll just get on with it!
Storm Nordwind: But then I thought of how valuable Pema’s experiment is in relation to this
Storm Nordwind: There are so many ways to achieve greater awareness

We continued talking, and then we asked Storm to give us a tour.

Storm Nordwind: Hey… I’ve rattled on far too long! Please someone else talk MY ears off instead!
Storm Nordwind laughs
Pema Pera: hahaha
Kessidri Swamphen: well its interesting lol
Pema Pera: we are all ears, Storm
Kessidri Swamphen: yep
Pema Pera: haha
Pema Pera: Storm, you mentioned compassion
Pema Pera: such a central topic in Buddhism
Pema Pera: at yet so many sides to it
Storm Nordwind: yes it is
Pema Pera: Stim once told me something about compassion
Pema Pera: which made a deep impression on me
Pema Pera: Stim, I hope I’m quoting you right — correct me if I’m wrong —
Pema Pera: something like this
Pema Pera: True compassion means two things
Pema Pera: first, to really see that nobody is in need of anything
Pema Pera: second, to help the others see that for themselves
Storm Nordwind: Excellent. And now to reread the HeartSutra!
Pema Pera: yes, indeed!
Storm Nordwind: Written or spoken by the Lord of Compassion
Storm Nordwind: That is a profound statement
Storm Nordwind: However, there are many many steps for most people before they can understand those thoughts
Storm Nordwind: Most people have difficulty understanding the day-to-day difference between sympathy and empathy
Storm Nordwind: Or at least, so it appears to me in the adult classes I tach
Storm Nordwind: *teach
Pema Pera: Storm, you pointed to Quan Yin, would you like to show us some of Her statues here that you and others built?
Storm Nordwind: Sure. You mean give people a tour. If they are willing, no problem
Kessidri Swamphen: yes i am happy to
Pema Pera: I’d be happy myself!
Pema Pera: Haven’t seen it all yet
Pema Pera: Stim, would you like to join us too?
Stim Morane: Sure
Pema Pera: okay, we got a tour, thanks, Storm!
Storm Nordwind: Let us walk
Pema Pera: sure
Storm Nordwind: Please follow me on foot

Storm then showed us some of the many interesting buildings and statues that he had built, as well as some elaborate landscaping, including beautiful a waterfall with the Chinese characters for `compassion’ appearing in the waves. I will not include the whole conversation, which would be hard to follow without the visuals, but instead I’ll end with Stim summing up.

Stim Morane: how long did it take to produced this?
Storm Nordwind: About two months Stim
Storm Nordwind: But I’m always adding stuff
Stim Morane: a remarkable extension of meritorious action
Storm Nordwind: Thank you so much Stim. That means a lot
Stim Morane: the ancients would have been thrilled
Storm Nordwind: The moderns certainly are!

Finding Each Other

Soon after I entered the tea house, I saw that Maxine had logged in, but I didn’t see her around. I then got an IM from here:

IM: Maxine Walden: Pema, not sure you can here me, but I am lost out here at Miramare, trying to get to the teahouse

I wrote her back:

IM: Pema Pera: I will give you a tp!
IM: Pema Pera: but this will probably let you arrive in the ceiling of the tea house ;>)
IM: Pema Pera: let me know what happens

A few times this had happened before. Normally when you give someone a teleport offer, the other person then materializes right in front of you, at a position several feet away. But for whatever reason, if you are seated in the tea house, the person you offer tp to then rezzes up in the attic, in the space between the ceiling and the roof, completely stuck, with no way to get out. And indeed, this is what happened again. Maxine arrived, and I heard her, but couldn’t see her.

Maxine Walden: I think that is where I am, near the ceiling or on the roof
Pema Pera: can you see the cushions below?
Maxine Walden: I will try, see the rooftiles right now
Pema Pera: if you click on a cushion it will liberate you from the attic
Maxine Walden: I cannot see the inside of the tea house only the roof
Pema Pera: okay, I will walk outside and tp you from there.
Maxine Walden: I seem to be between two roofs, not sure if you can see me

I walked to the door, opened it, and almost bumped into Sky, who was about to enter, looking at me with surprise. Too busy trying to get Maxine out quickly, I didn’t pause to explain to her why I suddenly ran out. So she walked in while I walked onto the grass, and then she turned around, puzzled, and came out as well. At that moment my second tp worked, and Maxine appeared in between Sky and me, all in one piece.

Maxine Walden: there, thanks like magic
Pema Pera: Sky, Maxine was stuck in the ceiling
Pema Pera: and the only way to get her out that we knew of, was for me to walk out and give here a tp (teleport offer) from outside

We all walked inside again, and each of us took a comfortable cushion to sit on.

Maxine Walden: hello, sorry to be late, got lost amidst the ‘cosmos’
Pema Pera: anyway, we are all here now (^_^)
Pema Pera: haha big space out here in the SL world!
Maxine Walden: hi, Sky, yes big space and when I feel lost it is even bigger…as if ‘where do I belong?’
Sky Szimmer: ahhh. i am now oriented. boy it is not easy
Sky Szimmer: hi everyone!
Pema Pera: it really is like going to a new country
Pema Pera: and figuring out how to get around
Pema Pera: physically
Pema Pera: culturally
Maxine Walden: that lost in space is really for me lost in inner space, because I feel I have no inner bearings
Pema Pera: can you say more, Maxine?
Maxine Walden: well, let me see, yes, the lost in space feeling just then was that with a racing heart I felt somehow I had lost some inner compass which could guide me…
Maxine Walden: like something on the inside was missing, or better, that I could not locate it. So as much I could not find the inner compass rather than the outer compass, and it was registered as anxiety which made me unable to fully think clearly
Maxine Walden: without the tools needed to ‘come home’ (here to the teahouse), but an interesting slip in my typing in that I was writing teachouse instead of teahouse,
Pema Pera: A fascinating reflection, Maxine! We can look at SL in two ways: as a complex piece of software we have to learn to work with, and as a world we immigrate into. Working with a new piece of software, we all know the feeling of “being lost” for a while, before becoming familiar with it and skilled at its use. But here “feelikng lost” takes on a much more direct meaning!
Maxine Walden: yes,
Pema Pera: It might be fun for either of you to explore a bit more what SL has to offer, in due time — but no hurry
Sky Szimmer: i have a tiny bit. ended in some weird places
Pema Pera: weird places plenty here, Sky!
Maxine Walden: feeling lost which then prompted me to write teachouse instead of teahouse, which I think means
Maxine Walden: that I had looked to the teachings in this teahouse to help me get unlost
Sky Szimmer: nice thought, Maxine!
Pema Pera: yes indeed!
Maxine Walden: interesting to me how the mind ‘slips’ in comments and is very revealing
Pema Pera: so this house is teaching us, perhaps, and we are all teaching each other?
Maxine Walden: oh yes, that seems so; in my lostness I felt ‘oh, Pema and those in the tea(c)house will help me out, be my teachers
Pema Pera: we can help each other out of our attics (^_^)

Sky then brought up the physical component of our explorations.

Sky Szimmer: yesterday, Storm had noted something interesting, about physical tension
Sky Szimmer: I have noticed that physical tension is a useful tool to show that we are not stopping
Pema Pera: yes, Sky!
Maxine Walden: please say more, Sky
Sky Szimmer: well, there is this visceral tension that seems to frequently present in me.
Sky Szimmer: this is where I tend to feel is. my gut just wretches up
Sky Szimmer: when I find that I noticed that, then relax, it opens me up more to the present moment.
Maxine Walden: tension as a guide, when noticed, to opening up
Sky Szimmer: yes.
IM: Second Life: User not online – message will be stored and delivered later.
Maxine Walden: paying attention then seems to be the help needed, which changes tension from foe into signpost
Sky Szimmer: when the physical tension is gone, there is more of a unity with the moment
Maxine Walden: I find that as well
Sky Szimmer: i feel it is more than a signpost, although that is certainly the case.
Sky Szimmer: when there is no physcial tension, i feel there is a inner energy source that is quite different
Maxine Walden: please say more
Sky Szimmer: then it is able to pervade when the tension is gone
Sky Szimmer: i don’t know much more about it then that
Maxine Walden: a kind of energy in repose?
Sky Szimmer: yes. when the mind and body is relaxed
Sky Szimmer: then that is when i noticed this pulsating energy
Maxine Walden: unencumbered by tension or distraction
Maxine Walden: those times of unencumbered unity are so awesome for me,
Maxine Walden: by which I do feel that a kind of awe and gratitude set in
Sky Szimmer: Yes. most definitely
Maxine Walden: and that awe for me feels like a unity with the cosmos, both inner and in some way outer, that connectedness with everything geltly
Maxine Walden: seems available even though the words sound grandiose, the feeling is very much otherwise
Sky Szimmer: yes. when those moments are available, i find that there is no inner or outer
Maxine Walden: right, a kind of connectedness…had been thinking about surrender earlier, and I think
Maxine Walden: that those moments of connectedness are times when there is a surrender in process, surrender of one’s boundaries, individual ‘possessed’ thoughts, etc, and just gratitude to be at-one with the universe
Sky Szimmer: yes!
Sky Szimmer: This days, I tend to think acceptance rather than surrender
Sky Szimmer: as the work surrender requires for me too much work
Sky Szimmer: sorry, not work, word
Sky Szimmer: although that is an interesting slip : )
Maxine Walden: an interesting consideration, I am trying to think about what you said
Sky Szimmer: These days, I have been thinking about everything being a given
Maxine Walden: surrender for me does seem to be letting go of boundaries…not sure what you mean by ‘everything is a given’
Sky Szimmer: all that is, is given, where there is nothing that is from “outside”
Sky Szimmer: it is a bit hard to explain so forgive me if it is clumsy
Sky Szimmer: normally when we encounter someone new, or that when
Sky Szimmer: an event happens to us
Sky Szimmer: in my mind, I tend to think that is external to me
Sky Szimmer: like it is separate from me
Sky Szimmer: but in thinking in terms of given,
Sky Szimmer: all those encounters now seem to just arise and as a given
Maxine Walden: I think my experience differs slightly but may be linked with what you are describing
Sky Szimmer: so I am just accepting it as part of the “movie” story
Maxine Walden: when I encounter someone or something ‘outside’
Maxine Walden: I try to approach it as ‘I cannnot really know what is out there what I can know about is my expeirence of what that out thre event/person is, and my experience is highly influcnece by my current state of mind and my fantasies of who/what I am witnessing
Sky Szimmer: please say more
Maxine Walden: I will try; I am impressed that the only way I connect with ‘reality’ is via my perceptive capacities which are highly influenced by my emotional state and whatever my fantasies (ongoing inner flow of sensations and inner discourse)
Sky Szimmer: i think i do that as well, but that is changing
Sky Szimmer: for me
Maxine Walden: but as I try PaB and realize how influencial these fantasies, etc are, I try to let go of them…is that what you are doing as well?
Sky Szimmer: yes!
Sky Szimmer: that is what I think I mean when I say acceptance
Maxine Walden: and perhaps what I mean in surrender
Sky Szimmer: to accept people as they are, circumstances are they are..
Maxine Walden: yes, not to try to control or make things happen
Sky Szimmer: right!
Sky Szimmer: I mean yes! no judgment is that : )
Maxine Walden: I feel a convergence in our viewpoints, experiences
Sky Szimmer: I think we are talking about the same thing.
Maxine Walden: yes, I would be interested what Pema is thinking about all of this
Pema Pera: accepting, surrendering, stopping, opening up, they all have different flavors and associations, but there is also significant overlap . . . and yes, all of those are powerful ways to work with, or invoke, during our 9-seconds practice intervals.
Pema Pera: Appreciation is another word that has come up, as well as gratitude.
Maxine Walden: open channels
Maxine Walden: rather than efforts to control or make something conform to expectations
Pema Pera: subtraction rather than addition
Maxine Walden: exactly
Maxine Walden: it is so interesting how much of this work is getting ourselves out of the way
Sky Szimmer: that is what i am finding too
Maxine Walden: these are teaching times for me, quiet communications…
Maxine Walden: which I find I do carry beyond these teachouse walls into the rest of my day
Sky Szimmer: nice chatting with everyone. I must run.
Sky Szimmer: have a nice day!
Maxine Walden: very nice to see you and talk. Look forward to more
Pema Pera: bye, Sky!

Maxine and I lingered for a few minutes more, before each of us had to start our daily work.

Pema Pera: Maxine, I am still reflecting on your new “teachouse” word. It is so symbolic, what happens here when we get telported-ed into the space under the roof.
Pema Pera: so we can’t get out
Pema Pera: someone else has to go out and invite us to escape from our attic
Pema Pera: to come down and be grounded
Maxine Walden: oh, nice image
Pema Pera: this all really feels like a collaborative effort
Maxine Walden: yes, that is exactly what I needed you to do…
Pema Pera: and rather effortlessly so
Pema Pera: well, I will have to go too
Pema Pera: but what a wonderful way to start the day!
Maxine Walden: right, and yes, wonderful way to start the day. I will be back tomorrow, same time, hopefully not in the attic
Pema Pera: hahaha
Maxine Walden: yes, laughable
Pema Pera: we now know how to extract you, Maxine
Pema Pera: but such important lessons
Pema Pera: and it’s good we can laugh here too!
Pema Pera: playing
Pema Pera: as Being
Maxine Walden: you know well, and I appreciate that; will learn more to do that myself, and yes, playing as Being
Maxine Walden: is such a rich medium
Pema Pera: I’m so glad to see you and Sky exploring this in such tangible ways
Pema Pera: At first, when we here “playing as Being” it may seem to abstract . . . .
Maxine Walden: for this. Thanks. I am enjoying that as well, and as we talked this morning it seemed much less abstract
Maxine Walden: sharing one’s experience or all of us sharing in my lostness made it more immediate
Maxine Walden: glad to get lost for all of us
Maxine Walden: Better go, and try not to get too lost in the rest of the day
Pema Pera: hahaha, thank you for teaching us, Maxine!
Pema Pera: yes, see you later, whenever convenient!
Maxine Walden: getting lost can be a kind of teaching I guess
Maxine Walden: bye
Pema Pera: bye!