Stages and Moves

That evening, I arrived at the tea house as the first visitor. I looked around a bit, and then I saw Friedrich walking up over the bridge. Soon afterward, Maxine would join us.

Friedrich Ochsenhorn: hey there
Pema Pera: Hi Fred!
Maxine Walden: hi, Pema and Fred, outside?
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: boo!
Pema Pera: inside or out, what do you prefer?
Maxine Walden: I’ll come out
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: err, either way.
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: cool
Pema Pera: ah!
Pema Pera: I hadn’t noticed that you had teleported in, Maxine
Pema Pera: always a bit of a surprise :-)
Maxine Walden: I did, into the teahouse
Pema Pera: we can sit in the grass, for a change
Maxine Walden: yes, I can imagine the surprise
Pema Pera: the problem with sitting in the grass is that it takes a while to get the right orientation
Maxine Walden: haven’t sat on the grsss for awhile, in RL or SL

:-). Well, SL is a good place to start the habit again. Adams and Thorberg arrived as well.

Pema Pera: we easily wind up sitting with our backs toward each other :)
Maxine Walden: right, don’t want that
Adams Rubble: Hello Everybody
Pema Pera: Hi Thorberg!
Maxine Walden: hi, Thor, Adams
Pema Pera: We are practicing sitting on the grass :)
Thorberg Nordlicht: hello, everyone
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: hey
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: im comfy. relatively
Pema Pera: the best way is to find a spot first
Pema Pera: then walk back in the opposite direction of where you want to look
Pema Pera: then click on the grass from your new position
Maxine Walden: right,
Pema Pera: Hi Adams!

There was a lot of sitting down and standing up again.

Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: if we all improve our position we will never converge :)
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: snicker
Pema Pera: Okay, Maxine and Adams and I will stay put
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: laps?
Pema Pera: and Fred will move back a bit
Maxine Walden: someone looking from outside PaB would think we are dancing, and in a way we are
Pema Pera: hahaha
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: well done Fred!
Pema Pera: oops
Pema Pera: okay
Pema Pera: hahaha
Maxine Walden: great movements!
Pema Pera: that’s why the have so many chairs and benches in SL
Pema Pera: yeah, Fred!
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: duck, duck….
Maxine Walden: got it!
Pema Pera: hahaha
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: GOOSE!
Maxine Walden: Thor the flying goose?
Thorberg Nordlicht: this is *my* spot, and i’m stayin’ here
Pema Pera: Adams, did you get my email, half an hour ago?
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: don’t move, just change your perspective ;-) isn’ tthat our theme?
Pema Pera: one way to interpret it :)

Lol, Fred! Solo then walked up, and there were suddenly half a dozen of us.

Maxine Walden: here comes Solo
Maxine Walden: hi, Solo
Pema Pera: Hi Solo!
Solobill Laville: Hi all!
Pema Pera: We are in the middle of a grass sitting practice
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: pull up a patch
Solobill Laville: I’ll join you!
Pema Pera: not so easy . . . .
Solobill Laville: uh oh, he he
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: nice!
Pema Pera: well done!!!
Solobill Laville: lol
Pema Pera: at first try, no less

As soon as Solo sat down, Thor became restless again.

Pema Pera: hahaha, Thor!
Pema Pera: what gymnastics
Pema Pera: did you have too many cups of coffee?
Maxine Walden: LOL at our antics!!
Solobill Laville: Too funny!
Thorberg Nordlicht: yes, too much caffeine
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: anyone bring a hackysack?
Thorberg Nordlicht: playing with a new animation
Pema Pera: Adams, did you get the email I sent an hour ago?
Adams Rubble: no I didn’t
Pema Pera: no rush, we can talk about that later
Pema Pera: I responded to your question about the koan
Adams Rubble: If I try to look now I’ll crash
Adams Rubble: great
Pema Pera: no problem at all — later!
Pema Pera: Thor keeps pushing Adams to the side :)
Adams Rubble: hehe
Pema Pera: but she remains unphased
Thorberg Nordlicht: sorry about that; not intentional
Pema Pera: :-)
Solobill Laville: Max, it appears that you may be in quicksand
Solobill Laville: I’ll throw you a rope!
Maxine Walden: oh, no!!
Adams Rubble: hehe
Pema Pera: before long, only our heads will remain visible . . . .
Solobill Laville: lol
Maxine Walden: if I sink please lend me your staff, Solo
Solobill Laville: of course!

Solo indeed was carrying a very nice staff, by his side.

Pema Pera: Maxine and I had a nice conversation, recently, about the ups and downs of involvement with practice — any kind of practice, including PaB: at first we get excited, put a lot of time and energy in it, then other parts of life catch up, then we find a kind of equilibrium. I think we all have gone through that. Thus that “ring a bell” with others here?
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: for sure.
Solobill Laville: yep
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: i would generalize, and say not just w/ “practice”
Adams Rubble: I’m too new but see it has to happen
Maxine Walden: ah, not alone…
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: lots of new interests or involvments
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: i have seen and experienced those cycles on lots of projects i have been involved in
Solobill Laville: Pacing and patience are good things
Maxine Walden: yes and sometimes elusive when one gets excited about a new venture
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: well, the exuberence of a rush is good too
Solobill Laville: True
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: what is elusive is recapturing the rush, but if you have been there, its easier to visit
Adams Rubble: we have rushed to different things in life
Adams Rubble: rushes
Pema Pera: I’m glad we are having this conversation, so that we can all recognize these aspects
Pema Pera: which are very natural
Pema Pera: for everyone
Pema Pera: there is just only one pitfall here: if you get very excited at first, it is easy to conclude after a few weeks or a month or so that it was all overdone, that you overdosed, that perhaps there was not as much to it as you thought
Pema Pera: and there is where writing comes in
Pema Pera: rereading your own logs
Pema Pera: you remember what pulled you
Pema Pera: and how genuine it was
Pema Pera: Adams is a shining example here for all of us!
Maxine Walden: after Pema and I spoke, I noted, with a bit of embarrassment how deeply I had ‘thrown’ myself into the PaB, because in a way I felt in retrospect like a kid…took a moment to recover and yes it did help to look at the blogs, did that too after our talk

Spontaneously, I introduced the notion of stages, from 1 to 2.

Pema Pera: It will be very interesting to see Adams going into stage two :-)
Solobill Laville: :)
Adams Rubble: stage 2?
Maxine Walden: and Adams, your blogs are very expressive
Pema Pera: first the complete abandon, throwing yourself in, then (perhaps!) stepping back a bit
Pema Pera: but I don’t want to prejudge, Adams!
Pema Pera: perhaps you are different
Pema Pera: from us all :)
Solobill Laville: That, to me, the stepping back, is so important
Adams Rubble: I see myself stepping back a bit
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: dare i suggest a correlation between rushing into things that involve altered states of consciousness? or, would you say its any new hobby or project?
Solobill Laville: You can see yourself much clearer “from the outside”, in a way
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: (which, admitedly, implies the former)
Pema Pera: it’s perhaps a bit like breathing, fresh air in, stale/used air out . . . .
Solobill Laville: I would say it could apply to anything, like you said just now; a project even
Solobill Laville: (I know I have)
Maxine Walden: yes, and sometimes the cadence of the breathing changes for sometimes unrecognized reasons

And then from 2 to 3.

Pema Pera: the important thing is to get to stage 3: keep breathing! So often we take a deep breath in, then we exhale, then we give up . . . . writing in my experience helps the continuity, to not forget . . . .
Maxine Walden: I have resumed the writing, Pema and agree with its importance…like tracing a thread of oneself over time
Maxine Walden: through the thickets, across the stream, over the rocks…
Pema Pera: I have the impression, correct me if I’m wrong, that Maxine and Solo and Thor are somewhere around stage 2, and Fred is approaching 3, while Adams is reaching the end of 1 . . . just a guess, don’t want to pin down, but perhaps fun to reflect on?
Solobill Laville: Define Stage 2, please
Pema Pera: and with what Maxine just said, she also crossing over into 3?
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: does that mean im about to crash into the ocean ;-)
Thorberg Nordlicht: you mean in terms of PasB involvement?
Pema Pera: yes
Pema Pera: that’s all I can judge here :-)
Pema Pera: just a thought, no judgment at all
Pema Pera: we all go through stages, and it is different for all of us
Thorberg Nordlicht: I was more active for a week or two after discovering the group, but now RL has drawn me away for a few weeks so I haven’t been around as much recently.
Pema Pera: yet there are intriguing similarities
Maxine Walden: perhaps beginning to write again, for me, is passing through or beyond the stage of slight dis-engagement
Pema Pera: yes, Thor, but there is a reason
Pema Pera: it happens to everyone
Pema Pera: interesting to watch
Solobill Laville: I am not familiar with the stages you’re referring to Pema
Thorberg Nordlicht: Also, I found that for a while, the only thing I did in SL was come here to see who was here, but now I’m back to doing other things in SL, also.
Pema Pera: even though there are local “reasons” that are different for everyone
Pema Pera: yes, that is all fair and natural, for sure, Thorberg
Pema Pera: Solo, I’m just making them up here :)
Pema Pera: but I think they apply to anything
Solobill Laville: Ah
Maxine Walden: Solo, I think Pema is suggesting that stage one is the
Maxine Walden: jumping into the practice, perhaps with abandon, as he has said
Maxine Walden: and then stage two is the slight stepping back

Following Maxine’s summary, I tried to catch all three stages in one sentence.

Pema Pera: excitement, stepping back a bit, then perhaps continuing : 1, 2, 3
Pema Pera: yes
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: arthor young actually wrote alot about something that I think relates to these natural processes
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: The Reflexive Universe – http://www.arthuryoung.com/
Thorberg Nordlicht: Time passes more quickly in SL. I find that a “period of interest” is shorter in SL, too. A sustained involvement that lasts a few weeks in SL seems the same as something that lasts a few months in real life.
Pema Pera: the reason I am bringing this up, is to remind you not to be discouraged in stage 2 !
Pema Pera: yes, Thor, interesting, isn’t it!
Solobill Laville: Gotcha
Solobill Laville: My speed is generally between 2nd and 3rd gear on most things, PaB included
Pema Pera: If you see 1,2,3, no problem, just flow with it
Pema Pera: if you don’t see, you get unhappy at stage 2:
Pema Pera: you ask “is this not for me, after all?”
Pema Pera: “did I fool myself”
Pema Pera: “do I let others down”
Pema Pera: “do I let myself down”
Pema Pera: stuff like that
Pema Pera: but if you see 1,2,3, no problem :)
Pema Pera: and you then don’t realize that others feel the same, you think it is just you . . . .

Maxine continued to give a very open and direct report of her experience of what I had just called stage 2. I felt deeply touched by her description, knowing how helpful it would be for other participants, in the present as well as the future, for those reading these lines months and years and decades from now, or longer; how knows when . . .

Maxine Walden: interesting how bogged down I felt…yes, wondering about being foolish, letting oneself/others down…can be quite self-critical in stage two
Maxine Walden: not sure if that is others’ experience, but it was part of mine which made it difficult to return from RL things
Maxine Walden: yes, the sense of isolation can be profound and so imprisoning
Maxine Walden: and one/I could not really see beyond it, the isolation
Maxine Walden: no the self-criticism and doubt
Pema Pera: Peer advice, mentoring roles, that’s what can be of enormous benefit here. Adams wrote a beautiful paragraph about her talks with Fael, at the end of http://rubblebornthoughts.wordpress.com/2008/06/16/play-as-being-8th-day-june-16-2008/
Adams Rubble: It is easy to feel isolated in SL in general
Maxine Walden: isolation followed the self-doubt
Maxine Walden: thanks, will look at Rubble’s blog
Adams Rubble: Pema, everytime you mention my blog, the hits go up

:-)

Friedrich Ochsenhorn: aw phooey. now i need to sit again
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: (fiddling w/ a new viewer. crashed hard)
Pema Pera: well, Adams, you only have yourself to blame :-) for putting such interesting stuff there — so honestly and genuine!
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: i guess i was warned. splash.
Pema Pera: shall we walk over to the new place instead?
Pema Pera: Solves Fred’s sitting problem
Pema Pera: ah! done!
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: heh.
Solobill Laville: Well done Fred!
Pema Pera: but seriously, let’s have a look at Dakini’s new place
Maxine Walden: OK, fine by me
Pema Pera: now that we’re not having enough room here often

Even though Fred had just succeeded to make himself comfortable, we walked over to the new spot.

Adams Rubble: It is looking nice
Solobill Laville: I’m in
Pema Pera: just around the corner
Adams Rubble: do I get abottloe of wine this time?
Pema Pera: haha, Adams
Pema Pera: Steve is not here
Pema Pera: you perhaps you’ll be safe
FX1-Black V1.0 (High Prim)_v4 whispers: Coffee type set to – Espresso
Maxine Walden: ah, lovely
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: spacious

FX1-Black V1.0 (High Prim)_v4 whispers: Coffee Machine ready for use.
Maxine Walden: very spacious, and gracious, shows thought and sensitivity
Pema Pera: also easier to see everyone — in the tea room, when filled up, always someone behind the tea kettle :)

Maxine Walden: yes, here coffee pot in the corner
Solobill Laville: I recommend the espresso
Maxine Walden: would be good about now, an espresso
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: i know, we should all light some insense at home, to highten the co-presense

Interesting idea, Fred, to extend the experience of the senses!

Maxine Walden: can almost imagine it, the incense
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: its quite potent
Maxine Walden: very nice atmosphere here with everyone and this place, grateful to be here
Maxine Walden: and grateful to Dakini
Adams Rubble: yes
Solobill Laville: Yes

We were all quiet for a while, taking in the new environment.

Friedrich Ochsenhorn: anyway, these (long frequency) pauses are pretty essential to the creative process, as i understnad it. The Sabbath, if you will.
Maxine Walden: very interesting thought, Fred
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: thanks. we haven’t brought in as much western thinking on these subjects, but there is wisdom to mine

I wondered whether the last word was an adjective, but it probaly was meant as a verb.

Solobill Laville: May I share a quote I read yesterday?
Maxine Walden: please
FX1-Black V1.0 (High Prim)_v4 whispers: Coffee type set to – Cappuccino
Solobill Laville: Mind does not grab on to mind…
Solobill Laville: Mind does not push mind away…
Solobill Laville: Mind can only observe itself.
FX1-Black V1.0 (High Prim)_v4: Must clear coffee cups before making another.
Maxine Walden: your quote reminds me a bit of the atmosphere here right now, no push, no pull, just being here observing and being with each other and ourselves
Solobill Laville: :->
Maxine Walden: hi, Steve
Pema Pera: Hi Steve!
Pema Pera: Watch out now, Adams!!!

I thought that Stevenaia had made Adams drink here, the other day, but it was whiskey he had handed out, not wine, it turned out.

stevenaia Michinaga: hello
Adams Rubble: Hi Steve
Solobill Laville: Hello Steve
Adams Rubble: ?
stevenaia Michinaga: am I standing on someone?
Adams Rubble: Oh
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: i love that this place is open on all 4 sides
Maxine Walden: me too, fred
Adams Rubble: It was Dakini who had the wone
Adams Rubble: win
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: a new answer to the sit inside/outside question
Adams Rubble: wine
Adams Rubble: :)

Adams quickly got into the mood again :-).

stevenaia Michinaga: yea house with an espresso machine?.. we’re not in Kansas anymore
stevenaia Michinaga: Tea house
Solobill Laville: he he
Maxine Walden: LOL, feels very different from Kansas, and no Toto
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: i see dakinia also solved the “trapped in the roof rafter” problem in here too ;-)
Pema Pera: haha, yes
Pema Pera: nothing if not radical
Maxine Walden: great news for me, who would always get caught in the rafters trying to tp in to the teahouse
Banana Nut Muffin whispers: Hmmm, a fresh baked muffin!
FX1-Black V1.0 (High Prim)_v4: Must clear coffee cups before making another.
Solobill Laville: Someone’s cappucino is ready
Adams Rubble: hehe
Maxine Walden: not sure if I have told many that I often slip in writing the word ‘teahouse’ and say ‘teachouse’
Maxine Walden: which is what I have found our gathering place to be, a teachouse
Thorberg Nordlicht: typing fingers often have a mind of their own
Maxine Walden: yes
Solobill Laville: Exactly what I was thinking, a self-teachouse
Maxine Walden: ah

Pema Pera: teamhouse
Pema Pera: team-teach-house
Solobill Laville: better
Pema Pera: peers is better than team, though
Pema Pera: peering into reality as peers
Pema Pera: hi Neela!
Pema Pera: welcome
Maxine Walden: oh, yes
Neela Blaisdale: Hello all
Adams Rubble: Hi Neela
Solobill Laville: Has anyone noticed the moon above?
Pema Pera: not our Moon?
Solobill Laville: Hi Neela
Adams Rubble: :)
Solobill Laville: No, the other one
Solobill Laville: lol
Maxine Walden: hi, Neela, peering with peers and resting on peers of wisdom

Neela walked in and joined us, and soon Dakini would follow.

Neela Blaisdale: Hellosolo
Pema Pera: the non-logo moon
Neela Blaisdale: Hi Maxine
Solobill Laville: A moon-roof
Maxine Walden: the moon with the rabbit in it?
Pema Pera: Neela, we are trying out our new place — we used to gather at the tea house nearby
Solobill Laville: yes, carrying the basketball even!
Solobill Laville: hehe
Pema Pera: Have you been here before?
Neela Blaisdale: I was at thr retreat yesterday and at meditation
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: HOOWWWWWWWL!!!!
Dakini Rhode: hi!
Pema Pera: what we do here is called Play as Being and we have a web site https://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Maxine Walden: ah, his Dakini, we are so enjoying this lovely place!!
Solobill Laville: Hello, Dakini
Pema Pera: Hi Dakini!!!
Adams Rubble: Hi Dakini
Neela Blaisdale: Hi Dakini
Dakini Rhode: wonderful!
Dakini Rhode: i saw all the green dots here (on the map)
Pema Pera: haha

A well deserved round of praise for Dakini.

Solobill Laville: We are greatly enjoying the new digs
Maxine Walden: you thought they must be us?
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, ahd to use the big map to find the group
Solobill Laville: (and coffee and muffins)
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: hello Dakini. what a wondeful new place
Maxine Walden: great espresso
Neela Blaisdale: Where did Dakini go?
Dakini Rhode: yes, i though the green dots were you!
Dakini Rhode: i
Dakini Rhode: so glad you enjoy it :-)
Adams Rubble: Very nice additions since the last time we were here
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, and I would know, in RL, I;m know as the espresso bitch at my local coffeehouse
Adams Rubble: I miss the wine machine though
Solobill Laville: lol
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: i literally got up and lit incense
Maxine Walden: LOL
Dakini Rhode: i hope you make it your own (funny, steve)
Pema Pera: Neela, on the blog I mentioned we often put parts of our conversation — is that okay with you? Just want to make sure, to respect privacy
Neela Blaisdale: Yes that’s fine.
Pema Pera: Thanks!
Adams Rubble: Neela was with us last night
Neela Blaisdale: Yes- very interesting
Adams Rubble: Very!

The conversation turned on the wonderful child of the neighborhood, who had recently shown up.

Neela Blaisdale: Shurfei was very funny-
Adams Rubble: With a very wise young lady
Adams Rubble: and wise-cracking
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: she was the first child i have met here. I have read about them, but never met someone before
Adams Rubble: who studied under a professor who taught Paul Tillich
Dakini Rhode: shufei zenith?
Neela Blaisdale: Yes
Adams Rubble: I think so
Pema Pera thinks he really ought to get up earlier in order to attend more zen sittings . . . .
Dakini Rhode: she is a child in SL but not in RL…
Adams Rubble: We gathered :)
Dakini Rhode: there is a SL for children only…
Adams Rubble: Did not know that
Maxine Walden: nor I
Neela Blaisdale: What is the age for that?
Dakini Rhode: 18 i think
Adams Rubble: I don;t tink Shufei should be there
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: and build-a-bear, club pengin, and other kids oriented virtual worlds
Neela Blaisdale: Shufei is wise beyond her years
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: no, i wasn’t suggesting that. i had just read about children in here, but hadn’t met any
Dakini Rhode: shufei should be here :-)
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: child avatars, that is
Dakini Rhode: ah
Dakini Rhode: have you seen the lovely temple shufei built – if you haven’t it is so worth a peek
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: hey – i don’t have all that many children around me in RL either. Other than the children’s museum on my block…
Adams Rubble: Which temple is that?
Neela Blaisdale: I believe she’s usually there
Neela Blaisdale: It’s very near here
Dakini Rhode: yes
Dakini Rhode: looking for lm

I related my encounter with Shufei, a month after starting Play as Being.

Pema Pera: Yes, I met her, oh, seven weeks or so ago, I now remember, and we had a very nice conversation, about the land here, and plans for creating rivers and forests.
Pema Pera: actually, I just found a nice quote of our conversation:
Pema Pera: [2008/05/06 16:27] Shufei Zenith: In your journal you mention the failure of highways and railroads in SL as throughways. I think that these forests succede where they don’t, because forests are a more liminal sense of place. Their lexical meaning as “route” bleeds more easily into “destination”. As conductors of community, then, people will go “to” the forest, and find themselves going “through” them more incidentally. That ease translates to your retreat idea more aptly than an urban aesthetic. [2008/05/06 16:28] Pema Pera: great, yes, I agree! May I quote you in my blog? [2008/05/06 16:28] Shufei Zenith: Haha, as you like. :”>
Pema Pera: didn’t get a chance to quote yet
Pema Pera: but now I do! haha
Pema Pera: I feel I’ve spend a lifetime here in Rieul, if I think about all the conversations I have had here
Dakini Rhode gave you The Cijian Temple (Daoist), Mieum (64, 116, 80).
Solobill Laville: That sets a nice destination vs. journey imagery…yah forests!
Adams Rubble: Thanks Dakini
Dakini Rhode: yw
Adams Rubble: Oh I have been to her temple
Maxine Walden: very nice quote to bring, Pema. yes, Dakini, thanks for the landmark
Adams Rubble: Great place
Neela Blaisdale: Thanks Dakini – I must leave soon. I’ve been staying up late every night here in SL
Solobill Laville: I’ve been there too, it is very nice
Dakini Rhode: Neela everyone is complaining about that
Adams Rubble: Oh look at the time–I must go too. bye everyone
Pema Pera: Bye Neela, come back soon!
Dakini Rhode: (staying up too late in SL)
Neela Blaisdale: Bye bye
Dakini Rhode: bye

After Adams and Neela left, we started to reminisce about the tea house.

Pema Pera: Dakini, I remembered a conversation we had, about a month ago, when we began to realize that the tea house was getting too small for our group . . . and we both felt a bit nostalgic, and somewhat reluctant to let go . . . but I think you have created an equally splendid atmosphere here, easing the transition!
Pema Pera: bye Adams!
Dakini Rhode: aw thank you Pema… and it is hard to let go
Dakini Rhode: i hope the group enjoys this new space and lets me know if something needs changing
Dakini Rhode: or even changes it :-)
Dakini Rhode: it’s your space :-)
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: it is a good quote, though I would take playful issue with the dis of the urban aesthetic. people go to the city and through the city all the time..
Maxine Walden: to let go of the teahouse? to move on to this place…
Dakini Rhode: maybe easier to let go when you know where you’re going….
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: did you know that this year humanity crossed a threshold – for the first time, over half of us live in urban settings
Pema Pera: Dakini, we talked about stages in practice, earlier . . . . and now as a group we move to a new stage here, literally :)
Maxine Walden: that is very generous, Dakini, both you and Pema especially generous in all you are providing for this group/endeavor
Pema Pera: interesting statistics, Fred!
Dakini Rhode: this isnt landscaped yet, will be much nicer …
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: um. anyone notice an even closer similarity of this place to the japanese tea clubs in Pema’s wife’s paper?
Dakini Rhode: there will be a river running all around
Dakini Rhode raises her hand, Fred
Solobill Laville: hehe, I did
Dakini Rhode: I actually put the table here after I saw that picture
Solobill Laville: But it is still great!
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: the only catch w/ teh urban stat, is that it is also a euphamism for slum
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: ah. ok. still, uncanny.
Dakini Rhode: you can change the screen… by touching
Dakini Rhode: yes i thought so too, Fred
Dakini Rhode: the rest was unintentional
Pema Pera: thanks, Dakini! I took some pictures
Pema Pera: let’s see whether that would fit better in the paper

Fred, Dakini and others had referred to the paper “Avatars are for real: Virtual Communities and Public Spheres”, by Eiko Ikegami (Kiremimi Tigerpaw in SL) and me, to appear next month in the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (JVWR), a new open-access, transdisciplinary, peer-reviewed online journal.

Pema Pera: Yes, Maxine! To let go, it helps if you know where you’re going too — really, that is the reason I am trying to focus on Being rather than emptiness. Letting go can be appreciating emptiness, but I prefer to also appreciate Being, as the more positive aspect
Solobill Laville: Fred, do you know, of the “over 50%”, what % live in squalor?
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: not offhand, sorry, but i can try to dig up a source.
Solobill Laville: I’m sure it’s high…
Maxine Walden: yes, Pema, I can appreciate that difference, very nice one to think on
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: there are over a billion in “extreme” poverty, i think. that’s < $1 /day
Solobill Laville: 1 out of 6
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: but, i don’t know how many of those are in cities/slums
Maxine Walden: this open place embraces our conversations on poverty and spaciousness…all in the samce space, perhaps, even though it is hard to think of the detail re the poverty
Solobill Laville: That’s true Max
Maxine Walden: hard for me right now to focus on the detail….as someone who perhaps has focused too much on detail in my RL life it seems vital to ‘let it go’ in terms of what Pema was just mentioning re Being
Solobill Laville: :)
Maxine Walden: and this space seems such a lovely place to ‘let go’ in
Solobill Laville: Well all, I’m going to take a pre-dawn constitutional!
Solobill Laville: Good bye until the next time!
Dakini Rhode: haha it’s about that time here, too
Pema Pera: Yes, it seems like a kind of mandala, Dakini
Pema Pera: bye Solo!
Maxine Walden: yes, I need to be leaving very soon as well
Pema Pera: me too
Dakini Rhode: the space, Pema?
Pema Pera: yes, Dakini
Pema Pera: the layout, the colors
Pema Pera: the sense
stevenaia Michinaga: bye all, glad I found you
Dakini Rhode: oh yes, i hadn’t thought about it that way
Pema Pera: the incense
Maxine Walden: bye, Steve
Pema Pera: :)
Dakini Rhode: it does resemble a mandala
Dakini Rhode: if you put an oriental rug in the center instead of these tatami mats…
Dakini Rhode: you’ll have one :-)

Amidst the many goodbyes, Dakini and I continued to talk about the new place. Stevenaia joined us in considering options for furniture.

Pema Pera: it will be nice to let the river here connect with Karmic’s streams
Pema Pera: to integrate it all
Pema Pera: bye everybody!
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: g’night
Pema Pera: what a fun evening!!
Maxine Walden: everything is so lovely, Dakini thanks again, and see you all soon
Dakini Rhode: i agree, Pema
Dakini Rhode: thank you Maxine!
Dakini Rhode: oops gone
stevenaia Michinaga: If I may, I’m wondering if this is the table that should promote letting go
Pema Pera: we can have boat rides with wine and chees and candle light perhaps, on the broader stretches of our rivers?
Friedrich Ochsenhorn: cheers.
stevenaia Michinaga: but I don;t have a better one
Dakini Rhode: intriguing thought steve, please explain…
Pema Pera: sorry, Steve, what do you mean?
stevenaia Michinaga: I was jsut thinking, initially I thought of the fire, and agree perhaps that was a good starting point, but perhaps something that facuses and obsorbs… nor sure what that is yet
stevenaia Michinaga: focuses
Dakini Rhode: yes, the fire…
stevenaia Michinaga: I think what;s on the table is good
Pema Pera: a little pond?
stevenaia Michinaga: maybe play woth the objects
stevenaia Michinaga: yes
Pema Pera: lillies?
stevenaia Michinaga: with fish
Dakini Rhode: i see this is an opportunity for creativity…
stevenaia Michinaga: no frogs please
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Pema Pera: yes, no single solution!
Dakini Rhode: ooh little fish bowl on the table?
Pema Pera: SL can let us have a different option every day :)
Pema Pera: well
Dakini Rhode: yes!
Pema Pera: I have to run
Pema Pera: Thanks again, Dakini!
stevenaia Michinaga: in a bowl on the table or in the table
Pema Pera: see you both!
Dakini Rhode: in the table!