Cool Aunt

That afternoon, Dakini was the guardian, and she sent me the following log with her comments.

Dakini, Adams, Pia, and Fael talked about rearranging the cushions and our minds…

Pia Iger: I feel hunger to do 9 sec
Fael Illyar: It’s amazing what you learn in a couple of weeks of meditating / PaBing :)
Fael Illyar: well, at least what I did.
Dakini Rhode: you’ve been very focused
Pia Iger: I was the one saying cusion can be smaller.
Dakini Rhode: i saw you made it smaller
Pia Iger: so we can sit closer:)
Dakini Rhode: i rotated it so the design looks better
Dakini Rhode: yes, we seemed so far away
Dakini Rhode: and made some kneeling, but not the best kneel i’ve ever seen :P
Dakini Rhode: Kneeling is important with some skirts
Pia Iger: oh, did not notice I can kneel
Fael Illyar: Before I started, I had a problem because I got visibly annoyed with my youngest half-brother when he decided to start teasing me. Today I went there and he gave up after 10 minutes or so sinnce I had no problem at all.
Adams Rubble: It was good of you to make the changes
Dakini Rhode: i took my nephew shopping once… oh my
Dakini Rhode: he acted very strangely
Dakini Rhode: quite attention-seeking
Dakini Rhode: after awhile he asked me if it bothered me… how he was acting
Dakini Rhode: He said his mother would have hit the roof
Adams Rubble: :)
Dakini Rhode: But I told him he could act like that if he wanted people to look at him…
Dakini Rhode: lol he still remembers
Dakini Rhode: years later
Dakini Rhode: the day his auntie let him act like a spazz
Dakini Rhode: i think maybe that’s not a politically correct term
Dakini Rhode: but it is the term he used
Pia Iger: how long did the spazz last?
Dakini Rhode: hours (groan)
Dakini Rhode: after awhile, he said his back hurt
Adams Rubble: haha
Dakini Rhode: I was like, “i wonder why?”
Fael Illyar: persistent kid :)
Dakini Rhode: lol
Dakini Rhode: very in need of attention
Dakini Rhode: yes, and persisten
Dakini Rhode: t
Dakini Rhode: he was just trying something out…
Dakini Rhode: i doubt he did it again
Dakini Rhode: it gave him a backache
Pia Iger: seems the key is “give them the space to play it out”
Dakini Rhode: really and give yourself the space…
Dakini Rhode: to not be attached
Pia Iger: It can apply to a lot of annoying things
Dakini Rhode: i could have thought his behavior somehow reflected on me
Dakini Rhode: yes
Adams Rubble: yes
Dakini Rhode: it was an enlightening experience for me, too
Dakini Rhode: i learned a lot from it
Dakini Rhode: we bonded
Faenik: ah :)
Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: wonderful. I have got chance to bond with my niece yet.
Dakini Rhode: he told his mother (my sister) he thought i was cool
Pia Iger: not got chance, I mean
Dakini Rhode: which made my ego go up a notch lol
Pia Iger: I want to be cool aunt too.
Adams Rubble: :)
Fael Illyar: :)
Dakini Rhode: me too
Dakini Rhode: i want to be cool :-)
Dakini Rhode: which
Dakini Rhode: i never was (value judgement)
Dakini Rhode: lol
Adams Rubble: I think we all feel that way
Dakini Rhode: where does it start?
Dakini Rhode: school?
Pia Iger: before school
Adams Rubble: It may just be part of growing up
Pia Iger: we were judged by parents, neighbor, etc.
Dakini Rhode: (sigh)
Pia Iger: good girl, smart girl, all kinds

Seeing connections to playasbeing…

Dakini Rhode: ooh i see a connection to PaB
Pia Iger: finally??
Dakini Rhode: lol
Dakini Rhode: we learn to stop and drop

My avatar was typing with one hand whilst drinking latte with the other…

Adams Rubble: You are very good at tyoing with your left hand
Adams Rubble: typing
Dakini Rhode: amazing isnit it
Dakini Rhode: speling still not so good :P
Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: efficient teacher, look like
Adams Rubble: syop and drop?
Dakini Rhode: heheee
Adams Rubble: stop
Adams Rubble: ?
Dakini Rhode: for the 9 seconds
Dakini Rhode: the bell rings – that’s like a stopping
Dakini Rhode: we drop our train of thought
Dakini Rhode: or look at it directly
Dakini Rhode: however we do it, i’ve heard both…
Adams Rubble: yes
Dakini Rhode: but it is a break in the stream of thoughts
Adams Rubble: I am confused at the connection
Dakini Rhode: anytime we break that,
Dakini Rhode: new thoughts are possible
Dakini Rhode: or new ways of seeing
Dakini Rhode: Adams, please say more…
Adams Rubble: I am having trouble making the connection between the difficulties growing up and PaB stopping and dropping
Dakini Rhode: oh!
Dakini Rhode: i think the connection is more to how we handle ourselves now
Adams Rubble: Oh
Adams Rubble: OK
Dakini Rhode: that’s the connection i was seeing
Dakini Rhode: we have these patterns from way back, and the practice can be helpful in working with them
Adams Rubble: I see
Dakini Rhode: seeing them, and maybe seeing new possibilities
Adams Rubble: yes
Dakini Rhode: well that was what i was thinking…
Adams Rubble: breaking the patterns is the conection
Dakini Rhode: that’s the connection i saw…
Dakini Rhode: and then things being more workable once the patterns are stopped, even for a moment
Dakini Rhode: becuase you see that they arent so solid

How our practice has evolved…

Fael Illyar: At first, when I was doing PaBs, it took me some time, after them, to remember what I’d been doing
Fael Illyar: Now it comes immediately
Dakini Rhode: interesting
Adams Rubble: and yes, Fael, that IS interesting
Dakini Rhode: Fael have you become more efficient at stopping?
Fael Illyar: I think I manage to drop everything fast enough usually that I’ve several seconds of … nothing
Fael Illyar: I’m using Moon’s bell sound for my alarm so that works for timing it too
Fael Illyar: I use that to mark the start and also the end
Adams Rubble: I’ve never succeeded in timing the 9 seconds
Pia Iger: I guess it is like 2 breath time

I stopped and dropped the latte cup and saw that levitation is possible with these kneeling cushions…

Dakini Rhode: with the mindfulness bell (hey! i’ve successfully levitated!)
Fael Illyar: the bell sound is close to 9 seconds so I tend to just drop everything until shortly after the sound is over
Adams Rubble: :)
Dakini Rhode: this is like the old place…
Pia Iger: woow
Fael Illyar: :)
Dakini Rhode: yes Fael
Dakini Rhode: i follow the sound of the bell

And the bell went Gooong

Pia Iger: here it goes.
Adams Rubble: I think with the writing in the blog that the 9 seconds drags out pretty long sometimes

We talked about sharing our practice with others around us…

Dakini Rhode: been doing this at work, and others have asked…
Dakini Rhode: and they do it with me
Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: really,
Pia Iger: contagious
Dakini Rhode: one man – really hyper – said it makes him feel calm
Pia Iger: could be.
Fael Illyar: I had a friend over two days ago and he started doing them too after a couple :)
Dakini Rhode: just listening to the bell for 9 secs
Pia Iger: Pema would be too happy to hear this.
Adams Rubble: will be :)
Dakini Rhode: i suspect he will :-)

[pema making a cameo appearance here: yes, Pia, Adams, Dakini, very much so!!!]

Pia Iger: spread out of SL.
Dakini Rhode: bells ringing at work…
Fael Illyar: I suppose he decided to do it since the conversation was being paused on the bells anyhow :)
Dakini Rhode: haha that didn’t bother anyone too much
Fael Illyar: :)
Dakini Rhode: i thought maybe people will think i have narcolepsy or something
Dakini Rhode: anything is possible…
Adams Rubble: Nobody has asked e about the bells yet :)
Adams Rubble: me
Fael Illyar: :)
Dakini Rhode: i wonder why not?
Adams Rubble: They probably are wondering
Fael Illyar: too shy?
Pia Iger: ARE YOU THE BOSS?
Dakini Rhode: too polite?
Dakini Rhode: lol Pia
Adams Rubble: Well with the people who have heard it, yes :)
Adams Rubble: I don;t stop when there are people in the office
Adams Rubble: the bell just goes off
Dakini Rhode: i think i stop mentally, imperceptibly, while continuing with what i was doing or saying… if that makes sense
Dakini Rhode: multitasking…
Fael Illyar: I think that’s the situation it’d be most useful with ;)
Adams Rubble: I think so—I am conscious of it

A warning which bears repeating: don’t do PaB with eyes closed while operating machinery or doing surgery…

[lol, Dakini! Now that you all got me in the habit of cameo texting, there may be no end to it . . . ]

Pia Iger: don’t laugh at me.
Pia Iger: I fell off treadmill one day
Pia Iger: cause I suddenly want to close my eyes
Dakini Rhode: oh my this should come with a warning
Dakini Rhode: “don’t close eyes while operating machinery”
Fael Illyar: :)
Pia Iger: I think it was warned in Hint page
Dakini Rhode: or doing surgery or something like that
Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: so I can’t complain..
Dakini Rhode: i hope you didn’t get hurt
Adams Rubble: Pia, that could happen to any of us
Pia Iger: I am ok. thx.
Dakini Rhode: Pia, i could fall off the treadmill without closing my eyes
Fael Illyar: That’s something that needs some consideration if I’m moving the alarms to my cellphone.
Pia Iger: can we do that?
Dakini Rhode: mp3 file?
Pia Iger: it would be neat.
Faenik is a hairy black ball with eyes and ears.
Fael Illyar: depends on the cellphone. The newer smartphones can have software installed
Dakini Rhode: is that file available to us, Fael?
Fael Illyar: the bellsound I use is from Moon. He sent me the sound file.
Dakini Rhode: yes, is it full perms or?
Fael Illyar: It’s a file.
Fael Illyar: sent by email :)
Dakini Rhode: so not the one in the bell here
Fael Illyar: the same sound
Dakini Rhode: yes
Fael Illyar: but since you can’t have permissions on files you send by email, it’s “full perm” :P
Dakini Rhode: right
Fael Illyar: I’d rather ask Moon about it before sending it to anyone else though.
Dakini Rhode: :-)
Dakini Rhode: the sounds you get with the mindfulness bell download
Dakini Rhode: could be used
Fael Illyar: Yes, those would work too.

Noting the sychronicity and connections which have brought us all together and playing as being…

Pia Iger: somehow I feel whatever we need, it would appear in time
Dakini Rhode: it seems to work that way, Pia
Dakini Rhode: In SL, it seems quite strikingly so
Pia Iger: Mindfulness bell is an example
Dakini Rhode: I think at all that has happened here, all the people finding each other, and this one location in SL, and I’m amazed
Pia Iger: fascinating, it is!
Adams Rubble: Yes, I was thinking along those lines today
Dakini Rhode: all this interconnectedness
Adams Rubble: It is a pretty amzing group of people
Pia Iger: all different characters, talents, goofies
Dakini Rhode: :-)
Adams Rubble: :)

[Pema Pera: :)]

Dakini Rhode: even with the robes for Isen (if i can mention that with him not being here)
Dakini Rhode: for some time the monks here have wanted proper robes
Dakini Rhode: we tried some other designers
Dakini Rhode: they didn’t feel right
Dakini Rhode: were in it just as a job
Dakini Rhode: then ryu popped up
Dakini Rhode: such a blessing!
Pia Iger: wow
Pia Iger: beautiful story.

Trusting in SL despite having fewer clues to go on…

Dakini Rhode: he just “felt” right
Dakini Rhode: same as Pema
Fael Illyar: It’s funny how some people just feel right :)
Pia Iger: I was wondering how the trust work out in SL.
Dakini Rhode: especially with the few clues we have here in SL
Dakini Rhode: maybe i’m just foolish
Adams Rubble: It has been a good place to meet
Dakini Rhode: maybe i should ask for references
Dakini Rhode: resumes
Dakini Rhode: lol
Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: but still we don’t trust ppl by resumes
Fael Illyar: it’s easier to trust someone you bump into when there has been no obvious motive for the contact.
Adams Rubble: Yes, I was thinking about that
Fael Illyar: umm, obvious self interest motive that is
Adams Rubble: I often take people’s resumes at face value
Adams Rubble: and usually I am nto disappointed
Adams Rubble: not
Adams Rubble: but obviously there are situations where people might have a motive to cheat
Adams Rubble: and then one needs to be more careful
Pia Iger: hard to say, it can be really complicated. the trust issue.
Pia Iger: or can be quite simple
Adams Rubble: Of course we don;t pay much :)
Dakini Rhode: the risks here are relatively minor
Adams Rubble: Yes, it is more an experience for them
Dakini Rhode: i like to try to turn my RL upside down here
Fael Illyar: RL upside down?
Pia Iger: what do you mean?
Dakini Rhode: for example
Dakini Rhode: in RL i work for money, here I pay to work
Adams Rubble: :)
Fael Illyar: ah, that certainly is upside down :)
Pia Iger: I thought we are playing:)
Dakini Rhode: yes and i like it
Dakini Rhode: playing at working…
Fael Illyar: here you can do whatever you choose :)
Dakini Rhode: i started as playing, but it has become quite busy at times
Pia Iger: true,
Dakini Rhode: yes Fael, and for low cost
Pia Iger: It becomes full time study for me. all the blogs to read
Pia Iger: and blogs linked to blogs…
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: I spent over 24 hours in the last week either at PaB meetings or talking to people about PaB or Buddhism
Dakini Rhode: meetings to attend…
Adams Rubble: and that doesn;t include friendly conversation
Adams Rubble: or reading logs
Dakini Rhode: I easily do that too, Adams
Adams Rubble: or woriting blogs
Adams Rubble: weiting
Adams Rubble: hehe
Adams Rubble: writing

All this PaBing must be affecting our speling..

Adams Rubble: and attending zazen too
Pia Iger: hiding tax is much higher than 1%
Adams Rubble: hiding tax?
Dakini Rhode: hidden?
Pia Iger: yes.
Dakini Rhode: well we don’t need to do more than we’re able…
Adams Rubble: I just want to say that I was mentioning the hours from the standpoint of the great opportunities I have had in the past week
Dakini Rhode: ty for mentioning Adams

Fael uploaded Moon’s PaB bell sound, in case we want it for our alarms.

Fael Illyar: about the alarm sound, I asked moon and he said it’s ok to send it to others for use for PaB alarms.
Dakini Rhode: thank you, Fael!
Fael Illyar: So, it’s not available from the google group
Pia Iger: the bottom line we do want to spend time.
Fael Illyar: uh, now
Fael Illyar: not not
Dakini Rhode: now!
Dakini Rhode: great!
Dakini Rhode: not not = now
Fael Illyar: http://playasbeing.googlegroups.com/web/chime1.wav?gda=1mybhTsAAACypwBHndGesx1BqjGYNyRtrF_8-PDtZztY1FxpGt5_TGG1qiJ7UbTIup-M2XPURDTvFF3XRCWxA5sDirc9SrBV
Adams Rubble: thank fael
Pia Iger: thanks. how to use?
Pia Iger: I am slow
Adams Rubble might be slower
Fael Illyar: Pia, you haven’t used the google group yet?
Pia Iger: yes. I mean how to use the bell. just download?
Adams Rubble doesn’t even have a cell phone
Fael Illyar: that’s the soundfile, you need a program for playing it back every 15 minutes to use it for alarms
Fael Illyar: the mindfulness bell program should work
Pia Iger: ok. thanks.
Fael Illyar: for cellphones, I haven’t looked at the possibilities yet

Stopping the past?

Pia Iger: back to Adams’ said
Pia Iger: it’s great opportunities,
Pia Iger: I was thinking my life would be very different if I did stoppings long time ago,
Pia Iger: Not regretting,
Pia Iger: Just thinking the possibility
Adams Rubble: I hadn’t thought of that yet
Adams Rubble: yes
Fael Illyar: Yes, the sooner you start the better I think.
Pia Iger: on the other hand,
Pia Iger: maybe my previous setbacks make me see the value of stopping
Faenik is a hairy black ball with eyes and ears.
Pia Iger: otherwise, i won’t stick here so often
Adams Rubble: Buddhism teaches us to look at the present
Dakini Rhode: we can see the mind as a continuum
Dakini Rhode: instead of looking at birth, death, time, and lifespan
Dakini Rhode: never too late…
Dakini Rhode: wow i saw that doing PaB and now i can share it
Adams Rubble: :)
Fael Illyar: :)

Saying goodbye, for now…

Pia Iger: Dakini, did you take a pic of us?
Dakini Rhode: no, shall i?
Adams Rubble: I took a pic
Pia Iger: I enjoy we together, was a good meeting.
Dakini Rhode: now i did :-)
Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: Ok. I am ready to go.
Pia Iger accepted your inventory offer.
Fael Illyar: Yes, nice meeting :)
Fael Illyar accepted your inventory offer.
Adams Rubble accepted your inventory offer.
Dakini Rhode: yes!
Adams Rubble: thank you Dakini
Dakini Rhode: deep thinkers :-)
Dakini Rhode: I’m impressed by the depth and focus of your practice – all 3
Dakini Rhode: very strong group, here
Pia Iger: feel beautiful.
Adams Rubble: We have had good mentors
Pia Iger: the connection.
Dakini Rhode: it does
Fael Illyar: Yes, I don’t think I’d have managed without everyone to talk about this with :)
Dakini Rhode: Pema will be so happy to read

[Pema Pera: :)]

Adams Rubble: :)
Pia Iger: so long. until next time.
Dakini Rhode: ok Pia
Dakini Rhode: sayonara
Fael Illyar: Bye Pia :)
Adams Rubble: bye, Dakini, Pia and Fael
Fael Illyar: See you again soon :)
Dakini Rhode: i think i should make these pillows switch animations
Dakini Rhode: bye…
Fael Illyar: Yes, having animation switch when clicking would be easier to use than having to choose a position.
Dakini Rhode: yes
Adams Rubble: Yes
Dakini Rhode: haha keep improving pema’s pillows
Dakini Rhode: he won’t even know them…

[Ha! That’s what you think . . .]