Fireside I
It is to the Village Square that the townspeople come to exchange views and thoughts on their beloved spiritual philosophy, learning from each other in kindness and wisdom. Then when their minds have been filled, they retire to the tavern on the western side of the square where they share in social discussion, learning of each other’s events and challenges, happinesses and sometimes sadnesses, too. With a mug or glass in hand, they collect in front of the great Fireplace that dominates the long wall. Benches and chairs are often filled on market day with those who have come from farther away, bringing news of events and views the local people delight in hearing.
If you are feeling disoriented by all the philosophical talk by the fountain in the Village Square, then come sit down on the bench here with us for a while just to soothe your mind and share a mug of tea or coffee. Let’s all make sure the conversation is quiet and simple, caring and thougtful, exactly the kind of talk you might have around a warm hearth, the only light filling the room coming from the fireplace.
Bernard! this is delicious! Now there is no doubt about your new work: your love for taste is having the most wonderful effects on us all here. Will you be the Village-chocolatier, and seduce your customers with lovefilled pastries and beverages? with or without helium.
I am so happy this day. I have AT LAST finished my Peace-chair, it looks wondrous – and i even made a great little gnome in clay for a dear friend. So now I am pigging out here with bernard’s marvelous cooking.
Bernard buddy –
Sorry – took a short nap after that red-eye flight into Dallas….Sooooo (:
the menu for that lunch place was Beef Strogonoff in a Baked Potato, with mushrooms and batata palha. Apparently, the Brazilians have laid claim that the Strogonoff (sp?) is a(their ?) national dish (:. During our two+ weeks there, we came across it several times. (In fact, my 8-yr old neice loves it so much that it one of her standard meals, at least once, if not twice, each week).
The Brazilian adaptations are putting crispy potato sticks (batata palha) sticks as a garnish, which i think complements very nicely the cheesy,creamy Strogonoff base.
And picture all of that served inside of an open baked potato. So that was lunch for you (:
(apologies for keeping you waiting so long on that!!).
But truth be told, food doesn’t fascinate me anymore (and you have already discovered that desserts don’t either (;). Now, if you met me, you’d be surprised – since I’m larger than large !!
But anyways, there was a time when food was very interesting, (but even then, I found books much more engaging), and over the last few years, while i certainly can enjoy a good meal, i’m rarely if ever pining for anything in that department.
All of this just to say that if you find me not chiming in when we have our parties with various foods that everyone loves, then you know the reason why ~~ (:
I must go and shower now – like Annie, I don’t dressed for the daily Village visit either !! – so PJ party it is (:
Okay, Anil, you put me to the test. I’m really going to have to find another set of symbols now! Okay, waterfalls, misty rain-showers, sun reflecting off of ripe wheat fields, ocean spray, deep, lush jungles – we’ll try to do nature more and more. But it’s just not quite the same thing offering a plateau of savanah and tumbleweed in the place of syrupy pancakes and tiramisu. You will all just have to be patient with my food obsessions, I guess. But I will try, I will try…
Have you noticed how I draw the conversation away from anything spiritual? What’s this say about where i am lately? Anyone else feeling that way, or are you managing to stay in a fully spiritually present place?
How are Lisi, Zafu and Zenbear these days? Hey, Laura out there somewhere.
I’ll be back in spiritual mode soon, I’m sure. I still have to follow up my trip to the ocean with some more thoughts. I’ve just spent a couple of days getting more practical about my life and activities – not conducive to reflection and meditation.
Now, about that last croissant in the basket…
What croissant? Oh, sorry . . .
Bernard, dear friend, dear brother –
you need do nothing (: (of that sort – i.e finding new symbols, etc, etc). your love for me, for us, for life is shines through you, clear and ever-present~~~
(if your writing above(853) was entirely in jest, then no worries (:, else please take it easy, dear friend. all is well (or as a good friend of mine used to say “all is in the well” (:
now, that i’m all sparkly clean, post shower, i can attempt to answer your question –
which is somewhat difficult, because i’m never in a fully spiritually present place (: ~~ so it’s hard to tell. but i do detect in myself, some greater rumblings of guilt and dis-ease, these last few days. i find myself pulled, inevitably drawn, to make the conclusion that it’s work-related –
“anil, you haven’t responded to so many of your work emails for so long, you’re a terrible fellow” “you’re so lazy that you’ll never succeed in business” and other such chants are dominating my thoughts these days –
however, an interesting thing is happening. before i can fully embrace those terrible thoughts, i find another thought emerging – and it says, something like, “your work is not the cause of your current distress”, or “these thoughts are reliving that terrible first moment of separation” or “how can you be sure that it’s your work that’s causing you this guilt – isn’t it always something you think it outside yourself that pulls you to associate these guilty feelings with”
and so then, it effectively cancles out those other damning thoughts, and i can immediately feel calmer than the prior second. and of course, all this is just happening in my mind, i don’t seem to have anything to say in this criss-cross dialogue that is happening daily (sometimes hourly)
Sooooo (: – not sure if i answered your question, but there it is (:
hugs, dear chap.
a
“all is in the well”….I would hold on to that friend anil…sounds wonderfully wise. That instantly gave me a vision of some medieval time when all the village folk needed to come to the town center to fetch their daily supply of water and them having wonderful conversations as they waited in line to dip their buckets into the well. Must be some primal memory of union that keeps me coming here each morning.
I’m especially loving your playfulness katrina (: and I keep hearing your laughter with a simultaneous thump against a door as the perfect illustration of the madness called planet earth. Truly surrender is the only game in town. Knowing we will all be laughing together one day is a dream I like holding on to.
Hey they called me to come in early today….yippy 7am-3:30 shift so much better than the third shift 9:30 -6pm. So I need to hop to it.
Before I go…hope you slept well Nina and your day is filled with wonderful people smiling back at you. Go do something completely different today or whip up your favourite chocolate recipe and share it with all the people on the bus…just go be your loving self and it will return to you a hundred fold.
I’ll try and check back with you at the nights end. I really like the good night posts; feels like we are being tucked in for some safe dreaming.
A Laura update. She has been having computer problems too. Thinks it is a router problem and is hoping to have it fixed this weekend.
Annie, just love that idea, “some safe dreaming.” Isn’t that just what it’s all about… Nice you could get the good shift today, leaves you more time this evening, eh?
Nina, I hope you slept well and were able to start your day cheery and sunny, as we know you.
Anil, you’re my man! I’m getting lazier and lazier by the month. I’m early retired right now (without the income) and getting used to it waaay too much. And I made a very astounding accomplishment (for me): I now officially have no guilt about it! Yes, I can watch other tradesmen scurry at their work sites, sweating and looking very productive, and I no longer feel any of the “you lazy bum” thoughts that haunted so badly me from Feb-July. If I can do it, you can, too! The trick is to know that there are two types of work, and both are very valid. The outside work is important and valuable, but the inside work (which a malicious part of us might call laziness)is just as important, and probably much more so. It’s just that it looks like we’re doing nothing when we’re really learning to be present in the magical space of the holy instant. Holy men and women of all disciplines and ages have spent large parts of their lives sitting in contemplation. It’s the fancy robes they wear that make people hesitate calling them lazy bums. I promise, if you stop work for a day, put on a safran robe and sit on a park bench just taking in the sun, people will want to come up and get a blessing from you. Maybe we should all try that one! Do the same thing without the robes and people will say, “what a bum, doesn’t even have a job!”
Katrina, about that last croissant… Well, I picked up a few more this morning at the boulangerie in Gourdon called Deviers. Excellent chocolatine and pain aux raisins.
Get them routers back in action – heck! All these computer connection problems – amazing!
So Pam, March 2012 it is, and we’ll have the chance to meet Cory, too! How old will he be then?
Can anyone, I mean, anyone help get me away from food and back to the Course?? Quick, someone read us a lesson, or give us a quote from a Ken booklet. Someone out there must be able to share something with us…!
Bernard bro!
Overeating : a dialogue with acim & jesus
By Ken Wapnick may apply ? (:
Bernard, You are never hungry for the reason you think.” (-;
Oh and Cory would be 12 yrs. old. His b-day is in April.
I think your just getting in the relaxed and open mode so you can start another book. Thanks for the coffee and nibblies.
Nina and all-Thanks for sharing with us the balloon technique. I remembered that I used to use the same during meditation. Just putting whatever thought came up in the balloon and watching it fly up into the sky to let go of thoughts.
I have been listening to two tapes I got several years back of Ken W.’s called The Ego and Forgiveness. These two tapes offer such a great overview of ACIM. I was lucky to listen to these early in my study of ACIM. Ken’s teachings help me so much to understand ACIM.
Thanks everyone for writing and sharing. I love reading and being here.
Kendall, those two tapes was the first I ever heard from ken. I really like them.
Natti natti everyone
LOVE YOU
Bravo, Bernard (re:858).
That is very nice indeed that the internal guilt re: work has disappeared. (I’m continually “working” (: on it – and hopefully will be able to join you in that internal state soon – lots of limiting beliefs in the way though –too many to list here (at least today (: ~~~
You are so right on internal work being hard. Watching my thoughts everday and seeing just how stubborn is the ebbing and flowing of one’s “regular” thoughts is quite draining to me sometimes. But then a moment of relief does pop up – and the feeling that this is all a dream, just a brief glimpse of that light makes the instant more bearable.
I’ve been re-reading Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. Read it when I stayed in her home in Boston so many years ago, and now re-reading it again here in Dallas. Rilke’s solitude and his deep experience of his life and thoughts are really well translated from German by Stephen Mitchell. (Who is now married/partnered with Byron Katie (I think))
Stephen himself is quite a powerful writer – his introduction to the work itself is very moving.
And all along as I read his Letters – there are ten of them and I’m on seven for now – the thoughts of the Village and all our thoughtful and loving residents here come to mind.
There is no obvious, or even modestly discernible link to the Course, perhaps it’s just an indication that my thoughts continue to return here without my being concious of it ~
the home where I can rest, laugh, ponder, reflect and even if it is never mentioned at all – I can “feel” large chunks of useless ‘structures” falling away from my subconcious mind, leaving me steadily lighter with the passing of the days.
Peace (and may it be the kind that passeth understanding),
a
I’m still swimming in your morning post anil…it feels like a calm pond and I’m just floating on my back with the big blue sky above…no clouds no thoughts…
nice
Hi everybody, at last online again. After a big show with my internet and laptop it seems everything is okay now. I will be reading all your sharings this afternoon and will be drinking coffee with Annie tomorrow morning with some of the beautiful croissants Bernard pictured on the main page. I really needed them last week.
Have a great weekend, sending lots of hugs and much love to all,
Lisi
{{Lisi}} Glad you’re back.
The Peace that passeth understanding often comes within sensing range of my mind when I read posts of yours like this, Anil.
Hi, Lisi, so glad that you’re on the way back to the Village.
Hey, Kendall, I have those tapes and they are honestly two of my favorites. A very succinct, crystal clear summary of the Course’s principles and process. If I were ever to do a presentation of the Course, I would use that workshop to base it on.
Brnard: Yes.Suggestion: you are going to do a presentation of the Course – Zeth will be with you – AND you will present your own pastries to the presentation. How about that, m’dear?
Anil – I am swimming too. Annie – what a poet you are, finding these images for feelings.
Why thank you Nina Me Hearty. And Speakin of swimmin My Matey’s, we be Going on the account tomrrow.
How To Be Speakin’ Pirate-Like
Startin’ Rules
Double up on all your adjectives and you’ll be bountifully bombastic with your phrasing. Pirates never speak of “a big ship”, they call it a “great, grand ship!” They never say never, they say “No nay ne’er!”
Drop all your “g”‘s when you speak and you’ll get words like “rowin'”, “sailin'” and “fightin'”. Dropping all of your “v”‘s will get you words like “ne’er”, “e’er” and “o’er”.
Instead of saying “I am”, sailors say, “I be”. Instead of saying “You are”, sailors say, “You be”. Instead of saying, “They are”, sailors say, “They be”. Ne’er speak in anythin’ but the present tense!
thanks to wunderhorn @ e2
Hints an’ Tips
If it be helpin’, start yer sentence wi’ a “Arr, me hearty,” in a deep, throaty voice — ye’ll find that the rest be comin’ much easier.
Vocabulary
In which ye’ll find words submitted by many pirates o’er the years, an’ which comprise a loose piratical dictionary.
Ahoy: Hey!
Avast: Stop!
Aye: Yes
Black spot: to be ‘placin’ the black spot’ be markin’ someone for death.
Booty: treasure
Buccaneer: a pirate who be answerin’ to no man or blasted government.
By the Powers!: an exclamation, uttered by Long John Silver in Treasure Island!
Cat o’ nine tails: whip for floggin’ mutineers
Corsair: a pirate who be makin’ his berth in the Med-…Medi-…that sea ‘tween Spain and Africa, aye!
Davy Jones’ Locker: the bottom o’ the sea, where the souls of dead men lie
Doubloons: pieces of gold…
Fiddlers Green: the private heaven where pirates be goin’ when they die.
Furner: a ship which be yer own, not one ye steal an’ plunder.
Gentlemen o’ fortune: a slightly more positive term fer pirates!
Go on the account: to embark on a piratical cruise
Grog: A pirate’s favorite drink.
Jack: a flag or a sailor
Jolly Roger: the skull and crossbones, the pirate flag!
Keelhaul: a truly vicious punishment where a scurvy dog be tied to a rope and dragged along the barnacle-encrusted bottom of a ship. They not be survivin’ this.
Landlubber: “Land-lover,” someone not used to life onboard a ship.
Lass: A woman.
Lily-livered: faint o’ heart
Loaded to the Gunwales (pron. gunnels): drunk
Matey: A shipmate or a friend.
Me hearty: a friend or shipmate.
Me: My.
Pieces o’ eight: pieces o’ silver which can be cut into eights to be givin’ small change.
Privateer: a pirate officially sanctioned by a national power
Scallywag: A bad person. A scoundrel.
Scurvy dog!: a fine insult!
Shiver me timbers!: an exclamation of surprise, to be shouted most loud.
Son of a Biscuit Eater: a derogatory term indicating a bastard son of a sailor
Sprogs: raw, untrained recruits
Squadron: a group of ten or less warships
Squiffy: a buffoon
Swaggy: a scurvy cur’s ship what ye be intendin’ to loot!
Swashbucklin’: fightin’ and carousin’ on the high seas!
Sweet trade: the career of piracy
Thar: The opposite of “here.”
Walk the plank: this one be bloody obvious.
Wench: a lady, although ye gents not be wantin’ to use this around a lady who be stronger than ye.
Wi’ a wannion: wi’ a curse, or wi’ a vengeance. Boldly, loudly!
Yo-ho-ho: Pirate laughter
Avast there, ye Scurvy Wenches!
(I love saying that)
Arrrrgh!
Slept in like a lazy pirate this morn; drinkin the grog (coffee) and I need to start washin the decks; I live with a bunch of lily-livered landlubbers. But first let me find that blue book and see if it could turn this ship around…there has got to be another way! Otherwise it will always end the same way… walkin the plank.
I’m just a sprog …but not for long (:
Avast can Keelhaul ye scurvy viruses and save this landlubber lass a bunch of doubloons while By the Powers I am a marking them trade winds a headin’ On Course to the real booty of Fiddlers Green; me mateys.
Yo-ho-ho does that up thar make me a squiffy? (-:
You guys, tooo much! Oh – sorry! By th’ beard o’ me ol’ granda’, I ne’er seen such likes o’ this land-folk. We genteel-men and genteel-dames o’ te blue book squadron… Nay, scally-wags we be! An’ luvin’ it!
Pam wins the best pirate award hands down!
Thanks Annie for these great suggestions!
I’m still trying to think of something ‘spiritual’ to say these days! But I’m really just trying to live it a little more day by day. And you all? Who’s working on what?
Oh, Nina, I’d really love these days to be thinking of doing a presentation on the Course. That’d be such a great challenge for me. And because it’d be here in France, you can be sure there’ll be lots of patisserie!
Ahoi mateys and Mayor, I am workin’ on seeing where i push love away. Simply tha’. enuff said. And funny enough, keelhaul is directly translated into Norwegian as kjølhale – and i never knew what the word meant until now. It was a BAD thing to say, that I knew 🙂
Natti natti me hearties
Just finished reading the unread posts of this week. Thanks a lot to all. Thanks Bernard for letting us have a place such like this. I loved your post No. 858 and Anil´s answer on 864. We all go together walking the same path toward Home. Annie, you are my girl, thanks for the vocabulary, it´s amazing. Thanks Pam, I am also happy to be here again.
News from the Remembered Song, two new POSTS, a poem and a shaking post. You will enjoy them.
Lots of hugs to all and much love in this Sunday afternoon.
Lisi
Hi Lisi –
Good to see you back, and glad that the Internet is all fixed up now.
Annie matey –
You crack me up !! (: I’m all at sea with this new pirate talk.
Well, ho-ho-ho and a bottle of rum, or something like that (:
a
ps. Bernard – thanks for the pics of your trip.
Morning,
The days are definitely getting shorter. All is dark outside. The pirate thing was a little bit of a stretch yesterday thanks for playing along. I didn’t find too many people on the street playing the the part. So its got some ways to go. Although they did have ‘The Princess Bride’ on TV …always loved that movie but come 8:30 it was time for bed so I couldn’t finish watching it. My kids use to love that movie but last night they were too grown up to watch it with us. Change the only constant in the world of illusions.
So another early shift for me. Love when some of my coworkers are on vacation and I can snag their shifts. So no chitty chatty this morning. But I will say a prayer that our day today is filled with simple joys and reminders everywhere we look that we are loved.
Blessings and Joy my brothers and sisters,
Annie
New post on the home page, me hearties, eh, ah, no, that was yesterday.
Thanks for your blessings, Annie. Lovely. Glad to see you back, Lisi. Welcome Home.
I think the talk like a pirate day thing is new. I only heard about it a couple of days ago from one of the homeschool news letters I get and nowhere else other than Annie mentioning it here.
I thought it was kinda funny that when I see the word Avast that I don’t think pirate first anymore but of the antivirus of that name now.(-:
Awfully quiet in the Village today… Yoo hoo…
Anyway, just saying hello to everyone.
I had a thought… Would anyone be interested in the idea of study-group room here? I’ve never participated in a Course study-group – I don’t even know what happens during a study-group. But i thought that way perhaps we could actually work through something together periodically. Maybe we could read the Psychotherapy pamphlet together or something. (It’s small!) Or perhaps just do one chapter of the Text together. Or if enough of us have one of Ken’s little books, we could work through that – very readable and doable. And then… (drum roll) I thought perhaps we could get on-line via Skype or Maestro and introduce ourselves and have a real-time chat together. I’ve even made an attempt at making a little video of myself that I thought of putting up here at the Village. It’s just going to be a Welcome message to everyone to say hello and introduce myself. My first attempts weren’t very good but I’m going to try again soon. Just some ideas.
Oh, one more idea cooking in the back of my mind – a joint-effort book we produce together. Here’s how it would work. After one year, let’s say about May next year, I put together a collection of the most interesting ponderings and the Mayor’s Journal articles and make it into a book that whoever wishes can purchase. That way we can have a hard-copy record of our efforts. And it could be called “A Year in the Life of the ACIM-Village”, or something like that, and all our names would be mentioned as the writers. Just another thought.
Bernard bro –
our minds are certainly one (: i was just going to write a post saying “Awfully quiet in the Village today….” e-x-a-c-t-l-y that phrase (:
(well, you know what they say about great minds thinking alike (and fools seldom differing (;)…..
i love the idea of the maestro con-call, and will most certainly join in. i recently participated in one with gary and gene – it was really, really fun and very helpful, and enlightening, and lightening, and moving, and…. (: you get my drift, i’m sure
Anyway, can’t emphasize enough how much i would love to participate in the maestro con-call as soon as we set it up. (and am happy to help with logistics of that, should you want/like that ?)
like the book idea too, btw, more of a longer-term project, but the maestro i figure we can get done asap, right ?
hugs,
a
Bernard!!!Wow, Count on me. I support both ideas, I think it will be really helpful for all of us having a group here at the Village, bravo, really a great idea. And about the book, great idea also, count on me, too.
Hugs to you and all the Village.
Much love,
Lisi
Great news, Lisi !!
So now we’re sure that we’ll have at least three of us on the call !! (:
Waaaiiting to see how this all develops (: I feel like a kid in a candy store.
ps. When I came upstairs to my parents apartment (I wrote the comment in the lobby of the building where they live), I found that Bill Thetford’s Never Forget to Laugh had been delivered reliably by Amazon. Lovely book – first few pages are a delight !! (Pretty hefty tome, but us blue-bookers are used to that, eh ? (:
I had been thinking of doing the study group thing in the village square. Like picking a section out of the text or manual and going through it one paragraph per day. The only small Ken book I have so far is “Ending Our Resistance to Love”
Yes for a study group Bernard. A paragraph at a time sounds like a decent speed for me. Schools back in session for the kids and I can use a little discipline myself. Also could you throw in a little French lesson too? Super simple sayings once a week would be lovely. Am I mixing two worlds?
Okay, folks, I’ll see what I can set up here between Maestro con-calls and study groups. Will be in touch. Have a great day, y’all.
Love the idea of the book, Bernard. I am too shy to participate in the Maestro-group with ya’ll – a surprise? – I have done a training by Maestro, and hated it each time I had to speak, feel i swallow all words and my brain goes blank – not a good basis for genuine communication, ha. But I would love the idea of having something that we go through an explore together – like the text, as we did at the monastery – I learned so much by that. Hm – maybe we could do the workbook together ( in writing :-)? and maybe that could be a book too???
love to all
Nina
Nina, if we did a Skype meeting instead of Maestro, perhaps that would be better, less intimidating. The advantage is that it’s more like a group of friends meeting – everyone can speak at the same time! (And it’s free, instead of paying $46 per month for Maestro).
I think for the first meeting to help us through we could each present something about ourselves, silly and serious things, like what we want to get out of this Course, as well as our favorite places to visit in our home town and our feelings about the local mayor (your real one, not this one!). Then we could perhaps read a passage together, and maybe each of us would take turns reading a line or a short paragraph. That’d be fun. And perhaps we will each of us have prepared a little thought about the passage we’d chosen to share with everyone. And then one very daring member of our group might suggest a deeper meaning, or perhaps an aspect of applying this to real life. Hmm. Then we could finish with a round of tea and biscuits and put on some music maybe a highland jig and dance around the coffee table and… I think I’m getting away from myself. Well, we could have some fun!
Nina, You could just sit and listen. No rule says you have to talk. In fact I just sat and listened at hundreds of 12-step meetings. Just like I don’t always have anything to write here, I “listen” and I let what has been said work it’s way through and I just try to stay out of it’s way by keeping my mouth shut. Then other times yak, yak, yak. (-: HUGS
Dang – another pretty long comment disappearing in the internet triangle. Tech tip i hardly ever remember myself — BEFORE hitting Send, do a Ctrl-A, and a Ctrl-C – then if all is lost, you can come back in and do a Ctrl-P, and laugh at the internet troll who eats messages.
OK, what I said is that either the Psychotherapy pamphlet or Pam’s suggestion of Ken’s little book is great for me. I loved our busride thru the Text, even though I didn’t comment much, just listened and loved that I was so motivated to keep going by the companionship. Looked forward to Anne’s morning Haiku’s that seemed to sprout from the daily section, and all the comments and feelings around the messages.
DonnaD, it’s so heartwarming to know you come see how we persist in our dance around the Maypole. Annie, I love the quick French lesson, too –and a Spanish from Lisi, and Norwegian parallel from Nina with it — and whichever language(s) you might like to contribute, Anil, since I think you must work with many! Our borderless joinings make me doubt the separation ever really happened. For instance, today I see that Heather and Nick have taken us to Temecula again. Yeah! Printing it out to have in my purse, (in case of sudden death, St. Peter can check my purse for my obvious intentions, haha, haha.)
hugs katrina
Lovely Katrina – so glad you took the effort to re-type. I meant to write you a longer note sometime back on the domestic bliss you had commented on when I was in Brazil. You are right !! :)…. my home life is getting to be more and more of the happy dream these days as I apply the lessons in my mind when troubles erupt (:
We’re off to NYC today in about 10 minutes, but you are all with me today, and everyday.
love,
a
All – I feel such terror, like I am going insane – can’t seem to connect with H.S – don’t dare to get to bed – don’t know how to deal with this – its 0330am I am stiff all over -please have me in your thoughts with love
{{{ Nina }}} It’s so ok to not contact HS, it’s ok to have a period of feeling crazy. Just know you can keep breathing, forgive having to have patience, and you can lay down in your bed. I think your ego is playing out these tricks to prove its lies to you.
hugs, katrina
{Nina}
Hope the night is over now. and the terror has passed.
love,
a
Taking the Village ‘Live’: Announcing (drum roll)… the “Fireside Get-togethers”. This will be a live event once every so often (to be arranged) that is to be an informal meeting of participants at the Village who just want to have a little live company from time to time to get to know each other, share tidbits, and maybe read through a passage from a Ken workshop (if we’re feeling brave). What I’m thinking of is recreating the same atmosphere as we have at the Village but with vocal instead of written exchanges. And so I would like to preserve the informality and looseness of our discussions, and at the same time add in a little Ken work from time to time (to keep our minds sharp – so we can keep up with our kids, for example).
This will not, in fact, be a formal study group since that implies regularity and ‘work’, and some of us already participate in weekly groups. I would prefer if we thought about it simply as a time we set apart in the week to come together with special friends who encourage us along our path, who are willing just for the space of an hour or so to try to think a little differently about the goings-on in their lives, and would like to ask questions or share thoughts with others that will help us all come to another level of understanding about our spiritual philosophy. And this would be for whoever can make it – no obligations or expectations. I’ll be there in a comfy chair at the Fireside if anyone wants to come hang out for a while and talk. Oh, and a pre-requisite for attending would be to come with a plate, spoon and a mug to enjoy the cookies and tea set out on the coffee table in front of the fire. No plate and mug, no talkies. See? And I’ll ask for proof that you have them by playing a little percussion with the spoon.
If you would like to participate, please set up a skype address at skype.com (super easy), then send me your skype address to bernard@pauloandthemagician.com. You’ll just need a broadband connection and a headset. Then we’ll set up a time and date, you’ll call me at that time on Skype, I’ll open all the lines to everyone, and Presto! Instant tea-party, er, meeting.
I have no expectations about this, so I hope you don’t. It’s just for fun and to see if we can work out a way of joining with each other in yet another fashion in order to deepen the experience we have managed to create here at the Village. If you feel the Village experience has helped you gain a sense of joining and sameness and companionship along the Path, then let’s try together to take the Village ‘live’.
Timecheck…. it is 2:25 here . . . full moon with the grand cross full moon appears to have me buzzed and not sleeping.
Katrina – me, too! Happened to me last night with the full moon, too. So a little woozy this morning, but nothing that a full octane espresso didn’t fix. Have a glass of warm milk and tuck yerself back in to bed. Sleep tight, and we’ll see you tomorrow (today, er, later on). Thanks for stopping by, I was just writing up some notes here in the Tavern.
I did see that moon last night and my sleep was interrupted by some dream this am that wouldn’t end. I had invited friends for a luncheon and it was taking f o r e v e r to make the meal and nothing was turning out right and it was past 2 in the afternoon and no one was helping just waiting around and judging and it was nowhere near finished…I just wanted to tell everyone to leave…and I knew I was dreaming but couldn’t stop the dream. I hate when I wake up like that.
But I’m hungry now so I’ll go eat something first and then come back to chitty chat.