Multiverse Places to Host Simulcast of Meditate and Destroy Documentary

A real life screening of Meditate and Destroy at the Times Square Art Center in New York will be simulcast in the Multiverse Places virtual world this Friday, October 24 at 9pm Eastern Time. I'm really looking forward to this one!

MEDITATE AND DESTROY provides an intimate and dynamic portrait of an unconventional Buddhist teacher and counselor. This powerful 80 minute documentary shows how author Noah Levine (Dharma Punx, Against the Stream) uses his personal experience and punk-rock sensibilities to connect with young people within juvenile halls and urban centers around the country. Tattoos, motorcycles, and an engaging punk rock soundtrack are featured in this hard hitting look at how Buddhism has a place in the world of punks. from Tricycle blog.

The film also includes an animated back-story created in Second Life.

The screening is part of the From Here to Awesome film festival, which includes twelve feature films and ten shorts on Oct. 22-24. Here's how you can view the films:

1). Create an account on www.mv-places.com
2). Walk to the door of your virtual apartment
3). Right click and select “Use”
4). You will see the search menu. Select the friends tab.
5). Type in “FH2Awesome” and hit Enter
6). You will see the profile for “FH2Awesome”
7). Hit “Go to Location” at bottom of screen
8). You will be transported to the FH2Awesome Virtual Screening Room
9). Take a look around and enjoy the show!

Identity Circus Closes This Sunday

This week is your last chance to experience Botgirl's Identity Circus. I'll be removing all of the exhibits Sunday night at 8:00 PM, including the one-of-a-kind Avatar Transformer created by Zada Zenovka.

Here's the teleport.

The Work of Becoming a Not-Suffering Soup Spiller

So how does someone transform from the suffering soup spiller in the first comic to the not-suffering spiller in comic number two? How can we start to wake up from the overpowering thoughts and associated feelings that warp our perception and kill our joy? One method that's helped me is answering Byron Katie's Four Questions, along with the "turn-arounds."

Here's what a session might look like on one of the suffering spiller's troubling thoughts:

THE ONE-BELIEF-AT-A-TIME WORKSHEET
THE WORK – A WRITTEN MEDITATION

Enter a stressful concept on the line below and then question it in writing (on blank paper as needed) using the following questions and turnaround:

Belief: My partner doesn't help me.

1. Is it true (the belief from above – yes or no)? Yes.

2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true? No, if I'm really honest with myself it's not absolutely true that he doesn't help me.

3. How do you react when you believe that thought? What happens? I feel tired. Mad. Resentful.

If the following questions apply, please answer in writing. Before you answer, close your eyes, be still as you contemplate your answer:

a) Where do you feel it in your body when you think that thought? Close your eyes. Describe what you feel. My jaws clench. My arms feel heavy. I feel heavy all over.

b) How have you treated that person, the situation, and others when you believe that thought? What did you say and do? Be specific. I yell at him and complain. I try to make him feel guilty. Or sometimes I just isolate myself and don't talk, make eye-contact.

c) How do you treat yourself when you believe that thought? What addictions, if any, do you experience? (Cigarettes, food, internet, alcohol, shopping, chocolate,
television…)? I ignore myself and my feelings. I want chocolate and T.V. Sometimes I overwork myself.

d) Where and when did that thought first occur to you? Describe briefly what your life was like before that thought first occurred to you. I remember as kid having too much homework and having to babysit my sister. I would have to stay up late to get everything done and would end up crying and stressed out. Before that, I remember being a young child and asking for help easily and unselfconsciously. No stress.

e) Where does your mind travel when you believe that thought? (List any underlying beliefs and question them later.) It travels to the future- I see piles and piles of work, and me stuck, doing it all alone.

f) Does this thought bring peace or stress? Definitely stress!

4. Who would you be without the thought? I notice that the reality is that I do what I do. Sometimes I ask for help and sometimes I don't. Sometimes people help me, and sometimes they don't. There is no stress about it. I'm also able to see the countless times that someone helped me and I hadn't even asked. I'm free to notice the times of unexpected assistance. If I don't get help, I don't need it.

a) Who or what are you without your story? I'm a person carrying soup who is aware that there are things I'd like to have happen before my in-laws arrive and aware that nothing NEEDS to happen that does not happen. I can also see how the people around me are feeling. Maybe my partner is stressed in his own way.

Turn the thought around. (Example of a statement: He hurt me.): I don't help my partner.

How is your turnaround as true or truer? (For “I hurt me,” how have you hurt you in this situation?) Give examples: Darn it, it's true. I don't help my partner when I wait until the last minute to get things done for company and then blame him for my stress. I don't help him when he has a big project due at work and I don't help him out with family stuff. I don't help my partner when I expect him to know what I want from him and don't give him a chance by telling him!

Turn it around to yourself (Our example: I hurt me.): I don't help me.

How is your turnaround as true or truer? (For “I hurt me,” how have you hurt you in this situation?) Give examples: That is true I don't let myself ask for help when I want it, when I overwork myself and get stressed out, and when I don't plan ahead and rush at the last minute. Oh, I also don't help myself when I make up this whole story that people should be different than they are and that my needs are more important. That does not help me!

Turn it around to the opposite (He didn’t hurt me.): My partner does help me.

(For “He didn’t hurt me, or he helped me,” how did he not hurt you? How has he helped you?) Give examples: True! He helps me when he gives me space to vent without being reactive. He helps me when he does things he knows I like ( hugs, smiles, massages, sex). Actually, if I'm really honest, he helps me when he doesn't help me, because then I get the chance to do this work and practice asking for help when I want it. I learn to be honest.

Turn it around to “my thinking” where appropriate (My thinking hurt me.): My thinking doesn't help me.

How is this turnaround as true or truer? (For “My thinking hurt me,” how has your
thinking hurt you?) Give examples: True again! There are times that my thinking doesn't help me ESPECIALLY when it tells me that my partner doesn't ever help me out! It doesn't help me when it tells me I can get more done in a day than is really possible. My thinking doesn't help me when it lies to me and tells me I suck and that I'm a lousy wife.

So, he doesn't help me...is it true? Nope. No. It isn't true at all.

--------

HERE'S AN INVITATION TO A WEEKLY CLASS IN SECOND LIFE
ON THE WORK OF BYRON KATIE

Welcome to the class: An Introduction to The Work of Byron Katie! Hosted by Olasofia Seelowe.

Delighted to offer you the chance to learn and practice this laser sharp tool for achieveing peace of mind, clear thinking, and stress reduction.

• Day: Mondays
• Time: 11am SLT (8pm CET)
• Duration: 90minutes
• Location: It will take place at one of the main meeting areas on this island.
• Exact Class Location: It is usually at "Stonehenge": The teleport to "Stonehenge" is at the main reception area at the Wisdom & Enlightenment Center. Remember to check the exact location just before the class as it may change.

The class will be run using voicechat.

*TIP* Download the latest version of Second Life for full voicechat features

FOR THOSE WHO ARE VOICECHAT-ENABLED
If you have voicechat enabled, you will be able to volunteer to be facilitated on a stressful thought.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT VOICECHAT-ENABLED
You can still participate even if you do not have voicechat.
*you will be able to hear my voice
*when we work in pairs during the class you will still be able to do this by IM using normal chat.

Look forward to seeing you there!
Warmly,
Olasofia

Not Suffering: The Comic

Here's the same 11 frames from yesterday's comic with new text reflecting a mind that's not fighting reality.

Suffering: The Comic

In a recent post, I wrote: Suffering happens in the gap between reality and our beliefs about what is (or should be) true. I had a bit of feedback indicating that a little more explanation about what the hell I meant would be appreciated, so I slapped together a little comic to give a concrete example.

Exhibit Opening: Stop Making Sense and Dream

Stop Making Sense and Dream opens this Sunday, October 19, at 11am in Second Life. It's a multi-artist collaborative exhibition exploring the nonsensical nature of dreams. I'm really psyched about a mountain-like sculpture Pixel Sideways and Trinity Halberstadt created for the show, based on my Digital Utopians sketch (pictured here.) Visitors will be able to fly into a dreamlike particle-filled torus and ascend to the Virtual Rapture.

The exhibition includes two shows on two venues on two sims. It begins at Angel Dorei/Solaris with "Prelude to a Dream" featuring Dream sketches and text and continues onto Caerleon Isle with a massive sky exhibition of 3d sculptural art representing the dreams of The Dreamer, whose dreamy narrative text weaves the ascending dreams together.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Solaris/208/135/91

The Top Ten Signs Your Virtual Identity Has Taken Over

1. You'd rather have a 3-way with Codie and Gabby than with Brad and Angelina
   
2. When asked if you've ever read Hamlet, you say NWN is your favorite blog
   
3. You spell hot "hawt"
4. When your RL date returns from the restroom, you say "Welcome Back!"
5. The first email and social networking accounts you check each day are your avatar's
6. Even your alt gets laid more than your human
   
7. You have more photos of your avatar on Flickr than of your RL kids
8. Your avatar has more shoes in her inventory than Imelda Marcos had in her closet
9. The real estate crisis that keeps you up at night is mainland property down to $3L per meter
10. The election you're following most closely is the race for Top Ten Hot Male Avatar