Yeah, I was listening to the U2 tape this past week so ...
The day began well with the church service. I love our new interim minister and had a great time chatting with people during coffee hour. While I have some concerns about what's happening right now with the interregnum, in terms of what I perceive as a swing of the pendulum way the other way overcompensating from the retired priest's way of doing things, and communicated my concerns vociferously last night to a member of the committee which is tasked with choosing a new priest, I was happy and not thinking too much about all the implications at that time.
After church, I dropped my youngest daughter at home and headed into town to make sure that we had a good table ready for the Gaia meet. The cafe was lovely, just a stone's throw from the Anglican cathedral I have often attended but quietly on a lower level below the street, so I have never noticed it before. It was a recommendation of
Dovvski. She was sad that she could not attend this time because of family obligations but hopes to come next time.
Like many Montreal restaurants, it had a
terrasse, but now with the no smoking laws for inside bars and restaurants,
les terrasses often are used by smokers and so I gratefully made my way into the smoke free interior, with its pleasant tables and cheery waitress. When she heard we would be five to seven people, she immediately showed me a large wooden table with carved wooden chairs that seated eight comfortably, near the entrance. Perfect! I was half an hour early so sat down to wait.
I got hungry after a few minutes and beckoned for a menu. I chose a veggie "burger" with fries and salad. It was delicious and while I was begininning to enjoy it, along came the first person,
Gisele, who is not yet a member of Gaia but who had seen my description of the meeting on the
meetup page I had created to publicise the event. We chatted a bit. I asked her if she was more comfortable in French or English and she said, in that accommodating way most bilingual Montrealers I know have, that either was perfectly fine.
nicolas
Shortly after that though,
Nicolas showed up with his partner Eva, and we quite naturally started talking in French, though again they said either language was fine. Then Francis showed up and the whole dynamic changed.
Francis started talking very intensely about the necessity of being grounded, that we couldn't just be into spirituality. He told how he had begun to get obsessed with different conspiracy theories and forms of spirituality, more and more and then on his thirtieth birthday he attained satori. He described how it lasted a month and all the delights and peculiarities of it, but then just as suddenly as it arrived it left him and he was like a new born babe. He didn't understand anything about the day to day life he had lived before. Everything fell apart, he lost his job, his girlfriend, many of his friends, most of his possessions and his apartment. He moved back in with his parents. A year later, he was still trying to sort out his life.
His friend
Jean-Francois who was the one who had told him about Gaia and this meet up arrived a while later and the two of them fell into an animated chat for a while. Meanwhile, Gisele, Nicolas, Eva and I were talking about, among other things, Second Life.
From Nicolas' profile, here is what he says about his involvement there:
"Under the name of Leou Aeon, I have recently broadened my audience through Second Life's virtual reality. I have been appointed as a guide at Mystic Academy, where I am hosting multiple weekly discussion groups, giving lectures and teaching Integral Transformative Practice to an ever-expanding audience."
Nicolas also spoke about other aspects of his life, much as in his profile:
"Visionary Artist, speaker, consultant and teacher, I created the Montreal Psychedelic Community five years ago. I have since then been hosting a weekly discussion group about hot topics such as entheogens, spirituality, shamanism, 2012 - the end of the Mayan calendar, integral philosophy, indigo children, etc."This was all very new to Gisele who is an older woman, and at the same time is clearly very open to new ideas and new approaches. She drank everything in eagerly like someone consumes water who has been walking through a desert and has just arrived at an oasis.
At a certain point Jean-Francois and Francis began to talk with the rest of us. Francis mentioned the Conversation Questions, and how one of the questions, about what we should do in the world, for him was answered by our conversation as follows: we have to become who we really are, learn what we have been given to do in life and fulfill our mission in the world. That seemed to sum things up beautifully.
Jean-Francois shared that he is a musician, guitar teacher, and songwriter. currently recording his second CD. It was very clear from his aura, enthusiasm and hearty laugh that he is "less and less asleep…."
jean francois
To hear and buy Variations sur le Vide, his latest record, see http://cdbaby.com/cd/fortier or
http://myspace.com/jeanfrancoisfortier or see his “Eastern Swing” compositions sung by Marijo Bonheur at
http://marijobonheur.comNicolas told Jean-Francois that he should consider having real-time virtual shows on Second Life. Jean-Francois' face lit up as he listened intently and came to understand the amazing potential of reaching people all over the world with his music through Second Life,
After nearly two hours had gone by in very pleasant and high voltage discussion, my cell phone rang. It was
David M calling to express his regrets that he could not attend due to his father's illness. I told him not to worry, that he could join us next time, and turned to follow the conversation again. Also having expressed regrets was
Leonardo.I wanted to go to that new emergent church service back on the West Island, so a little after four o'clock got everyone's attention, established we all wanted to meet about once a month, that first Sundays might work, that people liked the place, so we set the next date and place for
Sunday, June 1, 2-4 pm at Cafe L'Etranger.
I excused myself to use the washroom, handed everyone my Kumon business card so each of them could more easily stay in touch if he or she wished, and said I had to run. They waved and continued on with their animated conversation.
So, it ended up being almost all in French though it occasionally drifted briefly into English, in the time-honoured way of Quebecois discussions in Montreal. :)
Very, very satisfying! I loved meeting each and every person and look forward to future meetings, and meeting others who will no doubt attend when they can, like my dear and delightful and popular friend
B.B.Since this is so long, I will blog separately about the church service I attended after this.
November 2009 (1)
Nicole
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