A conference

A friend of mine posted from "Science and Non-Duality" conference. I'm jealous.

I remember how impactful it was for me to attend the 2014 Buddhist Geeks conference, see all those talks by diverse, clued-in peeps on the stage, getting to walk for burritos with pragmatic dharma guys, etc etc. It was a crucial step for me in my growth.

Here in New Mexico, we have a kind of Mindfulness movement, it has no focus on the gems of pragmatic dharma: techniques, sharing, awakening.

I want something more. I have the dream of a conference: "Awakening in the Southwest". Brasington, Culadasa, Ingram, Young, and others show up and talk about deep transformation and awakening like its education reform or another great fad, some kind of normalized perspective. Or bring in the B-Geeks! Family vacation in the south west! Enlightenment on the side!

And all the side stuff happens, face to face contact with people we've only seen online type-typing. I'm sure there are some people I can't take seriously, or know how to listen too just because quick text stuff just sucks for human connection, but face to face I'd know how to fit their words into my worldview, how to relate to their future quick text stuff.

ok, off-rant now.

I miss the Buddhist Geeks conferences too. Are you volunteering to organize "Awakening in the Southwest"? I'll be there.

If there is green chili burritos, I'm there too!

OK then, we can each give a talk, and we can do 3 different 2-person panel discussions ... we gotta conference!

Will there be a t-shirt?

We should have a "dharma battleground session" -- your enlightenment is lesser than my enlightenment!

And then a session on practical advice with a panel of people arguing about how fast one must note to make progress.

And then a session on "how to create a schism" -- concurrent sessions: 1) the 10 fetters model is attainable by a buddha vs the 10 fetter model is a poetic model the buddha came up to try to explain things & 2) the deathless is something able to be experienced vs the deathless is an insight that exists by virtue of it not being able to be experienced

And then a session on unsolvable debates: the universe is consciousness "you can only know what you experience" vs. the universe is material "you couldn't have consciousness unless there was something material"

Just winging it here. The t-shirt can be a 'big jim' green chili exploding out of a one of the volcanos west of town, colliding with a graphic representation of the first 3 fetters?