The Sitting Hall

[Engyo]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Roky,
i like the zen hall, it gives me a more "real" feel of belonging to a sangha, it
just feels better, though yet I only see Don and Taylor there :-) But thats also
probably because of our different time zones and schedules.
_()_
Peter

Well, sometimes pitching ideas is a lot like throwing jello at a wall. You do it and just see what sticks.
The Zen Hall has been working well today. I'm going to head over there now and dress the altar.
Gassho.

[roky]

Re: The Sitting Hall

i just crawled out from under my sick mercedes, which needs a new rear end, so had to skip your sit, don -- next time

peter, i see you up there around rons sit time -- too late for me -- i was able to do it at the retreat, but not surprisingly, i have much energy on retreats, when i haven't spent all day wearing my self down with craving/aversion

roky

[Shujin]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Had a sit with two of you this morning in the Hall. One (I think) was Don; I'm not sure who the other was. Three people in the Hall was a first for me; good times.

gassho,
Chris

[Hogo]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Good chance that was me, first time in. Saw all the recent activity and thought why not
I went in about 12:40 UTC or so. Saw two others.
I will probably jump in for my morning sits, its good to see it being used.
Gassho ~ Dave.

[Janne H]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Hi,

tried out the Zen Hall a few minutes ago, the hall was empty, but still felt the presence of the sangha there.

Made a booking for tomorrow, to be continued.

Gassho

[Shohei]

Re: The Sitting Hall

I hope lots more folks sit there. Its popularity is made by folks using it, saying they are using it and sticking with it. I will sit my sittings on it if it means more folks will join in. That said if its down, sit anyways
I agree that sitting with others on screen gives a sense of connection different from an empty hall, or no hall at all (while of course I think I sit with the sangha computer on/camera on or not). I really want to encourage everyone inclined to use it Roky, Don and Ron especially, to help keep it up as you are now and if you can lend a hand by looking around at different options as Don has done lately. His idea of a mini hall or 7+host seat hall via a skype set up is a good idea it has the catch of having to have hosts to be there operate it. but it may prove worth while to try it!

In order to move forward we need to address the issues that are outstanding now and state them. Using those, along with what you want the hall to be able to do for the sangha, search out compatible software. The current hall is always on (well in reality when you visit the hall pages.... the page loads an embedded flash player that is actually hosted on mebeam (plus some parameters on size, name blah blah). SO this creates room in Mebeam nameed Treeleafzenhall or the like...if one is not created already, so really it only exists when you look at it (hehe like ego!!)so if i load the page..i created the room...then each person after joins the room once all leave the room ...poof disappears.

This is good as its basically "always on"
Catch is treeleaf is not the host...mebeam is so if mebeam is busy/has maintenance/goes out of business/changes its name for the embeded player (which it does once a year) we have to fix stuff or wait it out.

Now heres something that im glad stumbled onto!!

Tonight I took some time to mess around in oovoo (software and service) and found i can set up a host-free...web based video chat room for a max of 6 people.
I was thinking of suggesting oovoo as a supplementary thing to the zen hall but thought it was like a skype idea... i learned something new and i would encourage all yall that use the zen hall to click the link for below for a test run and feed back. (may require a flash and Java update but otherwise its web based so it should be good to go). If it works okay (worked good for the Tokudo) then maybe I could look at second room for 6 (2 subscriptions would allow us 2 rooms of 6 sitters).

TRY ThIs and maybe post here or in its own thread, your impressions of the oovoo room and any issues or the like... one issue I know is if your connect is poor it will drop video and keep the audio of on sitter at a time as needed.

http://videocallroom.oovoo.com/room/shoh3i/room/1

Gassho
Shohei

[Engyo]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Just got off oovoo with Shohei. It looks like something some of us could try right away. Seems pretty simple to operate. No host required. Sound was good. Picture was excellent. You can mute the mike and/or speakers. It only takes six people at a time but when was the last time you saw six people on at the same time in Zen Hall? Exactly. Just use the link in Shohei's post above and try it out. (I think he's hanging out there for the evening waiting for you!)
Gassho,
Don

[Genkai]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Interesting... Oovoo doesn't seem to be compatible with the TrueColor function (on a Micrsoft LifeCam). If anyone runs into a problem getting their video to show up, check for TrueColor settings... Once I switched mine off, video worked perfectly.

[Shugen]

Re: The Sitting Hall

I hope lots more folks sit there. Its popularity is made by folks using it, saying they are using it and sticking with it. I will sit my sittings on it if it means more folks will join in. That said if its down, sit anyways
I agree that sitting with others on screen gives a sense of connection different from an empty hall, or no hall at all (while of course I think I sit with the sangha computer on/camera on or not). I really want to encourage everyone inclined to use it Roky, Don and Ron especially, to help keep it up as you are now and if you can lend a hand by looking around at different options as Don has done lately. His idea of a mini hall or 7+host seat hall via a skype set up is a good idea it has the catch of having to have hosts to be there operate it. but it may prove worth while to try it!

In order to move forward we need to address the issues that are outstanding now and state them. Using those, along with what you want the hall to be able to do for the sangha, search out compatible software. The current hall is always on (well in reality when you visit the hall pages.... the page loads an embedded flash player that is actually hosted on mebeam (plus some parameters on size, name blah blah). SO this creates room in Mebeam nameed Treeleafzenhall or the like...if one is not created already, so really it only exists when you look at it (hehe like ego!!)so if i load the page..i created the room...then each person after joins the room once all leave the room ...poof disappears.

This is good as its basically "always on"
Catch is treeleaf is not the host...mebeam is so if mebeam is busy/has maintenance/goes out of business/changes its name for the embeded player (which it does once a year) we have to fix stuff or wait it out.

Now heres something that im glad stumbled onto!!

Tonight I took some time to mess around in oovoo (software and service) and found i can set up a host-free...web based video chat room for a max of 6 people.
I was thinking of suggesting oovoo as a supplementary thing to the zen hall but thought it was like a skype idea... i learned something new and i would encourage all yall that use the zen hall to click the link for below for a test run and feed back. (may require a flash and Java update but otherwise its web based so it should be good to go). If it works okay (worked good for the Tokudo) then maybe I could look at second room for 6 (2 subscriptions would allow us 2 rooms of 6 sitters).

TRY ThIs and maybe post here or in its own thread, your impressions of the oovoo room and any issues or the like... one issue I know is if your connect is poor it will drop video and keep the audio of on sitter at a time as needed.

http://videocallroom.oovoo.com/room/shoh3i/room/1

Gassho
Shohei

Says it won't work with Safari.

Ron

[Shujin]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Gave the ooVoo room a go tonight - much better video quality than Mebeam. It's nice to be able to tell who you're looking at, instead of guessing. I don't know all the logistics of it, but I think it's an improvement on the current software.

gassho,
Chris

[Sven]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Says it won't work with Safari.

Ron

I just tested it with Safari 4.0.5 and it worked ok for me.

Don, I was the third person joining you in the Zen Hall this morning, btw.

Gassho,
Sven

[Engyo]

Re: The Sitting Hall

It was good sitting with you and Peter Lin this morning, Sven.
Thanks for the Safari update as well.
Gassho,
Don

[roky]

Re: The Sitting Hall

figures, as soon as mebeam finally works on linux, we're going to switch to something that doesn't :roll:

unfortunately, tried it, and checked on their forum, no linux -- and for me, once you've tired linux, going back to windows is a drag, literally

treeleaf zen hall is experiencing one of its periodic surges, and i would suggest putting all the eggs in one basket for now, since there still aren't that many eggs -- plus the fact that we have a scheduler for the zen hall, and its work quite well now

anyway, the real problem isn't technical, not that it hasn't been a pain at times -- i see the core issue as being the lack of support from treeleaf's hierarchy, promotion of the "absolute" idea, that whenever we sit alone, we sit together -- so why bother sitting in the zen hall? -- but of course, make sure you watch zen tv everyday, and post, post, post -- for me, the priorities are bass ackwards

look, sitting alone in your room may work for the enlightened few here, but for many of us, the more support the better -- for anyone serious about their practice, this is how they got here in the first place, not for more internet entertainment

for instance, what happened to the sticky"zen hall" at the top of the forum? -- gone -- this used to be one of the first things a new treeleafer would see, which then would at least promote some interest -- and i know jundo, as non-pushy as he is, has occasionally said folks need to sit more -- all he needed to do was add "and they should do it in the zen hall" and use of the hall would escalate

ok, end of rant, now i will let my butt do the talking, on the cushion

gassho, roky

[Engyo]

Re: The Sitting Hall

When I started posting Zen Hall difficulties here, I confess I had a few objectives. One was to try to find out if there was anyway to resolve some of these issues. Then there was the idea of raising the profile of Zen Hall. Next, I thought if a few more people used it perhaps more would come over to the practice of sitting together (even though I understand it's not an imperative).
In the process I learned about other options and made a post seeking comment on the Mini-Zen Hall idea. There are enough interested to start one and (frankly) I think we should, more for the experience but also for the back-up element. But there is no rush. A lot of diverse needs require identification and consideration.
As it turns out Shohei has done some very good work of his own, along the same lines and it is in place already. It was used in the ordinations and for some meetings. Four of us sat aroung last night chatting. Three of us just sat together prior to that.
I really see this as an ongoing project. Meanwhile Zen Hall is working fairly well.
To test new audio/video platforms (including the oovoo one Shohei wrote about), we need as many as possible to try the link he provided, as well as provide feedback. There may be others to try until we find a back-up which works for all interested parties. It will stand us well, if needed, and the exercise will get some up to speed in terms of set-up, operation and maintenance of an ever-evolving technology, with new offerings appearing regularly.
Like Roky, I think Zen Hall is worth the effort. Personally, I think we need to learn more about the way it operates and how to maintain the scheduler.
Just the way I see it...
Gassho,
Don

P.S.
...but when I sit there, I just sit.

[Shugen]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Says it won't work with Safari.

Ron

I just tested it with Safari 4.0.5 and it worked ok for me.

Don, I was the third person joining you in the Zen Hall this morning, btw.

Gassho,
Sven

I'll check to see what version of Safari I'm running. I'm still kind of fond of the "old" zen-hall though.

Thanks,

Ron