#33 CHARLOTTE'S WEB

 

Apparently Charlotte's Insight Meditation Community was back in-person only, and then just recently returned to zoom, so I was glad to be able to join them.   Tonight's program of guided meditation and Dharma talk was led by Larry Dawalt, a graduate of their two-year Dharma Leader's Training program, sort of a stepchild of Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leader's program.  I'm appreciative of the effort to improve consistency in teaching.  At Spirit Rock, the program supports the ability to: 

• Develop community-based sanghas and dharma organizations
• Lead sitting groups
• Teach beginning classes and daylong and weekend retreats
• Facilitate rites of passage and develop competency with Buddhist ritual
• Embody attunement, empathy and sensitivity within the role of teacher, the communities being taught, and team teaching
• Expand access to the teachings through outreach and engagement with underrepresented communities
• Create and cultivate diverse, culturally competent sanghas

Larry ticked all the boxes, leading us through a brief guided settle-in with "..do not force into rhythm, whatever the nature of the breath, accept it.."  followed by a 30 minute silent meditation. 

After sitting, Larry did an excellent job of connecting the threads of the concept of Karma.  He began by presenting John Lennon's song 'Instant Karma,'  as a demand for people to take responsibility: 

Instant karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead

What in the world you thinkin' of
Laughin' in the face of love
What on earth you tryin' to do
It's up to you, yeah you

Instant karma's gonna get you
Gonna look you right in the face
Better get yourself together darlin'
Join the human race

Larry emphasized three points about Karma from the Buddha's perspective;  Right View, which belongs to the 'wisdom group' of the Noble Eightfold Path, the notion that our actions hinge on our view,  Taking Action, wherein the exact translation of Karma is in fact 'action', not fate or luck, it is the law of cause and effect, and we are a cause of the next effect.   To combine Action with Right View, we are the owners of our action.  Finally Generosity ties Karma together in the sense that our actions are either unwholesome (conducive to suffering) or wholesome (helpful to spiritual growth of self and others).    

Larry concluded with a quote from the Buddha that "My actions are the ground on which I stand," and "our only true belongings."   It was a worthwhile experience for me, to see how well these points can be woven together.   Sometimes, in the tangled and sticky world we live, a hopeful message shines through.