Making Furniture

I say “Torah” more than “Dharma” these days because people around me think “Dharma” means “mental states” and not “morality.”

People invite me to their nonsectarian meditation things they do, and they’re so into it with their bells and cushions and stuff, and they’re like, “Imagine a green light shining out of your forehead,” and when I ask if they do any other activities together, I get blank stares.

At the zendo, it’s kind of the opposite situation. We sit for 90 minutes, and then Sensei gets up and talks about the criminality of IKEA furniture or whatever, and none of the new people come back next week.

Just not what folks are looking for, I guess.

You know, that take about how meaningful community is on the decline is getting pretty widespread in the U.S., and I have to ask to what extent it’s self-inflicted.

If one person raised their hand and said, “Sensei, will you teach me how to make furniture?”, they’d be off to the races.

By week 4, they’d be talking about the sangha raising money by selling furniture we made.

By week 8, Dharma talks about consumerism and energy use would pack the house.

(This is how many of my good questions ended up going, back before I had too many children and a whole other congregation run by my spouse to contend with.)