[joe-frank-list] 'The angina dialogues'

[russellbell at gmail.com]

	Larry quotes a church's announcement of an upcoming sermon,
'Being god ain't no day at the beach' which stimulates he and Joe to
talk about god's problems.  Larry tells Joe that his father-in-law
offered to pay him and Jolly $10K to get a religious wedding ceremony.
(They had married at city hall.)  Larry finds a young, hip rabbi to do
the ceremony.  Larry says that the midwife did a poor job of
circumcising Zachary, didn't cut off enough.
	5:20: Larry explains his secular connection to Judaism to the
rabbi.  The rabbi says that god prays too.  Joe quotes, 'God wept at
the gates of Auschwitz'.
	7:30: Joe points out that god did nothing at Auschwitz.
	8:00: Larry attends services at 'this funky little temple,
this old carriage house'.  A different rabbi led the service.  Larry's
rabbi says there's money in services, the money is in weddings and
funerals.  Larry and Joe talk about the other services rabbis are
supposed to perform.
	10:50: Jack Kornfield tells us that we can train our hearts;
the state of our hearts has more to do with our happiness than
external circumstances.
	12:50: Larry recounts a story of a great rabbi of Manhattan,
Shmuel Abramowitz.  A Catholic woman confesses to premarital sex
doggie-style - the priest can't forgive her; then she went to a
Presbyterian minister who also objected to anal sex.  Rabbi Abramowitz
tells her it's okay.  She's surprised that he's understanding when the
Christians weren't.  The rabbi replies, 'Honey: what do the goyim know
from (a bleeped out word, possibly Yiddish)?'
	16:20: Larry and Joe quote 'King Lear'.  (Joe says the word
'nothing' appears 114 times.  I count 33.)
	18:20: Larry mentions the movie, 'Fifteen minutes'.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_Minutes) Joe and Larry talk about
eliminating violence from movies.
	19:50: Joe explains why Great Neck high school chose the
giraffe as its mascot.  (Great Neck North's mascot is 'Blazer the
wonder goat'; South's is 'Rebels'.)
	21:00: Larry and Joe talk about Robert Frost's poems.
	22:20: Kornfield quotes a Hindu saying, 'When a pickpocket
meets a saint, he sees only a pocket.' to introduce a talk about how
our interests blind us to other things.
	23:40: Larry tells Joe that the best psychiatrist would
prescribe termination to him.
	25:00: Larry tells Joe he's at the end of his alcohol and
drugs, expects Dr G(allo) will prescribe anti-depressants.
	26:00: Larry tells Joe he's an addict, needs intoxicants,
wonder how Gallo will react.
	28:00: Larry tells Joe nothing is better than the first shot
of scotch followed by the first swallow of Negro Modelo.
	28:40: While Larry and Joe are on the phone Vinnie, the
painter, has come by to bid on painting Zachary's room; he wants his
room painted the color of hashish.  Zachary wants Larry to take him to
Amsterdam to sample its drug scene.
	32:20: Kornfield reads a poem from Rilke:

	Sometimes a man stands up during supper
	and walks outdoors, and keeps on walking,
	because of a church that stands somewhere in the East.
	And his children say blessings on him as if he were dead.
	And another man, who remains inside his own house,
	stays there, inside the dishes and in the glasses,
	so that his children have to go far out into the world
	toward that same church, which he forgot.

	33:20: Larry tells Joe he used to live on the 27th floor (He
lives on the 37th now.)  He had a neighbor, Nick, with a Greek accent.
Larry would hear loud conversations late at night; the fellow was
talking with his aunt in Greece.  He disappeared for 3 weeks.  Larry
greets him on his return; his aunt had died, Nick had gone back to
settle her affairs.  Because Nick always complained about NYC, Larry
asked him if he planned to return to Greece.  Larry repeats his story
until Joe gets angry with him.  Nick, angry at the suggestion that he
live in Greece, asked Larry why he didn't return to Israel.
	43:40: Kornfield says we can strengthen our hearts when we
don't just follow our habits.  His master, Ajahn Chah, would send
disciples to practices different from their habits.
	46:40: Larry tells Joe about consulting Gallo because his
family thinks he's a drunk.
	48:20: Larry tells Joe about his appointment with Gallo.
Gallo opines that it's better to be happy than wealthy.  Gallo suggest
Larry is to blame for his unhappiness.  Larry thinks it's bizarre that
he's responsible for his life.
	54:40: Joe asks Larry if there has ever been a time in his
life that he didn't use substances.  Larry says no, asks Joe if Joe
thinks Larry is responsible for his life.
	55:50: Kornfield recommends accepting things as they are.  He
says the 2 main paths to enlightenment are self-inquiry and surrender,
says that they're the same.
	57:10: Kornfield talks about instant gratification, that
enlightenment is not instant.

	From the broadcast, 'You've been listening to Joe Frank "The
other side".  This program was called "The angina dialogues" with
Larry Block, Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, and Joe Frank -
production: Bob Carlson, production assistance: Esme Gregson'

	The title alludes to Eve Ensler's 'The vagina monologues'
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vagina_Monologues)

	http://jfwiki.org/index.php?title=The_Angina_Dialogues

russell bell