Karma (Part 3)

Series
The Other Side
Original Broadcast Date
April 30, 2000
Cast
Joe Frank, Larry Block, Zachary Block, Jack Kornfield
Format
Karma Style, 59 minutes
Preceded by:	Karma (Part 2)
Followed by:	Karma (Part 4)
Purchase

"I hate this nature stuff."

Karma (Part 3) is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series The Other Side. It was originally broadcast on April 30, 2000.

Synopsis

Zachary Block says that he hates 'this nature stuff'. Larry abreacts. They argue.

2:30: Jolly sees Zak downloading MP3s, complains that all he does is download MP3s; Zak complains that his parents always over-react to him. He tells of the time he said it would be funny if someone were killed with a jackhammer. Zak upbraids Larry for his drinking.

6:30: Joe says that although he and Kate have broken up, their appointment with her therapist on Tuesday is still on. Joe wants to see her. Joe remembers their first kisses, at Topanga State Park, through a linen cloth. Drucker encourages them to reconcile, imagine their love as a child. Eating at an Italian restaurant, Kate says they should name it 'Tixe', after the exit sign.

15:00: Joe recalls their worst fight, months ago, a dinner she hosted with the first Black rapper, Angel, who had had a psychotic break, a Black actor named Bobby, a mutual friend of Kate and Angel. Angel refused to eat at first; Bobby stuffed his mouth. The men talked rudely about women; Kate danced seductively. Angel walked out. Kate was angry with Angel; Joe said Angel was crazy, that Kate should have given him more latitude. Kate broke a bunch of plates and glasses in the kitchen.

23:10: Jack Kornfield rehearses a sentence of Thomas Merton, 'Then it was as if I saw the secret beauty of their hearts…' then talks about equanimity and how all things pass. He distinguishes equanimity from indifference.

34:00: Zachary Block talks about Larry working the phones at Carnegie Hall to raise money along with 19-year-old interns when he was 53. He tells of Larry's friends, successful in their careers, who praise Larry for his commitment to art, while Zak resents that he doesn't support his family.

37:10: After the therapy session Joe finds he has lost his credit card; he had left it at the restaurant. Joe drives back to the restaurant that night. Joe remembers a dream in which he's playing chess with his father; there are small clocks on every piece, foreshadowing his death - Joe had the dream many years after his death. Joe drives to Kate's afterwards, his friend Anna 'accompanying' him over the cellphone. Kate is happy to see him; they have a happy reunion.

43:30: Kornfield talks about the disciplines Gautama did to become the Buddha, acts of compassion, then all the things we can be grateful for, that generosity is a universal truth, that generosity is letting go, leads a meditation in gratitude for the generosity of others.

53:20: Larry tells Joe about the terrible misunderstandings he has with Larry, that he loses his anger too easily, gets too mad, gives the example of their visit to the Seattle center, where Zak thinks Larry wants to watch old people in a goofy dance after watching the taffy pull.

55:40: Larry buys some booze, starts drinking before the show, something he says he never does, understands he has become an alcoholic.

Legacy Synopsis

• Joe: a couples therapy session after breaking up; treating a relationship as a baby named Tixe; a fight over dinner with an insane former rapper named Angel.
• Jack Kornfield: world history, equanimity
• Joe: retrieves a lost credit card, drives to Kate's house suspicious
• the maha kalpa, stories of sacrifice, breathing in cancer, generosity
• Larry: getting angry over small things, a taffy machine and an old people's dance. Larry drinks in the afternoon before a show, writes a poem: "the grace of devils is as rare as the grace angels."

Music

• "Re-arrange" - Cinematic Orchestra (from Talkin Inside The Beat, 1999) | YouTube [2:21]

• "Spacebeach" - Arling & Cameron (from Music for Imaginary Films, 1999) | YouTube [25:25]