From Strands 

The course of social action grows naturally out of the courses of spirituality and livelihood. Once we begin to take care of our own basic needs, we become more aware of the needs of the people around us. Recognizing the oneness of life, we naturally reach out to other people because we realize that we are not separate from them.

From Instructions to the Cook by Bernard Glassman and Rick Fields

My social action started as a search for alternatives to the cultural frame of late 1950s suburbia. After many changes (listed below) it has settled into an inquiry into the deep sources of our global eco-catastrophe (and the related social breakdowns). I want to find my best leverage point for healing action, within my (severely limited) physical capacities.

Identifying a countercultural through line

Haight Ashbury Community

Communal Farm

Ecology Student

Whiteness and the intense diversity of the Zen Center neighborhood

Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California

Interfaith Dialog Facilitator

Zen Peacemakers Order

Organizational Consultant

Subversive Librarian

United Teachers of Los Angeles

Network of Spiritual Progressives

Mosaic Multicultural Foundation

The Dream of the Earth

Findhorn New Story Community

Activity

The karma family emits a green energy, swift and energetic like the wind. Karma sanity is all-accomplishing action for the benefit of others. When people exhibit the sanity of karma, they can be efficient, effective and practical. Full of confident energy, they act in timely and appropriate ways in synchronicity with the world. Karma can also be restless and speedy, and when people manifest its neurotic side, they can be power-hungry, competitive, manipulative, controlling and dominating. They fear failure, so they are paranoid and jealous.

From “The Five Buddha Families” by Irini Rockwell, Lion’s Roar online, September 5, 2018