I want to thank everyone who keeps coming back to read, and all those who are sending emails. I guess there's hundreds of you dropping in every day and the Manhattan User Guide did a story on this blog. Wish I could link to it. I even got an out of the blue response from one of my old restaurant regulars.

Anyways, just wanted to update everyone about who I recently interviewed. This Saturday I ventured up to East Harlem to talk with Ben. He's an independent film maker whose stuff has been previewed at film festivals all over the world-L.A., London, Tokyo, etc...His stuff was really cool to watch and he's gotten reviewed by papers around the country including the "Washington Post."

He attended a top ten American university and he had some deep insight into what it's like to haggle over business one week with a Hollywood producer and the next week with a dishwasher from Mexico. Plus, he's got some interesting analysis of what motivates someone to plunk down $500 a head for dinner.

He works at a restaurant in the 30's and you can pick up the restaurant's book at your local Barnes and Noble.

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Not much to post today. Still trying to transcribe a bunch of stuff. Nothing today but this cute little passage I ran across at the NYU library.

According to karma, there is no forgiveness for the "sins" of the past, but only accumulation of karmic debt, followed by paying the consequences in further lives. My Hindi is a little rusty, but according to my best translation, Swami Shivananda states:

"If the virtuous man who has not done any evil act in this birth suffers, this is due to some wrong act that he may have committed in his previous birth. And he WILL [emphasis mine] have his compensation in his next birth.

If the wicked man, who daily does many wrong actions, apparently enjoys this life, this is due to some good Karma he must have done in his previous birth. But he will suffer in his next birth.

But for those who practice extreme evil, in either this or any previous life, there awaits for them a special hell. Life as a restaurant manager.

The law of compensation is inexorable and relentless. (Swami Shivananda, Practice of Karma Yoga, Divine Life Society, 1985, p. 102) "

9:13:21 PM     comment []