Wednesday evening Joanna was visiting

And we were chatting in the living room

An old Star Trek: Voyager was on

And during a lull in our conversation

We glanced at a scene between Kes and Neelix

I noted that Kes has a nice voice

And Joanna agreed

Then I mentioned that, speaking of nice voices,

I was expecting to converse for the first time soon

With a woman who has a nice voice

Deborah and I had touched base briefly Monday

And she was supposed to call

Either later Monday night or Tuesday evening

She hadn't called but I wasn't concerned

Within two minutes of my mentioning Deborah

The phone rang

I said "I wonder if that's Deborah"

Sure enough it was

Joanna excused herself

Deborah and I spoke for an hour

One of the topics she mentioned was

How she'd been in and out of Buddhism for 20 years

And in particular Vipasana

(Accent on the second syllable)

I may have heard the term before

But must confess I was unfamiliar with it

Deborah and I agreed to meet at Peet's

For coffee on Saturday afternoon

* * *

The next evening Jolie and I

Attended a presentation on romantic love

Given by John Maxwell Taylor in Encinitas

At some point during the evening

Jolie mentioned Vipasana

I pointed out that that had just come up

* * *

On Saturday afternoon Deborah and I

Had a very enjoyable meeting

We got so wrapped up that I didn't get a chance

To really ask her about her work as a judge,

Though we spoke for almost two hours

* * *

That evening was the dinner

For members of Kevin and Marci's wedding party

I ended up at a table with people I didn't know

And sat quietly, speaking with no one

* * *

I was reminded of a phrase

I had thought of earlier in the day ---

The conservation of conversation

It had to do with how sometimes

I'm content to remain quiet

At social events

Though those around me

Are happily gabbing,

Even to the point where

I'm sitting or standing alone

And could strike up

A conversation with someone

Yet do not take the initiative

Conservation could mean simply saving

Or it could have to do with

How some property or substance

Is preserved and remains constant

Though there is the appearance of change

For example, matter and energy

Are different forms of the same thing,

Call it "mattergy,"

And though there is conversion

Between various outward forms,

And there are varied mixtures

Of the two seemingly different aspects,

The total mattergy in a system

Is always the same

So, perhaps I am saving speech

For discussions that are

Not just for discussion's sake,

Or maybe there is a fixed amount

Of silence/speech

Whose form is in constant flux

* * *

The woman next to me at the dining table

Struck up conversation with me,

Which I appreciated,

Having felt left out,

Which she probably sensed

Her name was Marge

And she introduced me to her husband Paul

We talked a lot about the singles scene

And I mentioned meeting Deborah that afternoon

It turns out that Paul is a meditation leader

Later I found out it was Buddhist meditation,

Of the Vipasana variety

I told Paul and Marge about

How coincidental that was

And whipped out my business card

And gave it to Paul

He got a kick out of my job title,

"Prince of Coincidence"

A little while later

Kevin was up addressing the gathering

And was talking about the coincidence

Of the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years

Versus how he was 40 when he met Marci

And how it occurred in the desert

Then he mentioned me by name and pointed to me

Because of my involvement with coincidences

At this point Paul and I

Exchanged significant glances

Somehow we got on the topic

Of Buddhism and Judaism

And I asked Paul if he had seen

The video of the Jewish scholars

Meeting with the Dalai Lama

He said he had

And that he was acquainted with

Some of the Jewish scholars

I mentioned that I had met

One of them myself,

Zalman Schachter,

And had asked him

What the Kabbalah had to say

About the notion of instant karma,

That is, feedback from Life

That occurs within days

Rather than lifetimes

Schachter said something very interesting ---

That there are four types of karma,

And that they differ in how fast they occur;

The more evolved you are,

The faster your feedback

* * *

When I left the gathering

I turned on my car cassette deck

And was astonished by

The song that came on

I was going through the series of cassettes

Which I had made about 20 years ago

With one song from each artist in my collection,

Alphabetically by artist

The song which I had gotten to

And which burst forth from the beginning

Was by the Plastic Ono Band ---

"Instant Karma"