Good morning everyone, welcome. So for the people, I'm Tigay Layton, the teacher here at Asian Dragons Zen Gate and I'm going to speak this morning about compassion and also about Charleston and what happened there. So, in our tradition, one guide for what compassion means is the bodhisattva or enlightening being Kanzeon, we sometimes chant to. She has many names, Avalokiteshvara, Kanon, Guan Yin, etc. But her name means to listen or to regard, to be open, to listening, to sometimes literally sounds of the world but sometimes we say the tears of the world, the cries of the world. So compassion for us is about deep listening, really hearing the problems and difficulties

[01:18]

and suffering and sadness of the world and of the world on our own Kushner chair. So, this applies on many levels just to our personal efforts to express helpfulness instead of harm, to how we respond to the people around us, friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and also to what is happening in the world. So, maybe the main practice is just to remain open to listening and to deepening that listening. And sometimes it feels like too much, we don't want to hear anymore, we just want to shut down. Well, rather than shutting down completely, sometimes it's okay, sometimes we need to

[02:24]

take a break, we need to listen also to our own needs and our own ability to listen and balance that and to hear our own needs for rest and relaxation and recreation. So, listening is a creative act. How do we hear? You know, some of us are here sitting for the whole day and others of you have joined for the Dharma talk, thank you, but sitting for a whole day, we hear various cries of suffering in our own seat, in our own body and mind. And, of course, that's not separate from all of the cries of the suffering in the world around us. So, we're not isolated, separate individuals. Basic Buddha's teaching is of non-self, it doesn't mean we don't have a self, it just

[03:30]

means that we don't have a separate self, we are a product of everything. So, listening is, you know, half of it, but really, you know, listening as a creative act, as an art, as something we develop, as a craft. The other thing is that we don't just listen, we respond. And that's even more difficult, often. So, the teaching about that, that the Bodhisattva of Compassion especially involves is what we call skillful means. Being skillful in how to respond. That doesn't mean we have some instruction manual of what to do in every kind of situation. It means trial and error, it means trying things, it means being open and listening and paying attention. At that, being willing and ready to respond when we see something we can do to help.

[04:32]

And being willing and ready to respond when we don't see something we can do to help is to just be quiet and sit and wait and continue to pay attention. So, this is our practice, we sit upright, we enjoy our breathing, we feel what it feels like to be here, and then we are ready to respond, so that when the bell rings to get up and do walking meditation, we do that. When it's time to have San Domingo, we do that. So, this uprightness has to do with a willingness to be present. And it's not about some special techniques, you know, we don't need to have some special 21st century tools, although, you know, if they felt great, but it's trial and error. Try things. Try things that, you know, you think will be helpful, and see, and then refine that,

[05:35]

and again, just using what's at hand. It's not about, you know, sometimes people go and learn particular skills, and that's great, but already, right now, you have many skills and interests and aptitudes and so forth, each one of you. How do you use those to be helpful? How do you use those to respond? When you're paying attention, listening carefully, ready to be helpful. So, it's good to just pay attention and be aware of what's happening in the world, and on your seat. But then also, we should lend a hand, see what we can do to be helpful.

[06:39]

This is our practice. So, I want to go deeper. Last Monday evening, Dale Wright, who's a very fine Buddhist scholar, was here, talking about collective karma, and how our karma is communal, and talking about community. So, a number of you were here. For those of you who weren't here, it will be fairly soon, hopefully, on our website, on our audio Dharma Talks, and I really recommend it. He talked about how we're not separate, and how, in many ways, he went into the history of community and individualism, and how, in some ways, Buddhism started individualism, which is not how we usually think of it. Anyway, it was a very interesting talk, but the point is, in terms of what I want to talk about now, is that what happens to us individually is not just personal karma. This has been a problem in all of Asian Buddhist history, to make a very sweeping generalization,

[07:45]

but I think it's true, that people are seeing karma as what happens to you that's good, came from your doing good things in the past, in past lives, or whatever, and if something bad happens, it's, you know, in some ways, your fault. And that's just not true, and it's not the real teaching, this karma. It's not the real teaching of the Dharma. The real teaching of the Dharma is that we are connected. We're not separate, isolated entities. So, part of us feels like we are. So, when we, we have to take care of the person on your kushin and chant, and how that, and find our own way of being responsible, and being kind to ourselves. So, compassion is not about just doing good for others. Compassion includes everything, including this person that we think we are. So, we're connected. And this terrible thing that happened in Charleston, South Carolina,

[08:48]

this attack on people gathered to study their scriptures, you know, as we're gathered here to talk about our teaching, out of hatred, horrible attack. Last Sunday, we had an event for children, so I just mentioned it, but I want to talk more today. Last Sunday, there was a funeral, and for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a wonderful elephant person who was killed, and all the others, you know, who were killed, had funerals, but there were many black ministers from all around the country who went there. One of them I saw interviewed said this was, for them, this was their 9-11. And, of course, we've had many, many, many cases,

[09:56]

and maybe they've always been happening, but now they're getting caught on video, cell phones, so the age for technology. But unarmed African-American young men being killed, shot down by police. It's terrible. And as I've said before, it's just to imagine, to listen, to listen deeply to how painful it must be for young black men who walk the streets and might be gunned down any time, and for black mothers and fathers who have to worry about their children, and for all the African-Americans who are incarcerated in our privatized prison system. So, we really need to talk about race and racism, not just African-Americans.

[11:01]

So, our SOMDA happens to be mostly white. Occasionally some people, some African-Americans, people of color come. But as white people, we need to talk about race. We need to think about, to listen, to really listen, to really listen about white privilege and how privileged we all are. Maybe some more than others. There's other kinds of privilege, but as a white heterosexual male, I'm especially privileged in our society. And there are various levels of privilege and income and resource inequality. So, what does it mean to listen, to just be aware, to pay attention? And, you know, I'm not sure how to respond. I'm at the point of just, we need to talk about it. So, I'm saying it out loud.

[12:04]

I feel it's my responsibility to the Buddhist Bodhisattva precepts. Just as an ethical person. We need to listen deeply to, again, this is collective karma. This legacy of slavery that our whole economy is built on. This legacy of racism that continued after the formal slavery ended. It's still going on. Part of what deep listening is about is to really be willing and open to hear and feel and pay attention to the sadness and to the grief of our world. And each of us, for ourselves, has our own particular piece of that.

[13:09]

And our practice is to face that, to listen to that, to be willing to be present and upright, even in the middle of being open to listening to that. To hearing the hatred around us in our culture. This hatred is not natural. It's artificial. It's been instilled in our culture. People grow up having, you know, hearing their parents or others around them using hateful words and hateful speech. So we're not isolated. We're not separate. I grew up in the 50s and 60s. Attitudes about people of color. Attitudes about women. Thankfully, that's changed some.

[14:13]

Attitudes about gay people. And hooray for the Supreme Court, finally. So things do change. It was good years this week, too. How do we actually hear, be open to hear, the concerns and the sadness and the difficulties and the challenges of the people around us? Because they're not separate from us. We're affected by that. As a white person walking down the street when you see a group of young black men, I think many of us might feel some apprehension. I think for a young black African-American person, seeing a group of policemen on the street, they may feel terrified. You know, there's this deep, deep legacy in karma.

[15:16]

And again, before we know how to respond, I mean, there are ways to respond. And we're looking at that. And how do we talk to each other? There are ways to respond. But first, we just have to really listen. And acknowledge that, you know, we have this quite a range of here in the room of how much resources people have. You know, there's various degrees of privilege, partly conditioned by our culture. And that's okay. We don't have to be all the same. But how do we hear the sadness? And it's our sadness, too. And we each have different versions of that. And it's difficult. And it's awkward.

[16:17]

It's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable to talk about this or to hear about this. And I might say that our practice, bodhisattva practice, practice of helpful beings, practice of the world in our tradition, is about being willing to be uncomfortable. So, a bunch of you are here sitting all day. And, yes, you're going to be uncomfortable at some point during the day. And your knees may hurt, you know, whatever. But this is reality. We can't just try and, you know, get more and more, you know, material things so that we'll always be comfortable. All day, sickness, death. It happens. It's going to happen to all of us. It hasn't already. So, you know, as white people, we don't have to feel guilty. I think that's extra, you know.

[17:19]

But I think we have to acknowledge our awkwardness. And acknowledge that we're all part of this system of this karmic legacy. And, again, things do change. So, the most important thing, I think, is to face our fear, face our sadness, also to face this possibility of shutting down. All of the difficulties of the world, it's very easy to feel overwhelmed and feel despair and feel like there's nothing we can do. And that's just not real. It's a cop-out. But it's very available for all of us. It's easy to feel overwhelmed when we look around. But despair is not accurate. Things do change.

[18:20]

Many things change. Sometimes they sort of change suddenly. Sometimes they change suddenly after lots of work. So, gay marriage is now legal throughout this country. Or any laws against it are now illegal. Amazing. Five years ago, it might have been unthinkable. Ten years ago, certainly. There's lots of other examples. The Berlin Wall came down. For those of us old enough to remember, a month before, even experts wouldn't have imagined it. The Soviet Union disbanded. Apartheid ended in South Africa. Another example I give is smoking. It used to be glamorous and popular. And now, at least in this country, the tobacco companies are still trying to market it in China and other places. But in this country, it's not something that's glamorous or that is encouraged.

[19:26]

And I say this with all due respect to any of you who still are addicted to nicotine. I sympathize. But that's not the point. The point is that things can change. Something even as deep as a physical addiction, it can change. So, despair is not helpful. So, usually at all decisions, we have a discussion period in the afternoon. We're not doing that. We're doing something different later. But I want to go a little deeper first. This pattern of despair and this karma that, you know, I've been talking about slavery and race hatred and how that's all around us and how we each have some relationship to that. There are other problems. So, I would say that the great ethical, moral crisis of our century is climate damage.

[20:27]

And a ray for the Supreme Court and a ray for the Pope this week. Pope Francis' encyclical about climate change, you know, that doesn't fix the problem. But again, to help people pay attention to it, very important. And I heard the GA today, yesterday, said we have to face climate crisis. So, there's a change happening there. But part of how we've gotten into this difficulty where we're so dependent on fossil fuels and that the president would permit more drilling in the Arctic that's melted now. It's just horrible. I don't know what to say.

[21:31]

It's so much of a threat to, well, already we have mass extinction in many species. And how humans will survive. It's very much at stake. It's not, you know, definitely set that humans are going to go extinct. The science is pretty serious. But, you know, how will we survive? Will we all be in the back of cages? Will we still be able to, you know, read the sutras? I don't know. We don't know. That what we do in the next 10 to 20 years will make a difference. So despair is not accurate. How do we face this? This pattern, this car—so part of what's at work here is this karma of this legacy, this communal karma of despair, of denial, of not being willing to face our sadnesses.

[22:38]

We really need to be willing to pay attention. Instead of trying to distract ourselves from that which is difficult. So my friend Joanna Macy was here a few years ago and talks about despair and empowerment. Started talking about this in terms of the possibility of nuclear war. And for those of us old enough to remember in the 50s when as school children we had nuclear bomb drills. They didn't quite call it that. But some people weren't supposed to go under the desk. I was—in my grade school, we went down to the basement. There was an air raid drill in case there were nuclear bombs. What does this do to our psyche? It's all part of a pattern. Our denial of climate. Our denial of racism.

[23:41]

And our denial of this possibility. Already we have mass extinctions. So I really don't want to—you know, I'm not trying to bum you out, okay? The point is that we can face this stuff. We can sit upright and breathe and enjoy our breathing and enjoy all the things we have to enjoy. And realize that change is possible. And how do we respond and face it? But I was invited to speak this year, the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb. And there's an event each year at the place in Hyde Park where the first nuclear reaction happened. There's an English statue there. People gather there. Sometimes not so many. Sometimes more. To commemorate that.

[24:45]

And a friend of mine, also a colleague of Joanna Macy's, discovered this really interesting report that appeared in Time magazine exactly two weeks after the Hiroshima bomb. And I want to read it because it speaks to a lot of this. He didn't attribute it. We don't know who wrote it. We'll find out. It said, The greatest and most terrible of wars ended this week to the echoes of an enormous event, an event so much more enormous that, relative to it, the war itself shrank to minor significance. The knowledge of victory was as charged with sorrow and doubt as with joy and gratitude. More fearful responsibilities, more crucial liabilities rested on the victors, even than on the vanquished. In what they said it did, men were still, as in the aftershock of a great wound,

[25:51]

amused and only semi-articulate, whether they were soldiers or scientists or great statesmen or the simplest of men. But the dark depths of their minds and hearts, huge, in the dark depths of their minds and hearts, huge forms moved and silently arrayed themselves, times, oh, excuse me, titans, arranging out of the chaos an age in which victory was already only the shadow of a child in the street. With the controlled splitting of the atom, humanity, already profoundly perplexed and disunified, was brought inescapably into a new age in which all thoughts and things were split, and far from controlled. As most men realized, the first atomic bomb was a merely pregnant threat, a merely infinitesimal accumbance. All thoughts and things were split. The sudden achievement of victory was a mercy to the Japanese no less than to the United Nations, but mercy born of a ruthless force beyond anything in human chronicle.

[26:55]

The race had been won, the weapon had been used by those on whom civilization could best hope to defend, but the demonstration of power against living creatures instead of dead matter created a bottomless wound in the living conscience of the race. The rational mind had won the most Promethean of its conquests over nature, and had put into the hands of common man the fire and force of the sun itself. Was man equal to the challenge? In an instant, without warning, the present had become the unthinkable future. Was there hope in that future, and if so, where did hope lie? So that was almost 70 years ago, 1945, that was written. A bottomless wound in the living conscience of the race. So, you know, it seems like I'm all over the place, but really to me it's all of one piece.

[27:58]

How do we face the reality of racism and viciousness that we saw in Charleston? And not just, you know, pull down a few flags, but actually look at the problem and what needs to be done to give equal opportunity to all. And how do we face the mass extinctions of species happening now, today? And the threat of climate crisis, where we really need to stop depending on fossil fuels, we need to leave it in the ground for this habitat to survive. And that, you know, the danger of nuclear bombs and nuclear power, Fukushima is still spewing radiation. So, again, this is not something out there, this is not the news separate from, you know, your work on the oppression. So, a lot of times people come to meditation wanting peace and calm, quiet, settlements.

[29:04]

And I say, great, yes. But part of that work of finding our own center, our own calm, is being willing to face this stuff. Because if we just repress it and pretend it's not there, terrible things can happen. And the good news is that change happens. And the good news is that we do have the capacity to just be present and upright. You know, sitting through a little discomfort on your cushion during a Satya Sashin is nothing, you know. How can we face reality and each other and our world and, you know, help out in whichever area? So, you know, the other good news is there's so much to do. And that means that anything that you want to do to help is part of the solution. It's part of the problem. It's part of what makes change. It's part of what will help.

[30:09]

There's lots to do. And just to talk about this stuff, to actually have conversations about race, is a big thing. It doesn't happen. I mean, it's sort of happening in the media, but... How do we talk with our friends and neighbors? How do we keep talking about it, but the media's moved on to the next whatever? Okay, so I've talked longer than I thought I would, but I want to take extra time this morning to have discussion. And we're not going to do that in the afternoon, as we often do on all-day sittings. So I'm really interested in whatever any of you have to say about any of this. So comments, questions, responses, please feel free. Nicholas.

[31:19]

Hi. Thank you so much for talking about this today, because it's such an important topic, and it's a really painful topic. And the process for me of looking at my own life is not something I wanted to, although I have done it, and I'm continuing to be committed to doing it. The other stuff that I'm involved with... We're doing this... What we do this for... What entitlement and... Really, it's kind of an inquiry. It's very similar to what we do on the Hill, which is...

[32:24]

Like, what? Where? What is my racial identity now? They're just very fundamental questions. I don't have to say about all the stuff that I... It couldn't be more pertinent to the time than what's going on elsewhere in the world. And I know it's hard for a bunch of white people to... Like, we didn't consider it, but... Thank you, Nicholas. Just to add on that, that... I've mentioned to some people I was recently... There's actually a couple of different conferences of Buddhist teachers in the East Coast, where racism and climate were the main topics. I've just received a kind of group of practices and things to do about looking at white privilege. So I'm going to share that with some. Maybe we can figure out how to do some workshops or meet in small groups,

[33:29]

or something to actually do this work. Thank you. Yes, Sam. Thanks. Great talk. I... So as an anthropologist who studies violence and as a heterosexual male, the thing I try to listen to and try to understand is the way in which whiteness and masculinity, heterosexual masculinity, are connected to violence and exclusion and the need to dominate, and to try to figure out what drives that. But I'm sure over and over again, you know, what kind of insecurities and fears did we have that led them to think that this was something that was going to fix the world at some point? I sort of see it repeatedly.

[34:30]

In the Supreme Court's decision on same-sex marriage, Justice Roberts, in his dissent, said that all societies everywhere have had the institution of marriage and that changing that would somehow destabilize things. And as an anthropologist, I know that he's entirely wrong, that societies, many societies, have the institution of marriage, and if you guys look at that, it takes a variety of different forms and changes over time. There's not really a lot of men, there's more men. It's not even a step in the direction of just appropriation. But the interesting thing for me is not just that, but why Justice Roberts, this highly intelligent person, why is it that he wants, he feels the need to have someone install something to attach himself to? What's the insecurity behind that? And then I think in my own life, I try to pay attention to,

[35:35]

you know, what are the insecurities and fears that are driving me to, in any way, I mean, exclusion, try to pay attention to that. So I get down to my own practice, and I'd like to ask you. Go ahead. Thank you. You're reminding me, speaking of Justice Roberts and Dylann Roof, from a Buddhist perspective, it's not that there are evil people out there who are doing bad things, you know, the fossil fuel CEOs who are, you know, working to destroy our habitat for personal profit. It's not that they're evil. I think one of the problems when we start to, the whole source of hatred is when we think, oh, those are the evil people over there, whether they're black or white or, you know, Democrats or Republicans. That's not helpful. That's not relevant.

[36:39]

You know, we all have some quotient of ignorance. We all have stuff that we're ignoring or that we're trying to deny. So, you know, the black minister who said this is our 9-11. Well, so far, and hopefully, you know, the other 9-11, the reaction was, okay, well, let's bomb somebody. It doesn't matter if they have anything to do with what happened in New York. So just returning hatred for hatred, you know, doesn't help. Thank you. Other comments, please. Yes, Joan. Thank you for a great talk. I led a class a few years ago about microbe, the distorted ones of consciousness. And one of the things we talked about in the class was our unconscious biases about race and other topics. And one of the things that happened that I've noticed

[37:42]

that some of the class learners wanted to say, I'm not biased. And somebody has to stop there. And so I think it's really important to be able to say, I am biased and I don't have to be caught in blame and guilt. Good. But the problem is solved. Appreciate it. Facing it, yeah. Yeah, we all are part of this cardinal where we have things we deny. There are things we have biases, as you said. Going back to what Nicholas was saying about being white, though. What is that? That's a construct, too. Well, originally we all came from Africa, right? But what white means, just the diversity of people in this room and what combination of ethnicities, is hugely diverse. So we label things. Yeah. Thank you, Joan. Other responses? Comments? David. I think one of the lessons that I'm learning and have learned recently

[38:48]

is not only listening, but it's listening without judgment. And that's the key. I may be listening, but I may be listening so I can when maybe the spine is like that. The theme, I think, for compassion and for progress is for us to listen to each other. And it's what Dale talked about the other day. I said I get troubled by this. Because even what word we're coming from, what is it worth so bad? All the degradation that these people have gone through for hundreds and hundreds of years. But for them to come to this point, I think that's the key. It's not with prejudice or prejudging. That's what prejudice is. It's not just prejudging. You can open your mind and take care. And that's just here. But to hear what's at heart. It's a good thing. It helps me.

[39:49]

Good. Yes, sir. Something David said earlier. You had mentioned this sort of false view that people have about all things, such as Jesus, karma, and that it proves to an individual. And this was a conversation that has occurred to me. I never quite thought about it. Almost by definition, karma implies relationship. It implies relationship with people. It implies relationship with the world. And it's that. It's the sort of template you have. It doesn't really make sense to think about, you know, I mean, if the overall structure is one relationship, then sort of saying, well, this is mine, this is yours, you're bad, doesn't really address anything.

[40:51]

Because the reality is, in any of those situations, both or all beings are involved. They're sponsoring the issue. And so it becomes, all of these sorts of things become issues that have to be worked out together. This is the most personal kind, seemingly most personal types of things, you know, like, I don't know, say, sedation or whatever. I don't know what to say. Yeah, thank you. Good, yeah. Yeah, other comments? Yes, Dave, hi. One thing that's been helpful for me is how we continue to grow regardless of like, even with these very large problems, you know, the struggle of like, how do I fit into a solution of that? You know, as you're saying, it can be overwhelming sometimes. But the one thing that's been really wonderful for me is finding that there are moments in your everyday life where there are opportunities that just kind of organically present themselves, and it's not you taking on, you know, a machine or something,

[41:52]

but it sticks out of my head about this from my life is I was waiting for a training a couple months ago, and I was on a training platform with this other guy, and he had a really awesome hat that had this Rastafarian lion on it with a flag, and it was just awesome, and he's just really cool, you know, and stuff. And so he walked by, and we kind of made eye contact. I kind of like, I didn't know what he was talking about. I was like, I like your hat, man. It's a cool hat. And then he stopped, and he was like, thanks, man. I really appreciate that. That's really cool. And then he looked at me, and he was like, so I go to this train stop every day, and there's this guy that's here almost every single time, and he never looks me in the eye. Why do you think that is? You know? And I was like, well,

[42:58]

I'm going to continue to be proud. And then he said, bye. So these kinds of things, it's not just like how do I as a white person throw myself in front of this massive complex of racial injustice. It's like, there's going to be moments in everyday life where this stuff will be there. Excellent, thank you. Yes, Deborah. I'm reminded of a quote from someone in the towers. And it would be better if it said, our grief is not a cause for war. So it makes me think about what did we do with our grief, about climate change, about oppression, about depression. Did we turn it into anger? Did we react on that? It's much harder to remove the grief, I think. Yeah, facing grief. That's the big challenge, of the world, of our time.

[43:59]

Not trying to blame it on somebody else or, you know, anyway, yeah. This is what our practice is about. It's not the only thing. We also find our creative energy to respond. we have to face our grief. And it's also about our own stuff, you know, our own patterns of greed and craving and anger and confusion and fear. And going back to what David was saying, when we think of somebody who's doing harm in the world, you know, what is their, what is their fear? What is their anger? What is, you know, what has happened to them? And what is their possibility? That's what Buddha nature is about, that there's a possibility. So we have a little more time if anybody else has something to add. I really appreciate this. Yes, sir. Well, you know, part of the point

[45:00]

that you made is that we have to talk, right? We have to talk to each other. And I was just reflecting on a story that I heard recently from a friend that makes me aware that we all seem to bring some awareness and attention to how we talk. And she told me this is a conjecture that I actually shouldn't have. She was talking about when her son, who's now a young activist, was little. He was very, he was already an athlete. And when he was four, he was playing soccer. And there was a photograph taken of him with four other boys. And all these other boys were African-American. And he was showing this picture to his grandpa. And he said, Grandpa, can you tell which one is me?

[46:04]

And, you know, and, you know, that idea that you have to, these differences have to be learned. And I didn't think that at the time, but now I do really, and it's curious how the grandfather answered. And what that answer is. And how people become aware of it. People become aware of it. it's really important, I think. We lose those to pay attention. Not only that we talk, but obviously. Thank you. Hi. Welcome. Our choice of words as we evaluate what we're thinking about is extremely important. If the words that we choose to describe are exclusionary or absolute, it makes these things difficult. So to have them is important.

[47:05]

I'm sorry to say, you have to. It's important to consider those you say because when we're dealing with an old person, the object is to provide a beautiful conversation, not to keep an out of conversation. And something that does this, this was less effective in the Soviet Union. Thank you. Thanks. So, we need to not be afraid to be afraid. We have to not be afraid to be sad. We can also be happy and joyful

[48:08]

and grateful for lots of things, but, you know, when there's sadness, there's sadness. We can be there. We can be upright with that. We can listen. And sometimes we can even respond helpful. Thank you for your story, David, about your conversation on the Soviet Union, on the up left. Any last comments? Yes, please. I would like to express my thanks and my delight at the invitation that you've extended to me to come today to meet you because I was very much in touch with David through the draft of the Nuclear Energy Innovation Service. We have been able to invent a part of the site that he would want which was mentioned on August 6th, usually around 5.30, Friends Gathered, to remember. And that has taken

[49:09]

many forms over 70 years. I can remember all 70 years. But the point is that we will remember. Thank you so much for your willingness to participate, to be here, and I invite all of you to come and bring your friends. And I don't really know if there are any solutions or if there will be an opportunity for sharing and discussing. But your presence, I think, is the important thing that there are people who remember and volunteer and embrace at all important events. Thank you so much for this opportunity. And that's happiness for me today. Good. Well, thank you for extending that invitation. We will announce it here and put it on our website. There's so much to do. It's okay. We can do it. And thank you

[50:10]

for holding that space for all these years. It's very important that we remember Hiroshima and Vietnam and the attacks, all the attacks every day on black people. So facing all this, when we get the feeling of we can do that, we can face it, it doesn't mean we know what to do. But there's really a joy in not being afraid to remember. It's really important.

[50:41]

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