Okay, welcome everyone. Good morning. We want to welcome a couple of distinguished guests and over to him and Peter over to some Berkeley and as a former, you know, it's a Sahara a lot back in Japan. A lot of time. Peter is a teacher at Berkeley. So good to see you. So, today is amongst other things, Hiroshima. The anniversary of the US government dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. And then 3 days later, so I want to talk about that, but also. I'm going to come back to dog and. And we have some new people here. I don't know if you're if you're you to set those and as well as the ancient dragon. The token is the 13th century. Uh, Japanese went to China and brought back this.

[01:03]

But the age of Buddhism now called set to send. And have many writings, but basically thought about just sitting. This is a practice we do to enact and express. Awareness back to him, but I want to talk about. Hiroshima and also. The current nuclear dangers. And this week, I saw the movie Oppenheimer is sometimes the movie reviews here. I highly recommend it. It's long, but it doesn't feel long. It's talking about the development of the atom bomb during World War 2. And a few of us were up in Evanston yesterday. After yesterday morning, I had an event organized by Buddhist fellowship.

[02:06]

Chicago and Chicago area, these action, among others. To commemorate and for people, we have numbers of people from Hyde Park. There's an event. There this afternoon at 5. At the end, the most sculpture at the site where. And we go firmly led the 1st, which is also part of the film. So. So, to start with. At a long. Many historians now say that. We did not need to drop the atom bomb on Japan.

[03:08]

Japan was already preparing to surrender, but that human did it as a warning. To Russia, which was developing also. To the Soviet Union. And this many, many people, and it's just that's the people immediately and. And and thereafter, many people from radiation sickness for some time thereafter, and it's up to the world. We are lucky that it's the only time that has been dropped. On this planet, we've had many, many, many near. This is. And to say about the situation now.

[04:13]

There are over 13,000 nuclear weapons on our planet. 90% of which are possessed by the United States or Russia. If that may be known as small fraction of these bombs, but you're billions of people. Effectively, and human civilization is now, right? If the weapons don't make us safe. Rather, they turn or prevent more. That the greatest threat to our security is your vital. As a species, and today the threat of nuclear wars, perhaps greater than it's ever been. So, there are a number of things. That people don't know about the United States government's nuclear. Policy 1 is that we had a policy of 1st use. That we have announced that we will use. And nuclear weapons before anyone else before anyone else.

[05:19]

In a given situation. Also, that. There's unchecked launch authority, and it's not just a question of the United States, but many. People lower down the military chain of command who have the capacity to launch nuclear attacks. There are also the nuclear weapons on here, trigger alert. So, in the event of a misunderstanding, something that looks like it. The solar nuclear attack. These, these weapons to be launched immediately. So, and now there's a nuclear weapons race. Between, well, wrote about the United States, but of course, Russia and China. So, we're in a really difficult situation. And there are dangerous situations in Ukraine.

[06:22]

And China see many places where. These could go wrong. So, the only safeguard is to. Eliminate nuclear weapons, and there is a nuclear treaty that other. Countries, besides those nuclear weapons design. To to not have so we're in a difficult situation. And I don't say this to scare anybody, you know, that's not the point. So. We might be afraid of this, but. To be aware. So, this is about awareness, a practice on many levels. The practice that we do here, which is about universal awakening, not just self help, not just becoming completely awakened myself for myself, but we do this together.

[07:28]

And recognizing the situations of the world. So, to be aware of what's happening is. Important. And awareness itself is transformation and has the capacity to change things. So, I want to. Talk about something in my childhood. When I was in grade school, way back in the late 50s. Anyway. In some places, preschool students were supposed to there were we had what called air raid drills as well as fire drills, fire drills.

[08:28]

Air raid drills. Well, in many cases, the students was supposed to under their under their desk. Just to get under the desk as if that would protect them from. And out of bomb these air raid drills were really out of bomb drills. In my school, somehow we did something different. We went down to the basement and there was an air raid drills and we all stood around the perimeter of the basement facing the wall. You did that. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. So, here's later. I remembered that. After several years of. And so I was in practice, the Japanese, such as a priest of New York City. I moved to San Francisco and started practicing. The San Francisco Zen Center, the city center. In the basement was this wonderful.

[09:29]

And we would sit on platforms. Facing the wall. And at some point, I remember, oh, this is like those. And. I remember some, some of my early sessions there for 7 days. I would have, I had intense pain in my legs. And it occurred to me that. Was. Japan's Americans. And it was Japan's revenge against. Revenge against. Maybe. It was also. Maybe doing this. So, of course. Zazen does not need to be capable. Takes a while to settle in. Zazen is the gateway to.

[10:36]

Peace and joy. And I would say it is, but. That's a long process. So, Zazen is about. Maybe it's penance in a way. It's also about just being present. And not like. And paying attention to whatever comes up. And through that, we express and enact. We express and enact. The awareness. And insight of Buddha, not just Buddha. As some guy. Buddha as. The reality of awaken. As you were, and including. On our shoes, not bodies, hearts and minds. So. This connection between Japan and America.

[11:39]

Is really interesting. I think motion is relevant. Some of us really like. Japanese culture and. Rock gardens. Flower arranging tea and. And became an expert in paper. Folding and origami. And she's in Japan. For a couple of years. Hasn't been here in Kyoto. It's wonderful. Hi. But. Zazen is complicated. And it requires, you know, from the first time. Once it's upright. One can feel. What I've come to call wholeness. Just that everything's okay. But it's okay to be this person. On my seat. Together with all these people.

[12:42]

And this. So has that power to just allow us to feel. That our life is. I don't know. There's lots of things to say. None of them catch it. Something that our life is meaningful. And we can choose to make it meaningful. And for anyone who doesn't visit Japan. Going to Hiroshima is a powerful experience. To see the names of the building. Anyway, there's there's a lot to say about Hiroshima. It was a horrible event. And again, we've been. Me as human beings have been lucky.

[13:45]

And we're in the danger of it. We're with it with the conflict in Ukraine. And Russia and the United States both being involved really. Anyway. It's a dangerous situation. It's less than practice works over time. Just showing up. Every day or many days a week, sitting just like this. And it's not about reaching some special state of super awakening or something like that. Although I think it's a bit of a tie stuff to say. Such ideals. Relations, but just to be present. This body, this. Together with all of us. And over time. Doing that, we start to see our own.

[14:48]

It's interesting from our own habits. So in the in the heart sutra, it talks about the five stanzas. Forms, feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness. The second one feelings is not about emotions as we think of it. It's just about positive, negative, or neutral feelings. And we all have that. So to see our own patterns and habits of. We call it delusion, or we could just call. We don't have to call it anything. Just our own patterns of habits of how we think about ourselves in the world. To really acknowledge that is. Big part of sustained practice over time. So we do a chance. Beginning of our services. All my age, artistic primer for beginning must be hate and delusion. Born through body, speech and mind and now fully about.

[15:53]

So this avowal or this acceptance of this. Just acknowledging that we have. Each of us in our own. Way for our own. Past actions and thoughts and so forth particular kind of patterns. Particular ways of being caught. In how we think about ourselves in the world. And the world has this too. Of course. Our country has intertwisted trauma. From the history of slavery and racism, although, you know, there's now this move by some of the politicians and cruelty to eliminate. The history of slavery. My racism, it's slavery was actually. Anyway, you might hear this.

[16:57]

Part of our practice is repentance. This isn't how we usually think about Sam. It says that there is a practice and awakening and. Illumination and anyway, but actually. Don't even talks about repentance. So later on in our service, we're going to chant. One of his writings. The course of the works of God, which is one of the things we sometimes chance. Is his writing on those words for arousing the bow. I'm just going to quote from some of the last part of that. He says that already Buddhist ancestors. We are one with Buddhist ancestors. Contemplating awakening, awakening, but we are one with the wicked world. It talks about. That. In the past, Buddhist ancestors. Also practice this. We can do that as well.

[18:06]

He says. Including this quietly studying and mastering causes and conditions. One is fully informed. By the verified Buddhist. So this is one description. It's awesome, but it's also. Sustained study. Our causes and conditions. One is fully informed by the verified Buddhist. With this kind of repentance. Certainly will come. The inconceivable guidance of Buddha ancestors. That face inconceivable guidance with ancestors. I haven't sure in Americans, but actually, it's part of. Don't be absurdly teachings that when we put ourselves in this position, it's not saying. Everything. Everyone. We will be song, but. Trees and birds and lakes and rivers and everything.

[19:08]

Supports us in. Guys us. Beyond our consent. Beyond how we can see, but see that. To awaken. And and that that's that happens with this kind of repentance. We got technology and power. Our agency. He says, confessing to Buddha with mindful heart and dignified body. The strength of this confession will eradicate the roots of wrongdo. So we don't think of confession as a Zen practice. And it's not this. It's not like going in the same priest and confessing your sins. Confession repentance means something different in Western religions. But just to. Acknowledge all my interested comments. You know, it's pretty big delusion. And to kind of allow that to be present.

[20:14]

And I was also when it comes up. Body, speech and minds. Now fully about so to to acknowledge that we are. Karmic beings that were caught in. The web of causation. This is practice. And acknowledging or allowing. That we do have. Well, I, I won't I shouldn't speak for everyone. But, but many of us have made mistakes. Maybe there are people there, but not, but. Just acknowledging that can transform our heart. So, this practice of repentance. Is not passive. It's an active practice.

[21:25]

It's related to another important. Buddhist practice, skillful means. Which is to say when we see. This ancient truistic karma. In ourselves and in our society, how do we respond? How do we, how do we. Help. Awakened all beings. How do we help to. Prevent harm. To act to mitigate harm. And this applies to our own, you know. As we. Look back on our life, or even as we look back on. Our activity in the last week, how do we acknowledge. This is not to.

[22:35]

Beat yourself up about it, but okay, what do we do? What are the skillful means and there's not a formula for this. This involves patience. And attention and seeing. Seeing how we feel, seeing how others feel, listening to others. Listening is so important. And part of skillful means is that we make mistakes. Or most of us again, maybe, maybe someone who's never made a mistake and that's fine, but. How do we acknowledge and allow. And pay attention to those mistakes and learn from them. And it's not that we fix everything, you know, it's not about that.

[23:37]

It's not about getting some become reaching some perfect place. It's about just acknowledging. And it was also the practice of making the right mistakes. Some mistakes are helpful, some mistakes cause more harm. So, active repentance. To learn from our mistakes and. For our country, looking back on Hiroshima. How do we change our policies? So that we're not in danger of. More nuclear weapons, more nuclear attacks. There have been many, historically, there have been many, many, many.

[24:38]

Very close near misses. Historically, since the Russian. When their weapons were almost launched. We've been very lucky. So. Oh, and I was going to. Also read a passage from. Which is very, very important. In one of many scriptures that are important, but this school that developed from the secret. China. It's very influential on. Dougan's attitude, that's what's practiced.

[25:39]

So, a few little passages. 1st, it says you should arouse the terminations on itself. Complete perfectly awakened and purified your minds. We'd well be able to repent and get rid of all obstruction. Due to past actions, constructions. So, you know, sometimes we can. Get rid of some habits. I told the story about how I quit smoking. A month after I started, just because I enjoyed my breathing. Good morning. So, so some habits can go away. Even addicted habits. And some are just so deep that they're always there. But how do we not get caught by them? How do we not react to them? How do we not act on these?

[26:42]

Old habits. Will further. In this passage. It says. The assembly asked the. Given these teachings. Well, they attained unprecedented wonder and were very joyful. Then they asked, how does the great awakening being of and get rid of all false? The awakening being part of the response was the awakening being knows that conditioning conditioning apps do not come from any particular location. Yeah, they accumulated. It's always from delusion and have no abode. The awakening being clearly sees this.

[27:46]

Uncertainty and has no doubts confusion. So. So, to speak of such essential beings. Cautiousness, wrath and delusion, and their various actions. Yet there really is no self or possession. All actions performed. The resulting consequences of this. Passive transmigration cannot be found wherever humans seek. Just as my voice is not born, does not perish. So. This is just to say that these patterns can be very deep in our hearts and minds and to witness them and to acknowledge them to ourselves and maybe sometimes to others. To admit to having made mistakes.

[28:49]

This practice helps us to be more fully. Awake and aware and kind and helpful. To others and emotions so. Maybe I'll stop there and I'm interested in. The responses you have about. Repentance or about or about Japan. Or anything else, so thank you very much. Both of you can help people. So, responses. Yes, could you say your name? Justin. I just. All right, and could you speak up? Yes, I've read a couple of your. Responses to films. I would say I've also seen Oppenheimer. Your story about the face of Pittsburgh and I was just making the connection with the

[29:58]

word refuge. It's just too much to pass up. Yes, being that you were in a refuge from the world around you. So I'd love to hear. That's some thoughts. Yeah, thank you. Yes, so this is definitely this practice. Repentance is definitely related to taking refuge, which is a. A major practice in all of this to take refuge to return home. To Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Does anyone not know what those words mean? Just to say, Buddha is the awakened one, but the awakening in everything. The awakened aspect of all beings in all situations. Dharma is the teaching of the truth about this. And Sangha is community. So we have this Sangha here. It's wonderful. And there are many songs. So wherever you find community, that is nourishing. That's the treasure of Sangha.

[30:59]

And so to return home to that is. In some way, repentance is acknowledging. That we do have institutional problems and that we can go beyond. So yeah, that's a formal practice that we do here. And sometimes chanting the refugees, but also we have lay ordination, priest ordination, and so forth. David, I can't see if you're wearing a watch. Yes, so David Ray is one of the few people who has recently received lay ordination here and took refuge formally last month. So, yeah, thank you for mentioning that. That's important. You know, I'm part of taking refugees too. We can see what do we take refuge in? What movies do we take refuge in? And there are a lot of good ones.

[31:59]

I also saw Barbie this week. I also recommend that. It's smarter than, you know, much. And very political. Yes, Eve. Oh, yeah, I mean, I'm a little younger than you, but my principal was older, which is, I think, why, you know, when I was in grade school, we went downstairs and went against the wall, but it didn't really feel like much of a refugee. Yeah, I mean, and I think it's interesting to consider what living in the shadow of the bomb did to those of us who grew up with it. And so that's our generation and every generation since. And I know for me, it kind of worked my development. I mean, because I learned about nuclear fission before I learned about sex. And I'm not talking about it experientially.

[33:04]

I mean, I genuinely didn't know. I knew like there was something about the sperm and the egg, but nobody explained it to me. But they explained nuclear fission, which is weird when you think about it. It is weird. And so I, you know, I was afraid and I didn't quite get that it was just the uranium atoms that split. And I'm not sure how I'd reconciled this with the fact they'd already set off the bomb. But maybe anyway, I remember thinking that the world would unravel when from that atoms would split apart and everything would be destroyed. And actually, you know, that and the fear of, you know, like Jan's activism. I mean, for me, that knowledge of the possibility of nuclear war and annihilation, that's what led to me going into social science and applied social science and feeling like, you know, we had all this technical knowledge, but we didn't understand how to govern ourselves

[34:12]

peacefully. But I don't know. So, yeah, I just wanted to say that I think I think it and my mother, you know, before I was born, before she was married, you know, she spent time in Japan. So I heard about Japan from when I was very little. I have the cloisonné basis that she got there. But so, I mean, I certainly never, you know, like demonized Japan or felt that there was enough reason to drop the bomb on them. But anyhow, I guess I was just reflecting on what it what it does to human consciousness and development of ourselves to know that we live in the shadow of that kind of annihilation. Yes, thank you. And I'll note that one of our staff members, Shimona, is in Japan now. And Steve, you once asked me, I think in this room, how did I come to Zen?

[35:16]

And I think I answered Vietnam, but I could have said Eurasia. So, yes, we've lived in the shadow. Thank you. Other comments, responses? Oh, David, hi. Something that's been coming up for me a lot recently, probably because of work and the work that I do. But something when Justin said, when he talked about taking refuge, I offered this as a question and not just a comment. But the word refuge, I see more, not so much as taking refuge, but remembering connection. Refuge is like, you know, it's myself and I'm, you know, seeking safety for myself in a way.

[36:18]

But I think maybe more important is for us to seek connection and connectionism. So, I am connected to Buddha and I'm connected to the Dharma and I'm connected to the Sangha, rather than seeking refuge and seeking my own safety, but rather acknowledging my own connection to all of those. And I think that's the part for me that is really, that I'm thinking a lot about recently. There's a slight nuance that's different there. And I'd love to get your comments on that. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, so refuge is connected to the idea of sanctuary, that we're safe. But I think it's more like, as I was calling it, returning home. And returning home means returning home to our connections with everything.

[37:21]

I mean, not just connections, it's not that we're separate, actually. We are, I mean, of course we could feel separate, but we are one with the Sangha, one with the whole situation of the world. We're not separate. So, yeah, so that's some of that connectionism work. I'm just going to pass it on to Hashim, to the older folks in there, somebody asked him, what is, in one word, what is the essence of Zen? And he said, non-separation. I'll say it right away. So, we're not separate. We're not separate from each other, we're not separate from ourselves. And repentance, as a practice, is really becoming aware of that. Becoming aware of that we think we're separate. We do. We have patterns of body, speech, and mind, and habits and experiences that make us feel

[38:25]

separate. And our practice is just how to heal that. So, thank you very much, Jim. Hi, Anne. I said you take refuge in the movie, and I feel that, I mean, I think it's important to learn the sutras and listen to our teachers. But there are people, you know, there's a special angel who walk among us. Yes. There are people who don't know anything about Buddhism who are teachers for them. I took a computer class, and the teacher was like, there's no barrier between you. He used to teach computer skills to homeless people. And so, I just wish you'd make some comments about what people don't know about Buddhism who are teaching me. And I feel like when people talk about Buddhism, we don't get credit for those people. That's all I want to say. Thank you. I very much agree. So, I was talking last week about the ancestors. So, we talk about the Buddhist ancestors.

[39:27]

The ancestors, you know, in the Zen form of some lineage going back to Shakyamuni Buddha 20,000 years ago, and now in northeastern India. And we have a bunch of names. And, of course, the younger generation, there were many teachers. And, of course, we have all kinds of ancestors. So, in Japan, actually, in Japan, that's a cultural thing that you connect with a particular lineage. I don't know if there was a lineage of paper making connected with doing that. But there are martial arts lineages, and there's cultural lineages. So, does anybody here like music? Well, whatever kind of music you like, there's a whole litany of ancestors who helped to bring that to you. Or literature, or art, or social action. There are ancestors. And they're not just ancestors way back, you know, in India, or China, or Japan, or in

[40:31]

Europe, or Europe, or wherever. They're ancestors everywhere now. And I wrote an article about ancestors in the future. So, we are living in this complex time that is not just about right now. And so, yes, yes, yes. It's not about Buddhism, you know. Buddhist institutions, you know, are very fallible because they're made up of human beings. So, difficulties arise. But to look at who inspires you, what inspires you. Anne, can you say one of your favorite movies? Oh, I can't even think. I want to see Oppenheimer very much. I read a book. It was not about Oppenheimer. It was somebody who, when your king goes almost, you had to come in to Santa Fe and somebody would arrange the rides there and stuff. So, she talked about the community.

[41:32]

And Oppenheimer, it has a lot of stuff about Oppenheimer, but it's more like the vibes that was going on in the group. And she said, people wanted to be part of something Oppenheimer was doing. Yeah. And I felt also, I've been working on trying to find forgiveness for someone who was a leader in my life a long time ago. And I felt also like him, you can't help being who you are. You can change and you can learn things and all kinds of stuff, but you kind of can't help being who you are. And that's something in my path of trying to find forgiveness for someone. But he changed a lot. I think about reflection himself, but earlier in his life, he just is who he is, you know. And I felt that way about Oppenheimer. You know, he made decisions and changed a lot of things, but he is who he is. Yeah. So, it's not about, you know, I mean, Buddhism is wonderful.

[42:33]

I love the Dharma. I love the Dharma study, I just have to confess that. But, you know, there are all kinds of wonderful spiritual teachings. Oppenheimer was a Taoist who was inspired by the Bhagavad Gita. There are many, many wonderful spiritual and cultural and artistic traditions, and they're alive now. And the reason they're alive now is because of many things in the past and in the future, looking back at us and encouraging us. That's how I see it. Other comments, responses, perspectives, questions. Oh, hi, Jan. Oh, hi. Hiroshima wasn't, and not excitingly, weren't the only place we brought bombs. There's a new map of the United States showing the fallout from the Trinity explosion that

[43:40]

was in the air, and the 93 explosions that were in the air that were perpetrated at the Nevada test site. And Trinity is dwarfed by this map of fallout. And then we have to consider that, yeah, in a way, talk and say, and continue. Oh, yeah. Because Bikini was where we dropped Castle Bravo, and even with Trinity, the scientists were making bets as to whether it would set the atmosphere on fire. And Castle Bravo is included in a book called, I can't remember the name of the book, but. So Jan is mentioning islands in the Pacific where we did make the tests. And Castle Bravo is considered one of the five major nuclear accidents in the world,

[44:47]

because it was so, the power of it was so unexpected. And many scientists were just literally knocked against the wall because they thought they were in a protected place. And so I just think that we ought to consider the fact that we bombed ourselves as well as the Japanese. And other people. And other people. And I wanted to say something personal, and that is, I learned something this week, being that, you know, sometimes I feel guilty about what makes me laugh. And I think, how could you think that was funny? And I realized that I laugh at things that are ironic. And every time you laugh, it's not because something is funny. And so I kind of eased my conscience about laughing at things, because I got a letter

[45:48]

from a woman who was all ready to go on a trip. She was going to a family reunion with Miss Gibbons, because these members of her family were anti-vaxxers, etc. And she had to cancel her trip on the very day because they'd all gotten COVID. So that made me laugh. And I thought, that's not funny. And so I just wanted to say that as a personal thing that I learned. I'm pleased for your confession. Yes. And then I wanted to say something political, if it's okay. And that is that this weekend is the weekend of the Hiroshima bombing. And it's a time for Americans to contemplate, to repent, and to be quiet and consider what has happened. But in Chicago, they planned Lollapalooza this weekend.

[46:52]

And I was really offended by this. I was listening to Raphael on WFMT, and the very first piece that he played was called Lollapalooza. And it was in recognition of Lollapalooza that was taking place this weekend. And I listened to most of the rest of the show. He never mentioned Hiroshima. And this was the same weekend as Hiroshima. And I feel that we are depriving people of their memory by not acknowledging a weekend or a day or a couple of days, three probably, where we need to be silent. We need to think. And instead of distracting ourselves with bread and circuses, if you'll pardon the expression, so okay.

[47:54]

And then I'm going out to one other subject. I did not like Papantanga. And that is because of the way the story was presented. It was way too bombastic for me. And that is definitely a time. And I felt really offended by the presentation. And so another repentance that I have is my picky, picky about negative things. The organist at the Music Box played We'll Meet Again as the last selection on his concert. And the audience did not recognize that We'll Meet Again was the last scene in Dr. Strangelove, How I Learned to Quit Worrying and Love the Bomb. And Beryl Lynn singing this song that just makes you cry.

[48:56]

And the audience had no idea. They were, they were too young to remember this. And this, the organist bringing this up just before the movie of Oppenheimer was not recognized. And I really have to confess it. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you, Jan. Jan is one of our shopping activists. I want to thank you for all that. And just to say a little bit. Just that Trinity is kind of the center of the, yeah, that movies might be criticized in various ways. But it's an education about that period. And part of what's happening now, I've talked about how we have politicians who promote caring and politicians who promote cruelty. And some of the politicians of cruelty now are trying to erase our history.

[50:01]

And this is dangerous. So to know about history is important. Not to ban books. One of my favorite books is Beloved by Toni Morrison. It's banned in I don't know how many states. Anyway, so talking, so I sometimes talk about history. And I like history. We need to know. So this goes back to introducing crime. We need to know our personal history and acknowledge and vow and sometimes you can't. And we need to know our cultural history. To think that slavery was beneficial to slaves is just crazy. And so we need to respond to cruelty with caring. And thank you for mentioning, by the way, Jan. Jan is an anti-nuclear power activist as well. And so along with Russia, we've had Chernobyl and Three Mile Island and Fukushima, which

[51:06]

is still leaking. Gorbachev said that Chernobyl was by the Soviet Union class. And so this is a current issue in that war. They're the largest nuclear power plants in the world. So the shell that they put to supposedly protect the environment against the irradiated contents at the bottom of the lagoon. And in Bikini, it stinks recently. It's been leaking. So, so much for the neighborhood. Yeah, right. Yeah, we don't know what to do with it. There's another comment. Peter, hi. Hi, thank you very much for speaking about all the things. Can you speak up for the people online?

[52:06]

Thank you for speaking about all the things. I think it reminded me how I became aware of what actually happened in Russia when I was about 12 and growing up, but whatever, whether it's because I was growing up in a community where the fish was bent, so to speak, or realized. For some reason, I wanted to know something more about what happened. But then I found myself taking a look at my school libraries. John heard about food, which was the sort of first explanation. I remember reading just sort of like, I can only read so much of it.

[53:10]

But at that time, experiences, it's the horror of this event, as people actually experienced some rather experiences at the time. It's certainly well in the sense of, you know, it generated this question about how could we do such a thing? Thank you so much. Peter and I grew up in Hyde Park. We have a number of people from Hyde Park here today. You know, we forget things.

[54:12]

Hiroshima was horrible. I've been to the museum, and one of the most impressive things for me that sits in my mind is a series of steps that was on the bank. It was a bank, and it was a series of steps going up. And all of the steps are charred to a dark brown, except this one little spot is almost like an oval, and it's a lighter color. What it was, there was a person sitting on the steps. So he got incinerated, and those steps did not get the full brunt of the explosion, and that's why they are faded. But it goes beyond eruption. A hundred thousand people died in the fire bombing of Tokyo and whatnot, and that pilots actually got sick from the stench of burning flesh that came up to them, and that's been recorded. Dresden, I think it was 70,000 people died in the fire bombing of Dresden, and some of

[55:18]

them wasn't fired. They just died from lack of oxygen. The fire sucked up all the oxygen. So it's not so much Hiroshima. Hiroshima is bad. I'll go along with all this. What is basic is, what are we as a species doing to each other? This is the real crux. It's just that we have found more and more new technology to inflict pain upon each other, and that, I think, is the real crux that we have to deal with. Granted, we have the atom bomb, and it is horrible. And also, to a certain extent, I disagree having studied history, and to read Margaret Mead, and how she was brought in, and she wrote Samson and the Sword about Japan. And in wars, usually you get four casualties on one capture, and they brought her in because

[56:20]

in World War II, they were killing 1,000 Japanese and getting one capture. Just way higher, because Japanese culture does not allow you to surrender. And there really was a fear that if they went in and invaded Honshu, the main island, that a million people would die, Japanese, and so in a sense, Hiroshima was a sacrificial lamb for another 900,000 people. But it's still, the crux of it is, why are we doing what we do to each other, and why are we not connected to one another? And that, to me, is, you know, I grew up like you, ducking cover. I remember the Nike missiles that used to be just south of Belmont Harbor, that were protecting us from the Russians and their bombs. And every day, you know, my father would take me downtown, and we'd go, and we'd see

[57:23]

these missiles. We're living with this fear, and I think it's that living with that fear has exacerbated our society, that we are so under the threat of dying, that we just think of ourselves, and we don't think of each other, and how we're related to one another. Unfortunately, my biggest thing is, again, going back to what I said, for me, my megalomania, so to speak, my Moby Dick, is the lack of connection, and how we have to connect, connect, connect. And that's where I think the real, the real crux of the issue is, how can we do that? Oh, yeah. Obviously, you know, it's a machine, and if there's some value in looking very blindly at what actually happens, what people's actual experience was, it's to be in some sense of understanding about that.

[58:27]

That's the kind of thing that we talked about. Yeah. Yes, thank you, David. Yeah, I heard recently that now war in Ukraine and elsewhere is intentionally attacking civilians. That didn't happen before World War II. So, soldiers attacking soldiers. Since World War II, all war is war against civilians, against women and children, to a great extent. So, yeah, all wars are good for absolutely nothing. And just one other thing that I was going to mention, and didn't, you know, we had these

[59:34]

air raid or atom bomb drills, where we literally got on their desks, or went down to the basement, as that would say. Now, I'm really horrified that schoolchildren today have active shooter drills. It's just, it's horrible. Along with the atom bombs. Anyway, I feel so sad for the children today. So anyway, this is, so we need to confess and recant that this is part of our lives. We each have, we all have made mistakes personally and our society. And so how do we heal that? Thank you all.

[60:30]

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