That was... Is this better? All right. So, where were we? So I'm just going to talk about what we're doing today. We're having a ceremony in which we invite all the hungry ghosts, all the disembodied spirits to come and we feed them. So the ceremony will be in the back of the Zindo, not right here. And so I want to ask the kids, I want somebody to tell me, what is a ghost? Since this is close to Halloween, you should know what ghosts are. Can you tell me what a ghost is?

[01:05]

They're usually white. Yeah? Did you ever see anybody dressed up like a ghost on Halloween? No? Boy, Halloween really changed. When I was a kid, ghosts were, there were a lot of ghosts, a lot of ghost costumes. But, you know, ghosts represent something. Ghost costume represents something. A ghost, so a ghost usually looks like a white sheet with big black eyes that you can, that don't seem to have any pupils. They go, ooooh, in the middle of the night. Do you know them? Those ghosts? Yes. So, a ghost is... What did she say?

[02:14]

It says boo. Boo. Yeah, boo. Sometimes when you are walking in the middle of the night past a tree, a ghost will pop out and say, boo! And then you get scared and run away. Unless you don't. So a ghost is kind of like a person. Matter of fact, Here's the sequence. Person dead, no, person alive, person dead, and in between is a ghost. Do you know anybody that died? Okay, maybe you did and maybe you don't, but a person is alive, and then a person is dead, and in between is a ghost.

[03:17]

So the ghost doesn't know whether he or she is alive or dead. So the ghost is always looking for a place to land. It's always looking for some place to land, to call home. Because the ghost is not at home alive, and it's not at home dead. So that's why ghosts are kind of eerie. Oooooh. Oooooh. And sometimes they... Did you ever hear of a haunted house? Yeah. Haunted house. Haunted house is haunted by ooooh ghosts. So, When we have our ceremony, after my little talk here, we're going to have a ceremony where we invite the ghosts to come and we have a little ceremony where we feed them and then let them go.

[04:34]

So that's basically what we're doing today. After we have the stock, we invite the hungry ghosts because often the ghosts are hungry because nobody's feeding them. They don't have any way to eat. So we feed them because we're sorry for them and hope that they finally find a place to land. So, people are like this too, you know. Ghosts, they don't know where to land. So, we're ghosts as well as those ghosts. Sometimes we don't have a place to call home. So, do you know where your home is? Well, home is a place where you feel okay.

[05:38]

But there's two homes. One is the home where you feel okay, and the other one is the home where you feel yourself okay, where you find yourself right here. That's your real home. So no matter what happens, You always know where you are. So, ghosts don't know that. So, we try to educate the ghosts. That's our job, is to educate the ghosts so they know where their real home is and they don't have to look around for some place to land. I see a lot of nice costumes, very pretty costumes.

[06:45]

When I was a kid, we dressed up as pirates. The boys dressed up as pirates and the girls dressed up as Cinderella. Yes. So, does anybody have any questions about what we're doing in this ceremony? Probably do. So, I think that the ceremony will be explained a little bit before when you come in to sit down. So, I see some ghosts already. Here's one. Hear that? Then there's the one in the back with the hat.

[07:52]

And there's another one right over there. But there will be more. So, yes. Is there something about not being afraid of things that we're usually afraid of? Is that part of it? Yes. Well, yes. Do you know how to, there's a way to, be not afraid of demons. Demons are not exactly ghosts, but they frighten everybody. Like he's a kind of demon, right? So how can you not be afraid of them when you meet them?

[08:59]

That's how. The other way is to shine a light on them because they always exist in the dark. So in order to... I believe it, even though I don't understand it. So to shine a light, to turn around and shine a light on a demon, they can disappear. Ghost, yes, thank you. So we have what we call hungry ghosts, pritta.

[10:17]

Hungry ghost is very hungry all the time. And they have big stomachs, a little bit like me, and real tiny throats. So when they eat, they can eat a lot, but they can't swallow. much because their throats are so thin. And so they're always wanting something. But since they can't digest, or since they can't swallow, there's not enough room in their mouth. So they're always unsatisfied. So when we have our ceremony, I will ask the hungry ghosts I will say a magic word that opens their throats. I'll say a little bit of magic word that opens their throats. And then when we offer them the food, they can swallow it.

[11:21]

So that's very important. So I can't tell you the magic word because then it wouldn't be magic anymore. Is there an English name for the word Seijiki? Well, you know, Seigaki means feeding the goat, the hungry ghost. Seijiki, but in Japan, they think of it as their ancestors, their Japanese ancestors. So Seijiki opens it more widely to everyone's ancestors. It's a different, yeah. Yeah. And it's very akin to Halloween, Halloween evening. The night before is called All Saints Day, and then the next day is called

[12:34]

All what? All souls day. Yes, all the souls that are milling around in the ethereal regions, which includes both the living and the dead. So that's why we do this on Halloween, close to Halloween, because we kind of like to put both those things together. and have our hybrid ceremony. So without further ado, we can close this part of the ceremony, or this part of this talk, and have our ceremony.

[13:21]

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