Today is a special day. There's going to be, and starting very soon, a major peace march in San Francisco. So I think it's appropriate for me to say something about the reality of what people are protesting. I've given a number of talks related to the subject of the direction that our country is headed and sometimes Most people think that it's appropriate. Some people think it's not appropriate.

[01:01]

We come to the Zen Do for various reasons. And people have different opinions. And if I express my, what I believe are not opinions, but facts, Sometimes people say, well, where's the other side? Well, I would just love more than anything else to be proven wrong. I would totally cherish the truth that what I'm saying is off base and wrong. Nothing could make me happier. So, please. One of the questions that comes up is the appropriateness of Buddhism and social action.

[02:23]

Buddhism tends to be a monastic as well as a lay practice. And in China, the Buddhists were given permission to not be part of society. In other words, not to be subject to the rules of society, but to be able to monitor their own Buddhist society, monastic society. Buddhism has this kind of special relationship, or did in China, at some point anyway, to have an independence from social issues. And in the past, the monarchs, most countries were run by monarchs,

[03:25]

and the people didn't have a lot to say unless there was revolution. So we hear people like Dogen and Dogen's teacher saying, don't get mixed up with social issues, the politics and all that. But in our day and in America, we have the permission and the ability to influence events for better or worse. In Japan people always complain, you know, not always, but in recent years people have been, there has been a kind of revelation of the complicity of Buddhism with the Japanese aggressive spirit during the war, during the Second World War, and a lot of criticism of how the Buddhists complied and went along with the war machine.

[04:43]

For one thing, it was really impossible to dissent, almost impossible to dissent. But aside from that, it's hard for me to see how people can complain about that and yet not feel that as Buddhists we have a right and a duty to express our strong opposition to aggressiveness. I think we have to do that. It would be hypocritical to criticize Japanese Buddhists and to not express ourselves as American Buddhists. Sometimes people say, well, maybe you should do it in a different venue than a lecture.

[05:50]

But I don't think so. I think this is the place. It's the place to express and also to express another view other than my view. So I'm going to express my view, and you're welcome to question it. sometimes someone will say, well, you know, you're sitting up there and you have this authority, and people are a little hesitant to question, but you shouldn't feel that way. In Buddhist understanding, the ability to not be caught by power is the most difficult practice or the most difficult thing to avoid.

[06:59]

Once a person, you know, in the progression of maturity of a student, there are many steps, you know, like being free from greed, being freed from delusion, being freed from ill will, but being freed from power is the most difficult. Once one has power, tastes power, it's almost impossible to let go of it. So it takes a very mature person to be in a place or in a seat of power and not be dominated by it or caught by it. So this is the kind of problem that we have in our country at this point.

[08:05]

The problem of how to not be dominated by our own power. it's like one day we woke up and we're the most powerful nation on earth and the president is the most powerful person in the world whether that person is educated or not no matter how a person gets there and this is the history of power is exactly like this. And it usually comes with a succession of family. So, I have a little list of things.

[09:25]

We were handed, our government was handed a wonderful present by whoever it was that bombed the World Trade Center. Do you know who it was? Who was behind it? No. But we all say the same thing. It was Osama bin Laden. It's all circumstantial evidence. Maybe, see, maybe that, maybe so. Could be. But nobody knows for sure. And since it's impossible to catch this person, we focus on somebody else.

[10:32]

Saddam Hussein, who had nothing to do with it. But 50% of the people in our country think that Saddam Hussein was responsible for that act. There's a problem in a country where there's an overwhelming power and it's that even the people would rather go along with and believe the rhetoric than to question it. That is the big problem. It's more comfortable to go along with the rhetoric than to actually see and question what your own logic will tell you.

[11:38]

So, right now, we have weapons inspectors, the UN has weapons inspectors, inspecting everything except Saddam Hussein's intestines. But it doesn't matter, does it? It doesn't matter whether the inspectors turn up with something or don't turn up with something. It makes no difference. Every day more troops are going into the Middle East.

[12:44]

Every day. The two things, if you read the newspapers, the front page says every day more and more troops are being sent and weapons to the Middle East to do something. And the inspectors are saying there's nothing there, we can't find anything, give us more time. George Bush says, I'm sick and tired of this. There was, in the New Yorker, an article about Mussolini's image, photographs. Short story by an Italian who grew up during the Mussolini years. And the image of Mussolini was projected to the Italians.

[13:51]

The jaw. It was like the jaw. Strength in power. A very subtle comparison, actually, to what's going on now. The other thing is the financial page of the paper. I never used to read the financial page. So boring. Who cares about money? But now it's the most interesting page. It's the most interesting page in the paper. Thousands of people being laid off. Every time you pick up the financial page, 3,000 people being laid off from this company. 4,000 people being laid off for the economy. There's no depression. The economy's doing okay, you know.

[14:56]

The truth is not being really revealed. I mean, it's revealed if you read it. If you read between the lines, you can see the truth. But the truth in print is not there. People are being sold a bill of goods. And if you want to be comfortable, then you buy the bill of goods. It's easier to be comfortable than to be questioning. Then we have North Korea. North Korea can hardly feed its own people. It has nuclear capability, but the charge is that if a country like North Korea has nuclear capability, then they're dangerous.

[16:06]

If Saddam Hussein has nuclear ability, then he's dangerous. Well, you know, all countries want to defend themselves. So if we take out anything, any weapons they have to defend themselves with, then it's easy for us to go in and take them out, because there's no resistance. That's a wonderful plan. There's no logic to why we want to invade Iraq except for their oil. I mean, everybody knows this. How can you not know this? Saddam is a tyrant. So? So what? There are lots of tyrants in the world.

[17:09]

Saddam gassed his own people. Well, we did too. Did you ever hear of the syndrome that the soldiers, our soldiers in Iraq are suffering from, which is irradiation poisoning from our own munitions. It's an epidemic in the army. It's right there in the newspaper. We poisoned our own troops. We're so hypocritical. But people are buying these lies, this hypocrisy. North Korea is a threat.

[18:16]

They can hardly free their own people. Saddam can hardly... It's very interesting, in the newspaper there was an article about the elite of Iraq who are living the high life. this group of people who are smugglers and so forth. Well, what about us? Nobody talks about Enron anymore. Every corporation, almost every big corporation in America is a potential Enron. We have so much corruption in our country that we're just not paying attention to because This war thing, this threat of war, is constantly taking over everything and spreading a blanket over our real problems.

[19:21]

It's a ploy. You know, all the environmental One by one, all the environmental advances of the past 30 years are being done away with. Do you know that? The Endangered Species Act is about to go. The wetlands are about to go. Even in our state, the Coastal Commission is in deep trouble. pollution is the lowest on the list. They still need more investigation about global warming.

[20:29]

While the polar caps are melting, it's all being turned back. And people are just asleep. And the whole rest of the world can see this. The whole world can see this except for us, because we're so close to it. When you're so close, it's hard to see what's really happening. But when you have a little distance, and you feel the arrogance and the disregard, and the way we roll over everyone, and the way we embarrass everyone, and the way we humiliate everyone, it's surprising that we lasted this long.

[21:48]

We just keep humiliating people over and over and to the point where something will happen to us. And then we'll say, why did that happen? Why did 9-11 happen? They're just bad people. So, then there's North Korea threatening or pulling out of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. Well, duh! That's what we did. Don't you remember? We totally disregarded the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. Get rid of it. It's old-fashioned. So we trashed it.

[22:52]

And then we're blaming, and then we're saying, well, North Korea is getting out of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. And then there's the preemptive strike. Preemptive strike means that if you suspect somebody of plotting against you, you go and get them first. Well, with that philosophy, if I'm walking down the street and somebody gives me a dirty look, I can shoot them. What starts at the top, what's good for the top is good for the bottom. This is the message that we're sending to the world. And they're saying, well, if you can do it, we can do it. You know, we're supposed to be the leader of the free world.

[23:55]

And what kind of message are we giving to the world, whether it's free or not free? If you have the power, take what you want, and to hell with it. That's the message. So we're drunk with power. Drunk with power. And everybody better mind. I'm sick and tired of waiting. You better mind. It's the way you talk to your children when you're in 1920s. So, I think there are a good number of people who are really concerned and I encourage, there are a lot of people who are not here today because they're at the Peace March and I encourage everyone to take part if you can.

[25:23]

So, do you have any questions? Stan? Thank you for your depressing... I'll be leaving right after this to go over to the BART station and go and join the march. I've been to many, many marches in my life. how does our Buddhist practice help all this? Help with this depressing situation? I think one way it helps, and mainly what I've been hearing coming from you, is to look deeply at the interconnectedness of all things and to see how this relates to this. a hard time understanding how Buddhism and Buddhist practice can guide us in the middle of this kind of crisis that we're in.

[26:47]

Well I think it's important you know as you said to see the interconnectedness of everyone in this world and to work for the harmony of the whole world as a basis. When you have the fundamental understanding, then, you know, I can't say what you should do, but out of that basic understanding and the will to make that happen, you'll do something. You'll do what's appropriate according to the situation. You know, it looks like We have to have overt acts in order to see what makes something happen. But our attitudes influence people. And when we act out of our understanding and our attitude for peace and harmony,

[27:57]

Whatever we do has implications and moves things, even though we don't see how it moves things. So we want to see results, maybe, but you don't always see results. Results can be very subtle. Suddenly you know after a long period things change and you wonder well how'd that happen? It's kind of like you plant seeds in the ground and then all winter they're in the ground and in the spring something happens so I think it's important it's not like suddenly you see results but over a period of time there's a change and I think we have to be able to have patience the patience to allow that to happen. Thank you so much for your talk.

[29:06]

Actually, I'm not depressed to hear this talk because I waited to hear for 22, 23 years. Twenty-two, three years ago, we gave this power to Saddam Hussein to fight with Iran for eight years. And then we followed up with the Irangate, with that court that we had in American television. For how many months we had that court? And nobody even speak out what happened to that country. I was in Iran this summer. I saw kids with the cancer all over. So because of there was the nuclear and those chemical weapon Saddam used. And Saddam is so confused now. What's wrong? I'm the same person. You gave me all the power and I'm not doing anything. I'm your friend.

[30:07]

Why are you right now coming back to me? So for me, as a Muslim practicing Buddhism, as your question, and helping me just to work on my own healing, that's the best thing I can do to heal myself and hopefully that helps me. The United States We froze Iran's $32 billion since this moment, and we have embargo on Iran. We don't do any investment or business, and only then we call them your terrorists. I mean, that's all, called terrorists, and they have no evidence whatsoever with Iran that any terrorist has happened.

[31:08]

There is no document, anything. It has been the best relationship we've had. We don't know if they took the Shah, they brought the Khomeini. All of these things have happened, and we as, you know, just Iranians, we are with them because there is oil there. That's all. There is oil there. So what can we teach our children? And I love this country. I love people. And all of us are going to live here. I have six grandchildren, all American. So how can I fight with America? And how can I ignore Persian or that part of the world? I really appreciate for your talk today. And so, I started a TV program, Persian TV program, last week on self-healing. That's all I can do. It's a satellite program, goes all over the world with Afghans, Persians, speaking Farsi and speaking American, I mean English.

[32:18]

And that's all teaching Qigong, teaching nutrition, teaching Buddhism, just silently. Well, I think everyone has to just do what they can. You know, it's like sometimes people say, well, my little thing, what does that mean, you know? I have my little whatever it is. But sometimes I think about it rains, you know. And there's some, when I was at Tassajara, I think about this. It rains one day and there's some water that comes down and drops. And then I look at the creek the next day and it's just rushing by. All this water in drops collects and becomes this torrent. So every drop counts, even though you don't see how that counts, it does. And it takes all those drops to make the torrent. So this is what the march is, right?

[33:19]

It's all those drops walking down Market Street in a stream. Yes. That's a very beautiful image of the drop in the water. And I think that torrent is a lot larger than we here in Berkeley and in this community know. And I'm very concerned about things like that 50% of Americans think that Saddam Hussein bombed the World Trade Center. We have to be so careful, not just to look at very carefully and not believe what we read about what's happening in other parts of the world, but also what's happening in this country. We're not separate. from the other people in this country. And I think shortly after September 11th, I was traveling throughout the United States talking to people, hearing statistics like 90% of Americans support President Bush.

[34:20]

All Americans think we should just go bomb them. That's not what people were saying. They were saying, I don't want to see anyone else hurt. They were saying, these are tiny little towns in the middle of America. There are terrorists everywhere in this country included. The violence has to stop. And as long as we, who think of ourselves as liberal, think, oh, we're separate. We're different. They don't get it. They're foolish. We're stuck. We're trapped. And that torrent isn't going to get as big and beautiful and strong as it could be. I also wonder where all the statistics come from. I'd like to say that I do agree with much of what you said about the Bush administration. I'm no fan of theirs. But the question that comes up for me is that it's been demonstrated over the 20th century that there is in fact great evil and danger in the world. And I believe it must be confronted at certain times.

[35:24]

The best example being Hitler. I wonder if there are people here who believe that a pacifist approach to Hitler would have been the correct approach. I don't believe that. as September 11th to demonstrate there is significant danger to this country posed by people who hate us. Maybe they don't understand us. They're fed propaganda. But it is our right to defend ourselves and I believe that when you're faced with people who are essentially dangerous, that a pacifist approach invites destruction of ourselves. Now, whether Saddam Hussein reaches that threshold is something that people can debate in many ways.

[36:28]

I'd like to hear if people think that it is wrong to oppose any evil through deterrence, through strength, and a demonstration that we will defend ourselves. And just the great threat that we face here is nuclear proliferation. the deliverance of nuclear weapons into the hands of terrorists or rogue states who could just as easily have put it into a container and shipped it into Oakland and detonated it here. I think that is a real threat that we have to acknowledge and try to prevent. I'd like to say something about a pacifist approach. Pacifist approach does not mean passiveness. Pacifist means peaceful.

[37:34]

It doesn't mean passive. Pacifist approach is positive approach. All those people marching against the war is pacifist, but it's not passive. It's a positive approach. The passive approach was in Hitler's Germany. Everybody let him do it. That's passive. How could Hitler rise to power except that people were passive enough to allow that to happen? That's passive. Pacifist is active, is an activity. Like Gandhi, he defeated the British Empire. The Gandhian approach of passive resistance was resistance in a non-violent way.

[38:35]

Gandhi proved that that could happen. Actually, the British Empire came apart through this little guy in a loincloth. and Churchill hated him. Peaceful resistance is the only way to create a peaceful world. Einstein says, you cannot prepare for war and peace at the same time. So, was it wrong for us to have fought Hitler in World War II? No, because we were attacked. The war machine was already, you know, moving. Right now, there's no country that's attacking us. There was an act of violence by a group, somebody. But there's no country attacking us.

[39:38]

Who would do that? This is the most powerful country in the world. Nobody can even touch it. It's like a mosquito trying to bite an iron bull. No country would dare to attack us. It's totally out of the question. Who would attack us? Name one country that would attack us, that was sane. Who? Who? Nobody would attack us. But you had your hand up. Sensei, many people talk about 9-11 and the current situation, but we have to look back further, many decades. Right after the Second World War, things started happening so that the United States started just slowly grasping the most

[40:41]

countries. This professor emeritus of UC system, Chalmers Johnson, wrote this book called Blowback. He recounts every country that the United States has military posts in. Believe it or not, in this time and day, we have over 800 military posts in so many countries throughout the world in the choices properties of those countries that No wonder people are saying we don't like Americans. So we shouldn't say, why don't they like us? I urge all of you to get this background information from the book Blowback. It's very informative and very non-biased by Chalmers Johnson. Okay, thank you. Yeah, just briefly, I guess a quick question. I just get worried. What is the nature of reality? I mean, trying to think about that, because we, from an African-American point of view, although I'm not completely African-American, the problem's right here.

[41:54]

I mean, you all know about the Tuskegee Airmen, you know, about the smallpox. So from my point of view, the problem is right here. You all know about Ford, you know, and his anti-Semitic platform. The problem is, If you look at them, are right in this room, right in Berkeley, the SWAT stickers or whatever on the African American dorm on the Berkeley campus, it's like the problem isn't out there, it's right here. There's nobody to kill out there. The problem is running our government. The white people in America, these are the problems. I'm not saying white people, I am saying white people Asian people, American people. We are the problem. So I get nervous. I feel you. Let's go get Saddam. He's tortured, killed some really cool people. A lot of people tortured and killed a lot of cool people.

[42:55]

Martin Luther King, Malcolm X. Who killed those people? Did their killers that are in jail kill those people? Not really. Who killed JFK? Cool. I think that it's easy to start getting into an us versus them sort of a feeling about all this when we think about the government in our frustration as being evil. Nobody said evil. What? Nobody said evil. Well, we are bad.

[43:57]

People have good excuses for doing what they're doing is a side we can fall towards. And I feel like it's teetering on that in this discussion. There is, I think it's important to remember that 99% of people are really trying to do their best to do what they think is right. They're trying to do what they think is good. And that includes not only people here, but the people in the government who are making decisions. They're trying to do their jobs. They're trying to, which they see as being protecting our interests as being the highest good. We can argue with that. That's debatable. But they're trying to do their best, most people. Maybe Hitler is not among them. Maybe he is, actually. And maybe even Bush himself is really trying to do what he thinks is right. There's good in all these people and we need to, if we're trying to convince them that what they're doing is based on delusion or is harmful, it's good to remember that aspect of them and try to reach them based on that faith in their intention.

[45:17]

They are trying to do their best to do what they want to do. Now Bush maybe, I don't know. But it's harder to explain his position by the things I'm talking about. But there's a Congress backing him up. And there's a genuine fear about a threat, I think, whether it's delusive or not. There is the intention to protect us. We just need to go about and re-educate them about how to really do that. That's a good idea. How can we remember that they are not just basically evil? They really are. They're very close to us. The difference between them and us is very small. I think dualities are problematic. You don't need but two circular arguments. And I just want to quickly say, dualities are problematic by definition.

[46:23]

And I just wanted to say that I've seen very little evidence that the American government is working on behalf of the American people. And it's an unfortunate state of affairs. But what I wanted to say most was that the way in which I interpreted your talk was hearing a call to consciousness or awareness or awakeness, which would then favor an ability to distinguish propaganda from what might be going on. Because I think that things are such that it's very difficult for many people to believe that things other than the truth are being disseminated and that maybe their own government isn't working on behalf of them and is in fact working on behalf of others.

[47:29]

And so I agree that I believe if we can wake up to our own disillusions that have been held for so many years, so rigidly held for so many years. This is a free country, this is a free country, this is a free country. And if we can accept the fact that maybe it's become less of a free country, then maybe we can collectively organize ourselves to manifest change, but we need to break through this pseudo-individuality and this apathy to realize that we do have power as people. And we must take that back. We must take that back if we are to redirect the government. And I just hope that we can do that as people before it's too late. So, thank you. Yeah, I've been not too much involved in politics.

[48:36]

I've been doing a little retreat out of my car in Berkeley for a while. But I have seen all the signs, and I like that Berkeley has that out there. I mean, like the stop sign, stop, and the spray-painted four. I don't personally have a problem with that kind of stuff. That's someone's form of resistance. But anyway, I've been practicing, working on my practice. And I came across a, well, in all our discussions, and in listening to your lecture, the biggest kind of thing that I wanted to hear more of, I think, was how this relates to acting mindfully, engaging in little activities. It seems like little activities, personal, everyday activities.

[49:46]

Something that Dogen used for fundraising, you've probably heard of it, but I added it just recently. He said to make money for his first monastery, We will thoroughly engage in every activity in order to cultivate the proper conditions to transform in any direction. That's nice. Thank you. I think it's time to go. So I encourage all of you to do what you need to do or want to do. Never.

[50:42]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ