Agents of Peace and Change

0:00 This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:15 morning. Thank you all for coming to the Zen Center this morning. Those of you zooming in from who knows where and all those who made it in today on this beautiful San Francisco weather day. Report an error in the passage at 0:15 Highlight the passage at 0:15

0:39 It's the last day of January, and as I look back over this last month of 2026, it's kind of astonishing what's happened in the world. Report an error in the passage at 0:39 Highlight the passage at 0:39

1:00 I can just go through a list of, I actually wrote up some things that were just like, I don't even know how to start, like where does it end? You know, from threats to war with Iran, On day two, day three brought attacks on Venezuela and an abduction of their president and wife of the president. Just the surge in various ICE operations, the Operation Metro surge, and what was the other one? Report an error in the passage at 1:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00

1:31 Catch of the Day. Just the cruelty. Day after day, the headlines and the... You know, they, uh... Report an error in the passage at 1:31 Highlight the passage at 1:31

1:50 A week ago today I was in Minnesota responding Report an error in the passage at 1:50 Highlight the passage at 1:50

1:58 to a call to come and be part of a group of clergy to join together and be with one another, support one another, do some trainings in non-violent resistance, civil disobedience, non-cooperative resistance, I think. Report an error in the passage at 1:58 Highlight the passage at 1:58

2:23 It was very cold. Unlike here today. And that was brought about, that call. I think they started organizing it less than a week before people showed up in Minnesota. So they had one week to organize this event, this training, in which 700 plus clergy members from across the country came to Minnesota, organized by a group called March, which is the multi... Report an error in the passage at 2:23 Highlight the passage at 2:23

2:54 Multi-faith, anti-racism, change and healing. It was impressive to see the level of organization that this group of clergy members, who had been working together for a long time, it was very clear that it was not just something they just, you know, we're going to just do this. The relationships had been built up over years, just really demonstrating the importance of interfaith collaboration. Report an error in the passage at 2:54 Highlight the passage at 2:54

3:26 of reaching across differences, of finding common ground. And the impetus for this call was the murder of Rene Good. And a week ago today, as I was leaving Minnesota, Alex Preddy was also murdered. And so the protests that have been swelling up around the country, it's Report an error in the passage at 3:26 Highlight the passage at 3:26

3:58 quite sobering. Report an error in the passage at 3:58 Highlight the passage at 3:58

4:05 I found out, I just kind of looked at the news. Something to do when you're feeling calm, maybe. Not when you know you're going to rile yourself up, but forgive me if I bring in things that make people uncomfortable. Report an error in the passage at 4:05 Highlight the passage at 4:05

4:23 Just seeing how numerous countries in Europe have issued travel advisories for their citizens to travel to the United States due to unrest. Report an error in the passage at 4:23 Highlight the passage at 4:23

4:41 The fact that the FBI seized some 2020 voter records, absentee ballots, voting machines from Fulton County, Georgia, just this week. The DOJ has been demanding access to voter records from 24 states. Some of them are fighting it, including California. Report an error in the passage at 4:41 Highlight the passage at 4:41

5:06 Journalists being arrested for reporting, having their phones seized and their biometrics used to open their phones. Report an error in the passage at 5:06 Highlight the passage at 5:06

5:18 Some people describing, some of the protesters in Minnesota describing how their global entry has been revoked for no given reason, just because they were caught on camera driving, committing no breakage of laws. Report an error in the passage at 5:18 Highlight the passage at 5:18

5:41 So this practice period, we're studying the dharma. In particular, we're studying embodiment, looking at the body and what happens in the body and how we respond and we react and settle and study the responses of the body. So I invite you all, just hearing me talk of these things, to just tune into your own body, your breath, feel your stability in your seat. Report an error in the passage at 5:41 Highlight the passage at 5:41

6:15 Notice the inhalation. Notice the exhalation. What happens in the body when we take all of this in? Before we leap into action, before we do anything, what does it mean to be present, be aware, find our center? Report an error in the passage at 6:15 Highlight the passage at 6:15

6:42 So feeling into the body right now, if you're in the room, noticing the quality of light in the room, the quality of air, the slight breeze perhaps. Report an error in the passage at 6:42 Highlight the passage at 6:42

6:55 I'm appreciating the slight breeze on my left cheek at this moment, feeling Report an error in the passage at 6:55 Highlight the passage at 6:55

7:09 our life force, our life energy. So some of you may know that I was asked to write a little piece on my time in Minnesota, which I did, and it was sent out in Saṅgha News this week. I got some really lovely responses from people I haven't heard from in a long time. And I also got a few people who kind of protested a little bit about Buddhism, Zen, is not supposed to be political. Report an error in the passage at 7:09 Highlight the passage at 7:09

7:44 You hear this a lot. We're supposed to stay out of politics. And you could say it's true. Buddhism fundamentally is about transformation of consciousness. It's about turning inward and working with our karma. To see the ways that greed, hate and delusion, our human afflictions, arise and how we work with them for the benefit of ourselves and all beings. Report an error in the passage at 7:44 Highlight the passage at 7:44

8:14 How do we transform our own consciousness so that we can be agents of peace and love and compassion and wisdom in this crazy world. Report an error in the passage at 8:14 Highlight the passage at 8:14

8:31 So I would say, you know, there's a difference between politic and political. Report an error in the passage at 8:31 Highlight the passage at 8:31

8:39 Yeah, this just our coming to a cushion and sitting, just our coming into the Zen center today, just our tuning in. We can call it a radical act of sanity, right? And our meditation practice does not separate us from the world. We call the world. Report an error in the passage at 8:39 Highlight the passage at 8:39

9:04 It's actually the ground of our training, how we can show up, how we show up in presence, how we don't lose sight of our inmost request, our deepest vow to be of benefit, to not get caught up in reactivity, in hatred. I think Hillary Clinton wrote a piece recently, this week maybe, I think it was in the Atlantic, Report an error in the passage at 9:04 Highlight the passage at 9:04

9:37 She said, it's really hard not to get caught up in hatred. It's really hard. It takes practice. It takes training. Report an error in the passage at 9:37 Highlight the passage at 9:37

9:49 You know, the Buddha, while he didn't take to the streets and fight against the caste system, he certainly provided an alternative to it. It's even said that he was able to stop a war by putting his body right in the middle of things and asking for calm. Report an error in the passage at 9:49 Highlight the passage at 9:49

10:11 It worked the first time, not the second. But Report an error in the passage at 10:11 Highlight the passage at 10:11

10:17 our practice is fundamentally, it's I would say a training, a training and a turning towards a fundamental truth of our own capacity for awakening, our capacity to stay upright in the midst of suffering and injustice. injustice, outrage. Outrage, Report an error in the passage at 10:17 Highlight the passage at 10:17

10:49 to be able to be fully present to what's happening right now. Not just the abstract. I mean, I think one of the arguments against Zen being political is that it's an abstraction, that it's ideology, that it's separated from present moment. And you can certainly see how that could be the case, that we can get caught up in the doom cycle of the news. Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

11:11 I certainly get caught up. Report an error in the passage at 11:11 Highlight the passage at 11:11

11:18 But our practice is not about... Separating ourselves from the world. When we look at the benefits of our practice, and look at what does our practice offer us in the way of presence, equanimity, loving kindness, sympathetic joy, the divine abodes. We can look at what our practice asks of us as well. Just much the same thing as what practice offers us. To not forget what we're here for, Report an error in the passage at 11:18 Highlight the passage at 11:18

11:56 What our deepest wish is, our deepest intention, and seeing that we're not perfect, that we make mistakes, that we fall into negativity and reactivity, maybe even into hateful thoughts, but Report an error in the passage at 11:56 Highlight the passage at 11:56

12:18 practice gives us the presence to notice, and we notice by watching what's happening in our body. We notice tension, we notice when we can breathe and when we can't breathe, and Report an error in the passage at 12:18 Highlight the passage at 12:18

12:32 we slow down. I really appreciated Christina's teachings and request this, since we've started this practice period, the request to slow down just a little bit, maybe even a lot, and particularly around speech. Report an error in the passage at 12:32 Highlight the passage at 12:32

12:49 Watch the intention before speaking. What is our intention? Report an error in the passage at 12:49 Highlight the passage at 12:49

13:01 So just to say just a little bit more on this question about whether we can remove ourselves In this desire to sort of be above politics, I think sometimes there's this wish maybe or an idea that practice, our practice should be pure and above it all, that Report an error in the passage at 13:01 Highlight the passage at 13:01

13:32 we shouldn't be riled up and swaddled in ideology. And that's true. We don't want to be restricted by ideology. Report an error in the passage at 13:32 Highlight the passage at 13:32

13:46 But there's no contradiction. Between our recognition that our own mind creates our experience and being able to be effective agents of peace in this world. So if we choose, if what comes to us in the moment when it comes to you, if it comes to you to where you're asked maybe, one of the pastors speaking at this Report an error in the passage at 13:46 Highlight the passage at 13:46

14:22 group, this march event that I went to in Minnesota. Actually, that wasn't a pastor. It was a community organizer, not a pastor, but she was at a panel discussion. And it's just so Report an error in the passage at 14:22 Highlight the passage at 14:22

14:38 incredible to see ordinary people just going along in their lives and then being asked, being asked to step up and answering the call, not knowing what they're saying yes to. But putting their hearts forward, that Report an error in the passage at 14:38 Highlight the passage at 14:38

15:00 was one thing that she said at the end of her words in the panel. She said, if you're asked to help, just say yes. You can sort it out later, what it means. Just say yes. And don't let perfection become the enemy of the good. Again, we're going to make mistakes. That's what our... Report an error in the passage at 15:00 Highlight the passage at 15:00

15:32 our practices of confession and repentance. Report an error in the passage at 15:32 Highlight the passage at 15:32

16:04 We get caught up in Report an error in the passage at 16:04 Highlight the passage at 16:04

16:11 trying to be human under inhumane conditions, and when we get reactive, we feel it in our bodies because we're paying attention to our bodies, because we've been training in stopping, noticing, presencing, and we can go slower. Report an error in the passage at 16:11 Highlight the passage at 16:11

16:39 a little slower before... you know, grabbing something, you know, what have you. Report an error in the passage at 16:39 Highlight the passage at 16:39

16:51 apolitical is kind of pitched as a way of just like, oh, you should be calm, you should be equanimous, and not get involved as if... Report an error in the passage at 16:51 Highlight the passage at 16:51

17:01 if equanimity were somehow being a part. But really, true equanimity, you know, the... The near enemy, right? You've heard this term before, maybe sort of the corrupted, close thing that looks kind of like the thing, but it's not the thing. The near enemy of equanimity is indifference or apathy, even leading to something that maybe you could call callousness, right? Report an error in the passage at 17:01 Highlight the passage at 17:01

17:31 Feeling like, you know, something is above, you're above something and you can't, that you, that to get caught. That to feel the feelings would somehow be a misstep in your practice. It's when indifference or apathy kind of masquerade as being cool, being calm, being detached. But I would say that true equanimity is balanced and arises out of the other divine abodes of loving kindness and compassion. Report an error in the passage at 17:31 Highlight the passage at 17:31

18:12 Of the ability to feel joy at others' joys. It's engaged. It's not passive. It's engaged in all activities in one's life, all aspects. It's not withdrawn or disconnected. And certainly it does not turn away from suffering. Equanimity is not about, you know, sticking one's head in the sand or putting one's fingers in one's ears. Report an error in the passage at 18:12 Highlight the passage at 18:12

18:46 It's not about numbing out or opting out. It's about holding space, taking the breath to expand the container that can hold everything. Report an error in the passage at 18:46 Highlight the passage at 18:46

19:06 And it's also a personal practice. It's a personal choice of what one does in response to what's happening, to what may happen. Report an error in the passage at 19:06 Highlight the passage at 19:06

19:24 You know, the, um... One of the dangers of this feeling of like a false equanimity or like a corrupted equanimity is that it can lead, I think, to something else that I feel like I'm just sort of learning about, which is this idea that somehow empathy is toxic. Has anybody heard this before? Yeah? That somehow to be empathetic, to be compassionate, is a weakness. I think it was said, one person famously said, the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy. Report an error in the passage at 19:24 Highlight the passage at 19:24

20:15 That somehow caring for other people is soft, makes us weak. I think in some religious circles, I think it's a feeling that empathy can be misapplied. To people for whom their values or ideology does not include. So there's a question of who is deserving of empathy. And those over there, those sinners, are not. And there's a reaction to feeling. Report an error in the passage at 20:15 Highlight the passage at 20:15

20:54 Understandably, there's a reaction to if some political... Pressures are saying, you should feel this way, you should do this, you know, do this. And, you know, to be challenged in that way is hard. Report an error in the passage at 20:54 Highlight the passage at 20:54

21:10 So it's not that I don't understand, as I've been kind of investigating, what is this me in toxic empathy? You know, it's like I can kind of understand the roots of it or how it comes about, but empathy is strength. Report an error in the passage at 21:10 Highlight the passage at 21:10

21:28 To be able to withstand the suffering. And not lose one's vow in the face of it. I mean, this is true strength. And, you know, some of the people, the clergy members who I spent the weekend with, last week with, a lot of Christians, so many Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikh, Buddhists, atheists, indigenous. Report an error in the passage at 21:28 Highlight the passage at 21:28

22:05 There's a whole wide variety. It was really lovely to be with people. A lot of stoles. Stoles are a thing. I was like, wow, we've got our rock suit, there's these stoles. One of the things that I found tremendously sad was just hearing the anguish of some of these Christian leaders. To feel like their religion is being hijacked by a white Christian nationalist ideology, just how painful, how painful. Report an error in the passage at 22:05 Highlight the passage at 22:05

22:42 And so really feeling into that, seeing it in Report an error in the passage at 22:42 Highlight the passage at 22:42

22:52 Christianity, there's this great teaching of turning the other cheek, turning the other cheek. And it's not about becoming a doormat. Rather, it's... I think in our Buddhist practice we can really identify with this. It's about becoming a guardian of our actions of body, speech, and mind. Report an error in the passage at 22:52 Highlight the passage at 22:52

23:21 It's not becoming, not succumbing to the actions of those who act from greed, hate, and delusion. I think the only thing we own is our actions. It's the only thing that we take, that we can really be said to. that belong to us. And so, you know, turning the other cheek is not, in Report an error in the passage at 23:21 Highlight the passage at 23:21

23:57 other words, not meeting violence with violence. It's a way of taking care of the only thing we own, which is our actions. Report an error in the passage at 23:57 Highlight the passage at 23:57

24:09 And if we can stay present without turning away, without lashing out, our capacity to meet violence with nonviolence grows. Report an error in the passage at 24:09 Highlight the passage at 24:09

24:35 In Minnesota, I was invited by a Buddhist friend who lives in Minnesota, and I stayed with some other Buddhist friends who live in Minneapolis. Report an error in the passage at 24:35 Highlight the passage at 24:35

24:49 It was a combination of panel discussions, roundtable meetings, song. There's a lot of song. People like to sing. Singing is actually a great protest. I mean, it's a great way to be in harmony with one another, singing or chanting. Minneapolis. Report an error in the passage at 24:49 Highlight the passage at 24:49

25:07 So I learned a couple good songs. I don't know if I learned them, but I got to practice a couple songs. The event was about community building, discussion, hearing from ordinary Minnesotans and about Report an error in the passage at 25:07 Highlight the passage at 25:07

25:28 what they were doing to answer the call of requesting help, the descriptions of my friends. Really amounted to living under an occupation. You know, 3,000 agents, federal agents deployed to us to crack down. Report an error in the passage at 25:28 Highlight the passage at 25:28

25:50 So hearing about the organization of rapid response teams, mutual aid, people who had no experience whatsoever in organizing these things, suddenly starting with like, oh, we've got like, you know, five requests for food today, goes up to 10, goes up to 15, 200. Now we're starting to fundraise. We've just raised, you know, maybe we can get $5,000, maybe we can $15,000. Wow, now we're at $300,000 for our mutual aid. Report an error in the passage at 25:50 Highlight the passage at 25:50

26:18 Two weeks, within two weeks. So people who aren't used to being leaders even, just being in the right place at the right time to answer the request. Report an error in the passage at 26:18 Highlight the passage at 26:18

26:31 It was really inspiring and sobering to see the complete exhaustion. Report an error in the passage at 26:31 Highlight the passage at 26:31

26:44 Hearing people whose primary occupation is law, like taking up to mutual aid networks and rapid response teams, getting tear gassed multiple times daily for blowing a whistle, for driving on public roads, for holding space. Report an error in the passage at 26:44 Highlight the passage at 26:44

27:10 Every single person who I met in Minnesota said that almost everyone they know in their circle is involved in some way. It could be even really small. One woman was telling me about her mom who was like, you know, infirm, but she was at home kind of keeping the database of license plate numbers that they were tracking, which, you know, and then hearing about strategies and how strategies had to change and how the agent strategies would change and suddenly... Report an error in the passage at 27:10 Highlight the passage at 27:10

27:45 The SUVs that were driving around with tinted windows started showing up with bumper stickers that said things like honk if you're gay or coexist. I mean, so just seeing how strategies would evolve. Report an error in the passage at 27:45 Highlight the passage at 27:45

28:05 Hearing about from the multi-faith organizers just that it's not easy to just come together with people who have different belief structures, sometimes very different faith structures. It wasn't easy to get together. It's a skill that needs to be honed, that can only be honed by taking a step forward and reaching out. Report an error in the passage at 28:05 Highlight the passage at 28:05

28:39 I wanted to just give an example of one person speaking. This is a Lakota poet and atheist, a self-proclaimed atheist, invited to this group. It was lovely. Report an error in the passage at 28:39 Highlight the passage at 28:39

28:56 He said, I've been a direct action guy for over a decade. I've fought pipelines from the top of the country to the bottom, and I find myself, as a sober person now, having to actually deal with fear. Fear of my own imprisonment, the loss of my family, and now death, because I wasn't doing anything terribly different than Renee was doing just a day earlier. None of us are. Report an error in the passage at 28:56 Highlight the passage at 28:56

29:21 It It could could have have have been been any any of of it. us, and it can be any of us again. It's just a matter of time. He said, Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

· · · silence, 1 minute

29:27 Two days after this. So we have to do this afraid. There is no other option. Report an error in the passage at 29:27 Highlight the passage at 29:27

29:37 And then another, a pastor of one of the churches that I stayed at, he was talking about his community that he serves. It's an evangelical Lutheran community. He says, I serve a predominantly migrant community where the average household income is between 35 and 40 K a year. And everyone gives. Everyone. One value we've continued to lean into, even in this moment, is abundance. When we show up on Sunday morning, when everyone else is uncertain whether that is the right choice, my community insists and says no. Report an error in the passage at 29:37 Highlight the passage at 29:37

30:16 The God that we serve requires risks. We need to show the world that we're going to still be standing. Remember us, not just by our fears, but remember us by our dreams. Report an error in the passage at 30:16 Highlight the passage at 30:16

30:33 Hearing the stories of people doing what's called commuting, just driving around, waiting to see if there's something happening, and then using their means of making sound to alert the broader neighborhood communities. Just experiences of being boxed in, having their windows smashed, being dragged out of the car, being tear gassed. Report an error in the passage at 30:33 Highlight the passage at 30:33

31:02 Watching a raid happen and a woman jump out of a car, clutching a baby. And running, just tearing across a yard, going into a house, slamming the door as agents come up and just, you know, just in the nick of time, slamming the door and having the door be rammed repeatedly. Report an error in the passage at 31:02 Highlight the passage at 31:02

31:26 Organizers spending like every day just checking on friends, checking on people they don't even know that they're connected to through some, you know, one of many signal groups that have formed. Each neighborhood apparently has a signal group. And then rapid response groups have their own signal groups. And then there's people who have to be in multiple signal groups so they can communicate between them because signal groups can only have as much as, I think, 50 people. Report an error in the passage at 31:26 Highlight the passage at 31:26

31:56 And over and over, just seeing how, despite the exhaustion and the fear and the distress, seeing how each of these people's faith or trust in what is important and what is true, Be what sustains them. Not to say that people don't get burned out. I mean, I heard a lot of burnout stories as well. Report an error in the passage at 31:56 Highlight the passage at 31:56

32:28 And hearing the invocation of ancestors throughout it, the examples in history of people who were committed to resisting injustice again and again, just this appreciation. Report an error in the passage at 32:28 Highlight the passage at 32:28

32:58 So in my own experience there, I had planned to go to the airport on Friday morning. That was the plan. I had signed up to be part of that group of clergy. And then at the last minute, like that morning, on one of the signal groups that I was part of, I got a message that said, if you're out from out of town, please don't go. Report an error in the passage at 32:58 Highlight the passage at 32:58

33:23 We can't. Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 33:23 Highlight the passage at 33:23

33:32 Thank you. to be a federal arrest or a stated arrest which would make Report an error in the passage at 33:32 Highlight the passage at 33:32

33:38 are providing free counsel can't we can't uh expand that to people from out of town we're sorry So for... for everyone's well-being, please just don't go to this particular action. So instead, I went to a... A roundtable discussion at this evangelical Lutheran church where there were about a panel of 10 people, again, just ordinary people, swept up in this situation, describing some of their tactics. Report an error in the passage at 33:38 Highlight the passage at 33:38

34:09 That's what I heard about the bumper stickers, for example. On my way there, I took an Uber from where I was staying to the church. And while we were driving, the driver was, she was, you know, kind of like, I was like, how are you doing? And she kind of, you know, talked a little bit about her distress, being in this situation. Report an error in the passage at 34:09 Highlight the passage at 34:09

34:33 And while we were driving there, after a day of trainings the day before, there was a big SUV, and it's all, you know, right now it's just snow is covering everything. I mean, the streets have been plowed, but. There's an SUV coming up perpendicular and they had a stop sign and we didn't and we went through and this SUV didn't stop. And so she had to swerve out of the way and she was kind of cursing and just like, you know, laid on the horn. Report an error in the passage at 34:33 Highlight the passage at 34:33

34:59 And then the SUV kind of turned behind us and started what seemed like following us. You know, we turned this way, we turned that way. And I started getting nervous. I'm nervous because I don't know what... I'm hearing about SUVs with tinted windows. I couldn't see if their windows were tinted, but when we got close to the church, I almost said keep going out of a fear of leading people somewhere that they could be disruptive. Report an error in the passage at 34:59 Highlight the passage at 34:59

35:30 We did get to the church pretty quickly, and before I got out of the Uber, I could see behind us a woman get out of a... disruptive, right? Report an error in the passage at 35:30 Highlight the passage at 35:30

35:43 The SUV wearing a stole. I was like, okay. Rainbow-colored stole. It was beautiful. So it was just like a sigh of relief. Report an error in the passage at 35:43 Highlight the passage at 35:43

35:53 Just seeing in myself, just in the two days I had been there, just seeing how the body tells us, like, what's okay here? How do I be alert? How do I keep my presence? Report an error in the passage at 35:53 Highlight the passage at 35:53

36:10 After the roundtable, which went on for the morning, close to the end where people were wrapping up, somebody came in and just very calmly asked us all to just stay put. There was an ice raid happening at that moment two blocks away, and there were people who had run from that incident and were now receiving medical attention in the basement of the church. Report an error in the passage at 36:10 Highlight the passage at 36:10

36:32 So we were on lockdown for about an hour. Report an error in the passage at 36:32 Highlight the passage at 36:32

36:44 All right, this was Friday morning before the march downtown. Report an error in the passage at 36:44 Highlight the passage at 36:44

36:51 And what brought me to tears was during this, as people were kind of, you know, feeling a little like, oh, dear, what's happening? What's happening now? There's about 100 and maybe 200 people. Participating in this roundtable, guests, people like me from out of town. And what brought me to tears was not the fear, but the calm that was present in the woman who came and just made the announcement. Report an error in the passage at 36:51 Highlight the passage at 36:51

37:19 As a matter of fact, just seeing how the whole thing was handled with clarity, with presence, with care. The level of confidence that had grown, I mean, I could see these people weren't used to this. But to see how this had grown in each of them, they likely didn't have these skills just a couple months before this. Report an error in the passage at 37:19 Highlight the passage at 37:19

37:48 But they had stepped up and were being refined in this crucible. Report an error in the passage at 37:48 Highlight the passage at 37:48

37:57 Calm, clear, organized, practiced, trained. And it really, it made me reflect on, at Tassajara this summer, we had a teacher come and give some classes, and she gave a dharma talk in the retreat hall. She gave a talk on her, this is Jan Willis, some of you may know her. She's a professor, was a professor at Wesleyan. She's a professor of religion, practitioner, amazing, amazing teacher. Report an error in the passage at 37:57 Highlight the passage at 37:57

38:39 She came and she gave a talk on her experience in the civil rights movement. She was 15 years old and part of a children's brigade in Birmingham in 1963. And she described in detail what it took organizationally to have that resistance happen. That people would show up in their anger or in their, you know. Report an error in the passage at 38:39 Highlight the passage at 38:39

39:04 Disruption, and they would be turned away. No, you can't be part of our resistance. Please go, and maybe you can be part, but you can go into the back and make sandwiches. It was not, you cannot be in the front. Report an error in the passage at 39:04 Highlight the passage at 39:04

39:17 And hearing about some of her, just how much discipline was required in training the body, she said something like, nonviolence is not a philosophy. It is not even an intention. It needs to be trained into the body because you don't know how your body is going to respond when somebody attacks you. And so their training consisted of, first, verbal assaults, leading to physical assaults, having crap thrown on you, being pushed, being shoved down to the ground. Report an error in the passage at 39:17 Highlight the passage at 39:17

39:53 As part of training, how do you be present and not fight back in the physical sense? Report an error in the passage at 39:53 Highlight the passage at 39:53

40:09 So how do we be an agent for change and in a peaceful, present, compassionate, wise? When I say wise, I mean like the wisdom of understanding that we are not separate, that we are each of us interconnected, whether we know it or not, that hatred is never an appropriate response. Report an error in the passage at 40:09 Highlight the passage at 40:09

40:45 It's an understandable one, but it hurts us to make space for hatred to reside. Report an error in the passage at 40:45 Highlight the passage at 40:45

40:58 So, what time do I go to? Eleven. Ooh. I'll try and wrap up quickly. I just wanted to maybe end with a few things that, things that incites learnings from my time there and in this moment, what comes, what arises. arises Report an error in the passage at 40:58 Highlight the passage at 40:58

41:28 What can be done? How can we respond? How do we respond? So far, it's a sunny, beautiful day in San Francisco. So maybe the first thing we do is we appreciate that. We appreciate each other for coming, for our intention to wake up, and know that every single person can have a part to play, whether it's... Report an error in the passage at 41:28 Highlight the passage at 41:28

42:00 Turning inward to one's own practice and maintaining stability and calm. Whether it's showing up and chanting during noon service, chanting the loving kindness meditation. Report an error in the passage at 42:00 Highlight the passage at 42:00

42:13 Whether it's cooking food for others, running errands. One of the people told me that sometimes it can take five to ten people to get a family food. In terms of making sure that agents aren't in the area. you know, the Number of people involved in the communications, because it's not like when you go shopping for somebody, you know who that person is. Compiling data, being part of a commuting rapid response team, getting to know your neighbors. Report an error in the passage at 42:13 Highlight the passage at 42:13

42:50 Fundamentally, what we can do right now is get to know one another in a non-superficial sense. Not in the sense of like, oh, what kind of movies do you like? Report an error in the passage at 42:50 Highlight the passage at 42:50

43:01 Being from a monastery in a monastic environment, it's kind of amazing how when you practice together, you don't have to know anything about each other. It's not about facts of what your personality is and so forth. It's an embodiment of doing the practice together, of being in presence together. And that bond that is built by just practicing together, just, I say it just as if it's like... Report an error in the passage at 43:01 Highlight the passage at 43:01

43:31 It's not a small, it's not a big thing, right? It's an encompassing thing. It's a whole body thing to practice together. Report an error in the passage at 43:31 Highlight the passage at 43:31

43:43 So getting to know each other, your local communities, to build these connections beyond difference, to see past differences, finding common ground for those who have a voice, who want to use one's voice. Write to your legislators, Congress folk. For those inclined and who have the capacity, run for office. Report an error in the passage at 43:43 Highlight the passage at 43:43

44:11 When you notice that you've gotten caught up in a doom cycle of headlines, turn off your phone. Turn away from the screen. Put it down. Connect to your friends. Connect to your loved ones. Connect to the earth. Touch the ground. Practice kindness. Report an error in the passage at 44:11 Highlight the passage at 44:11

44:31 You know, just the... Setting that intention of like, you know, I'm going to find ways to just practice kindness. This is what strengthens us, right? Report an error in the passage at 44:31 Highlight the passage at 44:31

44:48 And when the call comes, say yes, answer it. Be the agent or the beacon of calm, stable, grounded. Report an error in the passage at 44:48 Highlight the passage at 44:48

45:03 You know, and if you're not feeling calm, stable, and grounded, practice diligently. Calm your mind. You know, in Minneapolis, we barely scratched the surface of the nonviolent trainings. Like, we did the role-playing of, like, okay, a couple of you come up front, and you're going to play the agitators, and you are going to play the, you know, the agitated. Report an error in the passage at 45:03 Highlight the passage at 45:03

45:31 And, you know, for those of you who are yelling it, you know, no physical. The rules were no physical, don't touch anybody, and don't talk about people's appearances. Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

45:45 And just seeing that and hearing, they decided we're going to do this for four minutes where people are up there being yelled at, and what are you going to do in this situation? Report an error in the passage at 45:45 Highlight the passage at 45:45

45:56 Four minutes was too long. They all couldn't do it. Even the agitators were just like, I don't even know what to do. Why? Because they all started singing and linked arms. Report an error in the passage at 45:56 Highlight the passage at 45:56

46:06 Like, hey, what am I going to do with this? Now, of course, in... Real life circumstances, there's all kinds of things that can happen that can go badly, even if you feel connected, even if you feel like compassion is flowing within you. There's all kinds of things that can go wrong. Report an error in the passage at 46:06 Highlight the passage at 46:06

46:33 So maybe I'll end with maybe Report an error in the passage at 46:33 Highlight the passage at 46:33

46:49 just a few verses, the opening verses of the Dhammapada. Report an error in the passage at 46:49 Highlight the passage at 46:49

46:55 All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, Speak or act with a corrupted mind and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox. All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a peaceful mind and happiness follows like a never departing shadow. They abused me, attacked me, defeated me, robbed me. Report an error in the passage at 46:55 Highlight the passage at 46:55

47:27 For someone... hostile like this, hatred does not end. They abused me, attacked me, defeated me, robbed me. For someone not hostile like this, hatred ends. Report an error in the passage at 47:27 Highlight the passage at 47:27

47:40 Hatred never ends through hatred. By non-hate alone does it end. This So whether you get involved in things, community organizing or don't, Don't you know not I'm not up here asking people to do anything other than to tend one's mind and look inward at what is the appropriate response that comes out of your practice. Report an error in the passage at 47:40 Highlight the passage at 47:40

48:14 When you stay present, when you rely on groundedness, what's the natural manifestation of that? I think it's joy. To be deeply connected to your inmost truth and to act from that place. What comes is joy, and I saw no dearth of joy within the madness in Minnesota. Just seeing how proud Minnesotans are of each other for rising to this occasion was just, I mean, it's bringing tears to my eyes right now. Report an error in the passage at 48:14 Highlight the passage at 48:14

48:51 It's amazing. It's amazing and incredibly inspiring. So thank you very much for coming today, and please take good care. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click giving. Report an error in the passage at 48:51 Highlight the passage at 48:51

49:27 May we fully enjoy the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 49:27 Highlight the passage at 49:27