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Welcome everybody to the 
Denver's Ocean podcast. 

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I'm here once again with Joseph 
Wagner and today we are going to

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have a little discussion about 
the state of our world and the 

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difficult times we're in and how
as a practitioner we can really 

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work with all this because it's 
really overwhelming. 

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I know we're all stressed out. 
It's, it's just seems like we've

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crossed some thresholds that we 
can't really go back from. 

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And, and so it's a lot to deal 
with. 

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And I think that Joe and I have 
had some discussion around this 

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and we've come to some good ways
of really managing this and how 

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to see it. 
So Joe, welcome. 

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Let us know a little bit about 
how you've been dealing with all

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this craziness. 
Thanks for having me, and I'm so

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glad we're here together and 
welcome to everyone. 

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I haven't been dealing with it 
so well, to tell you the truth. 

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I mean, it's this is a 
complicated time and and we're 

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speaking, we're probably more on
the liberal side. 

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But whatever side you find 
yourself on, yeah, I think it's 

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easy. 
If you're watching this podcast,

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you must be open to things. 
And one of the things to be open

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to is how chaotic everything 
feels. 

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So I think, you know, before we 
start talking about how to 

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acknow or how to deal with it, 
first we have to acknowledge 

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that this is very complicated 
times. 

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It's not easy to know what to do
or know even how to respond to 

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such what looked to me to be 
really sweeping changes in our, 

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in our democracy and what it 
means to be in America and so 

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forth. 
And I have my own, you know, 

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opinions about that. 
We'll try to stay away from 

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those and just talk about how to
deal with difficult times when 

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it's outside of your personal 
life. 

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You know, here we have something
of a choice. 

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And I think that's the first 
thing to acknowledge. 

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Not only is it hard, it is hard 
and it's complicated and it's 

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upsetting, but unlike if it's 
happening in your immediate 

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household, let's say, where you 
cannot ignore it to some degree,

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we can to some degree, we can 
mitigate how much we let through

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our fence. 
And I think that's, you know, 

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the the primary thing that as 
practitioners we have to 

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acknowledge and, and recognize 
we have some power in this 

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situation about how we deal with
it. 

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Yeah, I think it's important. 
I have to remind myself all the 

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time that never before in 
history have people had so much 

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access to so much information 
about so much of the world. 

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I don't really know that we're 
built for all this. 

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This information, you know, our 
our body minds have have evolved

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with the intention of threat 
detection and protection for a 

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small area through word of mouth
and direct contact. 

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That's probably what we're 
really like set up for. 

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So when we hear every day 
something terrible and 

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dangerous, it keeps our body 
mind in a state of constant 

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agitation, fight or flight mode.
And I don't think that it's 

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healthy or helpful to stay in 
that state all the time. 

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And of course, there's some kind
of like negotiation we have to 

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do here with like, how much do I
need to be aware of what's going

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on in the world and how much do 
I need to filter that out so 

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that I'm not, you know, being 
thrown off? 

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Because really the aim of this 
human life is to attain 

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enlightenment. 
And if it's not helping towards 

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that, then it's hindering that, 
right? 

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And then so I think that's 
really what it comes down to, 

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what helps and what hinders. 
And so everybody's going to be 

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different. 
You know, this, this is part of 

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it too. 
Like some people might be able 

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to use more of this as part of 
their path. 

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They can, you know, mind 
training, pure vision, whatever 

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they're capable of dealing with 
more of it. 

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And some people are going to be 
more sensitive and have to pay 

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attention to it a little less. 
So I think part of it is that 

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personal, you know, really 
figuring out what's personally 

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best for you. 
I think that's nicely said and 

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that's something that each each 
of us can make up our own minds.

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I'm very careful about my news 
intake, my media. 

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I'm not on any social media 
stuff. 

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I don't have Facebook and never 
look at Instagram or any of that

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kind of stuff, which I strongly 
recommend any kind of these 

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methods they have for training 
you not to be able to let go. 

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That's a different topic and we 
can talk about that, but you got

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to be very careful as a 
practitioner with that. 

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That can take over your life and
and you start to live other 

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people's lives here. 
We're just talking specifically 

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about media outlets that carry 
the news. 

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And I don't watch a lot of those
and but I am, you know, 

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subscribe to Democracy Now and I
get their updates seven days a 

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week, 2 times a day. 
You know, in the morning it's 

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like, here's the news and then 
the afternoon or evening or 

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something, there's another thing
saying sort of their opinion 

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about something that's going on.
And I've been, you know, 

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following that. 
And I like those guys and I 

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think they're doing amazing 
work. 

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Been part of that for years. 
And I personally, I had to 

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unsubscribe and I wrote him a 
note saying, I really apologize,

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but I can't take it. 
That's the fact the the they, 

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what I realized and what pushed 
me over the edge with this is 

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that all the media outlets have 
only one purpose. 

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And that purpose is to get you 
to keep watching in return. 

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That is the only goal. 
And that's because they need 

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money. 
And I it's not bad in the case 

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of democracy now, I think 
they're, they're real Bois Afa's

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on some level, you know, they're
really trying to see things in a

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more even way. 
They're left-leaning, but still.

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But the effect on the consumer 
is, Oh my God. 

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And that to me right now, I 
mean, I looked at it took me 

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several days to make that 
decision. 

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It was based on seeing that 
there wasn't one piece of good 

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news in like 20 little articles 
they had. 

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They were all terrible. 
And when I looked at it, I 

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thought, like, what what 1 can I
actually have an effect on? 

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Where is my, you know, where, 
where can I have an effect? 

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I couldn't figure out even 1. 
You know, I can't do anything 

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about Palestine. 
I can't do anything about the 

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stuff going on, you know, in 
Russia. 

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I cannot do anything about the 
Chinese invading Taiwan or 

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whatever the next thing is, or 
us in Greenland. 

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I I can't do anything. 
And that feeling of 

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powerlessness is the exact 
opposite of what we want to try 

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to inculcate as practitioners. 
I think that's the primary thing

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we the goal of a practitioner 
lifestyle is to go from Shen 

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Wong being under the power of 
other, you know, our 

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circumstances, whatever they 
are, to being wrong, Wong being 

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having autonomy. 
If you don't do that, then you 

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can't do anything. 
And, and I was finding that I 

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just was freaking out. 
I'm here, I am in my on my 

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cushion in the morning, 
sometimes for as much as three 

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hours. 
And I'm like ice, ice, ice, ice.

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It's not helping me. 
It is not helping the people 

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suffering from this stuff that's
going on it. 

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It has no value. 
And yet I am freaking out and 

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literally freaking out all the 
time. 

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And I had to, you know, take a 
break from that. 

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So that was the way I'm, I'm 
dealing with it. 

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I'm not sure that's the right 
way, but it's what I'm doing. 

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Yeah, well, I, I think what you 
said about social media is 

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important too, because I think 
most people get their news from 

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social media at this point. 
You know, for me, it's YouTube. 

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I also stay off Instagram and 
Facebook and all that. 

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But again, same thing. 
Everything is designed to keep 

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you on, to keep you clicking, to
keep you engaged. 

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And this kind of news is 
extremely addictive. 

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It's so engaging, it's so 
stimulated, stimulating. 

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And even though it feels bad, 
it's very easy to get hooked 

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into anger, aggression, fear, 
like all of this. 

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And you know, and so I'd be 
remiss if I didn't bring up 

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protesting, right? 
This is like, you know, a lot of

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people, the first thing you 
should I be out protesting? 

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Well, and all I can say is, 
again, this is a personal 

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decision that you have to know 
based on is it helpful for your 

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path? 
I mean, as a Buddhist, that's 

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the question we always come down
to because really the 

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fundamental position is that you
can't really help until you're 

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enlightened. 
That's the bottom line. 

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And anything that we do is 
really temporary and often times

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comes with negative consequences
in addition to anything positive

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we're trying to do. 
And Trump over Shave had a 

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similar experience. 
You know, his students were in 

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part of the Vietnam War 
protests, and they asked him 

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about this too. 
And he said, I think you should 

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focus on the aggression inside 
of you first. 

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And, and in general, I think 
that that is the way to go in 

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the from the Buddhist 
perspective now. 

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And of course, I think that 
people who do protesting and, 

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and you know, resistance in any 
form that these things are 

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important roles. 
They've they've changed and 

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brought about positive things in
our country. 

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They have, but you have to ask 
yourself, is this, are you going

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from a position of anger or are 
you going from a position of 

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love? 
Are you able to integrate what 

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you're doing or is it really 
just a reactionary frustrating 

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position that's enhancing your 
negative emotions? 

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So, so it depends on your 
capacity, right? 

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And your your activities what's 
appropriate? 

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For people, when they see these 
things, they feel empowered to 

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do something. 
And my eye freaking bow at those

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people's feet. 
I feel freaked out and powerless

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and I I find myself being angry 
in my own personal life and, and

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that doesn't have a lot of 
value. 

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That's where I'm looking at it. 
But I will tell a short story 

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that is based on what you said 
about Riboche, Someone I know is

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that a talk that Riboche was 
giving in Boulder at some 

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Unitarian church. 
This is in the 70s. 

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And, and, you know, it was the 
end of the talk and he said, are

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there any questions? 
And someone stood up and said, 

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Riboche, will you address that 
level of aggression in our 

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world? 
And, and to you know, it's 

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reiterating what you said. 
He said, first I would like to 

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address the aggression in this 
room or just the kids are 

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hilarious and awesome. 
But as practitioners, that is 

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truly what we are called to do. 
And as you said very 

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beautifully, different people 
have different capacities. 

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Some people there, they can 
handle that and they can be 

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positive in their own lives and 
they can make a difference. 

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My hat's off to them. 
Make sure you can do that. 

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If you're a practitioner, you're
in kind of a small class, right?

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You, you're one of the only 
people who's like meditating to 

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work for the good of all beings 
at the deepest possible level. 

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As long as you can keep doing 
that, then I say, yeah, I was 

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yesterday. 
I was in Fort Collins, Co for a 

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meeting and as I left, I turned 
the corner and there was a huge 

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protest, probably at least 1000 
people, all these college kids 

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and people with signs and people
honking. 

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And I felt I was so moved by 
that. 

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I actually got tears in my eyes.
I was like, wow, that's awesome.

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So I think going to something 
like that is excellent. 

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At the same time, you know, 
being angry in your room because

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this is happening might not be 
valuable, you know, So we have 

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to find a balance. 
And I personally think we have 

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to narrow down. 
We have to tighten the screen 

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through which this stuff is 
coming because all the media 

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outlets have the same method, 
which is to make you upset and 

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they all have the same means, 
which is to hook you with every 

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kind of thing. 
It's not only YouTube, those 

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shorts on YouTube or Instagram 
that does it. 

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Every kind of media outlet is 
using these techniques and 

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that's very dangerous and not 
good for us. 

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So we have to, as practitioner, 
we have to 1st protect ourself 

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because we have this precious 
human birth and only one goal as

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you said. 
And then based on our capacity, 

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we can do what we, whatever we 
can do within that without 

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losing our seat, so to speak. 
Another trimperim Shay ISM. 

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Yeah. 
And to me, it really comes down 

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to something that I think is 
really important, how much faith

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we really have in the Dharma. 
Because materialism seeps in 

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here, right? 
If you're not on the street, 

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you're not doing something. 
That's a materialist point of 

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view. 
We really have to have 

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confidence that our practice on 
the cushion is liberating the 

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negativity on the streets that 
the whole collective sentient 

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beings suffering is being 
reduced when we do our practice 

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because we're interconnected. 
And so that I think we have to 

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have that kind of faith. 
And and there will always be 

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those voices that say if you're 
not doing something in the world

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physically, then it doesn't 
count. 

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And this comes to so many 
things, right? 

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Like what job you have, what you
spend your time doing, you know,

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do something constructive, you 
know, like that's like the 

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mantra of the West, right? 
You know, you're just staring at

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your navel or whatever that this
kind of assumption that there's 

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a laziness in working with our 
own interior mind. 

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But really it's the thing where 
we have the most agency and have

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the most ability to really make 
change. 

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And if we truly change, attain 
perfect Buddhahood, then we'd 

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really be able to help so. 
It doesn't even have to go that 

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bar. 
Not to cut you off but don't 

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think well I can only help if I 
can attain Buddhahood. 

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Anytime you meditate and you 
feel peace, there is a general 

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benefit to the world. 
This is Garchner Bache. 

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We've talked about this. 
You know his secret oral 

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instructions from Kempo Munsell 
on tonglen, on giving and taking

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were to recognize other people's
mind. 

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And my mind are the same. 
And when my thoughts are 

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liberated on my side, thoughts 
are also liberated to some 

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degree on their side. 
So today the the subject is 

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known the giving and giving and 
taking, giving happiness and you

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know taking the suffering 
practice and generally they are 

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different kind of practice. 
It's called outer practice, 

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inner practice and very 
cigarette practice. 

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They are kind of like three kind
of levels of practice, which he 

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said himself, he's not really an
expert on that in the philosophy

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called, you know, sense of that.
So anyway, the main point, this 

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is very simple. 
There's it's like, you know, 

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giving means you give all of 
your happiness to all decision 

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things, and taking means you 
take all the suffering of you 

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know other, you know, towards 
yourself. 

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So and then in order to practice
that you must have have a kind 

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of, you know, confidence 
ourselves that there is a 

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possibility to give happiness to
all the single beings and to 

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take the suffering of others 
towards 1 you know oneself. 

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So this is like it happens and 
one must have a kind of 

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confidence in order to practice 
that. 

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Degree on their side. 
And that works whether you're a 

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beginner, middling practitioner 
or an advanced practitioner. 

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Not only for Buddhist, you know,
we, we have our field of 

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influence and the more open and 
relaxed and full of love we are,

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the more people around us 
benefit. 

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Plus you got to keep in mind if 
you are a Buddhist practitioner,

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other people are, they know you 
as that Buddhist because there 

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aren't that many, right? 
There's only 6. 

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Something like 6% of the world 
is Buddhist. 

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There's not that many. 
And in America, you know, it's 

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00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,520
rare to be a practitioner. 
So people aren't checking you 

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00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,800
out, right? 
I just came from the pickleball 

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00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,240
court. 
I like to play pickleball on 

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Saturday morning. 
My dad's out there. 

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I got some friends. 
We were playing awesome today 

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00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,720
and I went to pick up the ball 
because we hit it over to the 

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00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,359
other court and the other, there
were some girls playing there 

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00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:19,720
and they, they said, you guys 
are playing so well. 

288
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,839
We were checking you out and I 
thought, oh, I didn't even know 

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00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:24,560
that right. 
They were watching us. 

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00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,520
All of your friends who know 
you're a meditator, they're all 

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00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:29,800
watching you. 
So how if you're all freaking 

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00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,440
out about the world, they're 
also like, well, that doesn't 

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00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:34,160
work. 
I guess I need to find something

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00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:35,440
else. 
I think this is an important 

295
00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,160
point. 
Yeah, And what you said about 

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00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:42,080
Garcher's method, we really can 
do this with, we can just think 

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00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,760
of the suffering going on in all
these situations and then 

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00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,880
liberate it instantly with one 
moment of recognition. 

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00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,760
And really it, I know it's 
painful to say it's for myself, 

300
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,000
but we have to remember our only
enemies are the three poisons, 

301
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:02,640
not people, right? 
These people on every side of 

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00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,640
this situation are suffering, 
period. 

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00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,120
And and as a Buddhist 
practitioner, we always remember

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00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,200
that it's the three poisons 
inside them is the only enemy, 

305
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,200
not the person. 
You know, these people are 

306
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,680
suffering underneath their 
aggression, their greed, their 

307
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,280
fear, their all those things, 
right? 

308
00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:21,920
So that's the hardest thing to 
do. 

309
00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,160
But the, you know, the way the 
bodhisattva and the low junk 

310
00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,360
teachings that they're always 
all about that, right? 

311
00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:29,080
Like there's no enemy on the 
outside. 

312
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,360
And so we really just can keep 
working with the one on the 

313
00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:37,160
inside and bring some energy of 
peace into this whole situation.

314
00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:41,080
And, and I have to say, this is 
the best thing you could do, the

315
00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,200
most important, the most helpful
thing you could. 

316
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,680
Do to play sad, beautifully sad.
That was terrific. 

317
00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:48,600
Thank you. 
I'm taking that to heart. 

318
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,200
I love that to give people 
something like that they can 

319
00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,760
actually do what I would 
consider doing is a news fast, 

320
00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,560
an entire news fast because you 
don't realize how much this is 

321
00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,960
affecting you until it's not. 
I noticed this because it just, 

322
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:03,840
I just did this. 
We're talking two weeks ago. 

323
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:08,000
We're not talking six years ago.
I just said like, OK, no. 

324
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:13,200
And I found almost an instant I 
was able to catch my breath. 

325
00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:18,400
And then you can reintroduce 10 
minutes of news, one hour of 

326
00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,920
news, one conversation with your
well plugged in friend, 

327
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:27,040
whatever, one protest, whatever,
one visit to Facebook or 

328
00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,400
whatever and see how much am I 
able to keep my seat. 

329
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:32,880
If you can keep your seat 
through that, you got your 

330
00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,160
compassion and intact. 
You're not like those people. 

331
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,040
I want them to die. 
Whatever horrible things we tend

332
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,120
to think, then hey, maybe you 
can move up another notch 

333
00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,200
because it's good to be engaged 
to the degree that you can 

334
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,720
handle. 
I just realized that my capacity

335
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:49,080
for that was lower than I 
thought. 

336
00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:54,680
You know, if I'm just all angry 
and upset, not the way to do it.

337
00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,640
Yeah, and, and I don't know 
about anybody else, but for me, 

338
00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,600
I just be like a crackhead with 
my phone, you know, like just, 

339
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,480
it's, it's so addictive. 
Just get right into it and then 

340
00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,200
you're waiting. 
And this is like I have to say. 

341
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:13,800
The the, the big guy, he feeds 
on being in the news and in your

342
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,600
face and making something happen
every single day. 

343
00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:18,640
And so we're all like, what's 
gonna happen now? 

344
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,200
What's gonna happen next? 
What's gonna happen? 

345
00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:24,280
You know, like, have you not 
noticed how well everything is 

346
00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:29,280
orchestrated to keep you hooked 
to what's going on every day? 

347
00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,560
And you can't tell me this isn't
part of somebody else's plan, 

348
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,640
right? 
And there's big part of this 

349
00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,720
going on this like, watch this 
while I do this, right? 

350
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:46,480
So we're falling for it, so 
we're clearer, not so focused on

351
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,840
the whatever the chaos of the 
day is. 

352
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,280
I think you got it. 
So three things I want to say, 

353
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:56,960
1, taking news fast, could be 3 
days, could be two days, could 

354
00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,600
be one hour, not one hour. 
It's got to be a whole day or 

355
00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:00,920
else you won't notice the 
effect. 

356
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,880
One week, whatever. 
The world's not going to suffer 

357
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,000
when you're not watching the 
news for one week. 

358
00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:09,120
And then you see, at first you 
aren't, you realize how addicted

359
00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:11,200
you are. 
The second point I want to make,

360
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,480
and then you can reintroduce it.
But the second point is it's 

361
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,040
involuntary. 
Our addiction to samsara is 

362
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,720
involuntary. 
Our karmic, the Press of the 

363
00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,400
karmic wins at our backs that 
keep us in samsara is 

364
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,640
involuntary. 
It is not a choice. 

365
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,720
So you have to take strong 
action to stop that and then 

366
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,960
recapitulate to see what you can
actually do. 

367
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:38,120
It's involuntary, right? 
And those apps, no one can 

368
00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,680
resist it. 
You cannot resist it. 

369
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,160
It's impossible. 
They have got you figured out. 

370
00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:47,160
So you have to say no mostly. 
And then the third thing, I 

371
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,600
don't remember, but I love these
two things. 

372
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,240
Take a news fast and then 
reintroduce to the degree you 

373
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,200
can handle it. 
You might be surprised how much 

374
00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,000
of your anxiety is about things 
that you don't even know if 

375
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:00,720
they're real. 
We have no idea what the news 

376
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,200
is, right? 
We what the real truth is, we're

377
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,040
just not in a position to know. 
We got these people shouting 

378
00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:08,360
this. 
We got these people shouting 

379
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:11,680
this we got and there are a lot 
of people behind this. 

380
00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,200
I know what third one was 
Terence McKenna, the psychedelic

381
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,840
philosopher. 
He was famous for saying that 

382
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,840
the mushrooms told him you got 
to have a plan. 

383
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,040
If you don't have a plan, you 
become part of somebody else's 

384
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,680
plan. 
So you must recognize as a 

385
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,720
practitioner you only have one 
goal and one plan. 

386
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,240
But if you're not, if that's not
in the center of your life, then

387
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,040
you are being manipulated by 
your karma and the world. 

388
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,320
And that is not the place for a 
practitioner. 

389
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,080
You got to maintain your somaya 
and your somayas to the practice

390
00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,360
that once that's intact, then 
you can spread out to the degree

391
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,400
that your capacity can handle. 
That's I don't think 3 things 

392
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,040
are important. 
Yeah, angry, fearful, addicted 

393
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:59,000
people are easy to manipulate, 
easy to control and easy to rob,

394
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:01,360
right. 
And and you can't tell me that's

395
00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:05,600
not what's going on. 
So remember that also that this 

396
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,880
isn't just about your path and 
practice, but also recognize 

397
00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,440
what's the real motivation 
between everybody being hooked 

398
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,720
to their screen all the time. 
Like what? 

399
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,280
Who's benefiting from that? 
Because somebody is, I guarantee

400
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,800
it. 
And a lot of people are right 

401
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,000
and and they don't always have 
your interest in heart or rarely

402
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,640
have your interest. 
Right, so. 

403
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,840
This is our our thoughts about 
this. 

404
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,560
And I know these are difficult 
times and we're with you and 

405
00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,400
we're praying and practicing 
with all of you in mind. 

406
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:41,760
And you know, we're thinking 
about hoping this podcast can 

407
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,760
bring some benefit to the, this 
community because being Buddhist

408
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,520
in this world is hard. 
Like you said, it's tiny, tiny 

409
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:49,800
percentage. 
The stream against the stream. 

410
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,600
Yeah, my wife and I were just 
talking about this. 

411
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,080
Like, I have no friends. 
Where would I even meet 

412
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:56,600
somebody? 
I wanna hang out with all my 

413
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,840
friends live off like thousands 
of miles from me and have to 

414
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:04,760
talk on WhatsApp, right? 
Like I can't even find somebody 

415
00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:07,520
really, like locally. 
They don't exist. 

416
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,080
That's like that's hard, you 
know, so we have to have these 

417
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,520
kind of virtual that's the 
benefit of these things. 

418
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,160
We do have that like virtual 
Sanga and that's amazing. 

419
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,600
That's that's definitely camera 
Z Tara in action, right, that 

420
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,480
we're able to connect. 
So thank you for connecting with

421
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,640
us. 
Thank you for watching our show 

422
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:28,440
on the platform. 
We just told you to not watch. 

423
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:36,640
I hope you enjoy it and we'll 
see you on the next feast day. 

424
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:38,480
Thank you so much. 
Please like, share and 

425
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:40,200
subscribe. 
We appreciate you so much. 

426
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:40,920
Bye bye.
