So I wanted to just start out by thanking you for that example and that model and asking you how do you feel in that balance? What does that balance feel like for you? Right? And I think, like Simone Biles makes it look easy on the balance beam and uneven bars, you make it look easy, but anyone who has ever tried gymnastics and anyone who has ever tried to work with our anger knows that it is extremely difficult to neither glorify nor vilify anger. And with you, I'm like - and with this book Love and Rage - you manage to strike this balance that leaves me in awe which is either glorifying nor vilifying anger. And then, you know, her strength and her dazzle, and this thing that all gymnasts have, which is this balance, like this spectacular balance. Obviously, like the Black excellence, the just incredible - she's one of the most amazing people, athletes, on this planet right now. You're such an incredible being, and I mentioned that to me, you're like the Simone Biles of spiritual mastery. And like also just the more I think about you and bring you to my mind and heart, the more unreal you seem to me, to be honest. > KATIE: And Lama Rod, we were able to speak earlier, like a week ago. Share where you're coming from, and maybe something that is making you feel grateful. I think we have folks like from as far away as India and also all over the occupied U.S., Turtle Island. We're being joined maybe also share where you're coming from. Maybe also inviting everyone who is joining us for over 300 people right now to share in the chat if there's anything you're feeling particularly grateful for today in this moment. And all the humans that are cultivating and growing and shipping our food, you know, like every meal that I eat. So grateful for you and grateful for our friends who are as some say more than human. > KATIE: We have some milkweed that the monarch butterflies lay their eggs on and some other flowers I hear they like to feed on. I brought you these flowers from my garden. Grateful for all the nurses and healthcare workers that are out there right now working so hard for us. I was like I really want to start tomorrow with gratitude for these very simple marvels, you know. Like we are beginning to see our dreams come true, you know, but we have to go through this. This is - I just feel so clear about that. We are - these are the contractions right now. I know - everyone you all are like what is Lama Rod talking about? this is horrible. I think every moment is important, but it's such an incredibly important time for us. And just trying to just show up to this moment, to this really important moment. Remembering and being in anticipation for my descendents. I'm here on, you know the ancestral lands of the Wampanoag and Massachusetts and Nipmuk people. I'm grateful for the land that I'm practicing on. I am just, you know, trying to be grateful right now. I was like Katie's talking to everyone else. With that, I'll turn it over to Katie and Lama Rod. And for everyone who is sharing their wisdom with us today, so thank you. Towards the end of this, we'll take a few questions, and we'll close out with a reflection by Reverend Lien Shutt, who was so gracious as to offer up this space where she was originally going to give a Dharma talk but offered to make space for a Black Buddhist teacher in this moment of uprisings to defend Black life. We'll have Katie and Lama Rod in dialogue. We're also pleased to have this format where many more people can join us for this talk. We were originally going to gather in person at the Land of Medicine Buddha, a Buddhist retreat center in the Santa Cruz mountains, the traditional lands of the Amah Mutsun band. So this is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to share this moment with all of you who are joining. This is the first day of BPF's annual gathering, Block Build Be, and we are so excited to be together in this way where we get to create a community of spiritual seekers and political activists who are seeking to block systemic oppression and harm, build creative alternatives and beautiful communities and be in alignment with our highest and best selves. Welcome Reverend Lien and Katie and Sophia and everyone who is joining this webinar, this public dialogue between Katie Loncke, the director of BPF and Lama Rod Owens who is a Buddhist teacher and author and activist who we're pleased to have with us.
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