We have been discussing the mind of enlightenment, the bodhisattva mind. And then we have been discussing how the six perfections of giving and vigilant, careful attention to all action, of mind, speech, and body, and patience, and vigorous heroic effort and concentration and wisdom are the practices of bodhisattvas to protect this bodhisattva mind, to nurture it, and to bring it to the full realization for the welfare of all beings. And yesterday I started to discuss with you the fourth perfection, the perfection of great effort, great enthusiastic endeavor in the Buddha way.

[01:18]

Three kinds of laziness, the laziness of indolence or inertia, laziness of unwholesome, fruitless or even harmful activity in the laziness, despondency and self-deprecation or disparagement of our ability to practice. And today I'd like to bring up four kinds of You know, four kinds of energy that develop effort in the practice of the virtues, that develop the energy to practice giving and to practice vigilance about our

[02:23]

activity and to sponsor and nourish patience and concentration and wisdom. And the four by Shantideva are called aspiration, steadfastness or confidence, joy and rest. Aspiration is it's aspiration to the Dharma. It's aspiration to the Dharma, for the Dharma. It's keen interest in the Dharma.

[03:26]

So at the beginning of this session and throughout the week, we start by reciting the verse called the Arousing of the Vow, the Raising of the Vow of the ancestor Ehe Dogen. he actually wrote, I vow from this life on through all countless lives to hear the true Dharma. And we changed the translation for our group recitation to we vow from this life on through all countless lives to hear the true Dharma. This is of keen interest in the Dharma. And it is taught by the founder of this tradition, Shakyamuni Buddha.

[04:56]

Aspiration is the root of all virtue. This aspiration, this interest in the Dharma is the root of all virtue. It's where the virtues get their nourishment. The tree of enlightenment grows from the aspiration to Dharma. By being interested in Dharma, by practicing generosity, ethics, patience, all kinds of compassion and wisdom. And the root of aspiration is acceptance and reflection and meditation on the teachings and experience

[06:12]

of karma and its consequences. So the Buddha has taught that karmic action, intentional action, has consequence. There's great subtleties in this teaching. Basically he says, What is wholesome leads to benefit, what is unwholesome leads to harm. And he encouraged his students to and be vigilant about what their action is because vigilance and carefulness of our action tends to create this kind of action which we call wholesome. We don't exactly know what wholesome action is sometimes.

[07:19]

It seems to be something that can happen when we're very careful and very attentive and very sincere about what we're thinking, what we're saying, our various postures. So again, this force of aspiration is the root of all the other virtues. It is a virtue in itself to aspire to dharma, The wish to receive the Dharma and see the Dharma, that is a virtue. And then the root of that virtue, the wish to hear and meet the Dharma, the root of that is to pay attention the whole Dharma is not the teaching of cause and effect.

[08:26]

The teaching of cause and effect is kind of the root of the teaching of the Dharma. The teaching of Dharma also teaches the nature of reality. But we will not be able to understand the truth of the Dharma, the ultimate truth, if we don't pay attention to the teaching that karma has consequence in the teaching that we should pay close attention, we should be vigilant of everything we do. So aspiration of dharma takes us back to the second perfection of ethical discipline. But it's not just the... the aspiration is slightly different than the observation. The aspiration is different than the observation. The observation is to remember what you're doing right now. The aspiration is the interest in the teaching of karmic cause and effect.

[09:32]

So the aspiration is to remember the teaching, and the second virtue, the second parameter is actually because to apply yourself to what the teaching says, you should apply yourself to if you wish for the happiness of all beings. Those who wish to help others take minute care of all their actions. Or I should say, they aspire to do that, they commit to do that. So again, I do not know always that what I'm thinking or what I'm saying is wholesome.

[10:35]

I may think it's wholesome and I could be wrong. But even though I think it's wholesome and I could be wrong, still I have heard the teaching that I should be paying attention to what I'm doing and looking to see if it's wholesome. So even if I'm not clear about what I'm doing, still, I am clear that I should be looking at what I'm doing. Now you could say, well, do you know that looking at what you're doing is wholesome? And there I get kind of more, almost like I'm getting pretty certain that paying attention to what I appear to be doing is beneficial. I don't exactly see how, necessarily, but I have a lot of confidence that paying attention and being careful of what I'm saying and thinking is in accord with this teaching and will promote wholesome action.

[11:50]

And this kind of attention then will bring us to the revelation of the profound Dharma, where we actually will someday actually be able to see how action works. And we will actually be able to see what will be beneficial and what won't be. We cannot clearly see always what will be beneficial. We just think something would be beneficial. And we sometimes think that something will not be beneficial. And then sometimes when we think something's not beneficial, we don't do that unbeneficial thing. And sometimes we feel that we were right, that it was not good. The most important thing is that that we're keenly interested in this teaching and we're keenly interested in applying it.

[12:58]

This study then again enthuses us, gives a zeal in practicing giving. and practicing this kind of practice, and also practicing and concentration. And the aspiration to Dharma, again, it encourages us to continue to practice aspiration to Dharma. And there's a few verses following this basic definition of aspiration which say something like this. First of all, I should examine well what is to be done to see whether I can pursue it or cannot undertake it.

[14:19]

If I am unable, it is best to leave it. But once I have started, I must not withdraw." This brings up a really big issue for me. So he's suggesting before you do something, and we're talking about doing something wholesome, before you do a wholesome thing, whether you can actually follow through. And if you think you can't, maybe better not to do it. It's a pretty powerful issue or suggestion. Once again, if you're contemplating some wholesome action, now again, you're contemplating and unfortunately in this case maybe you're actually looking at, you're aware that you're contemplating an action.

[15:35]

This is good, I would say. And you think it's good. Yeah, you think it's good. And you want to do it, but you're not sure you're going to be able to follow through. So this is suggesting, if you don't think you can follow through, Maybe leave it. But once you have started, even if you start something good and you're not sure you can do it, you know, you're going against to try it anyway. Once you start, not knowing whether you're going to be able to finish, he says, finish it. And this is again another difficult point because I heard on, what is it, I saw on the TV at the exercise room, I saw this guy commenting on George Bush.

[16:46]

He says, I like George Bush. What he decides to do on Monday, he does on Wednesday, regardless of what happens on Tuesday. So this description of George Bush, which sounds kind of irrational, is kind of what this great Buddhist teacher is suggesting to do. If you think something is good, you should follow through. Even if people say, even if the thought crossed your mind, maybe it is good. Maybe that's not what he means. Maybe he doesn't mean to follow through even if you see that it is good. Maybe he means if you start something good and you don't know if you're going to be able to finish, but you start it,

[17:50]

and then you run into the trouble maybe you thought you were going to run into, that you thought would make you quit, well then don't. Keep going and do this good thing. So this issue often comes up with people who are involved in considering receiving the Bodhisattva precepts and committing to practice compassion to do these precepts which we feel if we practice them will be beneficial people feel like well I don't know if I can practice them I don't know if I can so then what does follow through mean well one meaning of follow through is that you practice them perfectly Another meaning of follow through is you practice them and you don't practice them perfectly but you don't turn back.

[18:56]

You keep practicing them even though you're not. So and I guess I'm of the school which says when you can receive these precepts and commit to practice them, you can commit to the course of some action without knowing that you're going to be able to do it all the time, but knowing that you're, feeling that you're not going to turn back, that you're not going to change your mind. maybe wait. If you think you're going to change your mind and you think you're not going to want to go for refuge in Buddha, then maybe wait until you're pretty sure you do want to go for refuge in Buddha and you're not going to change your mind about it.

[19:58]

You're not going to go back on your promise. You may fail to follow your promise, but you're not going to go back on it. And then we have practices of confessing that we're not following through on our, we're not fulfilling our promise, turning back on it. If you think you're going to turn back on the precepts of compassion, maybe wait and don't commit to them until you're pretty sure, not until you're sure you're not going to turn back. It's bad to turn back on things that you're trying to do because then you undermine rather than facilitate virtue. And some people in the Buddhist tradition tell horror stories about what happens to people who change their mind.

[21:04]

There's also some kind of horror stories about what happens to people when they don't follow through on what they commit to. But worse than not following through in particulars is like trying to reverse course. That's really disturbing. So part of aspiration is really to deeply consider what do you wish to commit to? including I'm willing to accept the consequences of this commitment and slipping up and getting distracted and forgetting it sometimes. But I don't think I'm going to change. I don't think I'm going to try to revoke my commitment. I think I want to give up the bodhisattva commitment. I think I do. And I'm pretty sure I'm not going to follow it all the time.

[22:08]

And I guess, and I'm willing to accept the consequences of not following through on my commitment to practice virtue for the welfare I'm committing to practice on the teachings of karmic cause and effect. I'm committing to reflect on my karma, to meditate on my karma, to study my karma. I'm committing to that. And yeah. I have committed to it, I continue to commit to it, and I accept the consequences of that kind of life. And that's my understanding of the bodhisattva path.

[23:10]

The next force of heroic effort is which is related to the laziness of thinking that you that you can't practice the Buddha way. This is more like confidence, confidence that I will practice the Buddha way, which is similar to I will do this action So we apply this confidence to our actions, we apply this confidence to ... and we apply this confidence to our ability.

[24:24]

I will pay attention to my actions deal with the conflicting emotions that will arise in me, which will make it difficult for me to pay attention. But I will face them and I will work with them. And even if nobody else has this confidence, I will continue to be confident and work in this way. Confidence about action, and confidence about ability. And this confidence is not a confidence What's the word?

[25:37]

You know, Shantideva is kind of tricky. He uses this word, the Sanskrit word mana, which means pride. And he uses it in two ways. One way he uses it is the pride of I will practice the dharma, and the other one is the pr—which, which, and then he uses the same word for the pride of, I'm better than other people. Or the pride of, I'm good enough, I'm great, and that's enough. But he doesn't modify, he doesn't really modify the word much, so it's kind of confusing in the original. So it's usually translated as, in one case, self-confidence, or confidence, and in the other case, self-importance. So this is the razor's edge of the bodhisattva path is to have this confidence without being what we usually call proud.

[26:50]

or to have a spiritual pride, which is the pride of, I'm so happy, I feel so grateful that I can be committed, that I dare to take on this responsibility. But not getting into thinking that I'm better than other people. Don't do that. who admit they don't want to do it, it's too much, it's stupid, whatever. Somehow to not be better than anybody else. As a matter of fact, this self-confidence we use to overcome self-importance.

[28:04]

I wish to overcome my self-importance, my sense of self-importance. In other words, to use pride to overcome pride. Use pride and confidence in the practice to overcome self-pride self-importance. And this way of talking is more, you know, is very familiar to a strong current of ride, chase the thief riding the thief's horse. overcome unwholesome things by becoming intimate with them.

[29:19]

So another way to say this is the root of virtue is the aspiration to dharma and the root aspiration to study karma and intimacy with karma is what removes karmic hindrances. So I have the confidence that I would Very difficult work of getting intimate with karma, which is, as I mentioned earlier in this practice period, karma is karmic consciousness. To get intimate with karmic consciousness, not karmic consciousness, now get intimate with it. Karmic consciousness is giddy, giddy, and

[30:28]

I looked up the word giddy. And giddy means to be excited to the extent of being disoriented. So it's difficult to get intimate with something which spins you around and disorients you. What am I doing here again in this world of confusion and greed, hate, and delusion? I am trying to watch it. Yeah, that's right. So that, because I aspire to Dharma, and I aspire to Dharma in order to help people. Oh yeah, right, and then I spin around again. Well, where am I now? It's a heroic spirit that goes into this world of karma with the teaching that that's, we have to If we don't watch it, we're just going to, you know, be spun around and not even, we won't be able to help beings unless we pay attention and are vigilant and careful in this giddy world of karmic consciousness.

[31:39]

I aspire to Dharma means I aspire to study this carefully. And then get into, like, well, is this wholesome or unwholesome? I'd like to be able to see, but I'm getting disoriented. And what was it again that I was looking at? And again, this is wholesome. I think it's wholesome, but now, let's see, now, am I ready to commit to it? Whoa, I don't know. What was it again? I should or I shouldn't? And I, you know, okay. Okay. I welcome this confusion. I'm patient with this disorientation. I'm vigilant. And it's really exciting and difficult. And I want to be here because I want to help suffering beings. I really do. I'm not confident that I can do it.

[32:53]

I am confident I can do it. I'm confident I can do it. I'm confident I want to learn how to surf the great white wave of karmic consciousness. And if I heroically give myself in person to understand, I will be able to learn this. And I'm going to ask for help, too. Please help me, all beings. Please help me, all Buddhas. Next is joy. And the joy is basically the joy of practicing the virtues. the joy of practicing giving, the joy of practicing carefulness, the joy of practicing the joy of meditating on the teaching of karmic cause and effect, the joy of joy, the joy of aspiration,

[34:11]

the joy of arousing ourself from and doing good, the joy of wholesomeness. Thinking about it, thinking about how good good is, but also practicing good and enjoying it. one translation says, just like those who yearn for the fruits of play, a bodhisattva is attracted to whatever tasks they may do. They never have enough. It only brings joy. So the example also is given of like small children who delight in their play and do not expect any other reward.

[35:24]

They want only the simple joy of play." How do bodhisattvas play? Play with other living beings, They play with their karmic consciousness and they play by practicing giving. They play by being careful. They play by being vigilant. They play by being kind. They play the game of gentleness. They play the game of giving up trying to control the game. they play saying thank you very much to whatever happens they play this they wish to play this game without end they don't wish to play the game and stop the game they wish to play the game forever like children they wish to play [...] however at a certain point in the evening

[36:42]

We have to get their pajamas on before it's too late. We have to get them to brush their teeth. We have to get them in bed and read them because they'll just keep playing. And if they play too long, their virtue will disappear. So we need to know when it's getting close to the, what do you call it, the bewitching hour, when they turn into little monsters and get them ready to rest from their play. Same with bodhisattvas. They sometimes need to rest from their wonderful play They need to rest.

[37:44]

We shouldn't do good things too long. And we shouldn't try things that are too advanced. We have to learn when to rest. In one sense, the bodhisattvas talk about and are encouraged to never rest, to always, always be careful, [...] always be vigilant, always be generous, always be patient, never stop. Yes, that's one side. The other side is when you're being careful, when you're being vigilant, and when you are vigilant... When you're vigilant, then don't keep being vigilant. Rest. And then be vigilant again. Stop.

[38:50]

Rest. Once you've accomplished a good deed, finish it. Rest. Like in music, there's a rest, right? Rest. Rest. Don't just go... Rest. Rhythm. And then, start again. So, in one sense, we never stop. We always keep... But there's rests. And rests are part of the bodhisattva play. In this way, with aspiration... steadfastness, joy, to do these practices expecting anything but just for the joy of giving and so on. And then having rest, putting things aside so that you can start again.

[39:56]

These practices fuel all the other virtues and wisdom. So this is called heroic effort, joyful effort, courageous effort. This is the amazing virtue of the bodhisattvas. This is how we do the work of realizing enlightenment. This is the fuel for the work, the work, the joyful, heroic work of taking care of the bodhi mind. So this is... I say these things to you by Shantideva, but not just by Shantideva, also by Ehekoso Daisho.

[41:30]

Dogen Zenji, I feel, is very much giving the same teachings. And I also feel that Suzuki Roshi gave such a teaching, but not necessarily in this form to everybody. So like when he said to me, maybe full lotus is good for you, he might not have said that to somebody else. Somebody else might not have come to him and said, when I sit in half lotus, things are pretty nice. When I sit in full lotus, they're really hard. Not everybody said that to him, so he didn't say that to everybody. He said it to me. He encouraged me to do something that was hard for me. For somebody else, he told them to do something that was hard for them, which was not hard for me.

[42:33]

He sometimes encouraged me when things weren't hard for me. One time I went to him and I said, things aren't hard. Is something wrong? Am I missing something? You know, I'd been having a hard time for a couple of years. And I thought that was like what it's supposed to be like. To be challenged, I thought, was the normal situation for me. And he seemed to be okay with that. that I had a hard time. I went to see him and I said, is this okay? And he said, I think he said something like, yeah, he said, it may be that for you sometimes practice is not hard. And he didn't say that was okay.

[43:40]

It's kind of permitted sometimes. And then he took a piece of paper and he folded it over. And he said, or maybe he said, in origami, when we fold paper, you know origami? You know origami? When we fold a paper, after we fold it, sometimes we press on it for a while before we make the next fold. So folding the paper is kind of hard, right? But once you fold it, sometimes you don't fold again. You just press on it for a while, which is pretty easy. It makes the next fold work better sometimes. If you just take, actually time, time and pressure on the fold makes it more workable.

[44:41]

The fabrics, the fabric in the paper, kind of like, okay, we'll go along with this, let's, you know, some subtle movement and adjustment and acceptance of the fold occurs. And then I think he almost said, or it was implied, another fold will be coming. Another difficulty will be offered. You'll have a hard time again soon. I didn't say all that, but that was kind of the implication. And then either that, later that day or the next morning, I think the president of Zen Center or somebody like that came to me. I was at Tassajara and said, would you leave Tassajara and go to the city center and be the director of the city center?

[45:42]

So I went back to Suzuki Roshi and I said, well, the next fold came. And he did sometimes suggest some things to me, some things which I wasn't doing. He suggested some work to me which I wasn't taking on. But he always did it so gently, kind of like, here's something which I wasn't taking on sometimes. This is something which some priests might work on. And he would say, but I don't want to tell you to do it. he said, one time. And then I said, but you want me to? And he said, yes. I still have the piece of paper.

[46:54]

It was a used envelope. he wrote, he made like five vertical arrows in a row and one was taller than the other ones. And he said in Zen we don't do this. You don't have some part of your practice standing up above the rest of the practice. Now some people might say you should pound the tall one back down even with the other ones. Are you following this? But I think the other way is you should bring the other ones up even with that one. You shouldn't, you know, certain things you're good at and then other things you're not taking care of. And then he wrote that in conjunction with one of the things he wanted me to take care of. So he did sometimes push me a little bit, but very gently, as you can see. The Buddha is very gentle with us.

[48:09]

The Buddha is gently, gently encouraging us to work hard, to accept challenges, to discipline ourselves, to train ourselves sitting quietly and being very, very mindful of all our actions and considering whether what we're thinking, whether what we're doing is benefiting. in considering whether we want to live for the welfare of all beings. They're gently encouraging us to do this rather difficult thing

[49:13]

And the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas that are encouraging us to do this, they love to do this. This is their joy. This is their play. They love to do it. They're not trying to get the reward for this. They're not trying to get, you know, the best Buddha of the week award. They're just doing this because they love to do it. And then they just keep doing it because they love to do it and never want to stop, except that they do rest now sometimes. Yesterday I was supposed to ring the bells at the start of the lecture.

[50:58]

Louder? Louder! Yesterday. Is that OK? That's good. OK. Yesterday I was supposed to ring the bells at the start of the lecture, and I missed the opportunity to do that. I apologise to you afterwards, but I also missed the opportunity to apologise to the other people here. So I'd like to apologise to everyone here yesterday, both for not ringing the bells and also for not apologising when I had the opportunity. Is this a joy? I'm feeling happy. That's good. This should be a joy, really. It's a scary joy. A scary joy. And while I'm up here, I'd also like to thank everyone who comes up here for their courage and sharing their

[52:13]

difficulties and pains and also their joys. I don't often find that courage myself so I appreciate it when I see it in others. Thank you. Thank you. Yesterday, you were talking about when hatred arises in someone else or in yourself, to meet it with patience.

[53:24]

And compassion. And compassion. Compassion, and in particular, the aspect of compassion called patience is often very helpful, especially when there of the anger with patience. to meet the pain of anger with patience and then meet the anger itself. Sometimes you might see anger but not feel the pain. So in that case, meet it with generosity, with welcoming. And it makes it sound like there's nothing there behind. You said there's nothing, like the person's not trying to be... There's no independent operator of this anger. So meet it with compassion and the compassion aspects. One aspect of compassion is graciousness, generosity. Welcome compassion.

[54:27]

Another aspect of the compassion towards the anger is to be careful of it. Okay? Be careful. Makes sense, right? Be careful of the anger. Be vigilant of your own and other people's. Watch it carefully. Another aspect of compassion is to be patient with the pain of it, if there's pain, and there often is. Another aspect of compassion is to aspire to Dharma while eating the anger. to watch karmic cause and effect while you're meeting the anger. Another aspect of compassion with the anger is to be tranquil with it, to be serene with it. Another aspect of compassion which connects to the patience is analyze the causes and conditions and realize that there's no independent actor in the arena. You're not an independent operator of yourself who's angry.

[55:33]

You're not independent operator of yourself who's observing the anger in others. They're not in control of their anger. This is the wisdom part coming to play. So you're also not in control of having compassion of your anger? I'm not in control of having compassion. Compassion arises because of many causes. And one of them is past compassion. In my own history and in my history can be the history of my own past acts of compassion, and other people being compassionate to me and showing me compassion, and now presently compassion, these are factors which lead to the arising of compassion in me. So I'm not in control of arising compassion. Matter of fact, I might feel angry and someone comes up to me and is compassionate towards my anger, and I say, wow, they teach me to be compassionate to my anger.

[56:39]

and maybe I learn it. But again, I'm not in control of learning it either. So causes and conditions were not in control and yet being aware of this contributes to the coming together of causes and conditions which contribute to arising. But we still have some choice in it. We have choice, but we don't choose our choices. Thank you. You know, we're not an independent operator of our choices. But we do make choices. If there's choices, we're responsible. But we're not in control of the choices we make. Like my daughter says to my grandson, make good choices, buddy. You can make a good choice now.

[57:42]

So then he maybe makes a good choice. But it's partly because she said, Hey, buddy, make a good choice. And he goes, Oh, yeah. And then a good choice comes. And the granddaddy's over there sitting quietly, you know, sending me Zen vibes. I'm out of control of him. His mother's not in control of him, but we're rooting for him. He feels the rooting, and then suddenly a good choice arises, but not always. Once again, aspiring to the sublime Dharma The root of that aspiration is to meditate on our choices. Part of our karma is choice, our choices. We're not in control of our choice.

[58:45]

We're not even in control of whether we pay attention to our choice. But here, when we hear the encouragement, pay attention to the choices you're making. If we hear that and can go with that, that is the root of the aspiration. That's your dharma. So these stories are happening in this room for some reason. Or for some reasons. And it's a joy to be telling these stories and to be hearing them. For some people. I think this is the last morning that David will be here, who's been here since January.

[60:07]

Could you speak up, please? You couldn't hear, could you? In the back? No. Oh, there we go. So close. I said, I think this is the last morning that David will be here, who's been with us since January. And I thought maybe especially the practice period might like to say goodbye to him in some way in the Zendo. Or he might like to say goodbye to us. Here he comes. Oh, good. Thank you, Catherine. That was a ... I hope you enjoyed getting ... I did, thank you very much. And here's David. Yeah, maybe you want to say goodbye?

[61:12]

Yeah, in a way, with so many people. I'm really nervous now, but it's I want to be here and talk to all of you. I'm leaving tomorrow in the morning after breakfast. First, I would like to say thanks to all of you for all your help and all the gifts I received. for all your practice with supporting me and helping me in many ways. I really can feel that. And before I leave, I would like to make a vow to It's kind of a green-gulch vow because the mind who gives rise to this vow is the mind of our practice. You're practicing with me, and I'm practicing with you. And you're practicing me, and I'm practicing you. And it's also inspired by your teachings, which are really touching.

[62:19]

So I vow to practice intimacy with all beings. And I vow to welcome whatever arises in my life. Because it's my deep wish that my now is a gift. You all have part in my vow here. That's the reason to say thank you again. Yeah, I don't know what else to say. Just may our practice be a good one. Thank you. And would people like to say something to David? Thank you, David. Thank you. Bing wants to say something?

[63:29]

To David? Okay. So I just, because we're doing DISH together for the SOGI work, every day, you know, I didn't do the practice period, so we kept tired, you know. But Dave always have very smile and make the job very easy. I really appreciate that. Hi.

[64:44]

I just want to say it's been really great to have you here. Thank you. Thank you very much. It's a great time to get together. David, thank you for your steadfast sitting, also for your reliability, and you're often, if I asked you to do something, you always said yes. Thank you. I got to work with you this practice period, and it's been wonderful.

[65:55]

And you all remember to put the silverware through. Thank you very much. I wanted to say that David shared with me, and we've been talking about these virtues and steadfastness and joy, and David was reminding me of how difficult it is when you first come here, and especially if you don't understand the language. And you want to say yes, but you're not sure what you're saying yes to. Or if you're even doing what they're asking you to do. But you said, okay, to something. And how difficult that was in the beginning.

[66:59]

how challenging it was also emotionally here. And still, he kept going, you know, and he asked, or maybe he'd always planned, I don't know, but to stay for the practice period. And through all of that, understanding more, and I reminded him it would probably be a good time not to go back to sleep. And then he has this aspiration now to come back. So for all of us, just this difficulty that comes through at the beginning and still to keep going. And I really appreciated hearing that and that you were able, through all of the kind of ups and downs, to keep going. So thank you very much and I hope I'm here to say hello when you come back. Thank you. David, I'd hate for you to miss your opportunity to ask this.

[68:09]

She's so a question. So I wondered if you'd have one you'd like to ask her now. This was done unless you have another question. So, yeah. Thank you and share my appreciation for your patience with me, with my impatience with you. And the laughs that we had together. And thank you. Safe journey. Well, I would like to say thank you again. Would anyone else like to leave early?

[69:17]

May our intention equally extend.

[69:27]

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