a lot of it is is upper-middle class
luxury the ability to assuage our own
personal guilt and things like that but
I that snot why I would promote it
because I think that it's important to
take positions about these things in
terms of disenfranchised communities
underprivileged communities you know the
disparity which I was highlighting in
that picture of starving kids with these
completely overweight kids I mean one of
the problems that we have in this
country is that processed food is
incredibly cheap to buy and the reason
that the all processed food came out of
war that the Americans in World War two
I mean margarine came from Napoleon they
needed butter for these troops so we
tend to forget that processed food is
actually a direct result of war because
they needed to feed these armies as they
were moving and so in in in in World War
two they learned how to do this stuff to
a degree scientifically that they'd
never achieved before and and they could
keep long life shelf life and they
realize you know because this
military-industrial complex the same
people that are doing supplying that
during wartime are the people that are
selling you know the foods during
peacetime they realize that this is a
great way we don't have to worry about
perishables because it's they lovable
parents they lose a lot of money except
because when you take you know it's
amazing how many the reason it's so
expensive at Whole Foods is because they
lose a lot of that food and and this is
the problem and farmers know this so one
of the really important movements is
urban homesteading where people are
beginning to put gardens in there on
their rooftops african-american
communities in Detroit are beginning to
do this and it's really interesting
movement where they're bringing
food to to disenfranchised communities
and having some of the schools are doing
it this is really important so I think
Louisville it would be really useful to
bring some of these people in to show
them how to do we can grow our own food
and it actually is realistic people can
have gardens in World War two they had
what we're called Victory Gardens where
unlike these recent Wars let I encourage
you to go out and spend they used to
encourage you actually to save and
recycle World War two was a great year
of recycling people were recycling
everything and you know if you go to
third world countries people wear
sandals made out of used tires because
it's a really good heel a sole for the
for the the shoe and and so these are
the things where we need to get creative
in our communities and not you know so
many of our communities in the inner
cities they can go and get it's easier
to get liquor than it is to get food and
and it's much easier to get you can't
get vegetables in a lot of these
inner-city stores it's all processed
food they get corn out of a can and and
so that movement I think is a really
important movement that's starting to
take place
instead this ads brought to you by the
Center for interfaith relations up here
which has a program for building a box
gardens or urban gardens throughout
rural and we need to expand and children
love to do it they love to plant you can
get the kids involved in they get
connected to the earth you mentioned
earlier we're called the know Adam you
know in the Jewish and the Muslim
tradition and Adam is Adama you know
who's denying Arabic is the top soil and
and in our tradition the reason he was
called Adam and really it's the first
Adam had the male-female and then it
splits into the two of Adam and Eve so
the first Adam that the first creation
was was was the human being you know
which was and and but the the leader is
called top scholars because we're told
the problem Hamlet Pilate said I'm said
that God took white soil black soil
brown soil all the different color
the topsoil in the world and put them
into atoms so that all these colors
would be reflected in his creation from
all the soils of the earth we have the
same scans we probably borrowed from you
well you know look the Prophet Muhammad
you know people say that Islam a lot of
it's just from Judaism but the problem
Ahamed the Quran says you didn't make
this stuff up your you're not an
innovator from the message your being
the same message so much of it is in
Jewish tradition we know that and the
Jewish tradition is part of our
tradition so and there are many I mean
all my tears are filled with Midrash and
and you know the Gomorrah story it's all
in Islamic Jews they never shied away
from that and we had rabbis that became
Muslim there was interactions between
rabbis and and and Muslim scholars and
and so these are these are all this is
wisdom it's just jicama you know hook
nut oh yeah so this is this is this
belongs to everybody thank you again you
for putting this a very practical thing
and anyone's interested a great
organization called youth youth to
Louisville will help you build art yes
don't like art and if you do the
community center declare that that's
part of amazing how much food you can
get out of a very small yes over here I
want to thank you for what you said
about human trafficking is a 21st
century outrage an estimated 20 million
billion people are affected by it
I want to say the good news about it
just as a little bit of a commercial
there's an organization called soap SOA
P save our adolescents from prostitution
headquartered in Columbus Ohio I am part
of the group and we go before large
sporting events like the Super Bowl NCAA
Kentucky Derby world equestrians and we
meet in hotels all over the place to
provide literature photos and soap with
an 800 number to go in every hope
room in Louisville and Columbus in New
York and LA wherever we did it I
participated twice in Louisville we did
it before the truck show in Louisville
and 90% of the hotels accepted the
material the good news is that it's
working in lots of places before the
super during the Super Bowl in New
Jersey 16 teenage girls were rescued
because of soap and four hundred
volunteers covered New York in New
Jersey in Indianapolis Super Bowl two
teenage girls were rescued multiply that
over in Detroit the Auto Show girls
rescued in Columbus Ohio the Arnold
Schwarzenegger bodybuilding your'e girls
were rescued further point is its there
are groups working we need more people
involved well there's a worldwide war
against girls and women around the world
and also the reason why these are all
events that involve large numbers of men
that that's where they literally bring
them in and in cars and and these are
the places and there's something that
the Romans for people are familiar with
the Coliseum the prostitutes were always
bought at the Colosseum's and and people
would get very excited and go down and
abuse them but we're I think we're doing
such a poor job at educating our young
men and to honoring women and that's
something I have five boys and it's I
constantly bring that home to them never
dishonor a woman that that women that
they're their gentle beings they're
easily seduced and men know this about
women because women are trusting and and
and and and when a man tells her certain
things he has the keys to her heart very
often and too many wolves out there
really prey on on that knowledge and
there's books out there of how to seduce
women that are now bestsellers thank you
very much
it's a little hard for me to see this we
over yeah over here so I see these
slides and I hear these facts and
they're very disturbing of course and
they should be to my soul and so my
question is what kind of daily practice
can I do I do things with my deeds you
know I own a farm and I am trying to
help that part of the world but in my a
daily practice that you would suggest
that could help because I do believe in
intentions being able to actually help
these problems but I'm up for
suggestions okay well I first of all you
know I we have to honor our small
farmers because you know I'm fortunate
to be in Northern California with a slow
movement that slow food movement started
that we have local farmers markets that
we can go to on a regular basis so we
get all our foods from local growers I
would much rather support them than
support you know even though you know a
Whole Foods has some pretty enlightened
leadership there but I would still
rather support the local growers as much
as possible and I think that's something
really important so you know and people
you were talking earlier downstairs just
about you know this loopy feeling about
being connected to the land but the
truth is farmers suffering then see the
highest suicide rates in India are from
the small farmers they get them into
these you serious deaths and we had
people remember the 80s crises the
highest rates of suicide were among
small farmers we're losing our small
farmers and agribusiness is taking over
and this is what I'm talking about you
know these these you know the rulers of
darkness of this world you know a lot of
these people and there's good people in
that I'm not a Mackay I'm not in any way
manichaean
I don't you know there's there's good
CEOs there's decent people working but
these are soul destroying institutions
that we've set up and and so I'm not in
any way I don't I'm not a revolutionary
in that I
don't believe and you know if we just
can kill the evil ruler suddenly
everything's going to you know be fine
it's not like that and there's good
people in Washington DC there's good
people in government there's really
amazing police and then there's people
that abuse these powers you know and
some of them you know and there are
really dark demonic people that we have
termed Psychopaths
and about one out 22 Americans is
considered to be psychopathic and there
are functional psychopathic people often
in CEO positions that don't have morals
I mean this is this is social science in
our culture I would recommend there's
several books on this one of them is
associate that next door a lot of people
think sociopaths the serial killer no
there are sociopaths that are surgeons
they're sociopaths that are CEOs and
they really don't they don't think like
other people they just don't feel
remorse about harming others or harming
the earth or whatever so in terms of a
practice I can't I want to advise you on
that
I think people you know we're living in
an age that enables us to experiment it
with religions this is in some ways
unprecedented in other ways
we've always had eclecticism and
interaction of traditions muslims and
jews lived together for centuries in
places like Morocco and Sarajevo and so
there's always been these and we know
that different traditions adopted
methods st. Francis was influenced by
the Sufis when he got back he adopted
some of those practices and certainly
you know the Muslims of India found the
Hindus doing certain things that they
thought were interesting so you'll find
a chakra a type of chakra understanding
in certain Indian Sufi badia clubs and
things like this so there's always been
that kind of eclecticism but I come out
of a spiritual tradition that really
says that it's good to take a serious
tradition and to practice it and and for
me personally there are certain things
that I have to do
day I think the only thing that I really
incorporated outside of of Milan
tradition is I've been practicing chi
gong for some time now and derived a lot
of benefit from it just physically
because I was having a lot of energy
problems but I think we really we need
to have time with ourselves alone where
we can just disengage and turn off all
these things I have a friend of mine
he's an imam in Washington DC so it has
a box in the end of in the front of his
house and when everybody comes in they
have to put the cell phones in the box
and they're not allowed to use any cell
phones inside the house and Jesus
Sudanese man and I thought that was
really an excellent practice I think a
lot of us need to disengage from from
the madness of these constantly being
you know texting and getting called we
don't have to answer the phone every
time it ring you know you really don't
now you're really something
revolutionary huh it's true okay before
you do that though I was going to do
this as an ad anyway my best suggestion
would be come tonight at 7 o'clock
because from 7:00 to 9:00 Wendell Berry
is going to be here with Gary Snyder and
Jack shoemaker and Wendell is a
phenomenal community resource for those
of you who have the opportunity you know
exactly what I'm saying because you may
not come tonight at 7:00
Wendell did I'd say the kind of
intention that you're speaking of for my
entire congregation when he came to
speak and we established the farm works
a farmers market that comes to Temple
Mondays and Thursdays are local farmers
and what he was saying was that we've
begun to look at food he'll say this
better tonight I hope but in a sentence
we come to look at food as a commodity
and we lose the nature of the
relationship you're feeding people okay
that is gift okay and when you receive
the food from the people
grew it you create something different
than going to a market and buying it
you're recognizing that the people who
you feed and we're recognizing who feeds
us and we create in that community and I
think what you're doing is that
intentions honestly but come tonight it
will be wonderful okay now a question
there are we yeah thank you I have a
question regarding I think is a
challenge that we face in the US and
it's very pervasive and that we are we
have a sense of entitlement that is is
much stronger than a lot of places you
find in the world and what would be your
response in sort of a spiritual sense to
that sense of entitlement that I really
don't have to do anything to change
because I have earned what I have earned
and I've worked hard for that yeah that
was one of mine too yeah the you know
when when you go to other put like I was
just in West Africa I was in Senegal and
in Mauritania and you know I think it's
really important for us to to get our
kids over to places to do work in in
other communities and places to see the
reality I'll give you an example I had I
had a friend of mine I teach a course at
a junior college nearby with a friend
and and and she was having trouble
controlling this class because they were
just you know they're college kids
behaving like high school kids so I
suggested that she bring in a friend of
mine who was a leading member of one of
the dominant African American gangs in
LA went to prison for murder spent
several years in prison and he converted
transformed his life in prison it came
out he's actually a teacher now so I
suggested that she bring him into the
class and she did and she just said the
transformation these students was
amazing with him telling his story and
and you know I I just I tell them
this junior-college if you were in Kabul
in Afghanistan this would be the Harvard
of Afghanistan you know and we have
people in a lot of countries that
literally commit suicide because their
scores are too low to get into the
colleges you know so we just it's
amazing the opportunities if you look at
when people come here from places like
African countries the first thing they
do is an enroll in junior colleges you
know it's just so amazing for them to be
able to get an education that doesn't
cost very much and so I think part of it
is really trying to inculcate this early
on narcissism was you know just it was I
think it was designated in the 1970s in
that famous book the culture of
narcissism you know he saw something
that nobody was seeing at the time how
narcissistic our culture was coming I
think the selfie is just such an
indicative aspect of our of our
civilization this idea of just taking
your own picture you know I've never
I've never carried a camera I've never
taken I don't have any pictures of
myself and I've been all over the world
I've been in that you know I met the
Pope you know and and had a picture with
the Pope and you know I just never had
that urge to have these pictures you
know my last because some people stand
us things and she wants to put a lot of
I said I don't want them on the wall you
know I don't want to do that and and I
know I don't get that thing about
pictures you know like I for me this is
where I take my pictures I and I try to
be present with people and remember them
as best I can
and I learned this from the Bedouin
because what really struck me about the
Bedouin that I lived with is they were
so present
and I would need a better one that I've
met 10 years before he would remember
what we talked about the conversation we
had and and they don't take pictures
because they know and so this whole
obsession with images that the New York
Times recently reported that the average
American seems more images in one day
than a 19th century English person saw
in his entire lifetime and these images
are flooding our hearts were losing that
just that space you know the imageless
space you know one of the things when
trade Jim went into the holiest of
holies the thing that really disturbed
him was there was nothing in there you
know any wanted the Jews to explain like
where's your idols where's your images
it's an empty place and and and and so
that emptiness we have to have that
emptiness to be able to to contemplate
and I would recommend leading Neil
postman's incredible book amusing
ourselves to death and that second
chapter about why the Decalogue would
have prohibited images because he argues
that if you want people to understand
abstractions you have to watch out for
the images that you give them and God
wants us to know something a concept
that is so abstract and and this is why
image based cultures become debased very
quickly so I really think the images are
harming us immensely the the
pornographic images that are going into
the minds of these young kids it's
really terrifying because they can't get
these things out they won't be able to
get those images out of the mountain I
know this from I have people that have
converted to Islam or have these
problems and they've told me when they
just when they open their prayer images
start flooding they're there and they
want to get rid of them so it's really
difficult spiritually it can be done
with a lot of work but you have to be
careful what you put into your heart
and I once I was with a Bedouin we've
gone from the desert to the walk shop
and there was a TV in the room and it
was on and he was looking the other way
and his man in his 30s and he was a
student of knowledge and he was looking
the other way and I was with a Libyan
Abdul Razak Mokhtar he's the ambassador
in Turkey now for Libya but he asked him
have you ever seen television he said no
he said don't you want to look at it and
he said I heard that it has foul things
on it I don't want to let it into my
heart and you know that level of being
is just where are those people yeah it's
very briefly the Jewish community I
would echo this part about how important
travel can be and meeting people from
other cultures and places we have the
commitment it's called birthright to
send all of our children's in the Land
of Israel and we really press this and
we make it literally affordable to the
point of practically free to get every
one of our kids to go to Israel they
need Israeli kids you know who also have
cell phones and text they text in Hebrew
Devi I think that's really cool but what
they also find out is if these kids go
into the army after high school all okay
and they serve their country and these
kids have an expectation that they
probably aren't going to be able to go
to college necessarily because not
everybody gets to go to college because
there's just not enough slots so you
would have to work hard if you want to
do that and they'll grow up in a world
where they're not able to afford a home
and they'll be very lucky but probably
not have a car and you know and they're
there their sense of commitment to their
country is something that's very
different
and when these kids come and visit our
economic titled you earn things every
day you know and and that the things
that you choose to earn are the things
that really matter
I mean maybe are not those material
things maybe they're things like respect
maybe the things like you know a future
in the fan
things like that okay I would like to
continue with questions but we need to
stop now because we have some other
things to finish the first which is the
poetry and do you have it yeah I do okay
um explain this was a there were several
poems and then they were they narrowed
them down to eight and then I was given
the unfortunate task of determining
which one should be given let me read
the up the introduction to this and then
okay it's not explained this is a poetry
of the sacred contest that the center
performed as part of this year's
festival the poetry the safety sacred
context is run annually to the center
for innovation Institute for
contemporary practice poetry can be
thought as the language of the soul and
this contest encourages poets that
awaken their reader to the
meaningfulness and beauty of life people
entered this contest from 34 different
states in four different countries from
these entries a winning poem and three
honorable mentions were chosen and
received both monetary prizes must be
published in parabola magazine in the
winter issue of 2014 the poems were then
judged by hamsa which he hated having to
do and we've selected one which uml read
so you know just to preface this I
really they were all very interesting
poems this one was the one that hit me
the most just in terms of my talk and
and what I think the festival face is is
about so it's called what worship is
it's by Red Hawk from Arizona I don't
think that he apparently he doesn't have
internet access which I thought was
great but the other poems I mean the
filter list of Mont sainte-victoire was
really I really like that Prairie hours
and him too morning were the runners-up
and they were all good and the other
ones were good - they were more
depressing so but this one I thought
really captured something from me what
worship is by Red Hawk from Arizona at
dusk cousin John is driving home when a
rabbit darts in front of his car and his
throne tumbling and spinning into the
tall grass beyond the shoulder now here
is where John emerges from the pack of
ordinary brutish humans and assumes a
form we barely know he stops the car
pulls off to see what harm he has done I
don't know anyone else who would have
stopped he finds the rabbit broken and
thrashing not yet dead in the tall grass
goes to his trunk for a hammer returns
and finishes what chance started then
with the claw part he did the shallow
hole and puts the body in returns drives
home heavy with sorrow feeling remorse
having performed his humble sacrament to
make right what has gone wrong in us we
have forgotten who we are and what we
must do
so just a few other sort of follow-up
things will be concluding now but I'm so
Youssef will be in the foyer we had a
long conversation about the
pronunciation of that word there'll be a
book signing there as well as a
reception with like food and drink and
we want to invite all of you to join us
there again
Wendell Barry Gary Snyder and Jack
shoemaker this evening at 7 and 9 is a
program I'm not going to miss and really
shouldn't just gonna be fantastic and we
will conclude as we are in all these
sessions with a moment of silence and I
encourage you in silence to try to take
in some of what Hamza has shared with us
and think in the ways that many of your
questions did but how we can take these
ideas and make them into spirit in
ourselves and in practice in our lives
[Music]
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thank you for joining us
[Applause]
[Music]
you