WEBVTT 00:00:43.621 --> 00:00:44.812 Dear Thay, 00:00:44.812 --> 00:00:46.847 dear beloved community, 00:00:46.847 --> 00:00:50.090 it's so wonderful to be here with you. 00:00:50.970 --> 00:00:54.313 I had many things going on, 00:00:54.313 --> 00:00:56.688 and Sister Chan Khong said you must come, 00:00:56.688 --> 00:00:58.222 so here I am. 00:00:58.222 --> 00:00:59.286 I came. 00:00:59.286 --> 00:01:03.133 I always listen to sister Chan Khong. 00:01:03.133 --> 00:01:05.506 My name is Cheri Maples. 00:01:06.666 --> 00:01:11.744 I was a police officer seven years into my career 00:01:11.744 --> 00:01:15.413 when I ended up, you can decide, 00:01:15.413 --> 00:01:18.133 by accident or coincidence 00:01:18.133 --> 00:01:22.253 or a series of causes and conditions that came together, 00:01:22.253 --> 00:01:24.562 at my first retreat with Thay. 00:01:26.052 --> 00:01:30.562 Before, I have noticed with many police officers 00:01:30.562 --> 00:01:34.884 three things start to happen over the course of their career, 00:01:34.884 --> 00:01:38.467 and that had already happened to me. 00:01:38.467 --> 00:01:43.101 The effects of a career, there are three of them. 00:01:43.871 --> 00:01:45.760 Physiologically, 00:01:48.240 --> 00:01:49.780 what happens -- 00:01:49.780 --> 00:01:52.664 many of you might be able to relate to this 00:01:52.664 --> 00:01:55.311 if you live very busy lives -- 00:02:04.881 --> 00:02:10.555 Research has shown that we all have a certain amount of adrenaline, 00:02:10.555 --> 00:02:15.288 and this is the normal range of adrenaline. 00:02:15.288 --> 00:02:19.413 People that know how to be rather than do 00:02:19.413 --> 00:02:24.677 probably are here and here. 00:02:25.517 --> 00:02:28.664 What happens with police officers, 00:02:28.664 --> 00:02:33.223 and you can probably relate to this with multitasking and doing too, 00:02:33.223 --> 00:02:37.510 is the adrenaline starts to shoot up because of hyper vigilance 00:02:37.510 --> 00:02:41.391 and being worried about your own safety and the safety of everybody else. 00:02:41.391 --> 00:02:43.976 You're always taught about what can go wrong. 00:02:44.486 --> 00:02:46.542 Not so much about what can go right, 00:02:46.542 --> 00:02:49.216 which is the majority of the time, but what can go wrong. 00:02:49.216 --> 00:02:51.594 There's a lot of hyper vigilance. 00:02:51.594 --> 00:02:55.317 So the adrenaline shoots out of the normal area 00:02:56.657 --> 00:02:59.390 and looks like a peak like that, 00:02:59.390 --> 00:03:02.497 and it takes twenty-four hours 00:03:02.497 --> 00:03:05.121 for it to come back into the normal range, 00:03:05.121 --> 00:03:07.768 but what happens is people go back to work 00:03:07.768 --> 00:03:10.054 before that twenty-four hours is up. 00:03:10.054 --> 00:03:12.621 So their lives start to look like this, 00:03:14.769 --> 00:03:19.175 if I had to just show it visually. 00:03:19.175 --> 00:03:23.707 Up here, people are, you know, making command decisions, 00:03:23.707 --> 00:03:26.526 on their feet, they have a sense of humor, 00:03:26.526 --> 00:03:28.899 the adrenaline has kicked in. 00:03:28.899 --> 00:03:30.862 And then down here, 00:03:30.862 --> 00:03:33.609 where they start to spend their lives at home, 00:03:33.609 --> 00:03:37.550 this looks a lot like no energy, 00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:40.550 listlessness, depression, 00:03:40.550 --> 00:03:46.054 a lot of the symbolic stuff that happens down here 00:03:46.054 --> 00:03:47.738 mimics depression really well. 00:03:47.738 --> 00:03:49.645 And as sister Chan Khong said, 00:03:49.645 --> 00:03:53.424 there are four times as many police officers, in the US anyway, 00:03:53.424 --> 00:03:55.469 that take their own lives, 00:03:55.469 --> 00:04:00.365 as compared to the number that are killed in the line of duty. 00:04:01.475 --> 00:04:06.859 This is a very real phenomenon. 00:04:06.859 --> 00:04:09.019 Physiologically, 00:04:09.929 --> 00:04:14.979 there are many effects 00:04:14.989 --> 00:04:18.739 that are very difficult. 00:04:18.739 --> 00:04:21.520 That's the first area, 00:04:21.520 --> 00:04:25.708 and emotionally what begins to happen 00:04:25.708 --> 00:04:31.394 is the effects manifest as irritation and impatience 00:04:31.394 --> 00:04:34.491 and anger and depression. 00:04:34.491 --> 00:04:35.989 There's a lot of cynicism 00:04:35.989 --> 00:04:40.253 because if you were all a group of police officers, 00:04:40.253 --> 00:04:44.313 and I did a word association test, and if I asked you, 00:04:44.313 --> 00:04:46.521 "What's the first word that comes to your mind 00:04:46.521 --> 00:04:48.844 when you hear the word Boy Scout leader?" 00:04:48.844 --> 00:04:56.679 I guarantee you they would all scream out in one, with one set word: pedophile. 00:04:56.679 --> 00:04:59.482 Because those are the Boy Scout leaders that they deal with. 00:04:59.482 --> 00:05:05.041 So there's a very cynical sort of response that develops, 00:05:05.041 --> 00:05:09.248 and spiritually the effects, I think, of doing that job 00:05:09.248 --> 00:05:14.330 manifest as an armoring and a numbing of the heart. 00:05:15.290 --> 00:05:20.637 It's very hard to be compassionate when those things are going on. 00:05:26.597 --> 00:05:29.466 The other thing that happens 00:05:29.466 --> 00:05:33.808 is you develop, what I call, "I used to" syndrome. 00:05:34.708 --> 00:05:38.926 I used to know how to water the seeds of joy. 00:05:38.926 --> 00:05:43.385 I used to bike. I used to play sports. 00:05:43.385 --> 00:05:47.030 I used to garden. I used to write poetry. 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:50.428 I used to have hobbies. 00:05:50.428 --> 00:05:52.272 All those things are gone, 00:05:52.272 --> 00:05:56.006 and your world becomes smaller and smaller, 00:05:56.006 --> 00:06:00.084 because of shift work and odd hours 00:06:00.084 --> 00:06:03.648 and thinking that people don't understand, 00:06:03.648 --> 00:06:08.715 you end up socializing and being only with other police officers. 00:06:08.715 --> 00:06:12.006 So all those things get reinforced. 00:06:12.006 --> 00:06:15.665 That's how I showed up at my very first retreat 00:06:15.665 --> 00:06:18.615 with Thay in 1991. 00:06:19.885 --> 00:06:21.756 I had a work injury, 00:06:21.756 --> 00:06:26.573 and I was going to see a chiropractor, 00:06:26.573 --> 00:06:31.875 and this chiropractor was very close to where I reported for work. 00:06:34.655 --> 00:06:40.449 She had a book of Thay in the waiting room, 00:06:40.449 --> 00:06:43.006 it was called Being Peace. 00:06:43.006 --> 00:06:45.508 I picked it up, and I was leafing through it, 00:06:45.508 --> 00:06:48.948 and I went, "Hmmm, 00:06:50.838 --> 00:06:53.273 this is very interesting." 00:06:54.683 --> 00:06:57.108 Then I was ordered off work for a little while, 00:06:57.108 --> 00:07:01.086 and I saw a flyer on her bulletin board 00:07:01.086 --> 00:07:04.746 for a retreat that Thich Nhat Hahn was doing 00:07:04.746 --> 00:07:07.775 in Munda Line, Illinois, in 1991, 00:07:07.775 --> 00:07:13.381 so I thought, well, I will give it a try. 00:07:13.381 --> 00:07:17.038 I came very armored and defended. 00:07:17.958 --> 00:07:21.806 I was really ready for people to hate me 00:07:21.806 --> 00:07:23.765 because I was a police officer. 00:07:26.225 --> 00:07:32.573 That happens a lot, even among people whose progressive politics they share. 00:07:32.573 --> 00:07:37.789 They'd see the uniformity and immediately make a decision about who I was. 00:07:41.049 --> 00:07:45.538 That's the the attitude I came there with, and what happened? 00:07:46.518 --> 00:07:47.859 I have to show it. 00:07:47.859 --> 00:07:52.297 This is very interesting what happened. 00:07:52.297 --> 00:07:53.913 If you imagine ... 00:08:06.281 --> 00:08:07.647 We did. 00:08:07.647 --> 00:08:10.329 Then, the retreats were pretty quiet. 00:08:14.929 --> 00:08:18.570 We did -- Thay taught just about everything: 00:08:18.570 --> 00:08:22.722 we did sitting meditation, and we did eating meditation, 00:08:22.722 --> 00:08:24.567 we did walking meditation. 00:08:24.567 --> 00:08:28.136 There weren't nearly as many monastics then as there are now. 00:08:28.136 --> 00:08:30.237 Sister Chan Khong was there. 00:08:31.077 --> 00:08:35.869 So many of the monastics have had such a huge impact on my life. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:43.687 What do you see there? Anybody? 00:08:45.787 --> 00:08:47.180 A red dot. 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:50.687 Well, that's where I was living and -- 00:08:51.667 --> 00:08:54.173 I think what meditation and mindfulness is about 00:08:54.173 --> 00:08:56.823 is it helps you see the white space, right? 00:08:56.823 --> 00:08:58.763 All this spaciousness, 00:08:58.763 --> 00:09:03.000 all this spaciousness that's available, and we go right to the red dot. 00:09:04.270 --> 00:09:08.372 Here we are with all this spaciousness available to us, 00:09:08.372 --> 00:09:12.130 and we hang on so tight to our little red dots: 00:09:12.130 --> 00:09:14.678 our thoughts and our emotions. 00:09:15.788 --> 00:09:21.481 Out here love is available, happiness is available. 00:09:21.481 --> 00:09:26.810 No coming, no going is available, emptiness is available 00:09:26.810 --> 00:09:30.490 the spaciousness of being in everything and nothing at one time. 00:09:30.490 --> 00:09:34.063 That's how, even after that first retreat, 00:09:34.063 --> 00:09:38.003 I started to understand some of that intuitively. 00:09:38.003 --> 00:09:40.215 I hadn't read a lot. 00:09:40.215 --> 00:09:42.416 All I wanted to do was practice. 00:09:45.316 --> 00:09:49.159 I began to think of meditation 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:52.159 as just resting my mind 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:55.158 with this open awareness, 00:09:55.158 --> 00:10:00.413 and at that retreat I touched peace in a really fabulous way. 00:10:01.943 --> 00:10:04.746 Many strange things happened after that retreat. 00:10:04.746 --> 00:10:06.231 I came back, 00:10:06.231 --> 00:10:09.231 and I was working nights as a sergeant then, 00:10:09.231 --> 00:10:11.946 and I was going on calls, 00:10:11.946 --> 00:10:16.251 and I couldn't understand why everybody around me had changed. 00:10:18.311 --> 00:10:22.440 They'd seem to have gotten kinder in my absence. 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:24.747 Even people I was arresting. 00:10:24.747 --> 00:10:27.084 (Laughing) 00:10:27.084 --> 00:10:28.952 It didn't make any sense to me. 00:10:28.952 --> 00:10:30.937 I didn't know somebody had gone around 00:10:30.937 --> 00:10:35.339 and sprayed Prozac or some other anti depressant while I was gone, 00:10:36.689 --> 00:10:39.051 but it took me a little while to get 00:10:39.051 --> 00:10:42.901 that it was my energy was different, 00:10:43.841 --> 00:10:45.969 and people were responding to it. 00:10:45.969 --> 00:10:50.319 That was an incredible teaching for me 00:10:50.319 --> 00:10:53.639 because there it was, the proof in the pudding. 00:10:58.149 --> 00:11:00.601 At that retreat also what happened, 00:11:00.601 --> 00:11:03.467 as sister Chan Khong referred to it, 00:11:03.467 --> 00:11:06.998 is this whole thing about the five mindfulness trainings came up, 00:11:06.998 --> 00:11:09.440 and of course the first one is reverence for life, 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:13.186 and I said, "I can't take these, I carry a gun for a living, 00:11:13.186 --> 00:11:15.146 and I never know what's going to happen." 00:11:16.156 --> 00:11:20.350 And to this day, I can't remember if it was Thay or sister Chan Khong, 00:11:20.350 --> 00:11:22.299 one of them said to me, 00:11:23.529 --> 00:11:27.764 "Who else would we want to carry a gun except somebody who will do it mindfully?" 00:11:29.524 --> 00:11:31.719 (Laughing) 00:11:31.719 --> 00:11:36.165 Oh! A whole new way to look at things. 00:11:36.165 --> 00:11:41.536 What happened for me was such a transition 00:11:41.536 --> 00:11:45.312 where it took a while, the changes were incremental, 00:11:45.312 --> 00:11:48.874 but I stopped doing my job in a mechanical way. 00:11:48.874 --> 00:11:52.310 And what I started to see 00:11:52.310 --> 00:11:54.311 is what was right in front of me 00:11:54.311 --> 00:11:56.874 that I seem to have missed with the other attitude: 00:11:56.874 --> 00:12:02.002 a suffering human being who needed my help 00:12:02.002 --> 00:12:05.780 and often didn't have any place else to turn to. 00:12:05.780 --> 00:12:09.249 So I started taking my time on the calls I went on, 00:12:09.249 --> 00:12:14.190 I started trying to connect with people from a different space, 00:12:14.190 --> 00:12:17.249 and I had these experiences early on. 00:12:17.249 --> 00:12:21.000 One of my favorites that I like to tell 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:27.034 is the experience of going on a domestic violence call. 00:12:27.034 --> 00:12:32.187 We had a mandatory arrest policy in those days, 00:12:32.187 --> 00:12:36.124 so if anybody was threatening somebody, 00:12:36.124 --> 00:12:40.326 in a physical way, in any way whatsoever, 00:12:40.326 --> 00:12:42.157 you were supposed to arrest them. 00:12:42.157 --> 00:12:44.794 That was a mandatory arrest. 00:12:44.794 --> 00:12:49.451 So I went on this call, and I didn't have any backup, 00:12:49.451 --> 00:12:52.196 and a woman came running out and said, 00:12:52.196 --> 00:12:55.389 "My husband has my child and I'm really scared. 00:12:55.389 --> 00:12:59.093 We just broke up, and he won't let her out 00:12:59.093 --> 00:13:02.670 to come be with me, I'm picking her up. 00:13:02.670 --> 00:13:08.546 We have an agreement about who is supposed to have the child when, 00:13:08.546 --> 00:13:10.918 and now it's my turn. 00:13:10.918 --> 00:13:15.857 So, I asked her to go wait in the car down the block, 00:13:15.857 --> 00:13:18.996 and I went and I knocked on the door, 00:13:18.996 --> 00:13:21.630 and there is -- I'm about five-three -- 00:13:21.630 --> 00:13:25.913 and this six-three, six-four inch man, 00:13:25.913 --> 00:13:30.013 who looked very angry, opened the door, 00:13:30.013 --> 00:13:32.594 and I could just see the suffering. 00:13:32.594 --> 00:13:36.389 It was just so obvious to me. 00:13:36.389 --> 00:13:38.956 In a very calm voice I said, 00:13:40.146 --> 00:13:46.013 "May I come in? I'm just here to listen and to help." 00:13:46.013 --> 00:13:50.015 I came in, and I saw his daughter over there, 00:13:50.015 --> 00:13:53.670 and I said, "You know what, I see your little girl over here, 00:13:53.670 --> 00:13:56.889 and I know you love her, and I know how much you care about her, 00:13:56.889 --> 00:13:59.167 and I see that she's scared, 00:13:59.167 --> 00:14:01.879 and I know you don't want that to happen. 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:05.708 So how about if we let her go out and be with her mother, 00:14:05.708 --> 00:14:08.204 and you and I talk." 00:14:08.204 --> 00:14:09.361 And he did. 00:14:09.361 --> 00:14:12.859 So rather than escalating this situation 00:14:12.859 --> 00:14:16.583 to the point where an arrest had to be made, 00:14:16.583 --> 00:14:20.429 it was just a matter of being compassionate and mindful. 00:14:20.429 --> 00:14:23.293 So I violated every policy in the book, 00:14:23.293 --> 00:14:28.439 and with my gun belt and my bulletproof vest 00:14:28.439 --> 00:14:32.388 I sat down next to this guy, what you're never supposed to do, 00:14:32.388 --> 00:14:35.979 on the couch and he started crying in my arms. 00:14:40.419 --> 00:14:43.679 That was an incredible experience for me 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:47.763 in terms of what a little kindness and compassion can do, 00:14:47.763 --> 00:14:52.015 and that there are alternative ways to respond to people. 00:14:52.015 --> 00:14:56.566 Of course when you're angry, irritated and cynical yourself, 00:14:56.566 --> 00:15:01.128 it's really hard to see those possibilities. 00:15:01.128 --> 00:15:03.886 I ran into this man three days later. 00:15:03.886 --> 00:15:06.116 I was walking down the street that I lived in 00:15:06.116 --> 00:15:07.339 and he came up behind me, 00:15:07.339 --> 00:15:10.450 and, you know, it's not good to come up behind a police officer. 00:15:10.450 --> 00:15:12.504 (Laughing) 00:15:12.504 --> 00:15:14.927 He picked me up off the ground and he said: 00:15:14.927 --> 00:15:18.041 "You! You! You saved my life that night." 00:15:22.001 --> 00:15:23.783 He picked me right up. 00:15:27.003 --> 00:15:30.692 It was a wonderful experience. 00:15:30.692 --> 00:15:35.074 So I served two of the teachings of Thay 00:15:35.074 --> 00:15:39.121 and the Order of Interbeing in our community, 00:15:39.121 --> 00:15:40.865 our international community, 00:15:41.775 --> 00:15:45.327 that I think are so important is we focus -- 00:15:45.327 --> 00:15:49.805 There's such an emphasis, not only on happiness in the present moment 00:15:49.805 --> 00:15:52.254 and having a foundational mindfulness practice, 00:15:52.254 --> 00:15:57.487 but building community and engaged practice. 00:15:57.487 --> 00:16:01.088 Those two things you don't find in too many other -- 00:16:01.088 --> 00:16:05.413 the emphasis on that -- in too many other Buddhist traditions. 00:16:05.413 --> 00:16:08.746 I've heard teachings from a lot of different traditions now, 00:16:08.746 --> 00:16:12.552 and those two things are just so special. 00:16:12.552 --> 00:16:16.965 And I started thinking of a sangha, community. 00:16:16.965 --> 00:16:19.103 I joined a sangha right after that retreat, 00:16:19.103 --> 00:16:22.887 but I started thinking of community as wherever I was. 00:16:22.887 --> 00:16:26.920 I started thinking of my workplace as a sangha; 00:16:26.920 --> 00:16:30.254 I started thinking of my family as a sangha. 00:16:30.254 --> 00:16:33.682 When I did direct-action-things in the community, 00:16:33.682 --> 00:16:38.069 I started thinking of all of us as a sangha. 00:16:38.069 --> 00:16:42.784 So I think community is such a big piece of this. 00:16:45.014 --> 00:16:48.326 In 2002 I came to Plum Village, 00:16:48.326 --> 00:16:53.849 so eleven years has passed now, and I've been practicing, 00:16:53.849 --> 00:16:58.515 and practice is getting deeper and deeper, and going on retreats, 00:16:58.515 --> 00:17:02.630 and I became a member of the the Order of Interbeing. 00:17:02.630 --> 00:17:06.130 Thay transmitted the 14 mindfulness trainings 00:17:06.130 --> 00:17:09.786 to myself and 32 other people, 00:17:09.786 --> 00:17:13.174 and I was here for the three-month retreat 00:17:13.174 --> 00:17:17.535 and had such an incredibly grounding time. 00:17:17.535 --> 00:17:21.732 In those days you wrote a letter to Thay, 00:17:21.732 --> 00:17:25.513 I think you still write a letter if you you want to be ordained, 00:17:25.513 --> 00:17:28.758 and I didn't think that he read these, 00:17:28.758 --> 00:17:30.630 so I just put it in the bell. 00:17:31.690 --> 00:17:33.515 My letter was really about ... 00:17:33.515 --> 00:17:35.388 I was still struggling 00:17:35.388 --> 00:17:40.298 with feeling like both the victim and oppressor in this job 00:17:41.298 --> 00:17:45.349 and bouncing back and forth between those. 00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:49.475 The next day there was a Dharma talk, 00:17:49.475 --> 00:17:51.568 I can't remember which hall it was in, 00:17:51.568 --> 00:17:55.933 but Thay gave a Dharma talk on the different faces of love. 00:17:58.183 --> 00:17:59.881 I was sitting in the back, 00:17:59.881 --> 00:18:04.969 and he mentioned police officers, 00:18:04.969 --> 00:18:06.486 and I was sitting in the back, 00:18:06.486 --> 00:18:09.889 and I just had tears streaming down my face. 00:18:11.779 --> 00:18:14.849 Another big transition took place, 00:18:14.849 --> 00:18:19.037 more softness, more understanding of Thay's teaching 00:18:19.037 --> 00:18:22.246 about "we're all victims and oppressors." 00:18:25.006 --> 00:18:28.006 One of the things that happened in the ripple effects of this -- 00:18:28.006 --> 00:18:29.631 I don't even know who it was, 00:18:29.631 --> 00:18:32.290 and she will never know the ripple effects of that. 00:18:32.290 --> 00:18:35.193 If you're here, please come tell me -- 00:18:35.193 --> 00:18:38.259 We were doing working meditation and chopping vegetables, 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:43.632 and I said, "I have this very, very, ridiculous image in my head 00:18:43.632 --> 00:18:47.692 of police officers holding hands and doing walking meditation together, 00:18:47.692 --> 00:18:50.650 creating peaceful steps on the earth," 00:18:52.100 --> 00:18:53.444 and she looked at me and she said, 00:18:53.444 --> 00:18:55.850 "Cheri, you can make that happen. 00:18:55.850 --> 00:18:57.709 You can make that happen." 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:02.467 Thursday there was a question and answer session, 00:19:02.467 --> 00:19:06.322 and I got up and I asked Thay 00:19:06.322 --> 00:19:09.319 if he would come do a retreat for police officers. 00:19:10.479 --> 00:19:13.757 I'm very worried about what the response will be, 00:19:13.757 --> 00:19:19.916 and much to my happiness it's the opposite of that. 00:19:19.916 --> 00:19:23.729 He looked up and he said, "Yes, I think we do it next year." 00:19:25.979 --> 00:19:29.912 Which meant there was a year to organize things 00:19:29.912 --> 00:19:36.084 and try to get police officers to come to a mindfulness retreat 00:19:36.084 --> 00:19:39.265 with a Buddhist teacher. 00:19:41.905 --> 00:19:46.195 There were many things that happened during the course of that year, 00:19:46.195 --> 00:19:48.273 but one of the -- 00:19:49.273 --> 00:19:52.659 I don't even have time to go into them, they were quite ... 00:19:54.209 --> 00:19:56.023 It was very, very hard. 00:19:56.023 --> 00:19:58.491 There was a big reaction. 00:19:58.491 --> 00:20:01.212 All over I started getting hate e-mails 00:20:01.212 --> 00:20:07.516 in terms of: I'm Christian, and I want to offer a stress reduction retreat. 00:20:09.706 --> 00:20:11.791 The separation of church and state, 00:20:11.791 --> 00:20:15.148 even though it was going to be a nonsectarian retreat, came up, 00:20:15.148 --> 00:20:19.772 and it was very challenging. 00:20:19.772 --> 00:20:23.521 But I had wonderful people in my own Sangha 00:20:23.521 --> 00:20:28.528 and had contacted people among the monastics. 00:20:29.408 --> 00:20:31.522 That helped a lot. 00:20:31.522 --> 00:20:34.866 So Thay came and we made this happen, 00:20:34.866 --> 00:20:38.674 and there were, I don't remember how many people. 00:20:38.674 --> 00:20:42.928 There were about 16 officers from my own police department 00:20:42.928 --> 00:20:44.271 that were there, 00:20:44.271 --> 00:20:47.508 and after Thay's first Dharma talk, 00:20:47.508 --> 00:20:52.715 which was "Violence Begets Violence", 00:20:52.715 --> 00:20:57.650 and talking about how, you know, 00:20:57.650 --> 00:21:02.592 if you put out violence, you are going to get violence pretty soon. 00:21:02.592 --> 00:21:05.602 And the police officers, after that first talk, 00:21:05.602 --> 00:21:07.352 surrounded me and they were like, 00:21:07.352 --> 00:21:09.305 "Cheri, what are we supposed to do? 00:21:09.305 --> 00:21:12.010 What do you mean: you can't fight violence with violence? 00:21:12.010 --> 00:21:14.538 What does he mean by that? What are we supposed to do? 00:21:14.538 --> 00:21:16.483 We want to talk to him." 00:21:16.483 --> 00:21:18.760 (Laughter) 00:21:21.180 --> 00:21:23.554 And I said, "Well, 00:21:23.554 --> 00:21:29.461 I've never had a personal talk myself with Thich Nhat Hahn, 00:21:29.461 --> 00:21:31.431 but I will see what I can do." 00:21:32.421 --> 00:21:34.463 So, another long story short, 00:21:34.463 --> 00:21:37.463 Thay came and talked to just the police officers, 00:21:37.463 --> 00:21:41.833 and by the end of that hour that he spent with them, 00:21:41.833 --> 00:21:44.879 the whole room went ... 00:21:44.879 --> 00:21:46.598 It was just so beautiful, 00:21:46.598 --> 00:21:51.908 and after that there was never another problem 00:21:51.908 --> 00:21:56.471 or objection that entire week. 00:21:56.471 --> 00:22:00.962 One of the things that so affected me at the end of that retreat 00:22:00.962 --> 00:22:05.320 is Thay said: "Are we going to hear from the police officers?" 00:22:07.540 --> 00:22:11.060 The Thursday night before the retreat ended, 00:22:11.060 --> 00:22:14.871 the police officers gave a presentation, 00:22:14.871 --> 00:22:19.200 and I have never heard police officers share like that. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:24.623 Share what life is like for them as a police officer, 00:22:24.623 --> 00:22:27.347 and never before have I 00:22:27.347 --> 00:22:32.177 seen a community be so receptive 00:22:32.177 --> 00:22:34.560 to what they had to say. 00:22:34.560 --> 00:22:36.894 That was so -- 00:22:36.894 --> 00:22:39.262 I could just see them lighting up, 00:22:39.262 --> 00:22:42.181 and it was just so meaningful 00:22:42.181 --> 00:22:46.928 that there were people who were willing to be receptive to this. 00:22:48.318 --> 00:22:51.865 At the end of that retreat, 00:22:51.865 --> 00:22:55.392 the sixteen officers from my department and I 00:22:55.392 --> 00:22:58.662 held hands and did walking meditation. 00:23:00.937 --> 00:23:07.252 So you never know what the ripple effects of anything can be. 00:23:08.302 --> 00:23:11.575 Then all kinds of things happened 00:23:11.575 --> 00:23:14.575 once I got back to Madison out on the street. 00:23:14.575 --> 00:23:17.491 So, one of the things that happened 00:23:17.491 --> 00:23:19.843 -- this is a story that I just love -- 00:23:19.843 --> 00:23:23.473 is one of the people who was at the retreat came up to me and said, 00:23:23.473 --> 00:23:27.046 "Cheri, I just saw two of your officers, 00:23:27.046 --> 00:23:29.735 two of your young officers who were at the retreat, 00:23:29.735 --> 00:23:32.077 and they were arresting somebody, 00:23:32.077 --> 00:23:33.525 and they recognized me. 00:23:33.525 --> 00:23:36.715 They arrested the person, and they put them in the back of the car, 00:23:36.715 --> 00:23:38.775 and they turned to me and they bowed. 00:23:38.775 --> 00:23:41.556 (Laughter) 00:23:50.896 --> 00:23:56.157 I said: "Well, when we bow to the person that we're arresting 00:23:56.157 --> 00:23:59.546 as well as to the community that we're doing it for, 00:23:59.546 --> 00:24:02.179 we will really have arrived. 00:24:03.219 --> 00:24:08.764 So, there were miracles that happened. 00:24:08.764 --> 00:24:13.607 And then, in 2007, I went to Vietnam. 00:24:14.827 --> 00:24:19.710 Probably many of you were there also, a big group of Westerners and -- 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:25.805 with Thay and the monastic community and that had a big impact on me. 00:24:27.705 --> 00:24:29.371 Toward the end of that, 00:24:29.371 --> 00:24:31.607 sister Chan Khong delivered the message to me 00:24:31.607 --> 00:24:36.514 that Thay wanted to make me a dharma teacher, 00:24:36.514 --> 00:24:40.437 transmit the lamp to me. 00:24:40.437 --> 00:24:41.889 And it was OK. 00:24:41.889 --> 00:24:47.907 So in 2008, that transmission of the lamp happened, 00:24:47.907 --> 00:24:53.566 and this is the gatha, my gatha for Thay that I'd like to share with you. 00:24:53.566 --> 00:24:55.851 You know, we always, 00:24:55.851 --> 00:25:00.441 Thay and the person always exchange gatha's. 00:25:02.067 --> 00:25:03.806 Breathing in, 00:25:03.806 --> 00:25:07.388 I know that mindfulness is the path to peace 00:25:08.271 --> 00:25:09.687 Breathing out, 00:25:09.687 --> 00:25:13.211 I know that peace is the path to mindfulness 00:25:14.016 --> 00:25:15.206 Breathing in, 00:25:15.206 --> 00:25:18.225 I know that peace is the path to justice 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:20.589 Breathing out, 00:25:20.589 --> 00:25:25.389 I know that justice is the path to peace 00:25:26.835 --> 00:25:28.517 Breathing in, 00:25:28.517 --> 00:25:33.767 I know my duty is to provide safety and protection to all beings 00:25:34.487 --> 00:25:35.726 Breathing out, 00:25:35.726 --> 00:25:39.786 I am humbled and honored by my duty as a Peace Officer 00:25:40.986 --> 00:25:42.336 Breathing in, 00:25:42.336 --> 00:25:47.156 I choose mindfulness as my armor and compassion as my weapon 00:25:47.666 --> 00:25:48.828 Breathing out, 00:25:48.828 --> 00:25:52.698 I aspire to bring love and understanding to all I serve 00:25:54.518 --> 00:25:59.653 So that was really wonderful. 00:26:02.093 --> 00:26:03.596 Thank you. 00:26:05.156 --> 00:26:09.547 Thank you as the sangha that holds up all of us. 00:26:09.547 --> 00:26:12.094 There are three interrelated areas 00:26:12.094 --> 00:26:15.766 that I found my own personal work happening in 00:26:15.766 --> 00:26:17.656 over the course of the years 00:26:17.656 --> 00:26:20.656 that the practice got deeper and deeper for me, 00:26:20.656 --> 00:26:22.597 and that was my own inner work, 00:26:22.597 --> 00:26:25.006 my own meditation and mindfulness practice, 00:26:25.006 --> 00:26:28.533 which is of course the foundation for everything. 00:26:28.533 --> 00:26:32.313 The second area was relationships, 00:26:32.313 --> 00:26:36.798 and the third area was engaged practice. 00:26:36.798 --> 00:26:42.515 There is an African-American man in the United States 00:26:42.515 --> 00:26:44.627 by the name of Cornell West, 00:26:44.627 --> 00:26:48.730 who said the epitome 00:26:48.730 --> 00:26:52.500 of how I think we should view police scene, and he said: 00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:57.721 "Justice is what love looks like in public." 00:26:57.721 --> 00:27:01.903 Justice is what love looks like in public. 00:27:01.903 --> 00:27:04.466 How different would our system look, 00:27:04.466 --> 00:27:08.435 if we adopted this definition of justice 00:27:08.435 --> 00:27:13.666 as the foundation for our whole system? 00:27:13.666 --> 00:27:16.220 It would just be incredible. 00:27:16.220 --> 00:27:20.174 One of the things that the Buddha was so good at 00:27:20.174 --> 00:27:24.691 is providing the architecture for our distress 00:27:24.691 --> 00:27:28.062 and also providing the architecture for our liberation. 00:27:28.806 --> 00:27:33.565 And Thay was so wonderful 00:27:33.565 --> 00:27:37.185 at conveying the Buddhist teachings 00:27:37.185 --> 00:27:40.406 in such a simple way that could be understood. 00:27:42.401 --> 00:27:47.727 One of the things that happened for me 00:27:47.727 --> 00:27:49.431 can probably be described -- 00:27:49.431 --> 00:27:53.840 how Thay describes it is the psychology of mindfulness. 00:27:53.840 --> 00:27:56.811 In the psychology of mindfulness 00:27:56.811 --> 00:27:59.811 there are two things that were asked to be. 00:27:59.811 --> 00:28:05.147 One is a good curator of the museum of our past, 00:28:05.147 --> 00:28:10.214 and the other is a good gardener of our store consciousness. 00:28:10.214 --> 00:28:14.850 So if we're a good curator of the museum of our past, 00:28:14.850 --> 00:28:17.383 it means that we can reframe our past, 00:28:17.383 --> 00:28:22.099 we can understand it in the service of our own freedom. 00:28:22.099 --> 00:28:26.276 Now, if we carry it too far, and we don't balance it with the other, 00:28:26.276 --> 00:28:29.617 we get attached to the wound itself, 00:28:29.617 --> 00:28:32.445 because then we're constantly just taking tickets, 00:28:32.445 --> 00:28:34.999 bus tickets back to our past, 00:28:34.999 --> 00:28:37.960 and we get attached to the wound itself. 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:40.927 Over here, we're learning how to be a good gardener. 00:28:40.927 --> 00:28:44.148 We're learning what to incline our mind toward. 00:28:44.148 --> 00:28:48.648 We're learning what we can incline our mind toward, our hearts toward, 00:28:48.648 --> 00:28:54.034 and water the seeds of joy and kindness and understanding 00:28:54.034 --> 00:28:56.016 and compassion. 00:28:56.016 --> 00:28:57.707 But in order to be able to do this, 00:28:57.707 --> 00:28:59.047 we have to understand 00:28:59.047 --> 00:29:03.107 how our experience is born moment to moment. 00:29:03.107 --> 00:29:08.146 So if we can start to recognise, start to watch what arises 00:29:08.146 --> 00:29:11.536 and notice how our experience is born moment to moment, 00:29:11.536 --> 00:29:16.859 if we can do that, we can also make conscious decisions 00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:20.715 about how to incline the heart and mind. 00:29:20.715 --> 00:29:24.386 And that is probably the most powerful thing 00:29:24.386 --> 00:29:28.262 that has happened to me over the years of this practice. 00:29:28.262 --> 00:29:32.656 I can't tell you how many people come up to me and say: 00:29:32.656 --> 00:29:36.533 "Cheri, you've gotten so much softer." 00:29:36.533 --> 00:29:40.587 And I guess it's true! 00:29:40.587 --> 00:29:46.238 You know, those protective layerings of armor removed one at a time. 00:29:46.238 --> 00:29:49.914 You learned about craving and aversion 00:29:49.914 --> 00:29:53.064 and how to work with with both of them. 00:29:53.064 --> 00:29:56.189 And one of the ways that I noticed about myself, 00:29:56.189 --> 00:30:02.259 a very subtle form of craving that I really wanted to heal, 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:06.158 was this craving to be calm. 00:30:06.158 --> 00:30:09.237 This craving to be calm 00:30:09.237 --> 00:30:14.844 with all of the achievements that go along with it and blah blah -- 00:30:14.844 --> 00:30:16.978 All the doing that goes along with it; 00:30:16.978 --> 00:30:19.774 all the identity that gets created. 00:30:19.774 --> 00:30:22.105 So you build up this identity, 00:30:22.105 --> 00:30:25.610 just to learn that you have to strip it down, 00:30:25.610 --> 00:30:27.926 because so much of this practice 00:30:27.926 --> 00:30:31.590 is about dissolution of the the ego. 00:30:33.020 --> 00:30:37.381 Unfortunately in our society 00:30:37.381 --> 00:30:41.453 success often gets equated with doing. 00:30:41.453 --> 00:30:44.272 One of the things that I love 00:30:44.272 --> 00:30:47.845 about what Thay has helped me understand 00:30:47.845 --> 00:30:50.912 is that the quality of your doing 00:30:50.912 --> 00:30:54.715 will always be dependent on the quality of your being. 00:30:54.715 --> 00:30:58.179 In order to really make that manifest, 00:30:58.179 --> 00:31:00.930 it requires a certain discipline 00:31:00.930 --> 00:31:05.480 in that you cannot let the things that matter the most 00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:09.741 be at the mercy of the things that matter the least. 00:31:09.741 --> 00:31:12.719 So often we think: if I just going to get this done, 00:31:12.719 --> 00:31:15.211 I'll just get this done and just get this done, 00:31:15.211 --> 00:31:17.383 and then I'll focus on my practice. 00:31:17.383 --> 00:31:19.768 Then we become habitual waiters. 00:31:21.538 --> 00:31:25.302 We become habitual waiters. 00:31:25.302 --> 00:31:28.358 We become addicted to doing, 00:31:28.358 --> 00:31:33.473 and we have so many exhausted people running around that are addicted to doing. 00:31:34.583 --> 00:31:38.047 As a result, in my culture anyway, 00:31:38.047 --> 00:31:41.837 we have a lot of people who are tired and wired. 00:31:42.957 --> 00:31:47.500 Which leads to a lot of contentious behavior. 00:32:19.747 --> 00:32:22.357 Understanding is so key to this practice. 00:32:22.357 --> 00:32:26.026 I want to tell you a little story 00:32:28.176 --> 00:32:31.919 that when I think back on it makes me smile so much. 00:32:31.919 --> 00:32:36.950 It was my first week of being a police officer, 00:32:36.950 --> 00:32:40.902 a rookie police officer on the street. 00:32:40.902 --> 00:32:42.203 We had just come off 00:32:42.203 --> 00:32:46.203 all of our experiences with our field training officers, 00:32:46.203 --> 00:32:49.136 and we're now riding alone. 00:32:50.086 --> 00:32:52.319 One of the first things that happened to me 00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:54.419 is the lieutenant of my shift -- 00:32:54.419 --> 00:32:58.722 I mean, we have these briefing sessions before every shift starts -- said to me, 00:32:58.722 --> 00:33:01.361 "Maples, there's a homeless guy 00:33:01.361 --> 00:33:03.237 down there in the basement, 00:33:03.237 --> 00:33:08.347 where our squad cars are and where our evidence room is, 00:33:08.347 --> 00:33:10.815 I want you to go down there and get him out of there 00:33:12.525 --> 00:33:14.566 and skip briefing to do it." 00:33:14.566 --> 00:33:16.199 And I say, "OK," 00:33:16.199 --> 00:33:20.739 and I go down there, and I make contact with this man, 00:33:20.739 --> 00:33:23.541 who proceeds to tell me he doesn't have to go anywhere 00:33:23.541 --> 00:33:27.053 because he's the president of the United States. 00:33:29.382 --> 00:33:34.230 Rather than understanding him and trying to put myself in his position, 00:33:35.900 --> 00:33:41.327 I'm arguing with him that he's not the president of the United States, 00:33:41.327 --> 00:33:43.241 and I'm getting more and more nervous 00:33:43.241 --> 00:33:45.510 because I know all these veteran police officers 00:33:45.510 --> 00:33:48.221 are going to be coming down the stairs, 00:33:48.221 --> 00:33:53.040 and that I'm failing at my very first assignment, right? 00:33:53.040 --> 00:33:55.640 And so, this is not going well ... 00:33:56.350 --> 00:33:59.110 Finally, one of the veteran officers walks down. 00:33:59.110 --> 00:34:02.333 He says, "Hey, rookie, let me show you how it's done." 00:34:02.333 --> 00:34:03.835 He goes and he gets a key 00:34:03.835 --> 00:34:07.978 to the squad closest to where this homeless man is standing, 00:34:07.978 --> 00:34:09.688 he opens the back door, 00:34:09.688 --> 00:34:13.363 and he says, "Mister President, your limo awaits you." 00:34:13.363 --> 00:34:16.354 (Laughter) 00:34:17.984 --> 00:34:22.169 And the guy gets right in and off they go. 00:34:29.224 --> 00:34:34.359 So that also taught me something about working for social change. 00:34:35.844 --> 00:34:40.255 One of the things that I think is really important 00:34:40.255 --> 00:34:44.152 is that we have to learn the difference 00:34:44.152 --> 00:34:49.234 between self-esteem and self-compassion, 00:34:49.234 --> 00:34:55.764 because until we learn how to bring true self-compassion to ourselves, 00:34:56.801 --> 00:35:00.265 the practice doesn't really work well with other people. 00:35:00.265 --> 00:35:02.671 And when I say self esteem, I mean, 00:35:02.671 --> 00:35:07.001 we used to have a lot of -- we still do -- 00:35:07.001 --> 00:35:10.358 new age spirituality stuff in our bookstores 00:35:10.358 --> 00:35:13.245 that's all about self-improvement, right? 00:35:13.245 --> 00:35:17.200 You can make a full time job out of self-improvement, 00:35:17.200 --> 00:35:20.233 which leads to high self-esteem, 00:35:20.233 --> 00:35:22.798 and I guess that's better than low self-esteem. 00:35:22.798 --> 00:35:27.903 But the problem with high self-esteem is you're still comparing yourself 00:35:27.903 --> 00:35:30.022 to other people, 00:35:30.022 --> 00:35:32.301 and in fact sometimes you're competing with them 00:35:32.301 --> 00:35:34.834 and secretly hoping they do worse than you do. 00:35:35.604 --> 00:35:41.858 It's not a very good way to live a spiritual life. 00:35:44.748 --> 00:35:50.517 With self-compassion we're learning how to not just bring empathy to ourselves 00:35:50.517 --> 00:35:55.988 but goodwill to ourselves, in a phenomenal way. 00:35:55.988 --> 00:35:58.739 One of the things that I've noticed 00:35:58.739 --> 00:36:02.774 is when I'm able to do that with the tools in the practice 00:36:02.774 --> 00:36:06.064 that the volume of 'me' goes way down. 00:36:07.244 --> 00:36:11.280 And I'm happiest when the volume of me is lowest. 00:36:12.240 --> 00:36:16.114 When the volume of me goes up, I start getting ready, 00:36:16.114 --> 00:36:22.033 and all those habit seeds are ready to spring into action. 00:36:24.143 --> 00:36:29.297 I wish I had more time, but I know you've been sitting here for a while, 00:36:29.297 --> 00:36:32.137 and I think I want to go directly to -- 00:36:33.977 --> 00:36:36.392 I do want to read a quote by Thomas Merton, 00:36:36.392 --> 00:36:39.393 and then I want to tell you about the five things 00:36:39.393 --> 00:36:43.998 that I think need to happen in the policing profession. 00:36:44.588 --> 00:36:45.961 OK? 00:36:46.671 --> 00:36:48.550 Thomas Merton said this, 00:36:48.550 --> 00:36:51.286 and this is to me such a -- 00:36:52.736 --> 00:36:55.487 the epitome of Thay's teachings: 00:36:55.487 --> 00:36:57.552 "To allow ourselves to be carried away 00:36:57.552 --> 00:37:00.346 by a multitude of conflicting concerns; 00:37:01.256 --> 00:37:03.888 to surrender to too many demands; 00:37:04.188 --> 00:37:06.861 to commit oneself to too many projects; 00:37:07.331 --> 00:37:10.057 to want to help everyone and everything 00:37:10.057 --> 00:37:12.091 is to succumb to violence. 00:37:12.801 --> 00:37:16.613 The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace; 00:37:17.393 --> 00:37:21.721 it destroys our own inner capacity for peace; 00:37:22.471 --> 00:37:26.175 it destroys the fruitfulness of our own work 00:37:26.175 --> 00:37:29.364 because it kills the root of inner wisdom, 00:37:29.364 --> 00:37:32.152 which makes work fruitful." 00:37:33.032 --> 00:37:34.768 One of the things I want to say, 00:37:34.768 --> 00:37:36.651 and I've done a lot of engaged work. 00:37:36.651 --> 00:37:40.426 We have prison projects in Wisconsin now, 00:37:40.426 --> 00:37:45.429 that went from being in one prison to being in the entire system, 00:37:45.429 --> 00:37:49.557 and I'm now happy to say that we are about to be able 00:37:49.557 --> 00:37:52.970 to start teaching mindfulness to the guards. 00:37:54.180 --> 00:37:58.680 We've been doing segregation, 00:37:58.680 --> 00:38:02.132 and people have noticed that culture's changing. 00:38:02.132 --> 00:38:06.124 And with all the scientific research that's out there on mindfulness now, 00:38:06.124 --> 00:38:11.070 they are now asking us to bring it, not just to the correctional officers, 00:38:11.070 --> 00:38:14.427 but to probation and parole agents as well. 00:38:14.427 --> 00:38:17.247 That is huge. 00:38:18.417 --> 00:38:22.072 And I'll tell you about a couple of other little projects, 00:38:22.072 --> 00:38:24.146 but I want to say, 00:38:24.146 --> 00:38:27.263 that it's so important to keep our -- 00:38:27.263 --> 00:38:29.792 that's why we have sixty days of mindfulness 00:38:29.792 --> 00:38:31.710 as members of the Order of Interbeing -- 00:38:31.710 --> 00:38:37.740 it's so important to keep the energy of our practice alive, 00:38:37.740 --> 00:38:41.389 and I've heard this term that they use now, 00:38:41.389 --> 00:38:44.228 called compassion fatigue. 00:38:44.228 --> 00:38:48.327 Any of you heard of that term, compassion fatigue, burnout? 00:38:48.327 --> 00:38:53.139 To me, burnout is a sign that we're violating our own nature in some way. 00:38:53.139 --> 00:38:57.712 It's usually regarded as a result of trying to give too much, 00:38:57.712 --> 00:39:02.721 but I think it could result from trying to give what we don't have, 00:39:03.931 --> 00:39:07.601 and this is the ultimate in giving too little. 00:39:07.601 --> 00:39:10.431 I think that's where compassion fatigue comes from. 00:39:10.431 --> 00:39:14.196 So when the gift that we give 00:39:14.196 --> 00:39:19.756 is an intregral and valued part of our own journey, 00:39:19.756 --> 00:39:25.308 when it comes from the organic reality of inner work, 00:39:25.308 --> 00:39:28.760 it's going to renew itself and be limitless in nature. 00:39:28.760 --> 00:39:34.076 But that means we have to keep our practice very strong and very alive. 00:39:36.606 --> 00:39:39.854 With respect to relationships, I just want to say, 00:39:41.554 --> 00:39:46.665 to me relationships are the litmus test of spirituality. 00:39:46.665 --> 00:39:51.030 If our practice doesn't show up in our relationships 00:39:51.030 --> 00:39:53.620 then something is wrong. 00:39:54.990 --> 00:40:00.466 This single, from a practice perspective probably the single most important thing, 00:40:01.916 --> 00:40:06.858 and resource that I developed over time in my own practice, 00:40:06.858 --> 00:40:10.887 especially as a cop who carried a gun on a daily basis, 00:40:10.887 --> 00:40:13.725 is I started to experience 00:40:13.725 --> 00:40:17.725 the incredible healing power of non-aggression. 00:40:19.115 --> 00:40:23.032 What I learned to bring to any interaction 00:40:24.352 --> 00:40:30.102 was the intention not to cause more harm, 00:40:31.022 --> 00:40:35.444 and that included those times when I had to use force, 00:40:35.444 --> 00:40:38.036 but that intention was always there. 00:40:38.036 --> 00:40:42.501 And one of the other things that Thay taught me that was so valuable, 00:40:42.501 --> 00:40:47.231 is that compassion can be gentle and compassion can be fierce. 00:40:48.601 --> 00:40:55.089 Wisdom is knowing when to employ the gentle compassion of understanding 00:40:55.089 --> 00:40:59.771 or the fierce compassion of good boundaries. 00:41:00.491 --> 00:41:03.545 That is very important. 00:41:03.545 --> 00:41:06.338 And I think how we talk and relate to others 00:41:06.338 --> 00:41:11.171 is probably the most important peace-work that we can engage in. 00:41:11.171 --> 00:41:16.869 I remember at work when I was captain of personnel and training, 00:41:16.869 --> 00:41:18.168 and one of the great things, 00:41:18.168 --> 00:41:21.353 as I was then in charge of training the whole department, 00:41:21.353 --> 00:41:25.150 and so I could get some really good things done. 00:41:25.780 --> 00:41:30.309 But, I remember sitting at my computer, 00:41:30.309 --> 00:41:34.369 working on this Academy, curriculum for the Academy, 00:41:34.369 --> 00:41:37.447 when one of my young officers came in and said, 00:41:37.447 --> 00:41:39.559 "Captain, can I please talk to you?" 00:41:40.349 --> 00:41:44.811 And internally I went, "Argh!", 00:41:46.731 --> 00:41:49.340 because I didn't want to interrupt what was happening, 00:41:49.340 --> 00:41:50.789 I had to get this done. 00:41:50.789 --> 00:41:52.777 That was such a lesson to me. 00:41:52.777 --> 00:41:55.775 I immediately recognized what was happening, 00:41:55.775 --> 00:41:56.998 and made a commitment 00:41:56.998 --> 00:42:02.272 that I was going to switch the foreground and the background. 00:42:02.272 --> 00:42:07.091 That relationships were going to be more important to me than tasks. 00:42:07.091 --> 00:42:09.077 That meant managing a to-do list. 00:42:09.077 --> 00:42:10.934 And it meant some people would be upset, 00:42:10.934 --> 00:42:16.377 it meant that I didn't get as many things done as I did before, 00:42:16.377 --> 00:42:18.496 but what could be more important 00:42:18.496 --> 00:42:22.656 than giving my presence to another human being. 00:42:23.496 --> 00:42:27.918 Because the ripple effects of that, you can never, never know. 00:42:33.208 --> 00:42:34.979 Well, there were many other things, 00:42:34.979 --> 00:42:36.381 but I'm going to -- 00:42:36.381 --> 00:42:38.036 I do want to talk to you ... 00:42:39.886 --> 00:42:42.232 about the current criminal justice system 00:42:42.232 --> 00:42:44.942 and what I think needs to change in it. 00:42:45.352 --> 00:42:48.199 I can't speak 00:42:48.199 --> 00:42:51.939 for what's going on in Europe 00:42:51.939 --> 00:42:55.369 or Vietnam or Thailand 00:42:55.369 --> 00:42:56.816 or other countries, 00:42:56.816 --> 00:43:00.218 but I can speak from what's going on in the United States. 00:43:00.218 --> 00:43:04.625 And that is that our current criminal justice system 00:43:04.625 --> 00:43:07.545 is based on this very faulty premise. 00:43:08.055 --> 00:43:12.415 That premise is that the punishment of the perpetrator 00:43:12.415 --> 00:43:17.913 is going to heal the victim and rehabilitate the perpetrator. 00:43:17.913 --> 00:43:21.376 What I found is that neither one of those things are true. 00:43:21.376 --> 00:43:26.683 It seems to reflect a collective belief 00:43:26.683 --> 00:43:32.442 that contributes to all kinds of interpersonal and systemic dysfunction, 00:43:32.442 --> 00:43:36.434 because what this premise fails to recognize 00:43:36.434 --> 00:43:41.403 is one of the basic premises of restorative justice. 00:43:41.403 --> 00:43:46.072 And that is that it's not the wrong-doer's repentance 00:43:46.072 --> 00:43:48.881 that creates forgiveness, 00:43:48.881 --> 00:43:53.720 but it's the victim's forgiveness that creates repentance. 00:43:53.720 --> 00:43:58.166 And I've seen this happen over and over and over again. 00:43:59.426 --> 00:44:00.905 So what do we have to do 00:44:00.905 --> 00:44:07.626 to change the criminal justice system? 00:44:07.626 --> 00:44:11.349 Well, I've been focusing on five things. 00:44:11.349 --> 00:44:14.821 One is we need to recognize 00:44:14.821 --> 00:44:18.469 what working as a police officer does. 00:44:18.469 --> 00:44:22.663 And if you take soldiers or people that are on the SWAT-teams, 00:44:24.963 --> 00:44:27.278 or the ops-teams in policing, 00:44:27.278 --> 00:44:32.687 the effects that I talked about are much more intense. 00:44:32.687 --> 00:44:37.021 So we teach people how to keep themselves physically safe. 00:44:37.021 --> 00:44:42.047 We teach them how to keep themselves physically safe and others physically safe 00:44:42.047 --> 00:44:45.093 by using force and how to use force. 00:44:45.093 --> 00:44:48.977 But we don't teach them how to keep themselves emotionally safe. 00:44:49.687 --> 00:44:54.626 And that's where I receive such gift, 00:44:54.626 --> 00:44:58.076 is with mindfulness from Thay. 00:44:58.076 --> 00:45:00.129 It's so important that we begin 00:45:00.129 --> 00:45:04.297 to provide criminal justice professionals 00:45:04.297 --> 00:45:08.811 with the training that will help them identify 00:45:08.811 --> 00:45:14.818 how their world works and how it can be undone, 00:45:15.778 --> 00:45:18.548 especially in the emotional realm. 00:45:18.548 --> 00:45:21.939 It's important that we not just do stress reduction. 00:45:21.939 --> 00:45:25.763 The thing about mindfulness, and we know this from the trainees, 00:45:25.763 --> 00:45:29.778 is it brings a whole ethical framework along with it 00:45:29.778 --> 00:45:31.968 that's really important not to leave behind. 00:45:31.968 --> 00:45:35.297 What I do, as somebody who is a police officer, 00:45:35.297 --> 00:45:37.928 is I know how to translate that language 00:45:37.928 --> 00:45:40.360 into language they understand. 00:45:40.360 --> 00:45:42.888 Don't talk to them about Buddhism. 00:45:45.648 --> 00:45:48.188 I know the language, I know the culture, 00:45:48.188 --> 00:45:51.719 and all of you know this same thing wherever you are: 00:45:51.719 --> 00:45:54.083 you know the language, you know the culture, 00:45:54.083 --> 00:45:56.981 we have to figure out how to translate it. 00:45:56.981 --> 00:46:00.417 So focusing on the emotional health 00:46:00.417 --> 00:46:04.005 of criminal justice professionals is very important. 00:46:04.005 --> 00:46:07.516 The second thing that is so important 00:46:07.516 --> 00:46:10.931 is we need to take seriously 00:46:11.971 --> 00:46:15.836 the conscious and unconscious biases 00:46:15.836 --> 00:46:19.252 that police officers and other criminal justice professionals 00:46:19.252 --> 00:46:22.295 are walking around with 00:46:22.295 --> 00:46:25.628 that leads to racial profiling 00:46:25.628 --> 00:46:29.223 and the incredible racial disparities throughout our system. 00:46:30.093 --> 00:46:34.816 And these unconscious biases show up, not just in the obvious ways, 00:46:34.816 --> 00:46:39.587 not in the worst possible ways of deadly force, 00:46:39.587 --> 00:46:43.063 but they also show up in ways that -- 00:46:43.063 --> 00:46:46.001 with coworkers and people we interact with. 00:46:46.001 --> 00:46:49.193 That builds resentments and fuels divisions 00:46:49.193 --> 00:46:53.067 and threatens our own safety as well as the safety of others. 00:46:55.567 --> 00:47:01.103 With respect to racial disparities, I think police officers can be trained 00:47:01.103 --> 00:47:04.335 to slow down the decision making process. 00:47:04.335 --> 00:47:08.785 I used to watch young officers stop a car, 00:47:08.785 --> 00:47:10.034 and I would say to them, 00:47:10.034 --> 00:47:13.766 "OK, I want you to talk me through 00:47:13.766 --> 00:47:16.515 the reasons you made that stop and what was going on. 00:47:16.515 --> 00:47:20.305 And now I want you to talk me through where your reasonable suspicion was 00:47:20.305 --> 00:47:23.632 for having them get out of the car and search the car. 00:47:23.632 --> 00:47:27.470 I want you to talk me through the thought process that happened." 00:47:27.470 --> 00:47:35.149 There usually is an opportunity for me to really make a difference. 00:47:35.149 --> 00:47:39.818 When we're dealing with racism and racial disparities, 00:47:39.818 --> 00:47:45.119 there are decision making points in any organization 00:47:45.119 --> 00:47:49.518 that can be identified, where race can be a factor. 00:47:49.518 --> 00:47:54.134 And there are hundreds of them in the criminal justice profession. 00:47:54.134 --> 00:47:57.518 But it's important, I think, that every single one of us 00:47:57.518 --> 00:48:02.734 identifies those decision making points in our own organizations, 00:48:02.734 --> 00:48:06.588 really sit down and think about them. 00:48:06.588 --> 00:48:13.486 So, with respect to discrimination and oppression in our collective lives, 00:48:13.486 --> 00:48:16.347 activists face many challenges. 00:48:18.977 --> 00:48:22.977 For those of us who have experienced marginalization of some kind, 00:48:22.977 --> 00:48:24.584 it's how do we free ourselves 00:48:24.584 --> 00:48:28.920 from the adaptations that we've made to our oppression. 00:48:29.900 --> 00:48:31.193 And for those areas 00:48:31.193 --> 00:48:34.534 that we have unearthed the unearned assets of privileges, 00:48:34.534 --> 00:48:36.554 how do we cut through 00:48:36.554 --> 00:48:40.544 our sense of privilege in some areas of life 00:48:40.544 --> 00:48:43.393 and our inferior status in others? 00:48:43.393 --> 00:48:49.371 How do we get over our superiority, inferiority and equality complexes? 00:48:51.141 --> 00:48:53.534 The third thing that I think has to happen 00:48:53.534 --> 00:48:56.268 is coordinated community responses. 00:48:56.798 --> 00:48:59.959 We have to start taking seriously 00:48:59.959 --> 00:49:03.969 the proposition that public safety 00:49:03.969 --> 00:49:07.638 really depends on the capacity of neighborhoods 00:49:07.638 --> 00:49:10.442 and how to build the capacity of neighborhoods. 00:49:11.152 --> 00:49:13.428 And in terms of engaged Buddhism, 00:49:13.428 --> 00:49:16.472 we've come up with several different ways to do that, 00:49:16.472 --> 00:49:21.190 and I hope I get a chance to do a Q&A session at some point 00:49:21.190 --> 00:49:24.300 and then tell you about those. 00:49:27.010 --> 00:49:30.143 And the fourth strategy is that we would put a lot more effort 00:49:30.143 --> 00:49:35.428 into reducing environmental opportunities for crime. 00:49:35.428 --> 00:49:39.449 So we would gather more data to notice what the patterns really are, 00:49:39.449 --> 00:49:43.008 and we would be proactive rather than reactive, 00:49:43.008 --> 00:49:48.422 so that we don't keep responding to the same thing over and over, 00:49:48.422 --> 00:49:53.124 and rather than having officers tied to radio calls, go here, go there, 00:49:53.124 --> 00:49:58.165 they would be more connected to neighborhoods and technology 00:49:58.165 --> 00:50:00.892 and crime prevention resources. 00:50:00.892 --> 00:50:04.773 So, police officers have to really begin to understand 00:50:04.773 --> 00:50:09.574 that in order to be effective they can't rely on their authority, 00:50:09.574 --> 00:50:12.376 that they have to rely on so much more, 00:50:12.376 --> 00:50:17.762 and that they have to rely on a much larger coordinated community effort. 00:50:19.042 --> 00:50:21.328 A fifth thing I want to address 00:50:21.328 --> 00:50:24.614 is that we should all be very, very concerned 00:50:24.614 --> 00:50:28.138 about the militarization of our police departments. 00:50:28.148 --> 00:50:32.445 The police mission is very, very different. 00:50:32.445 --> 00:50:35.528 The police mission is to serve and protect 00:50:35.528 --> 00:50:39.310 our neighbors, our friends, our community residents. 00:50:40.480 --> 00:50:45.326 And we don't do that by militarizing our departments 00:50:45.326 --> 00:50:48.763 and turning people into enemies. 00:50:48.763 --> 00:50:52.899 I think that's where communities really come into being, 00:50:52.899 --> 00:50:56.653 because it's pressure of police departments to change 00:50:56.653 --> 00:50:59.040 that makes all the difference in the world. 00:50:59.040 --> 00:51:03.473 And on the other hand, it's very, very important 00:51:03.473 --> 00:51:05.137 -- the last thing I would say -- 00:51:05.137 --> 00:51:08.600 is that police officers need your support, 00:51:08.600 --> 00:51:10.256 they need your understanding. 00:51:10.256 --> 00:51:14.543 I've seen what happens when they get it, 00:51:14.543 --> 00:51:16.278 and they need to hear from you, 00:51:16.278 --> 00:51:19.730 and they need to understand you. 00:51:19.730 --> 00:51:24.142 So, the more situations that we can put police officers 00:51:24.142 --> 00:51:27.246 and residents of communities in 00:51:27.246 --> 00:51:30.394 where they just have the opportunity for dialogue. 00:51:30.394 --> 00:51:34.675 I think that makes all the difference in the world. 00:51:36.225 --> 00:51:39.862 And the other thing I want to say to all of you, 00:51:39.862 --> 00:51:43.639 I don't know what cultures and organizations that you work in, 00:51:43.639 --> 00:51:46.696 but one of the things that I got committed to, 00:51:46.696 --> 00:51:51.133 as a result of my own engaged Buddhism, 00:51:51.133 --> 00:51:56.856 is noticing the unwritten and unconscious agreements 00:51:56.856 --> 00:52:03.043 that existed in the organization, in the culture of policing. 00:52:03.043 --> 00:52:05.978 Those things aren't in the policy manual, 00:52:05.978 --> 00:52:10.155 but the things we get socialized to in any community 00:52:10.155 --> 00:52:12.147 can be identified. 00:52:12.147 --> 00:52:13.742 And once you identify those 00:52:13.742 --> 00:52:17.960 and you bring them into the conscious arena for discussion, 00:52:17.960 --> 00:52:21.151 more ethical behaviors just start to happen. 00:52:21.151 --> 00:52:26.057 Because people are examining and thinking about those behaviors. 00:52:28.687 --> 00:52:33.023 And so often in our associational lives, 00:52:34.213 --> 00:52:37.145 especially in the organizations and communities we're part of, 00:52:37.145 --> 00:52:41.577 we tend to think of ourselves as effect rather than cause. 00:52:41.577 --> 00:52:44.152 Somebody else, the leader is responsible for this, 00:52:44.152 --> 00:52:46.325 somebody else did this. 00:52:46.325 --> 00:52:50.461 We seem to believe that someone or something else 00:52:50.461 --> 00:52:51.774 is the problem, 00:52:51.774 --> 00:52:55.615 and that someone needs to do something better for things to change. 00:52:55.615 --> 00:52:59.551 We forget that we're a member of this organization. 00:53:02.001 --> 00:53:05.245 People come out of a meeting and say, "Oh, that was a terrible meeting." 00:53:05.245 --> 00:53:07.752 And I say, "Were you there?" 00:53:08.712 --> 00:53:12.927 It was a terrible meeting because we all made it a terrible meeting. 00:53:12.927 --> 00:53:15.727 What could you have done to improve it? 00:53:15.727 --> 00:53:17.889 So in authentic community membership, 00:53:17.889 --> 00:53:21.295 we're always holding ourselves accountable 00:53:21.295 --> 00:53:24.028 for the well being of the larger community. 00:53:24.028 --> 00:53:28.728 We become more than just judging critics and consumers, 00:53:28.728 --> 00:53:32.243 and we start to shift the belief that this world, 00:53:32.243 --> 00:53:34.962 this organization, this meeting, this gathering, 00:53:34.962 --> 00:53:37.593 is ours to construct together. 00:53:37.593 --> 00:53:39.295 And that's what has to happen. 00:53:39.295 --> 00:53:40.926 Any one of us 00:53:40.926 --> 00:53:45.178 can make such an important difference in any given moment. 00:53:45.178 --> 00:53:46.950 You can be the person 00:53:46.950 --> 00:53:49.869 that makes the difference in a contentious interaction; 00:53:50.529 --> 00:53:53.911 you can be the person that because of your practice 00:53:53.911 --> 00:53:55.922 pauses and refrains 00:53:57.792 --> 00:54:00.092 and holds that grounding; 00:54:00.092 --> 00:54:01.243 and you can be the person 00:54:01.243 --> 00:54:04.256 that rather than exacerbating pain and violence, 00:54:04.256 --> 00:54:07.615 transforms that by the way you bear witness to it; 00:54:07.615 --> 00:54:09.128 and you can be the person 00:54:09.128 --> 00:54:12.409 who instead of telling people how it should be, 00:54:12.409 --> 00:54:16.860 that you bring those unconscious and unskillful ways 00:54:16.860 --> 00:54:20.213 into the conscious arena of question and dialogue; 00:54:20.213 --> 00:54:24.300 and you can be the person who chooses not to gossip 00:54:24.300 --> 00:54:29.686 or to recruit others to your viewpoint behind closed doors in an organisation. 00:54:31.496 --> 00:54:33.802 So, let me just say in conclusion 00:54:33.802 --> 00:54:37.660 that probably the most radical political act 00:54:37.660 --> 00:54:40.465 that any of us will engage in 00:54:40.465 --> 00:54:43.838 is how to learn live in more harmony 00:54:43.838 --> 00:54:45.386 with everyone and everything. 00:54:45.386 --> 00:54:49.255 To change the world or to love everybody 00:54:49.255 --> 00:54:53.240 is too big an ambition for any single person, 00:54:53.240 --> 00:54:57.027 but to respond to this moment 00:54:57.027 --> 00:54:59.860 with engagement and compassion 00:54:59.860 --> 00:55:03.151 is possible for each and every one of us. 00:55:03.151 --> 00:55:05.387 And what Thich Nhat Hahn inspired in me 00:55:05.387 --> 00:55:07.528 was a strong belief 00:55:07.528 --> 00:55:10.761 that even something like carrying a gun for a living 00:55:10.761 --> 00:55:13.161 can be an act of love, 00:55:13.161 --> 00:55:14.743 if one is also armed 00:55:14.743 --> 00:55:19.033 with mindfulness and a compassionate intention. 00:55:19.033 --> 00:55:23.361 So, thank you for your presence, your practice and your attention.