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(Half bell)

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(Bell)

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Dear Thay, dear sangha.

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I was at the Riverside Church in New York

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in 2001 when you came to give a talk

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shortly after September 11th. This was

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the same location where Dr. King came

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to give his speech against the Vietnam war

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– a position, we remember with gratitude,

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that was influenced by his time with you.

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You spoke to your own experience of the

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tragedy of war, and you were among

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the only voices I can remember at the time

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who advocated for seizing the moment

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to work for peace.

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Many of us in these times now

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may be feeling fear, anger, despair

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when we see so many wars waged in our name.

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As you did with Dr King, can you advise us

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how we might transform these feelings into

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compassion and interactive peace making?

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As you know, I was in America when the

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September 11th took place.

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That day I was going from Deer Park

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to the north of California to organise

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retreats and public talks.

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And loading the bus,

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we hear about the event.

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I was supposed to give a talk in Berkeley

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four days later.

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And we could experience

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the collective energy of fear and anger

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in America.

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Fear and anger.

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We know that the collective energy

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of compassion can be very healing,

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but the collective energy of fear and anger

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can be very dangerous.

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It can start a war at any time.

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So my purpose in giving the talks

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was to ask Americans

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to practice mindful breathing

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in order to calm down

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their feelings, their emotions.

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That's the most important thing to do.

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That is why in the talk taking place

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in Berkeley – 4.000 people attended –

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we wore our sangha tee,

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the orange colour robe,

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and we practiced meditation on compassion

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and tried to calm down

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– to help people calm down.

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You can see the suffering on the face

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of the people ... that day.

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And we knew that after the talk


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people suffer less

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– by – you just look at their face

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and you know that people suffer less

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after a guided meditation on compassion

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and calming down.

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But that is only for a few thousand people.

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The talk in the Riverside Church had

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the same purpose.

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And we advised our friends in America

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not to do anything yet.

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Not to say anything yet.

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The first thing to do is to calm down.

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And then begin to look into the situation

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and ask the question,

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why they have done such a thing to us.

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Have we done anything

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that made them so angry at us ...

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– that made them so despair

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that they could commit ... such an act?

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I proposed that

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– according to the tradition we belong to

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– I proposed that

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America organise sessions of deep listening.

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We should invite many wise Americans

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to come and help us to listen.

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And we invite the people in America

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who feel that they are victims

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of social injustice and so on

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to come and tell us about their suffering.

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And we proposed that sessions of

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deep listening like that within America

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can be televised

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– so that everyone can follow.

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That is to listen to your own suffering

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– to our own suffering.

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And understand our own suffering

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before we want to listen to the suffering

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of the people on the other side.

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It's very faithful to our practice.

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You listen to your own suffering first

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before you listen to the suffering


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on the other side.

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And after you have done deep listening

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in your own country,

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you may turn to the people over there

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and use loving speech.

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"Dear friends over there, 


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we have suffered a lot.

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We don't understand 


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why you have done such a thing to us.

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Have we done anything in order to try

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to destroy you as a people?

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as a religion? as a way of life?

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We may have done something;

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or we may have said something

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that gave you the impression

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that we want to destroy

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you as a people, as a religion,

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as a way of life.

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But in fact, we do not have that intention.

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So please tell us what we have done,

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what we have said, that has given you

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that kind of impression.

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We know that you must have been

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very angry at us

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to have done such a thing to us.

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We would like to listen.

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Please tell us ... from your heart.

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Tell us about your suffering ...

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and our lack of skilfulness


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– in making you suffer."

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And that is what I proposed to America

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at that time.

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And this is a process of

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restoring communication and reconciling.

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And last spring – the spring of this year,

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I went to Korea and I gave retreats

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– we gave retreats and public talks.

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And there was one public talk

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in the south

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attended by many people

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– maybe 20.000 people,

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and they announced to us

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that they were going to organise

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a huge ceremony of prayer

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for peace


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between the south and the north.

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The north now has nuclear weapons

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and they sound to be belligerent.

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And the south is fearful,

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and they are afraid that a war will

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break out very soon.

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So in that talk I said that: "Dear friends.

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The danger is not the nuclear weapons.

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The danger is the fear.

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If you look deeply into the north, you see

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the amount, the huge amount of fear.

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When the president of the south

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visited America, the north may think

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that there should be a scheme

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to attack the north,

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so they are very scared.

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And they are doing their best

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in order to show that they are not afraid,

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that they are ready to fight and to kill.

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So, the belligerent attitude outside,

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in appearance, shows that there is

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a big fear inside.

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And if you see that fear, you are not...

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– you are not angry them anymore.

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And you know that the best thing

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is to try to help removing that fear

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of the people in the north.

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But in order to do that,

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you have to remove the fear in you first.

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Because you are also afraid.

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And that is why a prayer for peace
is not enough.

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Coming together and praying is not enough.

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You have to create –

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you have to organise retreats

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for politicians, school teachers,

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business leaders,

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and help them to look deeply,

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to calm them down – themselves down,

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and to remove their fear by understanding.

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And when you are free from fear,

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you can help the north to do the same.

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So, it's not by political manoeuvring

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that you can solve the problem.

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It is that kind of practice

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that can remove fear and anger in us

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that can make us more peaceful

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and compassionate.

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And when you are more peaceful

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and compassionate,

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you can help the people 


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on the other side

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to do the same 


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– to be a real peace maker.

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And that is a process we have learned

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from the buddhist tradition.

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And as north Korea and south Korea,

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they have had buddhism

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as their spiritual tradition,

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we believe that they can

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make good use of their tradition

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in order to practice

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in order to get out of

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this difficult situation.

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And I think that the same things

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should be true here – in the Middle East,

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in Europe, in America and so on.

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(Half bell)

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(Bell)