Good evening, everyone. Welcome. My name is Kodo. Welcome to San Francisco Zen Center on a Wednesday night. As we begin the Dharma talk, I would like to introduce Sozan Michael McCord. Michael's a priest in residence here at City Center. He's been serving the Sangha for many years, including being the head of the meditation hall at Tassajara. the Tenzo again and again, and then was recently the program director, and is now serving as the director of City Center. We're very pleased to have Michael speaking with us tonight. We will begin with the opening chant, which you can find in the chat window. An unsurpassed penetrating and perfect dharma is rarely met with, even in a hundred thousand million kalpas, having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept.

[01:33]

I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Good evening, everyone. It's really great to see all of you. And I think I might be able to see more of you at one time at a Dharma talk this way than I could if it was live. So you're all just right there. So hello. Good to see you. My name is Sozan Michael McClord. I'm greatly thankful to my teacher, Ryushin Paul Halliburth. for his teachings and for our Tonto, Oren Nancy Petron, who invited me to speak to Satan. Many of you might have seen, but this last Friday, our late civil rights leader and conscience of Congress, John Lewis, died.

[02:47]

His passing was something that was a marker. It was a passing of an era. It was the end of a life, and it was the end of a life of someone who could have been bitter, who could have been angry. His life was in the midst of a lot of struggle and a lot of oppression. He's the last of the six people who spoke at the mall in Washington in 1963 to pass. And with his passing, we lost someone who was not only tough, not only resilient, but someone who led in another way. And that's what I want to talk about this evening. You know, in 1963, there was the March on Washington. And where Martin Luther King, Reverend King had his speech, I have a dream.

[03:53]

And John Lewis spoke there as well. In 1965, he was there on the bridge in Selma, Alabama, which was the linchpin for a lot of what happened with the Voting Rights Act a few weeks after. And many times, he was arrested 40 times. He was beaten many times. People thought around that period of time that of the people who were engaged in the civil rights movement, who were at the forefront of it, he was probably one of those who would not survive. And he was very resilient and very tough. And in 1986, he was elected to Congress and he held that seat ever since from a district in Georgia. And throughout his life, he was someone who. had great joy. He's someone who had an exuberance, who had a forgiveness, who had a connectedness to other people, who had a certain buoyancy about life.

[05:01]

After his passing, I started looking up different things about his life, and I saw a video that apparently encapsulated what he tended to do whenever music played. He had these kind of quirky dances that he liked to do, and he was incredibly joyous about this. And, you know, there's just so many different things in his life where he had this exuberance and he had this joy and he was not a bitter man. And he grew up in rural Alabama, born in 1940, in a time where if you were a child born in rural Alabama in 1940 and you were black, you were probably going to face a lot of oppression. Not only that, he also had a stutter and his family was poor and he was out in the country. And he didn't have a lot. And he always wanted to be a preacher. And he always wanted to have a congregation. He was drawn to that from a very young age. But he didn't have much. So this is one of my favorite stories about him.

[06:05]

There's several stories. This is apparently one that he always told. And it is about chickens. He didn't have a flock. He didn't have anyone to preach to. So when he was a kid, They had chickens on their farm, and he would go out and he would preach to the chickens. And he didn't just preach to the chickens. He poured his heart into them. He connected with them. He baptized his chickens. He did marriages for his chickens. He eulogized his chickens when they died, and he would have burial ceremonies. He had this entire life going with just a little bit. He didn't have much. But he wanted to do this thing in life he had a passion for, so he poured his energy into these chickens. And they received his love and his passion and his sermons. He was only 23 when he gave the speech in Washington in 1963, the youngest one who did. But he had a lot of practice.

[07:07]

And he had a lot of joy and exuberance about his life. When I was reading about that, I was thinking about what is going on in this world right now. I was thinking about how, for me, I would really like stuff to change around me so I can be happier again. I would like to have more joy back in my life. And I don't necessarily feel quite as joyous, quite as buoyant, quite as light about things. Things feel a little bit heavy. And I realized I've kind of bought into this concept that my joy is and what is happening around me, what I am receiving from the world, what is happening to me is maybe a little bit too much of what I'm associating with my joy and my happiness. We have social unrest, we have a pandemic, we have political unrest, and these things are really heavy. But they don't necessarily have to take away

[08:13]

the deep-seated joy that comes especially from this practice of Buddhism and something that people all around the world have found in different ways when they look within and just connected to what they had and to what was going on right now and didn't look to receive or acquire something. The conditions of our life certainly impact us, but they don't dictate whether we will have a life of deep-seated joy. I came across this quote from a Buddhist philosopher and meditation teacher in the Tibetan tradition named Scott Tusa. And it really encapsulates what I have been thinking and feeling around joy and around reflecting on my life in the middle of a pandemic and this life that Congressman John Lewis lived. Scott Tusa writes, It might seem strange to turn inward when there are so many external problems as though meditating in the mouth of a crocodile.

[09:19]

But that is why joy is a radical act in the face of increasing political and social polarization. Connecting with and nurturing our inner joy is not just a matter of self-care, but a matter of survival. We have to return to the root of the problem, which is the mistaken belief. that joy can be hoarded, seized, commodified, when in fact real joy is contagious. And if we see that truth inside ourselves, when we see it reflected in the world and everyone who inhabits it, that's when we realize that a common enemy is difficult to find. I find myself buying into the concepts here and there throughout the day that I will be happier when. I will be happier when. Now this term joy, this word joy, in a lot of the Buddhist texts, both in Pali and Sanskrit, two ancient languages have a lot of the Buddhist texts written in them.

[10:24]

This word mudita means joy. And it's oftentimes translated, especially with sympathetic or vicarious joy. sympathetic or vicarious joy. I was thinking about the way that this word is translated and how it's used in relation to a story from Congressman Lewis. There was an individual who back in the 60s was a member of the KKK and years later in the 1990s, he visited John Lewis in Washington with his son and basically came there for forgiveness. And according to the way the story was told, they just sat, they talked a little bit, they held hands and they cried. And there was a sense of forgiveness. And that gentleman went back home and he said that he felt that he had been with someone that had an amazing heart.

[11:26]

This is a person that had his skull fractured. This is a person who was arrested 40 times, who feared for his life. A sympathetic and vicarious joy. Here is a person who is seeking forgiveness. Now, what's the process? I mean, it would be great to be joyful, but what is the process? What is the ways in which we engage so that we can maybe have this vicarious joy? Where does that come from? Well, there are four immeasurables in the Buddhist tradition in what is called the path of purification. And this is written in the early fifth century by a scholar and commentator named Buddhagosa. And these practices include mudita. There's four of them. And they're often practiced by taking each of them in turn and applying them to oneself and then to others.

[12:32]

You apply them to yourself and then to others nearby and so on and then out to the world. And so we start with our struggle. We start with that sympathetic and vicarious holding of what is happening for us. Now, oftentimes joy in our modern vernacular is kind of viewed as something that is maybe excitement. or something that is coming from without, something that happens to us that makes us joyful. And there is a definition of the word that's used that way. But this is talking about an innate inner joy that sees the connectedness of things, that is looking at what is happening. And so in the path of purification, when people start out, they start out by looking at within. And in our practice in Sojo Zen, you would start with honoring your struggle. And we do that in a formal practice of zazen.

[13:32]

And the way that zazen honors your struggle is that you are sitting, I am sitting, and the whole popcorn of everything that's happened to us just kind of starts unfolding, and we're sitting there in meditation. And I might be upset, I might be happy, I might be this or I might be that. But the joy piece comes from connecting with to what is actually happening. It doesn't mean that I'm excited and happy the whole time I'm sitting Sazen, but it means that this process, this formal process of practicing being with the universe, with what the universe is handing me, is something that, who knows exactly how it happens, but through centuries of studying this, being with what is coming up for me at this moment and having the patience to hold it gently and with love and to be there with it, to be there with my to be there with my frustration, to be there with my lack of focus, or to be there with my joy, starts to build something that is connected to this inner joy that has to do with seeing through the fixed nature of reality and has to do with the temporariness of life because these things just come inside of us and they happen and they pass and something else happens and it passes.

[14:50]

And in The translations of Dogen by Kaz Tanahashi, one of the first people who translated Dogen completely into the English language. Back in 85, he had a partial book of Dogen translations called Moon and a Dew Drop. And in the part about Zazen, in what we've translated as Fukan Zazengi, the universal call to sitting, there's this line in there that says, Zazen is not learning to do concentration. It is the Dharma gate of great ease and joy. Zazen is not learning to do concentration. It is the Dharma gate of great ease and joy. That's how it was translated in Moon and a Dewdrop. And it didn't say it is the great Dharma gate to great ease and joy. Do this and then you will receive one day great ease and joy. It is the Dharma gate of great ease and joy. You can start right now.

[15:53]

You can touch it right now. It is the phenomenon of what is happening right now. And it is the Dharma gate of great ease and joy. And giving reverence to that struggle that is going on inside and noticing that there is a struggle, that my nose is itching and I don't want my nose to itch. We call this the school of immovable sitting. And once my nose puts itching, I will get back to that Zazen stuff, that joyous stuff. But right now my nose is itching. I don't know if I made everybody scratch their face out there. I'm sorry if I did. But the school of the movable sitting, and I know you're not necessarily sitting as I was in right now, so scratch your face. But it is not wishing away what's happening. Learning to be there with the thing that's happening. Just being with what is coming up. And we start with that.

[16:53]

And then we move out to... You know, how we hold these things that come up. And then we learn to be with what is in our immediate, in our world around us. In the old tradition, they wouldn't give monks many possessions. You know, they would just give them a couple of things. And they would learn to revere these things. Not as though they're fixed properties that can never break or go away. But just the exact opposite. They realize that these objects will go away. And so they revere them. Because right now, this object is here. I have a bowl and this bowl sustains my life. I go out on rounds and I beg with this bowl. And this bowl is something that I'm connected to because of how I hold it with two hands and I put it in a certain place. And there's a certain revering of the objects, just like I am revering the thing that comes up inside me that might be anger. I didn't choose to be angry or jealousy or anxiousness in a pandemic. I didn't choose to be anxious. But can I hold that gently?

[17:54]

Can I hold that with acceptance? Can that be just what's happening right now? And can I let that actually be something that ends up over time calming me and letting me touch something that is the innate joy that's in the universe? One of our stories about the bowl or about objects has to do with a monk that really wants to understand the teachings of Zen. And so this monk... goes and says to this teacher, the teacher's name is Xiao Xu. And Xiao Xu, the monk goes to Xiao Xu and says, I've just entered the monastery. Please teach me. And Xiao Xu says, have you eaten your rice grill? And the monk says, yes, I have. And Xiao Xu says, wash your bowl. And that's it. What's happening right now? You have this object. You hold it with two hands.

[18:56]

What's happening now? You ate your food. Now it's time to wash your bowl. And that's it. Just letting this be enough. I always want to do things that seemingly are more consequential, let's say. Something that seems more overt. A big accomplishment. One of my friends throughout this term one time, we were talking about the conservation of species on this planet and talking about different things that were going on in regard to whales, in regard to, you know, polar bears and different things that, you know, really good efforts are put around to conserve. And they said, yeah, that's just charismatic megafa. And I thought that was, A really interesting term is that that's just charismatic megafauna. And it wasn't to, you know, demean saving whales, but it was basically saying that's really overt.

[20:01]

And, you know, every day, you know, there's a few thousand little tiny insects that go extinct. And there's so many things that happen that are seemingly inconsequential, that aren't so charismatic, that aren't so beautiful, that are just this little thing over here. And I want to get on and do the exciting thing. I want to have the Zazen that is that nice, even flow of Kensho where I am just really in this groove with the universal. I don't want to be sitting there with my nose ditching, distracted on a morning of Zazen. That's not the Zazen I want. I want charismatic megaphone. I want to save the whales. I want to be with the thing that is more overt, the real stuff. Letting this be enough. If all you have are chickens to preach to, embrace chickens. I want to do something. I want to have an energy to activity to move forward.

[21:05]

And yet many of the things that we do naturally, that we all do, don't involve just trying real hard and squinting. They're kind of things that we set up a context for and then they just unfold. We set up a context for our practice and then we start to inherit it. How do I fall asleep? How does that work? Well, do I lie down? And for years I suffered with insomnia, so I thought a lot about sleep. And the way that I don't fall asleep is for me to lie down and go, okay, I'm going to go to sleep. One, two, three, go sleep. Sleep, that's not how it works. And so many times in life, I feel like that's how it's going to happen. I'm going to summon joy. Sometimes it's really much more mundane than that in regard to connecting with what's happening right now. I fall asleep by setting a context.

[22:08]

Happened out before. I might quit looking at screens. I might take a shower. I might wind down. I might have a cup of tea. You know, there could be various things. And then somehow or another, you know, all of a sudden I'm asleep. You know, it's not something that I saw. It just happens. I set a context for it. And then all of a sudden I'm sleeping. And hopefully now after you scratched your face, I hope I didn't put you to sleep. But there's this thing that happens that we set stages for. And we're looking to set the stage for connecting to that inner joy. To where we can be in the midst of something like what is going on right now in all our lives. And we can actually be joyous. There are so many things that... I want to get done with and happy finished.

[23:13]

I want to have this pandemic finished and I can get back to the life that was at least happier. Now, if he would have asked me in January, if I was just super happy all the time, I would have probably said, well, no, I mean, I'm doing pretty good. But right now, for whatever reason, it just seems like it would be a lot of fun to go back to like early January and not have to have all these restrictions and all of this kind of tension. But that's an illusion. This is actually a golden opportunity. Sometimes we don't have the opportunity to see the landscape with such clarity. And through hard times, there are different things that get fired in that cauldron that couldn't have been formed in any other way. And the Buddha left the life of opulence and went out to something that was way more harsh to really touch what was going on. And to be with the suffering of the world. Right now, I don't have much of a choice of that.

[24:14]

But I'm even still here in the first world. There are people that don't have the luxury of their cities shutting down for three or four months. That's the sign of a really wealthy city. And so there is this kind of topography of my life that has the spotlight that's being shown on it right now. And it's all the little nooks and crannies that maybe I couldn't see in the past. And I see all the ways now that I am wishing away today. And all the ways that I am feeling like I have a reason not to be happy. I have a reason not to be joyous or to be light. Of course, I'm heavy. Of course, I'm serious. Of course, maybe I'm a little depressed. Things are hard. And they are hard. And I'm not meaning to make light of the difficulties that we're going through. But I'm just trying to talk about that hope. And that piece of this Buddhist practice that has been there since the very beginning, that has to do with that inner joy, with just what is happening right now.

[25:20]

And not looking outside for happiness. Not looking for happiness to come to me and to happen to me. You know, the Congressman John Lewis was also known as the conscience of Congress. because of how he embraced people, because of how he reached across the aisle. And one of the stories that I really love about him and his kind of inner peace with what is going on and his ability to reach out and connect to what's going on to other people has to do with the story of when Peggy Wallace Kennedy was invited to Selma to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2009 for a commemoration of the 1965 march across that bridge that ended violently, that set in motion what became the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Act in 1965. A few weeks later, the president went on TV and symbolically had the momentum of the country because of what was seen on that bridge.

[26:29]

And they revisited that moment and Congressman Lewis was in the front of that march on March 7th, 1965, and he was there and beaten and now was back in 2009. And Peggy Wallace Kennedy was the daughter of George Wallace, who was the governor of the state of Alabama at the time, who was a segregationist and who refused to send in any protection for the marchers. And she was sitting by herself in a tent, and he walked up and introduced himself. And through that entire ceremony, they held hands. And there was no sense in him that he needed to hold a grudge and be angry. There was just this acceptance.

[27:33]

of this other person. And in her biography, and it was either a biography or a book that she wrote a few years later, she said, I don't think that man has an unlovable bone in his body. It's that kind of inner joy, that kind of vicariousness of connecting to someone else's suffering and to their life that this practice is all about. It is a deep-seated joy that doesn't have to go away because today is not a good day or because I was wrong. It is something that can be cultivated through these practices of being with what is happening, being with the rope and being with the bowl. setting those stages for joy.

[28:38]

Have I done the most recent thing that the world has asked of me? Not yet. We'll do that thing. I get up and my meditation can be making my bed and not to get it done and not to be finished with the bed making, but to just embrace it the way that Congressman Lewis embraced his chickens. and just be there with the bed and with the bedspread and with the pillows and letting the mundane catch on fire like a black and white real film with technicolor splashed across it because it's coming alive because the present moment is catching on fire because it isn't mundane it is what is happening now it is the thing that's happening so why not let it be the most important thing that could be possibly happening on the planet and the thing that deserves 100% of your attention.

[29:39]

And so we just wash our bowl and we make our bed and we let ourselves be in the thing that's happening right now wholeheartedly and not wishing away today for that day in the future that will come when I can get back and I can see my friends and take my mask off and go out to a restaurant and not have to worry about some of these things. Right now, I'm just sitting with 53 other beautiful people on a Wednesday night. And this is as good as it gets. This is what's happening right now. And this is my life. This is your life. So we just focus on this process of being with and revering and learning to have a reverence and a sacredness for what's happening right now in this person's struggle. Wanting to have it through the way that I engage with the objects around me and being with the people that I see in my universe and being with their struggle and touching that.

[30:48]

And through that, cultivating an inner joy where you don't know why you just lay down and one day you went to sleep. One day you woke up and somehow or another some molecules of compassion crawled into your life for that person that's always been that impossible person. And so we're not looking outside for happiness. The joy of connecting to what is real and is arising, that is the cultivation of inner joy. The joy of connecting to what is real and arising, this is the cultivation of inner joy. And so I'm really glad that all of you are here tonight, that we are being able to see each other. I don't know what would have happened, you know, in 1993, before the internet, we would have been sequestered all by ourselves, not able to see each other or anybody else. There's a lot of negativity and harm can come through technology.

[31:54]

And there's also some beauty that we can at least see each other. And I'm thankful for that. So thank you for being here tonight. And I will conclude with that and we will maybe take some questions. Thank you very much, Michael. As we transition into questions and comments, we'll have a moment to do the closing verse. And then if you'd like to... Ask a question or make a comment. You can raise your hand by opening the participant's window. The verse just snapped. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless, I vow to save them.

[32:58]

Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it. So feel free to raise a hand and we can unmute you. I see Anne. Hi. Yeah, I live in the South, although I've lived in San Francisco for a long time, too. And, you know, I don't think a lot of people understand the black churches. pretty united by a common theme, and that's a belief that they're the second sort of coming of the tribes of Israel.

[34:08]

And this is something that really keeps them buoyant as they see themselves as being related to the tribes of Israel and to Moses and to escaping slavery. And they're very joyful about it. So I just thought I'd bring it up because you're talking about being connected by suffering. And they are connected to something, you know, great in the past that happened and that lifts them up. So thank you. Thank you, Anne. Okay. Konu, do I just call on folks or do you call on them? I'm sorry, I don't know the protocol. Either way works. As soon as we see a hand raise. Satish.

[35:11]

Okay. One of the things that is... struggle not in the very least of the ways is staying with the mundane. I mean, there are times when I haven't felt well and I would have been happy that I had the energy to even take a shower. But, you know, there are times, most of the time in life, oh, I got to cook, I got to go to the grocery store or this or that. What I'm trying to say is that there is... In general sense, a productive way of looking at things where maybe I can lose the time for something else. There's also a non-productive way of looking at things where these are necessary, but not being in the moment or enjoying some things or actually doing a little bigger, big drudging thing. So that's a big struggle, which I don't think is unique to me per se, but it's probably a little bigger for me then.

[36:18]

So anything you want to talk about it? That's great. About the difficulty of being with the mundane? Yeah. Well, I mean, I think that, you know, that quote, life is what happens while you're standing around waiting for life to happen. You know, it's so much of life is not like the big moments. It's the little tiny moments. It's just the thing that you're doing. And I think that it's a, it's a practice. It's a, it's a mindset to not be wishing away the thing that you don't want to have happen. You know, I did not used to like to do Dustin and I was reading this book by Thich Nhat Hanh. And he said, you know, let that be a part of your, your practice to do your housework and to, instead of getting it, doing it to get it done, you know, do it in a different gear, do it at half speed on purpose, you know, and to, and to realize that I'm just basically wishing this moment away so I can get to the thing that I think is really my life in the future, you know, the thing that I'm really excited about.

[37:35]

And so I think the shift in perspective of, okay, I'm at the grocery store and I'm with my cart and there's other people and I want to get through the line and, you know, whatever it is, um, that I can actually be alive in that moment and that those moments don't have to be wished away and I can be alive in a pandemic and this pandemic and this day counts too. And, and I think it's from this perspective of I'm trying to, you know, I encourage people to find something in their life that's small that they don't enjoy doing and to do it like it's the most important thing on the planet and to do it maybe at three quarters speed, you know, and to just, practice being with the thing and letting it be, giving it your full attention. You're like, this is all I've got right now. All I have is to preach to chickens. So I'm just going to give them my full sermon and I'm really going to, you know, give it all I've got. So this is the bed I was given. I'm thankful that I have a bed and I'm going to put my whole heart into just making this bed.

[38:39]

And that sort of engagement lets things start to seem less disposable. And there's a little bit more of a connection to it because I'm with that thing. And I was with that moment. And it's not easy. There's all sorts of things. They're either boring or they're annoying. And we want to get on to that other thing. But, you know, now that human beings have the ability to do so many things at once because of technology that, you know, I had a friend say to me one time, I realized I haven't watched a movie before. and just watched a movie in a long time. You know, they're like, I'm so used to watching a movie and looking at my phone and looking up things online. Who's that actress? Who's that actor? What was that other thing they said? You know, it's just like this whole constant, like, distraction. And can I just do the thing that's right in front of me and give it my full attention? Not necessarily easy, but it's a practice. And in that, you can start to, I think, be alive in...

[39:43]

the moments that we used to wish away. Does that help? Yeah, that helps. Thank you. Thank you. Michael, we have a question from Johan and Fatima. How do we hold aspiration and goals at the same time as we practice being in this moment? Thank you. That's one of those Buddhist conundrums. Well, I'll tell you at least how I understand it or how it's at least come across for me anyway, is that I think the difficulty with aspirations or goals is that oftentimes they become either fixed or they become destinations. We all had a goal to come here to the Dharma talk tonight. So we did something.

[40:46]

We thought, okay, I think that for whatever reason, it would be good for me to go to the Dharma top. And then we set out on going to the Dharma top and we logged in and we did a little symbol goal and we arrived at the Dharma top. But if we were so fixed on being at the Dharma top that if something else came up that was more important that actually needed our attention and we weren't open to that because we had a fixed goal, then we wouldn't have actually been in the moment. We have to take our best guess of planning. And sometimes what the moment is asking for is for us to plan. And that's being in the moment. Where we get, I think, into difficulty is when we're looking to arrive somewhere. I don't know if you've ever had the experience of working on like a really long project. And then the project gets completed. And there's a sense of like euphoria and exhale. And then like maybe an hour or two or maybe a day later, there's like a depression that follows. It's just like I was so looking forward to arriving there and accomplishing this thing.

[41:47]

And then I did. And then what? And so I think that goals and aspirations are necessary. I think they get us places. They help us connect with other people. They help us really engage in the world. But when they become fixed, when they become something that... I'm going to become X. I'm going to become a lawyer. I'm going to become a doctor. I'm going to become a Zen priest. And no matter what happens, I'm just going to do that. Well, if I'm not open to what's happening along the way, that goal becomes something that is actually a hindrance to me actually being in the moment. So I think that you have to take your best stab at what you think is good to be doing in the future. You have to take your best stab at what's going to be happening the rest of your evening. You're going to make some goals and you're going to try to accomplish them. But before you go to bed, be open to the fact that maybe something else is the thing to do before you go to bed.

[42:59]

Thank you. And that was helpful. Thank you. We may have time for one more if there's a question or a comment. Michael, you can offer us a capping word and we can Finish up for the night. I think that's good. Well, I hope you all take care of yourselves in the middle of these times. And we're taking care of ourselves so much on the outside, I think, and so much I am personally doing to take care of myself. And that's where a lot of my care goes.

[44:00]

And of course, we haven't abandoned the inner care. But take care to find the joy in what's going on. and in the little thing and to give reference to it and to give it your full attention and let today be a day that counts and let that thing that you have to do tomorrow that's inconvenient because of what we're under be the thing that's happening and Let a certain reverence come into your life, a certain softness that gives that spaciousness to that next thing that comes up so you can hold it. And you can hold it softly and you can let it morph into what it should be. And we need to be alive. This is just what's happening right now. But tomorrow will be a day to get up and to live like it's the best day ever.

[45:02]

And I hope you can be with that And I'm really glad that we at this time would be together right now. Please take care of yourselves. Thank you so much. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, everyone. If you would like to unmute and say goodbye, it may be possible now. If it's not, I'll try again. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Michael. Thanks, that was great. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Michael. Good night, everyone. Thank you, Michael. Good to see you. Thank you. Good night. Good night. Thanks, Michael. Thank you, Koto. I appreciate you making this all happen. Thank you, Matt.

[46:06]

Oh, Matt, yes. Thank you, Matt. Thanks, Michael. Take care. Thank you.

[46:15]

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