when
do we consider things as normal
what do we consider as normal
why do we consider it as normal
now let's take a moment to
pay attention to our feelings
whenever you hear the word normal
how do you feel please close your eyes
oh everything is normal
today i feel normal
it's normal let that person say that to
me
what feeling comes up
pleasant unpleasant
or neutral
we consider things as normal
when it happens every day
every month or every year
something that is repeated
and then we can no longer consider that
as special because it happened so often
and now it becomes normal
i started to realize how detrimental
this can be
when i went home to take care of my mom
starting in 2010 when she had
colon cancer
i will never forget the day
that she went to get her chemo
and the side effect of the chemo
may her 10 fingers fallen and red
they became so painful that it made her
unbearable to button shirt
it was impossible for her to button
a shirt
i sit right in front of her to help her
button her shirt
before i thought it was normal to be
able to do that but after witnessing
what my mom could not do that i consider
as normal
then every time now i take my time to
button my shirt i always consider that
action
as extra ordinary as something
so special that i don't want to take for
granted
also how can i forget the day
that she was in the restroom trying to
urinate
but nothing came out
she was in severe pain i was standing
outside of the restroom
and i could hear this sound
and perhaps only one or two drop came
out
i was in pain knowing my mom was in pain
but my pain was nothing compared to her
pain
and from that day on
every time i went to the restroom every
time i go to the restroom
i don't consider that as normal anymore
i don't consider that as ordinary
anymore
i consider that as extraordinary
as peace as calm
and this is something that is very easy
to do then we think
we just need to change a way of thinking
a little bit
so next time if you think it's normal i
eat breakfast
with my sisters every day
ask yourself
are you sure
are you sure it's normal
do you know that not many people
have the time to eat and the food to eat
so are you sure it's normal but i'm
sitting here enjoying my breakfast
with my brothers and with my sisters or
with my beloved ones
and also ask yourself what am i doing
this is to help us to come back to the
present moment
so that our mind is not thinking about
the past
or about the future and it helps us to
see that the person sitting right in
front of me right now
are the most important people in my life
not the people in memphis
but when i am with the people in memphis
they are the most important people in my
life
so then everything becomes important to
us
and because it's important we cherish it
we are fully present for that person
or even for that object
i'd like to share with you a story some
of us we
have different way of thinking so
there are things we consider as normal
and there are things we consider as
abnormal
i remember one time one of my sisters
and i
we were walking with a friend
to the steps right in front of this
meditation hall
and this dear friend of ours is a
lesbian
and she stayed with us for six months
so my sister and i we were still
very naive
about the difficulties that our lesbian
friends
or lgbtqia plus friends endure in their
daily life
so we asked for this question
do you ever want to be normal again
do you want to be normal again
because to us we think that
normal means a woman falls in love with
a man
a man falls in love with the women
but it is not normal when a woman
falls in love with the women or a man
falls in love with a man
so we consider that as
abnormal strange
and then we underestimate the value of
that person
we started to look down at that person
and we think that that person is not
normal
and so she looked at us with tears
continue to fall
down on her eyes she say sister
please don't ever ask that question
again
it hurts me very much
so are we sure
when we think something is normal have
we ever thought that something that we
consider as normal
can be very painful can be hurtful
to another person
and through that short exchange i had
with this lay friend
i wanted to learn more
about our friends in the lgbtqia
plus community
and here's another normal that mean we
need to double check
because this kind of normality
can lead to harm
disrespect
even violation
we know that this year in america
as a country we are going through
the pandemic and the racial injustice
these are the two things that are in
everybody's hearts
myself included and perhaps some of you
also
for the first time in this year
do i hear that
black people especially men when they
run
when they just jog out in the street
they can be chased after
somebody can threaten them
even arrested them even harm them
this had happened for so many times so
many years
and we consider that as normal
but that kind of normal falls into this
category
underestimating low abnormal
and now collectively as a country we are
starting to see
we're starting to put an end
to that normality we want
to decrease that kind of
normality so that we
don't violate anybody because of the
skin color
we don't disrespect anyone because of
how they look
and especially we don't harm anyone
because of the color of the skin
so which
side of normal of normality
do we want to have in our daily life
a normal that we feel peaceful inside
so that other people feel peaceful
inside
a normal that can help us to recover the
past wounds
the hurt
the simplicity and the equality
and this is
doable
on an at an individual level
and at the collective level
and i see that our brothers and sisters
are magnolia growth monastery
we are practicing to head into this
direction
and we are doing everything that we can
to help people
from this direction to transform
themselves
through the practice of mindful
breathing
taking care of their strong emotion
seeing everybody as a future buddha
sarah pariputa the non-disparaging
bodhisattva
help these people
to taste this fruit
of practice
so check again
if we think that's normal
is that normal leading to fear and
destruction
or is that normal or is that more
normality
leading to fear and destruction or is
that
normality leading to recovery
so that when we see the sunset with the
teapot beside us
we feel calm and peaceful
let us listen to one sound of the bell
you