And I ask myself what feelings come up. Dogen suggests we take a step back to turn one's light inward and illuminate oneself. What I see there in myself is then reflected back into the world. The answer to how it feels to anyone largely depends on two further inter-related questions. I suspect that this is sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Thoughtless words can turn people from the temple and from the practice.
I have seen this happen here and elsewhere. An offhand comment is made about the white, middle class makeup of the community with people of color sitting right there. Maybe I should say something about white supremacy. It is a building block of racism, part of my blindness to my own privilege as a white man. It is at once personal and systematic.