From SGI USA, I'm Cassidy Bradford and this is bootability.

The weekly series where I talk with Buddhists from all walks of life about the power we each have to change our lives and the world around us.

Everyone says it's important to follow your heart, but what if you're not sure what your heart is saying?

It can be easy to let our fear of the opinions of others sway us or become so loud that we can no longer hear ourselves.

Today's guest, Sedum Ariabu of Virginia, shares how chanting Namyo Hōrenge Kyo helped her listen to her heart and have the courage to act on what it said.

Welcome to bootability, set them, like, wait, how did you say, like, set them up?

No, set them off.

Like set them off, yeah. Like set them off.

Like set them off, okay.

Well, welcome to bootability.

I'm really looking forward to hearing more about your story, getting bits and pieces, but being able to like really dive deep now I'm looking forward to.

So as always, we start with an introduction. So I just

have guests introduce themselves. So you can tell me just a little bit about who you are and then

maybe just a little bit of your life growing up. Sure. Thank you so much for having me. My name is

Saddam Adia Abu, as you said. And I grew up in both Ghana and in New Jersey.

So I spent, yeah, I spent the early primary school part of my years in Ghana living with my

grandmother.

And then, you know, once I started the fourth grade, I moved to New Jersey and started living with my mom.

At the time, my parents were divorced, but they both practiced Buddhism, Nietzsche and Ashonian Buddhism.

So, you know, it was always something that I knew about.

But depending on where I lived and who I was with, I would either go to

Buddhist meetings or I would go to church with my grandmother.

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