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From the Seed to the Flame: Cultivating Non-Separation with Every Step
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During a retreat in Italy, each person planted a corn seed and, when the plant had two or three leaves, asked it the question:
“My dear corn plant, do you remember the moment when you were a corn seed?”
We must listen patiently, confirming that the plant is truly the continuation of the seed, even if it does not immediately recognize its origins. This meditation invites us to recognize that, just as the plant comes from the seed, we come from our mother (and father) and exist in a stream of continuation: the seed has not died, it still lives on in the plant. -
When we create two flames and ask the second: “Are you the same flame as the other, or a different flame?” it answers:
“I am not exactly the same flame, but I am not entirely a different flame either.”
This truth of the middle way is called non-identification and non-differentiation, that is:- identical/identification
- differentiation
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Mindfulness is the energy of the present moment: while walking, breathing, brushing our teeth, preparing breakfast, or driving, we can notice tension (the first noble truth), release it (the third noble truth), and taste peace, happiness, and freedom. Breathing in, “I am home”; breathing out, “I have arrived”; inviting the spirit of our father, our mother, or the Holy Spirit to inhabit every cell: every activity becomes meditation, a moment of awakening, and an opportunity to make “Plum Village” wherever we live.
