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Fruits and Flowers for Each Other
The present moment is the only place where the candle radiates its light, its beauty, and its warmth; if we are busy chasing after the future, we no longer have energy for the present. Pouring all our energy into building projects, degrees, or charity work while forgetting the present moment is to fall into “conceptual nourishment,” which becomes an obstacle to life and to practice. To take care of the present moment, we only need to examine it as we would a grain of rice: take a moment to see whether it contains
- the substance of nourishment for body and mind
- the substance of healing for body and mind
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the substance of joy, happiness, and progress on the path
If not, then the whole “pot of rice” that is our life is burning or half-cooked.
A monastic is like an orange tree – present to produce the flowers of understanding, the flowers of compassion, and the fruits of happiness right in the present moment; not waiting until the future to offer these gifts. Success depends on two kinds of “retribution” in karmic fruition:
- primary retribution (nature/inborn) – the form, the seeds of consciousness inherited from our parents
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secondary retribution (nurture/acquired) – the circumstances, the environment that nourishes us
A true Sangha is a wholesome environment of nourishment, building brotherhood and sisterhood on the foundation of the Bodhi mind. Each step, each smile, each word spoken with mindfulness is a gift that nourishes the Sangha, helping ourselves and our elder brothers, elder sisters, and younger siblings to go further on the path of practice.
