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Our Actions Continue Us into the Future
Practicing Pebble Meditation:
Find four washed pebbles and place them in a small bag. Form a circle of four or five people, and choose a bell master. At the beginning, three sounds of the bell; we breathe and smile. For each pebble: take it in the right hand, identify it, place it in the left hand, and practice three conscious breaths with the associated phrase before placing it to the right.
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First pebble: “flower”
• Breathing in, I see myself as a fresh flower.
• Breathing out, I feel fresh and smile. -
Second pebble: “mountain”
• Breathing in, I see myself as a solid mountain.
• Breathing out, I feel stable and unshakable. -
Third pebble: “still water”
• Breathing in, I see myself as calm water.
• Breathing out, I reflect things just as they are, without distortion. -
Fourth pebble: “space”
• Breathing in, I see myself as space.
• Breathing out, I feel free from anger, craving, and jealousy.
Thinking, speaking, and acting like an orange tree:
Just as the orange tree produces leaves, flowers, and fruit, human beings generate thoughts, speech, and actions that continue us; nothing is lost (Lavoisier). These actions ripen into karma in two ways:
• Chánh báo – personal retribution (the subject)
• Y báo – environmental retribution (the environment)
Plum Village in France illustrates this collective karma: a right idea, words, and concrete actions have created an environment favorable to peace, tolerance, and the practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
Superficial Perception, the Cause of All Suffering