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Talking to the Corn Seed: Transforming Mind with Breath and Nutriments
In Rome, each retreatant—adults and children—received one seed of corn to plant in a pot and care for at home. Once the young plant has two or three leaves, you “talk to the plant of corn,” reminding it that it was once a seed. This exercise mirrors our own journey:
• at conception we were “a very tiny seed” containing both father and mother;
• within the womb—a “palace of the child” (tử cung)—we lived in perfect comfort, free from fear or desire;
• birth cuts the umbilical cord, forcing us into our first in-breath and original fear coupled with the original desire to survive;
• every subsequent desire is a continuation of that original desire, and every suffering and joy recalls our forgotten paradise of the womb.
The ninth and tenth exercises of mindful breathing train us to transform our mental formations (cittasaṃskāra, of which there are fifty-one):
- Ninth exercise—aware of mind: sit “on the bank of the river of mind” and recognize each mental formation (anger, doubt, compassion, etc.) as it arises without grasping or pushing it away.
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Tenth exercise—gladden the mind (right diligence):
- sign a peace treaty to avoid watering negative seeds (fear, anger, craving, doubt);
- if a negative formation does arise, “change the CD” or “change the peg” by inviting a wholesome formation;
- selectively water positive seeds (mindfulness, concentration, compassion) so they manifest more often;
- when a wholesome formation is present, maintain it as long as possible.
Our deepest source of sustenance comes from four nutriments:
• volition (our fundamental aspirations, whether to survive or to awaken);
• collective energy of consciousness (the Sangha’s shared peace, concentration, joy);
• sensory impressions (what we consume via eyes, ears, conversation—mindful consumption prevents poisoning);
• edible food (choose what sustains both body and compassion).
Building and living in a Sangha provides the wholesome collective energy needed to nourish these nutriments and sustain our practice.
