[Sound of the bell]

So when we look at retribution, there is individual retribution and collective retribution. These are two ideas. We see that retribution manifests in the main aspect and also in the environmental aspect. With mindfulness and concentration, we can try to live, to look, and to listen in a way that allows us to see ourselves not only in this direction, but also in the other direction. You are not only in this direction; you are also in the other direction.

When the father looks at the son, he must see himself in the son. And when the son looks at the father, he must see himself in the father as well. The same thing is true with the corn plant and the grain of corn. I, the grain of corn, I do not remember. But the grain of corn is still in me. It has not died. And I am the continuation of the grain of corn. We have to teach the plant to speak like that.

So, when we build ourselves, we produce a thought, we produce speech, we produce an action. And this action penetrates deeply into the main retribution. This action, this energy, this thought also penetrates into the environmental retribution. And from this base, you reappear in the future in a new form. Nothing is lost. The base is always there, the base which is a collective retribution.

If you have lost your smile, your smile is still there somewhere. A flower in the garden is keeping your smile. You will recover your smile because the flower in the garden is keeping your smile for you. So, we should not be afraid. The decomposition of this body is not the end of something, no. Perhaps it is a new beginning, the start of something very beautiful, very young also. We must have confidence in our karma, in our retribution.

Retribution is something like a savings account where you deposit good things. You deposit a good, a right thought. That is very good. And you know how to produce a thought of compassion. You know how to produce a thought of reconciliation, a thought of non-discrimination. Then, we can deposit good things in the savings account called retribution. Nothing is lost. Everything is preserved. We can speak of karma, of action, in terms of energy. The energy is always there.

The water vapor that encounters the cold becomes a cloud and floats in the sky. And the cloud can become rain again to become water vapor again. It circulates like that. Our actions too, and us too.

The individual and the collective are things that inter-are. Outside of the collective, there is no individual. Outside of the individual, there is no collective. We can speak in terms of more or less collective. But everything, every person, is collective or individual to a certain degree. For example, you say, "This is my life. I want to live, I can live my life the way I want. It is my life. I have to live my life." But your life has something to do with the life of your beloved.

For example, there are things that belong only to me, like my optic nerves, my optic nerves. These are things that are quite individual, private. It does not concern you. My optic nerves. But if I am a bus driver, my optic nerves concern you. Your safety depends on them. So my optic nerves are at the same time individual and collective. So, we must look and see the nature of inter-being in retribution.

What you do will affect you. What you say will affect you, but it will also affect the world. You are responsible. You feel this responsibility. So if you think, it is not only for yourself. You are thinking for the world. If you can produce a loving thought, a right thought, a compassionate thought, that is very good for you. It begins to heal you physically and mentally, but it also begins to heal the world. So this thought is not an individual thing. This thought is also collective.

If you are able to forgive, you feel much better in your body, in your mind. But the world also benefits. A thought of forgiveness, a thought of reconciliation, will be very good for the world. So everything is individual and everything is collective at the same time. And without this, there is no that. So we can see the nature of inter-being in retribution. You are responsible for the world. You have contributed to creating the world as it is. And you have this capacity to change the world with your action, your karma.