Learn to nourish yourself and the other person with joy. Are you able to make the other person smile? Are you able to increase her confidence and enthusiasm? If you are not able to do these small things for her, how can you say you love her? Sometimes a kind word is enough to help someone blossom like a flower.
— How To Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
“Life can only be found in the present moment. When you look at the beautiful blue sky, where is it? In the present moment.
In order to not miss the beautiful blue sky, you have to go back to the present moment. Because it is in that moment that you get in touch with the beautiful blue sky, the beautiful rivers, the beautiful trees…
Everything wonderful, everything refreshing, happens in the present moment. Therefore, running to the future, or getting lost in the past, you miss life. Breathing in and out gets you back to the present moment where you have an appointment with life.”
– Thich Nhat Hahn, The Art of Mindful Living
From The Art of Mindful Living by Thich Nhat Hanh. Audiobook links are below.
Breathing is the essence of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings. The technique in the photo is called “In/Out.” We stop thinking so much when we focus on our breath. We all think too much. Our body is present, but our mind is lost in the past or anxious about the future. The first fourteen minutes of The Art of Mindful Living, Part 1 is about this breath. It’s worth a listen.
I’ve been listening to an audio book called Being Love- Teachings to Cultivate Awareness and Intimacy by Zen Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh. The audio is about an hour and twelve minutes long. Around the fifty-five minute mark, he talks about self-love.
Hanh says ( I’m paraphrasing and cutting it down a bit), “May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love. Many people cannot accept themselves. They are at war with themselves. If we look deeply inside ourselves, we find out the conditions that made ourselves. And then we accept ourselves with our suffering and our happiness at the same time.”
He follows with talking about our relationships with other people, not just intimate relationships: “And we know that to love is to accept ourselves as we are…to accept the other person as she is…as he is…and looking deeply to see how that person was made.”
Hanh shows us how to cultivate the four basic qualities of authentic love: Maitri (lovingkindness), Karuna (compassion), Mudita (joy), and Upeksha (freedom). It’s a very grounded approach to love. It teaches how to sincerely listen to others and love them in a way that is freeing for both people. Being Love is a beautiful book. I’ll be listening to it over and over again.
10 out of 10 Mocha Angels.
Ms. Mocha Angel 