Book Summary:
A collection of teachings about love from the zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh. He focuses on the mindfulness and its place within love, why it’s important to love yourself first and the four traits of love.
Related Book Summaries:
Zen Mind, Beginners Mind – Shunryu Suzuki
Quotes:
Ask yourself, who can I make smile this morning? This is the art of happiness.
Wouldn’t it be absurd to criticize a rose for its colour rather than simply admiring the shade of its petals?
Book Summary Notes:
- Love needs nourishment to be strong and the best nourishment is happiness.
- Happiness can’t be obtained with superficial desires it needs mindfulness.
- Mindfulness is about experiencing and appreciating the present moment.
- To understand love you must recognize it’s four traits.
- Loving kindness, compassion (empathy), joy, equanimity (inclusiveness).
- There is a custom in many parts of Asia that a loved one should be treated the same as a guest would be in your home.
- Love requires trust and respect, for both yourself and your partner.
- Before loving someone else you must first learn to love and respect yourself.
- Love is a two way street, learn to love yourself and then extend that to your partner as well.
- Love is trust, but it’s not enough to trust and respect your partner in your mind, you also have to prove it to them.
- People often turn to sex to relieve their feeling of loneliness, forgetting that we as humans need more than physical contact to cure it.
- Shared aspirations are vital to a long loving relationship.
- True love is about being present in the moment and learning how to listen and experience the pain and suffering of others. Being mindful allows us deeper levels of empathy and compassion.
