I finished an article in September's Shambhala Sun, written by Velcrow Ripper (yes, his real name, wish I'd thought of it first), who was with Thich Nhat Hanh on his recent trip to his homeland - Vietnam.
He interviews Thay (as he is called) over a meal. He asked him "What is the meaning of Love?"
He answered "The first element of true love is loving-kindness, the capacity of offering joy, offering happiness, relief. The 2nd element is compassion. The third element is joy. And the last element of true love is equanimity, inclusiveness. You do not exclude anyone. No discrimination. This is the very element of true love. If you have love in that spirit, you remain free. You will not suffer and you do not make the other people suffer. And when you have that kind of love within, everything you say, everything you do, expresses that love."
I am meditating on this.
3 comments:
so what did you take away from your meditation?
It's like making Baklava. It takes many, many layers to get the sweet reward...I am continuing to meditate on it.
So far - I'm focusing on loving the things and people who interrupt my joy - the lawnmower, the guy who honks his horn, "W". When I can love or find peace in the noise of the lawnmower, I'll know I'm making progress.
And then you can teach some of that to Pompeii so he doesn't scratch the hell out of our table running from every car that drives by...
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