Communications Manager Kyla Merwin recommends How to Love by Thich Nhất Hạnh.
If love makes the world go ’round, and all you need is love…then why is that wonderful, beautiful, four-letter word completely blind, deaf, and dumb?
Beyond romantic love, our capacity to love our friends, family, colleagues, strangers, and enemies, we are told, is endless. . .and challenged on a regular basis.
One of my favorite, go-to volumes on this crazy, mindless subject comes from Thich Nhất Hạnh, beloved teacher, Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, and peace activist.
Nhất Hạnh distills the unruly beast of love into four essential concepts:
- You can only love another when you feel true love for yourself
- Love is understanding
- Understanding brings compassion
- Deep listening and loving speech are key to showing love
Through Nhất Hạnh, we learn that love isn’t mindless after all. Our capacity for love, it turns out, hinges on mindfulness.
Though he passed from these earthly realms earlier this year, Nhất Hạnh’s wisdom, compassion and teachings helped shape the best of this world, and continue to inspire generations of seekers, including me.
How to Love is available through Interlibrary Loan, here.
