True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart

by Thich Nhat Hanh

We all seek the happiness that comes from loving and being loved, yet we often find ourselves dissatisfied in our relationships and unable to grasp the cause.

if you do not understand this person, you cannot love properly.

Understanding is the essence of love.”

loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and freedom—

Loving-kindness is not only the desire to make someone happy, to bring joy to a beloved person; it is the ability to bring joy and happiness to the person you love,

Understanding

compassion,

joy,

freedom.

“Dear one, do you have enough space in your heart and all around you?”

To be loved is to be recognized,

If a person has never suffered, he or she will never be able to know happiness.

we must know how to learn from suffering, we must know how to make use of it to gather the energy of compassion, of love, of understanding.