Teachings on Love

For venerated Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, love is more than an emotion. Drawing on millennia of Buddhist wisdom and his own therapeutic methods, Teachings on Love further develops his practical notion of interbeing in terms of love. If all things are interrelated, what could be more paramount to negotiating those relations than love? And more than just a way of relating, love is a way of living: "Love by the way you walk, the way you sit, the way you eat." Nhat Hanh supports his practical advice with numerous verses for enhancing mindfulness, prostrations for expressing reverence, and succinct formulas, such as the Five Awarenesses and the Five Mindfulness Trainings. The fifth mindfulness training exemplifies the broad scope of Nhat Hanh's love: "Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming." Thich Nhat Hanh forever writes with reassuring warmth, from which readers may derive insight as well as comfort. --Brian Bruya