Cultivating the Mind of Love

When Thich Nhat Hanh was a 24-year-old monk, he fell desperately in love with a nun of 20. He couldn't sleep, and stayed up all night writing poetry. This book taps that experience in an ambitious double narrative that interweaves his memories of that first love with how it was transmuted into boddhichitta with a thoughtful study of the Mahayana Buddhist sutras. Through this unusual approach, Nhat Hanh shows readers how to nurture their own "mind of love" and bring joy and hope to themselves and those around them.;Title Page; Foreword; Introduction; Part One: -- First Love; 1 -- Roots; 2 -- The Beauty of Spring; 3 -- The Guard; 4 -- Saying Good-bye; 5 -- Separation and Strength; Part Two: -- The Buddha's Love; 6 -- What Happened Next; 7 -- Love and Mahayana Buddhism; 8 -- The Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Catch a Snake; 9 -- The Diamond Sutra; 10 -- The Lotus Sutra; 11 -- The Three Dharma Seals; 12 -- The Three Doors of Liberation; 13 -- The Avatamsaka Sutra; 14 -- The Ultimate Dimension; 15 -- The Next Buddha; 16 -- A Love Story without Beginning or End; Notes; Copyright Page. Lessons on love and Dharma, from celebrated Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh and featuring a foreword by Natalie Goldberg In Cultivating the Mind of Love, Thich Nhat Hanh gives a most unusual Dharma teaching: the story of his first love. He pairs these personal memories with his insightful commentaries on classic Buddhist teachings, including the Diamond Lotus, Avatamsaka, and Vimalakirti Sutras. In combining personal experience and Dharma teachings, Nhat Hanh allows his readers to experience and to appreciate what is human and wonderful in all of us. He shows us how to cultivate our own “mind of love”—and how to bring joy and hope to ourselves and those around us. “I am continually amazed at how Thich Nhat Hanh is able to translate the Buddhist tradition into everyday life and make it relevant and helpful for so many people. Cultivating the Mind of Love just might be my favorite book of his.” —Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones Lessons on love and Dharma, with commentaries on 3 essential sutras of Mahayana Buddhism—from the celebrated monk who introduced mindfulness to the Western world “Just might be my favorite book of [Thich Nhat Hanh].” —Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones In Cultivating the Mind of Love , Thich Nhat Hanh gives a most unusual Dharma teaching: the story of his first love. He pairs these personal memories with his insightful commentaries on classic Buddhist teachings, including the Diamond Lotus, Avatamsaka, and Vimalakirti Sutras. In combining personal experience and Dharma teachings, Nhat Hanh allows his readers to experience and to appreciate what is human and wonderful in all of us. He shows us how to cultivate our own “mind of love”—and how to bring joy and hope to ourselves and those around us.