Thought for the Day - four aspects of love

According to Buddhism, there are four elements of true love:

1. 'Maitri': lovingkindness, the desire and ability to bring joy and happiness to the person you love.

2. 'Karuna': compassion, the desire and ability to ease the pain of another.

3. 'Mutida': joy, if there is no joy in your love, it is not true love.

4. 'Upeksha': equanimity or freedom, in true love you attain freedom and you bring freedom to the one you love.

This from a little book by Thich Nhat Hahn, a Zen Buddhist monk from Vietnam. In "True Love - a practice for awakening the heart" he explores these four elements. He especially encourages 'deep looking' - the ability to focus all your attention on the other.

How do we know how we're doing on these?

Mindfulness. Awareness. Being.

Easy really?

Not.

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