"To say that you don't know, is the beginning of knowing."
-- a Chinese proverb
Cultivating the Mind of Love is one of many titles written by Vietnamese Buddhist monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. Many think many things about practices originating from the East, some are interpreted accurately and some less so. Hanh makes it his endeavor to bring what he calls "engaged Buddhism" to the west. A prolific scholar-translator, writer and teacher, Hanh writes many things in his book. He wants above all to give instruction about Mahayana Buddhism.
Reminding readers that 'the raft is not the shore... we see many waves.... the wave is, at the same time, water..." Hanh continues with his teaching: "The first aspect of Buddhist meditation is samatha (stopping and calming), and the second is vipasyana (insight, looking deeply). If we study Mahayana Buddhism, we will see that vipasyana, looking deeply, is very much at its heart...'
' Its attitude of openness, non-attachment from views, and playfulness serves well as a dharma door to enter the realm of Mahayana Buddhism, helping us to see clearly that all the seeds of Mahayana thought and practice were already present in the early teachings of the Buddha."
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