"The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers."
"Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves. The tangerine I am eating is me. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath. Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred."
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Source: Thich Nhat Hanh (1996). “The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation”, p.61, Beacon Press
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