Friendship is a sheltering tree. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge
A Talk For Children by Thich Nhat Hanh
“You are a lover. You are called a lover when you love someone. When you love someone you want to offer him or her something. You always want to offer them something. If you really love them a lot, it is a natural tendency.
But what do you have in order to offer? A lot of people think they have to buy something. They go to the supermarket. They buy something. But the most precious thing you can offer to the person you love is not something you can buy at a marketplace… yourself. You offer yourself unto her. You say, “I’m here for you.”
I think the oak tree is a lover. The oak tree standing outside is a lover because it has so many things to offer us. On a hot day like yesterday, standing in the shadow of an oak tree you feel much better. And an oak tree has so many things to offer. And the oak tree doesn’t have to go to the marketplace and buy.
The oak tree I contemplated this morning is a very beautiful one. She’s solid green, beautiful, fresh and she can offer many different things- her beauty, her freshness, her shadow. That is why I think, I believe the tree is a true lover. And the willow tree, also. And the palm tree, also. And the mountain, also, because the mountain can offer us many things.
This morning we practiced a sitting meditation on the mountain. The mountain is so beautiful. And again, the mountain did not have to go to the marketplace and buy something. She offers herself.
So when you truly love someone, you don’t have to go to the market and buy something. You just offer yourself. If you are beautiful, if you are fresh, if you are pleasant, if you are solid, if you are free, then you have many things to offer to the person you love.” -September 9th, 2011
“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” Thich Nhat Hanh