“During the day, if you practice walking meditation, each step brings you back to the present moment; each step enables you to touch what is beautiful, what is true. And in this way, after a few weeks of practice, joy will become something possible, you will be able to undo many knots within yourself, and you will be able to transform negative energies into joy and peace.
The Buddha said this: ‘The object of your practice should first of all be yourself. Your love for the other, your ability to love another person, depends on your ability to love yourself.’
If you are not able to take care of yourself, if you are not able to accept yourself, how could you accept another person and how could you love him or her? So it is necessary to come back to yourself in order to be able to achieve the transformation.”
True Love – A Practice For Awakening The Heart, Thich Nhat Hanh, p. 41-42.
