If you pour a handful of salt into a cup of water, the water becomes undrinkable. But if you pour the salt into a river, people can continue to draw the water to cook, wash, and drink. The river is immense, and it has the capacity to receive, embrace, and transform. When our hearts are small, our understanding and compassion are limited, and we suffer. We can’t accept or tolerate others and their shortcomings, and we demand that they change. But when our hearts expand, these same things don’t make us suffer anymore. We have a lot of understanding and compassion and can embrace others. We accept others as they are, and then they have a chance to transform.
– Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Tradition.
Bite-size Dhamma 
I like this a lot. So very true.
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I’m glad you liked it. I also like this quote a lot. We have a habit of thinking of people in terms of what they can be for us, and we learn to love in that mindset too. There’s a lack of real acceptance and understanding. Once we have that space in our hearts we can really begin to love in a way that nourishes the other person rather than stifling them.
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Yes!!! A beautiful lesson to learn and way of loving. I love how you summed it up.
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Reblogged this on Am I the only loser out there? and commented:
This spoke to me.
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