Eating without thinking

One of my “homework” assignments this week has been to read a little book by Thich Nhat Hanh, called “How to Eat”. It’s small but powerful.

I was particularly struck by this chapter:

When we eat we usually think. We can enjoy our eating a lot more if we practice not thinking when we eat. We can just be aware of the food. Sometimes we eat and we’re not aware that we’re eating. Our mind isn’t there. When our mind isn’t present, we look but we don’t see, we listen but we don’t hear, we eat but we don’t know the flavor of the food. This is a state of forgetfulness, the lack of mindfulness. To be truly present we have to stop our thinking. This is the secret of success.

There’s much food for thought is this little book.

A day to remember a King

Below are two quotes — one by and the other about Martin Luther King Jr. — that I had never heard before. I found both really powerful and hope you do, too.

“Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

“The moment I met Martin Luther King, Jr., I knew I was in the presence of a holy person. Not just his good work, but his very being was a source of great inspiration for me…In Vietnam, we refer to Dr. King as a ‘Bodhisattva’, an enlightened being devoted to serving humanity.”

Thich Nhat Hanh