Wednesday, November 19, 2008

True Love

True Love kept me company in traffic on the way home
(... and N.B. I wore my pink garland today as a bracelet)
*
Today browsing in RIK Bookstore with my friend Moka, I came across the book "True Love" by Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh. I stood there leafing through the pages, reading snippets and being absorbed by certain passages. All that I read felt true and resonated with things I had been thinking and feeling as well as things I (we) would do well to observe and practise. "Wow, I've got to get this book ..." I decided.

It was the only copy on the shelf and it was a bit dirty from people having fingered it often. I asked the woman at the counter if they had another copy.

She ascended the stairs to their stock room, calling out as she did so to a girl (let's say her name was 'Sally'): "Sally, you have any True Love up there?"

She came back down soon after. "No more True Love. This is the only one. I'll give you for $79."

(Ten dollars discount).

"Can you see if any of the other branches have it?" I asked her.

The woman made a few calls to other branches.

"You all have True Love?" she asked Long Circular Mall branch.

"You all have True Love?" she asked Grand Bazaar Branch.

"You all have True Love?" she asked West Mall Branch.

By that time, I had decided that this one last copy must be meant for me. Dirty or not, it seemed to be the only True Love left anywhere. Plus, I found it endearing that the woman was actually calling stores and asking them if they had True Love. This quaint verbal exchange made the little book seem more precious than a clean one could ever be.

"No one has any more True Love," the woman said to me as she came off the phone.

I told her that I liked the way she had been asking the other stores for 'True Love' and she chuckled - having not realised that by asking for the name of the book she had actually sounded as if she was asking for the thing itself ... True Love which, she then deduced, no one has any more of.

"Well you have it," Moka pointed out to me as I purchased True Love at a further $4 discount (seventy-five dollars).

12 comments:

Kris Loya said...

well you DO so it still exists:D
my right eye is still jumping its driving me nuts. My friend says u'll see someone u haven't seen in a long time when that happens and i did see solee but dang...it still jumpin!

Elspeth said...

Maybe you'll see the new you.

Unknown said...

hmph @ Elspeth response...quite true..I never thought of it that way. Love is already a unending topic and emotion...but when you ask if it's true then you are forced to use the tangibles to prove it. How can someone tell when its True love? hmph...As the days go by, please share some of the interesting messages in that book..

Unknown said...

(simple observation: canadian flag in photo :)

Anonymous said...

What a lovely occurance. I love the way this sounds. It actually made me anxious for the fate of true love.

Elspeth said...

Keen eye, Steven (Canadian flag). It's been there for ages - a friend gave it to me.

Sure, will share some of the messages in the book.

meadysmusings said...

Interesting post...I have the book...bought it last year in San Francisco along with When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron also a Tibetan Monk...and seems it was happening for lots of people then too cause saw a girl reading that in the cable car:) And then When Things Fall Apart you do then have True Love flow in or it is then you need True Love. I also bought the Tibetan book of the dead then which I was meaning to have for ages...did see Nigel get the same version of it later on in the yr...and then had read Eat,Pray,Love and then Joy the happiness that comes from within by OSHO that happened in Dec 07 followed by Sex Matters and reading on OSHO's site cause I couldnt get enough...and later on started my reincarnation series earlier this year with Only Love is Real by Brian Weiss...and some of those titles I've said to be people or had it said to or have it happend to me so!

Hey I cant be there on Fri my trainign up north was cancelled cause of the flooding ...if you go please take pics to share! Bout the mags had no one going up there but if u want them whenever still let me know...

Elspeth said...

Sure, Meady. Will take pics. Don't worry about the magazines ... I actually have quite a bit/enough. But thanks anyway for offering. I appreciate your constant responsiveness, generosity and willingness to the general invitations and requests I extend.

Anonymous said...

What a great story. I love Thich Nhat Hanh! Happy Love Thursday!

ELK said...

what a fun story~HLT!

Anonymous said...

Beautifully written. I loved your simple approach. It sounded as if that's how True Love wanted it written...

Happy Love Thursday!

Anonymous said...

i believe that you have true love. maybe not the only left in the world. but it seems like there are less and less people who love and celebrate life. and you're one of the few who celebrate it in buckets. rivers. oceans. so many people are afraid to love, and you see love in everything.
so maybe that's true.

my word verification for the day is unfrian. i like it.