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The Net of Love 1
Sensual attachment is likened to a net (net of affection, net of desire) cast over our heads, causing us to become entangled, lose our freedom, and give rise to suffering. The third verse repeats the word “net” twice to emphasize the entangling nature of sensual attachment, which not only applies to monastics but also easily ensnares lay practitioners. In translation, “ái” means love, loving-kindness, or affection for others; “dục” is craving or desire. Combined as sensual love, it refers to both love and desire, which is why it is rendered in the West as sensual love. The Sonnet d’Arvers about amour platonique illustrates that even love without physical desire can cause suffering due to attachment.
The mind operates according to a sequence: contact → attention → feeling → perception → volition; from volition arises sensual desire and then suffering. Three representative images describe how sensual desire arises and spreads:
- Monkeys and apes swinging from branch to branch in search of fruit – the greedy mind is ceaselessly seeking.
- Cogon grass growing thickly – the consequences of attachment spreading everywhere.
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Water seeping to fill a pond – sorrow and worry accumulating day and night.
To uproot afflictions, we must cut down the tree of sensual desire at its root, practicing mindfulness, wise attention, contemplation of impermanence, non-self, and impurity, so that the mind may dwell in peace and liberation.