This is an excerpt from the first talk of "The Net of Sensual Love Sutra" series, given by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in Loving-Kindness Temple, New Hamlet, Plum Village on May 02, 2010. The Sutra on the Net of Sensual Love discusses sensual love, which is like a net that can imprison us, and has historically been a sutra for the monastic community.

However, Thay believes that lay people (non-monastic) can benefit from it too, though it is easier for monastic because they are in a safe environment. The main intention of the sutra is to help monastic keep celibacy.

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🔔 Video transcript

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"When we read this sutra very carefully, we can see that, the Buddha showed us the root of sensual love is dục ý (欲意, desiring mind). A desiring mind means a mind that wants to embark on that direction. Once there's the desiring mind, we no longer have inner peace.

"Vietnamese poet Xuân Diệu composed a four-lined verse to explain what love is.

" 'How can I explain what love is? Nothing much—in an afternoon, it weaves into my soul through pale sunlight, through light clouds, and gentle breeze.'

"Out of the blue, we long for that person. We feel incomplete and empty. It's the feeling of longing, incompleteness, and emptiness. That's Xuân Diệu's definition of love.

"When you fall in love, you always long for that person, you always feel empty and incomplete inside.

"Yet, to those who are standing in the same place as us, there's also pale sunlight, light clouds, and gentle breeze, but they're completely unfazed. So, you cannot blame the pale sunlight, the light clouds, and the gentle breeze. Something must have happened before that."

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✩ Full talk's original title: "Chiếc Lưới Ái Ân - Bài 1 — Ngày 02 tháng 05 năm 2010" / "2010-05-02-Tnh-Vnm-Chiếc Lưới Ái Ân-01.mp4"

✩ Full talk originally posted: Vietnamese transcripts by Làng Mai, and Vietnamese videos by Thich Nhat Hanh Archive Library Team

✩ Talks given: on May 02, 2010, New Hamlet's Từ Nghiêm (Loving-Kindness) Temple, Plum Village France

✩ Excerpt's length: 11 minutes 26 seconds

✩ Watch the full talk with English subtitles and transcript here.

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REFERENCES (Resources used to translate this Dharma talk): Please kindly refer to the video transcript link above for the full list.

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Republished on the Plum Village App with kind permission of Thich Nhat Hanh's Talks channel 🙏

Subtitles for "The Buddhist Perspective on the Root and Pathway of Sensual Love (EN subtitles)"

Subtitles

On YouTube

In Plum Village App