Suffering
Love has been metaphorically described as suffering. The author says, ‘Love is suffering’ because he gets apart from his beloved because of their religious oaths. As the lady was a nun and the young man was a monk, so it was not allowed for them to get indulge in any relationship. Despite of their intense passions for each other, they left each other to set an example for others and to get reward for their sufferings. The vacuum that is left by the separation from the beloved, enables him to understand things in a more profound way. He becomes calm and spiritually enlightened because of his experience of love.
Cultivation
The metaphor of cultivation has been employed by the author for the instillation of universal love. The author has propagated the love for everyone. He states that love enables us to care for others and to feel empathy. It is through experiencing the passions of love that a person’s mind understands the true motive of love. He renounces the Buddhist views about love and propagates the idea owing to the transformation, which it brought in the monk’s life.
Trick of Nature
The author has used the simile of the trick of nature for the passions of love. He states that falling in love is that falling a prey to nature’s tricks because nature wants to transform us through the emotions and the intensity of love. The monk falls in love with the nun and despite of understanding the religious scriptures, he could not embark on the journey towards enlightenment. It was after falling in love with the lady that he got awakened both religiously and spiritually. The author says that in every person’s life, there comes a point when he is bestowed with understanding and this understanding is usually achieved through experiencing love.
