The Hairnet

 “It is like the dim-eyed ones who seeing a hairnet exclaim to one another: “It is wonderful! Look, Honorable sirs, it is wonderful!” But the hairnet has never existed; in fact; it is neither an entity, nor a non-entity, for it has both been seen and has not been seen. In the same manner those whose minds have been addicted to the discriminations of the erroneous views cherished by the philosophers which are given over to the unrealistic views of being and non-being, will contradict the good Dharma and will end in the destruction of themselves and others.

Gautama, Buddha. THE LANKAVATARA SUTRA (p. 7). Independent. Kindle Edition. 

Hairnets are not likely coveted things in any culture, so why would Buddha use the analogy of the hairnet? I think the hairnet represents anything that is taken to be precious or profound, but is in fact very mundane and everyday, even to the point where is hardly exists. A hairnet is quite thin, in fact, and it takes the shape of whatever hair it is bundling or covering. I also wonder if perhaps hair is a symbol of lust, in the sense that to contain hair is to contain a source of allure or desire, which monks would have avoided by shaving their heads altogether. 

The hairnet's delicate appearance also makes for a good study of existence and non-existence. When we look closely at any kind of net, we see that most of it is composed of empty space. Can you imagine that the majority of what you see around you constitutes mostly empty space? Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the solidness of crowds, we can reflect on the delicacy of appearances and how they are really only passing reflections. In this way, there is really no conflict.

An experiment that you can try on a crowded public space, is to take a look at things that seem overwhelming, such as human feelings, body language and gestures--and then slowly break down what we are seeing into perceptions, thoughts, sensations (within the body) and interpretations (what we think is happening). When these are all broken down, we realize that it's a construction that we make with our minds. The kinds of judgments we make about ourselves and others is not as "real" as we may imagine. Like the hairnet, we are dealing with things that have so much fragility because they are halting appearances that we construct together.

So, we can try experimenting with how much the things around us are really monolithic things, and how much they are really constituted by faculties of mind.