With Valentine's Day looming large and warm in the centre of this frosty month, I've been contemplating the difference between love and attachment. There's much talk in the yoga tradition about avoiding attachment, which is deemed a primary source of suffering. But when we look at this concept using contemporary vernacular, we wind up asking ourselves: if we're not supposed to be attached, how can we build meaningful and lasting relationships with our lovers, friends, parents and children?

The resolution of this "no attachment" conundrum lies, I think, in practicing love for love's sake, rather than attaching oneself to someone in e...