Scripture emanates from the heart-mind of Awakened Ones, such as Buddha Shakyamuni, Guru Rinpoche and Dorje Sempa, and is severally taught to disciples via direct transmission of meaning mind-to-mind; via non-literal, non-verbal symbolic indication; or by personal verbal communication. Buddhist teachings are given via literal prescription ("the cause of suffering should be abandoned"), via literal description ("the cause of suffering is afflicting emotions"), or through non-literal expressions.
For example, "In the retreat cell of the body, take refuge in the Lama of unborn awareness" uses metaphor; "adjust your mind the way a lute player adjusts the strings" uses analogy. "Kill your mother and father" is yet another type of non-literal statement known from scripture, known as gong-ke or "intentional language". The shock value of the statement drives home the underlying intended meaning, where "kill" means "eliminate", "mother" means lust and attachment, and "father" means anger and aggression. A similar principle is at work whenever the "F" word is used for emphasis in spoken English. If used sparingly, its effect can be a powerful aid to memory.
Metaphor is code for what cannot be said or indicated directly, as in the expression "space-like emptiness", or "like a mute's experience of chocolate". Space cannot be indicated by pointing with one's finger, because wherever one points there is space, in fact one's finger itself occupies space and so exemplifies an instance of space, albeit one occupied by a material substance. Basically space is used to indicate itself, which is really no indication at all. So no particular instance of pointing to space really serves to indicate space by example, since any and every signifier of space (like a pointing finger) is as much an instantiation of what is indicated (space) as anything else.
If we understand the function of language generally, and metaphor in particular, as though space itself were being used to indicate space as an example of space, then we can understand the way Dharma is used to indicate Dharma. Here, the word "Dharma" includes Dharmakaya, as living present embodiment of Dharma.
There is no way to exemplify space by comparison to something else, since there is nothing else like it -- only space among the five elements is independent of and always unaffected by the other four, whereas the other four are identically and equally dependent upon space for their every function. There nothing else like space to compare it with, because space is literally not a thing, nor is it nothing either. It is not nothing because it is always necessary, whereas nothing is never necessary.
So much for space. Ditto emptiness.
If someone says, "how much space do you need", we can still indicate effectively, via symbolic gesture or literal description, what amount is required. Similarly since all phenomena are empty, and emptiness is phenomena, pointing to phenomena to exemplify emptiness is redundant, since they are emptiness. Pointing to space to exemplify emptiness is inadequate, because emptiness is the nature of space already. Therefore since emptiness is unique as well as inclusive, it admits of no example or comparison in truth, yet examples and comparisons do sometimes serve to generate understanding of emptiness or eliminate misconceptions about it, by illustrating the abstract logic that is, in point of fact, the real method used to "teach" emptiness.
With metaphor, and in word choice generally, messages that cannot be stated literally, for whatever reason, are coded. Those words are coded in letters. Letters are coded by convention in relation to other letters, or with reference to the schematic diagram of how the sound represented by the letter is actually formed in the mouth or throat. The letter 'A' in various scripts may be seen as an image of breath held in the lungs, or ready to exhale from the lungs.
Sentences are coded in words, and syntactical subunits and units. Within those units, word choice, order, repetition, as well as alliteration, predominance of certain vowels and consonants, as well as the pattern of those, encode subtle information, which may or may not be indicative of something relevant, and are normally not visible or interpretable consciously except perhaps in cases of synaesthetic awareness. There are many layers of significance associated with text. Except in the speech of Buddhas or the writings of enlightened speech-masters, the subtle effects of the aesthetics of composition, and the semantics of word choice, use of metaphor and rhetorical devices and so on, are haphazard and creative of subtle cognitive dissonance. The writings of truly blessed speech on the other hand have synaesthetic energy based on subtle, potentiated interdependence of the words and letters as they appear for a specific time, purpose and so on.
Being thus coded secures the meaning -- or rather, infinite panoramas of meaning -- of the scripture according to the various natures, abilities and predilections of living beings that see, hear or remember scripture. In this way all scriptures, whether encoded as letter-shapes or letter-sounds, as written, spoken or recorded words, or as memories of those letter-shapes and sounds, are encapsulations of potential that yield meaning -- such as guidance, or indication of mind-nature -- whenever the potential for yields of meaning exists. For example, when someone has time, ability, inclination and material support to recite the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, his or her previous memory of reading that Sutra, as well as the fresh experience of reciting and seeing the letters and words, unleashes the potential message of the scripture, as well as that person's potential wisdom generated in response to the scripture.
In this way, a scripture -- or even every single letter contained within it -- is a Buddhahood delivery device. Those who fear awakening -- those who wish to control and abuse other beings, especially -- are ignorant of and greatly fear scripture. That is why the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras are recited as the best of all reversals of ill-will and misfortune, because they overturn the rule of Samsara itself.
There is a distinction between scriptural utterance (bka') and enlightened intent (dgongs pa). The statements of intent in scripture are sometimes literal expressions of the Buddha's intent: for example, "The cause of suffering should be abandoned". In other places those statements are not literal expressions of the underlying intent, e.g., "in one in whom compassion is cut off, there is no lineage of enlightened potential".
There is another distinction, between a scripture that has been heard from a scriptural-transmission holder's living speech (Tib. lung, Skt. agama), and the same scripture as understood by phases, e.g., conceptually (rtog, rtogs) or nonconceptually realized (Tib. *yang dag rtogs, Skt adhigama). In the first case scripture is internalized, and in the second, fully integrated.
Analogously, the encoding of Buddha's relative intent ("the cause of cyclic existence should be abandoned") and Buddha's final message of intent ("the end of suffering is Nirvana") is, schematically at least, complete in His scriptural statements that are literal expressions of those intents, relating to relative and ultimate truth. But the full range of evoked meanings and messages relative the hearers or recipients of Buddha's scriptural messages can only be accomadated via metaphor, or other coded forms of speech. This is because the nonconceptual realization of Buddha's intent -- which is Dharmakaya --requires interpretation and repeated, elaborated expressions culminating in final, immaculate simplicity of non-elaboration, in other words, a path to attainment.
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