A. We can’t grasp the Buddha’s intention, his teaching, by following the superficial meaning of his words, because his intention is beyond the words. The purpose of his words is to save people from the illusions of words, or to help them to stop being deluded by words, and so he wanted people not to be deluded by his words as well. This is why we should not be attached to intellectual understanding of his words.
The purpose of all words spoken by the Buddha is just like that of the songs sung by a blind person who wants to save people who are lost in the dark. The use of the songs is not to show off how beautiful they are but to help people to discern where the singer is and follow him to a light place. The foolish, instead of following the singer, are involved in evaluating and interpreting the lyrics of the songs.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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