We have a failure to communicate

I should not be surprised, but today I was. I used the analogy of raw clay as being like the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta) and a vase or a pot made from the clay to be like the conditioned (saṃskṛta).  The vase or the conditioned is subject to an arising and perishing (when it breaks) whereas the raw clay or the unconditioned is not subject to an arising or perishing. Such was my raw clay and vase analogy.  Anyway, this guy reminded me that raw clay is conditioned! 

At the time, I could only conclude that this guy suffered from a mediocre education.  He had a little knowledge about Buddhism that can also be a very dangerous thing coupled with the attitude of a know-it-all who doesn't need to learn anymore. All this could be doing him more harm than good.

One sees the importance of analogies, including the use of metaphors, similes, and models, in helping us in day to day communication trying to make the unfamiliar familiar. Analogies are especially important in the formation of theoretical ideas.  An analogy can be thought of as a tool or an aid to explanation and insight. Minus analogy, scientific insight would be impossible. It is the same in Buddhism. We require analogies, similes, metaphors, etc., to explain the recondite side of Buddhism in this example, the unconditioned (nirvana) and the conditioned (samsara).

Briefly stated, an "analogy" expresses a resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike. The analogy I used was intended as a helpful aid for a struggling student to help him begin to understand the important distinction between conditioned and unconditioned. So what is with some people these days that they don't even get what an analogy is?  Are we suffering from some weird new disease in which everyone is gradually devolving into a state of total ignorance?

Comments

[n. yeti]

Buddhism, let's say going from the conditioned to the unconditioned, is something like a high narrow ladder. Maybe some beings skip a rung or two on their way to realizing the recondite. Some look from the ground, and say neat ladder, and move on. Some reach too high and give up. Some shake the ladder and try to knock people down. Some on the higher rungs reach down to help others climb. Some people cling to a middle rung, having convinced themselves there is nowhere else to climb, or simply perhaps out of fear climb no higher. And some eventually realize there was never really any ladder, that it, like everything else, was only ever mind.