Nihilistic view shows that there is no other way to illustrate the
essential reality beyond the dichotomic concepts or logical reasoning.
The only way is to keep silent.
I interpreted the Buddha's silence in response to some of his
followers' metaphysical questions as paradoxical. The paradoxical
expression ignores the principle of non-contradiction. It remains as a
paradox illustrating the ineffable reality. The paradoxical view follows
some logical procedure: (1) either A or B; (2) neither A nor B; (3) not
neither A nor B. In the positive way, the paradoxical view admits some
validity of the words and metaphors to illustrate the ineffable reality.
In contrast, the paradoxical view, same as the Nihilistic view,
admits that words, metaphors, and symbols are not the perfect tools for
illustrating the ineffable realm. In the other perspective, similar to the
metaphoric view, the paradoxical view also admits the limited validities
of these means to be applicable in illustrating the ineffable reality and
making people understand its non-duality. Although words, metaphors,
symbols, and even silence are not the absolute or perfect means, these
are satisfactory instruments that point to or illustrate the ultimate
reality.
Finally, it rejects the previous formulas and uses the paradoxical
logic: not neither A nor B. In this sense, the paradoxical view is neither
the positive view nor the nihilistic view. It uses some progressive
negations of the preceding syllogism in different perspectives. The
Buddha's silence is an example of the paradoxical expression of the
Buddha without relying on words to avoid either Nihilism or
Eternalism.
Glossary of Chinese Terms
(K=Korean, C=Chinese, J=Japanese, S=Sanskrit, P=Pali)
Kwangsoo Park: An Analysis of the Buddha's Paradoxical Silence
262
Bodhidharma (S) 菩堤達摩
Ch'an (C), Seon (K) 禪
Hui-k'o (C) 惠可
Hui-neng (C) 慧能
Hung-yen (C) 弘忍
Shen-hsiu (C) 神樹
Tao-sheng (C) 道生
The La!k2vat2ra-s^tra (S) 楞伽經
The Liu-tsu t'an-ching (C) 六祖壇經
The Tao-te Ching (C) 道德經
The Vimalak6rtinirde$an2-s^tra (C) 維摩詰所說經
Wu (C) 無
Wu-wei (C) 無爲
Abbreviations
S.N. Sa8yutta-Nik2ya
T Taishyō-shinsy-daizōkyō (大正新修大藏經; Japanese Edition of
Chinese Tripi%aka). Tokyō: Taishō-Issaikyō-Kankōkai.
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