one of the twelve divisions of the canon.(7)

　　　　  Gaathaas  often  appear  within  the context  of

　　   suutras  as  means  of  further  explicating  stated

　　   points.  For example, the Diamond  Suutra  concludes

　　   with  a brief  poetic  pronouncement  that restates,

　　   while reinforcing, the abstract  message of the text

　　   in terms of concrete images:

　　　　  All phenomena  are  like

　　　　  A dream, an illusion, a bubble  and  a shadow,

　　　　  Like dew and lightening.

　　　　  Thus should you meditate upon them.(8)

　　   Similarly,  in the La^nkaavataara Suutra the  Buddha

　　   punctuates his discourse with

　　   ────────────

　　   (4) Lucien Stryk in his Introduction  to The Penguin

　　　　  Book  of Zen  Poetry, Lucien  Stryk  and Takashi

　　　　  Ikemoto  eds., trans.  (New York: Penguin Books,

　　　　  1981), p.13

　　   (5) William Edward Soothill, A Dictionary of Chinese

　　　　  Buddhist  Terms  (London:  Kegan  Paul,  Trench,

　　　　  Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1934), p.225a.

　　   (6) Soothill, p.19b.

　　   (7) Soothill, p.44a.

　　　　　　　　　　　　  P.345

　　   gaathaas   summarizing   the  main  thrust   of  his

　　   exposition.  The same rhetoric  style is adopted  by

　　   many  who  preach.  For  example, Jesus  of Nazareth

　　   often  avails  himself  of  vivid  metaphorical  and

　　   allegorical language to convey his message about the

　　   Kingdom of God.

　　　　  It is quite likely  that these poetic  phrasings

　　   of doctrine  represent  a mnemonic  device  for  the

　　   listeners,  with  the  rhyme   scheme   serving   to

　　   facilitate  memorization.   The  necessity  of  such

　　   devices was further reinforced  by the fact that the

　　   sermons of the Buddha were not written down for some

　　   four hundred  years, but committed  to memory by his

　　   followers  and  transmitted  orally.(9) The concrete

　　   language  of the  poetic  versions  also  stimulated

　　   comprehension  by  offering  an  alternative  to the

　　   abstract   profundity   of   the　　 concepts   being

　　   expressed, as well  as making  the encoded  messages

　　   more accessible to less sophisticated members of the

　　   audience.

　　　　  An  additional  factor here was  the  difficulty