If language serves as one of the primary mediums for conveying Buddhist teachings, yet simultaneously poses a challenge to non-conceptual thinking and immediate empirical experience, how do Buddhist sūtras transcend the limitations of linguistic expression to actualize their ideal of transformative affects and non-conceptual realizations? Metaphors are not merely rhetorical devices but central to human cognition and conceptual systems (Johnson & Lakoff, 1980). The application of metaphors is a pervasive phenomenon not only in Buddhist treatises but also in Buddhist rituals, material objects, visual representations, and spiritual practices.
The paper, then, aims to address the way that metaphoricity in Buddhist sūtras navigate its transformative power for literal interpretation and embodied experience in the processes of reading, understanding, simulating, and transmitting. Engaging with the embodied dimension of metaphors in Mahāyāna sūtras and their role in shaping religious realities, the study focuses on the metaphor of water, waves, and the ocean (Skt. udadhi, Chi, 大海; Skt. taraṃga, Chi. 波浪) as conceptual mappings for mind, consciousness, and thought—central to Yogācāra treatises and Chinese Buddhist landscapes. Water, as one of the mahābhūta (great elements), is integral to both the external world and the body. Focusing on the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra, the paper approaches two key conceptual metaphors: (1) mental activity as fluid movement and (2) psychological calmness as stillness. These embodied mappings form an intricate network intersecting with cognition and human interaction with water, gaining particular significance in Buddhist transcultural transmission. By exploring how water-mind metaphor was framed, illustrated, and transformed, the paper argues that a successful contextualization in Sinitic Buddhism reveals the transformative power of metaphoricity in Buddhist sūtras, where the embodied mechanism of metaphor facilitates a transformation of experience—one contingent on sensory perception and immediate simulation—enabling engagement with Buddhist teachings beyond language and texts.
Current scholarship on Buddhist metaphors primarily emphasizes their subordinate role as rhetorical devices in literary or exegetical traditions. Jonathan Silk and Roy Tzohar (2018) examined pan-metaphorical language (upacāra) in the Yogācāra tradition, while Gombrich (2006, 2009) and Jurewicz (2000) explored the transformation of Vedic similes in early Buddhism. Applying conceptual metaphor theory (CMT), David McMahan (2002) analyzed “knowing is seeing” across Buddhist traditions, and Amy Langenberg (2017) examined “suffering is birth” in Buddhist views on gender and organic life. However, how metaphors—particularly their embodied dimension—function as a determinative feature of Buddhist engagement with different forms of narrative remains under-explored. This includes their religious efficacy related to practices, rituals, visual representations, and multi-sensory environments, particularly in transcultural contexts. Another overlooked issue is how Buddhism’s spread depended on the acceptability, comprehensibility, and emotional resonance of its teachings among diverse audiences. In other words, the transmission of Buddhist teachings is not merely about conveying verbal information but about how metaphors, functioning as cognitive simulations, actualize the transformative power and soteriological goals embedded in sūtras.
This issue is particularly evident in the case of the water-mind metaphor. The natural environment of Indic contexts in relation to water and the ocean does not align with the ecological landscapes of other Asian regions. Yet, the imagery of water as a metaphor for mind was not only received and internalized in new contexts but also became deeply engaged with Buddhist and other cultural practices. Understanding this process requires moving beyond philological and philosophical studies to consider how empirical sensations is encoded and how experiential input is processed. This study engages with not only CMT (Johnson & Lakoff) but also embodied metaphor theory (Gibbs 2017, Littlemore 2019) to situate human cognition within a broader framework of sensory perception in a transcultural context.
Three key inquiries guide this investigation into the cognitive dimensions of metaphor. First, what makes the imagery of water, ocean, and waves particularly effective in simulating the mechanisms of consciousness in sūtra narratives? How do embodied simulations of water’s purity, wave movements, and ocean depth contribute to the embodied simulation of these metaphors? By grounding abstract ideas in natural phenomena—shared visual, acoustic, and somatic experiences—Buddhist texts enhance embodied simulation while allowing for interpretative openness and ambiguity. This raises the question of how much theoretical accuracy matters in metaphorical constructions and what degree of efficacy metaphoricity achieves in actualizing the sūtra’s ideal. Second, how were these metaphors received and interpreted, and to what extent did they function as conceptual mechanisms transforming understanding? Addressing this requires examining pre-Buddhist Chinese texts and images related to the ocean and waves. By analyzing indigenous oceanic imagery alongside Buddhist metaphors, this study considers how these metaphors were adapted and internalized by diverse audiences. The investigation of visual materials, such as paintings and illustrations, further highlights the multimodal, embodied nature of metaphors and their role in Buddhist engagement. Third, while oceanic waves frequently symbolize the mind and the movement of thoughts, the ocean itself is also widely used in Buddhist literature to signify both the infinity of suffering and the boundlessness of compassion. This study examines to what extent the multiple applications of this source domain lead to interpretative challenges.
This study focuses on the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra where the water/mind metaphors are persuasively implemented and the transmission thereof through textual sources (commentaries and scholarly writings), sūtra illustrations, and paintings in Sinitic contexts. Textual materials include the Sanskrit edition, Chinese commentaries from medieval to late imperial periods, including Rulengqiexinxuanyi (T1790), Lengqiejingzhu (X0321), Zhudashengrulengqiejing (T1791), Lengqiejingtongyi (X0323), Lengqiejingjizhu (X0324), Lengqieabaduolubaojingzhujie (T1789), Lengqiejingzongtong (X0330), Lengqiejingxuanyi (X0328), Guanlengqiejingji (X0326), and Lengqieabaduoluobaojinghuiyi (X0008), along with Tibetan commentaries by Jñānaśrībhadra and Jñānavajra as reference.
Through the exploration of the embodied water/ocean-mind metaphor, this study makes three contributions. First, it advances Buddhist knowledge transmission research by emphasizing embodied experience beyond philological approaches. Second, it offers a novel perspective on Buddhist sūtras by engaging pan-human cognitive phenomena, questioning boundaries between literature, philosophy, and practice. Third, it contributes to metaphor theory from a religious studies perspective, fostering cultural pluralism and a critical, non-Eurocentric approach to religion and human experience.
How do Buddhist sūtras employ metaphoricity to transcend linguistic limitations and actualize non-conceptual realization? Focusing on the metaphor of water, waves, and ocean (Skt. udadhi, Chi, 大海; Skt. taraṃga, Chi. 波浪) as conceptual mappings for mind, consciousness, and conceptual thoughts, the paper examines the embodied dimension of metaphors in Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra and their role in shaping religious realities. Two key conceptual metaphors—mental activity as fluid movement and psychological peace as physical stillness—illustrate how Buddhist transmission relies on sensory engagement and transformation of experience to mediate teachings. With examinations of Chinese commentaries and associated cultural productions, the study argues that the reception and transformation of water-mind imagery highlights the cognitive and experiential mechanisms of metaphors that actualize Buddhist knowledge transmission, demonstrating how embodied metaphors extend Buddhist soteriological ideals beyond the textual realm into empirical practice. This approach reframes knowledge transfer by emphasizing embodied metaphors as integrative mechanisms bridging literature, philosophy and practice.