On Ryōhen’s Cognition Metaphors of Mirror, Gem, and Cloth: A Comparison with the Mirror Metaphor in the Saṃdhinirmocana sūtra

Abstract

Abstract:In Buddhist thought, metaphors and similes serve an important didactic purpose, being one of the ways for explaining complex concepts. The Buddhist tradition of Yogâcāra certainly does not shy away from exploiting that method to the fullest, and one of the most important texts of that train of thought, the Saṃdhinirmocana sūtra, contains a well-known metaphor where cognitive processes are explained using the phenomenon of a mirror reflecting objects. This simile is picked up by later Yogâcārin writers, and indeed they develop other metaphors in order to teach the infamously complex philosophy of the school.This article analyzes numerous primary sources of the Hossō school, the Japanese offshoot of Yogâcāra, in order to show how that development proceeded after Yogâcāra had reached the Isles, and how Japanese Consciousness-Only scholars used various metaphors of cognition, among them the mirror simile, in their writings. The article concentrates on two treatises by Ryōhen (良遍, 1194–1252): the Hossō nikan shō (法相二巻鈔) and the Kanjin kakumu shō (觀心覺夢鈔), and also presents examples from thinkers who preceded him, to show how these ideas and methods developed through time.