The Unspeakable Truth

Argumentative Essay # 114531

Religion and Theology > Buddhism

A discussion of the levels of truth that are found in Buddhist philosophy.

1,786 words () | 1 source | MLA | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Buddhism recognizes two levels of truth, the first being the conventional truth, which can be expressed in language and the second, the ultimate truth or reality, which cannot be so expressed. The author describes what these two truths entail and explains the important role experience plays with respect to truth in order to understand how the distinction between conventional and ultimate truth arises. The paper argues that it is quite plausible that the ultimate truth cannot be expressed in language or concepts, and shows how this problem of inexpressibility can be found in many ordinary everyday experiences.

Outline:
The Two Truths
Experience and Truth
Conventions, Language and Suchness

From the Paper:

"One of these experiences does seem to be what many today describe as a "mystical" state. This is a state of timelessness, vast expansiveness and undifferentiation. This experience seems to be what Buddhists have spoken about when they attempted to convey the notion of ultimate reality. It might be questionable whether the particular experience of the mystical state should be privileged as the only true experience of ultimate reality, but I will not be dealing with that here. It is important to realize that the inability to describe and communicate these experiences to those who have not had them also arises with our everyday experiences, which seems to make the claim that the ultimate truth is inexpressible in language more plausible."