Language and Text are Expressions and Constraints of Thought

By Victor M Fontane

Language and text are expressions and constraints of thought, possessing a dual nature. When examined with a non-evaluative and purely observant mindset, one discovers that language serves as a tool for expression, communication, and intellectual inspiration, enabling us to transcend the limitations of reality and engage in cognition. However, it may also lead to an attachment to linguistic appearances and conceptual distinctions, which can illuminate wisdom but simultaneously build mental prisons born of ignorance and fixation.

The Buddhist admonition "the ultimate truth transcends language, and the actions of the mind cease" highlights that language can only point towards the truth rather than embody it. When we cease to cling to language and thought, and simply observe the present moment, language and text become integral to the natural flow of experience, no longer the source of self and afflictions. In a state of non-discriminative and non-evaluative observation, the essence of language becomes transparent, serving as an opportunity to guide one's intrinsic nature and wisdom. As the Buddha remarked, “to ferry beings without seeking beings to ferry”—seeing the true nature within the illusory.

External conditions are merely appearances arising from contingent factors; any attachment or judgment towards them only engenders competition and distress. Conversely, if one can focus wholeheartedly on observation, recite mantras, or purify their intention, they will not be ensnared by the three poisons, attaining a sense of coolness and stability within. The barriers posed by language and text arise from the excessive reality and absoluteness we attribute to them. When regarded as skillful means and playful activities, they can guide us back to our intrinsic nature, dwelling peacefully in the original state of tranquility.

Simultaneously, language and text contain the potential for both praise and harm within social interactions, particularly in instances of bullying and harassment, where language often devolves into tools for labeling, exclusion, and even spiritual violence, inflicting harm on those yet to recognize their own nature. Contemporary psychology also recognizes the misuse of language as a significant factor in psychological trauma.

Only by relinquishing language as a barrier for the self and refraining from using it as a weapon against others can compassion, empathy, and understanding arise from open and non-attachment observation. Language thus transforms into a bridge for connection and care. If we can reside in a state of awareness free from judgment before all linguistic evaluations, language will no longer dominate or dictate consciousness but will simply be a part of the flow of life, ultimately resting in the inherent stillness of "the great sound is seldom heard, the great image is formless."

The precise definition of language is "a tool for expression, communication, and intellectual inspiration," whose value lies in connecting hearts and conveying awareness. The core Buddhist teaching of "the ultimate truth transcends language" profoundly underscores the limitations of language, noting that ultimate truth surpasses concepts and words, necessitating experience at the cessation of mental actions, where language serves merely as a signpost.

The origins of language as "the constraint of thought" and "the prison of the heart" lie in our attachment and distinctions created around it, particularly through the attribution of excessive reality and absoluteness to language, which misleads us to mistakenly equate its constructed symbolic world with true reality. This solid identification with the superficiality of language and the cognitive frameworks surrounding it leads to misunderstanding.

The path to liberation from linguistic dilemmas practices an "evaluation-free, pure observational mindset" and "focusing the mind on observation, reciting mantras or purifying intentions," which is the essence of prajna wisdom—transcending dualistic oppositions and returning to immediate experience. In this state, the nature of language and text becomes transparent, flowing back into the stream of life, dwelling in serene stillness, and breaking the illusion of tool-utilitarianism.

A profound awareness of the destructive power of language and text in interpersonal interactions, especially in the phenomenon of bullying, reveals that language becomes a tool for conceptualized violent attacks on the psyche of those who have yet to awaken to their own nature. Liberation from linguistic constraints does not entail the rejection of language but rather a transformation of attitude, fostering compassion, empathy, and understanding from an open and non-attachment observation.

Language and text are tools of emptiness, whose power to bind or liberate depends on the inner state of the user—whether one is attached to "phenomena" or resides in "observation." When attached to phenomena, language becomes a tool for constructing the self, distinguishing oppositions, and perpetrating violence; when rooted in observation, language becomes a means for conveying awareness, expressing compassion, and guiding wisdom, ultimately leading to a transcendence of language itself into silence and freedom. This realm represents insights from Eastern philosophy, offering practical directions for attaining inner peace and interpersonal harmony in an information age rife with verbal violence.