A Yogācāra Buddhist Theory of Metaphor

Roy Tzohar is a Senior Lecturer in the East and South Asian studies Department at Tel Aviv University.

• Acknowledgments AbbreviationsIntroduction1. What do Buddhists have to say on figurative language? 2. A bit of methodology: on determining the relevant textual field and handling intertextual-borrowing.3. An OutlinePART 1Chapter IMetaphor as Absence:The case of the Early Nyaya and Mimamsa.Chapter IIMetaphor as Perceptual Illusion: Figurative Meaning in Bhartrhari's VakyapadiyaPART 2Chapter IIIIt's a Bear... No, It's a Man... No, it's a Metaphor! Asanga on the Proliferation of FiguresChapter IVThe Seeds of the Pan-Figurative View:Metaphor in Other Buddhist SourcesPART 3Chapter VWhat It All Comes Down To: Sthiramati's Pan-Metaphorical Claim and Its ImplicationsChapter VIConversing With a Buddha:The Yogacara Conception of Linguistic and Perceptual Meaningas a Means for Overcoming IncommensurabilityConclusion:The Alterity of MetaphorAppendix A:Translation and exposition of Vakyapadiya 2.250-256Appendix B:A Running translation of the Vakyapadiya 2.285-2.297ReferencesIndex

The content of this book is well structured, while the writing is succinct and erudite. This is a seminal work in the study of YogÄcÄra thought, as well as an important addition to the fields of Indian philosophy, philosophy of language, and, more broadly, in Buddhist studies.