Me and other things. An introduction to the Buddhist metaphor of self with the application of Jäkel’s model of mental activity
Me and other things. An introduction to the Buddhist metaphor of self with the application of Jäkel’s model of mental activity

Summary/Abstract: There can be seen a strong relationship between mental activity and physical experience in the field of communication. Cognitive linguistics underlines the linguistic ubiquity of metaphor, which engages physicality, embodiment and manipulation, even in regard to abstract concepts. The model of metaphor that seems to be particularly interesting for its creativeness and provocation, is characterized by the general name: Mental Activity is Manipulation. To introduce its clear example I suggest to refer to representative works of Buddhist literature instead of the colloquial speech. The metaphors present in Buddhist literature are reduced to the pure manipulation of simple objects, without ambiguity, transcendence or mysticism. The highest form of mental activity is like eating porridge and washing up the cup afterwards.

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