Episode 303: Sacred World: The Shimmering Apparition

In Open Question Podcast Episode 303, Sacred World: The Shimmering Apparition, Elizabeth explores the power of words and what it means to go beyond them in the tradition of Prajnaparamita.

"Words ground us in our quest for meaning, and give us avenues for communication with others. As a lover of words, I want to pay tribute to this shimmering apparition we call language.

I use the term ‘shimmer’ because language is alive with us; and can pull us out of vagueness into the vibrancy of our immediate experience.

I refer to language as an “apparition” because by stringing together arbitrary sounds we have created ‘words,' and we use these words as names to designate and identify objects, or associate them with certain feelings or experiences. Language works because we collectively agree that things mean what they sound.

Looking at language as an apparition, may challenge us. We may ask, “How can language be an apparition when it functions with such accuracy?” But do things have to be real to function? I don’t think so."