IRB 2 #3: Revered Wisdom - Buddhism

This section was exclusively about Buddha’s life from the brief early stages to when he reaches enlightenment. It started off with setting the scene and putting us in the shoes of Gotoma as a child. Apparently a very wealthy child, he was adorned with society’s perception of “the good life” but found that it was far from what really brought peace and happiness. So, in his later years, he decided to go through a period of isolationism, more specifically, a period where he spent most all of his time by himself. They talked about the tree he used to sit under, the scenery that he was very keen on choosing for his meditations. First, to reach enlightenment on his own, he took the monk’s advice and went with suffering. He soon found that after weeks and months of starvation and overwork, death was far closer than enlightenment. He then decided to try a more natural way – a way that few people who reached enlightenment used – through contemplation. After reaching enlightenment, he then decides after much thought, to teach others – which leads into Buddhism itself.

The interesting thing is that many of the rhetorical devices I found in the section were directly mentioned in the text because the author was also rhetorically analyzing other pieces in the midst of it. The few that I chose were: allusion, definition, warrant, qualification, and author’s credibility (persona). As for allusion, there were many direct references to Buddha’s philosophies in order to keep the “story” going. A direct example of where he mentioned allusion was on page 49: “the scanty allusions to his family…are devoid of sentimental touches.” As for definition, it was used all throughout the section to define things like what Buddha really means (“wise one”).  Warrant and qualification were directly mentioned in the section when he was talking about needing strong evidence or a “reality check” in the rhetor’s writing to actually believe the things they say about Buddha’s life. As stated, “The reader…ask[s] … what warrant we have for reading [these readings]” and what “statement[s] need qualification” (pg 44, 45). The persona of both the author and the author’s he cited were both mentioned in the section. Sometimes, the author showed credibility by “flat-out” stating that some facts are wavering, for both the authors he cites and as well as his own.