Abstract
In the popular book The Monk and the Philosopher (1998), Jean-Francois Revel and his son Matthieu Ricard engage in a friendly but critical dialogue between Western science and philosophy and Buddhism. The very form of the book, the critical dialogue, shows a commonality between Western philosophy and Buddhism. Both share a tradition of searching for insight and understanding through investigative conversation. Nevertheless, when Revel and Ricard encounter issues where they are not in, or do not come to, agreement Ricard struggles to communicate to his father what he means. It is not only that he can’t find words to explain his insights but also that language itself seems insufficient. Ricard returns to various metaphors, often to Revel’s frustration, in order to point to something that he has come to see through years of Buddhist practice. Certainly someone more familiar with Buddhist practices, thought, and life would more easily understand such metaphors, and even the less metaphorical explanations.
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