Rhetoric in Spiritual Literature

Rhetoric (how something is said, as opposed to what is said) is essential to spiritual literature. Through rhetoric, the text transmits the energetic quality of the mode of being it describes.

Consider how strophic repetition (coming back again and again to a key phrase) creates an immersive effect. Consider, too, how the writing can convey gravitas, as in the King James Bible, or humor, as in Drukpa Kunley's legends; can operate through sharp pithiness (as in Zen Koans) or detailed elaboration (as in Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō on toilet hygiene).

Each of these conveys an energetic possibility of being. One could move through the day strophically, in a hypnotic rhythm. One could live with gravitas or humor. One could interact in sharp bursts of dramatic energy, or in patient and sustained engagement.

Further, the metaphors and analogies chosen carry their own sensory energy: the fluidity of water (as frequently in Daoist writings) or the dense shapeability of clay (as in Jewish writings).

The rhetorical aspects of spiritual literature are not incidental, but rather essential transmissions of a way of being.