Johnny Dangerous wrote: ↑Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:15 am Mahayana Sutras often use hyperbole to make a point.
It is up you what sort of interpretation to make, but as (I’m assuming you being fairly young and new to Dharma) you are not an expert, or even particularly trained in the various ways to interpret them, you should probably ask an expert. I.e. a teacher you trust.
Understanding Sutra on a number of levels involves years of study, contemplation, consultation with people who know context, content and meaning better than you. Finding those people and getting their take is way more productive than trying to interpret them yourself with really limited exposure to Buddhist thought.
I know because I started reading them at your age, before the Internet really existed, and I had the same issues.
I understand, but then is the sentence of repercussions of killing your parents also a hyperbole? Because the repercussions are described in the same way, so how do we know which sentences are supposed to be taken literally and which as a hyperbole? :/
Asking this because there are no teachers in my country