Tiantian Cai

This dissertation investigates how the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra employs metaphor as an embodied mode of narrative formation, shaping the way audiences receive and enact Buddhist teachings. Building on Natalie Gummer’s call to read sutras as embodied acts, the project argues that metaphors—such as the ocean and waves for the mind—translate abstract doctrines into sensorial, affective experiences that actualize Buddhist insight. Examining the Laṅkā’s transmission from India to China, the projects shows how metaphoricity operates across linguistic, visual, and ritual contexts, enabling embodied simulation and soteriological transformation. Through this approach, this project reframes Mahayana textuality as performative practice rather than mere representation.