[Buddha-l] Dharmapala, redux

[JKirkpatrick]

 I may just be pointing at the moon, but sometimes symbols can be
taken in ways completely opposed to the original meaning they
had, particular if they settle in other cultures.  I really don't
know what it would mean to be ONLY symbolic:  would that be to
have no influence in the tradition, to be merely decorative, to
be, maybe, empty?  

Andy
_________________
Andy:
"I really don't know what it would mean to be ONLYsymbolic:
would that be to have no influence in the tradition, to be merely
decorative, to be, maybe, empty? "

Nobody, least of all me, has suggested approaching any reading of
anything as ONLYsymbolic.
Yikes.

Joanna