Kill the Buddha

BuddhaBuddhists have a saying, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” By this, I believe they mean that Buddhism (and the Buddha) are only ciphers that can help you see the path; they are not the path itself. The path is something every individual has to figure out (and experience) for him / herself. In order to go “all the way” you eventually need to let go of the tools that helped get you there, as they become a hindrance to your further efforts if you focus solely on them.

Andrew Dillon’s keynote address at the IA Summit touched on the concept of “no more heroes” in the IA field. I interpreted Mr. Dillon’s comments in the sense of “kill the Buddha”: we need to build on the concepts put in place by the pioneers of the profession, but must avoid doing so without questioning and reasoning. And we must certainly be willing to move beyond their thinking when appropriate.

March 11, 2005 | Archived in Information Architecture