The Buddha’s Avyākata and AI Pattern Recognition: Two Upāyas for Disclosing the Emptiness of Language

doi:10.21482/jbs.86..202603.235

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투고논문

The Buddha’s Avyākata and AI Pattern Recognition: Two Upāyas for Disclosing the Emptiness of Language 붓다의 무기(無記)와 인공지능의 패턴인식: 언어의 공성(空性)을 드러내는 두 가지 방편: 박하정
PARK, Hajeong; 동국대학교 인도철학과 박사 수료

Ph.D Student, Department of Indian Philosophy, Dongguk Universtiy

31 March 2026. pp. 235∼258

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Abstract

Language is generally understood as a vessel that contains meaning. From a Buddhist perspective, however, this vessel is merely an expedient means (Skt. upāya) and cannot transmit object as they truly are. The Buddha’s “unanswered” questions (avyākata, Skt. avyākṛta) deliberately interrupt the patterns carried by language, thereby disclosing that language is not the essence of “reality.”
This study analyzes Buddhist insight into the limitations of language through the Buddha’s avyākata. The Buddha’s silence in response to metaphysical questions is interpreted not as a refusal to answer, but as an epistemological act that transcends the structure of language. The study seeks to present the emptiness (suññatā, Skt. śūnyatā) of language thus disclosed not as an abstract concept but as a formally visualized structure. To this end, it employs a simplified Word2Vec model, based on principles of AI pattern recognition, as a formal conceptual simulation. By quantifying patterns of word co-occurrence within selected Buddhist texts, the study diagrammatically demonstrates that meaning is constituted not as a self-subsisting essence but as an interdependent relation (paṭiccasamuppāda).
Ultimately, avyākata is not a negation of language but a non-linguistic expedient means that reveals the emptiness of linguistic representation through action, while Word2Vec functions as a non-linguistic expedient means that formally demonstrates the structure of that emptiness in informational space. In this way, the study proposes a methodological expansion in Buddhist studies through the use of formalized models for conceptual clarification.

Keywords

avyākata

unanswered

articulation

emptiness

dependent origination

pattern recognition

distributed representation

언어는 일반적으로 의미를 담는 그릇으로 이해된다. 그러나 불교적 관점에서 이 그릇은 사물을 있는 그대로 전달하지 못하는 방편(方便, upāya)에 불과하다. 붓다의 무기(無記, avyākata, Skt. avyākṛta)는 이렇게 언어로 전달되는 패턴을 의도적으로 중단함으로써, 언어가 ‘실재’의 본질이 아님을 드러낸다.
본 연구는 붓다의 무기를 통해 언어의 한계에 대한 불교적 통찰을 분석 한다. 형이상학 질문에 대한 붓다의 침묵은 답변의 거부가 아니라, 언어의 구조를 초월하는 인식론적 행위로 해석된다. 본 연구는 이렇게 드러나는 언어의 공성(空性)을 추상 개념이 아닌 가시화된 형식으로 제시하고자 한다. 이를 위해 AI 패턴 인식 원리에 기반한 단순화된 Word2Vec 모델을 형식적 개념 시뮬레이션으로 활용한다. 선정된 불교 텍스트 내에서 단어의 동시 출현 패턴을 정량화함으로써, 의미가 자존적(自存的) 본질이 아니라 상호 의존적 관계(paṭiccasamuppāda)로서 구성됨을 도식으로 제시한다.
결국 무기는 언어의 부정이 아니라 언어 표상의 공성을 행동으로 드러내는 비언어적 방편이며, Word2Vec은 그 공성의 구조를 정보 공간에서 시연 형식으로 드러내는 비언어적 방편이다. 이 형식화된 모델의 활용을 통해 개념의 명료화를 추구하는 불교학의 방법론적 확장을 제안한다.

키워드

아비야까따

무기(無記)

언표(言表)

공성(空性)

연기(緣起)

패턴인식

분산표상

References

◆ 약호 및 일차 문헌 Abbreviations and Primary Sources

AN Aṅguttara-nikāya. Ed. Richard Morris. London: Pali Text Society, 1900.
ChU Chāndogya Upaniṣad, ed. F. Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879.
BṛUp Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. Ed. Patrick Olivelle. In The Early Upaniṣads: Annotated Text and Translation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
DN Dīgha-nikāya. Ed. T.W. Rhys Davids and J.E. Carpenter. London: Pali Text Society, 1903.
MN Majjhima-nikāya. Ed. V. Trenckner. London: Pali Text Society, 1888.
Miln Milindapañha. Edited by V. Trenckner. London: Pali Text Society, 1880–1883.
MMK Nāgārjuna. Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Ed. L. de La Vallée Poussin. Bibliotheca Buddhica 4. St. Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1903.
SN Saṃyutta-nikāya. Ed. Léon Feer. London: Pali Text Society, 1888.
Vin Vinaya-piṭaka: Cullavagga IV (Vin II 88–93), ed. H. Oldenberg, Pali Text Society, London, 1879-1883.
Vism Buddhaghosa. Visuddhimagga. Ed. Henry Clarke Warren and Dharmananda Kosambi. Harvard Oriental Series 41. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950.
『般若波羅蜜多心經』 T8, No. 251
『首楞嚴經』 T945, No. 19.

◆ 이차 문헌 Secondary Literature

BATESON, Gregory. Steps to an Ecology of Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.
BENGIO, Yoshua, COURVILLE, Aaron, and VINCENT, Pascal. “Representation Learning: A Review and New Perspectives,” IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 35, no. 8 (2013): 1798-1828.10.1109/TPAMI.2013.50
CONZE, Edward. Buddhism: Its Essence and Development. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1959.
GARFIELD, Jay L. 1995. Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
GOMBRICH, Richard F. How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2006.10.4324/9780203098738
HWANG, Soonil. “The Meaning of Anupādisesa-nibbāna from Unanswered Questions’ Perspectives,” (「무기설을 통해 본 무여열반의 의미」). Journal of Buddhist Studies 20 (2004): 234-251. Institute for Humanities, Chungbuk National University.
JAYATILLEKE, K.N. Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1963.
FRISTON, Karl. “The Free-Energy Principle: A Unified Brain Theory?” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11, no. 2 (2010): 127-138.10.1038/nrn2787
KWON, Omin. Indian Philosophy and Buddhism: Stories of Their Forests and Villages (『인도철학과 불교: 그들의 숲과 마을의 이야기』). Seoul: Minjoksa, 2009.
MIKOLOV, Tomas, CHEN, Kai, CORRADO, Greg, and DEAN, Jeffrey. “Efficient Estimation of Word Representations in Vector Space,” arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.3781 (2013).
MORETTI, Franco. Distant Reading. London: Verso, 2013.
MURTI, T.R.V. The Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of the Mādhyamika System. London: Allen & Unwin, 1955.
RAHULA, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. New York: Grove Press, 1974.
SEARLE, John. “Minds, Brains, and Programs,” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3, no. 3 (1980): 417-424.10.1017/S0140525X00005756
SHANNON, Claude E. “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” Bell System Technical Journal 27, no. 3 (1948): 379-423.10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x
THOMPSON, Evan. Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Van der MAATEN, Laurens and HINTON, Geoffrey. “Visualizing Data Using t-SNE,” Journal of Machine Learning Research 9 (2008):
2579-2605.

The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience

10.7551/mitpress/6730.001.0001

WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations. Trans. G.E.M. Anscombe. Oxford: Blackwell, 1953.
_______. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Trans. C.K. Ogden. London: Routledge, 1922.

Information

Publisher :Korean Association of Buddhist Studies
Publisher(Ko) :불교학연구회
Journal Title :Korean Journal of Buddhist Studies
Journal Title(Ko) :불교학연구
Volume : 86
Pages :235∼258
DOI :https://doi.org/10.21482/jbs.86..202603.235

[1] AN Aṅguttara-nikāya. Ed. Richard Morris. London: Pali Text Society, 1900.

[2] ChU Chāndogya Upaniṣad, ed. F. Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879.

[3] BṛUp Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. Ed. Patrick Olivelle. In The Early Upaniṣads: Annotated Text and Translation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

[4] DN Dīgha-nikāya. Ed. T.W. Rhys Davids and J.E. Carpenter. London: Pali Text Society, 1903.

[5] MN Majjhima-nikāya. Ed. V. Trenckner. London: Pali Text Society, 1888.

[6] Miln Milindapañha. Edited by V. Trenckner. London: Pali Text Society, 1880–1883.

[7] MMK Nāgārjuna. Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Ed. L. de La Vallée Poussin. Bibliotheca Buddhica 4. St. Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1903.

[8] SN Saṃyutta-nikāya. Ed. Léon Feer. London: Pali Text Society, 1888.

[9] Vin Vinaya-piṭaka: Cullavagga IV (Vin II 88–93), ed. H. Oldenberg, Pali Text Society, London, 1879-1883.

[10] Vism Buddhaghosa. Visuddhimagga. Ed. Henry Clarke Warren and Dharmananda Kosambi. Harvard Oriental Series 41. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950.

[11] 『般若波羅蜜多心經』 T8, No. 251

[12] 『首楞嚴經』 T945, No. 19.

[13] BATESON, Gregory. Steps to an Ecology of Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.

[14] BENGIO, Yoshua, COURVILLE, Aaron, and VINCENT, Pascal. “Representation Learning: A Review and New Perspectives,” IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 35, no. 8 (2013): 1798-1828.10.1109/TPAMI.2013.50

[15] CONZE, Edward. Buddhism: Its Essence and Development. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1959.

[16] GARFIELD, Jay L. 1995. Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[17] GOMBRICH, Richard F. How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2006.10.4324/9780203098738

[18] HWANG, Soonil. “The Meaning of Anupādisesa-nibbāna from Unanswered Questions’ Perspectives,” (「무기설을 통해 본 무여열반의 의미」). Journal of Buddhist Studies 20 (2004): 234-251. Institute for Humanities, Chungbuk National University.

[19] JAYATILLEKE, K.N. Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1963.

[20] FRISTON, Karl. “The Free-Energy Principle: A Unified Brain Theory?” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11, no. 2 (2010): 127-138.10.1038/nrn2787

[21] KWON, Omin. Indian Philosophy and Buddhism: Stories of Their Forests and Villages (『인도철학과 불교: 그들의 숲과 마을의 이야기』). Seoul: Minjoksa, 2009.

[22] MIKOLOV, Tomas, CHEN, Kai, CORRADO, Greg, and DEAN, Jeffrey. “Efficient Estimation of Word Representations in Vector Space,” arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.3781 (2013).

[23] MORETTI, Franco. Distant Reading. London: Verso, 2013.

[24] MURTI, T.R.V. The Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of the Mādhyamika System. London: Allen & Unwin, 1955.

[25] RAHULA, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. New York: Grove Press, 1974.

[26] SEARLE, John. “Minds, Brains, and Programs,” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3, no. 3 (1980): 417-424.10.1017/S0140525X00005756

[27] SHANNON, Claude E. “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” Bell System Technical Journal 27, no. 3 (1948): 379-423.10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x

[28] THOMPSON, Evan. Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.

[29] Van der MAATEN, Laurens and HINTON, Geoffrey. “Visualizing Data Using t-SNE,” Journal of Machine Learning Research 9 (2008):

[30] 2579-2605.

[31] WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations. Trans. G.E.M. Anscombe. Oxford: Blackwell, 1953.

[32] _______. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Trans. C.K. Ogden. London: Routledge, 1922.

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