Expedient Words

[W]ords function only if commonly understood within a given society. If they are clearly understood, they bear objective meanings. This objectivity, however, is not absolute. It depends on conventional practices mutually agreed upon within a particular society. Something acceptable or commonly understood within one society may be neither acceptable nor understood in another society. Words, by themselves, cannot express the truth in full. If someone wants to expound the truth in words, his explanation will naturally have the characteristic of an expedient. The truth of enlightenment is beyond all our normal experience. There are no words to describe it. Therefore it can be expressed only partially, by expedients. Moreover, each expedient can be presented only in a limited form and on a case-by-case basis. (What makes good sense to one person may make no sense at all to somebody else.)

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra