SYMBOLOLOGY

588. If something is considered »solely symbolic«, it is not symbolic at all.

[As the thing to be symbolized does not exist any longer, thus the symbol in question does not symbolize anything at all.]

589. A picture qua picture, does not express truth, because in this sense it is simply one manifestation. It undoubtedly exists, but it does not convey truth in itself. At the same time, every picture is also a sign, because it indicates the existence of a higher reality, and in this sense it does convey truth.

590. Every man is a significant symbol for all of his fellow-creatures in a sense, and the more intimate the acquaintance is between them, the more they are a symbol to one another.

591. The fact that the earth revolves is a symbol of samsārian existence.