@hidden Contradiction is definitely used as a rhetorical device in Buddhism in a similar way, especially in Zen, but it's ultimately not contradictory, it just has to be understood that everything being said is context dependent to the extreme.

No matter how you describe the system or tell the story, it's mere convention. Constructs are, at best, useful illusions that point you toward a real thing.

For example, it is both correct to say that the Buddha was Enlightened countless eons ago and came intentionally to a specific time to reintroduce dharma, but it's also true that the Buddha awakened at a specific point in time during his life after trial and error. Because every single object and concept is without essence, and defined entirely by their relationship to other things, both of these things are true. There is no change in state that happens, just a subjective flux in consciousness.