Upaya

Upaya is a concept in Mahayana Buddhism which can be translated as "means". It is often used in the sense of upaya-kaushalya, which means roughly "skill in means", "skillful means", or "expedient means". Upaya-kaushalya is a concept which emphasizes that practitioners may use their own specific methods or techniques in order to cease suffering and introduce others to the dharma.

A traditional story given as an example of this practice is that of a man who comes home to find his house on fire and his children inside. He calls out to his children to leave the house, but they do not believe it is on fire. Thinking about how he may use expedient means, the man tells each that he has arranged his or her favorite toys outside (or various carts in some versions) for them to play with. Hearing this, the children run from the burning house and are saved.

The most important concept in skill in means is the use, guided by wisdom and compassion, of a specific teaching (means) geared to the particular audience taught. Edward Conze, in A Short History Of Buddhism, says "'Skill in means' is the ability to bring out the spiritual potentialities of different people by statements or actions which are adjusted to their needs and adapted to their capacity for comprehension."

A related dilemma of this story for Buddhists is this: was the man right in lying to his children? The concept of upaya implies that there was nothing wrong with what he did.

The concept of skillful means becomes important in Mahayana Buddhism with regards to the actions of a bodhisattva. The idea is that a bodhisattva or practitioner may use any expedient methods in order to help ease the suffering of people, introduce them to the dharma, or help them on their road to nirvana. This doctrine is sometimes used to explain some of the otherwise strange or unorthodox behaviour engaged in by Buddhist practitioners in certain cases. In employing skillful means, it becomes theoretically possible that many seemingly proscribed practices, such as violence, theft, and sexuality could be seen as use of skillful means. The use of harsh violence to one's disciples has occasionally been used as a way of opening their eyes to the nature of self and suffering; an example is the story of a Zen priest who ended a conversation with a disciple by slamming shut a door on the disciple's leg, fracturing the leg and, according to the story, causing a deep insight in the disciple. There are a number of other stories of Buddhist saints and bodhisattvas taking part in fairly eccentric and unusual behaviours in the practice of skillful means.

The practices and rituals of Vajrayana Buddhism are also often interpreted as inherently a process of skillful means. They are understood to be means whereby practitioners use the very misconceptions and properties of mundane existence to help themselves reach enlightenment.

External Links

• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log in with userID "guest")