"Upaya ("Expedient Means" or "pedagogy") is a term in Mahayana Buddhism
refers to something which goes or brings you up to something (i.e., a
goal).
It is essentially the Buddhist term for dialectics. The term is often
used with kaushalya ("cleverness"); upaya-kaushalya means roughly "skill
in 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.
The implication is that even if a technique, view, etc., is not
ultimately "true" in the highest sense, it may still be an expedient
practice to perform or view to hold; i.e., it may bring the practitioner
closer to true realization anyway.
The exercise of skill to which it refers, the ability to adapt one's
message to the audience, is of enormous importance in the Pali Canon."
---
Mike,
In the case referred to by me below, 'skillful means' lies in letting go
of clinging to "the truth as I see it", namely, that I had done no wrong
and therefore an apology is not required and would technically be a lie.
See highlighted portions in this post.
--ED
--- In [email protected], mike brown <uerusuboyo@...> wrote:
ED, What you say above is definitely skillful means for restoring
harmony in our social relationships (Yes, white lies are fine, too), but
I don't think it's really upaya in the Buddhist sense of the word (using
expedient means to guide a person towards an awakening of the Dharma).
Mike --- In [email protected], ED wrote: > > Although I
do think that apologizing can be used as upaya (skillful means) for
achieving peace when the other party is fixated on their sense of having
been offended, and the situation is going to hell in a hand-basket.
