concept

Upāya

Beliefs & concepts

Skillful means adapted to hearers in Buddhist speech. Not deception as bare trick, and not pedagogy as modern teaching jargon.

Also known as Upaya · Skillful means

Buddhist traditions

  • Upāya appears in Buddhist traditions.

    Watson’s Lotus Sūtra teaches upāya — skillful means adapted to hearers — as the Buddha’s way of offering three vehicles while intending one. A named Mahāyāna means doctrine in that sūtra, not deception as bare trick and not ordinary pedagogy alone.

    from Burton Watson (translation) · The Lotus Sutra, 1993 (this translation); Sanskrit/Chinese recensions much older

    appears in · sourced · documented

sources

  • The Lotus Sutra · Burton Watson (translation)

    Burton Watson, The Lotus Sutra.