What is upaya?

from Bright On Buddhism · host Nicholas Bright Haight

Bright on Buddhism Episode 39 - What is upaya? What are the different meanings of this word? How do its meanings change over time?  Resources: Federman, Asaf (2009), "Literal means and hidden meanings: a new analysis of skillful means" (PDF), Philosophy East and West, 59 (2): 125–141, doi:10.1353/pew.0.0050; Matsunaga, Daigan and Alicia (1974). The concept of upāya in Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy, Japanese Journal of Buddhist Studies 1 (1), 51–72; Pye, Michael (1978). Skilful Means - A concept in Mahayana Buddhism. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0-7156-1266-2; Snellgrove, David (1987). Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors (2 volumes). Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambhala Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-87773-311-2 (v. 1) & ISBN 0-87773-379-1 (v. 2); Schroeder, John (2001) Skillful Means: The Heart of Buddhist Compassion. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2442-3; Tatz, M., trans. (1994). The Skill in Means (Upayakausalya) Sutra. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass; Hurvitz, Leon. 1976. Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma. New York:  Columbia University Press.; Kato, Bunno. 1971. The Threefold Lotus Sutra: Innumerable Meanings, The Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, and Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. Tokyo:  Kosei Publishing Company.; Kern, H. 1884. 1963. Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka or The Lotus of the True Law. London:  New York:  Clarendon Press. Dover Publications. The Sacred Books of the East, Volume XXI; Kubo, Tsugunari and Akira Yuyama. 1993. The Lotus Sutra: The White Lotus of the Marvelous Law. Tokyo and Berkeley:  Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.; Murano, Senchū. 1974. 1991. The Lotus Sutra: The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Tokyo:  Nichiren Shu Shimbun.; Reeves, Gene. 2008. The Lotus Sutra. Boston:  Wisdom Publications.; Soothill, W.E. 1930. The Lotus of the Wonderful Law or The Lotus Gospel: Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, Miao-fa Lien Hua Ching. Oxford:  Clarendon Press.; Watson, Burton. 1993. The Lotus Sutra. New York:  Columbia University Press.; Lopez, Donald S. The Lotus Sūtra: A Biography. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2016; Teiser, Stephen F., and Jacqueline I. Stone, eds. Readings of the Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.; Lopez, Donald S., and Jacqueline I. Stone. Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side: A Guide to the Lotus Sūtra. Princeton University Press, 2019. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvfjczvz. Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by finding us on email or social media! https://linktr.ee/brightonbuddhism Credits: Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-Host Proven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host

What this episode covers

Bright on Buddhism Episode 39 - What is upaya? What are the different meanings of this word? How do its meanings change over time? Resources: Federman, Asaf (2009), "Literal means and hidden meanings: a new analysis of skillful means" (PDF), Philosophy East and West, 59 (2): 125–141, doi:10.1353/pew.0.0050; Matsunaga, Daigan and Alicia (1974). The concept of upāya in Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy, Japanese Journal of Buddhist Studies 1 (1), 51–72; Pye, Michael (1978). Skilful Means - A concept in Mahayana Buddhism. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0-7156-1266-2; Snellgrove, David (1987). Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors (2 volumes). Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambhala Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-87773-311-2 (v. 1) & ISBN 0-87773-379-1 (v. 2); Schroeder, John (2001) Skillful Means: The Heart of Buddhist Compassion. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2442-3; Tatz, M., trans. (1994). The Skill in Means (Upayakausalya) Sutra. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass; Hurvitz, Leon. 1976. Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma. New York: Columbia University Press.; Kato, Bunno. 1971. The Threefold Lotus Sutra: Innumerable Meanings, The Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, and Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company.; Kern, H. 1884. 1963. Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka or The Lotus of the True Law. London: New York: Clarendon Press. Dover Publications. The Sacred Books of the East, Volume XXI; Kubo, Tsugunari and Akira Yuyama. 1993. The Lotus Sutra: The White Lotus of the Marvelous Law. Tokyo and Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research.; Murano, Senchū. 1974. 1991. The Lotus Sutra: The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Tokyo: Nichiren Shu Shimbun.; Reeves, Gene. 2008. The Lotus Sutra. Boston: Wisdom Publications.; Soothill, W.E. 1930. The Lotus of the Wonderful Law or The Lotus Gospel: Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, Miao-fa Lien Hua Ching. Oxford: Clarendon Press.; Watson, Burton. 1993. The Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press.; Lopez, Donald S. The Lotus Sūtra: A Biography. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2016; Teiser, Stephen F., and Jacqueline I. Stone, eds. Readings of the Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.; Lopez, Donald S., and Jacqueline I. Stone. Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side: A Guide to the Lotus Sūtra. Princeton University Press, 2019. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvfjczvz. Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by finding us on email or social media! https://linktr.ee/brightonbuddhism Credits: Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-Host Proven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host