Upāya is yet another word that isn’t translatable into English, but a very important one to understand. The most common translation is ‘skillful means.’ Others are: ‘method’ or ‘expedient means.’
In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha uses the famous parable of the Burning House to explain why he uses upāya in his teachings.
The parable is about a father who owns an old house that has many rooms but only one narrow entrance door. The house is on fire and the father’s only thought is to save his children who are playing in the house. He thinks “I am capable of escaping through the burning entrance in safety, but my children are absorbed in play within the burning house and are not aware [of the fire], do not know, are not alarmed or terrified, and the fire is approaching them! They are not troubled about their suffering nor do they intend to leave the house.”
“Since the father already knew that his children were attached to various rare toys and unusual things that each of them liked, he said to them: The toys you are fond of are rare and hard to obtain. If you do not take them you will certainly regret it later. Right now, outside the house, there are three kinds of carts. One is yoked to a sheep, one to a deer, and one to an ox. Go play with them. Children! Run out of this burning house immediately and I will give you whatever you want!”
The children quickly run outside to claim their own special cart. But instead found three identical carts, each pulled by a beautiful white ox. Their contents exceeded even the children’s original expectations. They each received an equal treasure, without discrimination, the treasure of awakening.
Did the father deceive his children? The Lotus Sutra tells us ‘no.’
Upāya, or skillful means, saved the children from death. Upāya, used in the correct sense of the word, is used by one who has “attained immeasurable wisdom, insight, power and fearlessness…” The Sutra goes on to compare my life, and, your life, as being like the child in a decaying old house on fire.
The teachings of the Buddha, is to “rescue sentient beings from the fire of birth, old age, illness, and death, anxiety, sorrow, suffering, distress, delusion, blindness, and the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance.”
We are now live in this burning house. What is it that we need to hear to escape and find that treasure that is even greater than the one promised to motivate us to leave?
* The Lotus Sutra, BDK English Tripiṭaka Series, BDK America, Inc. 2007, https://bdkamerica.org/ pp. 39, 56
Namo Amida Butsu.
In Gassho,
Rev. Anita
rev.anita.cbt@outlook.com
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