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The eighth paramita, pranidhana, generally means aspiration. More specifically, it means spiritual aspiration. It is a sense of spiritual resolve or commitment. So pranidhana is often described and lived into through vows and prayers. It makes sense that the Tibetan word for this paramita is monlam,…
When we practice upaya, or skillful means, it’s a lot like tending to a garden. Each seed or plant has different needs- some need full sun, and some wither in full sun. Some love lots of water, and some just want a few drops. I have…
In his book Living the Martial Way, Forrest Morgan mentions three options of response when you’re attacked: avoid, evade, or intercept. Avoid When attacked, we can choose to maintain our distance. This requires some forethought, though, because if the distance isn’t there before the attack, you’re…
One simple way to describe skillful means is to say it is the art of being compassionately appropriate. Over the weekend, I attended an intensive training weekend for my spiritual direction program. And wouldn’t you know it, skillful means continually resurfaced as a huge part of…
In Monday’s post, I shared the first four of eight qualities Shantideva lists that prevent us from employing skillful means. They are: confusion, distraction, being too easily influenced by others, and complacency. The next four are: Procrastinating Lacking Discipline to Break Bad Patterns Fearfulness Worldliness Procrastination…
Appearances can be deceiving. In The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi describes the difference between appearance and substance. When you watch someone punch, kick, or block, you see only the outside of the movement. But there is an inside to the movement as well. And the…
In his classic book The Way of the Bodhisattva, Shantideva lists eight qualities that can limit our potential. This list is a collection of feelings, experiences, or reactions that prevent us from employing skillful means. Because the list is both long and heavy (meaning it asks…
Buddhist tradition lists four samgraha-vastu, or virtuous attributes, that every bodhisattva using skillful means employs. These methods of guidance show us the way. They are: Beneficial Speech: Beneficial speech communicates affection. The words intend loving care, or kindness. These words benefit both the hearer and the…
Try not to localize the mind anywhere, but let it fill up the whole body, let it flow throughout the totality of your being. When this happens you use the hands where they are needed, you use the legs or eyes where they are needed, and…
On Buddhist altars, you will often see three figures: the Sakyamuni Buddha in the center, Manjushri, the wisdom bodhisattva, on one side, and Samantabhadra, the compassionate action bodhisattva, on the other. Like all spiritual iconography, this conveys something important. In this case, it depicts the strength…
