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…
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…
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…
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…
The oldest list of paramitas include only six: generosity, discipline, patience, heroic perseverance, meditation, and wisdom. In Mahayana Buddhism, four more paramitas were added. These final four are seen as virtues, of course, but more specifically they are means by which we apply the first six…
