Bibliography
Malalasekera, G. P. “Upali Thera.” In Dictionary of Pali Proper
Names (1937–1938), 2 vols. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal, 1995.
Strong, John S. The Legend and Cult of Upagupta.Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1992.
SUSANNEMROZIKUPAYA
Upayais a central term in Buddhist HERMENEUTICS,
SOTERIOLOGY, and ETHICS, especially in the MAHAYANA
tradition, where it refers to methods skillfully em-
ployed by BUDDHASand BODHISATTVASto assist SEN-
TIENT BEINGStoward enlightenment.
In THERAVADAand S ́ravakayana texts, upayagener-
ally denotes a means or stratagem, and only occasion-
ally refers to techniques employed by teachers on
behalf of disciples. Still, the Buddha clearly was re-
garded as a masterful guide for sentient beings, adapt-
ing his message to the capacity of his audience, and
encouraging promulgation of his doctrine in various
languages.
Upayagained prominence in early Mahayana sutras,
often as part of the compound upaya-kaus ́alya,which
translates as skillful means, skill in means, or expedi-
ent. In many Prajñaparamita sutras, skillful means
refers to the multiple techniques used by buddhas or
bodhisattvas to help worldly beings, and is explicitly
linked with perfect wisdom as a requisite on the path.
In the Upayakaus ́alya-sutra,immoralities attributed to
bodhisattvas and weaknesses displayed by the Buddha
are explained as the skillful means of beings whose
compassion and insight preclude any immorality. In
the Vimalaklrtinirdes ́a,the layman VIMALAKIRTIuses
“inconceivable skillful means” to convert Vais ́al’s
townsfolk. He enters such places as gambling halls and
brothels to wean their denizens from vice, and he feigns
illness so as to converse with s ́ravakas and bo-
dhisattvas, who fear his stinging rebukes, and puzzle
at his insistence that passions be utilized rather than
avoided. The LOTUSSUTRA(SADDHARMAPUNDARIKA-
SUTRA) uses both exposition and parables to describe
the Buddha’s skillful means for drawing beings to the
One Vehicle (the Mahayana), including his promul-
gation of provisional truths that do not represent the
“true” situation, but are appropriate to the capacities
of certain disciples in certain contexts.
As Mahayana was systematized, upayabecame in-
creasingly central. In hermeneutics, the term explains
apparent contradictions among the Buddha’s teach-
ings as rooted in his skillfully teaching his listeners
what they needed to hear at a particular time, so that
they would persevere on the path and eventually see
things properly. Thus, Mahayanists regarded HINAYANA
teachings (and those of other traditions) as mere pre-
ludes to the definitive greater vehicle, and the Ma-
hayana itself as containing more and less definitive
doctrines. One source of this view was the SAMDHINIR-
MOCANA-SUTRA(Sutra Setting Free the [Buddha’s] In-
tent), which divides the Buddha’s teachings into
provisional and definitive. The scripture claims that,
exercising skillful means, the Buddha turned the
dharma-wheel thrice: provisionally in Hnayana scrip-
tures (which incline to eternalism) and the Prajñapa-
ramitasutras (which incline to nihilism), and defini-
tively in the Samdhinirmocana(which balances nega-
tion and affirmation). The three-wheel scheme became
widespread in India and Tibet, though opinions var-
ied as to the contents of the third turning (e.g., as YO-
GACARA, TATHAGATAGARBHA, or TANTRA). In East Asia,
the most influential hermeneutical scheme was that at-
tributed to the Tiantai master ZHIYI(538–597), whose
panjiao system identified five progressively higher
stages of the Buddha’s teaching, culminating in the Lo-
tus Sutra.
In mature Mahayana soteriology, upayais, with wis-
dom, one of the two “sides” of the PATHperfected by
bodhisattvas en route to buddhahood. Here, upaya
refers to nearly any religious method not related di-
rectly to wisdom, and so includes the perfections of
generosity, morality, patience, and effort; the practice
of multifarious ritual and meditative techniques; and,
above all, the development of the compassionately-
motivated aspiration to achieve enlightenment for the
sake of all beings (BODHICITTA). As perfecting wisdom
or gnosis leads to attainment of a buddha’s dharma-
kaya, the perfection of method results in the two
“form bodies” that manifest for the sake of beings, the
sambhogakayaand nirmanakaya.In some tantric tra-
ditions, where one “takes the result as path,” wisdom
and method were practiced simultaneously, for exam-
ple as an cognition of emptiness appearing as a deity,
or as a gnosis that sees emptiness while experiencing
great bliss.
In Mahayana ethics, skillful meansgenerally refers to
compassionately motivated activity that benefits others,
and corresponds well with traditional Buddhist moral-
ity. Certain texts suggest, however, that an advancedUPAYA